What Is Local Marketing?

Most articles on the internet preach marketing tactics that only work for companies with a global audience. 

Local business owners are left asking, “How do we find customers who live nearby?”

Today, you’ll learn the seven local marketing strategies—from local SEO to geo-targeted ads—that skilled business owners use to generate high-quality local leads.

What Is Local Marketing?

Local marketing targets leads in a specific geographic area, often near the physical storefront of a business. 

To attract and convert local prospects, businesses host community events, run local advertising campaigns, optimize their website for local SEO, and leverage other localized traditional and digital marketing techniques. 

Local marketing is most common among these types of businesses:

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  Local brick-and-mortar businesses with a physical presence, like restaurants, gyms, mechanics, and bookstores. 

  
  
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  Service providers such as plumbers, realtors, or lawyers, who offer services to businesses and individuals in a specific location.

  
  
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  Franchises and chains like a Subway or a grocery store targeting local communities. 

  
  

Whether you’re a small business owner or a marketer at an enterprise brand, local lead generation enables you to spend your money and time on high-quality leads who will actually visit your store or use your service.

According to research by SOCi, 80% of US consumers search for local businesses weekly. If you don’t show up when prospects make these searches, you’ll lose out on potential custom. 

By boosting your presence on social media sites, search engine results pages, and Google Maps, a local marketing strategy helps your business get on—and stay on—the radar of nearby leads. 

Targeting the Right Local Audience

To identify the right local audience, create an ideal customer profile (ICP). This is a description of your target customers that takes into account their demographics, pain points, and behaviors. 

Here’s how to create an ICP: 

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   Use an ICP template to get started: A template tells you which questions to ask your customers.

   
   
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   Run customer surveys and interviews: Gather information about your happiest customers. 

   
   
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   Look for patterns in their responses: Are a lot of them parents? Do they mostly come from one wealthier neighborhood? Do they share similar reasons for visiting? List all shared attributes. 

   
   

Once you have the first version of your ICP, which you’ll revise as you learn more about your customers, you’re ready to start reaching out to them. 

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Local Marketing Strategies That Work

1. Use Social Media to Reach Locals

Whether you’re running local ads on Instagram or posting pictures of happy customers on LinkedIn, social media marketing is a fantastic way to generate local leads. 

In fact, according to SOCi, 73% of consumers discover new brands on social media.

Here are the best ways to generate local leads through social media: 

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  Run geo-targeted social ads: Leverage social platforms’ local targeting features to run ads to people in specific zip codes, cities, and neighborhoods. 

  
  
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  Engage in local online groups or pages: Post in community forums and on social pages to build trust with community members. For example, a childcare service owner in Norwell might join and start posting tips in the “MOMS Club of Norwell” Facebook group.

  
  

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  Post location-specific content and hashtags: Use local hashtags to ensure posts appear in potential customers’ social feeds. And tie your message to local events and challenges that matter to people who live here. For example, a fencing company in Minnesota might post about snow-resilient outdoor paint. 

  
  
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  Collaborate with local influencers: Tap into someone else’s large local following. For example, a new Thai restaurant might direct message a local food influencer on YouTube and ask them to review their restaurant in return for a free meal. 

  
  

Your marketing doesn’t have to be super flashy to win new business. The important thing is to put yourself out there. Use social media to tell locals what you do and who you help, with photo evidence of your successes and testimonials, if you have them. 

For example, check out this shed-building business’s promotional Facebook post in the Norwell Social Group: 

If anyone in that town ever needs a shed, there’s a good chance they’ll think of him. Notice the “Coach” tactically thrown into the post. That’s a trust builder. People love to work with someone who is involved in a town in ways other than just selling to its residents, which brings us nicely to our next tip. 

2. Join or Host Local Events

People buy from those they like and trust. And what better way to inspire those feelings about your business than a good conversation with customers? 

To meet potential buyers face-to-face, start strategically attending local fairs, markets, and community events where your customers hang out. 

Here are the best community involvement strategies for local marketing: 

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  Set up a booth at a town fair or trade show, where you hand out branded gifts and tell people about your business.  

  
  
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  Contribute to a local event to boost brand awareness. For example, you might hand out water at a local 5K charity race or pay for the catering at a community meetup. That way, you’re marketing your business and helping people, boosting both presence and likability. 

  
  
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  Host in-store events and classes to provide value to buyers and position yourself as an expert. For instance, an Italian restaurant might host free cooking classes every month. You can also charge for classes for extra revenue or to cover costs, as this cheese shop is doing: 

  
  

According to Khris Steven, a successful business coach and founder of KhrisDigital, local workshops were a fantastic way to get new customers and build lasting relationships that generated referrals: 

3. Build Local Partnerships

Partner with complementary businesses that attract your ideal customers, and work with them to grow both your businesses through referrals, cross-promotions, and other forms of partnership. 

For example, a Jeep tour company could end every tour with a recommendation to a nearby skydiving experience, and the skydiving company could do the same.

To incentivize these promotions, create a kickback system where businesses that refer customers to your business get 10% of the revenue from closed sales.

In addition to referral fees, the following two partnership strategies work well: 

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  Joint discounts: This is when two companies offer discounts if a customer uses both of their services. For example, a wedding photographer and florist might offer a 20% discount if a customer makes a joint booking. 

  
  
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  Bundled services: This approach involves proving your worth and becoming the go-to or recommended vendor for other businesses. Wedding venues, for example, often list vetted third-party services. 

  
  

It’s also a good idea to connect with local media brands that can feature your business in their magazine, blog, or podcast. 

For example, TwoCents, a referral app for restaurants and businesses in Montclair, NJ, partnered with Montclair Girl, a local publication, for a boost in exposure. 

Montclair Girl wrote an article about the company and its founders and posted it on their popular blog.

As you look for businesses to partner with, think about what you can do for them. Can you share their business with a customer? Can you help them host an event? The more you assist local businesses, the more they’ll want to partner with you to help you grow yours.    

4. Optimize Your Website for Local SEO

Customers still rely on search engines, especially Google, to find new businesses—in fact, 83% of customers use a search engine to discover new businesses (SOCi). 

Just like an exterminator endeavors to rank high in the search results for “exterminator in Trenton,” you should target relevant local queries, whether that’s “best pasta in NY” or “tattoo artist near me.”  

Here’s how to optimize your website for local search engine optimization (SEO):

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   Keep your NAP (name, address, phone number) consistent: These should be the same across your web pages and third-party directories. This signals to Google that your info is up-to-date, which increases your site’s trustworthiness, a key ranking factor. 

   
   
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   Include local keywords and location: Fit these references naturally in your page titles, headings, and content (as in the example below). This helps Google surface your business’s pages in relevant queries. 

   
   

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   Use local images: Include photos of your storefront and local events with geo-tagging to once again tell search engines about your location.  

   
   
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   Start a blog: Target local search terms you want to rank for and write blog posts that answer these queries. For example, an exterminator might target the key phrase “bugs in [city] home.” Leads searching for this will then go to their site, get value, and potentially hire them.

   
   

5. Google Business Profile & Directories

When it comes to researching local businesses, customers see Google and Google Maps as two of the most reliable sources, according to research by Brightlocal. 

To make sure your website appears on these trusted research sites, you need an optimized Google Business Profile. 

Here’s how to build and optimize your Google Business Profile:

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  Claim and verify your profile: Go to Google Business Profile, click Get Started, and follow the setup wizard. You’ll be asked to input your business name, location, and other details.   

  
  

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  Add photos of your business: Upload photos of your storefront, products, employees, events, and customers. Showcasing your business helps you make a good first impression with the customers researching your business. 

  
  

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  Select the right categories: When choosing categories, make sure they adequately capture the nature of your business. This helps Google understand your offerings and increases the likelihood you’ll appear for relevant searches.   

  
  
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  Enable messaging: The messaging feature gives customers a way to directly message your business through your Google Business listing. Turning this function on and promptly answering customer questions enhances the customer experience.    

  
  

Finally, encourage happy customers to leave reviews on your business profile. A business with a history of positive online reviews is highly attractive to potential customers. Plus, Google considers reviews as part of its ranking algorithm. 

In addition to Google, list your business on other review sites and online directories, such as Yelp and Bing. This way, your business will appear in all the most popular search tools customers use to research businesses. 

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6. Email and SMS for Local Marketing

A local email list is gold. It provides you with direct access to customers—access you can use to build relationships, nurture leads, and promote your offers.  

There are three main methods to grow a local email list:

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  In-store sign-ups: Create a rewards program to encourage customers to give you their contact info. Have your service reps promote this program at checkout. If you use a self-service kiosk, connect it with your email marketing software and include a step in the checkout interface that asks for their email address and mentions the incentive.   

  
  
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  Pop-up forms: On your website, place a pop-up that offers a discount in exchange for contact info. Tools like OptinMonster and GetResponse make it easy to build these pop-ups and add them to your site. Additionally, put a banner at the bottom of your website that promotes a discount, as in the example below. 

  
  

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  Local data tools: Lead databases like the one provided by Artisan contain vast amounts of data on local businesses and decision-makers. Use them to easily find the email addresses of your target leads. 

  
  

Now that you’ve built an email list, what should you do with it? Use an email automation platform to run drip campaigns that send your leads localized email content that helps them solve their pain points. 

For example, a compliance monitoring software company that helps NYC property managers might send emails teaching leads about local laws or how to pass an inspection. 

Every once in a while, devote the email to promoting a specific product or service. Efi’s Gyro, for example, sends an email to customers to encourage them to visit a nearby store. 

Also, consider supporting your email marketing strategy with SMS campaigns for more urgent offers, reminders, and updates. For example, a catering business that’s running a “10% Off Holiday Sale” might send a text to local businesses gearing up for office holiday parties. 

Cold email is also a proven way of connecting with local leads, and AI is helping small businesses scale and automate this time-consuming strategy. Ava, Artisan’s AI sales rep, sends personalized email sequences to leads and adjusts content based on recipient behavior.  

7. Local Advertising (Digital & Traditional)

Geo-targeted Google and social ads enable your business to target potential customers in your area who have specific interests, behaviors, and demographic makeups. 

The best platforms for local advertising are Google Ads, with its radius targeting, and Facebook, which enables you to serve ads to provinces, cities, congressional districts, and even zip codes. 

In addition to running digital ads, consider using traditional options like radio, direct mail, and flyers. This helps you reach potential customers who are less tech-savvy. Plus, a letter slipped into a mailbox feels much more personal than a Google PPC ad. 

In your physical ads, use promotion codes or tracking numbers to measure success so you can double down on the methods that work best. 

Miko Parsanen of contracting firm Miko LLC used flyers to generate a referral engine that would be the envy of many small business owners:

How to Measure Local Marketing Success

To measure success in local marketing, track metrics related to online marketing performance and real-world business impact. 

Here are the metrics you should be tracking to improve your local marketing: 

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  Foot traffic: Count the number of people who enter your store and, if possible, ask them how they heard about you. 

  
  
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  Local search performance: Monitor your rankings in the search results for location-specific search queries, and use Google Analytics to dive deeper into which pages are driving the most traffic and what visitors are doing on your website. 

  
  
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  Reviews: Track your business’s online reputation and reviews on Google and other key review sites. Consider a social listening tool to easily monitor what customers are saying about your business on social media platforms. 

  
  
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  Leads generated: For each campaign, track how many people you’ve converted into leads. Typically, a successful “conversion” is a submission of contact information. 

  
  
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  Google Business Profile analytics: Use Google Business Insights to investigate the performance of your profile, including the number of visits your listing received, customer behavior data, and the search queries that are prompting people to click on your listing.   

  
  

By consistently monitoring the performance of your local marketing tactics and making data-driven decisions to improve results, you’ll gradually work towards an optimized local marketing strategy.   

How Artisan Helps You Scale Local Outreach

A diversified local marketing strategy that uses several types of local marketing tactics—from local SEO to geo-targeted ads—is the best way for your business to generate local sales leads consistently. 

But multichannel strategies require lots of administration. That’s why businesses are increasingly using AI to assist with their marketing. Artisan’s AI BDR Ava automatically finds, researches, and nurtures local leads as part of a comprehensive cold outreach strategy.

This frees reps to focus on the all-important human elements of running a local marketing campaign. 

Automate your outbound with an AI BDR

Meet Ava—your AI BDR who handles prospecting, outreach, and follow-ups, so your team can focus on closing.

Book a Demo