Let’s Go Local – Optimize Your Local Marketing

When your business uses online platforms to reach new audiences, let’s face it: you could be reaching anyone. While getting discovered by people across the map may still be helpful for your business and may still bring you online revenue if you offer products and services from long distance, sometimes, you want to feel the love from local marketing. And for businesses that can’t make revenue from long distances, this kind of audience will do little to help you.

So, let’s go local! We’re here to discuss how to drive interest in your business through local marketing, starting to create a local audience for your business that can turn into loyal, local customers. Here’s what we recommend:

1. Update your Google My Business profile!

This step is crucial. When someone searches for local businesses on Google Maps or Google Search, you want your business to show up and stand out.

This starts with claiming your business profile, so you have access to edit the information that’s provided. Next, you’ll want to thoroughly fill in all of the details that you can to showcase your business and entice customers to come in, including pictures as well as basic information and descriptions of what they can expect. Finally, you’ll want to continue to update this profile to drive engagement and traffic to your GMB page. This can be done by adding posts to your GMB account, much like you would to other social media platforms.

2. Create content for your local audience!

Content comes in many forms: website pages, social media posts, blogs, emails, and more.

Pick whatever method you’d like and start creating original content that will appeal to your ideal local clients. This can be as simple as using location words like your state and city to describe something that you’re talking about. This can also include topics that are unique to where you live, for example, a real estate agent could talk about what to look for when buying a home in a desert location. The goal is to create something that’s unique but also create with your local area in mind.

3. Customize your website for your local marketing.

Your website could reach anyone, so how do you help it reach people locally? Add in location keywords!

If you’re trying to draw in a local audience, then not only should your location be listed on every page of your website, but you’ll also want to use location words that relate to your service area in more of your content. Your headers, your text, your search engine optimization– all parts of your website could use words to describe your state, city, or even neighborhood to bring in more local viewers.

4. Find the locals on social media!

This can start out as easy as asking your clients to add your business on social media.

Asking in-person is one of the best ways to accomplish this, but you can also add calls to action to follow you in your place of work, in your emails, and even on your business cards! Next, you’ll want to add location keywords as above in your social media profile to help reach more of your local audience as they’re looking for businesses online. One of the most popular ways to do this is by including your city in your description. You can also include your city in any of your posts, even just as a hashtag.

If you’re looking to reach more of a local audience, we’re here to help! Let’s discuss your current marketing efforts, how they’re performing, and what we can do to help your business in a free consultation. Get in touch with us to set yours up!