Blog Post

The Essential, No-Frills Marketing Plan

Amber Blevins • Aug 05, 2022

In a perfect world, every local business owner would have a few hours a week, a full day or two a month, and a whole week each year-end to spend reviewing and updating their marketing plans. But in reality, many business owners are already spread thin just trying to run the day-to-day operations of their company.

Sometimes, time isn’t the issue at all. It’s more about money. The complexities of digital marketing have convinced many business owners they have to hire a high-paid professional in order to see any marketing success. And for some, the funds to hire a professional digital marketer just aren't available.

For these reasons, and others, we often see companies failing to capitalize on the marketing resources they already have or, worse yet, not doing any sort of marketing at all.

But no matter how busy you are or how limited your budget, you do have options. Here are three proven marketing actions you can take that don’t require a significant investment of your time or your money.

Know Your Audience

Stating the obvious here, but knowing your audience is vital in attracting the right customers to your local business. But creating your ideal customer profile and identifying your audience once isn’t enough. Audiences shift. Consumer preferences evolve. Economies change. As your business grows and develops, so will your target customer. Your online marketing strategy must keep up with those changes.

Simply getting your brand out there on the interwebs isn’t enough. You need to be more targeted with your efforts. Take a look at your customers over the past 12-24 months and use their demographics to build a fresh customer profile. If you’re not tracking your customers’ demographic information currently, start now. It doesn’t have to be intrusive; in fact, your customer doesn’t even need to know. Simple things like family size, address, and purchase amounts can tell you a great deal about your customer’s age, income, and what they spend their money on.

Use the details you can gather about your customers to do some quick online research. Learn about the online habits and buying behavior for the groups you identify . This information paints the picture of your current target customer. Then, gear your internet presence toward that customer.

Optimize for Local Search

As a local business, you rely on customers finding you in their area, at your brick-and-mortar location. This is why it’s not just important, it’s critical you are optimizing for local searches.

There are many ways you can optimize for local searches. Fortunately, the two most important ways are easy and free. First, claim your Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business.) If you have more than one brick-and-mortar location, you’ll have a Google Business Profile for each of them. Be sure the information is correct on each listing, including the address and contact details, your business hours, maps, etc. Add photos that attract customers and make them want to learn more about your services. And interact with the customers who leave you reviews (more on that later.)

The next way you can optimize for local searches is by ensuring your NAP (name, address, phone number) are consistent across the internet. This means everywhere online, from your Google Business Profile to your social media profiles to professional business directories. When your address shows as “123 West Main Street” on your website but your Google Business Profile lists your address as “123 Main St,” it makes it hard for Google to determine that those two addresses are actually the same business. This can cause a lower ranking in local search results.

Engage With Your Reviewers

There’s no question, online reviews have completely changed the way consumers do business. Years ago, when online reviews were just becoming a thing , they were just that... simple reviews. Written words by the customer about their experience. Fast-forward to now, review platforms have become much more robust and interactive , allowing customers to upload photos and go back later to update prior review entries. Most importantly, most review platforms, including Google Business Profile support review responses by the business.

This gives businesses the unique opportunity to respond to feedback, particularly negative feedback, in a very public way. Consumers are no longer just seeing the complaint, they’re also seeing how the company addressed the situation and made it right (or didn’t, whatever the case may be.)

An easy and free way to market your business and control your brand’s online identity is by engaging with your reviewers. Yes, this requires ongoing attention, but the time commitment is nominal and the results well worth it.

By engaging with customers who leave reviews for your business, you not only give your brand a human element, you also demonstrate your commitment to the customer. Many bad reviews have ultimately resulted in a happy customer who was satisfied with how their situation was handled.

Don’t just limit your interaction with just complaints, though – take the time comment on your positive reviews, too. Thank those customers for taking the time to share their experience. Your customer will appreciate the attention and your potential customers will be impressed with your commitment to good service.

No Muss, No Fuss Marketing

Marketing your business can be as complicated or as simple as you want. If you just don’t have the time or resources to heavily invest in marketing your business, try these three easy tactics. They’re free and require only minimal time commitment.

If you find you need a bit more support or you’re ready to take your marketing to the next level, be sure to contact a local marketing team like Locallogy . As a local business, you need a marketing team who understands the nuances of local marketing.

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