Does the location of your business matter if you’re online?
Yes, Yes, and no. In trade speak, most everyone approaches the concept of marketing discussions as from a business that is trying to sell its products and services in a large national market place.
The question arises as to how you approach a business’s online marketing project if the business only operates in a limited geographic location. We can all fathom the implementation of the mass market consumer product and wide approach of pushing content, link building, and social media interaction for a national campaign but how do you change your approach for the local grocery store or the insurance agent that serves your local county?
In most respects you would approach the marketing program in the same method. Build content, link build with other local companies, and maybe develop a social medial profile. The real difference in working in a local area is your ability to build face to face personal contacts. Keep in mind that a local business can respond quicker and with more expertise than a national company when it comes to meeting local needs and trends.
Cases in point are the three hurricanes that passed over my community in 2004. The local insurance agents were on the road immediately after and in some cases before the storms landed communicating with their customers. While not all their customers experienced damage, the good will that was built between customer and agent was invaluable.
How you reach out and touch your customer and potential customer is very important in a local community. Email campaigns can work very well for an existing customer base. And one of the great benefits of a local email campaign is that the locals will discuss their impression of the email message with the local business. While everyone may not know everyone else, they all have a vested interest in preserving the resources and cash flow of their community. This builds a great opportunity to reach out and touch the local market and get quality feedback.
The same holds true with the methods of recommending business suppliers to ones friends, family, and coworkers. The email message sent from a local business has a much better chance of yielding second and third level generation sales that one done on a national level.
Phone 863-398-2199