Are you looking for effective ways to market your local Northamptonshire business? When it comes to promoting your business and spreading your message to a large audience, the tactics that you choose will play a major role in whether or not your message will be heard. Many small business owners who are trying to compete in an industry full of large organisations are not familiar with what marketing really and what marketing tools are effective.

 

Why Local Businesses Have Trouble Competing?

 

Any local business has the opportunity to succeed and grow, but if you fail to put a focus on marketing you are setting your business up for failure. You must be prepared to use all of the best marketing tools to reach a target audience, and develop creative marketing strategies that will speak to consumers who are looking for a company to be loyal to.

Large businesses can hire a department full of marketing specialists, managers, analysts and researchers to determine who to target, where to reach them, and what to tell them. You do not have the luxury of coming up with a budget large enough to hire marketing agencies who are experts in integrating traditional and online marketing strategies to create a cohesive and branded campaign.

The first step would be an optimised website so that you can build your presence online, direct traffic to your website, and then drive traffic through your front door.

If you are not thinking out out of the box and familiarising yourself with online marketing strategies that can be integrated with your direct mail, promotional gift, or trade show marketing strategies, you will find that getting the results the large businesses get is virtually impossible.

 

Affordable Online Marketing Tips That Will Drive Results

 

Here are 5 online techniques that Northamptonshire business owners can try that do not require a large budget:

 

#1: Use Social Media Platforms to Optimise Your Website

Social media websites like Google Business Pages, Facebook and Twitter are free to use, and these sites are very powerful marketing platforms when they are used properly. If you create a profile for your business, you can connect with your loyal customers and prospects as well. Social Media is a great way to build brand recognition and trust with consumers in your neighbourhood. BUT it needs to be understood …….

The problem is that businesses (both small and large) just don’t “get it”. The key to social media is in its name… it’s SOCIAL media. That means it’s about being social with people – interacting with them on a genuine 1-to-1 level. Having conversations. Being genuinely interested!

One of the key things that big businesses really suck at is reacting quickly to change. In fact, many large businesses haven’t even got a social media strategy. They’re focussed on traditional media and haven’t realised that social is not just a fad, but is here to stay and is the new way of doing business. Timing is important in social media. If there’s a controversial or popular event taking place, you can be right there on the spot to take advantage of it

 

 

#2: Make Sure You Have a Google Business Page

Just how important is Local SEO or optimising for Local search :

43 percent of the overall query volume coming from Google (mobile and PC) carried a local search query

Connecting  Local searches with Local business makes business sense!

If you want to be found for local search queries, there is no better way then maximising your chances by having a Google Business Page and Listing your business in Google+ Local.  There is nothing mystical about SEO, just logical steps to increasing  (or optimising) your online visibility. Like your websites pages, you need to have the right content in the right place in order for search engines to return the desired result

Read : Google Business Pages 

 

#3: Establish Yourself as an Expert

I just mentioned “blogging”, don’t freak out, …… deap breath

Are you an insurance agent? Do you fix roof leaks? You need the public to know that you are trustworthy and knowledgeable in your industry. Many people assume blogging is all about talking about your interests, but when you blog for marketing purposes you are posting relevant information that is valuable or helpful. Post trends, tips, how-to articles, and anything that readers will find useful.

Your blog can also be used effectivly to increase your authority and visibility in search for a  particular field, locality, product or service. By attaching your rel=author (What’s that all about) you can increase CTR on your published content.

Get yourself into a routine, this does not have to be difficult!

Read: Content Marketing for Local Business

#4: Promote Yourself Without Promoting Yourself

It might sound odd, but sometimes the best way to market your business is by doing something that is newsworthy. If your business is being covered by the media, a magazine, or a highly reputable online magazine, you can drive traffic to your website.

You do not have to spend 4 years studying at a university just to become an expert Internet marketer. By taking time to learn how to marketing online, and why some tactics are more successful than others, you can expand your customer base and compete with those businesses that have multi-million dollar marketing budgets.