Effective Digital Marketing Strategies To Boost Local Business Profits

Dennis Francis
5 min readDec 22, 2021

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There’s something unfolding in the digital marketing industry that every local business owner ought to know about. Specifically, it is large online businesses seeking to dominate local search results in areas that have traditionally been controlled by local operators.

Local Businesses Are Losing the Online Lead Generation Battles

As a small business owner, you may find it more difficult to get on the highly coveted page one of search engines for keywords that bring in a lot of traffic. A few years ago, a BrightLocal study revealed that many local businesses are being squeezed out of traditional organic search results for high-volume keywords.

The study highlighted a trend that continues five years later. Getting noticed on the Internet requires innovative thinking. Ad prices have gotten more expensive and competing for limited ad space comes down to how much money a company wants to throw at the problem.

A Long-Tail Search Strategy for Better Organic Search Results

Small businesses can look to optimize their search with extremely targeted long-tail keywords and a plan that involves capturing leads and nurturing them into long-term customers. That means using keywords that may have very little traffic potential, they are highly targeted to buyers.

These types of keywords are also very geo-specific as well. Someone looking for a pastry shop that sells cannoli near Main Street, for example. A Hatha Yoga studio in the North Bronx. Long-tail keywords are highly descriptive and specific.

Typically, long tail terms convert better because searchers have more specific needs and are further along in the purchasing process. To earn significant site traffic, you will need to rank for a high number of long-tail terms. The search volumes are much lower than those for generic and service terms.

A local shop that can capitalize on hundreds of these creative search terms may lure shoppers to their online lead generation system. This may take the form of a limited time free offer or discount for specific items or services for their email address.

If local businesses have ambitions to rank in organic search, then long-tail terms offer the highest and most realistic opportunity. If they create a lead generation system to collect prospects’ information, then their opportunity to convert leads will be extended beyond the first encounter.

Building a Better Online Lead Generation System

There is another way to approach the digital marketing issue. Many local businesses find lead generation to be challenging. Online search marketing is just one hurdle.

Scaling up remains a challenge for small business owners. The major obstacle is getting qualified leads. The prospecting process is time-consuming. Poorly targeted marketing efforts result in a poor client retention rate.

Managing a business involves a lot of lead generation. Which leads are the most valuable? The term ‘lead’ refers to somebody who shows a certain level of interest in your products or services.

The purpose of lead generation is to invite those who are interested in what you offer to hear your message. Many businesses struggle with lead generation because they don’t have control over it. Studies show this will not improve.

Lead Nurturing Systems for Small Business Success

Businesses that fail to reach revenue goals produce fewer than 100 leads per month. Fewer than 5% of businesses generate over 2,500 leads per month. This issue is the biggest challenge for 61% of businesses.

74% of companies that did not reach their revenue targets did not recognize their online or in-store visitor potential. A further analysis shows 74% spent more than $50 per lead and 12% spent over $1,000.

The return on investment of lead nurturing systems is greater for small businesses. A small business survey found that lead nurturing (informing, educating, and building relationships) increases sales by 50% and reduces client acquisition costs by 33%. Organizations that develop inbound lead strategies achieve better results at a lower cost.

Follow-up Strategies Pay Dividends for Small Business Marketing

Customer trust is primarily based on the ability to continue to interact with prospects. When consumers become customers, they have at least six interactions with the company. The number one cause of 79% of marketing leads not converting to sales is a lack of communication and follow up.

It is possible to outsource the lead generation and follow-up system to experts in that field. Through increased sales and customer retention, the system pays for itself relatively quickly. Small businesses benefit from sustained profits over the long run.

The Secret That Just a Content Marketing Gurus Apply

The most sought-after online marketing consultants understand this process automatically, without even having to think about it. Their system for generating leads and nurturing them should be automated. Client follow-ups are even automated.

Prospects are more likely to become customers when they believe we fully understand them. They will act once they realize their vision of the future matches ours. Ultimately, we want our prospects to feel confident with the outcome and the idea that we present to them.

For that process to gel and take hold, we will need more than an ad or message. We must build consistent ongoing communication. Thanks to marketing automation, we can keep prospects and patrons engaged at their convenience. That means using advertising, search traffic and email marketing to drive engagement.

Building Long-Term Customers or Clients through Nurturing and Engagement

Ideally, we would like our dream customers to find themselves at the level they wish to attain. It is imperative to remind them they are on the right path. They are looking for someone to share the journey with. We aren’t selling anything to this client. The client wants what he or she thinks they need. We are in the business of building relationships with those who are a suitable match for our solutions.

Lead Nurturing is an effective component of an automated marketing system that offers consistent results. Besides reducing client acquisition costs, small businesses can build a scalable conversion system. Automation offers higher profits with less effort.

For more information on small business marketing, follow me and subscribe. For more tips on effective marketing strategies, follow me on medium.com or go to https://contentmarketingmagic.co/blog

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Dennis Francis
Dennis Francis

Written by Dennis Francis

Retired content marketing consultant. Author, artist, husband, father and owner of ContentMarketingMagic.co. Still helping small business owners daily.

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