Small businesses often find it challenging to compete with the big names. But this doesn’t mean you can’t gain a fair share of the local market, all thanks to the trust and support they get from your local customers.
One survey revealed that about 82% of consumers prefer local businesses to national chains.
However, one mistake many local businesses and marketers make is forgetting (or paying little attention to) your local market. It’s good for a business to have a solid global or national presence, but you should start locally.
So, how can you boost your NJ local business presence? Read on to discover practical tips and strategies.
What is a local business presence?
A local business presence is the visibility, influence, and recognition a business has within its immediate geographic area or community. This comprises various online and offline elements contributing to the business’s standing and impact within its local market.
For instance, establishing a brick-and-mortar office, store, or facility within a specific locality contributes to the physical presence of a business in the community.
A strong NJ local business presence is crucial for attracting and retaining local customers, building brand loyalty, and establishing a positive reputation within the community.
How to boost your NJ local business presence offline
Though crucial in today’s digital era, you don’t always need the internet to increase your local business presence. You can do it offline and attract a vast audience. Here are top strategies to market your local business offline in your local area or community.
Understand the NJ local market
You cannot effectively market your business locally if you don’t understand the local market. Therefore, you want a comprehensive understanding of the local market before diving into local marketing strategies.
How do you understand your NJ local market?
Start by analyzing demographics and consumer behavior. You want to understand precisely what your target audience needs and tailor your marketing approach to those needs.
Also, you should identify your audience through persona development and stay tuned to local preferences and trends.
It will be much easier to boost your business presence if you deeply understand the local market, target audience, and local competitors.
Build partnerships and collaborations
Being part of a group gives your small business a competitive advantage. Therefore, you should build quality partnerships and collaborations with other established businesses within New Jersey.
For instance, try cross-promoting with other local businesses. This involves two or more local businesses marketing each other to their customers, and works best if two businesses offer closely related products and services.
For example, a business offering HVAC services could refer customers to another business offering HVAC components and vice versa.
You can also partner with local influencers to help promote your business locally.
Host or sponsor local events
Hosting or sponsoring local NJ events puts your business in the spotlight. Everyone who attends the events gets to know your brand, increasing visibility. Plus, attendees are more likely to remember your business from the event you sponsored or hosted.
You could, for instance, sponsor a local sports team, a school event, a community program, or host a dance party. When doing so, ensure your business name is displayed on uniforms, banners, or event materials.
You could also contribute to local charities or causes to demonstrate corporate social responsibility.
However, ensure the event you host or sponsor attracts your target demographic.
Community involvement through events creates a positive perception of your local business. It shows you care about the community’s well-being and are invested in its growth.
Consequently, local consumers are more likely to trust your brand and support your business by buying from it.
Top strategies for boosting your NJ local business presence online
Do you know that 76% of consumers look at your online presence before physically visiting your business? And if a shopper can’t find your business online, they are unlikely to visit it? This explains the importance of online presence for your local business.
So, how do you boost your NJ local business presence online? Here are the top strategies.
Create and optimize your website
Today, your website is like your shop. If you don’t have one, customers won’t find your business and definitely won’t buy from you. Therefore, the first step in establishing a solid online presence is having a well-designed and optimized website.
Your business website should be mobile-friendly and easy to navigate. Remember, many consumers—55.4% of internet users (according to Hubspot) use mobile phones to buy online. Therefore, you must make their mobile experience excellent to increase conversion rates.
But, having a website is insufficient to boost your local business presence online. The competition in the online space is stiff.
Optimize your site for local searches. This means ranking your website on top of search engine results pages (SERPs) so people can easily find your site online. You can do so by including relevant keywords, meta tags, and location-specific content.
Also, ensure your business website has your contact details, location, and business hours, among other essential information.
Create and optimize your website for local content
Content is king in digital marketing. So, after designing your business website, you must ensure each page has high-quality and relevant content.
The goal is to create quality and shareable content that speaks to or relates directly to your local NJ audience.
Start by identifying NJ locally relevant keywords. For instance, if you’re a digital marketing agency, you could create content with the keyword “digital marketing agency in NJ”.
You can use tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, and Moz to identify local keywords for your content.
Work on your local search engine optimization (SEO)
Local SEO is a strategy used to make your business more visible in local search results pages on Google and other search engines.
It involves identifying relevant keywords, optimizing your business’s Google Business Profile, and creating consistent NAP citations. And since 46% of all searches on Google have a local intent, working on your local SEO is essential.
Here are some local SEO tips to help boost your NJ local business presence online;
- Optimize for Google My Business: Create a Google My Business page, use Google posts within your account, and encourage customers to share reviews online.
- Create consistent NAP citations: Ensure your business name, address, and phone number(s) are consistent online. Do not include the NAP within an image, as images can’t be crawled from search engines.
- Add location pages to your business website: This applies if you have multiple brick-and-mortar locations. Location pages show your name, address, phone number, store hours, unique store descriptions, promotions, and testimonials from happy clients.
Paid online advertising
If your budget allows, you can pay for online advertising to boost your local business presence online. You can use platforms like Google Ads and social media ads to create ads that target your local audience for a fee.
When using paid online advertising, ensure your campaigns are well-designed and targeted with specific demographics and geographical parameters.
Additionally, monitor your ad strategy based on performance and metrics.
Final thoughts on boosting your local business presence in NJ
Struggling to boost your NJ local business presence? You can use the strategies above to increase your brand visibility, attract more customers, and boost sales.
And if you need help marketing your business online, contact a digital marketing agency in NJ.
