JVI Mobile Marketing
Local Content: Cracking The Code To Great Content

Local Content: Cracking The Code To Great Content

In the past, creating local content was easy. You paid for a listing in the Yellow Pages, printed flyers, and possibly placed an ad in the local newspaper. People were aware of who you were and where you were.

Then came web marketing and everything changed. At first, the advice was to focus on general keywords. However, Google and other search engines' algorithms have evolved over time. They now prioritize local search above all else.

Why does that matter? In short, creating compelling local content is not optional. It is as essential as oxygen. You need to demonstrate to potential clients that you are an active participant in the neighborhood, which requires you to go beyond simply providing an address.

The Fundamentals of Local Marketing

I've already written a lot about local marketing, but I think it's important to include a short summary of how to optimize your website and content for local search. Keep these things in mind:

  • Optimize your site for mobile search and make sure it looks great on mobile devices.
  • Optimize your site for local voice searches and "near me" searches.
  • Choose local keywords with a high search volume that are highly relevant to your business. The name of your city, state, or neighborhood, as well as keywords relevant to your business, are the best local search words.
  • Use rich snippets to include important geographic information in your Google search results.
  • Obtain links from important local sites to your site. Remember that when it comes to link building, quality trumps quantity. To build your local SEO "cred," focus on local business guides, the Chamber of Commerce, and related local businesses.
  • Encourage your customers to leave reviews and link to your review pages on your website. Customer testimonials, which go into a bit more depth than reviews, are also very important.

Following these tips will help you get started, but you'll still need to create compelling local content to attract customers.

Local Content Creation Tips

Once your site has been optimized for local searches, you should concentrate on creating local content. This entails more than simply incorporating local keywords into general content. You'll need to demonstrate to site visitors that you're a part of a local community.

Suggestions to get you started:

Determine your audience's interests and then write about them. Of course, you don't want to stray too far from your business, but there's nothing wrong with getting excited about topics that are important to your audience. You could, for example, write about an upcoming community event or the year's first major storm.  If you already have a customer avatar, this should be even easier.

Write a blog about local events

Local events are important in every community, from small rural towns to large cities. As a business owner, you should be aware of these events and look for ways to create local content about them that are relevant to your company. It will be simple if you plan to sponsor a booth at your local fair.

However, local charity events and holiday celebrations allow you to talk about your community and why you love it.

Stay local with your local content

Create case studies that are relevant to local prospects.. One method is to create an "insider’s guide to…."  that demonstrates your knowledge of the area.  A landscaper in Southern California, for example, might discuss the risk of wildfires or provide advice on how to get rid of black widow spiders.

Discuss local news. Did your neighborhood Little League team advance to the playoffs? Was your town featured nationally somehow? Is there going to be a new business in town? Any of these things could be turned into blog posts, and they're especially effective if you can find a natural way to connect the story to your business.

Staying connected to your community online is a great way to get ideas for local content. You could like your local Chamber of Commerce on Facebook, subscribe to your local newspaper, and go to the library to see what new flyers have been posted on the bulletin board.

What is your content's intent?

When creating local content, one of the most important things to remember is that every blog post or social media update you write should have a clear intention that is related to your business.

What exactly do I mean? Simply put, you can't waste time blogging about something if you don't know why you're writing about it. Sometimes the intention is obvious. You own a hardware store, and blogging about winter snowfall predictions might help you sell some shovels and snowblowers, or at the very least some Ice Melt.

At times, however, the intention may be a little more difficult to pin down. There's nothing wrong with that, but don't skip this step. If you're inventive enough, you should be able to connect any piece of content you create to your company.

For example, suppose you want to blog about a local charity event but can't think of an organic way to connect it to your business. Instead of giving up, consider donating a portion of your sales to charity or organizing a fundraising event with other local business owners.

The key is to make your local content relevant to your company and its target audience. You can still share general content, but if you want your business to grow, you must share local content.

Looking for new, unique ways to share your local business? We want to help you curate your local content! Sign up to meet with Jay Vics on the Meet the Experts podcast to showcase your local business.

Customer Service That Helps You Stand Out Among Your Competitors

Customer Service That Helps You Stand Out Among Your Competitors

"My customers appreciate the excellent quality, customer service, and attention to detail that I provide. If only more people were aware of my existence…but my industry is so competitive that it's impossible to stand out." This is the most common issue we hear from business owners. It's also been a challenge for us.

So let's get right into it. If you're wondering how to get more eyes on your business, we're sharing  our best ideas you can try to stand out in a sea of samesies.

Surprise & Delight With Your Customer Service

So many businesses claim to provide the best service. When you ask them how they can improve, they list things like "delivering on time" or "delivering quality work." Personally, I consider these to be standard operating procedures; I expect them.

When you have a surprisingly good or surprisingly bad customer service experience, you are more likely to remember it. However, mediocre service is unlikely to stick with you long enough for you to tell anyone about it.

Businesses that stand out are those that make you feel like your satisfaction is always their top priority. They actively seek ways to go above and beyond, turning challenges or mistakes into opportunities to delight.

Don't settle for mediocrity. If you want to be memorable, go above and beyond with your marketing and customer service—every time. Would someone tell their friends about your customer service experience?  Use that as a general rule.

Make a Name for Yourself

Have you ever heard the expression "the riches are in the niches"? It's much easier to stand out and become known for one, very specific thing than it is to try to sell everything to everyone. Your competitors are fewer in a niche market, your marketing dollars can be spent more strategically, and you can often charge more because you're a specialist.

Are you the best pet photographer in town? Do you make an awesome vegan pizza? Focus, claim, and own it.

Provide Noticeably Different Customer Service

It is our responsibility as business owners to be able to confidently tell potential customers why we are worth their time and money. When there is nothing distinctive or distinguishing about your products, services, or brand, price becomes the only variable. And, if the only differentiating factor is price, we become magnets for bargain hunters looking for the best bang for their buck.

Stand out by identifying areas where you can provide value that your competitors cannot, or by addressing customer pain points that your competitors are not. When you look deeper, you'll discover that there are far more opportunities to stand out than you realize.

Take Customer Service Feedback Seriously & Apply It

Too often, we assume what our customers want and need instead of asking them.

Collecting customer feedback can help you identify potential product and service offerings that your customers want but that you aren't yet providing. It can also assist you in determining where your customers are confused or require additional assistance. Feedback also provides insight into the words and phrases your customers are using to describe their problems, which will help you assist them.

You'll be able to truly get to know your customers and how you can better serve them if you survey them. If you follow their advice, you'll be able to understand what they consider to be exceptional customer service, must-have products, clear marketing, and much more.

Give the Impression You Care

Your brand’s visuals are your the first impression of your company and sets the tone for interactions with you. You want them to say-  “Wow! I'd love to work with this brand,” not “If this is how their website looks, how will the quality of their work or service be?”

If your website, logo, or marketing materials are sloppy, it tells your customers that you don't value your brand enough to invest in it. If you're just starting out or don't have a lot of money to spend, there are designers to suit every budget and business type.

Make your brand stand out by ensuring that it’s professional and trustworthy at all touchpoints. Check out how we have used bright colors and enticing fonts to drive the eye towards our logo for Meet the Experts!

Give (and Receive)

Building trust with your target audience takes time and, in many cases, multiple interactions. Asking someone for a sale is the business equivalent of asking for their hand in marriage, and shotgun weddings are relatively rare. If the 'marriage proposal' fails, ask them out on a date instead—consider offering a free trial, sample, information (blogs, videos, PDFs), or a free initial consultation to reduce risk perceptions, create goodwill, and build your relationship.

When we give generously to potential customers, we break down barriers, attract people to our business, assist our customers in getting to know us, build trust, and foster reciprocity.

Reward Loyal Customers

"Repeat buyers generate the same revenue as five new customers combined and are nine times more likely to convert," says the study. (Autopilot).

Yes, existing customers are just as important and valuable to impress as new ones (if not more). Consider differentiating yourself from the competition by rewarding their loyalty with discounts, incentives, exclusive deals, affiliate programs, or referrer bonuses.

Your company's success is directly related to the customers who patronize it. Treat them like royalty and create new ways to wow them in order to stand out in your industry. Click here for more quick conversion tips!

So now that you have the framework for customer service success, we want to help you more with your marketing needs! Meet with Jay Vics on the Meet the Experts podcast to get your name out there, and put your marketing skills to the test. We want to help show your customers what you have to offer!

Marketing Fails That Can Happen and How To Fix Them

Marketing Fails That Can Happen and How To Fix Them

Everyone makes mistakes, especially when trying out new marketing strategies. However, when your small business is putting its reputation (and money) on the line to experiment with new digital marketing strategies, making certain mistakes can be (literally) costly.

With that in mind, let's look at 5 of the most common local marketing fails and how to avoid them.

1. A user experience that is focused on you rather than marketing to your audience

A website's visual impact is important, but it also needs to support an engaging and efficient customer journey.

Your audience visits your site to solve their problems and alleviate their pain points, not to learn about your products. Your marketing should show that products could be the solution to their problems. But, they’re not picking up what you're putting down.

So, if you have a lot of visitors to your site but they aren't converting the way you want them to, it's time to take a step back and evaluate your user experience.

Consider a Home Page refresh, new Landing Pages, or an update to your payment options or check-out process, as examples.

According to recent Bain research, companies that excel at Customer Experience grow revenues at a rate that is 4%-8% higher than the market average.

2. Reluctant to experiment with new marketing channels

Marketing is constantly evolving, and the only way to effectively promote your business on a consistent basis is to keep up with the changes and be open to trying new marketing activities.

However, many small business owners make the mistake of focusing solely on one, relatively simple marketing technique. For example, they may build a following on Instagram and believe they can avoid using other marketing methods.

So, what happens if your target audience unfollows you on IG? It may appear unlikely that such a thing could occur, but it is possible. Trends pass us by. Websites that were popular yesterday are no longer available. You must plan ahead of time and do everything possible to spread the word in multiple ways. That doesn't mean you should spend all of your time marketing, but it does mean you should diversify.

3. You haven't claimed your social media pages yet

You don't have to be active on every social media site out there. What you should do is spend a few minutes claiming your business name on all relevant sites and posting some basic information about your business. If a potential customer searches for you on Instagram, you want them to find accurate information, such as your address, phone number, email address, and business hours.

If you don't claim your business, your leads may end up on a page run by a stranger, someone who isn't looking out for your best interests. So a few minutes now can save you a lot of marketing trouble later. Check out one of our brand pages here for Meet the Experts!

4. You are not managing your reviews

Local businesses rely heavily on online reviews. People who frequent your business can easily leave reviews on sites like Yelp, Angi, and Google. According to research, more than 80% of all consumers rely on online reviews before making a purchase. However, many local business owners don't do everything they can to ensure that their reviews are benefiting their marketing.

The first step is to claim your business listing on all local review sites. Customers can leave reviews even if a business hasn't created a listing, so you might be surprised at how many reviews you have if you haven't checked. Check your existing profile to ensure that all relevant information, such as your contact information, hours, and prices, is correct.

The second step is to devise a system for responding to reviews. It's a good idea to keep an eye on your accounts. Positive reviews can be great for marketing, and you should respond with a simple thank you. But, negative reviews require a bit more finesse. Responses that remain positive are the most successful. If possible, try to take the conversation offline and do whatever you need to do to resolve the situation.

5. You are not being consistent with your brand

Everything you do online has an impact on your brand. If you have more than one person posting on your behalf, whether on your blog, website, or social media, you must have a well-defined strategy in place to ensure that everything associated with your company reflects your brand. That is, your colors and fonts should be consistent with your logo. However, it also implies that the tone of what you post must be consistent with the personality of your brand.

Creating a customer profile can assist you in identifying your core customers and tailoring your brand to them. Consider the tone of some major corporations, such as Red Bull and Rolls Royce. Red Bull employs brash, hip language that reflects their brand and audience, whereas Rolls Royce employs elevated language that addresses their core customers.

The good news is that these five errors are simple to correct. If you notice any of these flaws in your own marketing efforts, take the time to correct them and get back on track. Your company will be grateful in more ways than one!

Looking for new ways to make your marketing successful? Click here to join Jay Vics on the Meet the Experts podcast. We want to help you with fun, unique marketing that fits your business!

Turn Followers Into Customers With These Simple Tips

Turn Followers Into Customers With These Simple Tips

In the past few years, Instagram has developed into a juggernaut of a marketing platform. Everyone is on Instagram, from small businesses to conglomerates, and they all are racing to increase their followers, likes, and comments metrics!

According to Facebook statistics, 500 million users log on to Instagram every day and spend an average of 30 minutes on the platform.

Right now there’s a huge opportunity for those who take action.

If you are a business owner with an Instagram page but somehow struggle to find leads, conversions, and growth on the platform, you’ve made it to the right place.

This article is going to show you the best methods of conversion and the biggest mistakes you need to watch out for when promoting your business on Instagram.

To start off let’s look at what you NEED to be doing to kickstart the process:

The DO’s of Instagram Conversion

Be active with your followers in the community

The key here is to go from building an audience to creating a community of engagers. Remember, Instagram is more than a one-way platform. Audiences want to enjoy your content, but what they really need is to be a part of it. Don’t forget that you’re behind the screen and you have the power to control their actions and influence the steps they take on their journey.

To create an active community on Instagram, remember:

  • Reply to comments
  • Reply to DMs
  • Host giveaways and competitions
  • Encourage follower engagement in your content with call-to-actions and questions
  • Start conversations
  • Post on national days

Switch it up

Consistency is important, especially if you’re a smaller business looking to gain traction and successfully convert your audience into customers. However, sticking to the same content over and over is going to leave your follower’s losing interest. Nobody wants to scroll past 100 images that add nothing to their life. Instead, audiences want familiarity AND uniqueness. It sounds like a tricky combination to pull off, but it IS possible.

To ensure you’re sticking to a regular positing schedule whilst remembering to switch up you need to:

  • Experiment with different formats: Post stories, reels and both short/long form videos to vary the kind of content you give to your followers. This could even mean going live for your followers (building that active community at the same time). To start off, add in some carousels to your content as this is super simple!
  • Vary the content you use in your posts: Filmed a great ad for your business? Show off behind the scenes. Get creative with emojis and stickers and add new people to the mix. As a local business, reinforcing the idea of community is important, so don’t be afraid to involve others in your content.

Become more than just your content to your followers

For a local business like yours, a large number of your followers might be those who live within your area or even come into your physical store if you have one. This makes showing who you are behind the brand even more important.

Don’t be afraid to show the real you and connect with the local audiences you have around you.

Get vulnerable and open up. Consumers love reality and you’ll find, we as a society are VERY nosey, so finding out more about the owners or team behind a brand is crucial if you want to maintain audience attention and start building a relationship with them.

To successfully be you, try this:

  • Incorporate pictures of a day at work into your content with the team involved
  • Reply to comments with the name of the team member who replied at the end of it help create that community
  • Use stories to document genuine business life

These 3 tips are sure to take your business from followers on Instagram to traffic on your website.

By keeping it real, switching it up and getting active online, conversion is guaranteed.

Now, it’s time to take a look at the mistakes you don’t want to be falling into:

The DON’T’S of Instagram Conversion

Avoid over-selling

The most crucial part of transforming followers into customers is by making the transition feel seamless for them. Your audience does not want to be bombarded by boring sales pitches, they want value and relatability. And as a local business, this means incorporating ‘filler posts’ your community can engage with OUTSIDE of the sphere of sales, such as:

Weekend/Weekday posts: Use these as a check in with your audience to see how they are and/or update them on what’s going on for the business that day.

Quotes or sayings: You can’t go wrong with a bit of motivation every now and then to help push through the day!

Tips, secrets or how to’s: Always think about adding value. Help your audience learn more and positively change their life.

Doing more than just pushing sales will help you convert without it feeling like your customers have to do any challenging work or be convinced to take action.

Posting inconsistent content

While it’s important to switch up the format of your content, don’t end up losing your brand image in the midst of it. Sticking to a general theme, tone and voice is important for your followers to get to know your business more and want to become a follower.

  • Make sure your posts flow well and represents your vision.
  • Stick to brand colors
  • Stick to ONE tone of voice for cohesive purposes

Not engaging with your followers

For audiences of businesses, Instagram isn’t just a window shop. It’s a place to interact, learn, chat and so much more. So, why limit yourself by not returning the favour? If you’re a small local business, building a positive reputation and good rapport with your followers will lead to more people visiting your page.

Consumers eat with their eyes and love a place where they feel valued, appreciated, and can get something out of it. So, ENGAGE! Get stuck into the community you’ve created and interact with your followers.

Conclusion

If you're a local business trying to convert your followers into customers, don't sweat it, you've got this!

Creating great content is all about the strategies you use to improve the customer experience even more, and by monitoring your analytics and clarifying your objectives on a daily basis, incorporating these tips into your marketing will be easier than ever!

We want to help you market your business in new, unique ways! Click here to sign up to meet with Jay Vics on the Meet the Experts podcast. Share your knowledge and get your name out there!

Social Media Mistakes Small Businesses Make and How To Fix Them

Social Media Mistakes Small Businesses Make and How To Fix Them

As a small business, social media is your secret weapon for marketing. It's essential to use social media to reach new customers and connect with existing ones. Whether you're just getting started or already running a highly successful campaign, there's always room for improvement. In this article, we'll explore the top social media mistakes small businesses make and how to fix them, including our own tips on improving your social media marketing strategy.

Not Posting Regularly Enough

One of the most common social media mistakes small businesses make is not posting regularly enough. This can be for a variety of reasons, from lack of time to simply forgetting. If you're not posting regularly, your audience will quickly lose interest and move on to other brands that are more active on social media.

The fix: Set aside some time each week to plan and schedule your social media posts. If you can, designate someone on your team to be responsible for social media and make sure they have the time and resources they need to succeed.

Some popular social media planners include Hootsuite, Later, and Buffer all with free to paid plans.

Posting Too Much

On the opposite end, some businesses post a little too much. This can be overwhelming for your followers and turn them off from your brand. It's important to strike a balance between posting too little and too much.

The fix: Take a step back and analyze how often you're posting on each social media platform. If you're posting multiple times a day on any platform, try scaling back to once a day or a couple of times a week. Experiment with different posting frequencies and see what works best for your audience. Remember that each industry is different, so what frequency is too much in one niche is perfectly fine in another.

Not Posting Relevant Content

Another common mistake is posting content that isn't relevant to your audience or industry. This can happen if you're trying to be too general in your social media marketing or if you're not sure who your target audience is. As a result, your posts will fall flat and fail to engage your audience.

The fix: Take some time to research your target audience and what kinds of content they're interested in. Once you know who you're talking to, you can start creating content that resonates with them.

If you're struggling to come up with ideas, try looking at what other businesses in your industry are doing on social media. Use social listening tools to track relevant keywords and see what kind of content is being shared the most. Then, adapt and improve upon it for your own audience.

Not Engaging with Your Followers

Another mistake small businesses make on social media is failing to engage with their followers. This means more than just responding to comments and @ mentions (although that's important, too). It also means liking, sharing, and commenting on other people's content.

The fix: Spend some time each day engaging with your followers and other people in your industry. Like and comment on their posts, share their content, and start conversations. Not only will this help you build relationships, but it will also make your brand more visible to new potential customers.

There are many tools that can help you organize and consolidate all your social media profile into one dashboard. These listening tools can single handedly change the game if you’re trying to increase your engagement across all social media platforms.

Sprout Social, Salesforce’s Service Cloud, and Reputation are the best at this. On a budget? Try Hootsuite.

Not Measuring Your Results

Measuring your results is essential. This is important for any marketing campaign, but it's especially important on social media. With so much noise, it can be easy to get lost and not know if your efforts are actually paying off.

The fix: Use social media analytics tools to track your progress and measure your results. These tools will help you see how many people are engaging with your content, what kind of impact you're making, and where you can improve.

Without measuring your results, it's impossible to know if your social media marketing is actually working.

Many platforms will have these tools built in, but addition services like Sprout Social, Buffer Analyze, Hootsuite, and Social Report, can give you deeper insights about your customer base and what resonates with them.

Not Having a Social Media Strategy

One of the biggest mistakes small businesses make on social media is not having a strategy. They might post randomly or without any purpose, which can lead to wasted time and effort.

The fix: Having a social media plan in place will guarantee that your efforts are more successful and are working to assist your company's broader objectives. When you're coming up with a strategy, it's critical to keep in mind these goals so that you can create material that supports them.

Additionally, figure out what your social media goals are, what you want to get out of it, and make sure to track them with analytic software (mentioned above) to ensure that your work is paying off. When developing a plan, remember who your target audience is and create content that speaks to them that aligns with your goals.

It is essential to take some time to develop a strategy since it's easy to get lost in the sea of social media and fail to accomplish anything without it.

Not Using Social Media To Its Full Potential

Social media is a powerful marketing tool, but many small businesses don't use it to its full potential. They might not take advantage of all the features available, or they might not use them to reach their target audience.

The fix: Make sure you're using all the features available on each social media platform. For example, on Facebook, you can use groups, events, and Messenger to reach more people. On Twitter, you can use hashtags and lists to organize your followers. And on Instagram, you can use Stories, Live Video, and IGTV to engage with your audience.

Take some time to learn about all the features of each social media platform and how you can use them to reach your target audience. Then, start using them to your advantage.

Not Promoting Your Social Media Content

Not promoting your content can be a big mistake, especially if you're a small business with limited resources. If you're not promoting your content, it's unlikely that anyone will see it.

The fix: Promote your content on social media and other channels. Use paid advertising, share it with influencers, and post it in relevant groups and forums.

Don't make the mistake of not promoting your content. Make sure you're doing everything you can to get it in front of as many people as possible.

Not Taking Advantage of Social Media Trends

Trends are everywhere and they're easy to pick up if you use social media in both a private and work setting. Taking advantage of a trend can make your post go viral, especially if it's curated to your audience. Ignoring trends will make you miss countless free promotion opportunities.

The fix: Use social media trends to your advantage. If you see a trend that's relevant to your business, jump on it and use it to promote your content. Not only will this help you reach more people, but it will also make your brand more visible and relevant.

If you're not sure where to start, check out some influencers in your industry and see what they're doing to get eyes on their posts. Use can also use free websites like Google Trends, TweetDeck, and BrandMentions to track trends.

Check out how Jay Vics incorporates trends and unique content on TikTok!

Ignoring Negative Feedback

It's inevitable that you'll receive some negative feedback at some point. And while it's not pleasant, it's important to take it in stride and use it as an opportunity to improve your business.

The fix: Don't ignore negative feedback. Respond to it in a constructive way and use it to make your business better. Negative feedback can be painful, but it's important to listen to it and use it to improve your business.

Bonus Tip: Remaining in Your Comfort Zone Can Kill Your Social Media Marketing Efforts

If you're not comfortable with change, you'll never be able to take advantage of new opportunities or reach your full potential.

The fix: Be open to change and willing to try new things. Social media is constantly changing, so you need to be too.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the most common mistakes small businesses make on social media. By avoiding these mistakes, you'll be well on your way to social media success.

Looking for other ways you can uniquely and effectively promote your business? We want to help. Reach out today to book your time on the Meet the Experts podcast. No one knows your business better than you, so get your name out there!

Local Influencers That Are Right For Your Business

Local Influencers That Are Right For Your Business

Influencer marketing is a 6.5 billion dollar industry and the best marketing tool for businesses today. As this online marketing strategy evolves, businesses are foregoing celebrity endorsements. Instead, they are choosing to collaborate with local influencers in their community. Here’s why.

Increases brand awareness

First and foremost, local influencers bring the names of businesses to the attention of people who were previously unaware of their existence.

Obviously, all types of influencers do this. Local influencers are simply more effective and successful for businesses in specific geographic areas.

Plus local businesses can turn their favorite customers into their own personal influencers for fairly low cost. This is accomplished through offering small incentives, like food & drink or merchandise.

Increased Engagement

Local influencers tend to have a deeper, more genuine connection with their followers than macro and celebrity influencers. They are more likely to know and connect with their followers on a more personal level.

Influencers with 100k or fewer followers tend to make time for thoughtful responses and engagement.

According to research, influencers with 1,000 followers have the highest engagement ratio. Don’t count them out! The ratio of engagement to followers is more important than the number of followers.

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri is considering removing 'likes' from the social media platform entirely. “We want people to worry a little bit less about how many likes they’re getting on Instagram and spend a bit more time connecting with the people that they care about.”

This potential evolution will make engagement an even more potent tool in the world of influencers.

Local Influencers Are Less Expensive

Contrary to what you may think, local influencers do not need to be paid thousands of dollars to endorse your business. Many people are willing to be influencers in exchange for smaller incentives.

“When I post a photo for taco Tuesday, I get free queso? Please sign me up!” Give people the opportunity to try your product and share it with their friends and family. This is a great way to generate repeat business. It's a win-win situation!

Influencers gain credibility for their recommendation, businesses gain new customers, and both gain exposure.

Local Influencers Increase New Followers

Local influencers are ideal for small businesses because the majority of their followers will live in the same area who have never heard of your brand. This means an influencer collaboration will allow you to reach a larger market of people who are close to your business!

No matter how fantastic a local pizza joint is, it's unlikely that someone will fly across the country to try it. More likely, they’ll try it while they’re already in town. Unless they really love pizza, have a lot of spare cash, and are dying to go on a world's best pizza tour. I mean, never say never, right?

But, if someone is scrolling through Instagram and sees a friend’s rave review, they may decide to head there on their next night out. Visitors from out of town will also see great reviews about your pizza while searching for food locally. They would be more likely to want to try it themselves!

Enhances Authenticity

Marketing professionals have long recognized that word-of-mouth is the most effective form of marketing. Local influencers do this without making it appear as if the company is bragging about itself.

It's not salesy or gimmicky; it's just a person sharing something they enjoy with the people in their network. People are much more likely to respond a sponsored to this than to a post from a business page or influencer with a million followers.

At HowTo.agency, Jay Vics uses TikTok to authentically engage with his audience.

Generates Fresh Content

Giving up some control and allowing an influencer to create their own content promoting your business accomplishes two important things.

#1: It reduces the workload on marketing campaigns. The business can provide guidelines (such as their unique hashtag) or suggestions, but the influencer knows how to best communicate with their audience. After all, they are the ones who are most familiar with them.

#2: Allowing local influencers to create their own content provides the business with new insight into the voice of the target audience. Pay attention to what influencers say and how their followers respond. It’s an excellent way to learn about your target audience!

Followers Can Trust You

When it comes to influencer marketing, savvy consumers are wary of celebrity endorsements.

Have you ever seen a celebrity in a skincare commercial claim that their secret to looking young is some miraculous anti-aging eye cream? Most people might laugh at these commercials and dismiss them. But, if a friend recommends a new restaurant that just opened up in town, they may be much more likely to try it!

Local influencers' human aspect is the future of internet marketing. Consider the importance of quality above quantity. Even if they don't have a large number of followers, they have a significantly better chance of reaching your target demographic.

Where Can I find Local Influencers?

Some of the most effective methods include:

1. Look at your current social media following

Whether or not your business has a strong social presence, you may be shocked to find that some local influencers are already following you on social media. Check if they match your brand and are relevant to your product or service. They may be someone with whom you should explore forming a connection!

2. Research local hashtags for your area

A local hashtag search on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms is a wonderful approach to locate relevant local or micro-influencers. Of course, you can use Google to perform a local hashtag search and see what results it returns. You may also utilize the hashtag to see popular posts that include it. This may lead you to trending material generated by the local influencers you're looking for.

3. Find out who’s talking about your business – the good and the bad

It's far easier to locate and work with influencers if they already know about your business – and are likely delighted with your product or service since they're already talking about it. The rationale is simple: they're more inclined to promote your brand with enthusiasm.

4. Or use online tools like: Local Influence or Insense

What does it cost?

Prices and fees vary widely, from the micro-est of micro local influencers who are happy to trade a post for products & merchandise from more established influencers depending on their followers you can expect to pay $.01 to $.025 per follower or more. If you use tools or an agency that cost can go up even more.

Wrapping Up

No matter how many followers they have, local influencers can help you. Use them to grow your business's social reach, improve your brand image, engage your audience, and attract new consumers. So, what do you have to lose? Now you’re armed with the information you need to pick the right local influencer for your business!

Now, you’re using the power of local influencers to target your audience. Look into other ways you can uniquely and effectively promote your business! We want to help. Reach out today to book your time on the Meet the Experts podcast. No one knows your business better than you, so get your name out there!