Local Marketing 2020 Series: Email Marketing

In our humble opinion, email marketing is absolutely one of the most effective means of increasing revenue and facilitating growth for virtually all companies of any size in any industry. Yet, small businesses tend to not take advantage of this marketing method. I’m sure you’ve seen the television commercials of the landscaper or interior designer sending their promotional email and bracing for a flood of customer activity. They are panicking that one of two things will happen. First, they will receive no clicks at all and feel defeated that their efforts were for nothing. Second, and this is where the good type of stress comes in, their inbox is flooded with orders! The latter can (and should) be you.

To run a successful email marketing program, you must look at it in two parts: Email Collection and Email Execution. A beautifully crafted HTML message that is only seen by you and your closest friends might as well be a tree falling in the forest. Building your database of subscribers needs to be an ongoing priority. The larger the list, the bigger the result.

Always encourage customers to sign up in-store and visitors to your website to join online. Offer incentives for subscribing, such as exclusive offers, special event invites, discounts, etc.

Don’t send emails too often or your open rate and unsubscribe rate will suffer. Try to keep your lists segmented by what product or service the individual purchased to ensure future emails are relevant to them. Utilize an email marketing platform, such as MailChimp, Constant Contact or MadMimi, for storing your database, sending campaigns and monitoring results. Be sure to watch your analytics to gain perspective on which emails performed best and what your customers are most interested in.

Along with the collection of your email list with valuable contacts, if you have access to physical addresses, we’ve seen direct mail pieces go out and turn into five times the return on investment. A small sample size sent out to businesses or consumers in the area can go a long way. Increasing your visibility, creating opportunities and potentially gaining new clients, you’d be surprised!

Bottomline is to gather those emails! Because email marketing can provide higher conversion rates than most other marketing tactics, you never know how valuable they can be until you use them.

Look for our final Local Marketing Series blog, where we’ll explore the tried-and-true tactic, print advertising.

Local Marketing 2020 Series: Social Media, Reviews and SEM

You may not think a carpet cleaning service needs a Facebook page. Who would follow it and why? Now is the time to cast aside your notions of social media and embrace its local power.

First, search engines tend to (unofficially) appreciate businesses that are active on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Instagram. It never hurts to appease the Google Gods.

Secondly, potential customers who are researching your products or services online are likely to stumble upon your social accounts. When they do, are they going to see one lonely post from two years ago? Or would you rather a vibrant, active feed of fresh content, testimonials, photos, videos and more?

Once you do start to collect some local followers, social media is a good way to promote offers, specials, announcements and events. These networks are also great customer service platforms, offering several alternative forms of interaction between you and the local community. Sites like Facebook will continue to change and evolve its algorithm, but one truth will always remain: your social media efforts will not go to waste.

Remember that consumer decisions are being made online. A satisfied customer who walks out your door is an excellent opportunity for a good review. Encourage patrons to leave a review for your business on Google, Facebook or Yelp. Don’t be pushy — but don’t be shy either. Instead, subtly suggest the notion while conveying your appreciation. This request can be delivered via point-of-sale signage, receipt verbiage, post-sale email or by asking the good old-fashioned way. Of course, not every person will follow through, but you will surely see an uptick in social proof over time. Companies that take pride in their customer experience, and have the ratings to back it up, are rewarded with more clicks, more calls, more business (and more praise).

Another avenue is online paid local marketing. It almost seems like cheating to advise you to spend money on pay-per-click advertising, or search engine marketing, in a local marketing blog post. The concept may not seem very creative or too cost-prohibitive — but if done correctly, it works.

Most of the major PPC platforms, such as Google AdWords, Facebook Ads and Bing Ads, allow you to concentrate your campaign on hyper-local regions. This means your marketing dollars won’t go to waste on curious clicks from other states (or countries). Additionally, the ability to display ads to individuals with highly specific interests and demographics further increases your chances of making every click count.

Here’s an advanced tip. Take advantage of geo customizers to customize your ad copy to dynamically insert a local town name, suburb or zip code specific to a user’s IP address. Upload a CSV file to the business data section of AdWords that tells the platform, “IF a user is in Chicago, IL…serve them Headline 1 saying ‘Attention Chicago Businesses.’ ” This will increase your CTR and personalize all messaging.

Since most search and social ad platforms price clicks and impressions on a bidding system, you will be less likely to compete with big businesses’ national campaigns, thus saving even more money. The best part? No budget is too small. Spend a few bucks a day to put yourself where your customers are looking.

There’s no denying it. With more than 3 billion active users, social media is no longer a matter of choice if you want your business to succeed.

Look for our next Local Marketing Series blog, where you’ll learn more about email marketing and how it can help increase revenue and facilitate growth.

Local Marketing 2020 Series: Search Engine Optimization and Local SEO

Right after the Big Game and all the hype around the national campaigns, we promised you we’d delve into local marketing and strategies you can use. We start with search engine optimization and how to use it to your advantage in your local market.

This isn’t the time nor place for a crash course in SEO. However, this post is the perfect forum to discuss the astounding potential of organic local traffic. The truth is, the small business world is a bit behind on the digital revolution. You still see a good portion of coffee shops and dry cleaners with non-responsive websites, no social media presence and the list of offenses goes on. Use this to your advantage! You can make a big impact on your business online with relatively low effort and basic search engine optimization practices.

Start with a blog and maybe consider some keyword-rich landing pages as well. Make sure your site adapts to all devices, includes enticing META descriptions, has the proper title and heading formats, and plenty of unique, valuable content.

One important trend to watch in SEO is the emergence of high volume “near me” terms. If your business supplies services or products in a certain area, begin optimizing your site around [geo+service] keywords. This strategy will lessen the competitiveness of the market. So instead of optimizing your site around “Chinese Restaurant” that will compete nationally, optimize it around “Top Charleston Chinese Restaurant” and watch it rank well over time.

Local SEO will help your business go even further. When the search engines look at your business name, address, phone number and URL across the web, the more consistent it is, the more authority is given. Make sure you not only claim but optimize as many directory and business profile listings as you can find. At minimum, open accounts on the following top business profile sites.

Many business owners allow their preconceived notions about sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Foursquare to prevent them from taking advantage of what they have to offer. Whether it’s a few nasty reviews, unflattering photos, unsolicited feedback or just a general lack of understanding, your reasons for complicity are not worth the negative impact. It’s time to adjust your perspective.

These aggregate sites can also be your best friend — if you embrace their local marketing power. Play the game. Claim your listing, update your details, correct your categories, upload some images, double-check your hours and address. If they ask you to pay for a premium service, do it. Your customers are going to these third-party services before (or in lieu of) your own website. Take advantage of what little control you are given and ensure the best representation of your business. Platforms such as Yext and Moz Local provide an efficient means of managing the growing number of directories people use to discover products and services in your city.

Be sure to check out our next Local Marketing Series blog where we look at how to use social media to its fullest.

Enough about the big game. Let’s talk about YOUR business!

If you spent last night on the edge of your seat in anticipation of the next commercial break, we can relate. Sure, the big game was one for the books—but for us, it’s all about the ads. Hollywood-grade budgets, celebrity cameos, immersive dialogue, fully-licensed pop music, and focus group-approved comedic timing all added up to an epic viewing experience for us and a major win for the sponsors! Here we are now, 219 days away from the next pro football game, wondering what’s next. At ACS Creative, we feel it’s time for local businesses to take the stage!

National advertisements like those seen during the big game are just one approach that a company can take. But, is it necessary for you? Figuring out the best local marketing tactics and strategy for your business can be a complicated business in itself. What matters to your company and the targeted audience you want to reach? How do you want to accomplish this from a marketing standpoint and still stay within your budget? ACS Creative can help answer these questions with you.

In 2018, we posted a helpful list of local marketing ideas, but a lot has changed since then. Some of the items have stayed the same, and some new trends have emerged. As awesome as marketing may be, it’s often easy for local businesses to feel left out of the excitement. We’ve put together a list of proven local marketing tactics for all the mom and pop, brick and mortar, Main Street proprietors out there.

Even if you’re only trying to capture the attention of your neighborhood, community, or city, there is still plenty of opportunity to grow online. Over the next few weeks, we are going to take a look at some local marketing ideas that will accelerate your business in 2020, and take your brand into the end zone.

Look for our first blog on local marketing tactics, Search Engine Optimization, coming next week.

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