Targeted marketing is a common strategy used by countless brands. Creating ads that are specifically designed to capture the attention of your target audience, you can market to your crowd more effectively.
Hyperlocal social media marketing takes targeted marketing a step further, focusing on one small geographical area. When you focus your efforts on one small area, it’s easier to grab the attention of people in that area.
What is hyperlocal social media marketing?
Hyperlocal social media marketing is a form of social media marketing that targets one specific region, city, or geographical area. You can use a hyperlocal marketing strategy across various social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Let’s say you run a local auto body repair shop and you want to target customers in your city. You can run an ad for keywords about auto body repair in your region, like “auto body repair in [city]”. This drives more traffic from your local target audience and prevents you from advertising to people your brand isn’t relevant to.
Small businesses commonly use hyperlocal social media marketing to attract local customers. While some businesses sell products and services online, many local businesses rely on local customers for sales. Hyperlocal social media marketing allows these businesses to draw more foot traffic.
The benefits of hyperlocal social media marketing strategy
Using hyper-local advertising can benefit your brand in several ways. As a business owner or marketer, understanding your business goals is crucial to using local social media marketing. If you’re not seeing results from your current marketing strategy, here are some reasons you may want to consider switching to local social media marketing.
When you target a small geographic area, your ads reach more local customers. That may not be a huge deal if you primarily do business online, but attracting local customers is vital for many local businesses. Plumbers, mechanics, and other professionals who provide in-person services rely on local customers, and they can attract more local customers with a local marketing strategy. As you build your local customer base, your reputation will help you attract even more customers in the area.
Increasing engagement is another huge benefit of hyperlocal social media marketing. People have a tendency to ignore ads especially when those ads aren’t relevant. When you create ads that are tailored to a specific area, you don’t have to worry about whether those ads are relevant to your target audience. Getting your customers more engaged leads to increased brand loyalty and customer satisfaction, which in turn helps increase revenue.
Relevance is one of the biggest concerns when it comes to advertising, and pushing irrelevant ads can be costly. You shouldn’t pay to advertise to people who aren’t interested in your products or services — especially if you’re looking for local customers. With hyperlocal advertising, you can create relevant ads that reach your target audience, making your marketing campaign more cost-effective.
Identifying and reaching your target audience is one of the most important parts of advertising, but that can be difficult for local businesses. Whether you install heating and cooling systems or run a car wash, spreading your message to millions online doesn’t do you a lot of good if you’re not reaching customers in your area. When you create hyperlocal ads and push them to a specific area, reaching your target audience is simple.
When you’re marketing for a local audience, it’s easier to create quality content. You know the community you’re targeting inside and out, including local events and hot spots. You can use your local knowledge to create content that’s tailored for your target audience, which leads to a more effective marketing campaign.
Who should use hyperlocal marketing?
Hyperlocal social media marketing can be an effective marketing strategy for any business, but some businesses really benefit from local social media marketing.
Let’s say you’re running a local plumbing company that offers plumbing repair and installation services for local homeowners. You create a marketing campaign with clever ads that reach thousands of people, but you’re not getting any new customers why is that? As a local business that provides a service, you don’t offer much value to customers outside of your geographic region. Hyperlocal marketing, on the other hand, allows you to get your message out to people in your area to encourage them to call when they need a plumber.
Conversely, you may run an online retail business that sells and ships products all over the world. Maybe some of your customers are local, but your sales are fairly spread out across several parts of the country. Advertising to a local audience won’t do you a lot of good because that’s not where your sales originate. Even if you do bring in a few local customers, the potential of local marketing is limited by the number of people in your geographic region.
While hyperlocal social media marketing is better suited for brands that do business locally, local businesses can still benefit from traditional marketing. Even if you can’t sell products or services to the people you’re reaching online, they can help you build your brand and drive more traffic to your website and social media accounts. As your brand grows and becomes recognized on a larger scale, the local market will have an easier time trusting your brand and recognizing you as an expert.
Why does hyperlocal marketing on social media matter?
Hyperlocal social media marketing matters because it allows you to engage with your local audience and position your brand as a staple in the local community.
Hyperlocal marketing on social media is one of the best ways to get people from your community to engage with your brand. When you target a local audience with your marketing campaign, you can connect with people in your community to answer questions about your business and the products or services you offer.
Increasing brand visibility is one of the best things you can do for your local business. When people see your brand on social media connecting with the community, they’ll be quicker to recognize you everywhere. Being well-known in the community means locals are more likely to count on you when they need something, whether you sell a crucial product or provide an essential service.
Social media marketing in general is a great way to improve your image as a brand. You can show people how much you know about what you do, and you can connect with your customers as a valuable resource in your community. If you’re an electrician, you might share useful tips for saving money or recognizing electrical problems. You can also answer any questions your customers might have about your services and how they can benefit customers.
When you combine all the effects we mentioned above, you generally see an increase in foot traffic which leads to more revenue. The way your community views your business matters, and hyperlocal social media marketing is one of the best ways to connect with your community and show them how you can help.
Developing your hyperlocal strategy
Hyperlocal advertising looks different for every brand, but there are a few ways to shape your strategy.
Advertising local events and specials is a great way to boost brand awareness in your community. You can let people know when you’re celebrating a special day or having a sales event to make sure locals are keeping up with your brand.
Offering limited-time local deals can also be an effective hyperlocal marketing strategy. If you’re having a happy hour promotion or offering a discount for the rest of the day, post it on social media so your local audience knows to visit your store.
You don’t want to overuse hashtags, but using local hashtags can help people in your area discover your social media pages. You can also use geotags to let people know where you’re posting from and make your posts easier for locals to find.
Don’t forget to interact with your community as part of your marketing campaign. Posting ads and ignoring the comments makes your brand look cold and unfriendly. Instead, take the time to respond to comments.
