Top 10 Ways to Advertise Your Business Locally

You've probably seen these already, but here's a recap

You don’t have to spend a fortune taking out full-page, full-colour newspaper ads to let potential customers know that you’re open for business. There are far easier, more affordable ways of promoting your business locally.

Here are 10 simple solutions to push your name out into the local marketplace and beyond!

5 Local Advertising Tips and Tricks

Utilize your website to its full potential

A website is a dynamic sales tool that can make a huge difference for your business. Whether you’re looking to penetrate the local market or you want to take your business globally, an attractive, informative website can make a huge difference. A few things to keep in mind when evaluating your website are:

Is it goal-oriented?
Is it easy to use? Can
Is there high-quality content?
Is it mobile friendly?
Has it been optimized for SEO?
Does it clearly covey your brand identity?

Submit your business listing to popular local directories

Online directories are another way to boost local SEO and help your business be found online more easily. There are a tonne of free directories that you can submit your site to including Google, Bing, Yelp, FourSquare, and Yellowbook, Don’t shy away from listing with smaller, more local directories either. They add just as much value as the larger players do.

Have an active social media presence

Simply having a social profile isn’t enough anymore. Social media provides the opportunity to engage your audience and regularly interact with potential customers. Share interesting articles, links to your blog posts, upcoming events, or even updates on current projects! Be sure to interact with your followers as well, answering questions or replying to comments they make. The type of social media you use depends on your business. Facebook, Twitter, and Google My Business are all great places to start. If you’re a B-2-B provider, LinkedIn is another great channel. Do you sell directly to individual consumers? Pinterest and Instagram can be a great fit!

Make videos to promote your business

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world! Canadians watch more YouTube than anyone else in the world! We actually spend more time watching YouTube than traditional television. Essentially, it’s an entirely new way to reach your target audience! Once you’ve created a video, you can implement the following tactics to maximize its impact:

Upload it to YouTube
Embed the video on your website
Have the video transcribed
Post the transcription on your blog, giving search engines new content to crawl
Host a live webinar. Push the links out through your website and social media to gain exposure in a unique way

Claim and verify your Google My Business listing

Google My Business is a crucial element to your local SEO. It determines how your Maps listing will appear and provides additional real estate at the top of the search engine results. My Business also gives the opportunity for social validation through its review system. Claiming and verifying your Google My Business listing gives you the ability to change and update the listing as necessary, giving you total control over your online presence.

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5 More Tips and Tricks For Promoting Your Business Locally

Commit to regular blogging

Having a regularly updated blog on your website can help to drive traffic to your website and improve your SEO, making your site easier to find. Having fresh content is one factor search engines use to deem how relevant your website is. Blogs also provide an opportunity for you to interact with readers (and potential customers) by allowing them to comment on posts. To take your blog to the next level, ensure that you have social sharing buttons integrated into your blog to allow reads to easily share interesting articles.

Make regular press releases

Do you have something new and exciting going on in your business? Maybe you recently got a new location, hired a new staff member, or launched a new website. Why not announce it? Having regular press releases is a great way to get your name out there and establish your position within the community.

Grow and reach your database through email marketing

It’s not uncommon for businesses to have a database of contact information sitting unused. With email platforms such as MailChimp and Constant Contacts it’s easy to get your audience into a marketing funnel and slowly warm your audience. You can also start or grow an email database through opt-in subscriptions such as newsletters.

Attend local industry and networking events

A quick search on Eventbrite will show that there are always networking events going on somewhere close by. Whether they are industry specific, location specific, or based on other factors (i.e. Women in Business), networking events are one of the easiest ways to make connections and generate new leads and opportunities. You can even think outside the box and attend different workshops, seminars or learning opportunities as a way to make connections while doing some personal development.

Guest post for other sites

Whether you guest write for another company’s blog or submit an article to an online news site or magazine, writing for someone else opens up huge opportunity to gain exposure and cement your reputation as an expert in your field.

Guest posting allows you to make new contacts and increase readership of your own blog. Plus it gives you a great opportunity for relevant link building.