(Part II) Localized Marketing: Getting Google to Get Googled
In part one of our blog on Localized Marketing: Creating a Complementary Base With Storefronts & Websites, CM2 Media covered the importance of having your advertising and content point back to your business’s website and storefront. Having those two spaces compliment one another is an effective means of increasing sales and customer satisfaction. So too is knowing where to place your business profiles in order to maximize exposure to your target demographic – your neighbours!
Get Online to Get Local
Websites and storefronts are not the only platforms that require attention for a local marketing campaign to be successful. The reality, according to BizReport.com, is that 97% of consumers look for local businesses online and the average customer looks at 7.9 different sources for product information before choosing to make a purchase. That leaves a lot of spaces to advertise to your local market, with the added benefit of catching a larger internet-wide demographic simultaneously. That also means being absent from any of the major platforms gives your competitors a possible advantage in regards to reach and exposure.
The go-to listing for businesses not too long ago was the Yellow Pages, followed by other minor directories. And while it is still advisable to have your number listed in the trusty old standby, focus must be placed on advertising your business on more prevalent, modern platforms. So where does a small business start advertising to their local market in an entire digital world’s worth of options? Start where 75% of the consumer market starts – Google.com.
Get Googled
There are 100+ billion Google searches entered every month. That’s 2.3 million Google searches per second. While those gigantic numbers are attributed to a worldwide population, Google will drill down to your local market to help connect them to your information as well. These customers are going online to find information related to your industry and store. Increasingly, customers are even going online to search for information regarding your business while they are in your store.
Here is how a local consumer will research online information regarding your website and local storefront:
- 75% of shoppers search for prices on items at nearby stores
- 74% of shoppers search for items in stock at nearby stores
- 66% of shoppers search for the location of the closest store with items in stock
- 63% of shoppers search for details about local stores (operating hours, contact info)
- 59% of shoppers search for a map showing which stores carry the item searched for
- 56% of shoppers search what else is available at the store that carries their searched for items
Ensuring your online content answers the questions to those queries means you are already assisting more than half of your local customers before you even greet them.
Get Google+, Google+ Business, Google+ Local for Business, Google Places
One of the tricks to ranking well on Google’s search engine is to create profiles for your business on Google’s various platforms.You may not be a fan of having a personal profile with Google+, but it comes in handy when growing your network and sharing your Google+ Business page with your circle of contacts. Having a Google+ Business page substantially increases your visibility. These profile pages are an easily manageable and informal means of engaging with the public by mixing the benefits of directory-type information and social media-like content on a single profile. Enroll your business in the Google Places/Google+ Local for Business platform too and your business will show up in Google Maps with a description of services, alongside contact information and opportunities for engagement anytime someone searches your keywords or area. By adding the interactive google map to your website, you further increase the ranking score for your business’s searchability, while making it even easier for your local customers to connect your online services with those of your physical location.
Get Access to Google Tools
Google is excellent at perpetuating itself. It offers businesses interested in localized marketing options such as AdWords, Insights, Analytics and Webmaster Tools. These tools work cohesively to help you understand what your local market is searching for, how you can best draw their attention, and how you can capture and retain their business.
AdWords, for example, is an auction-based advertising tool that highlights your ad/website whenever your chosen keyword is searched. It is a click-per-use function that allows businesses to budget at their own discretion, paying only when their advertisement has been selected by an audience. There’s even a Google tool called AdWords Keyword Planner that helps you select and manage an effective keyword campaign for your localized initiatives. Google Insights can tell you what keywords are trending in your local community, so you can interact with them in a very current, appropriate fashion. Analytics and Webmaster Tools report on consumer habits, customer interactions, and your business’s areas of strengths and weaknesses amongst online demographics, so you can constantly adjust your marketing approach to achieve optimal results.
Get a Marketing Agency to Bring Professional Results
It is possible to fumble around with Google’s tools and platforms and get some results. But for the time, effort, and money involved, it is a risky business decision and a poor delegation of resources. By enlisting a Marketing Agency like CM2 Media, you gain professional expertise in the handling of these Google options. All platforms will be presented in a professional, polished demeanor and all tools will be manipulated into their highest function. In addition, you’ll save your company the time and effort of trying to simultaneously run this specialized digital machinery while managing your business’s local, real world traffic. (Learn how hiring a digital marketing agency will help your business reach its goals, here on our blog.)
CM2 can fill the content of your website, online platforms, and advertising campaigns to exponentially increase the amount of local attention your business receives. By incorporating relevant hashtags, local blogs, forums, and events into your marketing campaigns, an agency will maximize your business’s exposure to your local market with maximum efficiency. Read up on how we get it done, in part three of our segment on Localized Marketing: Diversifying Platforms & Customizing Reach.
CM2 Media is a marketing agency that specializes in getting your business noticed online. Contact us today!