Why is geo-targeting so important for Houston Area businesses? Think about it for a minute. In the days before social media, would you get more bang for your buck if you advertise your local business on a local TV station like KTBX, KHOU, or KLTJ? Or would it be to your benefit to pay to advertise on a big cable network where the whole country sees your ads?
If you’re a smaller, local business that mostly serves local customers, that’s an easy answer. A big national ad would cost too much for too little return on investment.
That’s exactly why geo-targeting online is so special.
What Are the Benefits of Geo-Targeting?
Only show your ad to your most likely customers, those in your area. Reduce ad costs by not paying for clicks from people who are unlikely customers. Let people in your area see your ads more often because you’re not wasting money on people who will never become your customer.
And most importantly, build trust and a reputation in your local community to grow if you want to go national.
Even if you run an e-commerce on online services business with a national audience already, focusing locally to grow your business is a smart business strategy. It will save you money by narrowing your efforts on a smaller population where you can gain a foothold and build your brand.
And with so many ways to target a local audience online, you can reach more of the right people with the best message to turn them into your customers or clients faster.
1. Target Locally with Social Media Post Boosting
When you find that a social media post resonated with your current followers, it’s time to boost that post so more people like your followers can see it.
You can do this on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. On IG and Twitter, it’s called “promoting”, but it’s the same thing.
When choosing the audience for your boosted post, select a geographic region as big as the Greater Houston Area or as small as a single zip code, depending on your local marketing strategy.
2. Geo-Targeted Social Media Advertising
You can also choose a local area for your other social media advertising for Facebook Messenger, Linkedin, and more. Just choose a region where you set up your ads to target a local audience.
When creating geo-targeted social media ads, consider references to the region to get the attention of local social media users who are bombarded with ads, and ignore most of them.
“Hey, Clara, in Fulshear, TX, said this about our new store.”
3. Google Maps Ads
Recent estimates suggest that over One Billion people worldwide use Google Maps regularly to get around. What would you bet that people in the Houston area are doing the same?
Google Maps Ads are a great way to reach local people when looking for how to get to local businesses. You can’t beat that perfect timing!
4. Geo-Targeting with AdWords
Even though paid search is national, you can geo-target here as well. Simply choose a local area when setting up your ads. And just like social media, you can mention the region you’re targeting in the ad copy to get attention in the local searches that matter to you.
5. Email Geo-Targeting
Email geo-targeting is a little different. When someone signs up for your email list, ask for their location, you can segment your email list by city or suburb to make the email seem even more relevant to each subscriber.
6. Local SEO
Local SEO geo-targeting is a bit more complex. It involves a series of local SEO tasks you can complete to make sure that Google knows you’re local to the searching person.
Google gives local businesses preference in their local areas because nearly 50% of searches are people looking for information about local businesses.
A local SEO checklist can help you understand what you need to do as a Houston Area business to demonstrate that you’re doing business in the Houston area or even a smaller region like Katy for that matter.
7. Working with Local Influencers
Local influencers are influential people that those in your local area know while those outside may not. Lesser-known professional sports stars, a local university coach, a trusted non-competitor business owner–these can be great networking opportunities and partnerships to strengthen your local presence.
Ask them to share your social media posts from their platform or star in YouTube videos you produce around a product or service.
Local Marketing Across Platforms
Your most likely customers and clients are in your local area. Geo-targeting across platforms like these helps you reach them, continually engage them, and turn them into delighted customers.
In 2021, get targeted…geo-targeted to grow your business.