If you want to market your online business, you’ll first need to consider whether you want to reach local customers or remote ones. The reason behind this is simple: if you want to grow your business, you’ll need to get as many people as possible to visit or use your services. Therefore, whether you’re physically located in the same town or not, you’ll need to find a way to get the word out there about your business. This article will discuss several methods you can use to attract local customers to your site.
Traditional Marketing
When it comes to marketing your online business, many entrepreneurs think about spending big money on expensive ads in prominent publications. While this type of marketing can be very effective, it can also be very expensive. More and more businesses are discovering that they can get the same results without the hefty price tag by simply using several digital marketing methods.
Pay Per Click (PPC) Marketing
If you don’t have the budget for expensive ads, you can try pay per click (PPC) marketing. With this method, you only pay when someone clicks on an advert you’ve placed on a certain website. The price generally ranges from $5 to $20 per day, depending on the size of the audience the ad is targeting. You can find a PPC marketing platform like Revolutu on HubSpot, for example.
There are several benefits to PPC marketing. First, you only pay for results. This can be a great way to cut your costs if you’re not necessarily getting the results you want. Second, PPC marketing is very measurable. You can track how many clicks you get, as well as the traffic they lead to, so you can determine if this is a method that is worth pursuing.
Direct Marketing
Another way to attract customers to your site is by sending out direct mailings to people in your database. With this method, you’ll either send out physical or digital postcards to people (in your case, those who have registered for your email list).
The nice thing about direct marketing is that you can target specific groups of people. So, for example, you can send postcards to people who live in or near a certain town, or you can send them to people who purchased a certain product from you.
One important thing to keep in mind when doing direct mailings is that you should follow-up after every mailing. You can either send another mailer, or you can contact the person by phone or email. The follow-up period can be as short as a couple of weeks, or it can be a few months.
Social Media Marketing
If you have a social media account, you can use it to market your business. There are several platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram that can help you gain exposure for your business. You can use these accounts to talk about your products, host giveaways, or just share interesting content about your industry.
On social media, you don’t necessarily have to do anything to gain exposure. Just be yourself and connect with the people there. If you want to grow your followers or gain new customers, you can try using free tools like Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule and post content across various social platforms.
Creative Marketing
If you want to have fun and be different when marketing your business, you can try using creative marketing. This might mean doing something as unique as hand-painting a unique piece of artwork for a customer, or maybe it means putting together a cool marketing campaign. It can mean anything!
Just make sure you try new and different things regularly to keep your marketing unique. If you want to have a successful marketing plan, you should always be looking for ways to improve your approach and experiment with new ideas.
Local Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
If you’re looking to attract customers from within a certain area, you can try local search engine marketing. In this case, you’ll want to market and promote your business on local search engine results pages (SERPs). When someone searches for a business within your area, and your website shows up among the results, you’ll want to have a look-see at what’s there.
You can use various methods to get the most from your local search engine marketing. For example, you can try using local listings, free classified ads, or you can even pay per click (PPC) to have your website shown at the top of the page.
Keep in mind, though, that if you want to attract customers from within a certain area, you should always consider the competition. If you have several local businesses that offer the same product or service, then you’ll need to do something special to stand out from the crowd.
Use the following tips to get started with your local search engine marketing plan:
Curate Content For Local Search
One of the first things you’ll want to do is to curate content for your local search. You can find local businesses that are active on social media, and you can use their content to help attract customers to your side. When someone types in a location and a relevant keyword, their ideal list of results should include your website among the top-three options.
If you don’t have a website yet, consider using a service like Wix or GoDaddy to get a professionally designed and hosted site. With a site like these, you can add a local city address to your website, and you can even configure your site to pull in city-specific information like sales tax rates, hours of operation, and more.
By collecting this information, you can put together a comprehensive guide that provides visitors with all the information they need about your business—whether they’re a local customer or visitor from out of state. At the very least, you’ll have a place for them to find this information if you set up a local office with a dedicated staff person.
Regular Updates
Another important thing to do if you want to succeed with your marketing plan is to update your website and social media accounts regularly. You don’t want to let your audience or potential customers slip away because you’ve neglected your online presence. Therefore, make sure you check your website and social media accounts at least once a day, if not more often.
Also, try to engage with your audience on social media. If you have a Facebook page, try to post regularly and consistently. Doing this will not only help you connect with potential customers, but it will also encourage them to come back for more. If your Facebook page is private, consider using tools like Hashtags to gain more exposure. Doing this can also help you find new customers who are interested in your industry or products.
Similarly, on Twitter, you can try using the # symbol after your company’s name to have your tweets reach a larger audience. Your followers will see your messages, and they may also choose to follow you based on your value proposition or niche rather than your account’s name alone.
Guest Blogging
One of the most effective ways to attract potential customers to your website is by becoming a guest blogger on other sites. In this case, you’ll write about products and/or services related to your industry or niche. You can use your blog to gain credibility with prospective customers, and you can even use it to establish yourself as an expert in your field.
Many industry experts, thought leaders, and popular bloggers have blogs, so it is definitely within your reach. You can try reaching out to these individuals and offering to contribute content to their sites. Most successful bloggers and content creators will gladly partner with businesses that they believe in, and in return, you can expect to see their name associated with a high-quality link back to your site. When someone clicks on these links, they’re likely to be impressed by the quality of the content and decide to visit your site for more information.
If you lack the time to become a regular contributor to other blogs, you can also create your own blog and use various platforms like WordPress to get the content published as quickly as possible.
Include keywords throughout your content, and make sure to use bold and italicized text to make your points. If you want to become a successful marketer, you should always be looking for ways to improve your content, whether through rewriting or using a ghostwriter. Doing this can make a significant difference in your marketing efforts and the results you see.