How to promote your business locally

Wondering how to promote your business locally? Think of your marketing strategy like an ecosystem. Just as a garden requires sunshine, soil and water, your marketing plan calls for different pieces that work together to support your business’s growth. Social campaigns can help you gain email subscribers. Digital marketing campaigns can promote in-person events. Both types have the same goal of helping you connect with customers and clients.

Whether you’re ramping up your marketing, looking for new ideas to promote your business or just getting started with local advertising, the tips below will help you get the most out of your efforts.

Social media to enhance local brand awareness

You don’t need to be an influencer to promote your business on social media. All you need is a good handle on the basics. Social media is a powerful way to connect with your customers outside of business transactions, build a community around your brand and offer a glimpse into the people behind your product or service.

Like everything else in your business, showing up successfully on social requires strategy. Before you start posting, ask yourself the following questions.

• Which social platforms should I use to promote my business?
  Staying active across every social channel could be its own full-time job. Instead, prioritize the platforms your audience is already using. For example, a trendy clothing brand might find more success on a short-form video app, while a B2B marketing agency might fare better on a professional networking platform.
• What should I post and how often?
  A content calendar makes all the difference between a well-organized social media presence and one that feels amateur. Although you don’t need to plan out every single reel or story, a rough outline can ensure that you’re maximizing the potential of your posts.
  
  Start by auditing your existing social media tactics to figure out what type of content is performing best. Then do the same for a few competitors. When creating your own content calendar, prioritize the types of posts that work best. Above all, show up authentically and consistently to help build a following.
• How much should I spend?
  One of the best things about promoting your business on social media is that it doesn’t cost a dime — or at least it doesn’t have to. If your goal is simply to connect with a community across one or two platforms, then you likely don’t need to budget for social (though you may want to budget for your time). If you want to have a large following, however, it can be helpful to invest in a social media management tool. Pricing varies widely.
  
  Paid posts, also known as sponsored posts, are another way to promote your content. With a paid post, you can get more eyes on your content and pay by the click or impression. This allows you to choose a target audience, region and length of time you’d like to run the ad, making it a good choice for promoting specific events, deals or product drops.
  
  Finally, consider paying for higher-quality social assets. In a sea of scrolling, a great photo, video or design can capture attention.
  

Email marketing to reach local audiences

Just like social media, it can cost little to nothing to get started with email marketing. Consider incorporating the following types of emails to help promote your business locally.

• Newsletters — Think of a newsletter like a note to a friend. It’s a chance to share the latest, including thoughtful insights, curated roundups and the things that are keeping you inspired. You have room to write longer pieces and share a peek at what’s been happening with your business behind the scenes. Consider organizing your newsletters around a single topic that’s of interest to your audience. For example, a physical therapy practice could send newsletters with articles like “How to Protect Your Knees While Running” or “3 Exercises for Better Posture.”
• Promos — Everyone loves a good deal. Email marketing is a great way to promote your business’s latest sale or give customers a nudge to complete their purchase. Segmenting your audience can make promotional emails even more effective. For example, you can send a 10% off code to customers who abandoned their cart or offer returning customers a free gift the next time they spend a certain amount. Leading with the offer in the subject line will let customers know that this is an email they don’t want to miss.
• Updates and announcements — Dropping a new product line? Adding locations? Expanding your staff? If your business is making moves, let your customers be the first to find out. Keeping your existing customers in the loop can foster a sense of trust and familiarity as well as build support and excitement for what you’re up to. It can also help you spread need-to-know information, like being sold out of a popular product or a change in your hours.

Of course, you can’t send an email without a recipient. Focus on building your subscriber list through your other channels. For example, you can run a social media campaign offering a giveaway for the first 25 subscribers, add an email subscription pop-up to your website or integrate email sign-ups into the point of sale. Keep your subscriber list current and segmented for the most effective marketing.

SEO to increase traffic beyond the local area

Search engine optimization, or SEO, describes how search engines organize results using keywords (similar to the Dewey Decimal System in a library). In other words, it’s why your search for “pizza near me” gives you a list of local pizza parlors instead of Thai restaurants across town. Though your ability to build an audience using SEO may be limited in comparison to social media and email marketing, it’s a good tool for marketing your business after you create your website.

SEO goes hand in hand with your website. Luckily, most website platforms typically seamlessly integrate SEO platforms that can help you improve your site performance. Start by adding a website analytics tool to your website so that you can track traffic and get a baseline understanding of your visitors. Then use free or paid tools to do keyword research and figure out which keywords you should include on your website. Audit your site to make sure that you’ve filled out every field — including meta descriptions, title tags and slugs — and include relevant keywords wherever you can. This activity can help jump-start your SEO strategy for success.

Blogging can help your SEO efforts by creating valuable content that your customers are searching for. For example, a plumbing company could blog about topics such as how to fix a leaky faucet or signs of water damage in your walls. These topics could help attract people to the plumbing company’s website, give them valuable information that will help them build trust and maybe even help them decide to give them a call for their plumbing needs.

Other local business promotion ideas

• Review and listing sites
  Help your customers find you by making sure you’re on popular review and listing sites. Include accurate business hours, contact information and a brief description of your products or services. And don’t be shy about asking your customers for reviews to help boost your profile across every platform.
• Paid ads
  Sponsored results will put your content in front of the people who are most likely to want it. Some search engines offer pay-per-click ad services in which your ad appears at the top of a results page for keywords you've selected. Then anytime someone clicks on your ad, you pay a fee.
• Real-world advertising
  So far, every way we’ve discussed promoting your business has been digital. But physical advertising still has a place — especially when you’re marketing your business locally. Place ads on community bulletin boards, in your local newspaper or with networking and trade organizations. Direct mail could also help you connect with people in your neighborhood.
• Events
  Hosting a special event can help you build community around your business and meet potential customers. This could be a physical event, like a dog park meetup for pet store customers, or a virtual event, like a free webinar. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes to brainstorm the types of events they would enjoy, and don’t be afraid to get creative.
• Sponsorships
  What do your customers like to do for fun? Show up there. Maybe it’s sponsoring a local baseball team, donating your services to a theater company or tabling at a community event. What goes around comes around, so spending time, money or energy upfront can lead to sales down the line.
• Partnerships
  Collaborating with other people in your industry or community can make you visible to a whole new audience. Maybe you host a pop-up with cocktails from a bar down the street, or your renovation company partners with an interior designer for an open house. Think about the other businesses where your customers might shop, and ask them to work with you.

Consistency is key for local marketing strategy

For many businesses, fine-tuning your marketing doesn’t need to cost a lot of money — it just takes time. Keep doing what’s working, try new approaches when you’re stuck and take note of what’s effective and what’s not.