Menu
It’s crucial that every single ad and each of your campaigns is seen by the right customers in your area. Whenever you spend on your local advertising, you simply can’t afford to waste any of your budget. That means you can’t just hit and hope.
Through geo-targeting you have the ability to target a specific customer demographic, i.e. families with two children, single people, or even a specific age range, within a defined geographic area.
All of your spend will go towards targeting that exact audience and none of your budget will be wasted. The challenge for you is to define exactly the target audience that brings the most value to your brand and how the content of your ad will encourage them to click.
A recent study from August 2019 found that 52% of local retail listings on Google were inaccurate, in that they had the wrong address and phone number or incorrect opening hours. In some cases all three were wrong.
Such a simple thing can have a huge impact on your business. If customers are turning up to find locked doors, you’ll have lost a sale and gained a resentful customer that’s more likely to turn to your competitors in a time of need.
Don’t fall down on such a simple thing.
Local businesses have always survived on word of mouth and even in the digital age, things are no different.
Referrals are so important. And customers are willing to give them. In fact, 61% of customers will give one referral, while 34% will make two to 11 referrals. Those are pretty good numbers, so how can you ensure a successful referral programme for your local business?
The first step is to understand what will make your customers write a successful review of your products or services. What incentive can you give them? This could be a discount or gift card for example.
Then build this into your approach to retargeting. Whilst you should already be using retargeting to guide your customers through their path to purchase with you, it’s also a valuable tactic to engage with customers that have just bought from you. Ask them to write a review and refer your business, you’ll be engaging and increasing your brand awareness for new customers through the power of referrals.
When a customer is looking for something in their local area, where do they begin? In most instances this will start with an online search, likely through Google.
This means that you need to be present through your paid search ads, that your local listings are accurate and that you rank in the search engine results pages. You therefore need to be up on your SEO and PPC.
This is where many local businesses stop and forget one crucial tactic.
Keyword retargeting. That user might not find exactly what they were looking for straightaway. They might get distracted and look at something else online or begin looking at one of your competitors.
By retargeting them with your ads, based on their original keyword search, you’ll illustrate how relevant your business is to their needs and enable them to discover you away from the search engine as they continue browsing online. When your ads stand out, are beautifully designed and the products, offers and deals in your ads are always up to date, you’ll always provide a positive customer experience.
Discovering your business when searching online at home is one thing for consumers, but what about catching the attention of those on the go?
Walk-ins are the lifeblood of any local business, but you simply can’t rely on them happening by themselves. Your business needs to be front and centre to all potential customers when they’re going about their daily lives close to your location.
What is a huge part of people’s daily lives? Their smartphone. Geofencing ensures your ads are seen by people on the go via their mobile devices when they enter a defined area, whether close to your business or even one of your competitors. It can be the final piece of your local advertising strategy.