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23rd July 2018

5 Local Media Advertising Tips & Tricks for Your Small Business

6
minute read

If you’re a small business about to embark on a marketing campaign, chances are that limitations on time and budget mean you’ll have to think carefully about where you spend your money and what you spend it on. With such a broad array of options, you will need some guidance when drawing up your plans. With these 5 easy actions, you can get a local media advertising campaign off the ground and achieving results for your business.

  1. Decide your audience

What does your target audience care about, and how can you help them? You need to get inside the head of your customers, and think about what appeals to them. They're just people like you, so if you're unsure, use a survey or questionnaire to ask them what they want, or look at what they’re saying on social media. The better you understand exactly who your customers are, the easier it will be to entice other people like them who are looking for something similar.

  1. Build your unique message

You can't be all things to all people, so instead you need to make your particular offering the best in the business. If you can nail down your unique selling point (USP), you can appeal to motivated customers who are looking to buy what you are actually offering. Think about what makes you different. Is it price? Speed? Quality? Reliability? Service?

You don’t need to stop at your USP. If you can find a unique message to support your selling point, then you will make yourself really memorable. Make a list of all your competitors in your local area, and consider how you can position yourself apart from them. The work you put in to stand out in the market will pay off.

  1. Target your ads locally

A Google study conducted in May 2014 found that 72% of consumers who searched for local information on a smartphone went on to visit shops within five miles of their home.

Advertising locally is a potential goldmine. The people actively looking for something in their area are usually motivated customers, and great leads for your business. Google’s local search facility is growing at 130% year on year, and should be a primary tactic for SMEs to target local customers right at the golden moment they are looking to make a purchase.

Using paid online ads to target these customers is a highly effective way of converting them into customers. You need to stay ahead of the curve and beat your less savvy competitors by capitalising on this revolutionary development in marketing.

  1. Reel people in with special offers

Everyone loves a bargain. Discounts, and particularly limited time only discounts, are powerful tools in any local business’s arsenal. Perhaps you only need to offer a small free gift, such as a sample bag or voucher, but please remember: whenever you are collecting your customers’ personal details you must now make sure you let them know how their data will be used and stay compliant with new data regulation.

You can also promote percentage-off vouchers to create return customers. An introductory deal promising a discount on their next visit will make a customer likely to come back, and keep coming back to you.

  1. Make your marketing multi-channel

Given the sheer number of places you can now advertise your business online, from social networks to local news websites to mobile apps, you’ll lose out if you don’t spread your marketing across different channels. Whatever your budget, it's never been easier to create simple ads visible to consumers wherever they’re looking online. The ability to target your online ads means you won't waste money showing adverts to uninterested consumers. Don't be put off online ads by cost or complexity, everything is on the table, and it's definitely worth doing!

Starting to advertise online might seem like a big step, but any business that wants to survive in an increasingly digital marketplace needs to be reaching customers in the places they spend their time and money. Paying attention to these 5 tips will be one of the most meaningful investments in your business, so don’t hesitate to get yourself ready for a great campaign.

Want to learn even more about how small businesses can supercharge their local media advertising efforts? Check out these articles:

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