For many businesses, it’s important to explore different avenues to reach potential customers. One avenue, which is often overlooked, is local advertising. Particularly for small businesses or those who rely on the community, local advertising can be a highly advantageous tool.
So, what are the benefits of advertising locally and what are some ways you can gain advertisement in your local area?
Benefits of Local Advertising
Builds Trust
Building trust with your audience is one of the most important aspects of marketing. Not only does trust increase the likelihood of customers coming to you, but also improves the chance of retaining customers to get repeat business.
Local advertising is great for securing trust because it consistently builds brand recognition and ensures your brand becomes a familiar face within the local area.
Increases Conversions
Traffic from local advertisements is often more specific and targeted, which can lead to a higher conversion rate as the people you are attracting are already interested.
Strengthens Recommendations
Local advertising is also a great way to generate a discussion of your brand and gain word of mouth recommendations. This is one of the most powerful marketing tools because people typically trust what their friends or family members have to say about a brand – and it doesn’t cost you a penny!
Provides a Better Return on Investment
Advertising locally is typically more affordable than other forms of advertising such as pay-per-click (PPC), which often require a bigger investment. For small-mid sized businesses, this can massively eat into profit.
Since local advertising using social media or local newspapers reaches a significant amount of people for a fraction of the cost of other advertising methods, it can provide a bigger return on investment.
How to Secure Local Advertising
There are a few tactics you can use to get in on local advertising.
Run Social Media Ads
Social media ads are ideal for local targeting. With Facebook in particular, community content can be incredibly popular and it’s a great way to engage your brand with the local residents in your area.
Sponsor a Local Event
Sponsoring an event in your local community is a great way to gain recognition amongst the locals and potentially land a spot in a local newspaper, magazine, or across social media channels.
Alternatively you could sponsor your local rugby union, football, cricket, or any other sports club in your area. Most sports clubs are happy to work with local businesses and it’s a win-win for both parties!
Try Print Advertising
Getting coverage in local newspapers and magazines or putting up brochures in local shops is a great way to increase brand recognition. It may also help with building a level of trust between you and your potential customers, since their local shop or newspaper, who they trust, is featuring you.
Use Call Only Ads
Call only ads are ideal for small and local businesses who generate a lot of leads through phone calls. Call only ads are not only easy to run and cost-effective, but avoid the need to create landing pages, saving you time and money.
Time to Invest in Local Advertising
Now that you know that local advertising can build stronger customer relationships, increase conversions, and improve ROI, it’s time to get started with local advertising. Consider running print ads, utilising social media, sponsoring local events, or using call-only ads.
