Hyperlocal Marketing
When it comes to the concept of hyperlocal marketing, many people don’t know how to classify it. Is the idea just a flash-in-the-pan notion, or does the phrase truly represent a forthcoming trend in digital marketing that will change the way you spread the word about your business, website, or ideas? Well you’re in luck, because in today’s blog, we’ll highlight 5 tips to successful hyperlocal marketing that you can use to grow your business.
You’re likely asking yourself: What even is hyperlocal marketing? Though branded in a unique way, hyperlocal marketing stems from one of the oldest methods of marketing imaginable, in that it’s a mixture of the connections made through word of mouth and the specificity of a certain sect of a community working together as one identifiable group.
Basically, hyperlocal translates to appealing to a centralized community – the more you zoom in, the more hyperlocal the group becomes. However, until the technology boom of radio to television to the Internet and so on, spreading the message through friends and families was the designated means of getting word the out about businesses.
Hyperlocal marketing expanded with the rise of various advertising mediums – from print materials, to radio, to television, to the Internet and smart phones, hyperlocal marketing quickly began to take shape in an all-new way. People were now able to make connections halfway across the world, spreading the word to all new audiences, kicking more traditional means to the curb.
So the question begs: How can hyperlocal marketing make a comeback? Well, you’re in luck, because we 5 tips to help make hyperlocal marketing in Mid-Michigan easier than ever.
Making the Business Your Own
One of the biggest mistakes that you could make when it comes to marketing is trying too hard to fit one specific mold of appealing to your audience. What people love is honesty and reliability – not a chess-piece marketing strategy. Anything that you can do to personalize the experience will ensure a healthy relationship with your customers.
- Post Often & Passionately – The idea of hyperlocal marketing is to hit the ground running with a firm, yet impassioned strategy. Through whatever means you can, reach out to the local community and give them a positive reason to talk about your business, website, etc.
- Personality Goes a Long Way – Your audience will not only want to be reminded of your business through multiple platforms, but will also want a sense of attitude and demeanor associated with your brand, or what kind of a vibe you’re putting out to your audience. It’s best to make sure this is apparent in any marketing initiative you work on.
Keeping Your Focus On the Local Flavor
One of the biggest benefits to hyperlocal marketing is that you won’t have to go far to find an initial audience of people to take an interest in your services or products. In order to make a true connection to what you’re trying to get across to them, whether it’s a product, service or an idea, you’re going to want to find something you both share in order to find common ground.
- Finding Something to Talk About – Being able to connect with your audience on a personal level can seem daunting at first, but when you find something you can relate to them about, it makes it all the more easier. Finding either appreciation for something about your community, or a problem that you have a solution for are two great ways of doing this.
- Adding in Your Own Experience – Not only will you need to make those connections with locals, but you’ll also want to show off a personality that demonstrates both a likability and charismatic attitude to your potential clientele. As obvious as it might sound, a little friendliness can go a long way.
Helping the Community Benefit
Part of running a hyperlocal marketing strategy is having a good relationship in the public, both with the output you produce, and the recognition of the community that rewards you with their business. It’s important to make a point to notice the work of your community to instill good faith in the public.
- Creating Community Initiatives – Finding new ways to reach out to the community through a hyperlocal marketing initiative can help to bridge the gap between your business and the people supporting it. Businesses have found success with initiatives that reward good deeds or community service with incentives, helping to spread a positive message.
- Integrating Technology – Technology, through social media or advertising, can be a great way to spread the word of community outreach initiatives. Social media posts, specifically, can be used to spread word of any outreach initiatives you’re doing, as well as shared to their network of friends, and so on and so forth.
Keep the Feedback Coming
The first sign of a successful hyperlocal marketing campaign that you’ll notice is when your local community begins to recognize all of your efforts to bring them a quality product, service, etc. It’s recommended that, in order to keep that enthusiasm alive, you record their thoughts into reviews and/or testimonials.
- Knowing the Difference – Believe it or not, there’s a different between a review and a testimonial. Reviews are shorter and more succinct with thoughts on your business, while testimonials are written more as news-style pieces that provide more detail into the product or service you’ve offered them. Each of these, in their own way, can be helpful tools to spreading the word about the quality of your business.
- Creating a Schedule – Not only is it important to receive positive feedback from community members regarding your business, but it’s important to also receive feedback on a regular basis to share to others. Setting a deadline and/or goal for a certain number of comments or testimonials about your business is one of the ways this can be done.
Embracing Technological Advances
Though the presence of emerging technologies can seem either A): dauntingly complicated, or B): unnecessary to the idea of hyperlocal marketing, it’s important to engage with people from all sorts of platforms and mediums, allowing for a greater connection with your local audience.
- Advertise Through Demographics – Did you know that, through social media, you can target posts you’ve created to specific audiences through demographics? Whether it’s age, gender, interests, or in the case of hyperlocal marketing, location, you can pay to have content put right in the feed of who you’re looking to attract.
- Mixing Up Content – What’s even more important than getting your content in front of the right people is to make sure they’ll also engage with what you’re pushing or retargeting to them. Creating a set schedule that changes up the format, message, and delivery of what you’re trying to tell people will ensure that your posts get shared, word spreads, and your business succeeds.
As you’ve seen through these 5 hyperlocal marketing tips, the concept of hyperlocal marketing, while seemingly obsolete, is a method of branding that can help create a local network that continues to grow with each connection made – which can help increase leads or foot traffic. However, as you may have also gathered, much of the technological advancements that have since rebranded how hyperlocal marketing is done are not everyone’s cup of tea.
Considering this, you may find yourself looking to take advantage of these marketing opportunities, but don’t know how. This is where a local digital marketing firm such as Solutio comes in. We tailor marketing initiatives of any scale to help businesses of all sizes achieve their goals.
With years of combined experience in not just hyperlocal marketing in Mid-Michigan, but also web development, SEO, SEM, link building, branding, and social media marketing, we’re able to give your business the competitive edge it needs locally. Bring us your ides – let us take care of the rest!
LINKS:
http://searchengineland.com/rise-hyperlocal-marketing-2017-5-tips-stay-top-269442
https://www.thebalance.com/hyperlocal-marketing-it-s-here-to-stay-as-in-forever-3515517
https://www.groupon.com/merchant/blog/hyperlocal-marketing-tips-small-business