Welp MagazineLocal businesses can sometimes struggle to gain attention in an emerging and fast-moving e-tail world. With many more customers now shopping online instead of on their high street, there is increasing pressure on local firms to gain a footing in the market.
To try and improve this situation, what forms of digital marketing should local businesses be investing in?
Website SEO
Having a website that is fully SEO (search engine optimisation) optimised can go a long way to getting your company discovered online.
Search engines such as Google rely on SEO to gather the right information about a website and tell them when and where to show the given site in the search results. The better optimised your website is, the higher it will likely show up when someone searches for your niche.
If you don’t think that you can do the SEO part yourself, then there are agencies that can provide tools and assistance for SEO in Hertfordshire or wherever you are located.
While SEO can take time, the rewards are generally far greater than not using SEO at all.
Facebook ads
One of the best reasons for using Facebook ads is the ability to target specific audiences. There are a number of demographics that you can use to find just the right people to target to give your ad the best chance of success.
If you set up a business page on Facebook as well, you can then post interesting things about the company or new products. You can also direct visitors to your website where they will hopefully make a purchase.
As a local business, you can start by targeting your local area so that only those people in that area will see the ad. This will help to increase your exposure locally and bring customers to your door.
You can widen or shorten the area depending on how effective the ads are, and you can also add an age range and other specifics to drill down further.
YouTube commercials
YouTube is one of the biggest search engines outside of Google. This means you can place ads in the videos to get the most exposure possible. Many companies have had good results from placing ads in this way.
You can still target a local audience, but you will also be tapping into a vast number of users from all over the world. For that reason, having an online store may be a great benefit to you.
Instagram is a great way to build a community and gain followers for your brand. By using popular hashtags linked to your niche, you can place your posts in front of millions of people. You can also upload short videos and other media to help drive traffic to your website.
Another benefit of using Instagram is that you can ask other people that are influencers to become brand ambassadors for your company. These are usually people that have a large following on social media and can get your products in front of their fans.
Content marketing
Writing content for your website is another part of SEO that can gain your brand more attention. By writing things that relate to your niche, you can get clicks from search results, which may lead to readers checking out your products.
If you are not certain how to write these articles, then there are agencies that have writers who can create them for you. They will use SEO to give your online content the best chance of being discovered.
When creating content, you don’t want to just post about your products. You need to write about what your readers are interested in, but tied in some way to your business niche.
Email marketing
Although email marketing has been around for a long time, it is still considered to be one of the best ways to generate interest in a brand.
By asking people to sign up for your e-newsletter, you can place ads and special offers directly into their inboxes. This can be a powerful way to engage with your customers without spending a lot of money on ads.
To get the best response, send e-newsletters once a week or month, and try not to bombard people with your emails. Overwhelming your recipients will likely lead to them unsubscribing or adding you to their spam filter.
Conclusion
To make an impact on your local community, you need to embrace all the avenues open to you as a business owner. This means looking at how a new technology or marketing strategy can help you reach your audience. It also involves getting your brand in front of as many people as possible.
