Our 5 top tips for localised marketing

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23-03-2023

Since the pandemic we’ve noticed more clients coming to Oxygen from our local area than ever before. While we had mostly worked with companies up and down the country who like our niche capabilities – and despite video calls neutralising distance – there is a clear trend for businesses and consumers to ‘shop local’ when they’re online.

So, how can you capitalise on this? How can you draw local traffic to your website? These are our top tips for localised marketing, regardless of whether you’re B2B or B2C, to help you reach a local audience.

1. Use Google My Business

Embrace the UK’s most popular search engine, Google. On local searches your Google Business Profile page is often the first thing to pop up. You should look to maximise its potential – getting more ratings and reviews, and ensuring your address and business hours are correct. There’s lots more there, too, that can help optimise your page. Add links to your website, create questions and answers, add photos and videos, frequent posts…

Not only will your profile show up higher in search results, it becomes an immediate shop window.

2. Get more reviews

People make snap decisions, and a competitor that has lots of visible, positive reviews could put your business in the shade. People now expect to see reviews, or use them as part of their purchase decision. Global Newswire reports that 95% of US customers read online reviews before buying a product. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) estimates that £23 billion a year of UK consumer spending is influenced by online customer reviews. Make sure you get reviews and get your share of this business.

3. Create custom landing pages

Landing pages are those that your customers are most likely to visit when they come to your website from an organic search or PPC ad. For organic purposes, ensure you have a landing page for your location(s), and pages for each relevant service or product that is established for your local audience. Local content is important if you have a predominantly local audience, but if you operate nationally then limit local content to one landing page. Phrases such as ‘near me’ and ‘where to find’ reflect how people search. If you have PPC ads running then ensure the landing page is relatable to the ad content and keywords. Google or Microsoft will optimise how it displays the ad if the landing page is relevant.

4. Use social media

This may seem obvious, but many businesses fail to create networking opportunities or optimise social media as a canvas for advertising and brand awareness. B2B businesses will probably find LinkedIn and Twitter more beneficial, while B2C businesses will find Facebook and Instagram offer more opportunities for engagement. Be clear about your offer for a local audience, and reference local events, activities or areas to build a community around you. Like networking, it’s not always about the people in the room or people on the social media page that will be your buyer. It’s when people talk about you or share content with others that gets the biggest impact.

5. Review your website

If localised marketing is now more important to you, go back to your website and review it. Is it easy to use, and does it look relevant to a local market? Does it have relevant keywords, maps, images, videos, form fields and connections with the community? In short, ensure the website reflects your local community and is easy to use and understand. Part of this will include checking it is mobile friendly, because of the growth in web searches via smartphones. Check people can access the menu, navigate easily, complete forms and search your content, whatever devices they’re using – and review this fairly frequently because technologies change. Also consider how you optimise for mobile as well.

If you need help with any of these aspects then give Steve a call on 01884 255999, or email steve@oxygenagency.co.uk.