16 Local Marketing Tips (That actually work)
16 Local Marketing Tips
(That actually work)
I recently asked a question to fellow small business owners (SBO’s), “What is the biggest hurdle you face with your business?” This simple question sparked a great conversation and a few themes emerged. The most prominent being, “It is difficult to find new customers.” In this post, I will explore this hurdle and offer 16 local marketing tips that I use every day for my clients.
I agree, finding new customers is really hard. Many SBO’s have no idea where to start. So many of us opened our businesses because we had a passion for something and thought we could share our passion with the world. Only to realize that it isn’t easy and requires a ton of work and planning.
I’d like to shed some light on how you can get more customers and how you can market your local small business and reach the goals you desire. So, with that said, let’s jump into it.
Here are 16 Local Marketing Tips that you can start to implement “RIGHT NOW”
1) Know Who Your Customer Is
Grab a piece of paper, go ahead, I’ll wait……… Ok, good. Now, I want you to think about your product and who it serves. Very few products are designed for everyone. So don’t sell yourself short and think that you can market to everyone. Knowing who your customer is will help you to find more customers.
I want you to start to build a list of who your customers are. What do I mean by that? I want you to write down the demographics of who your customer is. Be as specific and accurate as possible. Do not guess or make assumptions with this. By making assumptions, you will come up with false profiles and that information will ultimately hurt your marketing plan.
Some questions to ask yourself when coming up with your customer profile are:
How old is my ideal customer?
Where do they live?
What is there income?
What are their interests?
What job titles do they have?
Do they have families? How old are their kids?
How often do they use my product and for what?
The questions you ask are limitless but very important in really determining who your customers are. The more specific you are in profiling your customer, the better prepared you will be to create a winning marketing plan. Your business may have different customers for different products. Make sure to come up with a customer profile for each product.
To give you an idea of what a customer profile can look like, let’s pretend we sell minivans. A customer profile for us could look something like this:
Our customer is a female aged 32-49, has 2 kids, loves taking family trips, brings the kids to different sporting events, lives in the suburbs, works in an office environment and earns an income of $75k/yr. Her interests are in Medical Dramas on TV, hiking, crafts, and outings with the kids and wine (She has kids, of course, she likes wine).
Now that we know (through research, not assumptions, you know what happens when you “assume”) that this is a true representation of our ideal customer, we can generate a more effective marketing plan. We design a plan that specifically targets our ideal customer. Read on for more about this in my next tip.
2) BrainStorm Where to Find Them
Now that we know who our ideal customer is, we need to brainstorm where and how to find them. Think about where to find them.
Where do they hang out?
What social media platforms do they use?
What could they be searching for?
What website do they use?
What groups do they belong to?
What businesses and services do they use?
Some of the places that you can target your customers are in online meetup groups, social media groups, local clubs, centers, schools, and publications they read.
Think of every place where they could be and how you could potentially use that place to attract that person.
Let’s think about our customer example for a second. We are looking to target a mom-aged 32-49, who, among other things, likes to do crafts, travel with the kids and drink wine. We can use this information in the following way:
1) Determine which social platforms are the best to use to reach her. Since she is most likely in the age range of 32-49 we know that Pinterest, Instagram, and FB are potentially the best places to reach her. We also know that she has interests in crafts, travel, and wine. So, we can place relevant ads and lead capture tools in those areas of those social networks to try to capture her attention.
2) Try t to avoid targeting places that do not go along with your customer profiles. In our example, we probably wouldn’t want to target video games on Snapchat because that is going to reach the wrong audience and be a waste of time and money for us.
The ways in which you can target your ideal customer will vary. The above examples are there to illustrate just a couple of ways of thinking about it.
3) Do Keyword Research
When designing your marketing plan it is best to have an idea of what keyword terms your customers are using when they try to search for your products. The easiest way to do this is by using Googles Keyword Planning Tool.
This is an easy to use tool that gives great insight into the average search volume of keywords specific to the product or service that you offer. I’ll go into detail about the best ways to use this tool and others in future posts.
But for now, log in using your Google account and start to do some research on keywords that are relevant to your business and your customer profile. Think of questions or search queries potential customers may ask. Think about your own search habits when you do it. Try to think of as many ways of searching as you can think of.
Always think of it from a customer perspective as well and use common language. Use terms that your customers will use. For example, if you are a Doctor looking to do keyword research on what your patients are searching for, it is more likely that your potential patients are searching phrases like “Flu Relief” instead of “Relief from acute respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses A or B”
The more in-depth your list, the better tool you have just created for yourself to work off of in the future to find more customers.
4) Do a Search on Your Keywords
Once you have come up with your list of keywords, start to search the most relevant ones. See who shows up. Pay special attention to what is coming up in the search results. Who and what do you see? Gone are the days of just organic search results. Today you are more likely to see, maps, ads, snippets of information, customer reviews, videos, pictures and more.
All this information will give you insight into how you are presenting your company and how you can improve your image and search results.
5) Learn From Your Best Competitors
Your competitors are a wealth of information that is ready to be used. As crazy as it sounds, I actually like when I find a good competitor. There is so much to be learned from them.
Google them, look at their social media, study their website, look at their local advertising, shop in their business. Look at every place you can find them and study what they are doing. Learn from their success, use what they are doing right and how they are reaching their customers. Then try to do it better. Use their strengths to build a better you. They are successful for a reason, emulate that.
While you are evaluating their strengths, also look at what they aren’t doing so well. You can find areas for improvement that you can capitalize on. Use this to your advantage when designing your marketing plan.
6) Be Found Whenever and Where Ever Your Customers are Looking for You.
Can your business be found everywhere your customers are looking for you? Over 90% of purchases today start with a search. If someone pulls up Google, Yahoo, Bing, Superpages, or any one of the hundreds of places on the internet, will they be able to find you? And if they do, what information will they find about you?
To get a quick idea of how you look online, do a listings scan of your company. This scan will look at over 70 of the most popular search engines, directories, apps, and maps to let you know where and how you are listed on the internet.
By taking control of these listings, you take control of how your customers see you and find you. Ensuring, among other things, that you are putting the best you in front of everyone.
7) Claim Your Profiles on All the Major Social Media Platforms
There is no denying the power of social media in today’s marketplace. There are so many ways to use it and I could write for days on this. For the purposes of this tip, all I am going to say is make sure you claim, and 100% complete each of your profiles on the major social media outlets. The ones I’m talking about are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Snapchat.
Not every social media platform will be right for your business. I also don’t suggest trying to work all of them. The process is just to labor intensive for an SBO to do it all. What I am saying is that at a bare minimum, make sure you at least claim all your profiles. This will allow you to at least be found on each of the platforms and your contact info and business description will be there.
8) Collect as Many Email Addresses and Social Media Connections as Possible
Your customer list is like “GOLD” and should be treated as such. If you are not collecting email addresses and social media connections every chance you get, you are doing a disservice to yourself.
Think about it, you always hear that it is cheaper to keep a customer than it is to gain a new one. But then I see it day in and day out that businesses get a new customer and they don’t get a way to get back in touch with them again.
If we can capture a customer email address or get them to connect on social media, we now have a direct way to communicate with that customer. No longer are we sending out a mass mailer or radio ad and hoping for the best.
We have a way of directly interacting with real people, that we know are looking for and love our products. It’s a no-brainer that unfortunately too many SBO’s just don’t utilize enough.
Email tools like Constant Contact, make it super easy to build your email lists and get the right messages out to your customers. Take a look and don’t wait another day to get started building your lists. They even offer a free account to get your list started.
9) Ask for “5-Star” Customer Reviews
As I’ve mentioned before, over 90% all purchases today start with an online search. What you will notice also is that almost all products and services have customer reviews built right into the search results.
Did you know that 87% of customers will not consider a business with a low review score? They also will consider a business with no reviews as untrustworthy. People consider online reviews just as much as they do personal recommendations.
Use this knowledge to your benefit. Ask your customers to leave you “5-Star” reviews on places like Google, Facebook, and Yelp. The more “5-Star” reviews your business can get, the better you will be positioned to earn more customers.
10) Ask Existing Customers for Referrals
Never be afraid to ask your customers for referrals. Try to turn your customers into your greatest advocates. Word of mouth is still one of the most effective ways at generating sales and revenue. Make it a habit for you and your team to ask customers to spread the word about your business and refer you to their friends and network.
In addition to just asking, you can also offer referral rewards to customers that refer you more customers. A reward can be anything you want, like a discount, free something, or a shout out on your social media channels. Get creative with it and try to make it a win/win for everyone involved.
11) Work on Making Each Interaction with Clients/Customers Memorable
When a lot of SBO’s think of marketing we almost immediately think about advertising, our website, our social media channels, our signage and the way our store looks. However, there is more to it than that. Marketing is also the experience that a customer receives when they interact with your business.
Try to take a holistic view of a typical interaction with a potential customer/client. What does the ideal interaction look like from start to finish? Here are some things to consider when evaluating the interactions your company has with a customer and potential customer.
1) Like I said before, over 90% of purchases today start with an online search. When a customer searches for your business, can they find you easily? Is the information accurate and portraying you in the best possible way?
2) Assuming they found you in a search, what are they seeing when they look at your social media profiles, listings or website? Are you putting out a consistent brand image, is it clear within 3 seconds of looking at any of these things who your company is and what you do?
3) Can they easily find your contact information and location?
4) Is your website easy to navigate, have good calls to action and pleasing to the eye?
5) If the customer then calls you, what is that experience like? How do you answer the phone? What is that experience like? What message are you sending to that customer?
6) When someone enters your store, or you get together for a meeting with a potential client what does that look like? How are they greeted, what are the first things that they see, how does that interaction go?
7) How does the interaction end? Are we saying thank you? Are we making it clear what the next steps will be? Are we asking for future contact information or follow up?
8) What does follow up look like? Do you send thank you notes, surveys or follow up phone calls?
There is a lot to consider when evaluating your customers buying journey. The more thought and effort we put into making memorable experiences for our customers the better. If we can create memorable experiences for our customers, they will be more likely to talk about us in a positive manner and more likely to refer us in the future.
12) Survey your customers
Customer surveys are a great way to engage your customers and get feedback on your business. These can be done online through a service like surveymonkey.com, through an FB poll, or with a survey handed out in your store.
However you decide to do it, make sure that you are asking for customer feedback on what you are doing right, what you can improve upon, and what can you offer that will make the experience better for them.
Then when you get the results, actually do something with them to improve your business. Try to look at the results as objectively as possible and don’t just dismiss an answer if you don’t agree with it or you think “that lady was just crazy”. Try to understand why someone answered the way they did and come up with a way to improve in the future.
13) Work Your Network
Reaching out to your network is a great way to build awareness around your business and to help you grow. Our networks consist of people from school, work, our kid’s school, church, business organizations, customers, people at the local shops you frequent and more.
Reach out to these people, let them know what you are up to, strike up conversations with them about the things you are doing and how you can potentially help them. Ask them if they know anyone that could benefit from your services or products. Ask them to share your social media profiles.
One of the most famous sayings of all time is “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. Ask yourself “who do I know that can help me achieve my dreams?”
14) Work Together with a Complementary Business
I tell my clients all the time that “Small Business is a Team Sport”. Finding complementary businesses to partner with is a great way to gain exposure, save costs and increase revenue.
Years ago, I ran a small chain of children’s play centers. We had a few locations around the Hudson Valley in New York and mostly catered to children between the ages of 3-9. When I had that business, I would always partner with businesses that also catered to that age group but for different reasons (complimentary). These businesses were places like daycares, nursery schools, pediatricians, and ice cream shops.
We all went after the same clientele but for different reasons and different parts of a family’s budget. By working together and promoting each other we were able to drive our customers to each other’s business without negatively impacting our own. It became a win/win for everyone.
Think about what complementary businesses you can approach with ideas on working together. Then reach out to them and make it happen. Remember, make it a win/win and everyone benefits.
15) Attend Networking Events and Actually Network
I hear all the time that the Chamber of Commerce doesn’t help me. Then I ask when the last time you went to a networking event was and I get a blank stare. You can’t expect any Chamber or networking group to just constantly hand you leads. You need to go after them.
Get out of your comfort zone and go to a networking event. But don’t just go to go. Go to NETWORK. Bring business cards, prepare your elevator speech, be prepared to introduce yourself to the other people there and make connections.
In addition to being prepared to talk about you, be prepared to talk about them and to ask questions about them. Networking isn’t just trying to sell your product. It’s about NETWORKING, making meaningful connections with people that are mutually beneficial.
After the event, follow up with people. Send a quick note through email, LinkedIn, twitter, etc. to say how nice it was to meet them. Relate back to whatever it was you were talking about and nurture the connection. If the conversation warranted it, send along some info about your product or service or ask for a referral.
16) Carve Out at Least 15-30 Minutes a Day for Marketing
This seems so simple but is one of the hardest things to do. As SBO’s we get so caught up with all the things we are doing that we sometimes forget that marketing and planning our business is one of the most important activities to ensure the long-term sustainability of our business.
Try to find a time where you will not get distracted by other responsibilities and you can have a clear head. Maybe it’s in the morning before your store opens, or when you first get into the office before you open your email. Maybe you’re like me and like to work after the kids go to bed because that’s when no one is emailing you, calling you or asking you to get them something to eat.
Whenever it is, make sure to carve out that time. Your business will thank you for it.
Wrapping It Up
So, there are 16 local marketing tips that I use consistently in my business to help me and my clients get over the hurdle of marketing and advertising. This is by no means a complete list but is a good starting point.
Remember what I’ve said a couple of times, “Small Business Is A Team Sport”. I hope that you are able to use these tips to improve your business. If I can ever be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out.
If you found the tips in this article helpful, have questions or would like to add to the list, leave a comment below and share it with your friends. Make sure to sign up for our email list and connect with us on FB to get more tips like this.