When it comes to marketing your local business, there are plenty of options for where you could spend your time online. From social media to video creation to local advertising, the options are endless for how you can potentially gain more customers.
But how do you figure out which are the absolute best opportunities for marketing your business? Here are four ways to find out where to market your business to your local customers.
4 WAYS TO DETERMINE WHERE TO MARKET YOUR LOCAL BUSINESS
1. Ask your customers
Perhaps one of the most simple – yet often overlooked – ways to ensure you’re marketing in the right place(s) is by asking your existing customer base.
For many businesses, it could be as simple as always asking the question “how did you hear about us?” Or you might consider asking “where do you spend your time online?” or “where do you like to interact with local businesses like mine?”
You might find the answer surprising. For instance, many customers may not like to hear from local businesses through social media (if they use it purely for personal use, for example), but love getting valuable content through their email.
Ask as many people (and as often) as you can and you’ll start to see some themes emerge.
2. Do your research
Some simple market research can do wonders when it comes to identifying the right channels for marketing your local business.
Social media is a great place to start, since it’s easily searchable. Do some quick searches on your most ideal keywords and potential hashtags. You’ll very quickly start to see what kind of potential audience you’d be looking at for your business. And since you’re local, don’t forget to include your geographic location. Creating – but not necessarily publishing – a Facebook Ads campaign is a great way to get actual numbers for your potential market.
If you’re interested in blogging, creating video content, or an email newsletter, a Google search should yield similar content in your niche. While we would never recommend copying other businesses, seeing if there’s content creation in your niche will likely prove there is interest in your niche.
3. Experiment
Conversely, sometimes a little experimentation will be necessary to see what’s going to work for your target audience.
There may not be any other local vendors who are marketing their business in the same way you want to, but you have a gut feeling it will really appeal to your audience. We say: go for it! Sometimes, you don’t know what will work until you try…especially if it’s never been done before.
Viral content and unique marketing opportunities come when we least expect them and they could be the answer to boosting sales in a way you never thought possible.
The good news: with digital marketing experimentation, you’ll pretty quickly get an answer about whether your efforts are working or not.
4. Analyze the data
One of the most accurate ways to determine where to market your business? By analyzing your data.
Use Google Analytics, Google Search Console, social media measurements, and any other metric tracking you use to confirm that your marketing efforts are sending customers to your local business.
Then, continue doing more of what’s working and decrease (or change) what’s not working for you.
Try these four strategies if you need help determining where to market your local business online.
And if you need help creating a digital marketing presence that represents your business and reaches your target market, contact us at OSC Web Design.
