Did you know there are more than 31.7 million small businesses in the United States? that equates to about 1,600 small businesses per city. This means a lot of competition for small business owners across the United States, especially when you factor in the larger companies they also compete with in each community.
One of the best ways to make your small business stand out and get more customers is to invest in some type (or types!) of local advertising.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the definition of advertising is “the techniques and practices used to bring products, services, opinions, or causes to public attention in order to persuade the public to respond in a certain way to what is advertised.”
Based on this definition, we share free and paid ways to advertise your local business to get noticed, get customers, and continue to grow.
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free local advertising ideas
local paid advertising ideas
local social advertising ideas
free local advertising ideas
Use these free local advertising ideas to get new customers to see you.
1. claim and optimize your google business profile
your google business profile is a free local advertising tool that can get you found on google in a number of ways: it’s how your business appears on google maps, google search in the 3 pack, and the dashboard. knowledge of google.
But that’s not the only way your google business listing can help you win local customers. You can seed the Q&A section of your Google Business Profile to highlight important features and increase customer confidence.
You can also post promotions, events, photos and products on your profile to give customers more incentive to do business with you.
This gives searchers instant information that can prompt them to take action (which they can do right from your google business listing!), making it an effective local advertising strategy to focus on.
Make sure your Google Business Profile is complete and optimized for local search using our tips here.
Related: Protect your Google Business Profile from unwanted edits and updates with these tips.
2. get reviews
Your google business profile has another benefit: it allows you to collect reviews, a critical component of a successful local marketing strategy, making it an awesome local advertising idea for your business to implement as soon as possible.
Reviews can act as free advertising for your business because they depend on your satisfied customers promoting your business and sharing the top reasons people should choose you over the competition.
Also, people trust reviews. we know that 93% of people read reviews before making a purchase and 84% trust online reviews as much as they trust recommendations from friends or family.
By concentrating on collecting reviews, you can increase your chances of appearing on Google’s “best” searches (Google shows listings with 4 stars or higher) and let your happy customers do the advertising for you.
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3. respond to reviews
After receiving reviews of your business, it’s also important to respond to them. While responding to reviews is important for increasing customer satisfaction, addressing complaints, and building trust with potential customers, it can also act as free advertising for your business.
In your responses to positive reviews, you can highlight points made by your customers to further highlight the benefits of your business to potential customers reading your reviews.
Plus, by responding to negative reviews (in the right way!), you have an opportunity to show people that you value your customers and are working to correct problems while highlighting the positive aspects of your business. company that the negative review may have mentioned.
4. claim, verify and create local business listings
Did you know that 46% of all searches on Google have local intent? While 46% may not seem like a very impressive percentage, when you consider that Google processes an average of 40,000 searches per second, that translates to 18,400 local searches per second per day. And you know what shows up in most local searches? local business listings.
so local business listings are a great idea for advertising your small business. As you can see above, a Google business listing is essential. but there are more free listing sites your business should be on (like yelp and bing!).
Make sure your business has a presence on all major local listing sites and includes accurate and up-to-date information on all of them. This may seem like a tall order, but it’s worth making sure your information is correct (plus, you can get help with listing management).
Search engines not only reward consistent information across the web (including the exact same name, phone number, and address), but correct business information creates a positive customer experience, which is very important to win new customers.
plus, by adding compelling information about your business (like a great business description) to persuade search engines to contact you, you can get more free advertising space online.
5. run a customer loyalty program
A customer loyalty program is a great way to reward your existing customers and incentivize them to keep coming back. make your loyalty program work for you by determining what incentive you’ll offer customers, how often they can earn rewards, and how you’ll track it all.
many businesses use a stamp or punch card system, which is an easy way to show customers how many visits they need to make until they receive their next reward.
Customer loyalty programs act like free local advertising because they make your business a priority and reward repeat purchases. And we all know that it is much more profitable to retain an existing customer than to attract a new one.
6. win (and promote) local business awards
is your business worthy of an award? of course it is! Winning awards can increase awareness of your business, attract new customers to try it out, and instill greater confidence in what you have to offer.
And lucky for you, there are plenty of ways to earn rewards for your business (many of them for free!) for additional local advertising.
First, check with your local media to see if they offer any “best of” awards. then you can also check community magazines or websites to see if they collect reader awards.
then you’ll want to build buzz in your business around these awards by asking your satisfied customers to nominate or vote for you. you can share this on social media and on your website.
Once you’ve won (yes!), you can promote your company’s award on your website, social sites, company signage, and any other marketing materials. many publications will also include these awards on their sites and in print so you can get additional exposure (and free local advertising!).
here is an example of an article for a company that won best of the best in austin.
local paid advertising ideas that produce a high return on investment
The best marketing and advertising strategy combines multiple channels. Try these paid advertising ideas to build on the success of your free tactics.
7. be seen on sites people frequent with display advertising
Over the past two years, more consumers than ever have turned to their trusted local media for up-to-date news and information. in fact, in 2020 there was a 30% increase in visits to local news sites. your business can get in front of these customers and increase brand awareness through display advertising.
related: discover more brand awareness strategies here.
This is an example of two display ads on a local news publishing site.
Display advertising is a type of online advertising that displays ads directly on local news sites and other sites around the web in order to attract local customers to your business landing page or a page on your website . use display advertising to promote offers or specials, provide information that may be relevant to your local audience, or promote brand awareness by sharing who you are and what you do.
Be sure to incorporate trigger words into your display ad text to drive action and more clicks.
8. position your business as an expert with branded content
Another way to get in front of consumers who visit your local news publications is to invest in branded content. branded content allows you to create and promote educational, informational or entertainment content directly in a local news publication.
This positions your business as an expert, increases awareness of your business, and may entice consumers to do business with you over the competition.
See how this garage repair company used branded content to educate their community here:
9. try local search advertising
Search advertising is one of those proven tactics that has become a staple for most businesses running any form of online marketing or advertising. and the reason is simple: it works!
local ppc positions your business in major search engines for searches related to your business above organic search results, increasing the chances that people will click on your result and contact your business .
You can target your search campaigns locally by enabling location extensions on Google Ads. You can use local search ads to get customers to call your business, visit your store, or help them learn more about your business.
here is an example from google of where you can see a local ad.
Get more tips on optimizing your google ads for a better return on investment here.
10. use print advertising to reach local readers
The local newspaper offers several advertising opportunities. you can place an ad or get listed in the appropriate section (either in the classifieds or elsewhere). print ads are a great localized marketing strategy because you know the exact area your local newspaper reaches.
an example of a print ad in the courier-journal.
In addition, with technology, you can track the effectiveness of your print advertising by using call tracking numbers or custom codes for your promotions or coupons to track customers who contact you or do business with you from your print ads.
Related: Another way to track the performance of print ads is with qr codes. learn about them here!
11. organize an event
Events are a great local advertising idea because they promote people who visit your location, helping you sell your products or services.
Your event can be pretty much anything you want it to be. It could be a party, demo, festival, workshop, anniversary sale, charity event, or webinar. the options are endless and they don’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
Your event could also coincide with a promotion: the first 50 visitors get a free coffee with a purchase or a 20% discount on a service or product. It doesn’t take much for people to have fun. sometimes they’re just looking for a good deal and some free snacks.
You can organize events around social media holidays and celebrations.
so spread the word far and wide about your event. use bold signs to let people know. if possible, hold your event outdoors where you can attract more attention on the day of the event.
12. send direct mail
Sending print ads to potential customers can be a great way to get the word out about your business. Not only that, but doing it repeatedly will keep your business top of mind, increasing the chances that people will come to you when they need what you offer. even better if you incorporate coupons or promotions into your direct mail campaigns!
Read about creating future use coupons and promotions here.
local social advertising ideas
Social media is a great place to connect and gain new local customers. Try these social advertising ideas to get started.
13. partner with a local influencer
influencer marketing is no longer just for big brands. Growing businesses are also getting in on the action by partnering with local influencers and micro-influencers. This local advertising idea can help you reach a new audience that is complementary to your business. it just takes a little planning and some outreach.
You’ll want to identify a micro-influencer (which is an influencer who has a smaller but healthy following) who is in your niche, posts about businesses related to yours, or highlights local businesses. this will give you the greatest opportunity to reach the right audience.
then you’ll want to reach out to determine how you’d like to partner with the micro-influencer. Do they have fees for posts or are they open to a trade (your product or service in exchange for a post)? Be sure to provide highlights you want included in your post, such as special features you want customers to know about.
Once your post is shared, be sure to re-share it on your social sites to increase engagement and awareness.
14. test different social advertising goals
social media advertising can help you achieve many goals, such as driving website traffic, increasing engagement, and generating leads (just like with facebook lead ads).
While running a social advertising campaign is effective, you can get even better results when you run multiple types of ads with different goals.
an example of some of the advertising goals you can achieve on snapchat.
This can help you spread your marketing budget across different social channels and social ad types so you can see what works best and grow your business with local customers in different ways.
15. organize a contest on social media
While not technically part of social media advertising, running a contest requires a small budget in the form of a prize. (plus, you can always try boosting your contest post for more exposure!)
social media contests like facebook and instagram giveaways can help you grow your following, connect with new customers, and increase awareness of your business.
To run a social media contest, simply determine a prize for your giveaway (gift cards, gift baskets, or free products/services are always a big hit!), decide how people will enter your contest and create a post promoting your contest. To enter, you can have people like and follow your post, tag friends in the comments, or post a picture and tag your business.
related: discover how to do a facebook giveaway here.
advertise your business locally
Local advertising allows you to reach consumers when they search for businesses like yours right in your area, and that’s something you can’t rule out. Think about how your customers search for businesses, how they like to interact with potential businesses, and where they spend their time, both online and offline, to help determine the right local advertising strategy for your business.
Get more ideas on how to market your business here.