Local Marketing: 4 Pillars for Amplifying Small Business Success

Effective local marketing rests on four key pillars: finding your audience, building a community, making use of your environment, and adapting to feedback. At the recent Localogy’s L24 conference, Sarah Cucchiara, Vice President of Business Development at Tiger Pistol, and Grant Coleman, Chief Revenue Officer at Uberall, explored these concepts in depth. Their talk, “How to Gather Crowds,” provided actionable strategies for promoting local businesses, focusing on the essential tactics for engaging and expanding a local customer base.

Finding Your Audience

Cucchiara began by emphasizing the importance of identifying the right audience, particularly for small business owners who excel in their trades but often struggle with marketing. She highlighted that targeting should not only be about crafting broad appeals but should focus on tapping into local demographics using physical and digital presences. This dual approach ensures that marketing efforts are not wasted outside the immediate geographic area. “Marketers that use their physical location and their location data to target and tailor messages that resonate with local audiences, achieve higher engagement rates,” said Cucchiara. “Your location should be the foundation of your targeting strategy. SMB budgets are typically small and social platforms have invested heavily in serving ads to relevant audiences. Defining the area and campaign objectives will enable the platforms to optimize and find the right audience.”

Building a Community

Organic and paid social take center stage when it comes to building a community. Cucchiara compared organic social media to “hanging out with friends,” which helps foster relationships leading to repeat business. Conversely, she emphasized that paid social media serves to “find new friends” and is essential for introducing one’s business to new audiences and filling the sales funnel. “Both are incredibly important,” said Cucchiara, “but it’s paid social that fosters discovery and increases SMB reach, resulting in new customers that grow sales.”

54% of businesses use social media for lead generation. (Keap)
75% of marketers have successfully driven more web traffic via social media. (Frankwatching)
29% of SMBs plan to increase their social media budgets in 2024. (Borrell and Associates)

Making Use of Your Environment

Local marketing requires leveraging one’s surroundings to create relevant and engaging campaigns. Sarah illustrated this with examples like targeting special offers to local residents, which not only enhances relevance but also boosts engagement by capitalizing on the convenience factor valued by consumers. “All consumers value speed and ease of purchase, but local SMBs have the nearby advantage over ecommerce,” said Cucchiara. “By tapping into what nearby customers value – available inventory, in-person experience, and offers or discounts – local businesses can unlock revenue.

Adapting to Feedback

Real-time data and feedback are crucial, allowing businesses to refine their approaches. Sarah stressed the significance of data in understanding what resonates with the audience and adjusting strategies accordingly to optimize results. “Marketing resellers, data should be your best friend,” said Cucchiara. “Surfacing actionable insights for SMB customers is essential for retaining them as clients. They will see you as a true partner invested in their success.”

Why Local Marketing Matters for Marketing Resellers

Sarah and Grant discussed the challenges SMBs face, such as needing more visibility and revenue growth, and how marketing resellers can play a crucial role. By providing comprehensive, user-friendly solutions, resellers can help SMBs enhance their online presence, engage effectively with customers, and drive significant sales, thereby positioning themselves as indispensable partners in the SMBs’ marketing efforts.

“SMBs usually aren’t marketers,” explained Cucchiara. “They seek an all-in-one partner to manage their online marketing. While they recognize the importance of social media advertising, they need support. A partner that can effectively handle social advertising and make a difference across other digital touchpoints is very appealing.”

SMB Marketing Trends

• SMBs say revenue growth (46%) and lead generation (33%) are their biggest pain points. (Search Engine Land)
• 46% plan to increase their digital marketing spend in 2024. (Search Engine Land)
  • 29% plan to increase spend on social media. (Borrell and Associates)
• 46% responded social media was very/extremely effective (Borrell and Associates)
  • 29% ranked Facebook as the most effective. (Hubspot)

SMB Behaviors (Vcita)

• 70% of SMBs outsourced marketing efforts to external providers.
• 29% said that driving sales is their top marketing goal.
• 68% switched providers last year because they didn’t see revenue-driving results.
• 17% said they switched because they didn’t feel the provider was a true partner.
  
  “Providing solutions that help SMBs create, manage, and publish content and advertising that result in sales will keep them happy – and spending more money,” said Cucchiara. “The demand for easy-to-use marketing solutions is higher than ever. Resellers should aim to make it efficient and effective for SMBs to enhance their online visibility, engage with customers, and ultimately drive sales.”