Image by Satheesh Sankaran from Pixabay

By Samantha Higgins

If you’ve thought about building a local business, it’s not always easy. However, it’s possible to make one successful if you’re willing to work hard. Here are a couple of tips to help launch yours successfully.

Create a set of custom business cards

First, you have to design something that has your logo on it. This is what you’ll use whenever talking with people about the business.

If you have logo stationery, it’s not hard to spread the word. Just hand them one of your cards at the end of your conversation, so they’ll remember the company.

By handing them something with your logo, they’ll be more likely to reach out. So, getting more customers is often the result of speaking to many people and handing them cards.

Light up your store with bright lights

Put yourself into the shoes of a potential customer. Would it be easy for you to see the store while driving by if you were them? If not, then don’t be surprised when hardly anyone shows up unannounced. They’ll only stop at the store if they can see its sign.

By updating the store’s signage, you can make it more visible, attracting attention. The more attention you can attract to the store, the more people will come. As a result, overall sales should increase, too. The first thing you must do when trying to improve sales is let people know about the business. Once they’ve heard about it, they’ll come.

Advertise using social media

For local companies, social media can be the most powerful tool in their arsenal. It’s what makes it possible to market directly to people from the nearby area. Plus, by creating a viral post, other people market your business for you.

Start by building an organic presence on social media, sticking to stuff in your area. Once you’ve built a sizeable following, start sending coupons to them from the account. If you can get them to share stuff with their friends, that’s even better.

Generally, people are much more likely to trust something sent to them by someone they know. So, social media can be vital when you’re still building trust with prospects.

Optimize your website’s SEO

How often have you gone online and found a new company by searching for something? If you’re like us, it happens almost every time you need something.

As such, it only makes sense to optimize your webpage’s search ranking. Search engine optimization techniques let you do that, too.

So, try hiring an SEO expert to upgrade your page’s ranking. It’ll receive way more traffic if you can get it to rank closer to the top. Then, the sales will surely follow.

Update your Google Business page

Similarly, don’t forget to update the Google Business page for your company. That’s where people can see stuff like your business hours and local reviews.

By updating it, Google will show it to more people. Part of what their algorithm considers is how active a page has been. The more active a page seems to be, the better it’ll perform according to the algorithm.

If you’ve never set up one in the first place, then you’ve been missing out. A Google Business page could improve your performance by itself if you don’t have one.

Implement a referral program for your customers

Finally, always try to get your customers to refer future business. To do that, we’d recommend offering them a discount for sending referrals to you. You could even create a sliding scale that gives them larger discounts as they send more.

Referral programs may cause you to lose a little bit on an individual sale, but you’ll earn more overall. So, they’re a worthwhile marketing strategy for local businesses.

How to build a local business’s brand presence

Success takes time to build, and it doesn’t always happen right away. But, if you’re going to run a business, it’s always worth pursuing. Using the tips we’ve listed should make it a little easier to find. However, don’t lose hope if it takes longer than expected to grow a company. The only thing that matters is that it’s moving in the right direction

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Samantha Higgins is a professional writer with a passion for research, observation, and innovation. She is nurturing a growing family of twin boys in Portland, Oregon, with her husband. She loves kayaking and reading creative non-fiction.