A shop in an attractive location, some word-of-mouth propaganda - that was enough for a long time to build up a loyal customer base. In our digital society, things are very different: In the worst case, even the walk-ins are too busy with their smartphone to notice your local business.

For local companies, too, it is no longer just a matter of having a local presence. Even well-running businesses with a loyal customer base are reaching their limits with a purely local marketing strategy. Interested parties are digitally inspired to try out competitors, buy products and use services.

Although digitization has drastic consequences, especially for local companies, it is difficult to rethink marketing. Which online marketing channels are important? How can measures be combined into an efficient strategy? We present the most important approaches and offer an introduction to the topic of online marketing for local companies.

Your website - accessible everywhere

Especially the websites of local companies should be accessible from on the road. The trend towards mobile Internet use can hardly be overestimated in its importance for local businesses and service providers.

The "mobile first" trend in digital marketing applies particularly to local companies. All important websites of your company should be optimized to be accessed via mobile phone and tablet. Not only visitors to your website will appreciate a corresponding concept. The search services also appreciate a good presentation on mobile devices and place your pages in better positions in the search results!

Place your company in the search engines

The search engine is one of the most important digital points of contact between Event Marketing Promotion and potential customers. The digital search for a hairdresser, tax consultant or a garden centre is usually carried out with the help of Google and Co.

Place your company at the top of the search results to find the right keywords. This contributes both to your company's presence and its digital reputation. Good rankings in the search engines can lead to a massive increase in customer enquiries, - visits and sales.

Google's plan to tailor search results more and more individually to the searcher and his location makes search engine marketing even more interesting for local companies.

While the classical SEO (Search Engine Optimization) approach mainly aims to optimize the website for certain keywords, Local SEO forces good positioning in certain regions. So with Local SEO you can reach exactly those people who are close to your business - and who are interested in the products and services you offer!

Use Social Media

Social media connects your local business with existing customers and the relevant target group. Also the activity in the social media improves your placement in the search services and strengthens the general visibility. In addition, local companies can advertise themselves and their products very efficiently in the form of ads on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Co.

Act as an important contact point in your subject area: network with the accounts that are relevant for your business and your customers. Build your brand. Post to your core topics and position yourself as an expert. Or place advertisements whose content is precisely tailored to the interests of your target group. Address your social media ads exactly to the people you want to reach.

Manage your entries in online yellow pages

Local companies do not only increase their digital presence through their website and the development of social media accounts. Numerous online industry directories, rating platforms, map services and apps also maintain the data of local companies. This visible data is particularly relevant for prospects and customers as well as for the search engine.

The so-called local citations stored here contain the name, address, telephone numbers and other information about your company. If this information is not up to date or incorrect, the customer and interested parties can be put out of action. Google, Bing and Co. also penalise inconsistent entries and downgrade the company in the search results accordingly.

Local Citation Management ensures that your data is always up-to-date and correctly stored. How to do that? Here you will find all information.

Author's Bio: 

Success Coach, Business Development Consultant, Strategist,Blogger, Traveller, Motivational Writer & Speaker