As you continue to build your small, local business, one of the easiest marketing approaches in attracting new customers is to embrace your community, while using your web site to gain recognition. A strong community presence brings about notoriety and longevity to your venture.
People who use the Internet often are seeking a business closest to them or where they plan to be, so they can easily find what they need. To help visitors navigate to your web site, list it with other well-known web site directories and associations, including your State’s tourism and visitor association, the yellow pages online, hotel accommodations and travel needs, recreational sites, or others pertaining to your industry. They are all frequently trafficked, and some of these sites might also have the option to include small to lengthy reviews or recommendations to your web site by satisfied customers.
Another marketing approach for community attention-getters is to partner with other local vendors so that you can trade off mention of your businesses on each other’s web sites. This works well if you support or regularly do business with any of your local charities, community groups, schools, libraries, government offices, or financial institutions.
Become a joint-sponsor with other vendors for local events to build your reputation among the community, and at the same time extend beyond the area without the extra marketing costs. Many events are advertised nationally or regionally several weeks to months in advance on the Internet, so that visitors seeking entertainment while traveling to your city can plan accordingly.
Serve as an officer for any number of small to large organizations to provide recognition for your business, when mentioned in a biography or profile included on you, or any other staff from your company who serves. Oftentimes, when people search the Internet based on keywords, or are researching your company in particular, they will be able to easily see what involvement you have in other causes.
Start your own small event or a community-based organization to boost an interest in your products, particularly if they advocate a large portion of the dominating cultures, age groups, or even lesser-known groups seeking to gain notice. Mention it on your web site and on the web sites with whom you are partnering. In that case, you will both benefit from the results, sharing marketing costs and customers.
One last option in having your company and its web site receive the recognition you deserve is by enlisting the help of your State’s economic development department. Each State has a web site that promotes small businesses by including mention of them on their sites, as well as offering suggestions and sending potential customers your way. They also have a wide-range of databases for you to utilize in advertising your web site to a greater number of places.
How to Build Customer Relationships
Building a lasting relationship with your customers is a vital marketing strategy in ensuring the existence of your business. Making your customers unhappy even once can impact their likelihood of ever revisiting.
Why Should My Locally Based Business Have a Web Site?
According to The Kelsey Group "70% of U.S. households now use the Internet as an information source when shopping locally for products and services... Findings also suggest the Internet is poised to surpass newspapers as a local shopping information resource."
What Customers Expect from Your Web Site
Customers and potential customers visit your web site with expectations, and it is crucial for you to cater to them in order to have your business thrive. Local customers already familiar with you might be willing to overlook small errors or discrepancies, but first-time visitors tend to be less forgiving and will move on to the next business down the line if they find yours lacking.
