Many businesses only target a relatively small geographical area. For example, a café at a suburban shopping center typically aims to sell its cakes, sandwiches, pastries, and the like to nearby people who are close enough to come in-store to buy their products, often eating them on-site. The cafe may offer some form of take-out service, but most users of this service will still be in relatively close proximity.
In the past, they probably relied on word-of-mouth marketing, supplemented by attractive store signage, possibly handing out flyers, running ads in local newspapers, and maybe even on the radio. However, in these times, where local newspapers struggle to exist, most people encounter the bulk of their marketing online.
Yet a small local business like a café doesn’t want to sell to the world, expanding its reach to distant neighborhoods or nations. They certainly don’t want to pay to promote themselves to some out-of-towner whom they will never encounter and who doesn’t care about their existence. They want to continue to sell, and market locally.
Well, the internet has adapted to cater to this, and you can relatively easily promote your products and services online to local consumers. Here is a selection of local digital marketing strategies, that every local business can use to ensure that they are pitching their marketing to the right (local) audience. Or, you can always choose the alternative and hire a local marketing agency.
What is Local Digital Marketing?
Local digital marketing involves using a combination of strategies online to deliver your message to consumers located in a specific geographic area. It utilizes a mixture of online marketing channels to reach a relevant local audience, living in the desired geographic area.
According to a survey conducted in the United States in January 2023, 21 percent of consumers over the previous year had used the internet to find a local business daily. An additional 32 percent of respondents stated that they used the internet for local search multiple times every week. Only 2 percent of the survey respondents said that they didn’t search for local businesses online.
With so many people now using the internet to find local businesses, it makes sense that most businesses, no matter how small and niche, should engage in some level of local digital marketing.
Local Digital Marketing Strategies to Try
1. Ensure Your Website is Mobile Friendly
This may seem like an overly simplistic strategy for our guide – most people have been recommending making your site mobile-friendly for a decade now – but it is so critical for local digital marketing success that we can’t ignore it. Most people, nowadays, carry their phones around and use them to collect information as they move about. They may search Google for a particular business type, check Yelp for reviews of local businesses they encounter, and look for a specific business location using Google Maps. They are also likely to tap into business websites to learn what they have to offer. If they find that your website isn’t mobile friendly, they will bypass you and turn their attention to one of your competitors.
2. Use SEO Correctly to Localize Your Website for Organic Search
Even if you are already experienced in organic SEO, you may have to make some adjustments if you’re trying to target a local audience. As the SEO specialist, Moz, observes, everything you’ve learned about organic SEO applies to marketing local businesses, too. However, you need to take a very narrow perspective when adjusting your site and its content for local customers. You aren’t trying to have your site top Google’s search results anywhere except for in a defined local geographical area. Indeed, in many cases, you don’t want your site to appear prominently in regions you can’t service. You don’t want your staff to constantly be answering queries from outside your operating area.
Be aware that Google uses separate algorithms for organic and local searches. The algorithms are similar, but there are some differences to cater to the different intent of local search.
Google also recognizes that some firms that have multiple branches wish to target a series of local markets, rather than a large online market. Even Walmart does not need to top the search results in countries and regions where it doesn’t operate.
There are now multiple parts to a page of Google search results. These include local search features like:
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Localized organic results
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Local pack results
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Local finders
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Google Maps (which includes a search feature)
And Google isn’t the only relevant search engine you will want to target. For example, anybody with an iPhone wandering your town will most likely be relying on data provided by Apple Maps. You will want Apple Maps to correctly pinpoint the location of your business and include any relevant (and correct) details.
While Google and the other search engines look at hundreds of factors in their search engine algorithms, there are three main things they look at with local search:
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Proximity – how close is a user to a business address when they search. This means that Google needs to know where your business and any branches are located;
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Prominence – how important Google thinks your business is compared to others in your niche nearby;
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Relevance – how closely related is a search result to the words a searcher uses in their query.
Local SEO can be particularly useful for ensuring that your business builds authority (and therefore prominence) in an area. This is similar to how Google determines rankings in traditional organic search. Factors that would improve your chance of a prominent local Google ranking include the number of links to your site (from quality websites), and your website’s perceived authority. However, Google also looks at other, more localized, factors when determining prominence, such as the mentions a local business receives, foot traffic to physical locations (it can extrapolate this from Google Maps users), the number of up-to-date local business listings, the interest in your Google My Business listing, and the number and quality of reviews, etc.
Relevance factors for local businesses are similar to other types of search queries. Google can get an indication by analyzing the relevance of your online content, your on-page SEO, the sentiment of online reviews, etc.
If you carry out a transactional type of search in your home region and then carry out the same search in incognito mode, you will notice significantly different search results. This is because Google modifies its search results for virtually all search terms to recognize the location of the searcher. You must use SEO correctly on your website to ensure that it appears in the search results of people in the correct locations.
3. Set up Your Google Business Profile
Every business qualifies for a free Google Business Profile. This helps people find you on Google Search and Maps. Many businesses, however, run with the standard profile that Google’s bots generate, without customizing and updating it. You can easily personalize your profile with photos, offers, posts, and more. By doing so, you are making it valuable for potential customers.
You have probably noticed how some businesses appear pre-populated on Google Maps whenever you open up your app. You may even have been annoyed that Google has highlighted a competitor’s business but ignored yours. This will often simply be because they have claimed and filled in their Google Business Profile, and in return, Google has increased their visibility in their apps.
Google uses these business profiles in some search results. For example, they use them to create Local Pack Results, typically between the first section of Sponsored Results and the organic results.
When someone makes a location-based search, Google selects the three businesses that it thinks best meet its Proximity/Relevance/Prominence criteria and shows them as a Local Pack (typically beside a map of the area, with the businesses highlighted, as shown above). They add a button beneath this saying “More Businesses”. If a searcher clicks on this, a list of relevant businesses shows (with a map). This includes additional information about the businesses, including ratings, hours, phone numbers, links to their websites, and more.
Business profiles aren’t just so Google can extract information for these combined listings, however. They also show up separately if someone searches for a business by name - on the right side of a desktop search or at the top of a mobile search. These can be quite detailed if you enter enough information, for example highlighting reviews, ratings, and even common Questions & Answers about the business.
According to Moz, you can control the following parts of your business profile:
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Category – although not visible to views of your business profile, you should ensure that Google puts you in the right business category. It is essential that you use the correct primary category, otherwise Google will highlight you for the incorrect search terms. Also, some industries have custom Google Business Profile features, and they won’t show if you haven’t selected that category. As Google has thousands of categories, you might wish to check out the categories your competitors have selected.
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Photos and videos – upload good-quality photos and images that make your business look enticing and professional. If someone clicks on a photo, Google will take them to a larger set of images. Note that other users can upload photos here, however. It’s worth checking what shows here and reporting any spammy or inappropriate images. If you have videos to upload, make sure you upload more than two, as this means you will have a separate mobile video subtab.
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Maps – check the map pin is in the correct location.
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Business name – ensure that it shows the real-world name of your business (for Service Area businesses without a storefront it needs to match the name you use on your website)
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Address – if you have a brick-and-mortar business the address must reflect your actual location.
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Hours – you can set the hours you are open.
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Phone numbers – you can provide this (on mobile, users will see a call icon which they can tap to directly start a call).
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Website – you can provide a URL for a preferred landing page (although be aware the public can change this).
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Reviews – you can only indirectly influence these. For example, you can encourage satisfied customers to write these. You can flag spam reviews, however.
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Google Posts – you can provide Google with short content pieces, including links, images, and videos. Google is regularly experimenting with different items here. The recommended size for their mini-blogs is 150-350 characters (with images 750x750 pixels).
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Google Questions & Answers – these are FAQs about your business, which you and the public can provide.
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See What’s In-Store – the data for this comes from a physical point-of-sales device that lets you scan your inventory and have it show on an inventory landing page.
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Business Description – write up to 750 characters highlighting desirable features about your business (but no overt promotion is permitted).
4. Claim Your Local Listing on all Relevant Websites and Directories
Once you’ve set up your Google Business profile you should spend some time claiming local listings in all the other websites and directories covering your area. Many of these may seem obscure to you, but a surprising number of these appear in local searches, making it vital that you claim your listing before somebody else does. You need any reference to your business on one of these sites to be correct, and not confuse the public by showing incorrect information.
Local listings generally include your business name, address, phone number, a basic description, a link to your website, and some customer reviews. Some directories generate their entries based on public records, and these are not always up-to-date or correct. Others require you to submit a listing if they are going to include a reference to you.
5. Use Location Targeting in Google Ads
Search engine marketing (SEM) involves placing ads on the search engine results pages (SERPs) to get website traffic. Although most search engines offer SEM opportunities, Google is by far the largest and most used search engine (91.37% market share in March 2024).
Google Ads allows you to set up very precise targeting of an audience, including by geographic location.
In many areas, you don’t have a huge number of competitors. This makes it easier for you to win PPC auctions at a reasonable price, resulting in your PPC ads being positioned by Google near the top of the search listings for important keywords.
Google has three types of location targeting that you can use in your local digital marketing strategies and tactics:
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Country targeting – where you can display advertising messages in one or more countries
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Targeting by national geographic zones – so you can target specific regions, countries, or cities
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Targeting by radius around some specific geographical point – where you can target within a set number of kilometers of a location.
You will want to keep a close look at the location targeting you use in your ads to ensure that you continually focus on the areas where you are most likely to make a sale. This may change over time, and you need to adjust your targeting to reflect this. Connecting your Google Analytics account to Google Ads can help you obtain the necessary information for location-based Google Ad targeting. Other tools, such as Reporting Ninja, Swydo, SEMrush, and SegmentStream Conversion Modelling Platform can assist here too.
Remember, you can’t buy an instant audience for your ads. Automated marketing platform, DeepReach, stresses that it takes at least one month for Google’s algorithms to understand the possible optimizations.
6. Consider Programmatic Display Advertising Using Geographic Targeting
Programmatic display advertising uses automated technology, such as algorithms and machine learning, to buy and sell advertising space in real time. There are now multiple programmatic ad platforms enabling advertisers to deliver highly targeted and personalized ads to consumers across a wide range of online and offline channels. They can be a highly effective tool for targeting prospective customers based on your preferred criteria.
There are two purchasing systems for buying programmatic advertising:
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Open auctions – you bid for advertising spots (similar to PPC ads on Google or Facebook). The CPM price is dynamic, depending on who else bids, and there is no guarantee that you can get your ad where you want it within your budget
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Fixed CPM – you agree to a fixed price for your ads. These campaigns can be either Preferred Deals (fixed CPM, but no guaranteed advertising spots) or Guaranteed Deals (fixed CPM, guaranteed advertising slots)
Most programmatic ad platforms allow you to precisely set the targets for your ads. They provide a mix of demographic data, location, interests, and behavioral analysis to enable you to do this. You can often reach a large audience (depending on how granular you set your targeting), as these networks cover many channels apart from Google and Facebook. You can easily adapt your message to reflect the location of your audience.
7. Collect Local Testimonials and Reviews from Local Customers
You can encourage local people to leave reviews for your business on rating websites, such as Google and Yelp. Searchers and other consumers take great notice of the reviews they encounter online, as they provide social proof.
Unfortunately, dissatisfied customers are most likely to want to leave a review unprompted, so you may need to remind your happy customers to write them.
You are likely to be more successful at encouraging reviews if you ask right away, while you are still fresh in a customer’s mind.
Depending on how you operate your business, you could place signs next to each cash register asking for a review or print a request on your receipts. You could even set up an automated email campaign and send out an email asking for a review (with links to common review sites) when somebody buys your goods.
There are some things you need to avoid when asking for reviews, however. Make certain that you don’t have multiple reviews coming from the same IP address. The review companies may consider these reviews fake, possibly written by your staff. So don’t, for instance, encourage your customers to make their reviews in-store using your business Wi-Fi, and discourage your staff from “helping” you with reviews.
Yelp has a rule about businesses not directly asking their customers to leave a review. Yelp’s software tries to identify any reviews that appear to have been requested, and not recommend them. You are allowed to tell your customers that your business is on Yelp, however, leaving it to them to decide whether they want to go further on the platform.
8. Use Location Targeting for Facebook and Other Social Media Marketing
Like Google Ads, Facebook (and other Meta channels like Instagram) allow you to create PPCs with precise location targeting.
Meta provides many ways to target your Facebook and Instagram ads, using the Ads Management tool. This is their all-in-one tool for creating ads, managing when and where they'll run, and tracking how well your campaigns are performing toward your marketing goals. You can even keep an eye on your campaign while you're on the go in the Ads Manager app for iOS and Android.
You can create target audiences in many ways, including geographic and other demographic targeting. For example, you can set target locations, and modify them with other demographics like gender and age to create a precise audience for your Meta ads. You can create custom audiences based on your own audience sources (e.g. your website visitors or a customer list) or Meta sources (e.g. people who have interacted with your Facebook page or Instagram account in any way).
You have to set a goal when setting up a Meta ad campaign, and the amount of local customization you will see depends on the goal you choose and whether Meta perceives your business as being inherently local. The goals cover the three broad aspects of Awareness, Traffic, and Conversions. For example, you will have more opportunities for local digital marketing on Facebook and Instagram if your goal relates to the Conversions goal of Store Traffic Campaigns than with most other categories.
What this means in practice, assuming you win Facebook’s PPC auction, your ad will trigger and appear in a user’s news feed when Facebook recognizes that the user is near your point of sale. You can set your audience to consist of people more likely to go near that location. Facebook can geolocate where a person is and avoid wasting your advertising when they aren’t near. You can use this degree of targeting for things like the opening of a new store, promoting a new product, or even highlighting today’s special at a local restaurant.
One advantage for many local businesses is that you are likely to have a lower cost per click (CPC) for these ads because you may face less competition compared to more geographically generic terms.
9. Localize Your Remarketing/Retargeting Ads
We have written about the benefits of retargeting users who have made a previous transaction, visited your website, or interacted with you on social media. This allows you to reconnect with past or potential customers who have proactively reached out to you in the past. Although this form of marketing relates to previous online connections, rather than those who have found you by walking in the door, it is still valuable for firms whose main customer base is geographically local. Just because somebody lives close to your store doesn’t mean that they haven’t also found you on the internet.
One of the keys to success with a local market when remarketing is to create and share content relating to local issues.
10. Create a Local FAQ Page on Your Website
Once you’ve been operating for a while you probably notice that there are certain questions that potential customers repeatedly ask you. Once you’ve collated such a set of questions, post them (with appropriate answers) as a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page on your website. If people are regularly asking you these questions in person, they are likely also asking them in Google. The search engine is likely to link to your FAQ whenever somebody uses one of the questions as a search.
While you don’t have to be a local business to do this, it can be a very useful way to answer many questions about how you operate locally.
Wrapping Things Up
As we’ve seen, there are multiple ways you can reach a local market using digital marketing that don’t have to break the bank. Many of the digital marketing strategies we mentioned are low-cost and work out cheaper than trying to market to a larger audience of predominantly irrelevant consumers.
