In the second part of our articles looking at Local Marketing and SEO for small businesses, this time we take a look at how social media, NextDoor and community all have a part to play in raising awareness of your brand.

Social Media

Research has shown that customers associate small businesses with quality, value & being more approachable.   Therefore, the tone of your marketing is very important – using a more-friendly personal tone is much more likely to appeal to local clients.

Continue your location-based keywords & search terms through your social media, you can now use hashtags on Facebook as with Instagram & Twitter.

Make the most of local Facebook groups, there are rules around advertising in groups so make yourself aware of them, you may only be able to post marketing content once a month.

An extremely important part of your social media when reaching out to local clients is to monitor & respond to comments & messages – if you respond you are showing your local audience that you care about their views & value their interactions.  Keep your communication with your clients open on your social media channels & you will build on your repeat custom.

Also, if you do have some marketing budget, then advertising on Facebook is still one of the most cost-effective advertising out there – you can promote several targeted posts at your different local audiences and for a very small amount, get some very good results.

NextDoor

Many people might use the NextDoor website for recommendations of builders, cleaners etc but what about using the website for your own business?

It seems that if you were an American based business then you can advertise but there are clear rules to follow.  However, as of July 2019, NextDoor.co.uk, have introduced the ability for local businesses to create their own free Business Page, with a view that they can “connect with their nearby customers. Whilst businesses will not be able to see neighbours’ conversations in the feed, neighbours can now tag businesses that they recommend on Nextdoor to let them know they love their business. All recommendations will be associated with that business’s Nextdoor page, so that business owners can see and respond to neighbours’ recommendations. Neighbours can also message businesses and check their page to look up general information like phone number, address, website and opening hours.” Read more here  https://blog.nextdoor.co.uk/2019/07/09/introducing-nextdoors-local-business-pages-and-recommendations/

Community

Why not get involved in your local community & local events – search out the local business groups – caring about your local area will build relationships with your local client base and firmly secure your business in your community.

If you would like help with your Local Marketing then send us an email lindsay@reddesk.co.uk