As a business owner, you're likely always looking for the next best way to connect with clientele. But finding what clicks with you and your customers is more than making a popular Instagram post. You must use the best marketing tactics for local businesses to build trust and traffic.

In this article, you'll find about:

• How To Use Local SEO
• Google My Business Tips
• Social Media Management
• Email Marketing Campaign Strategies

And other local strategies that companies need to use to build their brand.

But what is local marketing? And how is it different from other types of marketing?

What Is Local Marketing?

Local marketing is a set of marketing strategies aimed at targeting customers within a radius of the business in question. It's how your favorite local coffee shop or mechanic gets their names out there. It's likely how you found them!

Local marketing is excellent because it allows businesses to advertise and market directly to locals instead of casting a massive worldwide net. It helps companies craft content, promote products and reach their intended local audiences online.

It's time to see some sound strategies with your local marketing efforts.

Marketing Tactics For Local Businesses

Here are some easy-to-follow, surefire ways to market locally to customers. Afterward, see how you can get organized and promote your products or services.

1. Use Local SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) allows potential customers to connect with a business through keywords. Brand awareness can increase with a well-constructed description online.

Are you looking for a pizza place in New York's Lower East Side? Or maybe you're looking for a digital media agency in Southern California? Through local SEO efforts, businesses can start ranking on Google SERPs with specific search terms.

And don't underestimate the power of a simple Google search on mobile, either.

According to Ahrefs, in 2020, 30% of all mobile searches were related to the user's location. Furthermore, 76% of mobile users, after searching for a product or business, visit a location within the day.

As a business, using a local SEO strategy, put yourself in the shoes of a customer looking for your business.

We recently went over good SEO strategies, and long-tail keywords were an aspect of them. Location-specific, long-tail keywords can make a massive difference.

Instead of saying 'Pizza restaurant,' opt for something more specific. Maybe 'Lower East Side gluten-free Pizza restaurant.'

Home in on those specific terms. Using your place in your industry to your advantage can grow your pool of customers (and potential customers).

With Five Star Restoration, we used their place in the home repair and reconstruction industry to help boost exposure.

We could nail down the customer base by using location (the Inland Empire) and the industry (home repair).

• People looking for home repair and reconstruction services in the Inland Empire.

Couple that with some blog posts touting services and topics related to your field, and your chances of drawing in your demographic increase.

To get an idea of how you can harness local SEO, see Google Trends for what's going on in your specific industry.

2. Use Your Social Media

As a small business, you need to harness the immense power of social media channels. You can't afford (literally and figuratively) to ignore your social media pages. They're too powerful a marketing tool.

Your community is your greatest tool. And with social media marketing, you can attract customers and build your brand tone and voice.

Be Specific! Use Local Tags

When posting, be sure to take advantage of the location tag on Instagram. Look at a post from our Instagram a few weeks back.

Notice the location tag? Clicking on this tag leads you to a page where other Instagram users made posts at that same place. Simply adding a location tag to your posts can lead potential customers straight to your door. Of course, adding some hashtags to the end of your post will also help boost exposure!

With social media management, professionals can elevate your brand on platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook after getting to know your business.

Plus, isn't it a great feeling to connect with your customers directly?

Just remember to keep your posts consistent, and even schedule posts beforehand if you need to.

3. Optimize Your Metadata

Metadata describes what your site is about. It's the little details, like your meta description and image alt-text.

For SEO, a website's metadata is a golden opportunity. But how?

When optimizing metadata, doubling down on SEO efforts is crucial.

Make your meta descriptions related to keywords and industry terms you're trying to rank for. Let's break it down.

Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions describe what the page contains. Search for anything on Google, and you'll see the page description under the heading. Writing a solid meta description filled with keywords is a great marketing strategy when engaged in SEO.

Alt-Text And SEO

Likewise, image alt-text, a crucial aspect of website accessibility, offers even more SEO potential. By describing an image, you can, within reason, use SEO-rich terms to enhance further the chances of Google associating that image with your website.

Optimize Your URLs

Yes, even your URLs should be SEO-friendly. Whichever search term you focus on, ensure your URL reflects it succinctly and clearly. For example, check out this article's URL. We'll wait.

What do you notice about it? It's relatively short, communicates the point, and has SEO elements.

In short, optimizing your metadata is a great way of organizing data on your website and boosting SEO potential.

4. Google My Business

Have you ever looked up a business near you to check the hours of operation? An easy way for customers to connect with companies is through Google My Business. This is the crucial platform from which you set hours, advertise services, and display reviews. It consolidates all of your business’s information in one convenient place. 

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Everything in one place makes things easy for you and your customers.

5. Email Campaigns

Email marketing is so crucial to a small business's marketing campaign. Although one may not think so, email marketing is an absolute powerhouse in gaining leads and maximizing conversions.

A good email marketing campaign will target a specific market, advertising important services, deals, promos, and sales. And a robust email list.

For good email marketing, an email list is key. Business owners get an email list in a few ways.

• Using CTAs: A call to action is a great way to...well...call a customer to take a certain action. Whether at the end of a blog, or social media post, calling for the customer to take action should be a priority. For example, call them to sign up for a mailing list, where they'll receive exclusive deals and updates.
• Create An Incentive: What does your business offer that your competitors don't? Is it an exclusive sale? A Black Friday promo? Figure out what sets you apart, and use it to incentivize people to sign up for your email list.
• Embedded Forms: If you've done even a fraction of online shopping, you've seen embedded forms. These, unlike pop-up ads, allow users to sign up for an email list without interrupting their shopping or browsing times. If you opt for an embedded form, ensure that you include them on some of your most popular pages for optimal exposure.

Plus, you can automate emails to send, and you don't have to worry about optimizing and updating as you would with SEO. It's a win-win.

6. Go Local With Paid Ads

Local search engine marketing (SEM), not to be confused with SEO, allows you to advertise directly to your local customers. This marketing strategy is perfect for efficiently narrowing down your scope. Including your location in paid advertising increases your visibility.

7. Optimize Your Site For Mobile Users

Remember how many people used Google on their phones to find local businesses or products? You need your site perfectly optimized for mobile browsing.

A user-friendly mobile site makes a huge difference because most Internet users access information about small businesses via smartphone.

A good mobile site means having all the text, headings, and images optimized for smartphone screens everywhere. If you're having trouble making your website convert to mobile seamlessly, there's a way to do it. We can give you a hand!

Find The Best Marketing Strategy With Sprinkles Media

At Sprinkles Media, we go above and beyond for our clients.

Whether it's social media management or local SEO, we can help you. Want an in-depth social media plan with just a dash of SEO? Some paid ads with only a few social media posts? We can accomplish all that and more. We'll find your target market and ensure that your business starts turning heads.

Get in contact with us if you're ready to start building your brand!