How to promote your small business locally

As well as targeting a wider audience, it’s really important to promote your business locally. This can be done in a range of ways and can suit many different budgets. Promoting locally is highly recommended for small start-up businesses before expanding into a wider audience thanks to being more cost-effective, and here’s how you can start today.

Local social media pages

One of the cheapest ways to promote your business is to join local social media pages. With the right permissions, you can post and advertise your business on these groups and you can expect that the audience who are following these local town and city pages live in the area.

Be sure to set up your own social media pages too and tag your location in every picture and post. When someone searches for “hairdresser in Southampton”, for example, your page can be found.

Letterbox drop

Products which arrive in the post can be great to appeal to a range of audiences and can help establish a new customer base. It’s very targeted and will only get into the hands you want it to be in – you can choose which specific areas receive your product through the post. And as long as it stands out, it’s sure to capture people’s attention.

Postcard-style products are fantastic thanks to them being a thick card, making them stand out against standard letters. Be sure to make them bright and eye-catching so people are intrigued to read it – while you’re not competing with a load of adverts on a page, you are competing with the pile of papers on the doormat.

Done correctly, research shows that letterbox drops can have a higher growth rate than television, the internet, cinemas and press. This is one of the most cost-effective ways to advertise your business as you can print your products at home and gather a team of family, friends and colleagues to help post them.

Run local contests

Another way to market locally is to run competitions for people located in a specific area. This will encourage people in the area you’re targeting to enter and share with other people located there. As well as helping to get people engaged with your business, if you share it widely on your website and social media it can help grow your overall following ready for if you ever want to expand further.

Take part in events

Taking part in local events is a fantastic way to meet potential customers face to face. When you attend events, whether you’re visiting as a guest or exhibiting at the event, you will want to bring business cards with you. Your business cards will be the key if they contact you, so be sure to include as much key contact information on them as possible.

Promoting your business locally doesn’t have to cost an arm and leg. There are some simple yet effective ways to capture your local audience’s attention.