As a small online business, you will have to work harder for every customer since it is difficult to compete with larger businesses. There are online marketing for local business strategies you can use to increase your online visibility and increase your number of customers.

Maintain Your Local Listing

Even if your business does not have a physical location, your local listing can be important. For businesses that sell online and in-person, simply having accurate information in the business directory can boost sales. Most people will do research before they make a purchase at a specific business. Since smaller businesses heavily depend on word-of-mouth advertising and reviews, even minor problems with your business listing can hurt. Even worse is not appearing in local searches. If your business does not appear in local searches, you are essentially invisible and easily give the advantage to your competition. For strictly online businesses, having a local listing offers some benefits. When people are looking to buy a product online, they might be willing to choose your business over a different one if they live nearby and can expect an item to arrive quickly. This can give you an advantage over larger online retailers in some cases.

Utilize Email Marketing

Email marketing remains an important tool, especially when you are trying to turn one-time customers into repeat business. When you develop an email marketing campaign, it is important to think from the perspective of the consumer. Most customers despise daily emails from a company, unless you happen to be in the business of offering daily motivational quotes. Generally, a weekly email is sufficient to remind previous customers that you are still in business and have products they might want to buy. Reserve additional emails (more than once weekly) for special sales or promotions. When you are promoting a product, try to offer something else to your customers. For example, if you recently received a new product, offer a discount or a free tutorial. This can make promoting an item seem less like a hard sell.

Create Incentive Programs

Many small businesses use incentive programs to increase word-of-mouth advertising and to encourage people to become repeat customers. A popular type of incentive program is offering reward points based on the dollar amount of a purchase. You might also offer customers a bonus amount of points when they first sign up or spend a certain amount of money in one transaction. Just the idea of having reward points saved up can encourage some people to come back and spend them. Consider incentivising referrals in some way, such as through an affiliate program. Since many people have their own websites and YouTube channels, they will be more inclined to promote a product they like if it is sold by a business that offers an affiliate program.

Although marketing can be harder as a small online business, it is far from impossible. Use different strategies to increase your visibility and turn one-time customers into regular customers.