So, you wanna get into local marketing and help businesses in your area to get online and get successful while getting a handsome fee every month? The good news is that no matter where you are, there are plenty of customers out there waiting for you to help them.
Your job is simply to help them get to grips with how local marketing can help them, and show them how your service will put them on the map. The best thing about this job is that there are a ton of great services, many automated, which you can leverage for glowing reviews, particularly with businesses who aren’t run by internet-savvy owners who just want to build their presence without having to deal with it.
What they will want to know is how you can help them: and that’s where this primer comes in, giving you an overview of why this is such an important service (and why other people should hire you to do it).
First off, Local SEO. This is one of the most basic things when it comes to getting high on a keyword search, but one of the most important. Now, say you’re helping an auto body mechanic. If you go for the keyword ‘auto body mechanic’, you’re unlikely to get far. But if you extend that keyword a bit to include the local area – say “auto body mechanic Weston ma” – which also happens to be where your local biz might be, then you’re going to hit the front page a lot quicker, while gaining far more relevant eyeballs.
Social Media is also super important. Let’s face it, a lot of online conversation today is on Facebook and Twitter, and a surprising amount of people use both these sites for recommendations and even searches when it comes to seeking a business to help them out with their problem – whether it’s needing a haircut or a home renovation.
Hashtags are a great way to dropship your local biz into that conversation, as is just shooting the breeze and watching for questions in the community, slowly building your presence as a helpful local business that’s always ready to help out. People remember these things, and with social media, they can see them happening in real time: this also builds trust.
In short, it’s a win-win! Promotions, behind the scenes, and even influencer outreach can also be leveraged here: you and your client will have plenty of choices.
Finally, you might also want to consider paid ads. While this isn’t ‘free’ like the previous two approaches, it does have the benefit of being more familiar to offline businesses, who are used to forking out for newspaper and radio spots to keep them in the public mind.
One sweet thing about online paid ads is that they’re often a lot cheaper, and thanks to the smart algorithms, often only show up at just the right time. This makes them not just highly targeted, but also showing up at the right time in the right place. Facebook is a great place to get paid ads, while Google Ads and others can offer a solid return.
There’s nothing particularly glamorous about local marketing: at the end of the day, it’s never going to be the glittering account with a high flying company. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t make an excellent living and build a reputation as a solid businessman in your community who helps other businesses to make the most of the internet.
So get started and get up and at ‘em!