Impact local listings marketing campaigns require patience, persistence, and a lot of trusts. It’s no secret that marketing your business can be an uphill battle. Local listings platforms like Yext, Yelp, Google My Business, and others have saturated the online space and made reaching potential customers more challenging. It’s important to remember that while these platforms are designed to help businesses grow, they do so by challenging businesses to prove their value. Your local business listing marketing campaign should not be afraid of this challenge. As such, following these guidelines will ensure your campaign is a success.
- Propose your mission to the world
Most agencies that claim to be experts in local listing marketing use a one-size-fits-all approach that does not work for every business. Make sure you get to know your business and its goals before you submit your initial proposal. What’s the mission of your business? Is it to be the “best pet groomer in town,” or is it to provide people with a comfortable, safe environment? The mission statement will inform all of the marketing strategies you select and should be taken very seriously by you and those drafting your strategy from a Google Business Profile marketing perspective.
- Get as much input as possible from others
Ideally, each stage of local listing marketing should include additional strategies to determine what works for the audience being targeted for these efforts on an individual level. By getting multiple opinions, you can ensure that what works on paper will work when implemented on smaller platforms like Twitter or Facebook just as effectively. As a general rule of thumb, if a few people can get traction on Yext, who knows what they’ll do with a few thousand! Be sure to involve other influencers in your strategy as well.
- Learn to love copy writing
Local listings are not social media, and they don’t lend themselves very well to creative content (or tweetdecking). As a result, successful local listing marketing campaigns often require that you become comfortable writing compelling description text for your business listings — especially in places like Yelp, where the text can be a wordy crowd-sourced review for businesses. Your goal should be to build a solid and loyal customer base by giving them enough information about you so that they feel comfortable seeking you out and coming back.
- Embrace social media as part of your campaign
Social media is essential in any marketing campaign, but local listings are most effective when part of a broader plan that includes other marketing methods. The goal is to showcase your local business by building an ongoing relationship with your customers and other community members, not just gaining a few new leads each month. Leverage social media in conjunction with traditional methods to get people interested in your business before aggressively market yourself via the channels mentioned above.
