How to Generate Local Business Leads

If you’ve driven around your city area, you’ve probably noticed some businesses closed because they couldn’t afford to keep them open. One of the main problems for local businesses is generating enough leads to stay in business. If there are no new potential customers, the business may soon dry up.

Local business owners traditionally rely on the yellow pages or newspaper ads. These cost thousands of dollars a month and have become ineffective because customers now use the web to find local products and services.

Benefits of online marketing strategies for local businesses:

• Cheap
• Ability to track the number of visitors.
• Build customer trust and loyalty
• Attract business from multiple geographic locations
• Create an online flyer (website)
• Show ads or coupons that can be easily updated or changed
• Create an online newsletter to notify customers of sales.

Online strategies to generate local business opportunities

1. Create a website

A website can serve as an online brochure to display your contact information, photos, deal suggestions and coupons, as well as add content that will warn your customers. Once your website is online, you can easily refer customers when you contact them. They can also access the website from their homes or cell phones.

2. Write a newsletter

Placing a signup form on your website allows you to capture potential customers and then send them new information on a regular basis. This helps gain their trust and builds long-term relationships. Every time you have a new promotion or sale, you can send it to them with a click of your mouse.

2. Item merchandising

Offering content that showcases the benefits of your products and services, how to use them, frequently asked questions, troubleshooting tips, etc. It will help your customers make more informed decisions. If you submit these articles to online publications in your niche, they will generate new leads.

3. Press release

Sending out a press release to publications in your area can generate a ton of leads. For example, if a local newspaper writes about your business, you will potentially reach thousands of new customers.

4. Geo-targeted pay-per-click advertising

This method generates immediate traffic. Google AdWords are advertisements that are displayed on the right hand side of search engine results pages. Simply create a Google AdWords account and then write an ad targeting keywords related to your business (ie cities, counties, towns). When a person clicks on your ad, they are directed to your website. The costs will depend on how much you pay per click. The more clicks your ad receives, the more you pay.

5. Interactivity using social networking applications

Today many people use Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to keep in touch with friends or show off their latest creations. Some of the big box stores (eg, Sears, Macy’s, BestBuy) now use social media applications to interact with their customers. Through this interaction, they develop relationships that allow them to promote and sell their products.

6. Video marketing

Online video marketing is effective because most people grew up watching TV or playing video games. Some of the ways to use videos to generate leads include creating:

• video sales page
• videos showing how to use their products
• video testimonials

Videos can be easily added to your website so that people can watch them at any time.

7. Search engine optimization

If people find your website by entering a keyword in search engines, you will receive free ongoing traffic. By optimizing your website for search engines, you can achieve top search engine rankings for keywords related to your business and receive ongoing traffic to your website.

Start an online marketing campaign for your local business before your competitors learn how to do it or your business dries up. You’ll capture business that normally goes to your competitors because you’ll reach a larger audience.