Local businesses are popular with both consumers and search engines. The majority of the time you search online, Google will automatically provide a list of businesses based on your location. By optimizing local marketing for your business, you can generate more leads.

Learn how to reach out to your target audience by engaging with the local area, and making this part of your SEO strategy. Local-marketing is a more targetted and personal approach and it’s time to make it work for your brand. Here are seven strategies on how to market your local business.

Represent Core Values in Your Branding

One of the ways to reach out to your customers is by rethinking your core values. The benefits of running a local business are that you can use the ideals of trust and loyalty to your advantage. Consumers see local businesses as a more ethical option and believe they care more about individual needs. Consider working this into your branding and marketing.

Take a more personal approach and make your branding more friendly and relatable. Include your local town as much as you can in your branding and website. For help with this, you can outsource your local marketing and finally get people in the door with local SEO services.

Optimize Keywords on Your Site

Keywords are crucial to your website, after all, they the main link between a Google search and your site. By optimizing keywords in your content, what you are essentially doing is replicating what a potential customer would type into Google. If you include these key phrases in your text, the search engines will be able to find a link.

Proper use of keywords and technical SEO can help to create organic leads. It’s also key to include as many local references as possible. For a local business, the customer’s location is crucial. The way to get more local keywords or regional identifiers on your website is with local content marketing. Create category pages with local goods and content to reach out to your local customers.

Engage in Local Social Media

Connect with potential customers on social media based on their location. Create genuine conversations and increase your brand awareness by optimizing your use of social media. Social media is also a great customer service platform. You could use Twitter to reply to customer inquiries.

Include location-specific information on social media. Post about your local stores and use local keywords as well. Connect with other local businesses on social media. You could collaborate with local suppliers and advertise this as part of your social media marketing. Keep it as local as possible, and local customers will find you.

Local Customer Reviews

Have these on display on your website. Reviews are an important part of your content. Use video testimonies as well, or if possible names or photos of local clients. Use your instincts to judge what would most appeal to your client base. Select testimonies from local customers expressing a long-term reliable service.

Online customers are more likely to trust local customer reviews. This is because of the core values they represent. Businesses that cater to a larger scale are seen as impersonal and uncaring, and the same goes for their reviews. People are more likely to trust a review from a neighbor or local citizen they can pinpoint.

Advertise to Local Customers

Personalize your ads and create offers for local customers. Use local events to help you. If there’s an event going on in the local area you could create an ad or a special offer relating to this. Analyze common traits in your local demographic, and attempt to appeal to these.

There are plenty of ways to advertise your business locally and for free. You can even attend local events to network, and really build a name for yourself in the community. Keep optimizing your web content with mentions of events such as these, and any relevant promotions.

Sponsor a Local Event

Rather than just attending local events you could try working with one. Consider sponsoring an event such as a state fair in order to increase awareness for your local business. The right event attracts highly interested customers. Here are more tips on how to choose an event to sponsor.

Sponsoring events helps to give your business credibility. Local customers will assume your business is legitimate and reputable if you show you can sponsor other organizations. It also helps you make more of a name for yourself in the local community.

Customers prefer brands that care about spreading positive messages and helping the local community. Linking your business to a humanitarian cause can also help to raise positive attention. Think of affiliating yourself with a local charity or NGO. Don’t forget to post about it on social media, and optimize the use of video coverage on your website.

Advertise in Local Publications

Find local publications that appeal to your target demographic and buy an ad space or publish an article with them. Identify an interesting angle that appeals to the readers of that particular publication. Use this to target your advertising.

Think of the kind of stories the local publication usually runs. To capture a journalist’s interest, your business needs to be involved in something interesting. This could be hosting an event, raising money for charity, or launching something new. The more unusual or unexpected your story is, the more it’ll stand out.

Make your online ads locally focused as well. You can do this by using Google Ads to your advantage. Generate more sales by optimizing Google Ads for local businesses. Use local friendly ad extensions and local addresses and phone numbers.

It doesn’t matter how big your business is, local marketing is always important. Customers like the idea of local business and the values it represents. Location is relevant even if you work mostly online, it’s part of what makes you rank highly on search engines, and with local customers. Tap into the local market to boost your business this year.