Why Don’t More Local Businesses Advertise Locally?

We’ve all heard the arguments to shop locally. They make sense. It’s better for the local economy, which is better for the local area. It’s better for the product’s carbon footprint, so it’s better for the planet. And so on. We get it.

You’re local; they’re local…

If you have a business offering high-quality products and services at fair prices – and your customers know this – they will come running. That’s where advertising comes in. But who are you going to advertise to? Is it not reasonable to think that, as a local business, your customers will also be local? So, here’s the question: Why are some business owners spending the bulk of their advertising budgets on customers who will never, ever, be local to their businesses?

No they don’t

If they run a website, they do. If you have a website, you’ll know how it Hoovers up the money. If you’ve run analytics, you’ll also know how most of your website's viewers seem to come from way out of your area. (Many of whom, I’ll bet, are just browsing the site as a reference point for developing their own sites.) And on and on it goes: The eye-watering upfront investment, disappointing traffic, more “investment”, more time, more money. The same can arguably be said for trade fairs. Okay, so they can be fun. But how many of the visitors to a stand, of an out-of-area firm, will really make that round trip?

If it can be posted…

The internet age rule of thumb seems to have established itself well: If it can be posted, it probably will be. But it is also true that customers still like to physically interact with products before they buy them. This becomes increasingly the case with the more expensive, technologically complex or tactile products. And the more the customer spends, the more likely they are to want to touch the item first. People like going to the shops. The convenience of it. The fun. To say nothing of the skill, expertise and genuine care that a real person can bring to the experience of shopping in a local business. And you can’t post everything. Haircuts, coffee, carwashes…try putting these in an envelope. So, if customers are coming to you, it’s either because they have to or they want to. Whatever the reason, the message is clear: Local businesses are a great fit for local people.

Local is as local does

So why all the fuss with the internet? Do you remember the days when we used to look at the noticeboard in the newsagents? Remember when we used to scour the advertising section in the local paper to find a bargain? Or when flyers used to pop through the letter box? We still do all of these things! Sure, they’re old fashioned. But so’s cash.

They still work

These forms of advertising still exist because these forms of advertising still work. Very well in fact. And for many local traders, far better than many of the alternatives that they are constantly being told have replaced them. Nice though it may be to have a state-of-the-art web presence, this is not what brings the bulk of customers through the doors of the bulk of local businesses. Word of mouth, reputation, the sign outside the shop, a friendly face, hands on skills and expert knowledge. All of these things are local things. And all of these things need to be celebrated.

Why not try it? Advertise Locally

You trade locally, so why not reflect that in your advertising? What have you got to lose by putting an ad in the local magazine or having a few flyers printed? It works. You’ll be placing your adverts where your customers see them. Where their hearts and minds are. And who knows where that card in the newsagent’s window might lead…

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