Nothing beats HYPER-local
Despite all of the talk recently about marketing locally on Google or Facebook, it doesn’t change the fact that consumers are still being bombarded with a purported 5,000+ marketing messages each day! Getting through takes more creativity than a few unique keywords and so instead of just going local, you should be doubling down and going HYPER-local: get out there in person!
Marketing in the streets amongst your community members leverages an unbreakable local bond. Your families share the places that you live, work, and play and it gives you instant credibility and gets your foot in the door where you might otherwise have been ignored.
And who better to show you how to market locally than the direct mail folks?
Here are 5 supercharged hyper-local marketing techniques:
1. Market in areas where for-sale signs are popping up. It’s time to do like the realtors do. The commonly held knowledge in their industry is that when one “for sale” sign pops up, others are bound to follow. It’s like everybody gets the big idea all at once, and while this is prime prospecting for realtors, it’s also fantastic for you. Homeowners preparing to sell are in need of help with just about everything: painting, landscaping, carpentry, plumbing, home decoration, and more.
Target these neighborhoods with door hangers, flyers, and brochures. On the back-end of that phenomena, you’ll also have a flood of new homeowners moving in who need to get their head around the local services in their area, like dentistry, schools, sports teams, and lessons for the kids. They spend an average of $7,000 getting set up, so hook them with postcard offers early!
2. Offer classes: A customer of ours sells spices. To promote his store, he started offering cooking classes. Why? Not because it’s a revenue stream, but because he found that by teaching people about how to cook with those spices and about their medicinal properties (did you know that cardamom clears headaches?), he creates well-educated buyers who buy more and buy more often. It’s the same reason that Home Depot offers classes on home building, and REI offers backpacking lessons.
What lessons can you offer to educate your buyer?
Pro-Tip: Charge something for your classes! People value classes more when they cost something, and if they sign up, they show up more often if they’ve already paid.
3. Get out there and attend some events. What’s happening in your area? Head to the local papers or to Craigslist and come up with places the you can go and be seen, like farmer’s markets, local concerts, festivals, industry conventions, races, and minor league sports games. You’ll have to inquire as to whether those organizations want to regulate you having a booth (sometimes there’s an application and a fee) and if you can, try to provide services for the community like serving snacks or giving out free waters. If nothing else, arm a crew of volunteers in t-shirts to wander around and hand out swag or coupons!
4. Laser-targeted postcard campaigns: With the incredible simplicity of big data at your fingertips, you can know everything about your neighbors without stepping away from your computer. Using Nielsen’s PRIZM technology, you can select an area as small as a single neighborhood and a profile of person who matches your target customer, and send them a postcard addressing them by first name that says something to the effect of, “Hey Laurie, have you seen how verdant and green the lawns are down on Riverside Drive? That’s our work, and at Jamie’s Hedges, we’re proud to be your local landscaper!” Click here to try it out.
5. Cross-promote with other local businesses: It’s always a wonder to us that more small businesses aren’t working in cross-promotional networks. How often do people ask you for services that you don’t offer, or where they can find a coffee shop, printer, grocer, or hardware store? Find people to refer them to and have those business owners do the same, and print out flyers for each other’s services that you can pass them out when asked.
6. Find local influencers: The marketing world is awash these days with talk about “influencer marketing” which is just a fancy word for having people advocate for you. You can get into it too, but much more simply by identifying your top advocates (often, your top buyers) and giving them free product in return for a little social media love. Just have them post pictures of themselves with it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, and tag your business!
Are you feeling more patriotic about your home-town already?
What several of our proof-readers here pointed out is that this list isn’t only an effective marketing strategy, but it actually seems fun, and that’s exactly what we think marketing should be! So get out there, gear up your volunteers, and go on a handshake-tour of your local business community and start your hyper-local marketing strategy today!
Want some HYPER-local advice from a trusted advisor?
Give Opportunity Knocks a call today at 1-866-319-7109 because they’re full of more ideas, and they’re dying to talk to you. They’ll formulate your local marketing strategy and can put together a full-suite of white-glove marketing campaigns that are sure to bring a flood of neighbors a-knocking!