Going Local With Our Colchester Marketing Agency
What’s the point of targeting the entire nation, if you’re not succeeding more locally? This isn’t a dig, or any sort of barbed comment, it’s just simple logic. Securing success in the local area is the natural stepping stone to then tackling the more mainstream, nationwide audiences.
Colchester is one of the gems of Essex. Its history, culture and location make it one of the most attractive locations in the county. This, in turn makes it a great spot for business. Not only because of the town’s own attractive business opportunities, but also its close links to other major towns like Chelmsford, Braintree and its easy access to London.
The team here at VerriBerri, a leading Colchester marketing agency, wanted to look at the ways in which you can market locally, before you take on the big leagues.
Longer-Tail SEO
SEO, for those of you don’t know, stands for Search Engine Optimisation. This is an organic technique whereby you fine-tune your website and content, so that it better ranks on Google and other major search engines. SEO is an ever-changing landscape, with its specialists perennially at the mercy of Mother Google and her algorithm changes. In a nutshell, though, it comprises two main areas: blog writing and website optimisation.
Within both of these components lies the opportunity to focus on longer-tail keywords. What does this mean? Well, let’s say you’re a Colchester-based Italian restaurant for instance. In this scenario, instead of targeting the keyword phrase ‘best Italian restaurant’, which is hugely competitive over a national scale, you’d focus on ‘best Italian restaurant Colchester’ or some variant thereof.
Over time, if you’re consistent with your website and copy optimisation, you’ll start to see yourself climbing the rankings for that key phrase. Then, when you’re consistently ranking highly for that key phrase, month on month, you can consider broadening your approach. Here at our Colchester marketing agency, our SEO specialists look at the long-term, and a local focus is often the best way to build a more solid platform for the future.
PR: The Importance Of Local Press
The discipline may be different, but the logic is very much the same. PR (Public Relations) involves many different processes, however it primarily pertains to securing media coverage on a client’s behalf. What this means is that a PR team will pitch ideas to journalists at various publications, on your brand’s behalf. Many people turn their noses at local media outlets; they equate ‘local’ magazines and newspapers with the idea of ‘poor-quality’, for some reason, though this couldn’t be further from the truth. Many people still hold great amounts of loyalty to their town’s local Gazette, Star or Advertiser and local businesses often look there first for networking opportunities.
Our Colchester marketing agency believes that, whilst national publications are obtainable (and should be targeted), this should be done in conjunction with securing local press exposure. Too many agencies make the mistake of shooting for the stars too early, in this regard. What we mean by this is that a local brand may secure one or two big pieces of national exposure, but because they’re not being underpinned by a more local campaign, they can very quickly sink back into obscurity. It’s worth noting at this point, that this regional/local focus should not be confused with a lack of ambition. Far from it. But ambition without a plan usually ends up being pretty pointless, truth be told. It’s one thing having a great idea, it’s quite another to put in the behind-the-scenes leg work that make it viable.
Social Media Is Your Friend
Algorithms, algorithms and more algorithms. We now live in a world dictated by what certain sets of computer functions and instructions think we want to see. In fairness to them, most of the time they’re pretty on the money! The rise to power of social media platforms has also brought with it a potent marketing tool, however, the hashtag. These four inter-crossing lines have arguably had a greater impact on the world than anything over the past decade. As a business/brand, take a look at your main social media platform and ask yourself a few questions. What tone does it convey? Are you posting consistently? What hashtags are you using?
Looking at Instagram, as an example, users follow certain hashtags, and more often than not they follow location-specific hashtags. To think of an example, if you’re an Essex-based beauty blogger and you’re not utilising an Essex-based beauty blogger hashtag, then you’re shooting yourself in the foot with a really big gun. Why put yourself at a disadvantage? Unless you’re an already well-established superstar, you’re going to struggle to compete with the generic #beautyblogger type hashtags. Switching to a local focus, therefore, makes the most sense.
Consistency is the other crucial thing when it comes to social media. Brands have come and go through our Colchester marketing agency’s doors, but one thing we’ve always said, and will continue to always say, is that you’ll get nowhere without consistency. Posting regularly strikes a professional tone, it raises brand awareness and it sets standards across other parts of the brand. If you find social media difficult enough, at the best of times, then fear not. Our agency features in-house social media specialists whose job it is to plan consistent content. It’s not enough to post, however. You need to engage with users as well. Commit time to following sprees, reply to comments and reach out to like-minded businesses for chances to network. The opportunities are out there on social media, you just need to be willing to go and find them.
Contact Us
There’s a phrase which we often cart out when looking at local marketing, and it stands up to scrutiny, today. You have to walk before you can run. So, if you’d like to find out more about our Colchester marketing agency, then get in touch! Contact VerriBerri today on 01376 386 850. We’ve found Essex-based businesses to be amongst the most innovative and hard-working out there; we can’t wait to see what you’ve got to offer!
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