If your local business is struggling to gain traction, or if you just want to mix up your marketing approach, perhaps it’s time to consider a digital marketing strategy.
Why should I invest in digital marketing for my local business? The benefits are far too comprehensive to encompass in one list, but here are the highlights:
• Conduct local search marketing.
• Optimizing your website.
• Building links, the right way.
• Leveraging keywords/increasing SEO rank.
• Email address collection.
• Social listening/managing your reputation.
• Leverage social media.
• Drive attendance/sales.
• Paid ad campaigns.
Yes, this list may seem a bit daunting at first glance, but if you reach out to professionals with experience building brands and small businesses, you’ll see just how powerful digital marketing is.
Local Search Marketing
Local search marketing is exactly what it sounds like. With this style of research, you are going to optimize your business’s listings online to show up in relevant searches. Also known as SEO, this will increase your ranking. Let’s say you’re an ice cream shop. If you execute your digital marketing effectively, you could become the top business to show up in the SERPs (search engine results page) when consumers search, “Ice cream near me.”
Your Website
Think of your website as the “life blood” of your online business. You need to have as much information as you can about your business and the goods/services you offer on this platform. Your landing page is by far one of the most important spots of your website, as this has the ability to attract new consumers.
Laying out all of your services, as well as including key information on your website, will ensure more hits on your website and a more informed target audience.
Link Building
Don’t underestimate the importance of using links online. We often overlink the simplest details but building your web links properly is key to effective digital marketing. Invest in a domain, invest in a good website developer or platform. Don’t go the cheap route or have a website URL that screams amateur.
You want to invest in the tools your business needs to stand out from the competition.
Keywords and SEO
Keywords and SEO, or search engine optimization, have become major buzzwords in marketing in recent years.
What are keywords, and who cares about them? Keywords are these important nuggets of information your consumers are searching for. When someone looks up “electricians near me,” electricians is a key word. When they look up, “local,” that’s also important, as well as any words indicating goods, services, products, locations, etc.
You should rely on a platform like Google Ads or consult a digital marketing agency for more insight into keywords and what your digital marketing strategy requires.
Contacts
What easier way to grow your following than collecting names, emails, and other contact info? When you’re a business owner, you realize the value of word-of-mouth, as well as reviews. By asking consumers to leave a review for your business along with their email, you’re also gaining an additional contact in your network. Think smarter, not harder!
Social Listening
Online reputation management has become a major focus for businesses in 2020 and the digital age at large. What others say about your business online carries a lot of weight these days, sometimes even more weight than an objective view of your brand and what you have to offer.
People want to hear what a brand is like from the lens of someone familiar with the business. They look for blogs, user-generated content, photos, social media posts. Anything personal and individualized that gives a more authentic, candid perspective about a business.
It’s important to stay on top of your reputation management, as a positive reputation online can translate to more sales or attendance for your business in real life. On the other hand, a negative online reputation can spell disaster for your business plan.
Social Strategy
Social media isn’t just a way to connect with the in-laws or extended family members anymore. Social media is for businesses, too. So many large, influential brands place an emphasis on social presence and strategy. The top dogs in the industry leverage a strong social presence and consistent engagement with their target audience to consistently deliver a strong presence in society.
You need to create a social strategy your consumers can’t ignore.
Return on Investment
Have you ever wondered why your event, fundraiser, or general sales goals always come up short? It’s time to stop asking, “Why me?” And start doing.
You can easily drive attendance, sales, revenue, whatever your key metric is. All you have to do is leverage digital marketing campaigns to do so quickly, effectively, and consistently. You can use Facebook events to drive attendance. Or Eventbrite to issue “tickets” for a branded event.
It’s all about how you execute, and being as efficient as possible. That’s what digital marketing is all about.
Paid Ads
Digital marketing is unique with all of the different approaches to online advertising one can take. You can implement paid Facebook ads, Google Ads, or Instagram ads. Paid ads are a great compliment to an organic strategy.
Keep in mind that conversion tracking is paramount when running paid ads. You want to make sure that you can trace where your leads are coming from, especially if you have a decent size budget. All of these tiny details will contribute to your local business’s overall exposure and growth.
Summary
Digital marketing is an investment into your business’s future. And it isn’t just for the big guys. Digital marketing can be the conduit to your exponential business growth.
If you’re a local business looking to spread its wings, it’s time to get your hands dirty with digital marketing. Get in touch with the experts—you won’t regret it.
A little bit about us – Web Fox Marketing is a web company in Livonia, Michigan SEO in addition to digital marketing professionals. We serve our surrounding community near Livonia, Novi, West Bloomfield, Farmington Hills, Royal Oak and beyond. In addition to providing digital marketing services, we’re proficient in search engine advantages , Google Ads marketing (Pay Per Click), Search Engine Optimization services, social media advertising, and much more!
Your website is a critical step, as online success throughout our digital world is dependent on search engine ranking and max visibility to several marketing channels. Our Michigan lead generation firm is more than happy to assist you with any kind of questions you may have. Drop us a line today and let’s kick-start creating your next web project!
Also, as you might have guessed, Google has incredible resources talking about Digital Marketing & SEO, and how to build your online marketing campaign, here is a great video from Google.