4 Ways to Kickstart Your Local Business Marketing Strategy Today!

Are you ready to kick your local business marketing up a notch to bring more customers through your doors? Excellent!

Below we share four tips for helping you build brand awareness and increase your sales.

1. Invest in Your Website

restaurant website example

Example of a nice restaurant website complete with directions, contact info and menus. Click image to view larger.

No matter what kind of business you own, there are people searching for you online, thus you should invest in a professional looking website.

  1. Purchase the domain name for your brand. For example, if your business is called Joe’s Big Burgers then you should purchase www.JoesBigBugers.com
  2. Hire a designer/developer to create a custom look for your site. If you don’t have web development skills of your own, you should hire someone to help you. Your website should reflect the high quality look and feel of your business and should be branded with your logo and color scheme.
  3. Consider what elements your website needs. If you run a local craft store, you probably just need a small website that tells your address, phone number and the type of products you sell. If you own a restaurant you may want to include an online ordering component along with your address, phone number and menu.

Before you get started, take a look at the website’s of your closest competitors. What are they doing right? What could be better? How will you win over prospective customers that visit both sites?

Make your website professional looking, persuasive and easy to use. Never hide your contact details on the site as the whole point is to get people to come visit you!

2. Sponsor a Community Event

sponsor a community event to increase your brand awareness

Sponsorship levels for community events usually range from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars depending on the level you are interested in.

When it comes to sponsorships, it’s easy to think that your business could never afford it. After all, we mostly hear about large sponsorships in the news, like Nike sponsoring LeBron James for millions of dollars.

However, your business can afford to become a sponsor for a local event.

Here are just a few sponsorship opportunities for your business:

  • Little league team
  • Local college / university sports team or venue
  • Sporting event such as a 5K or Half Marathon
  • Community event for a local club, school or nonprofit organization

When you become a sponsor you increase brand awareness with people who are potential new customers. Depending on the type of event you sponsor, you may even get some local press out of it.

Not sure you have enough cash on hand to sponsor the kind of event that would get you big exposure? At ARF Financial we can help.

When a large specialty restaurant struck a deal with a local university’s athletic department it needed $100,000 within one week. We were able to help finance the deal, and our client’s restaurant is now featured at all home football and basketball games at the university. His business is also featured on home game tickets along with coupons that students use at all three of his locations!

(Read more success stories here)

3. Submit an Article to Your Newspaper

news

Submitting an article to your local newspaper can have a much greater impact for your business than running a simple ad.

As an expert in your industry, consider what tips you could provide your community via a newspaper article.

For example, if you run a lawn maintenance company, are there any seasonal tips you could share? If you own a restaurant, are there any interesting trends in food emerging?

Consider what value you might offer your community and then submit a well-written article to the paper. If it gets run, you will gain free exposure and good will for your business.

4. Run a  Commercial During the News or a Sports Game

tv

Commercials don’t work anymore because everyone just records their favorite shows and then fast forwards through them, right? Not necessarily! There are certain shows — like the local news or a sports game — that people are much more likely to watch in real time.

If you run a commercial during these type of shows you vastly increase the likelihood that your ad message will be seen.

A good commercial will cost you some money, but the increased awareness can drive a lot of people in your doors.

Before you run your commercial be sure to have your website up and running as many people will likely search for you online to learn more about you and to get directions to your location(s).

Would you like to explore financing options to scale your marketing campaigns? ARF Financial is a lender you can trust. We have a quick and simple funding process. Contact us today to learn more or read more marketing posts in our blog!