How Blogging can Greatly Improve Your Small Business Marketing in a Small Town

Running a small business comes with plenty of challenges.. On top of managing your day-to-day operations, you need:

• a well-trained and loyal team;

• a great product or service;

• to deliver fantastic customer experience;

• a well managed, mobile-responsive, and frequently updated website;

• to provide a consistent and engaging social media presence; and 

• to implement an SEO strategy that will ensure your website gets noticed by those who need to see it. 

This is basic stuff for most of us; however, in small rural towns, businesses operate a bit differently. That’s not to say these things wouldn’t drastically improve sales and lead generation; it simply means small town business owners have survived thousands of years doing things “their way.”

Many small town business owners get most of their business from the community that has supported them for years. They haven’t needed a website, especially when they have a well-loved Facebook page (and that’s if they are even online, at all). They have all they need right where they’re at and never really planned on changing.

Operating a small business in a small town does come with its advantages:

• Word-of-mouth is powerful in a small town.

• Competition is less.

• Community relationships matter.

• Small town businesses usually have friendlier staff and offer better customer service.

Small town life is simple, more straightforward, and referrals are an everyday occurrence. Most of your marketing occurs while chatting with a neighbor, at a local networking event or at your favorite restaurant or bar. Up until recently, if you had a prosperous small business in a small town it really didn’t take much to keep it going.

Then 2020 happened and everything changed.

Today, small town business owners are dealing with some pretty significant issues:

• a global pandemic;

• political and economic uncertainty; and

• a nation divided .

This has made it much harder to do things the “old way”. Therefore, it may be time to reconsider your current marketing strategy and reach out to a wider market. Marketing your business is more important today than it’s ever been; unfortunately, many small business owners lack the funds to do so properly.

So what can you do to get your local business that extra needed attention? 

BLOG!

If you don’t have a website, now is the time to consider entering the 21st century and I would be happy to help; however this post is focused on those of you who do have a web presence and need to expand into a wider market.

One of the most effective and affordable ways to build brand awareness and improve lead generation is to provide your core audience with a fresh, relevant and consistently updated blog.

Here are a few facts that might surprise you about blogging:

Fact #1: Blogging is one of the most effective ways to build brand awareness. Businesses with Blogs Get 2X More Email Traffic than Businesses without Blogs.

Brand awareness helps people remember your products and your mission. Blogs, infographics and guest articles are a great way to get started with content. Brand awareness is how consumers recognize and remember your business.

Fact #2: Blogging encourages others to partner and share your content. Companies who blog receive 97% more links to their website.

SEO loves backlinks. The more people who link back to your blog, the better it is for your website and page rank. Build partnerships with other vendors and local business owners to increase your backlinks and you’ll be climbing the ladder to the coveted #1 position on Google. But you have to start, first!

Fact #3: Blogging gets your website the visibility it deserves. On average, companies that blog receive 434% more indexed pages and 55% more website visitors.

Search engines love fresh, relevant content and each blog you write and post on your website creates a new search engine link. If you use specific keywords and phrases with strategically worded blog titles people search for online, you stand a much great chance of attract your core audience.

Example: Let’s say you’re a local roofer, and you want to expand into a broader market. By writing blog posts that serve people in those areas, you’ll get on their radar much quicker, and they’ll see you not only provide a solution to their need, but you’ve also got the experience and know-how to get the job done. Here are a few ideas:

• You could focus on the weather: “Hurricane ? is coming! What to Expect, How to Prepare & How to Get Your Roof Inspected After the Storm”  

• You could focus on drainage issues: “How adding gutters can save your driveway in rural North Carolina.”

• You could focus on specific communities: Many homes in North Raleigh are hitting their 20’s. Time for a new roof!”

• You could call attention to the economic hardship many are facing: “How to Get Insurance to Pay for Your Roof Replacement in 2020.”

Blogging allows you to focus on your target audiences specific needs.

By actively blogging, you can educate and inform your audience on what your products/services can do to solve their problems. Here are a few other reasons why blogging should be an essential part of your content strategy.

• Blogging improves brand loyalty. Use your blog to teach your audience what makes you so awesome. Offer tutorials, videos, “how to’s”, share testimonials and invite quests to come blog about their experience working with you.

• Blogging helps build your email list. Your email list is the single most crucial tool for remaining in contact with visitors to your website. Without an email list, you have no way to contact those who visited your website. By offering a subscription service to your blog, you can get contact information to build on that relationship. DON'T ADVERTISE to your email list. Inform, educate and entertain. Teach your subscribers what makes you the best in the business.

• Blogging provides additional content for other social media sites. Use a quote from your blog and create visual content for Facebook and LinkedIn. Take an excerpt from your blog and post it on LinkedIn. Encourage people to read it and then provide feedback on the post. The more you get people talking, the better chance you have of inspiring others to subscribe to your blog and join your email list.

• Blogging builds trust in your industry.  Instead of talking about what you can do, show your audience how. Blogging allows you to share knowledge with your customers about the industry in your other relevant interest areas. It helps consumers build trust and confidence in your brand because someone who reads your blog often naturally has a relationship with you and trusts you.

• Blogging can expand your network and help you to become an influencer in your industry. The more people read and share your blog, the greater the influence you have in your industry. People begin to look at you for an answer, or better yet, recommend you.

• Blogging provides a community your audience can get behind. A loyal fanbase is priceless. They share your content. They engage on social media. They refer you to others. A Blog will help develop that fanbase and by offering subscribers unique promotions, announcements to events before others know, share upcoming product/service ideas and get feedback are all effects of a loyal fanbase.

Now, it’s recommended you blog at least 20 times a month and that your blog posts should be no less then 1,500-2,000 words. Each post should take on average 3 hours 16 minutes per piece to complete.

Sounds nuts, right!

Look, you have your business to run. The most important thing is consistency. If you can post twice a week, that’s better then posting nothing at all and you will definitely see a spike in website visits on the days you post. Find what works for you and stick to it.

Should you desire my help, click the button below or call/text me at (919)n 763-5244. If I don’t answer, please leave a message, chances are I am working on another blog and I will get back to you in the next few hours.