Local businesses need to have an effective online marketing strategy to keep up with their competition.

It often can feel overwhelming to run your business, do the work you get paid for as an owner-operator, and still have time/energy to market your business. Additionally, it can be extra stressful if you don’t know what you “should be doing” in the first place for your online marketing strategy.

So what should you do? Try to implement every marketing strategy known to mankind all at once? No. Simply put, you should pick JUST ONE online marketing strategy from our proven list below – and do it CONSISTENTLY. Commit to doing it or hiring someone to do it for you. That way, you can actually see a return out of your marketing efforts. 

You may feel like the marketing you have been doing, just isn’t working the way it used to. Or maybe you feel like it is about time you started to market your business.

Either way, you probably are not getting as many calls or customers as you wish you could. 

Join me below as I talk a bit more about this topic and provide you with some inspiration on how to update your marketing strategy for your local business. 

Online marketing has changed a lot recently and your local service business needs to keep up.

This can be as simple or as complicated as you would like. I suggest keeping it as simple as possible though! Remember the K.I.S.S principle.

Really, the best new marketing strategy is to pick just one online marketing activity for your local business and do it consistently. 

If you share your local business and unique sales proposition in this consistent way you will achieve these things – it’s proven science! 

• Build fans and advocates for your business
• Skyrocket your local SEO
• Create amazing brand authority in your community
• Increase referrals for new business
• Get more customers and calls
• Become known as a local expert for your services

Updating your online marketing strategy is not as hard as it sounds. Just add one new marketing activity for your local business.

Ideally, you would think about how you want to grow your business in the next year. After that, pick an online marketing strategy that will support that goal. 

Here let me help –  

Think about what goals you have for the next year for your local service business. Do you want to service a larger area, run more crews, get more phone calls, or just have a full schedule?

Pick one of these 10 proven marketing strategies: 

1. Get more Google reviews for your businesses. Just ask your happy customers and give them an easy way to do it!
2. Get your service business listed on aggregate sites like Yelp, Carwise, NextDoor, etc. Profiles are generally free & these sites will almost always rank higher than yours because of their huge ad budgets. 
3. Define your professional brand image and unique selling proposition. This is what makes you STAND OUT.
4. Start content marketing and learning more about SEO. Content is KING – find out what people search for services like yours and build your content around that. For example, if people are searching for “best landscaping services in Denver” you can create a blog post on why you’re “Denver’s Best Landscaping Service”. 
5. Start using Google Ads to promote your service. Find new leads right where they are searching.
6. Reach out to past customers and ask for personal referrals.
7. Start using Facebook Ads to increase your reach. Use these to get in front of new people that didn’t even know they needed your services – until now.
8. Refresh parts of your website so they are simple, clear, and easy to use. Try using the content you built by finding out what people are typing in to find services like yours for extra SEO juice.
9. Build your brand and forge relationships in your local community. Get out of the office once-in-a-while and get your name out there in a relevant way.   
10. Connect with other service professionals who can refer customers to you. Maybe your niche is a little more specific than other local professionals in your area. You can be the go-to for that niche while recommending clients to your network that may be better suited for their niche.

Now, which one do you think would help you reach your business goal?

Which proven online marketing strategy do you think you could work for you? Without too much stress on you or your lifestyle.

All of the above marketing strategies can help you grow your Small Business so there is no wrong answer here. Just pick one that you will enjoy doing. 

Consistency is the key to any online marketing strategy. If you want this to work you have to pick a strategy that you will be willing to work on. Every day/week for the whole next year.

In conclusion, pick an online marketing strategy you think you can create fast and easy and won’t overburden you. 

Above all, create your plan – how will you do/implement this plan? How will this new marketing strategy fit into your week? In addition, organize these parts so you have no excuses to bury your marketing in your to-do list. 

Picking just one new online marketing strategy and sticking with it all year will grow your local service business. 

It will help you create your best year yet. And help your business support you, your community, and the life you are building. 

Thank you all so much for stopping by!  If you would like some more Small Business Inspiration, then check on my article 5 examples of great marketing to inspire you. In this blog, I share some great-looking marketing designs that you can recreate to spice up your marketing! 

If you want to dive a little deeper then check out this video from  Entrepreneur.com

Until next time –

Meredith Siss

Meredith is the CEO and Lead Marketer at Marketing Maiden. She is an expert in lead generation and relationship marketing. Her online digital marketing agency supports local services businesses through PPC, Google Ads, SEO, website design, landing page design, email marketing. It is Marketing Maiden’s mission to expertly support local business owners. So they can have the freedom to run a profitable business and a good life.