Local businesses used to rely on word-of-mouth, flyers, and billboards. But not anymore. They use digital marketing to expand their reach, increase visibility, and drive sales.
Almost 96% of consumers learn about local businesses from the internet, so having a digital presence isn’t optional, it is essential.
However, simply being online isn’t enough. Businesses need the right digital marketing strategies to stand out from competitors and convert visitors into paying customers.
Following are some digital marketing strategies to grow your business in your local area.
10 Digital Marketing Strategies for Local Businesses to Get More Customers
Digital marketing is as important for selling in your locality as in national or international markets. Because people prefer looking for local businesses online, especially restaurants and handy services. So here are the top 10 digital marketing strategies that will help you market your business in your locality.
1. List on local directories for better visibility
Do you know Google processes about 9.5 billion searches daily? And 47% of them are for local businesses. People search for things like “best pizza near me” or “plumber in Chicago,” and expect relevant local results.
To come in these types of search results, you must optimize your Google My Business profile. And do not forget to list your business in other local directories as well, like Yellow Pages and Yelp.
Maintain these profiles with local keywords and recent images to target local traffic.
Because 6 out of 10 consumers use Google Business Profiles to find contact information for local businesses.
At Growth Hackers, we’ve helped local businesses from North America, Europe and APAC strengthen their visibility across Google Business Profiles and relevant directories, helping one HVAC client from Chicago increase local search impressions and generate 46% more profile-driven inquiries.
2. Create a mobile-friendly website
Despite having a Google Business Profile (GBP), create a website as well. Make sure it is responsive to mobile displays. Seoprofy says about 88% of people who search for a local business on their phone call within 24 hours.
With a business website, you will be able to showcase more information to your customers. Google allows only 750 characters on the Business profile. But you can write as much content on your website as you want.
3. Create valuable blog content to attract customers
A study by reputepost.com found that around 79% of all internet users read blogs. And 84% of them buy products based on descriptions in the blogs.
Write in-depth articles, blogs, and even whitepapers related to your business. Reading your content, people will start to realize that you have technical knowledge of your field and they will start trusting you more.
Answer commonly asked public questions and provide expert advice to solve their problems.
But keep your tone and grammar under check while doing that. Errors in them can represent your business as unprofessional. Following Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines and using a grammar checker is the best way to do that.
Grammar checkers will point out grammatical mistakes and rewordgenerator.net will help with the tone. It offers many tones. You just have to select the one you like and paste your content in the input box. Then click “Reword” and that’s it!
For one plastic surgery client in Beverly Hills, Growth Hackers treated its blog like a 24/7 expert consultant, answering customer questions, showcasing industry knowledge, and building trust long before a sales conversation, helping increase organic leads by 56% within 8 months.
4. Optimizing for local SEO to appear in search results
Writing good quality, informative content is good, but not good enough. Because it will not go into the SERP results when someone is looking for your services or products.
You need to do proper research on the keywords your locals are using to find out your services. There are tools for that, like SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz, etc. Use these keywords in your content so search engines can match your web pages with the local searches.
- 58% of businesses still ignore local SEO, despite the fact that its closing rate is 15%, according to LocaliQ.
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5. Engage locals on social media platforms
According to Forbes, social media influences 80% of consumer decisions. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok allow customers to connect with local businesses.
You must utilize this power of social media. Regularly post updates on all of your social accounts. Try to use as many social platforms as possible and be consistent. You can use social media tools for this. It will make it easy for you.
Just like it has many tools for different activities on social media, like a social media post generator, username generator, caption creator, bio generator, and YouTube description. Choose any tool from an online platform that you prefer, describe your idea, and select a writing mode. It will then help you create various Instagram posts effortlessly within seconds.
Create online communities with locals on social media platforms and other online forums, such as Quora, Reddit, and Medium.
A sense of community among the audience is always beneficial for businesses, as it creates loyalty and trust. One plumbing client from Austin came to Growth Hackers with social media accounts that were active but attracting little meaningful interaction from local customers. We developed a consistent content strategy, encouraged community conversations, and built stronger connections across relevant platforms (Facebook, Instagram and TikTok), helping increase social engagement and generate 26% more qualified inquiries.
6. Retain your customers using email marketing
Most businesses focus on attracting new customers, but what about the ones who have already bought from you? Email marketing helps keep them engaged with your business.
That is why according to HubSpot, every dollar spent on email marketing returns up to $42. That’s a huge ROI!
What you have to do for that is,
- Collect emails of your customers from website visitors, social media followers, and in-store customers. Offer a discount in exchange.
- Then send personalized offers based on each customer’s past purchases. For example, if you own a bakery, send a “10% off your favorite pastry” coupon.
- Share updates and announcements about new products, services, or upcoming events.
- Send automated emails for birthdays, abandoned cart reminders, and customer appreciation messages as well.
Keep in mind that success in email marketing is not spamming your audience but providing value through well-structured content with proper CTA. So, make sure your subject lines are relevant to your email bodies and do not bombard your subscribers’ inboxes with emails.
Keep your email frequency in check according to your industry. Most marketers send only 1 or 2 emails per week.
Before working with Growth Hackers, one Thai restaurant from Portland relied heavily on new customer acquisition and sent occasional generic emails to its existing audience. After implementing personalized campaigns, automated sequences, and more relevant messaging, repeat online orders increased by 29% and email-driven revenue grew by 44%.
7. Run paid ads for instant results
SEO, GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and organic content take time to show results, so do paid advertising for instant visibility. Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Instagram Ads allow businesses to reach specific audiences based on their location, interests, and behavior.
You can target specific demographics (age, gender, location, interests) according to your products and services. And your ads appear at the top of search results, giving you more visibility.
The best part is that You don’t need a huge budget. Even a $5/day campaign can bring great results if targeted correctly. In fact, pay-per-click (PPC) is the second most effective marketing channel (says 93% of marketers), after content marketing (96%).
For one commercial law firm in Philadelphia, Growth Hackers treated paid advertising like a spotlight, putting the brand directly in front of high-intent customers while organic marketing built lasting visibility in the background, helping increase qualified inquiries by over 40%.
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8. Encourage customers to give reviews on your listings
Customer reviews play a huge role in digital marketing for local businesses. About 68.3% of customers read between 1 and 6 reviews before purchasing something.
So the more positive reviews you have on platforms like Google Business Profile, Yelp, and Facebook, the higher your business ranks in search results.
For this, you need to ask your satisfied customers politely. A simple “We’d love your feedback” can work wonders. You can also offer some discount on their next purchase for that.
And do not forget to respond to all reviews, whether positive or negative. This shows you value customer feedback.
You can also use this UGC (user-generated content) in your content to further improve your credibility among your readers. It impacts the decisions of more than 79% of consumers.
Not only that, search engines also value it. They like fresh content, and it is the most engaging content you can find on social media.
9. Create seasonal content and campaigns
Holidays and seasonal events are golden opportunities for local businesses to attract new customers. Because people actively search for special deals, gift ideas, and seasonal services during events like:
- Christmas, Easter, New Year’s Eve
- Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day
- Back-to-school season, Summer sales
To make the most of these events, offer seasonal discounts (e.g., “Holiday Special – 20% Off!”) and create themed social media content (e.g., “Best Christmas Gift Ideas Under $50”).
But these campaigns must be with limited-time offers to create urgency, otherwise, they might not work as well. A Wisernotify survey shows that ~67% of shoppers are influenced by seasonal discounts and promotions during holidays.
That’s why you should step on the pedal these days. But start your campaign a bit early, like a month or so. That’s because 30% of people start shopping for Christmas in October.
One jewelry client came to Growth Hackers with a history of launching holiday promotions too late to capture the full wave of seasonal demand. We planned campaigns earlier, created themed content, and introduced limited-time offers (For Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Black Friday and Christmas), helping triple seasonal sales the first year.
10. Partner with local influencers and improve your reach
Influencer marketing is in trend nowadays. According to Business Wire, 74% of people purchase products on influencer recommendations.
That’s why even local businesses now collaborate with local influencers to promote their products and services. And so should you!
But there’s a catch: you don’t need a celebrity! Micro-influencers (1,000 – 50,000 followers) have enough highly engaged local audiences. They are just perfect partners for small businesses.
You can find them on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, within your niche. Offer them free products/services in exchange for their review or shoutout. Even ask them to create authentic content showcasing your business or create digital co-creations with you.
Influencer marketing builds credibility, increases brand awareness, and brings in new customers fast.
Final Words on How Local Businesses Can Leverage the Power of Digital Marketing to Acquire Customers
Digital marketing has transformed the way local businesses attract and retain customers. With more people relying on the internet to find products and services, having a strong online presence is no longer optional… it’s a necessity.
The key is consistency. Digital marketing isn’t a one-time effort but an ongoing process. So, implement these strategies, track your results, and adjust as needed to stay ahead of the competition. Start today, and watch your local business grow gradually.
Growth Hackers is a renowned digital marketing agency helping businesses from all over the world grow. There is no fluff with Growth Hackers. We help entrepreneurs and business owners leverage digital marketing to attract more customers, increase their productivity, generate qualified leads, optimize their conversion rate, gather and analyze data analytics, acquire and retain users and increase sales.
We go further than brand awareness and exposure. We make sure that the strategies we implement move the needle so your business grow, strive and succeed. If you too want your business to reach new heights, contact Growth Hackers today so we can discuss about your brand and create a custom growth plan for you. You’re just one click away to skyrocket your business.
