Creative Digital Marketing Ideas For Local Businesses

Not sure what you can accomplish with a limited digital marketing budget? Here are ten online methods for getting the word out about your local business.

What method did you use to locate your favorite coffee shop, restaurant, or antique store?

It's possible that one of your friends showed it to you. Maybe you just saw a good sign and kept coming across them. Perhaps you've recently seen one of their brilliant marketing campaigns.

A local business can benefit greatly from a social media ad or a blog post from an influencer.

However, there is a problem: it is often difficult for local businesses to find a budget for marketing activities.

They frequently lack the financial resources of large commercial chains and corporations to invest in advertising, celebrity collaborations, and other promotional activities.

Marketing, on the other hand, does not have to be costly.

All you have to do now is get a little more creative with it.

We hope that this article will provide you with marketing ideas that small businesses on a budget can implement – or even for free!

1. Collaborate With A Local Influencer

You may not have the budget to pay for promotional posts from a million-follower Instagram blogger, but micro-influencers can be just as effective (if not more).

And who better to collaborate with than a blogger or industry expert in your area?

The issue is, how do you find someone with such clout?

A simple Google search will not suffice; it will most likely return large accounts and well-known names rather than micro-bloggers.

Furthermore, it is difficult for Google to concentrate on a single city for this task.

You'll need social listening software in this case.

Such tools can identify accounts with a certain number of followers who discuss specific topics.

Furthermore, you can select your city in the settings to ensure that you only get relevant results.

You can view profiles and filter your search results by minimum and maximum followers.

Choose the ones you believe will be a good fit for you and go for them!

You can invite them to your store and pay them a visit, or you can give them a free product.

It's a win-win situation for both parties. You assist them in content creation, and they raise brand awareness by connecting you with their audience.

Pro Tip: You can also set up a social listening alert with your brand name and systematically search for influencers who mention your company.

Perhaps you don't even know a blogger who visits your blog on a regular basis.

If this is the case, you can cultivate these relationships in order to expand your business even further.

2. Write Your Business Into A Local Narrative

People still love stories!

Creating and consuming stories is perhaps one of the most fundamental aspects of the human experience.

To make your brand more memorable, you can tell a story about it.

Create a character who will always sit in a special seat in your cafe with this unique drink, or make up a cute anecdote about how you started your company.

You don't always have to fix everything; you can do some research into the city's history and unearth some surprising and exciting tales.

Speak with local historians, visit archives and museums, and you may discover something that will bring you even more customers.

Once you've developed your narrative, incorporate it into your brand.

Include it in your website, social media, and review site descriptions.

Create social media and blog posts about the story.

Make it a theme in all of your marketing messages so that people will remember it.

3. Write content about your town that is search friendly.

Local SEO is a fantastic way to increase your customer base. You increase traffic to your website first, and then you increase traffic to your store.

However, I wouldn't call it a creative marketing idea because it's something that every business should be doing.

Businesses, on the other hand, optimize their websites for the most obvious requests, such as "Buy Furniture Nashville."

The type of content I'm talking about is more entertaining. Its purpose is to inform residents and visitors about your city while also promoting your business.

Both of these objectives should be represented in your social media posts, articles, and videos.

Lists are a fantastic type of content for this site.

An article about the top five coffee shops in your area, for example, would be a great way to mention your business and provide value to potential customers.

Of course, you don't want to promote your competitors, so pick a topic that allows for a variety of businesses to be represented.

For example, you could write an article about amazing dating spots that includes cafes, museums, and sightseeing spots all in one list, but only mentions your restaurant.

Consider the timing as well.

Holiday marketing is a great way to get more people to notice your company.

After that, publish a guide titled "What to do with your family in (town name) on (holiday name)" with some holiday-related products and activities.

Both the search engines and potential clients will be pleased.

4. Join and Engage in Local Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups are THE places where your target audience congregates.

Joining a Facebook Group in your district allows you to kill two birds with one stone: you can learn more about your clients while also promoting your business.

The golden rule of Facebook Group promotion is to avoid being too salesy.

You don't want to post about your sales and new promotions every other day.

Even if such spam is tolerated in the group, it is unlikely to pique people's interest in your company.

Instead, you could start conversations that will allow you to bring up your business naturally.

You could do it in a sneaky way from your personal account, or in a more genuine way that doesn't hide the fact that you own a local business.

A great way to do this is to try to provide value to the people.

For example, suppose you own a bookstore and want more locals to know about it.

You can ask members of the group if they'd be interested in joining a reading club and what kinds of books they'd like to read.

It doesn't even have to be about books: You can start a conversation about anything, such as whether or not dogs are permitted in the store.

Your goal is to start a conversation that will garner attention, but avoid controversial topics.

While they can generate a lot of attention, they will almost certainly alienate a lot of people.

5. Make the most of your "locality" in digital marketing

Local businesses have an inherent advantage over corporations and chains in that it is much more difficult for them to target specific locations because their stores are spread out across the country.

You can take advantage of this by creating your own hyper-targeted ads.

Here are some pointers on how to make such ads for people in your neighborhood:

• Use Google Search Console to discover new ad group options based on the search impressions' primary driver.
• Make sure to include your Zip Code or street name in the ad and make it visible.
• In your targeted ads, mention the distance to your location.

6. Carry All of the Reviews

Requesting reviews or keeping an eye on your business on Yelp isn't the most innovative idea.

However, most local businesses overlook the fact that review sites aren't the only place where people talk about your company.

When it comes to reviews, social media, blogs, and forums are all important.

Even if it's just their family and friends, everyone with a social media profile nowadays has an audience.

They may also express an opinion about your company on social media.

If they tag you, you'll probably see it – but what if you don't see it because they didn't tag you or because you have too many notifica

If it's a favorable opinion, you're passing up a marketing opportunity; you could repost it, save it, and use it in future marketing materials.

If it's a negative opinion, ignoring it could lead to a reputational crisis.

Use a social media monitoring tool to ensure that you are aware of any mentions of your company, both on review platforms and elsewhere.

You can select free options, such as a combination of Google Alerts and Tweetdeck.

Alternatively, choose a more robust social listening tool that provides real-time notifications, covers more online sources, and includes useful filters for organizing your mentions.

7. Dive Into Event Marketing

In terms of the community, if your business allows it, host a gathering for the locals.

Given today's interconnected world, it could even be an online event if you don't set the goal of driving customers to their physical store.

The best option is to organize an event with a purpose that everyone feels connected to — perhaps there's a problem in your community that needs more attention and funding to solve, and you could organize a charity event to bring attention to it.

You can advertise the event on social media or in local Facebook groups.

During the event, make an effort to communicate with new people and form connections.

People will feel welcomed and will be enticed to return.

You can even organize a series of events or regular meetings to achieve a long-term marketing effect.

8. Reach Out To Local Media

Almost every town does have a local newspaper or online news source, and you'd be surprised how powerful they are!

Don't forget to contact your local media while you're producing content for your own website and social media.

You can contribute to current materials about local businesses in your town, or even provide commentary on current events – all from the perspective of a local business owner.

Their website's links will help with SEO.

Furthermore, your comments and viewpoints will establish you as an active part of the society, drawing more attention to your company.

9. Run A Social Media Contest

Christmas is one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the world for a variety of reasons, one of which is the never-ending gift-giving. People adore receiving gifts!

Even if your customers aren't your friends or family, you can promote your business by giving out small gifts.

Launching a contest is one way to increase foot traffic to your business. You could publicise it on social media and through your website.

For example, you could offer a free product or service to the first 20 people who come to your location on a specific day.

This strategy is ideal for new businesses that need to get their name out there.

10. Form A Local Partnership

You are a member of the community as a local businessperson.

Make an effort to form connections with other local business owners.

This will not only provide you with a support network with whom you can consult and share your experiences.

You have a lot of promotional opportunities if you communicate with other businesses on a regular basis.

Local brands and businesses that complement and support your brand and target similar audiences may be discovered. Consider allowing them to cross-promote with you.

This strategy kills two birds with one stone: on the one hand, you're increasing brand awareness while also leveraging your partners' goodwill.

On the other hand, by forming these connections, you're creating a support network for local businesses, as well as a community that can advocate for your interests.

Connecting and engaging to local businesses on social media is a good place to start.

Try offering bundles of both of your products, promoting each other's stores, and holding joint events.

These ten pointers are a great place to start for your local business.

Make the most of your assets and resources. The collective power of the community can be far more effective than advertising dollars.