The Power of Local Advertising for SME Growth

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You will often hear small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) referred to as the backbone of the economy – and that isn’t an exaggeration. Nearly 2 in 3 people in the UK (61%) who work within the private sector are employed by SMEs, and it’s a figure that’s slowly and steadily rising. More than only employment, SMEs drive innovation and local economic development. In order to contribute to local economies, these enterprises need to be known locally – which is where small business marketing comes in.

What is small business marketing?

Small business marketing is the combination of strategies and tactics used by SMEs within their marketing to attract and engage customers. As you would expect, these practices will differ slightly from the tactics used by larger businesses due to the differences in resources and target audience, but the overall goals are the same:

Identifying customer needs

Elevating your market presence

Nurturing customer relationships

Marketing for small businesses can happen through many channels, from more traditional methods such as print and mail ads to digital routes like social media and email marketing. Every approach comes with its own unique benefits and drawbacks. Understanding the fundamentals of small business marketing is essential for SMEs, and can only happen through thorough research, detailed plans, and by investing time into creating a strong brand identity.

Why is it important to market your small business?

Marketing is essential for SMEs to establish themselves and achieve sustainable growth. Here are just a few of the things that can be impacted by effective marketing.

Building brand awareness

You want your brand and what it has to offer your target audience to be known by as many people as possible - Clear Channel’s OOH estate alone reaches 90% of UK adults. By sharing their services and message across different channels, businesses can ensure that potential customers recognise them, trust them, and take an interest in their products.

Building brand awareness involves having a strong brand identity that reflects a business’ aims, aesthetics and offerings. It needs to be cohesive across any and all marketing materials – consistency is key to being memorable.

Attracting new customers

Without strategic marketing efforts SMEs will have a hard time attracting new customers. Targeted campaigns create potential contact points for people to interact with a business and can help to increase their customer base and tap into new markets. This is only possible through researching and developing a strong understanding of potential customers – then deciding the best way to show them that you can meet their needs.

As previously mentioned, new customers can be reached through many channels, each with unique opportunities and challenges. Some marketing channels may lend themselves to your business more easily than others, and produce significantly different results, which is why it’s important to be strategic in your approach.

Driving sales and growth

Sales and growth will always be one of the main goals of marketing. Marketing can play a big part in increasing revenue, expanding operations and securing long-term success - OOH has a proven ability to uplift sales by as much as 47%. By promoting products and services, highlighting the unique selling points of a brand, and creating a sense of urgency among consumers, marketing can provide opportunities for people to discover and grow familiar with a business.

Types of small business marketing

Here are some of the methods SMEs use to reach their target audience.

Digital marketing

Digital marketing is a broad term that covers a wide range of online marketing channels. Search engine optimisation (SEO), pay per click (PPC) advertising, email marketing and content marketing all come under the umbrella of digital marketing. The average SME likely uses a combination of at least a few of these methods to reach a wider audience and benefit from the easily gathered analytics that digital channels provide.

Social media marketing

Social media marketing is a useful marketing method because it can be highly targeted based on audience demographics. Using factors such as age, gender, geographical location, interests and even online shopping habits, social media is a great way of making sure the right message finds the right person at the right time.

Local advertising

The goal of local advertising is to engage customers within a specific geographic area. It’s particularly helpful for enhancing visibility and reputation within an area and can be achieved through methods such as geographically targeted online ads and Out of Home (OOH) advertising.

The power of local advertising for small businesses

This type of marketing is especially beneficial for SMEs that rely largely on foot traffic and local patronage. Local print ads, billboards, public transport ads, community events and local directories are excellent methods for building relationships with customers in a specific area.

Out of Home advertising

OOH advertising refers to any kind of advertising that customers encounter outside of their own homes; in supermarkets and shopping centres, placed on buildings, or on high streets - places in the heart of local communities.

Benefits of outdoor for SME marketing

There is a lot of crossover between local advertising for SMEs and OOH advertising. As previously mentioned, many SMEs rely on local patronage – and OOH advertising in the area local to an SME can play a big part in driving traffic and increasing exposure. OOH campaigns can complement other marketing methods by increasing familiarity with a brand and establishing its presence.

It’s common for OOH campaigns to utilise eye-catching visuals and catchy slogans. This is to ensure that someone passing by, either on foot or by car or public transport, can take a glance at an ad and still come away with a good impression of a brand. Creative, highly memorable, and making use of high-traffic areas, OOH makes potential customers more likely to be able to recall a business.

Marketing tips for small businesses

When considering marketing ideas for small businesses, it’s important to start with the basics. If you’re wondering how to market your SME, here are some tips to get you started.

Identifying your target audience

Understanding who your customers are is always the first step in any marketing campaign. Splitting your audience into segmented demographics and deciding which groups you want to target will give you ideas for how to frame and design your campaign, and the right style of messaging to use.

Creating buyer personas, bios that represent your ideal customers with information about their lifestyles can help you to tailor your marketing efforts to better address their specific needs. Marketing is at its best when its relevant and personalised.

Creating compelling ad content

Your marketing content may be relevant to your customers’ needs – but is it compelling? It takes more than relevance; your content needs to really strike a chord with your target audience and capture their imagination. What makes your products, services or brand unique? Why should potential customers pick you over your competitors? Which advertising format will be most effective for your message? Consider your:

Tone of voice (TOV)

Visuals

Unique selling point (USP)

These are the key ingredients when creating compelling ad content for small business marketing.

Leveraging Out of Home advertising

When it comes to marketing strategies for small businesses using OOH advertising, it’s important to use OOH’s unique benefits to your advantage. Locations should be chosen strategically to maximise exposure – are your target audience likely to be among the morning commuters? Young families on the school run? Drivers, or people on foot? Can you advertise in close proximity to your store? You should be able to answer these questions with the right planning and foresight. Clear Channel places OOH formats in the hustle and bustle of local communities, giving smaller businesses the opportunity to stand alongside household names.

OOH advertising is an excellent canvas for clear, memorable messaging. For SMEs - where every penny in the marketing budget counts - a bright, bold statement such as a billboard or digital display is worth its weight in gold.

Measuring marketing success

It’s important to decide how you plan to track and measure the outcomes of your marketing campaigns. Gathering this data is the only way you can tell what has worked and what needs improving. Conversion rates, return on investment (ROI) and recall and recognition of your brand are all measurable metrics for judging the success of your efforts. Reviewing this data will help you make informed decisions such as which strategies to prioritise in your next campaign, or where more budget needs to be allocated.

Small businesses – big ideas

Some of the main strengths of SMEs is the fact that they’re customer-oriented, and able to adapt to change much more easily than larger businesses. Flexibility makes space for creativity; and creativity truly shines in local advertising. By continually staying attuned to the needs of your customers and refining your marketing strategies accordingly, SMEs can use local advertising to make big splashes in the sea of advertising customers wade through every day.

Wondering how to get started with OOH advertising? Why not ask the experts? You can get in touch with us here.