To increase sales, Business leaders must think differently whether they intend to expand their business locally or if they envision to dominate the globe. Promoting a physical store locally comes with many convenient ways like fliers, TV ads, pamphlets, sponsoring events, etc. Nevertheless, if you aim to advertise your business online, it’s not an easy feat.

Selling is a challenging process and believing that local Marketing is way easier than marketing done across nations is a trap to avoid. Generating sales for online business centered towards local marketing and search engine optimization services come up with different methodologies that imbibe innovative techniques and tactics that make change possible.

It’s nothing new that to acquire more customers or clients you need to get organic traffic through search engines and applying the best local marketing strategies we can expand our reach by intruding ourselves into the areas of our competitors.

We have tried our best to pen down some of the tested and proven strategies that will skyrocket your business’s online  sales by sending you hundreds or even thousands of visitors who are primed to buy

All these strategies are much easier to execute than you think and, if you put them into practice adequately and routinely, you will see that you do not have to be an expert for your business to generate new income and be able to retain better customers.

# Website Optimization with the Right Keywords

Keywords range from single words to complex phrases and when effectively-researched and well-optimized can act as a conduit to connect the potential audience and customers to your website.

Hyperlocal keywords can help you reach exactly the right people if you are trying to target a small, specific region where you need to do a great roundup to find the right ones for your website.

• Use keyword data for larger similar regions
• Target larger nearby areas or suburbs to address the problems that big brands missed.

• Create location-specific posts (even pages) and pivot the most expandable regional keywords that target local and regional consumers both.

• Set long-tail keywords (that look more natural as phrases) taking help from Google autosuggest. Find out the descriptive label you want people to search you with and add your target local keyword.

Related phrases Google suggests as per users intent which they found better Once the right keywords are in your hands, create quality content that focussing terms that reminds visitors of your Brand

There are many tools that can help you to dig out the locale-based target keywords which are relevant and similar to what the locals search for.

[Pro Tip:
Never underestimate the power of low search volume keywords as they can bring more customers and generate high business when based appropriately with your content.]

[Prefer Reading: “The 2020 Essentials of Website Optimization for SEO.”]

# Engage with Locals on Social Channels

Social media, today, isn’t any more a platform to make social connections with friends and family, it has become a source of conducting business which comes with significant advantages.

As per your business type and intent, you can promote your brand to the general public or a specific target audience not by pushing your hard sell but creating genuine engagements with the masses, especially small businesses.

Big businesses already have a star image (both locally and globally) and it’s you who has to build a virtue reputation.

Undoubtedly, social media is an online asset that every business makes use of but only a few are able to leverage it to the fullest, experiencing outstanding results. How? Because they do it Right.

Every brand can acquire clients less or more, that’s not a big deal, the cover is to retain clients/customers which can further become the sources to gather new clients/customers. (Here one can benefit from User Generated Content.)

Every social networking channel (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) can substantially help your local business grow by sharing location-specific useful information. You can funnel all your visitors to one main contact if you don’t have contacts as per the specific locations. Use your highly searched hyper-local keywords in hashtags, posts, and bios.

Follow a more local approach in your SMM( Social Media Marketing)

# Get Local Testimonials

Gathering online reviews and testimonials is a kind of a big deal. Many consumers and clients rely on feedback, reviews, ratings, and testimonials where 72% of them believe that they increase their trust in a brand.

Testimonials act as a proof of trust which is ideal in resolving customer’s queries and enhance their confidence in your product or service. They are a significant source used by customers to evaluate the quality index of your local business where positive reviews and feedback (with reviewers’ location) can let you acquire their vote of trust.

“Testimonials Improve Web Traffic, Enhance SEO and Drive Revenue”

• Online companies showcasing testimonials on their web pages witnessed a 45% hike in their web traffic.
• Conversion rates accelerated by 380% when testimonials are placed alongside the most valuable brand items/products.
• Website traffic increased by 15-20% on Google Business Listings when more than 10 reviews are listed.
• Customers convinced with reviews and other proofs of trust are 58% more likely to make a purchase.
• Regular on posting testimonials can generate more than 60% revenue. (approx)
  (Source)

Let’s gaze at one of the outperforming examples of using testimonials that fulfilled their intent to promote their business product along with encouraging influencer marketing.

Stio, an outdoor clothing retailer established the effectiveness of its products by promoting them via a testimonial by their brand ambassador who pens down his views in the question/answer form.

Local businesses here can avail the benefit of adding testimonials by local influencers (if not brand ambassadors) and inspire their customers to make real and natural connections with your offerings.

Partner with local influencers who have a large following and a strong social presence as they are more earthed with the locals and their community. Influencers have extremely high engagement rates with their followers, and their audiences trust their recommendations.

# Sponsor a Regional Event

Sponsoring an event is synonymous with monetary investment and is labor-intensive too. But this is quite an effective way to keep your brand on top of the mind of the consumers while embarking your extraordinary reputation which they commit to their memory for long.

Even if you don’t possess a physical business identity, still plunge in with the local community with your online presence and let them be aware of your business.

What will your Local Business Reap?

• Brand Visibility
• Improved Public Perception
• Efficient Lead Generation
• Community Goodwill
• Audience Insights
• Business Relationship Expansion
• Successful Return on Investments

The targeted local areas must be researched well, considering their local event calendar. Moreover, you can hunt for heavily populated affairs that occur annually in those areas like racing events, parades, exhibitions, community fairs, and much more.

Choosing local events for sponsorship should also take relevant grounds. Make sure that you offer a helpful service or support to the event by relatively raising awareness of the cause with a touch of your brand’s essence.

This way you naturally tie-in and gather empathy as well.

[Prefer Reading: “How to Get Business from the Internet for your Small Service Business?”]

# Payback to the Community

This is something which is not expected by the masses but it’s a deed that in lieu of renders fruitful results.

85% of the consumers report that it puts a positive impact on them of a local business who supports a charitable cause which enhances their chances of switching to your local brand and improves its genuineness and earns favorable loyalty.

I think none of us wants an example of it as we can relate it ourselves. Isn’t it?

It’s a safe bet to collaborate with charities where in some way or the other you give back to the community by being closer to them, setting up a devoted image and acquiring their vote of trust.

Small businesses and startups need not raise hands and give up on this part, they can go making annual contributions or by promoting adverts that promote your percentage of sales that go to a cause.

[We can learn from Office Depot]

# Develop a Business Mobile App

Believe it or not, today we all keep our smartphones at an arm’s distance and cannot imagine our world without them.

• An average person occupies around 40 apps installed on his mobile phone where 89% of the time is split between 18 apps.

• Apps are famous among the millennials where they have more than 60 apps on their phones and use a maximum of 25 among them.

• 75% of the respondents confirm that the top 5 app categories are the ones that they hook with routinely.

The Stats and Figures Say it All!

While the maximum proportion of the populace is on their mobile phone, why not launch your business app irrespective of the type of business and the industry you serve and let them get busy with your intuitive and personalized business app rich in user experience.

Mobile apps are the need of the hour for every online business that personalizes the customer experience to the next level, ending up high sales and revenue results in comparison with mobile websites.

Thus, to enhance the profitability of your local business, get a customized mobile app ready to engage more and more users with your brand, and flag its success, enjoying high visibility and reach. 

[Prefer Reading: “15 Ways to Improve your Online Sales During COVID-19.”]

# Have a Regional FAQ page

Whatever people come across, they raise questions about them, and being a business you might receive infinite and unique concerns people raise every now and then.

Say you got 5 new customers today from your locale asking similar or same queries about your product or service or offerings. Well, that’s good that you got potential leads to convert but ever thought that why all of them had the same questions to ask?

We’ll it’s because only a few people know the exact answer!

This indicates that you need to work more on your local business marketing as surprisingly, even the local ones aren’t aware of your brand and its significance. This inclines towards hitting the pivot on two inevitable aspects, first, Digital Marketing strategies for enhanced reach and visibility and, second, Content Marketing strategies to let them know the exact information (answering How, When, Why, Where, What).

You can answer all possible questions local people can ask about (in addition to the services and other business elements) either by creating a local FAQ page or going beyond this to write detailed articles about each inquiry they make.

Create a series of questions and answer them comprehensively, mentioning each detail, highlighting the crucial substances, and keeping void chances of illegibility. Segmenting queries as per the local demographics and enabling the locals to feel special and separate from the globals will definitely help you earn their interest.

# Improve & Enhance your Customer Service

“One customer, well taken care of, could be more valuable than $10,000 worth of advertising.”- Jim Rohn

Increase the awareness of your brand through delightful customer interactions and this is possible if your local business provides excellent customer service. You can enhance the convenience provided to users/customers by using social media as a customer service platform.

In the same context, JetBlue has set a great example by leveraging Twitter platform for smooth business communication which is professional and is delivered timely and consistently.

Nike, possessing 4 million Twitter followers also recognizes the significance of customer service and has set up a separate customer inquiry account namely @teamnike which solely addresses consumer issues and grievances, responding to their plea promptly and swiftly.

Nike’s support team is proactive where the seekers get replies within a few minutes. Looking at the account’s Twitter feed you’ll see responses delivered by Nike every few minutes. This builds up customer’s loyalty and trust towards the brand and that they can rely on it to provide them with the help they need as and when.

Final Consideration

There is a need to change the conventional forms of doing business on local grounds, pushing your sales hard isn’t a solitary way left to generate business online. There are many different methods your local business can apply to amplify its sales by delivering value to the audience which they cannot find elsewhere.

Continue to educate and inform your target audience in the most suitable and engaging way, and you will witness increased product or service sales in the process.

The valuable feed is always welcomed! Share your thoughts in the comment section to educate our readers with your insights and knowledge.

The post Capitalizing Local Marketing to Increase Sales for Your Online Business appeared first on Netset Digital.