Guide: Content marketing for local businesses

Local businesses are almost in the need of a solid content marketing strategy in order to succeed in the local area and attract the local community. But how do you really create a strong, local content marketing strategy? 

Statistics show that engagement can rise up to 4100% for multi-local businesses when content is created with a local approach.

In this post we will guide you through the universe of hyper local content marketing and how your business can benefit from the concept.

What is hyper local content marketing?

Hyper local means being as local as possible. In that process it is all about authenticity. Consumers simply won’t engage with content that is not meant for them directly. Authentic content is created for the local consumers – preferably by the local employees since the communication gets genuine, playful and personal. The relationship between customer and employee becomes deeper which makes it more likely that the consumer will interact with the business. Hyper local marketing is therefore especially useful for multi-location businesses that seeks to target customers in different areas.

How to implement a hyper local content marketing strategy

  • With local SEO

There are multiple options when it comes to planning and implementing a local strategy via digital marketing. The first option is to perform local SEO. Here, you shall optimize and organize your content to local searches. In other words, you have to optimize your website towards local keywords. Create value adding content that beats your competitors content and meet the search intent of the local consumers.

Secondly, you should narrow your link building strategy to a local approach. Inbound links from locally relevant domains have a significant ranking factor, which is why your content should be unique for your local area. In that way, local domains are more likely to link to your page which will increase the overall authority of your domain. That will result in better chances for your content and keywords to rank higher in your local area.

The next step is to pass on your link equity. That can be done with internal link building. Usually, the strongest page on a multi-local business’ website is the front page, since it has the most inbound links pointing to it. If you pass on the link juice to landing pages and blog posts, you actually strengthen the value of those pages and help them to rank. The internal link building can for instance be done through a sharp piece of content on your front page, where the links are naturally passed on to landing pages.

  •  With Facebook retargeting

An option that drives in continuation of local SEO is Facebook Retargeting. That strategy can advantageously be used in order to convert the visitors coming from organic search. The retargeting campaigns are typically lower priced since you are targeting users that already know your brand which is also beneficial.

  • With local content on social media

Besides creating ads on Facebook your organic content on Facebook needs to be super sharp. Doing so, you should definitely use your local employees to engage the local customers. You’ll need to create content that resonates. The local consumers react and engage when the content is real – as real as if it was made by one of their friends. That doesn’t mean that you have to use high production level. It can actually be charming and intriguing when the content is spontaneous. The content from local employees could include special offers in your particular store, funny competitions and so on. The possibilities are many and it is really easy and cost efficient to implement. A great tool that motivates your employees to do so is Post Office Social. The tool allows the person in charge of marketing to design and produce content ideas while the local employees can set their individual and local touch on the content. The best effect is seen when the content is revolving around the product offerings, but the engagement is even higher in local areas when the local employees set their local touch! 

If you are interested in reading more about local content marketing and SEO you can read more here