7 Effective Digital Marketing Channels For Local Businesses (And When To Use Them)

Here are effective digital marketing channels strategies that work for small local businesses & how to use them to reach your target audience

By Claudio Pires
Updated on May 20, 2023
7 Effective Digital Marketing Channels For Local Businesses (And When To Use Them)

There are so many ways to market your local business online. The problem is knowing which channel to use and when to use it effectively. We have worked with hundreds of online clients using our SEO services. Check out this article for effective digital marketing channels strategies that work for small local businesses & how to use them to reach your target audience,

Best Digital Marketing Channels For Local Businesses

1) Your Website (Conversion Rate Optimization)

Maybe it’s not the first thing that comes to mind when we think of “digital marketing channels,”  but your website should be the first thing you optimize for before using any other channels of digital marketing strategies listed below.

Because your website is central to your online presence, it can be a very effective lead-generation tool when combined with other digital marketing channels. That’s why you want to include contact forms, calls to action, chat buttons, and anything else that can turn your website visitors into leads for your business.

Pros: Can effectively motivate visitors to become leads for your business through discounts, promotions, and more.

Cons: You need website visitors. It’s not a way to bring people to your site but a way to convert visitors when they arrive.

When to use: Immediately. Optimizing your website for your visitors should be the first thing you do before driving traffic through your marketing funnel.

2) Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

PPC type of advertising is a type of marketing channels where you pay for each click and view on your ad, this method is popular because it puts you in reach of your target audience, but it comes at a cost.  

Pros: Ability to start generating leads immediately. You can scale effectively if your numbers are profitable.

Cons: It can be expensive. You pay-per-click. Regardless of if anyone buys or becomes a customer, you’re paying for that person’s click. This means you can rack up advertising costs without seeing a dollar back in return.

When To Use: You’ve just started your business online and are looking for instant leads.

3) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is a form of organic marketing that allows you to generate leads for free through your marketing funnel. If you SEO correctly, your website will appear on Google for keyword phrases related to your business. For example, if you’re a dentist and a potential searcher types in “dentists near me,” your site will appear on the first page of Google. When interested users click through to your website, you pay nothing. Instead, it’s a free track.

Pros: It can be a free lead generation machine that runs on autopilot for your business.

Cons: It takes a long time. We all know that it takes months for Google to trust your website enough to appear on the first page of search results. Also, unlike PPC, you can’t immediately expose your website to interested users.

When to use it: SEO is a long-term strategy. So it’s best to start optimizing your website for SEO immediately, but don’t expect results within the first few months.

However, organic leads will come to your business for free over time. So when SEO kicks in, it can be a very lucrative marketing channel for your business.

4) Google My Business (GMB) Profile

Your GMB profile appears in Google Maps when users search for a local keyword relevant to your business. This differs from organic SEO results because it is the actual Google profile of your business rather than a website link that brings visitors to your business.

It looks like this:

Google My Business (GMB) Profile
Google My Business (GMB) Profile

Pros: Free leads. If you can properly optimize your Google My Business profile, every lead with your business will be free.

Cons: It takes a long time. Much like organic SEO, it takes a long time for Google to trust your business enough to put it in front of its searchers using marketing channels.

When to use: Immediately. You want to take advantage and create your GMB profile now. Start posting photos and generating comments as soon as possible.

When Google displays your company’s GMB to searchers, this gives you an account profile that can compete with and outperform your competitors.

5) Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Social media marketing means leveraging your business and posting about it regularly on popular social media platforms.

Pros: Use of “network effects.” If you write a really interesting post and your followers respond with likes, shares, and comments, you can reach a large audience effectively and for free. You are also seen as an authority in the field because you constantly post and demonstrate your expertise in your niche.

Cons: Social media is all about consistency. You must commit to multiple posts weekly to gain a following and capture an audience.

When to use: If you have time, use it now. If you have time, use it now. The good thing about social media is that once a post is made, it stays there forever. So the faster you get started, the sooner you can build an active online portfolio.

6) Local Businesses Marketing Channels- Email Marketing

Email marketing is regularly emailing your leads with valuable and actionable information.

Pros: Automation. You can set up different email campaigns to send to your new contacts beforehand. This creates an automated follow-up sequence to nurture new leads as they come in automatically.

Cons: Cons: For this, you will need an email list. Email marketing works well if you have many emails or a system that handles many emails.

When to use: Start a small campaign right away. Even if you don’t have an email list, creating a simple onboarding email campaign to nurture new leads when they finally come in is a good idea.

7) Online Retargeting Marketing Channels

“Retargeting” is simply advertising to people who already know your business or at least had some prior exposure. So whether it’s website visits, Facebook likes, or Instagram followers, these are the people you want to target. This Wordstream statistic best describes why:

“While the average click-through rate for ads is 0.07%, the average click-through rate for retargeting ads is 0.7%.”

Retargeting “hot” leads are 10 times cheaper than “cold” leads! Therefore, when you utilize retargeting, you reduce your advertising costs as you target your marketing to people and clients who have already shown interest in what you do.

Pros: It can be much cheaper than targeting cold leads.

Cons: You need a target audience. When your business is brand new online, you need an audience that you can instantly retarget.

When to use: Once you want to target a target group. The audience must be at least 100 people (eg, 100 website visitors).

Concluding About Local Businesses Marketing Channels

Here are many different channels to reach potential customers. However, it will help if you use the right marketing channel at the right time. We hope this article with the effective digital marketing channels strategies that work for small local businesses and how to use them to reach your target audience

Claudio Pires

Claudio Pires is the co-founder of Visualmodo, a renowned company in web development and design. With over 15 years of experience, Claudio has honed his skills in content creation, web development support, and senior web designer. A trilingual expert fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, he brings a global perspective to his work. Beyond his professional endeavors, Claudio is an active YouTuber, sharing his insights and expertise with a broader audience. Based in Brazil, Claudio continues to push the boundaries of web design and digital content, making him a pivotal figure in the industry.