A store in an attractive location, some word-of-mouth advertising – for a long time, that was enough to build up a loyal customer base. In our digital society, things look very different: In the worst-case scenario, even walk-in customers are too busy with their smartphones to notice your local business.
For local businesses, too, it is therefore no longer just about having a local presence. Even well-running businesses with a loyal customer base are reaching their limits with a purely local marketing strategy. Prospective customers are digitally inspired to try out competitors, buy products and use services.
Although digitalization has drastic consequences for local companies in particular, it is difficult to rethink marketing. Which online marketing channels are important? How can measures be combined into an efficient strategy? We present the most important approaches and offer an introduction to online marketing for local companies.
Your website – accessible everywhere
The websites of local businesses in particular should be accessible on the move. The importance of the trend towards mobile internet use for local businesses and service providers can hardly be overestimated.
The “mobile first” trend in digital marketing applies to local businesses in particular. All important websites of your company should be optimized for access via cell phone and tablet. Not only visitors to your website will appreciate an appropriate concept. The search services also appreciate a good presentation on mobile devices and place your pages in better positions in the search results!
Place your company in the search engines
The search engine is one of the most important digital points of contact between local businesses and potential customers. The digital search for a hairdresser, tax consultant or garden center is usually carried out with the help of Google and Co.
Place your company at the top of the search results for the right search terms. This pays dividends both in terms of your company’s presence and its digital reputation. Good rankings in the search services can trigger a massive increase in customer inquiries, visits and sales.
Google’s plan to tailor search results more and more individually to the searcher and their location makes search engine marketing even more interesting for local companies.
While the classic SEO (Search Engine Optimization) approach is primarily aimed at optimizing the website for certain keywords, local SEO promotes good positioning in certain regions. With local SEO, you can reach exactly those people who are in the vicinity of your company – and who are interested in the products and services you offer.
Use social media
Social media connects your local business with existing customers and the relevant target group. Social media activity also improves your ranking in search services and boosts your overall visibility. In addition, local businesses can advertise themselves and their products very efficiently in the form of ads on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and the like.
Act as an important point of contact in your subject area: network with the accounts that are relevant to your business and your customers. Build your brand. Post on your core topics and position yourself as an expert. Or place advertisements whose content is precisely tailored to the interests of your target group. Address your social media ads precisely to the people you want to reach.
Manage your entries in online business directories
Local companies are not only increasing their digital presence through their website and social media accounts. Numerous online business directories, rating platforms, map services and apps also list the data of local companies. This visible data is particularly relevant for interested parties and customers as well as for search engines.
The local citations stored here contain the name, address, telephone numbers and other details about your company. If this information is not up to date or is incorrect, this can put customers and potential customers off. In addition, Google, Bing and Co. penalize inconsistent entries and downgrade the company accordingly in the search results.
With Local Citation Management, you can ensure that your data is up-to-date and correct everywhere. How does this work? You can find all the information here.
Take care of customer reviews
It’s no longer just about how customers talk about you. Even today, how customers rate you online is extremely important. Online customer reviews have an enormous influence on the purchasing decisions of potential customers.
Bad reviews can lead to a loss of sales for local companies within a very short space of time. Positive reviews can give you a decisive competitive advantage.
Local companies should not simply let customer reviews pass them by. Active reputation management is worthwhile! Observe what is written about your company on the portals. Respond to both positive and negative reviews. Respond to praise, suggestions and complaints. Learn something about your customers and draw important conclusions for the further development of your business.
Communicate as an expert
Content marketing is one of the big online marketing buzzwords of recent years. Content marketing means that companies and brands, apart from simply advertising products, publish content in order to build a good reputation with the target group. Companies then act like publishers and publish blog posts, videos, guides and journalistic articles on topics related to their core business. In the best case scenario, the company is perceived as a competent, inspiring or trustworthy contact with special expertise.
This strategy can pay off for local companies in particular. If you are relevant to the target group anyway due to your location and also manage to build up an expert image, you have almost won!
STADTBEKANNT is your contact for online marketing with a local focus. We are happy to support you in building your digital presence. We look forward to your questions, ideas and concerns!
