Do you own or operate a local business? If so, you are probably well aware of the importance of advertising.
But when 99% of your revenue comes from local residents, advertising can be difficult.
Buying banner ads on high-traffic websites won’t work, as the vast majority of users who see those ads are not within your city/region.
So, what are some effective online marketing ideas for local businesses?
Google Adwords
One of the most powerful online tools for marketing a local business is Google’s pay-per-click advertising program Adwords.
This program allows business owners to create ads for Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, and various third-party websites.
When a user searches for a keyword on which you are bidding, your ad will be shown. As the name suggests, you only pay when a qualified user clicks on your ad.
How is this useful for local businesses?
Well, Adwords advertisers can target users based on:
- country
- areas within a country
- zip code
- radius around a location
- location groups
Facebook Ads
In addition to Google Adwords, local business owners should also use Facebook Ads to promote their respective brand.
Facebook Ads offers two different pricing models: cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-impression (CPM), each of which has its own strengths and weaknesses.
If your primary goal is to create greater brand recognition, for instance, you may want to choose CPM, simply because it will yield greater traffic.
But if you are hoping to capitalize on conversions and generate a positive return on your investment, CPC is likely the better choice.
CPC gives you greater control over your campaigns. As long as your campaigns maintain a higher earnings-per-click (EPC) than CPC, you’ll have a profitable campaign.
Facebook Ads allows advertisers to target users based on location, including country, state/province, city, zip code, and radius around a city.
Furthermore, you can exclude specific cities or zip codes from your campaigns. If you don’t want residents in a certain zip code to see your ads, simply add it to the “Exclude locations” options.
Google My Business
Of course, there are also free ways to promote your local business online, such as Google My Business. Formerly known as Google Places, Google My Business is a free-to-use service that allows business owners to promote their business on Google Search and Google Maps.
Just create a listing, enter all of the relevant information about your business (e.g. name, address, phone number, hours of operation, etc.), and Google will do the rest.
It’s worth mentioning that reviews are also a great way to instill trust and confidence in users, which in turn boosts sales.
For more methods to attract your local customers, check out this recent post about retargeting qualified prospects.
What successful methods have you used to market your local business? Let us know in the comments section below!
Need more guidance on digital marketing? We help local businesses grow in their regions. Schedule a FREE business growth call here to find out how.
