No matter if you’re a small business or a large corporation, the world of online marketing is omnipresent. With a few mouse clicks and some copywriting skill, you can get a marketing message out to hundreds, even thousands of people.

While this might be ideal for a global brand, it can be a whole other matter when you consider the limitations that come with being small- or medium-sized. Being local is even more challenging. The digital population of a city is massive, and you can bet that everyone there is quite aware of your existence. You might gain a few customers in your area, but it’s unlikely that you’ll see any significant growth.

The Importance of Being Local

If you’re reading this, I assume that at some point in your life, you’ve considered yourself to be a local business. You might sell your products and services locally, as well as across the country. Or maybe you’re just interested in promoting brands within your own community. Either way, being “local” is, in some way, crucial to your business.

The trouble is that being local can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you have a captive audience. People of your area understand what you offer and can potentially be converted into paying customers. On the other hand, you have to fight a more traditional battle against your competitors, many of whom might also consider themselves to be local businesses.

Traditional Versus Online Marketing

So which should you pursue: the quick, easy buck or the long-term, stable growth? If your answer is traditional marketing, i.e., you’d like to reach as many people as possible, go ahead and spend your time and resources attracting new customers across the country. But if you think that the best way to go is online, then you might want to center your efforts on attracting local customers and creating awareness of your business within your community.

Nowadays, there isn’t a single marketing channel that doesn’t reach the entire planet. Local businesses might struggle to gain a presence beyond their immediate area, but that doesn’t mean that traditional methods no longer work. In most cases, you can still reach a global audience and gain a lot of traction with your business, even if you’re based in a small town. The key is to find the right marketing mix for your product or service.

The Growing Trend Of Online Shoppings

If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you know that trends come and go. Right now, people are flocking to online marketsplaces like Amazon, but five or ten years from now, who knows?

One trend that has been gaining momentum is online shopping. More and more people are discovering the benefits of shopping for products and services online. Some of the advantages are:

• The ability to compare prices and find the best deal
• The opportunity to discover a whole new range of products that you might not have seen before if you were restricted to one shop
• The freedom to be available whenever your favourite brands and products are having a sale
• The convenience of shopping whenever you want

If you’ve never given much thought to online marketing, maybe it’s time to start.