Most of the people searching the web on their phones are looking for something local, stats suggest. A study by Search Engine Land in the USA showed that 50% of people go to business they searched for within one day of that search. Additionally, 60% of people used the information they found on local online ads and the business’s website. Andy Sarson asks: Why should that be any different here in the UK?

Local marketing specifically centres around a local service or physical shop. Most of the business’s marketing efforts concentrate (or should) on driving customers into that establishment. Usually, these customers live within a 10-mile radius of the business in question.

Traditional Local Marketing Tactics

In the days before the internet (that wasn’t that long ago!), many small businesses used pretty standard tactics to get people to their business’s. They developed mailing list from taking customers details when paying for goods and recording them at other outside local events or activities. More recently they have come through local searches too.

Digital Marketing Tactics for Local Markets

Mobile customers most often look up information like a business’s phone number or location on Google Maps. They also search for reviews, driving directions, and other details. Therefore, the business owner ensures that information is on the company’s website, Facebook page, other social media approaches.

Segmenting Your Local Market Niche

Local marketing doesn’t just mean that a business targets everyone in the local market. The business owner should know who their target customer is. No particular niche is better than another one, but to make the most effective use of marketing pounds, customer populations should and segmented at least in the marketing plan. This, in turn, determines how a business creates its marketing messages as well as its advertising and marketing campaigns.

Finally, it’s good to use a wide marketing mix to reach your target market. There’s still a place for radio, TV, experiential and print advertising in the digital age. That said, a business owner should always test the responses a particular campaign is getting. This allows him to spend money on media that really pulls in leads and to reduce or stop media that doesn’t have the same success rate.

Link: APS Marketing Consulting Services