How to Promote Your Business Locally: 10 Tips

Choosing to promote your business locally can be a great idea for small and large businesses alike – even if your products aren’t specific to a local audience.

First of all, promoting your business locally can help you target a customer base who may be more loyal and eager to support your business.

Shopping local and finding small businesses that are based in your area has become a popular shopping trend in recent years.

Customers want to support their local community and find locally-based brands to shop from. Many customers will also often feel more inclined to recommend a local business to a friend!

Promoting your business locally can also result in lower costs for your online business since you can reduce shipping fees. Plus, if you do have an in-person store too, local promotion can help boost footfall and customer traffic.

Below we’ve listed our top 10 tips for how to promote your business locally and bask in the benefits of targeting a local and engaged audience.

1. Do Local SEO

Optimizing your website for local SEO is a great way to promote your business locally.

This is where you aim to target online searchers who are based in your local area or looking for the products or services you provide in a specific area.

For example, if you sell natural cosmetics and usually target the search term “natural ingredient shampoo”, you may opt to start targeting “natural ingredient shampoo Tampa”.

You can begin including your local search terms within your website content and blog posts. To really reap the benefits of ecommerce SEO for local results, it’s important you also set up a Google Business listing that includes your business location, meaning it will show up in relevant local search results.

2. Develop a Loyalty Program

A loyalty program is a great way of driving more sales to your business and encouraging repeat visits to your online store.

A loyalty program is also ideal when promoting your business locally, especially if you have a brick-and-mortar store that customers can visit.

For example, many stores provide customers with a stamp card – with each purchase, they get a stamp and the customer then receives a free item or perk once they’ve reached the desired amount of stamps.

You could even create a loyalty program specifically for local residents, allowing them to build up points in return for a reward every time they shop with you or refer you to a friend.

3. Join Local Groups

Social media is full of local groups for people and brands to join.

Facebook, in particular, has plenty of local-based groups you can join which will allow you to connect with local residents and promote your business.

After joining these groups, you can focus on building relationships with group members by liking posts and joining discussions rather than solely promoting your own brand. Become a part of the community!

Of course, some posts that promote your latest product range or sale will be beneficial but try to avoid appearing overly sales-like or spammy.

You can also look to find and join your local chamber of commerce which, although does include a small fee, will give you the chance to form valuable relationships with other local businesses and benefit from the group’s promotions and expertise.

4. Use Social Media Tagging

Social media geo-tags are a great feature that you can utilize to promote your business locally.

Platforms, such as Instagram, allow you to add a geographical tag to your posts, showing your followers exactly where the photo was taken or where your brand is based.

This will help your business reach a new audience who may be using social media geo-tags to find businesses that are local to them.

You can also add a location to your Instagram bio so that anyone who lands on your profile instantly knows where your business is based.

5. Work With Local Influencers

When putting together your influencer marketing strategy, look for local influencers who are based in the same area as your brand and who have built up an engaged local following.

You can work with influencers to help promote your business to a local audience through content such as product reviews or gifted ad campaigns.

Not only will the local influencers be promoting your business to a local audience, but they’ll also be creating a bank of high-quality content that will showcase your brand in a great light and open you up to a wider customer base.

6. Partner With Other Local Businesses

Working alongside other local businesses can be a smart move to get your brand in front of local eyes.

Look for local businesses that you feel are likely to have a similar target audience as your own and suggest cross-promotional activities such as collaborating on a line of products or giving each other a shout-out on social media.

The key to finding a local business to partner with is choosing one that aligns with your own offering and messaging. A good way to make sure they’re a good match is to compare their mission statements with your own values.

For example, if you provide sports equipment you could partner with the local sports center to provide them with their equipment. This would be much more relevant than trying to partner your sports equipment brand with the local pet shop!

7. Write a Blog

Adding a blog to your website is one of the easiest ways to promote your business to a local audience.

It’s the perfect place to add your locally targeted keywords and publish locally-relevant content.

This could be anything from local guides to showcases or profiles on local community groups or people – just make sure it’s relevant to your brand.

For example, if you sell tableware and kitchen accessories you could create a blog around the best local restaurants because you can presume that your target audience would likely be interested in both.

If you sell pet supplies online you could write a blog showcasing a local pet charity and pledge your support.

If you successfully optimize these and promote them in local groups and on social media, you’ll be opening your brand up to a wide and engaged local audience.

Find out more

Check out our blog SEO tips for more information on optimizing your blog posts for your target keywords.

8.  Get Involved in Your Community

Getting involved in your local community and showing that your business cares will help get your brand known by local customers and encourage them to shop with you.

You can support your local community in various ways such as sponsoring a sports team (and having your brand name appear on their kits), donating to a local charity, or volunteering at local events.

Keep an eye out for local events or groups who need help and think about ways that you can offer your support.

9. Use Paid Ad Targeting

Running paid ads targeted at local people as part of your digital marketing strategy is a key way of promoting your business to a local audience.

Facebook is one of the best platforms to use for local promotion. Setting up a Facebook page for your brand is a great way of adding social value and reliability to your business.

You can then use this page to run targeted ads that are aimed at users who have set their location to your local area.

Simply set up your ad as per your own requirements, such as what Call-To-Action (CTA) you want them to include and how much budget you have.

Facebook ads have some of the best and most specific targeting options available online, allowing you to get really specific about the area you want to target.

10. Build a Local Email List

Email marketing can be a powerful tool when it comes to promoting your business locally.

One of the best ways to ensure the success of your email marketing is to segment your audience into different categories and demographics, including their location.

By asking for a user’s location when they sign up to your email list, you’re then able to target them with location-based content, highlighting to them the fact that you’re a local business (which they might not know already if they primarily shop with you online!).

If you have a brick-and-mortar store, you can also collect email addresses when people make a purchase, helping you nurture customer relationships and encourage them to shop with you again, either in person or online.

Getting to grips with how to promote your business locally doesn’t need to be hard, as this article has shown.

Promoting your business to a local audience can come with a number of benefits, whether you’re planning to only sell to your local community or if you want to sell your products around the world.

By following the tips in this article and promoting your business locally, you can target customers who will be engaged, interested, and likely to return.

If you try out any of these 10 tips for how to promote your business locally let us know in the comments how you get on!