Small businesses that depend on revenues generated by only local customers sometimes have a difficult time promoting their products and services. Online marketing methods show tremendous potential, but do they also work for a locally owned business with a relatively small customer base?
For companies with a limited marketing budget, taking advantage of the inexpensive marketing tools online can achieve rather remarkable results. The 6 ways to encourage customers to shop locally is a straight-forward collection of marketing tools that are within reach of every small business.
1. Build a website with a blog
Even in 2016, many small businesses do not have a website. Shop owners can build one themselves for under €100 with sites like Weebly.com or WordPress.com. Be sure to include a company blog and to write a new blog post at least once a week. The consistent adding of content to your website helps keep the website fresh while also giving you a boost with the search engine page rankings.
Getting started can be a nervous or apprehensive time. But here’s the nub of it – no one knows your specific area of expertise as well as you do. Remember, you’re not writing for the world but for a group of people that would appreciate reading what you have to say. Writing is a habit and in no time, you’ll marvel at how far you’ve traveled.
2. Distribute press releases
There are thousands of online platforms that allow business owners to submit digital press releases, but don’t ignore the value of submitting one to your local newspaper. Most papers will print your press release in the hardcopy newspaper as well as post it on their online website. It doesn’t have to be “Big News” either. Just a nice little article of 400-words or less that lets the community know that you are still around.
The PR aspect should get you thinking about activities that you could engage in that would be newsworthy – a community-based event(s) that you can hang your hat on and generate good PR.
3. Engage on social media
Everyone uses social media in some shape or form. Thanks to the invention of the smartphone, potential customers now use their mobiles to look for the nearest coffee shop, pizza parlor, or grocery store. Pick one or two social media platforms, and start interacting with the community digitally.
There is a lot of noise and buzz on and about social media. This post advocates that, at a minimum, you interact on social media and maintain a presence.
4. Use video
The search engines simply love videos. In fact, YouTube is now the world’s second-largest search engine. Starting a YouTube channel is free, and business owners can even share these videos on their websites, blogs, and social media, too.
Check out Biteable – a great value platform for creating videos for small businesses.
5. List your business in local online directories
Google and Bing offer free listing services for locally owned businesses. Yahoo charges a small monthly fee while also listing your business in MapQuest, Yelp, WhitePages, and about fifty other online locations. Check out Google My Business and Bing Places for Business.
6. Join the local Chamber of Commerce
Sometimes there’s nothing better than good, old-fashioned, face-to-face networking. Joining the local Chamber of Commerce gives you the chance to make connections other business owners of a similar field, meet new potential customers, or perhaps develop partnerships with companies in other industries.
Interestingly, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that meeting face to face with your peers in the business community is a great way of validating the choices you have to make in selecting the online marketing channels most appropriate for your business and to encourage customers to shop locally.
