Top 5 Tactics for Local Marketing

Emotion marketing becomes more and more popular. There is no doubt that the best local business ideas may not be seen or even touched but felt with the heart.

For years, big box stores have been putting pressure on local businesses. More recently, online e-tailers have cost smaller retail stores even more by offering free shipping and returns, while being aggressive on price.

Competing on price alone is dangerous, so I’d ask: Are retailers losing sight of what really matters? Does price matching help retailers build the brand equity they really need?

Recently, the increase in showrooming, where potential customers come into a retail store but proceed to buy the items at a less expensive price online.

Surely you have done it once or twice, and when you did, think about what helped that decision to buy online. A consumer shopping survey, conducted by the Kellogg School of Management, showed the reason why people shop in store and then buy online may come down to bad customer service experience. In fact, 40 % of people who ended up buying online intended to buy in-store when they arrived.

I have a theory about showrooming: While most retailers gravitate toward competitive pricing to combat showrooming, retailers could be saved by implementing a customer service strategy instead and where its difficult for the big retailers to successfully implement, that is where local businesses can win.

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Building relationships in-store with every customer who scuffs his shoes on your welcome mat is the best local business marketing idea there is.

Here we suggest you the five best local business ideas for marketing to heart if you want to get more customers in your door and convert them into your loyal customers.

1. SHOP SMALL AND TARGET LOCALLY

For short-term promotions, try paid search campaigns. For example, last year we worked with a local hardware store 30 days before BBQ season began. We created a paid search campaign that only targeted users searching for BBQ equipment in the local area, and returned more than 1,000 visitors to their landing page where customers could sign up for a coupon to use on BBQ equipment. From there, the customers could come in and buy BBQ equipment with a discount.

2. BE TRULY PRESENT IN SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is a valuable tool for online marketing, but there’s using social media and there’s embracing social media.

The most successful local businesses using social media are the ones who use it to start discussions and talk directly to their customers. Marketing is much more than posting about your 20 percent off sale; it’s gathering up all of your employee’s favorite items, taking a photo and showing people that they will save 20 percent off all your hand-picked, favorite items (Do this, trust us, it works and is simple to make happen).

Then, it’s publishing a blog, a Tweet and a Facebook post describing what you love about all the items. Social media without a strategy and some personalization is just more white noise.

3. RESPOND TO CRITIQUES WITH HUMILITY AND POSITIVITY

People leave bad reviews for different reasons; sometimes it’s your fault and sometimes you’re the victim of someone’s bad day. When you get a bad review, you have two options: respond or don’t respond. Managing your online reputation is the art of knowing the answer.

Many times, reviewers will update or erase a bad review as the result of a genuinely concerned response from the business owner. Build a bridge by offering a gift certificate and asking for a second chance. If their complaint was with an employee whom you’ve since let go, tell them. Acknowledging their gripe is sometimes all it takes to turn the digital signature of a frown, upside down.

4. EMBRACE BEING A LOCAL BUSINESS

The best local business ideas for building customer loyalty include adding a face to your business. If everybody knows you as the owner, use that to your advantage. There’s a local gift shop owner who goes door to door and introduces herself to new businesses when they move in; she shakes hands with everybody. When she leaves a tip at a local restaurant, she leaves a coupon. She gets friendly with those in her community so that when she sends out direct mail, an email blast, or posts an ad with her face on it, people say, “I know her! She’s great!”

 5. HAND CRAFT WEB COPY THAT SPEAKS TO YOUR NEIGHBORS

For long-term gains, optimize your site organically using search engine optimization. By adding local keywords to your website, you’ll show up in search engines when locals look for businesses like yours in their neighborhood.

Local businesses have so many niche, targeted advertising options these days, from Open Table to Square and Level Up, technology, data and reporting are leveling the playing fields. Online, a local business has the ability to write ads and pay for them to be seen by exactly who they want to see them.