How to Promote Your Business Locally in 2024

Even if you’re selling your products or services to customers around the globe, you should never ignore the impact of a loyal, local customer base. Having a fan club right in your backyard is one of the easiest ways to guarantee long-term success.

Why is it beneficial to promote your business locally?

Tapping into your local community is a great place to start when you’re looking to expand your brand’s presence and reach new customers. Since this approach is extremely targeted, you don’t have to spend as much money as you would on a larger content marketing strategy and you see higher conversion levels.

Some benefits of promoting your business locally include:

• Access to local resources. Having access to resources close by helps you gain more visibility for your business and make connections that could have long-term effects on its success.

• Targeted messaging. Since you understand the needs of the people in your community, you can tailor content and messaging specifically for them—and maximize engagement from prospective customers.

• Increase brand reputation. Consumers like a humanized brand and they also appreciate convenience. By making it clear you have a genuine interest in the community, you also boost your reputation.

• Save money on advertising. By targeting a specific geographical location, you save money on advertisements.

Investing in a local presence results in a great ROI because many local marketing strategies are free or inexpensive. Plus, the benefits only compound. The more you invest in your community, the more consumers learn about you and the more window shoppers turn into actual customers. Consumers also tend to like supporting small, local businesses.

Tips on how to grow business locally

If you want to become a household name in the neighborhood, you need to create an actionable local marketing strategy.

Thanks to today’s growing digital landscape, there are various ways to promote your business. Try out digital marketing, offline marketing, and community engagement strategies. Follow these seven tips to grow your business locally and generate more revenue and brand awareness. 

1. Optimize your Google Business Profile

Consumers turn to Google when they want to find or locate a business. The number of “Near Me” searches has increased 200% in the past two years across almost every category. Create and verify your Google Business Profile for increased exposure.

Then optimize it so you’re at the top of local search by:

• Verifying your business information

• Ensuring consistent information across the web

• Adding visuals to your profile

• Linking to your social media accounts

• Requesting reviews from customers

HIDEF Physical Therapy optimized its Google Business Profile with reviews, relevant information, and images.

2. Focus on local SEO

If you want your business to be visible in local search results on Google, you need to implement local SEO strategies. Unsure where to start? We have an entire local SEO checklist to boost your online visibility.

Here’s how to get started with local SEO:

• Optimize website content with location-specific keywords

• Ensure your business is listed in relevant local directories

• Update name, address, and phone number information

• Create unique landing pages for each location or service

By sharing original, genuine content with your target audience, you’re filling a need in the space and attracting more customers. Your local SEO strategy can incorporate video SEO as well, and you can even use AI tools to construct an SEO strategy for you.

“One of the best local promotion campaigns I ever did for a business was creating a simple video for roofers talking about the installation of commercial roofing,” says Jess Fields, President of Precision Outreach. “Even when promotion goes national as much as local, in the modern age, anything tied to a geographic business that happens to also be excellent organic content will get in front of the right local eyeballs,” 

3. Partner with non-competitive businesses

Collaborating with other local businesses can be a powerful way to boost your brand awareness in the area. Only partner with non-competitive businesses to ensure you’re not fighting for the same customers. Then, you can each tap into the other’s consumer base and both benefit equally.

Here are a few tips on how to find the right partners for your business: 

• Look for businesses that cater to a different target audience. Identify companies that offer products or services that complement yours, but don’t directly compete with it. It’ll be easier to form a mutually beneficial partnership this way. 

• Look for businesses that are respected in the community. Research local businesses and read reviews from customers to get an idea of their reputation. You want to partner with businesses that have established themselves as reliable and trustworthy in the eyes of customers.

• Network with other local businesses. Attend local events such as trade shows or chamber of commerce meetings where you can meet face-to-face with other business owners who may be potential partners for your own company. Distribute promotional materials, such as flyers, brochures, and business cards to increase brand visibility.

“We partner with the public library that runs a summer reading program for elementary-school-age students. We give the library coupons good for a free chocolate covered Oreo cookie that they use to incentivize the kids,” says Ryan Novak, owner of Chocolate Pizza Company. “The ROI on this marketing idea is multiple times greater than the modest investment it costs us to give away the cookies and the lifetime value of new customers is exponential.” 

4. Use social media

An active social media presence is a must for small businesses executing a content marketing strategy on a budget. It’s one of the easiest, most cost-effective ways to engage your local community.

If your main goal is to engage the local community, be sure to post things they’ll find interesting or useful. Craft an engaging social media presence that’s appealing to the local community by:

• Using Facebook. Facebook is one of the top platforms to build a community around your business. Two-thirds of Facebook users visit the pages of local businesses or events. Facebook ads are also a great option for targeting the local community.

• Tagging locations. Post images from your surrounding area that the community is sure to recognize. Tag your locations so that users in the area can stumble upon your posts and then your profile.

• Including hashtags. Select relevant, local hashtags to add to your posts to boost impressions. It’s another easy way for community members to discover your business.

• Responding to comments. Engaging with your consumers is crucial for local promotion. Responding quickly and politely to comments and messages shows potential customers that you care about their experience and are willing to help.

• Sharing community events. Make it clear that you care about the community. Promote events on your social platforms, even if your business isn’t directly involved. This demonstrates that you have a genuine interest in the community. 

“Six months ago, I started a marketing and SEO campaign to maximize local search and was able to increase my impressions and clicks by 15 times,” says W. Zach Smith, co-owner of HIDEF Physical Therapy. “While some of our national-sized competitors create very general content in their marketing and blogs, we can create hyper local content that is more helpful to the end user, which helps it to convert much better.” 

HIDEF Physical Therapy shares content on its Instagram page that its target audience will find educational. It also includes local hashtags so more users can find them.

5. Collaborate with local influencers

Don’t underestimate the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Ninety percent of people are more likely to trust a recommended brand. Thanks to this incredibly high number, influencer marketing has become a staple of most businesses’s content marketing strategy. 

To find potential influencers in your area, search social media, local media outlets, and blogs for those with an established following. Reach out with a personal message and offer something enticing like a sponsorship opportunity or complementary products/services. Make sure that the influencers you reach out to have similar values and morals as your brand. If you’re having trouble finding the perfect local influencer, consider hiring an influencer marketing freelancer to do the work for you.

Influencers cultivate a sense of trust within their community, so their engagement rates are high compared to other social media marketing campaigns. Couple that with an exclusive offer for their audience—like a discount code, early access to a new release, etc—and you’re sure to receive a great ROI on this marketing tactic.

Source: MealPro's Instagram

MealPro teamed up with local professional tennis player Jenson Brooksby as a part of its influencer marketing strategy. This caused their impressions and engagement rates to skyrocket.

6. Engage local media

One of the most effective ways to get your business in front of your local community is by engaging your area’s media. Doing this ensures you’re reaching your target demographic and elevates your reputation and trust within the community.

In some instances, local media may approach you. Otherwise, you need to reach out to media outlets yourself to gain publicity for your business in the local market. Pitch outlets with a compelling story and find out which publications are most relevant to your target audience.

Consumers are more drawn to humanized brands. Creating a narrative around your business through storytelling makes your brand more appealing. Having a media outlet tell that story is even better.

Some local media to consider approaching:

• TV stations

• Newspapers

• Podcasts

• Blogs

“After Brooksby first collaborated with us as a local athlete, we drew the attention of the Citrus Heights Messenger,” says Andy Sartori, founder of MealPro. “The local newspaper then wrote an article about our partnership. So, one domino toppled the next and it was great for momentum.” 

Source

7. Start a loyalty program

Retaining customers is cheaper than acquiring new ones, which is why loyalty programs are one of the most effective customer retention strategies. It’s essential to build a base of loyal customers in your community, as those individuals are likely to buy your products/services more often.

Decide what action you want customers to take and award them appropriately for their loyalty. Some examples include:

• Giving customers a coupon code for leaving an online review

• Allowing customers to earn loyalty points each time they shop

• Offering local customers a loyalty card to redeem free items

• Giving customers a discount if they sign up for your email newsletter

By rewarding loyal customers, you’re increasing your perception in the local community. Consumers will be more likely to pick your brand over others when you incentivize them properly. 

Partner with freelancers to promote your business locally

Deploying all the necessary strategies to reach your target audience requires a lot of time—something that’s often hard to come by for small business owners.

“I always like to think about how much my time is worth. If it’ll take me eight hours to do a job, the easy answer is to outsource it,” says David Mulqueen, co-owner of Roots to Roof. “I like this approach particularly for design work because I’m not a designer and the work will be better. It’s a cost, but well worth it.” 

Searching for freelancers in your area is also a great way to ensure that your brand’s language aligns with the region you’re situated in.

“I hired local freelancers from Fiverr who were situated in the same city and could match up the tonality of our particular city,” says Alex Mastin, CEO and founder of Home Grounds. “There are two or three buzzwords, puns, or trigger words that are commonly spread in a local region, and hiring freelance writers who can incorporate those local words within our content would help us make it more relatable for serving our local coffee lovers.”

Join Fiverr to access a marketplace of qualified, talented freelancers. Outsource your local SEO or community management work to talented individuals.