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The internet and the advent of social media have, without a doubt, revolutionized the ways in which most businesses carry out their marketing activities. Rather than being restricted to a customer base only in your local area, you can connect with potential customers from all over the world. However, it is important that you do not neglect your local customer base, as it provides you with the opportunity to connect with your community and provide something positive. Here are some ideas for how you can attract local searchers to your business and turn them into loyal customers.
Optimize your Google My Business listing
Google My Business is a useful tool that enables you to manage and optimize your business profile on Google, allowing you to create and verify your business on the search engine so that your business information can be shown on Google Maps. This means that local customers will be able to find your business when searching for services in the local area. The Google My Business service is especially useful for businesses that rely on their location for the services they offer, such as coffee shops or are situated in competitive metropolitan areas.
Coupons and loyalty cards
Offering discounts is one of the best way tools you can use to draw in new customers. You might, for instance, offer coupons, either via email or traditional mail, that will grant the recipient to a discounted item when presented to your front desk. You could take this further by offering a loyalty scheme for repeat customers. For instance, if you own a coffee shop, customers could collect stars on a loyalty card that entitles them to their tenth drink for free. Loyalty schemes are relatively inexpensive to maintain and offer your business a high return on investment in terms of encouraging a loyal local customer base.
Use pamphlet marketing
It is all too easy to concentrate your marketing efforts on the digital world – understandably so, with social media having such a large outreach. However, traditional marketing methods, such as distributing pamphlets and flyers, enable you to connect with customers in your local area. Use the Adobe Creative Cloud suite to design your marketing pamphlets; alternatively, you might prefer to hire a graphic designer to do this if you are not confident in your own design skills. You can mail your pamphlets and flyers to homes in your local area or display them in public places like cafes for interested people to pick up and keep.
Local events One of the best ways of increasing your customer base in your local area is to get involved in local events. This might mean having a presence at local markets and festivals, perhaps offering free tasters or product demonstrations. Or, you might want to align yourself with the ‘buy local’ movement to tap into people’s desires to support small, independent local businesses instead of large, impersonal global conglomerates.
