According to Investopedia research, Marketing Mishaps are among the top four reasons new businesses fail. Since most start-ups start local, this article will educate you on local marketing to sustain your business and scale!
It is staggering that many start-ups fail before their first birthday. The statistics of failed businesses in the U.S. alone are worrisome. 21.5% are out of business soon after launching.
Considering the emotional pain of failure, start-ups must understand local marketing to sustain their business.
The truth is, new businesses fail not for lack of money but lack of sales from bad marketing. Therefore, start-ups need to be effective in local marketing!
What is local marketing?
It refers to local marketing strategies targeting prospects in a particular locality. Local marketing can be both online and offline. It offers the opportunity to meet your ideal customers and present your offer.
These days, most local markets have online channels where people meet and do business. You can take advantage of such a facility to market your audience.
Why is local marketing important?
Every business is local! Marketing locally can boost your search ranking, attract the right audience, and close new customers.
Many buyers have trust issues when buying from a stranger online. However, local marketing gives buyers the confidence to buy from a seller in the same vicinity!
Let’s get to the nitty-gritty of local marketing to keep your business afloat!
Doing business today is fiercely competitive. It is worse for a start-up because people tend to buy from established brands. Luckily, the internet is changing the trend. Start-ups can grow from their locality to become international brands.
There are as many local-marketing practices as there are online marketers. Below are seven ways you can market locally with resounding success!
1. Reflect Your Values and Market Positioning
It is a mistake to jump on the internet to market. You should first know the value of the solution you bring to your prospects. Remember, people buy value, not product.
It is the solution you bring that customers want. They don’t care about you as a seller! However, they care about your integrity, and you need to earn their trust.
You can develop your value proposition in five simple steps:
- Identify your ideal customer’s pain point;
- Identify your solution benefits and how they can solve the customer’s problem;
- Describe why your offer’s benefits are valuable;
- Make a connection between the value you bring and your buyer’s problem;
- Establish your uniqueness as the solution provider.
By clearly communicating the value you bring, you can effectively market your prospects locally and have them affirm the efficacy of your solution in testimonials.
It is easier to sell yourself online and have people trust you once you communicate your value proposition.
2. Define and Identify Your Ideal Customer
You can’t sell to people you don’t know. The first thing needed to market locally effectively is knowing your targets. These are the people to benefit from the solution you bring and, in return, provide your business with significant value.
You can identify your ideal customer by answering the following questions:
- Who will benefit from the solution you provide?
- What is the current habit of the people you seek?
- What goals does your target audience seek, and what are their fears?
- How does your target market buy?
- Who would you like to work with?
The clearer you know your ideal customer, the more effective your local marketing is.
3. Establish your online presence
Online presence is locating your business at relevant touch-points where your ideal customers can locate you. You can’t sell if prospects cannot find you.
Ensure your business is present across all channels where your target audience hangs out.
For instance,
- Create a business website – that’s your owned marketing asset!
- Go social – Facebook, Instagram, telegram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.
- Have a Wiki page – if you have a unique solution, you should have a Wikipedia page.
- Join community business forums.
- Utilize the Google My Business offer to have Google include your business in the business map for your area.
If you aren’t sure what to do, engage a reputable digital marketing agency or professional to help.
4. Get Involved in Community Activities and Socialize
Networking in related business communities would improve your local marketing efforts. Buyers prefer to buy from businesses they know, especially where trust is vital.
Within your local market, join online communities with your target audience. For instance, Facebook has different community forums for many local groups. You can explore such groups and follow their rules when marketing.
5. Utilize Local SEO
As recommended in item three, local SEO will contribute to your online presence. Learn to optimize your content to be found in local searches. Local SEO helps people searching for your kind of business to find you.
These days, buyers love to go online first to look for the product they want and research before selecting their preferred seller. A Hootsuite study says 48% of U.S. consumers engaged with their preferred brands on social media before buying.
As a new business, if your local SEO sucks, you will be losing money to competitors. Thus, on your website, ensure you display your basic business information: name, address, and phone number.
6. Get Local Testimonials
After several heartbreaking scam stories, online consumers are wary of fraudsters hiding behind the cyber curtain. Thus, there are trust issues to deal with selling or buying online. One way to overcome the trust challenge is testimonials and referrals.
A Yodle study says 75% of buyers admitted using online reviews to make buying decisions. When you market locally, having a few of your customers give testimonials can change the tide in your favor.
With excellent customer service and great solutions, you can have more happy customers give testimonials that you can use in your marketing.
7. Educate Your Target Audience
Since buyers like to research before buying, you can help them make buying decisions in your favor by educating your prospects about your solutions to their pain points.
For this reason, businesses turn to the blog to establish a relationship with potential buyers. From time to time, address your ideal customer’s pain points and offer solutions.
A blog can subtly convince your buyer you have the best solution for them without hard-selling. Educating your potential buyers would position you and make them remember you when buying.
Try looking for common issues your ideal customers have and use your blog to provide satisfactory answers.
Are You Ready to Market Your Business Locally?
Generally, local marketing involves research about your buyer persona. You need to know your buyer’s journey and create a relevant strategy to attract and convert them.
To mind your business without distractions, it pays to outsource your marketing to an expert!
You need a competent marketing professional who doubles as your think-tank and strategist to get customers through the door, and this is where SwingPointMedia comes in!
SwingPointMedia focuses on helping local businesses succeed in their marketing by strategically creating content that attracts and filters out your ideal customers from the crowd.
With SwingPointMedia, your company can easily become a household name by being front and center in your neighborhood.
SwingPointMedia is a marketing company focused on using content marketing, such as written articles, video and podcasts, to attract their customers ideal audiences. This approach has proven to attract higher quality customers while simultaneously reducing the sales cycle by as much as 70%.
SwingPointMedia serves local businesses in Southern California and can be reached by calling 760-422-5176.
You are invited to also attend a free weekly presentation, providing you the tools and strategy to roll out your own content marketing program for your company, or see exactly what SwingPointMedia does for its clients to achieve success. It can be viewed live on SwingPointMedia’s YouTube channel, Wednesdays at 11 am pst.