Local Marketing Do’s And Dont’s:-
DO’S
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Local Marketing TARGET:
Your product should meet the needs of an extensive group of customers, but it’s clear that you cannot target all the customers at the same time. So first of all you have to target those customers who fall under the category of your niche.
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Local Marketing RESEARCH:
Yeah, everyone knows that it’s very time consuming to research or find out the best info about any niche. It also needs a good budget, too. But it’s also been seen that “quality research” is a significant part of successful marketing that provides you with the valuable stuff.
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Local Marketing ENGAGE:
Interacting with customers is the best form of engagement. Answering their questions, discussing the product, etc. allows you to know their views and feedback about your product. It also creates a sense of loyalty and friendship between the two, which is very important.
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BENEFITS:
This is another way of engaging customers. Always discuss your product’s valuable and positive points that can benefit them. Perhaps it can save them time or effort. Perhaps it will help them stay in budget. Try to tell them about every possible benefit of your product.
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STRIKING FEATURE:
What special or stand-out feature does your product have that the others don’t? This should be a key point in your product marketing. The answers should be your marketing rockets or weapons.
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BE SIMPLE:
Whenever explaining your product, be simple, short, and sweet. Speak in language that is easily understood, because your customers who are non-technical can find it tough to understand and might not purchase your product for the same reason.
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UPLOAD PICTURES:
Images and pictures definitely play a very important role in marketing. People get a more deep and a positive feel for the product when they see images of it. Certain standards are set up in their minds after viewing a picture. It helps us in demonstrating within our niche. Pictures can be an online representation of your business.
DONT’S
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STAGNANT:
As we know, marketing is growing rapidly. And strategies change over time. How do you invest your time and money when the marketing strategies doesn’t stay?
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IGNORING CUSTOMERS:
Do not ignore feedback and problems from customers. Listen to them, because you have invested a lot to set up your business, which can collapse rapidly if you are not responding well.
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SPAM:
Remember, do not fill your customer’s inbox with lots of emails marketing your product, especially if he/she is not interested in receiving them. It can have a negative impact.
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USING A TOLL- FREE NUMBER:
Using a toll-free number can lessen or reduce your chances of making a profit, because it makes it difficult for search engines to find out that what your business is actually related to. So always use a local or a landline number for your listing.
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POSTING FAKE REVIEWS:
Nowadays, search engines have become smarter. They are good enough to find out the truth. So do not post fake reviews about your product anywhere. You can be saddled with a penalty.
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CONTENT EFFICIENT BUT DESIGN DEFICIENT:
Well, if you have good, quality content-marketing strategies, but a poor design strategy, then it might give a negative impression to your customers. If your site is difficult to access or navigate, your customers will get out of it in a second. Both have to be equally impressive.
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YOUR BUSINESS NAME:
Keep your business name short and sweet. Do not add a city name or other keyword at the end. The search engines are smart enough to find out your location. So, let your attractive business name stand on its own.
Highly Effective Local Marketing Tips
To get the attention of your audience more, you need to put some extra efforts into your online local marketing strategy. Here are some tricks that will help you market your local business:
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Be original:
When coming up with your content, be original. Always opt for something different from others. Add something special and unique that people are attracted to. People should find something uncommon or never seen before.
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Be consistent:
You should be very strong in your marketing strategies.
Be consistent in your marketing, i.e., make sure that you are consistent in posting new and up-to-date content. People always love to know something new. You have to keep your information up to date and consistent.
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Make use of social media:
Promote your product using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and many others. But remember to use it in such a way that you can afford to use it often. You can post tips and tricks and how to use your product and service. You can also tell your consumers about new arrivals and special offers in your store. You can also use social media for your business in your targeted location to drive more sales.
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Create a survey:
Find out what makes your customers motivated. Where do they work? What kind of books or magazines do they like to read? From there you can reach them better. Offer them a discount or a gift after completing the survey. These surveys should be related to your customers, referencing things they like and what they want to do, etc. These surveys will provide you information about your customers and what they like, and then you can offer them your services according to their interests.
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Team up with another business:
This means sharing your advertising costs with other companies. Opting for this route can make larger ads more affordable. You can tell your customers about the other business you are going to promote, and they will promote you back. You can swap ad space to advertise your local business on another website. This will increase your traffic and sales.
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Know the demographics of your sales area:
They are the key factors in marketing. You need to know your target audience. What age, salary, number of owners, their sex, and their interests, etc. All of these criteria come in the category of demographics.
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Have an online presence:
You are running a local business; you have to mention your local business name, address, and phone number. Having an online presence means you have a virtual version of your business, with a welcoming and informative website.
Online platforms give 24X7 accessibility to your customers and build your brand reputation among your customers. Even if you can’t invest in online ads or marketing strategies, be sure that you have an impressive online website; it will be a great resource to reach your customers.
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Make your site easily accessible:
The most important reason why people leave a website is how long the site takes to load or become visible. Slow downloading irritates customers. It has been seen that 50% of online users have modem speeds of at least 14. Accessibility allows potential customers to research your product or service after your business hours and in the privacy of their own home.
Local Marketing Power Tools
Local marketing is a very important marketing platform for local businesses to increase sales and leads. It gives the ability to capture the attention of local customers for the local businesses in that particular area.
As most people like to purchase locally, you need to keep your local online marketing outstanding. Here are some vital tools to leverage your local marketing.
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Yodle:
If you run a local business, Yodle will provide you more customers with less effort. It will provide you-all-in-one affordable marketing solutions. Yodle will build a website for you and list your local business on 50 directories.
Yodle tracks every visit to your store and records the call. It also provides a mobile-friendly website for your business. As 78% of consumers’ purchase decisions are impacted by online review, it automatically posts your positive reviews on your website.
Your business will be found on all major search engines. Yodle will help you create and send mail, and it will also help you create and maintain your Facebook business page. You can distribute your special offers where it matters most.
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Boostability:
If you want to boost the online presence of your local business and get greater numbers of qualified leads, you can choose Boostability. It will put your local business on the map.
Boostability local online marketing lists your local business and ranks it high on all popular search engines to help your consumers find your business.
Boostability also locates your business on Google Places, Google Map, and local business directories. You can boost your local awareness and earnings and rank your business above your competitors.
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SYCARALOCAL:
SycaraLocal is local SEO software program that manages your local presence online. SycaraLocal checks your name, address, and phone number to ensure accuracy of your local business information across important directories that will help your customers find you.
It saves time with auto-generated reports to make your marketing strategy more effective. You can take advantage of your competitors’ efforts to improve, yourself. You simply need to provide the name and address of your most direct local competitors, and SycaraLocal shows you where they’re found and you’re not.
SycaraLocal ranking data will help you understand your business visibility and map your business to increase the accuracy of you information in seconds.
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Brightlocal:
Brightlocal is perfect for agencies, local business owners, and consultants. It uses seven unique tools:
Local Search Rank Checker monitors your local search performance and tracks most-valuable keywords and locations in Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
Local SEO Check-up gives you a complete local SEO report. Each report covers 6 areas of local SEO, including Google+ Local, On-site SEO, Social media, local directories listings, off-site SEO, and a local search-engine-ranking report.
Google+ Local Wizard optimizes your Google+ profile and searches for keyword that are more competitive offering the best opportunity to position yourself on the top.
CitationTracker creates a list of the most valuable citation sites for your business, lists them, and keep track of your submissions as you make them.
ReviewFlow is an online tool that automates and monitors online reviews on major review sites & local directory websites.
ReviewBiz buttons make it easy for your customers to add reviews on your website. You can connect your business with local directories and Google+ local, and it will boost your local ranking.
CitationBurst submits your local business to hundreds of directories & citation sites only in just one round! Brightlocal analyzes millions of Google+ Local citation sources and has a unique database of over 1,600 high-value citation sites.
The Power of Local Marketing For Small Businesses
There are many ways to attract customers with the use of LOCAL MARKETING.
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Understand the search:
It’s important to be visible in different local engine searches like Google, Bing, etc. But at the same time, for small businesses, it is equally important and beneficial to show up on local search engines, e.g. local.com, City Site, etc.
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Build up a business website:
Yellow pages are usually not used by local businesses. They go online. You don’t have to be more detailed or specific, but you have to provide the basic, local details correctly, such as address, phone number, fax number, services, etc. Here At Eilte Digital Designs we will Build it for you.
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Advertise Online:
Local online advertising really works, which is why the use of targeted ads is estimated to more than double this year. Many companies work to create ads and then optimize them. This can help you establish your brand online. The more you are visible, the more you become popular.
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Use location-based services:
You can help customers find your business in location-based services like Google Places, Facebook places, FourSquare, etc. This is very simple and is an easier way to drag the customers to your doorsteps.
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Try “group deals”:
They are a great way to attract customers. Group buying websites like “Group-on” and “Social buy” offer discounts for a limited time on local products and services. Businesses sign up with the services and then share profit with the site.
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Optimize your listing:
Add some photos, a description of your product, offers, deals, coupons, directions or maps, etc. Most sites lets you do this for free. Try to make most of your listings on review sites.
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Manage your reviews:
Read your product feedback and try your best to respond as soon as possible. Clear out the negative feedback quickly, so that your business image does not get spoiled. For seeking the advice on responding to reviews, visit Yelp!
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Engage:
This is the biggest benefit of local tools. Engagement always plays a powerful role in online marketing. Interacting with your customers helps in establishing friendly and long-lasting relations. It can help you increase your sales.
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Experiment and learn:
Find out what worked and what didn’t. Try out the tools, track the performance of each, and then fine tune it accordingly. Experimenting and then correcting always helps with achieving perfection.
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Get listed on ratings and review sites:
Usually customers check out the review sites to find out where to shop and where to buy. So get listed on Bing Local, Rate Point, Insider pages, and in important niche-review websites. This can improve your popularity and branding.
Can You Really Make Money With Local Marketing Online?
Yes, you can make money with local marketing online. You need to make an effective online marketing strategy for your local business online when you have a low budget. If your marketing process is planned and implemented correctly, you can see amazing result with less investment. Here I will give you the ways that will cost you the least and make big bucks for you.
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Trade Ad Space:
It is simple to implement. You can exchange your ad space with other local businesses in your community; with this you will be able to place ads with other websites in your local area.
This will increase your local traffic from your targeted area and decrease the amount of money you spend on Pay-Per-Click. More traffic to your website drives more sales and revenue.
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Content Marketing:
You can write articles and blogs to help your local customers. This is a free way to increase local-market traffic to your website using country, city, or state names in your content with the specific keyword that consumers used to search over the web
Your topic should be focused on one topic with a strong call-to-action. You need to use an engaging title and images to capture customers’ attention and make them read further.
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Advertisement:
You can advertise your products and services with Facebook ads, Google AdWords and other classified advertisements. You can use two types of advertisement like Free Advertisement and Paid Advertisement.
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Paid Advertisement:
You can use Facebook ads, Google AdWords, and PPC campaigns to advertise your local business. This advertising can reach more people in your targeted area than traditional advertising. You need to add a keyword in your ad headline and a call-to-action and graphics in your ad copy to make it interactive. When all these come together in your advertisement, it will force your consumers to click through and buy from you.
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Free Advertisement:
You need to think differently when advertising in your local community. There are so many websites available that accept links, banner ads, and text ads for free like Craigslist and US Free Ads. You can create a single advertisement and post it on all the free sites and keep updating. This will drive more clicks and sales on your websites.
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Videos:
You can leverage your local marketing strategy with video. Search engines give priority to video and rank them faster than articles and images. Youtube, Vimeo, Vine, and many more will help you create a video and upload it to your website.
You can show your customers the level of your product quality. You can also demonstrate your products with video. You need to include headlines with researched keywords and clear and concise messages with a strong call-to-action. It will boost your rankings and send traffic to your websites.