Why Local Businesses Should Use Digital Marketing
December 23, 2024
Local businesses are absolutely the heart of their communities - they’re unique, they understand the people they serve, and they’re something you’ll want to take care of if you own one. So you might think that because you’re a local business, that means you don’t have to (or perhaps shouldn’t) use digital marketing - after all, you just want to be in your local community and don’t want to take over the world. However, the truth is that local businesses need digital marketing just like global businesses do, and here are some of the reasons why.
Key Takeaways on Digital Marketing for Local Businesses
- Your Customers Are Online: Even local businesses should embrace digital marketing since their customers are active online, searching and interacting through social media and websites.
- Cost-Effective Marketing: Digital marketing is more affordable than traditional methods, offering high impact with targeted ads on platforms like Google and social media without a hefty budget.
- Better Measurement and Adjustment: Digital marketing allows you to track results in real time, making it easier to optimize strategies and improve marketing effectiveness.
- Build Trust and Loyalty: Consistent online engagement helps develop loyal relationships with customers, encouraging repeat business and referrals.
- Expand Beyond Foot Traffic: Digital tools help local businesses reach customers beyond their immediate area, driving more awareness and potentially more foot traffic or sales.
- Boost Word-of-Mouth: By leveraging social media and online platforms, your business can increase its word-of-mouth presence and reach a broader audience.
- Improved Customer Targeting: With the right SEO strategy, digital marketing allows local businesses to target the exact audience that is most likely to engage and convert.
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START NOWYour Customers Are Online
Whether you’re running an online store or a physical one, the fact is that your customers are online - just think about how often you use the internet from your phone, tablet, or laptop every day, and you’ll see what we mean (your customers won’t be all that much different to you, especially if you’re running a local business). In other words, your potential customers are online right now, and even if you’ve been used to just working on foot traffic and word of mouth, there’s no harm in targeting people who haven’t been to your business yet.
That’s why you need to use social media and have a good website - in that way, you can direct the right people (that is, the people who not only have an interest in what you’re selling, but also those in your local area if that’s important to you) to your site or physical location and find more customers - the word of mouth approach will still work, but you’ll have more people telling others about you, and that’s never a bad thing.
It’s More Affordable Than You Think
Digital marketing isn’t just for the big businesses with massive marketing budgets - it’s actually a really cost-effective way to get the word out, and you don’t need to have a pricey billboard or run an expensive TV ad to make it happen. A simple, targeted Google ad or a well-thought-out social media post can do just as good a job and can read hundreds or maybe even thousands of people without breaking the bank. The key is to get your SEO right so you reach the people you want to reach, which is why working with an SEO agency makes a lot of sense and is definitely something you’ll want to budget for.
Plus, you can actually measure the results, so you can instantly see if an idea is working or not and change things if you need to. In other words, you can see how many people have visited your website, clicked on your ad, or followed you on social media, for example, and that’s priceless when it comes to improving your marketing.
Build Trust And Loyalty
Although digital marketing is mainly about getting people through the door of your business (or onto the website), it’s also about keeping them coming back, and by regularly engaging with your audience online, you can build up a nice and loyal following with good relationships so people don’t just buy from you once - they buy from you multiple times and spread the word so their friends and family buy from you as well.
And none of this has to take a lot of time or effort either - a couple of posts a day, a blog once a week, or a thank you email or newsletter can be enough to build plenty of trust and loyalty and build your business at the same time.
