For brick-and-mortar businesses, focusing on local customers is crucial for growth. A strategic local store marketing (LSM) plan can help businesses reach their target market and build long-lasting relationships. LSM, also known as neighborhood marketing, involves targeting customers within a specific area around the physical store, typically within a 5-mile radius. This strategy is about connecting with the community rather than achieving a broad reach. LSM requires a strong understanding of the local community to cater messages directly to them and increase sales. It’s effective for small businesses, franchisees, and large-scale businesses with physical stores. By reaching out to potential customers locally, businesses can personalize their message, gain foot traffic, and acquire repeat customers who spend more than first-time visitors.
Local marketing is essential for small businesses as it allows efficient use of advertising and marketing budgets. By narrowing the target audience, businesses can improve their conversion rate, an important metric that can attract investors or secure loans for expansion. A successful LSM plan involves blending hyper-local market research with strategies to build relationships, not just expand reach. This approach can help businesses build a brand that the audience can relate to, turning them into loyal customers.
Engaging on social media is one effective strategy for local marketing. As most internet users spend over two hours per day on social media, these platforms provide opportunities to engage directly with consumers in the area. An active social media presence gives community members the opportunity to reach out to businesses, increasing customer engagement and potentially converting followers into in-store shoppers. Social media ads can target customers in specific areas with localized content, engaging more with potential customers outside the direct following.
Creating a customer loyalty program is another effective strategy for local marketing. To compete with ecommerce stores, businesses need to provide ongoing value to drive customers back to their physical location. Customer loyalty programs can effectively achieve this. As many as 77% of consumers will participate in loyalty programs if they provide ongoing rewards that show them they can get more value out of shopping with the business than any other brand.
Key Takeaways:
- Local store marketing (LSM) is a strategy that targets customers within a specific area, typically within a 5-mile radius of the business, with the aim of establishing strong community connections and boosting sales.
- LSM is not only beneficial for small businesses but also for large-scale businesses and franchisees, as it allows for personalization of messages, leading to increased foot traffic and repeat customers.
- Effective LSM strategies include maintaining an active social media presence, creating customer loyalty programs, and targeting customers in specific areas with localized content.
“Local store marketing—sometimes known as neighborhood marketing—describes the combination of strategies used to target customers within a specific area. This area is typically no more than a 5-mile radius around your physical store, as the goal of LSM is more so connecting with the community than achieving a broad reach.”
More details: https://www.podium.com/article/local-store-marketing/
