How to Master Local Marketing

As a small to medium-sized business, using effective local business marketing tactics is what helps to increase your practice’s visibility in your local community. Local marketing can have many benefits for your practice and can help you become a household name in your area.

When patients or clients think of a specific product or service that they need, you want your practice to be the first one they think of. So, how can you achieve this? By mastering local business marketing!

5 Local Business Marketing Tips To Master Local Marketing

It’s never too late to start tackling new and improved marketing strategies to maximize your efforts and be introduced to new business. Follow along as we explore four ways to make localized marketing work for you!

1. Update business listings on Google.

We’ve said this before and we’ll say it again, online business listings are CRUCIAL in getting new patients or clients through your front door. Your online listings should be properly managed so that your practice, website, and contact information can easily be found.

Creating a Google My Business account is one of the most significant things you can do for your practice. When people in your community are searching for businesses near them, most of them will head directly to Google to find what they’re looking for.

Did you know that 3.5 billion Google searches are made every single day? People in your area are part of that 3.5 billion.

Read More: How To Claim Your Google My Business Listing

Google mobile search
Imagine if someone was searching for a veterinarian in their area and they find you online but your phone number or website URL is inaccurate. Now they have no way of actually contacting you. You’ve just missed out on a potential new patient because your business listing was incorrect.

Or let’s say someone has an appointment with you already and they’re going to their first appointment. They ask their phone to navigate to your practice only to find that the address Google has for your practice is incorrect and they are now on the other side of town. That first appointment probably isn’t going to go as well as it could have.
Both of these examples can lead to frustration and missed opportunities for your practice.

Setting up a Google My Business account can help you to avoid missed opportunities like this. When your profile is set up, people can view your hours of operation, online reviews, address, website, and more! Make it as easy as possible to be found online.

We offer a useful business listing tool to help you find every place that your business is listed and make sure that listing is correct.

Learn More: Our business listing tool can ensure that your patients find you with up to date information across the web.

Bonus Tip: Although Google is the number one search engine, it doesn’t mean it’s the only one. Go the extra mile and research your practice using other search engines like Bing and Yahoo to make sure your information is accurate there as well.

2. Get featured in local media.

There are so many different ways to use media to reach your ideal patient or client. Here are just a few opportunities to be highlighted in your local media outlets.

Newspaper Ads

Does your town have a local newspaper? It may seem like a dated idea but there are plenty of people who still read the paper every day and search for business ads or cover stories there. If you’re on a budget, you want to work smarter NOT harder.
newspapers
In order for your ads to make an impact on newspaper readers, be sure that your advertisement:

  • Has a compelling headline
  • Shows your products or services
  • Includes an image
  • Has readable font
  • Emphasizes the benefits coming to your practice has for patients or clients

Advertising in your local paper can be an excellent way to
market your business and generate more revenue.

Television or Radio Ads

If your budget allows, TV or radio ads can also be a great source to draw people to your practice. Broadcasting your advertisement in your local area can reach a very large audience and have the ability to establish your brand identity to viewers. You have the opportunity to be as fun and creative as you would like in order to give viewers an idea of who you are.

tv adTelevision ads are a form of multi-sensory marketing, which is engaging with your viewer’s senses to trigger a specific response from them and increase brand awareness or revenue. When you tap into more than one of your viewer’s senses, it leaves a lasting impact on them, even after your ad airs.

3. Build partnerships with other business owners.

What better way for someone to see who you are and what you do than by talking to those in your local community? The best way to build relationships with other business owners in your area is to network.

Introduce yourself and allow the relationship to happen naturally so that it’s authentic and does not feel like you are trying to sell them on something versus being genuinely interested in creating a partnership.

When you partner with other local business owners, you can get ideas from one another on how to increase revenue and attract more people to your office. You can do this by promoting each other’s business. Whether it’s a flyer in the window, part of an email, or just word of mouth, collaborating with like-minded individuals and utilizing the connections they have within the community can help to get your name out there.

4. Organize or sponsor community events or teams.

If you want the people in your neighborhood to know your name and face, hold an event for them to attend! The people coming into your office are not just patients or clients, they’re neighbors that you see and interact with every day.

Foster those connections by putting together a local event that will attract people from all over town. Leverage this event as a way to get to know more about the people in your community while also discussing your small business.

Sponsoring an event or even a sports team in your area can also help to raise awareness about your practice. We know what you are thinking… if you have a specific marketing budget, how will you be able to sponsor an event or team?

Read On: Learn what digital marketing trends you should be following

There are two types of sponsorships that one can do. They are:

  • Paying sponsor – you pay an individual or an entity to promote your business or brand. For example, if you sponsor a little league baseball team in your community, most programs will allow you to put the name of your business on the jerseys and caps, put up a banner on the field, have your name appear on the team’s website, and more.
  • In-kind sponsor – you provide goods or services instead of monetary value to the team. For instance, if you own an eye care practice, you could provide eye protection for the team or sports vision tests and training to see if their eyes work well enough to play.

Whether you choose a sponsorship that involves giving money or products and services, both methods are a great way to create more exposure for your practice and brand.

5. Establishing a rewards program.

Despite the popularity of online reviews, word of mouth recommendations are still extremely important. If the population of the town your business is located in is only a few hundred or thousands, and the people in your community are discussing a bad experience they had with others, it can damage your reputation. A bad reputation will keep first-time patients or clients from returning and new ones from ever stepping foot in your office.
points purchase and redeem
This is why providing excellent customer service should be part of your mission. You and your staff should be working to make sure each person’s experience meets their expectations and provides them with all the information they want or need.

If someone is a loyal patient that is always satisfied, you can offer them discounts or rewards for referring others to your business.

For instance, let’s say they refer at least three people to your office, the next time they make an appointment at your practice, you can give them 30 percent off their visit. This encourages them to tell people about your business while also showing that you appreciate their loyalty and contribution to getting you more exposure.

 Local Business Marketing

Finding creative and effective ways to market your local business doesn’t have to break your bank in order to get the job done. You can establish your position as one of the top practices in your community by reaching out to your neighbors and building strong relationships in your area.

Do you need help with improving your marketing strategy?

Read our other resources to find out how you can!
How to Claim Your Google My Business Listing
How to Turn Website Visits Into Office Visits

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