Startup businesses sometimes rush to advertise in the wrong places. They see glamour in certain vehicles, such as general interest magazines or cable TV, only to find that their costly ads don’t really bring customers in the door.
Today’s emphasis needs to be on local marketing - reaching individual communities with specialized messages. The bygone era of mass marketing, populated mostly by big companies that could afford that kind of thing, is being replaced by what marketing mavens are calling “mass personalization.”
The latest trend is to bring marketing down to the neighborhood level and make it personal to the customer. Tom Feltenstein, a top local marketing proponent, advocates targeting your marketing efforts to specific neighborhoods, “making sure your message is delivered only to people most likely to be your customers — those within 10 miles or 10 minutes of your door.”
Feltenstein, who works with many corporate giants on their marketing efforts, says that it’s all about thinking small and keeping your marketing local. He encourages stores, restaurants and other types of businesses to look no further - literally - than their own back yards for customers.
Local marketing keys: community involvement
This neighborhood-first mantra suggests a heavy dose of community involvement in your local marketing efforts. For example, here are three community-related marketing strategies:
- Good grades equal good customers: contact local school principals ...
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