Creating a locally focused content marketing strategy is a great way to draw in traffic to your site and storefront. In the era of smartphones it may seem like everyone is shopping online, but that isn’t necessarily true – LSA Insider reports that 88 percent of consumers who search for a local business on a mobile device will visit that business within the following 24 hours. Crafting a content-rich local strategy can be challenging if you’ve been focused on huge social media marketing campaigns in the past, but getting back to your roots can be rewarding for your business. Here are a few ways you can market locally and make it count.
Define Local
If your business has only one location, the idea of local is easy to pin down – you might serve one single city or maybe just one neighborhood. If you have several locations across a city or state, a local strategy requires a different approach. Each location must advertise and market to its specific community while still being a part of the overall business’ marketing and outreach goals. In this situation, each of your locations doesn’t need its own website, but it needs its own presence in the community.
Support the Community
Some of the best marketing you can do is charity work. Everything from sponsoring a Little League team to organizing food drives around the holidays is a chance for you to show the community that you care. Apple Rubber notes that philanthropy not only offers team-building experiences within your business, but it establishes your company in the community and brings more visibility to your brand. Sponsorship of events and other community outreach weaves you into the fabric of local culture and helps you create a positive brand identity within your area. Your participation doesn’t have to end after the event, either. According to E-strategy, 54 percent of marketers relived highlights from events online to keep consumers interested post-event, and that six percent crowdsourced for their next event.
Local Content
Creating content that is locally focused requires a little more refinement than just listing your location’s address on your website. For instance, simply tagging photos online with the locations they were taken and using videos that were shot on location gives a sense of your place in the area. If your business has a blog, write about local businesses and landmarks as well as events and local issues. You don’t have to play reporter, but when you join the conversation about the community you become a part of it.
Backlinking
Consider leaving reviews on other local businesses’ social media profiles. If you are the big fish in the pond, your blessing can mean a lot, whereas if you are a small business you might receive a linkback from one of the local giants, which can do a lot for your company’s credibility in the eyes of consumers. Don’t badmouth the competition, even if you genuinely don’t like their product or services – it’ll make you look petty and small and drive away locals who might like you both.
