Many small business owners want to conquer the local market and audience first.
It gives them some time to go through the trial-and-error and see what works best for their business goals.
When you make a mistake with a local audience, it’s easier to correct it.
Only when you’ve learned the ropes of SMB management should you aim at a national or international audience.
In this article, we’ll share the five practical tips for local SMB promotion.
1) Take part in local events
Taking part in local events is a good way for businesses to raise the interest of the local audience in their services.
Every local community organizes different events during the year. Go to the local council and ask them to give you the event calendar for the entire year. Go through the schedule and see which ones would suit your business most.
Visit the local chamber or association of small businesses and get their annual event calendar, as well. Visiting them instead of only writing an email is better because you’ll meet their officials in person. On a local level, it’s always useful to know people in person.
Once you’ve spotted the events that match your products and services, find out more about the participation fees and other organizational details. Allocate the assets for your participation in advance and plan these costs in your business budget. All these steps will help you properly promote your small business in the local community.
2) Connect with local influencers
Influencing isn’t related only to digital marketing. In every group or community, there are people whose opinion is considered important.
As a small business searching its way to success, think about connecting with local influencers. For instance, they could help you attract more visitors to your stand on one of the local events described above. If they’re influential on social media, one post recommending your business could do wonders for your venture.
On the other hand, locally important people that aren’t digital influencers could take part in ads that promote your business. Radio or TV commercials, billboards, and leaflets are only some ways in which local offline influencers could help you advertise your small business.
3) Register to Google My Business
When you’re looking at Google Maps, you probably notice some business names that you wouldn’t see in other places. All those businesses that we see on Google Maps have registered to Google My Business. It’s a special Google service that gives business owners a chance to increase their visibility for free.
What you need to do is just insert the key data about your business and you’ll put it on the business map.
Once you’re there, you can use various options to increase customer engagement with your small brand, as follows:
- Reviews and comments. Your customers can leave their comments and reviews to help other potential users learn more about your business.
- Location and address. Potential customers and business partners can easily find your store or office via the address and location details.
- Contact forms. Add your phone number, email address, and other contact forms (WhatsApp, Skype, Viber, etc.)
- Business website. Add a link to your business website so customers can easily get to you.
So, getting a Google My Business account will increase your local visibility and help users interact with your business.
4) Engage in social media activities
Social media are important marketing channels in every sense, from a local community to a global audience.
New SMBs aiming at the local crew first need to launch a business page on Facebook and Instagram. Leave out Twitter at the beginning because it won’t help you target local users.
You can target a local audience on Facebook via various campaigns, custom-made for this purpose. Adjust the relevant parameters to increase engagement with the target customers in your surroundings.
Use hashtags on both Facebook and Instagram to increase the visibility to local social media users.
Launch special discounts and contests to engage people to follow your business on these networks. The more followers you gain, the better your chances are of converting them into customers.
5) Polish up your brand
Even though you’re focused on a local audience, you need to do everything by the book. SMB owners concentrated on local users often overlook visual promotion. You need to do your best to polish up your brand from day one and amaze your leads and customers.
For starters, set the brand colors and get a logo. While you can get the gist of the logo on your own, you professional designers to create your business logo.
Moreover, make your website a well-organized and impactful marketing asset. As suggested by the web design specialists from a Houston web design company, small businesses need straightforward websites. So, don’t use smart words and keep the visuals simple. If you could take photos and shoot business videos on your own, it would add to the authenticity of your business. When your local customers see themselves or their town on your website, they might want to get more from your business.
Also, invite distinguished members of the local community to write for your website and blog. Having such authors publish their content on your website will add to its popularity.
Every global business story started on a local level. Also, building a small business through a local audience is beneficial to all interested parties. The customers get a brand that brings something new to the market, such as new products and services at lower prices. The business in question gets a chance to improve on the go and become a relevant player on a higher level.