Whether you're a store owner or a marketing professional for a large corporation, local business digital marketing is an important part of your marketing toolbox. If you don't focus on local digital marketing efforts and strategies, your business can miss out on customer growth and retention.
Local digital marketing is ideal for any business, as it focuses on targeted marketing campaigns in a specific area. These tactics can help drive customer engagement and loyalty. Here's what you need to know about digital marketing for local businesses and why it's so important for your business.
If this seems too complicated or you don't have the resources in-house, ask a marketing agency.
Although local marketing can mean different things to different businesses, it is generally used to describe a local marketing strategy that complements a wider marketing campaign, whether regional or national.
The local business, whether the only one or one of a company's many locations, will have control over the localization of the wider digital marketing campaign. The rationale behind local marketing is that employees in a specific location will have a much better knowledge of the consumer base in that area, meaning they can tailor local marketing campaigns to suit regional trends.
This form of strategy uses not only marketing strategies in that location, but also web optimization strategies to help drive online traffic to local stores.
Because Google and other search engines suggest relevant businesses in the area where the user is located. By optimizing web pages and focusing on marketing efforts in the region, both web and foot traffic will end up at your business.
Proximity digital marketing is about having a relevant presence in a given region. This means engaging with local customers and creating strategies to attract those customers based on local consumer needs and trends. Targeted engagement helps establish consistent growth in the local market.
There are many ways for businesses to effectively use digital convenience store marketing to grow their local customer base and increase sales. Marketing strategies such as direct mail, local promotions, special events and local advertising on local radio, newspapers and television are all ways for businesses to take advantage of convenience store marketing.
Effective local marketing campaigns also include rewarding repeat customers. It's this personalized level of service and customer appreciation that makes this form of marketing so powerful. More than half of retailers say that creating an exceptional customer experience is the most effective way for their business to succeed and grow.
Businesses can connect and engage with customers in the local area through events or even online via social networks. One-to-one contact with customers is far more effective than a global national campaign. Local store digital marketing allows marketing professionals to adapt content, programs and even pricing strategies to the region.
And let's not forget social proof marketing and online reviews, which are very important for both consumers and Google. The search engine uses reviews to rate your business and your website, and consumers read these reviews before visiting your local business or store. 92% of consumers consult online reviews before buying.
Proximity marketing, like any other marketing strategy, is used not only to increase your customer base, but also to retain your existing customers. Here's why it's so important to use convenience store marketing to build customer loyalty.
- 89% of consumers ended up doing business with a different company after a bad experience.
- It costs up to ten times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one.
- Increasing customer loyalty by 2% is equivalent to reducing overall costs by 10%.
Companies need to focus on digital marketing campaigns to attract customers in different locations. Simply using national or regional marketing campaigns is not as effective as complementing these broader campaign strategies with local business digital marketing.