In our digital world, it’s crucial for local businesses to have a strong online presence to be seen by potential customers. However, many of these businesses are faced with a small budget and not a lot of resources. Thus, they must make a strong impact wherever they do spend their marketing budget.
We’ve put together a list of the best local digital advertising platforms that are best for small businesses. Get to know the most ideal places to spend your advertising budget to get the biggest ROI (Return on Investment).
Determine Your Advertising Goal
Before you get started in local digital advertising, you must first determine your goals. When you have a goal in mind, you can strategically create content that supports that goal, and you can track metrics to determine when and if that goal has been met.
Consider goals like gaining more:
- Sales on a product
- Newsletter subscriptions
- Engagement on social media
- Website traffic
- Five-star reviews
What to Look for in Advertising Platform
The sales funnel is a helpful tool to help marketers determine what kind of content they should deliver to their audience. This funnel takes them through crucial steps (Awareness, Interest, Decision, Action) before they decide to make a purchase. Various advertising platforms can help you deliver the content your potential customer will need in order to guide them through making a purchase.
The Best Digital Marketing Platform for Local Businesses
Digital marketing provides many opportunities for local businesses to be introduced to new potential customers. Take a look at some of the local advertising platforms you should consider investing in.
Google My Business
Claiming and optimizing your local business listings is a must when it comes to growing your presence online. One of the most important—and free—platforms is Google My Business. Optimizing your Google My Business profile allows you to showcase your information in the Google search results whenever a user searches for your brand directly or performs a local search for your services or products.
From there, users can read reviews, view pictures of your location, call you, or get directions. This platform is a great all-around resource, as it can benefit customers throughout the sales funnel.
Facebook and Instagram Ads
There are currently billions of active social media users worldwide. That’s what makes these platforms so beneficial to businesses. Facebook and Instagram are among the top social media platforms out there, and their advertising tools are simple and easy to use even for novice advertisers.
Start creating ads with a small budget, and choose your goal, whether that’s to get more event sign-ups, more sales on your website, or simply more Likes on your page. Their ad creation tool allows you to customize the content your audience will see, which makes it even easier to guide them further down the sales funnel.
Google Ads
These ads show up at the top of Google search results, which means there’s high visibility. The price you pay will depend on the keywords you’re targeting and how competitive they are. However, being successful with Google Ads can often be a little complicated for beginners. It takes technical knowledge and a lot of experimenting to get the best results. Local businesses are encouraged to consult with a digital marketing agency.
Google Local Services Ads
This platform is great for local technicians or other service providers. Whether you’re a home contractor, dog walker, or real estate agent, Google Local Services allows your business to show up among the first results in Google searches. Users can read your reviews and then contact you once they’re ready to set up an appointment for your services.
Yelp Ads
One of the best ways to grow your service-based business is by getting more quality reviews online. Consumers trust the opinions of others, and Yelp is a popular platform people turn to in order to read such reviews. You can purchase ads on this platform to get prominent placement in their listings and increase your chances of being seen by people searching for your service in your local area.
Grow Your Business’ Presence Online
Local digital marketing will look different for every business. The methods and platforms you choose to utilize will all depend on your specific goals and the audience you’re trying to target. Speak with a digital marketing consultant to learn your options and to develop a strategy that’s specific to your brand’s needs.