Why Local Marketing Matters

And How You Can Use Local Marketing To Boost Your Business

Local marketing, or hyper-local marketing, targets customers within a specific area. This approach allows businesses to stand out and be more accessible to potential customers nearby. For example, when people in your area search for services, having strong local visibility ensures your business is one of the first they see.

There are several reasons to consider a local marketing strategy:

Cost-Effective: Local marketing efforts can be more budget-friendly than broad campaigns, allowing you to focus on the most relevant audience for your business.
Higher Engagement: Customers often feel a stronger connection to local businesses, making them more likely to engage, leave reviews, and spread the word.
Better ROI: With targeted campaigns, you’re reaching people more likely to need your service, resulting in better conversions and a higher return on investment.

How can you Advertise Locally?

Leverage Local SEO for More Visibility

Local SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is essential for helping your business show up in online searches within your area. By optimising your website and online presence for local search, you’ll reach customers who are actively searching for services you provide.

Google My Business: Setting up or optimizing your Google My Business profile is a crucial step. Ensure your information is complete and accurate, including your business hours, contact info, and location.

Local Keywords: Include location-specific keywords on your website and blog to improve search engine visibility. For example, a dog groomer in Bristol might use keywords like “Bristol dog grooming” or “dog groomer near me.”

Customer Reviews: Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews. Positive reviews boost credibility and improve your ranking on Google’s local search results.

Use Print Marketing to Reach Local Audiences

Print marketing remains an impactful way to reach local customers directly. Flyers, business cards, and local directories are all effective ways to advertise your business within the community.

Direct Mail Campaigns: Target neighborhoods in your area with promotional offers, service updates, or seasonal deals.

Flyers & Posters: Partner with other local businesses, like cafes or community centers, to display your materials in places where your target audience frequents.

Local Directories: Listing your business in a local directory like Local Pages can significantly boost your visibility and reach in nearby areas, making it easier for customers to find you.

Get Involved with the Community

Engaging with your community not only builds a strong local reputation but also establishes trust with potential customers. Here are some ways to connect:

Sponsor Local Events: Support local sports teams, schools, or community events. Sponsorships show that you’re invested in the community, increasing goodwill and brand awareness.

Partner with Local Businesses: Collaborate with other local businesses on joint promotions or events. For example, a dog groomer could team up with a pet store for a co-hosted pet care day.

Volunteer: Get involved in community service projects or volunteer for local initiatives. This not only helps your community but also builds relationships with residents and other local businesses.

Run Geo-Targeted Digital Ads

Geo-targeted digital ads allow you to focus your advertising budget on a specific geographic area, ensuring your message reaches local customers. Platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads make it easy to set up location-based targeting.

Google Ads with Location Targeting: Run pay-per-click (PPC) ads that focus on users within a specific radius of your business. You can also optimise ad copy to mention your city or region.

Social Media Ads: Platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow for highly specific location targeting. You can run ads that only show up for users within certain zip codes or even miles from your location.

Localised Offers: Promote special deals or discounts to those in the immediate area. Localised offers make your ads even more relevant, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversions.

Optimise for Mobile Users

Many local searches are performed on mobile devices, so it’s essential that your website and ads are optimised for mobile users. Mobile-friendly content makes it easy for customers to find you on the go.

Responsive Website Design: Ensure your website looks and functions well on mobile devices. A mobile-optimised site loads quickly and has a clean, easy-to-navigate layout.

Clickable Contact Info: Make it easy for mobile users to contact you by adding clickable phone numbers and map links to your website.

Mobile Ads: Consider running mobile-optimised ads, especially on social media, to capture users who are searching for services in the area.

How Local Pages Can Help

At Local Pages, we specialize in helping small businesses strengthen their local presence through a mix of print, digital, and design services. We understand the needs of businesses and work closely with you to tailor strategies that suit your unique goals. From listing your business in our directory to creating targeted ads, we’re here to help you connect with your community and grow your brand.

Ready to attract more local customers and expand your business? Contact us today for a free consultation, and let’s work together to give your business the local advantage!

Visit The Little Blue Blog for more insights and tips on growing your business through local marketing. Let’s make your brand the go-to in your community!

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Does Your Business Need a Makeover?

How Print, Digital, and Design Services Can Transform Your Brand

In a competitive marketplace, your business needs to stand out more than ever. Whether you’re a tradesman, dog groomer, or small business owner, staying fresh and relevant is key to attracting new customers and keeping existing ones engaged. But how do you know if your business is in need of a makeover? More importantly, what changes can you make to give it the boost it needs?

In this blog post, we’ll explore how giving your business a makeover with print, digital marketing, and design services can enhance your brand, improve customer experience, and drive growth.

Signs Your Business Might Need a Makeover

Before diving into solutions, let’s first identify some common signs that your business might need a refresh:

Outdated branding: If your logo, business cards, or website design look outdated, it could be time for a fresh new look.

Inconsistent customer experience: If your print materials don’t align with your digital presence, customers might feel confused or disengaged.

Lack of online visibility: Struggling to get noticed online or rank well in search results? You may need a digital marketing boost.

Declining engagement: If fewer people are interacting with your business, whether on social media or in person, a new marketing strategy might help re-energise your brand.

If any of these signs sound familiar, a makeover could be exactly what your business needs.

The Power of Print: A Tangible Connection with Customers

Even in our digital age, print marketing remains a powerful tool for small businesses. Printed materials like business cards, flyers, brochures, and direct mail provide a physical connection between your brand and your customers. They can leave a lasting impression, especially when they’re well-designed and professionally produced.

Here’s how a print makeover can help your business:

Professional designs: Well-designed print materials immediately elevate your brand, making it appear more polished and trustworthy.

Consistency: Updating your print designs to match your digital branding creates a seamless customer experience across all touchpoints.

Targeted marketing: Use flyers or direct mail campaigns to target specific local areas and reach potential customers who might not be online.

With fresh, cohesive print materials, your business will look modern and professional, which can inspire more trust from potential clients.

Digital Marketing: Expanding Your Reach Online

If your business isn’t taking full advantage of digital marketing, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to reach new customers. A digital marketing makeover could include everything from a revamped website to a new social media strategy and even paid advertising campaigns.

Here’s how we can help you modernise your digital presence:

Website redesign: Your website is your digital storefront, and it needs to reflect the quality of your services. We offer custom website designs that are user-friendly, mobile-optimised, and tailored to your brand.

Search engine optimization (SEO): Improving your website’s SEO will help you rank higher in search engine results, making it easier for potential customers to find you.

Paid digital advertising: Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and other paid advertising platforms allow you to target your ideal audience with precision, driving more qualified traffic to your business.

Social media management: A consistent, engaging social media presence is essential for connecting with today’s customers. We can help you craft posts that not only promote your services but also foster engagement with your audience.

With the right digital strategies in place, you can reach more customers, grow your brand, and increase inquiries.

Design Services: Make a Lasting Impression

A strong brand identity starts with great design. From your logo to your website layout and marketing materials, design plays a huge role in how your business is perceived. If your brand looks inconsistent, unprofessional, or outdated, it may be time for a design refresh.

Here’s how we can help transform your brand’s design:

Logo redesign: If your logo looks old-fashioned or doesn’t represent your business anymore, a logo redesign can breathe new life into your brand.

Brand identity overhaul: We create cohesive branding packages, ensuring that your colors, fonts, and overall style are consistent across all platforms—online and offline.

Website design: A visually appealing, easy-to-navigate website is essential for making a great first impression. We’ll work with you to design a site that reflects your unique business and attracts customers.

Whether it’s a fresh new logo or a complete rebrand, investing in high-quality design services can significantly improve how customers view and interact with your business.

How We Can Help You Transform Your Business

At Local Pages, we specialise in offering print, digital marketing, and design services that give your business the makeover it needs to thrive. We know that every business is unique, so we work closely with you to understand your goals and create a plan tailored specifically to your needs. Whether you’re looking for a small refresh or a complete rebrand, we’re here to help.

Ready for Your Business Makeover?

If you think it’s time to give your business a fresh new look and attract more customers, we’re here to help. With our print, digital, and design services, we’ll work with you to create a brand identity that’s modern, cohesive, and effective.

Visit The Little Blue Blog for more insights or contact us today for a free consultation at 0117 923 1122 or info@localpages.co.uk. Let’s give your business the makeover it deserves!

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What Is PPC and Is It Right For You?

As a business owner, you may have heard the term PPC floating around in digital marketing conversations, but what exactly is PPC, and how can it benefit your business? At Local Pages, alongside our print directories and digital products, we offer a comprehensive Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising service to help your business get found by potential customers online. In this article, we’ll explain what PPC is and help you decide if it’s the right strategy for you.

What is PPC?

PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click; a type of online advertising where you pay a fee each time someone clicks on your ad. Instead of trying to “earn” traffic organically, PPC allows you to buy visits to your website, ensuring your business gets immediate visibility in search results, social media, or other digital platforms. The most popular form of PPC is Google Ads, where advertisers bid on specific keywords to have their ads appear at the top of Google’s search results.

In simple terms – you’re paying to get in front of people searching for your products or services, and you only pay when someone takes action by clicking on your ad.

How Does PPC Work?

PPC advertising is based on a bidding system. Advertisers bid on keywords that are relevant to their business, and when a user searches for that keyword, an auction is triggered. Ads are displayed based on factors like:

Bid Amount: How much you’re willing to pay per click.
Ad Quality: Google and other platforms take into account the relevance of your ad, landing page quality, and how likely users are to click on it.

If your ad wins the auction, it will appear in the search results or other online platforms. When users click on your ad, they are directed to your website, and you’re charged for that click.

What Are the Benefits of PPC?

PPC offers a range of benefits that can give your business a competitive edge:

Instant Visibility: Unlike SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which can take months to see results, PPC provides almost immediate exposure in search engines like Google or on social media platforms.
Highly Targeted: PPC allows you to target specific audiences by choosing keywords, demographics, geographic locations, device types, and even the time of day when your ads are displayed.
Cost Control: With PPC, you have complete control over your budget. You set a daily or monthly cap on how much you’re willing to spend, and once you hit that limit, your ads will stop showing, ensuring you never overspend.
Measurable Results: PPC campaigns provide detailed insights into performance metrics, such as clicks, conversions, and the cost per click. This makes it easy to track your return on investment (ROI) and fine-tune your campaigns for better results.
Increased Traffic & Sales: Since PPC ads are often shown at the top of search results, you can drive targeted traffic to your website quickly, increasing the chances of converting visitors into paying customers.

Is PPC Right for You?

Now that you know how PPC works and its benefits, the next question is whether it’s the right fit for your business. Here are a few things to consider:

1. Your Business Goals

If your goal is to quickly drive traffic to your website or generate leads, PPC is an excellent choice. It’s particularly effective for e-commerce businesses, service-based companies, or any business looking for immediate results.

2. Your Budget

PPC allows flexibility in terms of budget, but it’s important to have a strategy in place. If you have the budget to compete in a competitive market and you’re comfortable with paying for each click, PPC could be a strong addition to your marketing efforts. However, it’s vital to remember that while PPC can drive immediate traffic, it can be expensive if not managed well.

3. Your Industry

PPC can work well in various industries, but some sectors can be more competitive (and costly) than others. For example, legal and financial services often face high costs per click due to the competitive nature of their industries.

4. Your Marketing Mix

PPC should be seen as part of a broader marketing strategy. If you’re already doing SEO, paid social media advertising, or using a printed directory like the Little Blue Books to reach your audience, PPC can complement these efforts and help you dominate search results.

PPC with Local Pages

At Local Pages, we provide a complete range of digital marketing solutions to complement your print directory advertising. Our PPC service is designed to help your business stand out in an increasingly crowded online marketplace. We take care of everything, from keyword research and ad creation to ongoing campaign management and optimization, ensuring you get the best results for your budget.

If you’re unsure whether PPC is the right fit for your business, don’t worry. We offer free consultations and audits to help you evaluate your options and create a marketing strategy tailored to your needs.

Conclusion

PPC can be an incredibly powerful tool for businesses looking to increase visibility and drive traffic online. However, like any marketing strategy, it requires careful planning and management to ensure it delivers a return on investment. If you’re looking to explore how PPC can work for your business, get in touch with our team at Local Pages today. We’re here to help you navigate the digital marketing landscape and find the right solution for your business.

Schedule a free consultation here.

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Brand Identity: How to Build and Maintain Your Brand

Tactics and Tips for a Stronger Online Presence

Brand Awareness is, in short, the extent to which your business is recognized. Brand identity is your logo, colours, what you offer, your message, services, among other features.

Why is it important? Your brand identity is your first touchpoint with a potential customer – the stronger the image of your brand in someone’s mind, the more likely they are to engage with you. Unknown businesses aren’t seen as trustworthy – so how do you go about raising the profile of your business and gaining more loyal customers?

Brand Accessibility
Building Your Brand
Strengthening Your Brand
Examples of Strong Brand Identity

Brand Accessibility

When developing or auditing your brand identity, be sure to read the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure that your published content (text, images, sound, etc.) is accessible to everyone. This will ensure you don’t lose potential customers due to flaws in design and adaptability for mobile phones.

Building Your Brand

So – how do you actually go about building a brand?

Audience: A good first consideration is always your audience. The content you post online, the logo and the colours should resonate with your audience as much as possible. For example, pink and purple are probably not the best colours for an accounting firm, but will resonate with women and younger teenage girls when purchasing handmade products or clothing. Considering and weighing audience behaviors might be tricky at first, but the more previous customer interactions you had the easier this should be. Analyzing age, income, occupation and location is a good first step.

Visual Identity: That is the nitty gritty of design – your logo, colours, pictures, mottos, theme songs; anything you can think of that represents your brand. Deciding on design features might be a little daunting, but originality that reflects audience behaviours will yield results. Ask yourself the following questions:

What is the mission of your brand?
What makes you different from your competitors?
How do you want customers to experience your brand/product/service?
What kind of emotions are you hoping to evoke?

Consistent Message: That is, your tone and message across all platforms. Contradicting statements, message or voice will decrease your brand awareness. Tone should reflect the uniqueness of your business/service and communicated appropriately across all platforms you use.

Strengthening Your Brand

So, you built your logo, decided on a colour palette and the purpose is clear in your mind. How do we them strengthen it?

Multi Channel Presence: that is a secure foothold in the door with different social media apps, emails, SMS and non-digital tools is the key to growing your brand as you will reach more customers and start building a trusting relationship. Remember – your presence and content should be adapted to each medium accordingly.

Community Connection: The easiest way to build trust between potential customers and your business is community connection; that is the way your brand interacts with the world around us and the community. This could be as simple as customer testimonials that show your brand is trustworthy, or could stretch beyond that into social causes or local, community-oriented issues. This could simply be acknowledgement of community struggles, a recent event or issue or contribution to the community through donations or other aid.

Face to your brand: Adding a face to your brand will humanize your business and make you seem more approachable and trustworthy. Whether through pictures of your employees or using personal language, any form of direct interaction will bring you closer to your customers.

Examples of Strong Brand Identity

Apple

The first thought that comes to mind when thinking Apple, or so Apple would like, is innovation and reinvention. Through every update and new product launch, at the forefront we see the portrayal of creating something new and different every time, whether the products released are actually innovative is a different story. Their entire brand is cutting-edge, inviting their customers to join them at the brink of innovation and always breaking the mold.

Coca-Cola

Besides being the most established and longest-going fizzy drink company, their brand identity is so strong that just the colour red is often associated with Coke. They’ve aligned themselves with the feeling of happiness and enjoyment through their advertising and presence online, which is often kept lighthearted and casual. The motto ‘A Coke and a smile’ sums up their values very clearly, and even if you are not an avid enjoyer of the drink, ask yourself how often do you think of coke on a daily basis.

Ikea

Ikea created an image of themselves as simple and family-oriented, and they stay in that category. From simple instructions when building the furniture to the simple and lighthearted advertising, Ikea is the first stop when shopping for furniture as it is meant to appeal to everyday people. Their tagline ‘Wonderful Everyday’ reflects their one-stop-shop ideology.

Dove

A very simple yet elegant brand targeted towards woman and girls is a prime example of effective branding. Their campaigns focus on empowering women and addressing issues such as self-esteem, body image and equality. They are a prime example of involvement in social issues to strengthen their community presence. Dove promotes honesty and optimism, embracing natural beauty through their products.

How Can We Help?

If you’re struggling with brand identity and developing your business identity, Local Pages is here to help! You can schedule a free consultation by clicking here.

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What is SEO and How it Can Grow Your Business

5 things you should be doing to be noticed online.

SEO, or search engine optimisation, is the practice of orientating your website to appear higher on the internet results page so that you receive more traffic. In short, it attracts more people to click on your website and brings you more business. When searching up ‘plumbers’ do you click the first link that appears? The answer is probably yes, as most people tend to do, so you want your website to appear as high up as possible so that more people click on it. SEO is essential if you want more website visitors.

SEO is critical because it ensures organic traffic to your website. The vast majority of visitors will find you through looking something up on the internet. Ranking high in search results is key to achieve your business goals and builds trust – the first results that pop up are seen as more trustworthy. So how can you trick Google into boosting your website to the top?
Trillions of searches are conducted every second, so it’s essential that your website is search engine friendly. We’ve put together a short beginner friendly guide to help you optimise your website.

There’s a few different types of SEO:

Technical SEO: Optimising the technical aspects of a website
On-site SEO: Optimising the content on your website for visitors and for search engines
Off-site SEO: Activities not on your website that will ultimately increase your search rankings – such as backlinks, branded searches and coherent brand awareness and recognition on other platforms like social media.

While you have full control over the Technical and On-site aspects of your website, controlling Off-site SEO isn’t always possible. For example, you cannot control which websites use your link, or if the websites you link to shut down or change.

Optimising the technical aspects of your website will take practice and knowledge of website building, so we’re going to focus on the On-Site SEO for now.

Identifying Keywords:

A good place to start with SEO is optimising your keywords. By keywords we mean identifying key phrases that relate to your business. If you are a roofing company based in Cheddar, a good place to start would be ‘roofing Cheddar’ and ‘Cheddar thatcher’. These should be as relevant as possible and location-based, while being specific. For example, ‘roofing Cheddar’ will work better than ‘professional roofing’ or just ‘roofing’. You can use a tool to help identify them, such as Google Keyword Planner or Google Trends.

Adding Keywords to Page Title:

The next step is adding those keywords to the title of your page. This is also known as tagging. Take the example of our roofing company in Cheddar, who we’ll call Excellent Roofing, we want the title page to read:

Excellent Roofing: Roofing Cheddar | Thatchers

Google Autocomplete is a tool that generates suggestions for relevant keywords you can use. Free versions of these tools will generate suggestions, but won’t be that helpful when trying to analyse how often those keywords are used, or to what extent. Delving into SEO marketing yourself can be costly, especially when you are just starting out optimising your website.

Sprinkle your keywords throughout the website as well, but don’t force it! Remember your priority is to be user-friendly, so over-use of keywords might deter potential customers.

Clean Structure:

If your website is overly complicated, you might be attracting initial traffic, but potential customers might be leaving before they have a chance to contact you. Make sure your contact details are displayed visibly, along with an easy to navigate menu and relevant pictures. Adding internal links (links from one side of your website to another) will give Google more clues about what your website is about, and will display it to those that are searching for similar services.

You can read more about structuring websites here.

Content:

Relevant, substantial content that answers the keyword search is the way to go. While skimmable, to the point content is great, it doesn’t rank as highly as more lengthy, in-depth content does. We’re aiming for 200 words and above on every page that answers a question. For example, finding the ‘about us’ section should be easy and organic, and actually tell potential customer enough about your business for them to gage if they want to do business with you.

Tags:

We’ve briefly mentioned tagging when talking about keywords above. Keywords in your title and the description of the page (that’s the short blurb of text that appears under the title on the results page) are key to a website ranking high, but you will also need to tag your images correctly. Google can’t interpret images, so adding a short description not only helps visitors learn what the image is if it isn’t loading, but also helps Google identify and rank your content.

Think of the internet like a big sea of fish, and you’re trying to catch tuna. It’s difficult to narrow down which fish you’ll catch, but using the correct fishing rod, bait and fishing in the right spots can greatly increase your chances of catching the fish you want. There’s a lot you can do for your business, but so much happens behind the scenes, from coding to technical improvements to offsite presence that it can get quite overwhelming. Local Pages is here to help! Here’s how we can help with your company’s SEO:

Strategy: Content Creation and Organisation

Everything starts with strategy. We can’t expect results without planning, setting out specific objectives and really understanding the audience we’re trying to reach. That’s why we work with you to develop a strategy that will work for you, your customers and your business, and evaluate the strategy on a regular basis.

Technical: Coding Errors and the Back End of SEO

All those paid services listed above like Google Keyword Planner that analyse how often keywords are put through a search engine and how widely used they are – we’ll take care of that for you. We’ll research how to optimise your online presence and take care of everything from behind the scenes – from coding to technical improvements.

Offsite: Backlinks and Social Media

Linking social media to your website proves to search engines that your website is credible. We can help with linking, designing and optimising content, all within your brand.

Ongoing Support

Even after we do the boring bits, we’re here to support and optimise your SEO. Let us do what we do best, so you can do what you do best.

You can find out more about SEO and other digital services we offer by clicking here.

You can also schedule a free consultation by clicking here.

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16 Good Reasons to Use Tracking Numbers

By having a call tracking number you can:

Prove an advertising medium works – A tracked number in our books will give you all the proof you need to book again and again.
Discover which categories work best – Use a call tracking number under each of your headings to discover which headings work hardest for you.
Measure your campaign successes – Use different call tracking numbers in each of your campaigns to see which campaigns improve your return on investment and which campaigns should be dropped.
Discover what time of day most customers call you – Tracking numbers record the time of day that customers call enabling you to maximise your resources to answer their calls and to advertise to them when they are most receptive.
Appear bigger – By using multiple local numbers in different areas, you can give the impression that you have a network of local offices.
Appear to be local – Customers like to deal with local businesses. By choosing the local dialling code, tracking numbers allow you to appear as if you are a local business.
Track a customer’s online journey – By using different tracking numbers on different website landing pages, you can track which pages have most impact when initiating a customer response.
Help discover a campaign’s weakness – As well as all the positives, you can analyse the aspects of campaigns and webs pages that do not provide a response in order to improve their effectiveness.
Ensure your privacy – A tracking number connected to your personal phone protects you from the possible abuse caused by advertising your personal telephone in the public domain.
Monitor your average call length – By monitoring your call durations you can discover what percentage of calls are time wasters and which lead to more meaningful conversations
Discover your regular customers – Customers that call frequently can be turned into ambassadors for your business by offering them incentives and special offers.
Record all mobile numbers – With 84% of all adults in the UK owning a smart phone, mobile numbers are a quick and easy way of reaching potential customers with special offers.
See where customers are calling from – If a large proportion of calls are coming from a particular area, you can alter your advertising messages accordingly.
Carry out A/B Testing – By making changes to an advert with a different tracking number enables you to monitor the effectiveness of any changes made
Have different numbers on advertising platforms – A good way of comparing the effectiveness of different media
Differentiate between products – Depending on your business you could have a different number for each of your products or services to discover what your customers are really interested in.

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The Importance of Reviews

Everyone now looks at reviews

Don’t try and kid yourself that your customers don’t go online and research your business before they make a decision. They do. The days of customer loyalty are almost over as customers more than ever consider all the various options open to them. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), in 2020 an average of 46.6 million people in the UK access the internet on any given day and only 7% of households in the UK do not have wi-fi.

Customers will research your business to ensure you can: solve their problems, carry out any work to a high standard and can be relied upon. Reviews are the modern-day equivalent of a ‘word of mouth’ recommendation. They are independent of you and your website are therefore given a high degree of trust.

Search Engines love them

Search engines also take into consideration your star rating, and voice activated smart speakers like Alexa, Siri and Google use them to decide who to recommend when being asked for a ‘plumber or builder near me.’

Dealing with bad reviews

The reality of reviews is that most people leave them if they are very happy or wish to complain. You seldom get a review that falls between the two. Obviously you wish to obtain as many positive reviews as possible, but even negative reviews can be turned around to a positive advantage if you deal with them in the right way. This involves staying positive and professional and not trying to deal with the issue in the public domain. An example would be to say, ‘Sorry you feel you had a bad experience with us. This isn’t something we often get but would like to sort this out with you. Please get back in contact…etc. Showing a potential customer that if something does go wrong then you are easy to deal with and will not shy away from an issue is as important as lots of 5* reviews.

Google My Business

One of the most powerful review sites, and one we recommend, is Google Reviews. Google Reviews are highly trusted, have a positive impact on Search Engine Optimisation and are displayed alongside Google’s search results. To obtain Google Reviews, you simply need a Google My Business account.

If you don’t already have a Google My Business (GMB) account, set one up.

Once set up you can download a link that will take your previous customers straight to the review section of your GMB page where they can read previous comments and leave reviews of their own.

Tips for getting great reviews

To achieve the maximum number of high scoring reviews we suggest the following:

Put links to your GMB reviews on all pages of your website.
Include the GMB link in your emails and any social media posts where it is appropriate.
Ask every customer to leave a review. You’ll be surprised how many will do it. By inviting reviews, you are telling your customers that you are proud of your work and can be trusted. It’s a good idea to have business cards or flyers printed with instructions on how to leave a review. These can be left with customers on the completion of any job.
If a customer hasn’t left a review after a couple of weeks, contact them to make sure they are still happy with your work and politely ask them to leave a review. For example, a double-glazing company, known for its high level of customer service, followed up every job after a couple of months and inspected the work they had done. This simple act of ‘caring’ for the customer generated many positive reviews and recommendations
Create a customer service questionnaire for customers to fill in when the work is completed. Use this information to inform others of how well you carry out your work. For example, most people employing tradespeople consider tidiness and cleanliness as being important. To say that 96% of your customers gave you 5/5 for cleanliness would be a highly advantageous selling point.
Make sure that all reviews are honest and genuine and don’t forget to thank customers for leaving a review or filling out a questionnaire.

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For help with Google My Business, reviews, questionnaires, business cards, leaflets & flyers – Call 0117 923 1122, email sales@localpages.co.uk or book an appointment with the Local Pages Lead Generation Team below.

Leave a commentBlog, Business Tips, Help & Advice, Marketing, Small businesses

Lead Generation

Our Mission

Our mission is to help local businesses in the South West and South Wales grow by providing exceptional online and offline marketing solutions that connect local businesses with local customers in the communities they serve. We’ve been doing this for over 40 years now and we’re pretty good at it.

Lessons Learnt

Like many of our 2500 customers, we are a small family business. It is this unique insight that has allowed us to evolve and fine tune our lead generating products to meet the needs and demands of our customers and based on the following:

– Local matters.

– Local is a powerful advertising tool

– Service providers want to work locally to reduce their travelling time and costs.

– Most customers prefer local suppliers and services.

– Marketing and lead generation is more complex in a digital age.

– Many smaller business owners need a reliable marketing partner with specialist knowledge and capabilities.

This is how we do it

Little Blue Book

Still highly relevant in the 24 areas we service.

Delivered by Royal Mail to over 500,000 homes and businesses

It contains:

Classified adverts under directory headings
Local maps and street guide
Other useful information

Exceptional return on investment

Updated every 12 months

LocalPages.co.uk

Serves the same areas as our Little Blue Book
Over 15,000 searches made each month for local businesses
Mobile friendly
Very cost effective especially for small businesses
Free listings available by clicking here
Updated immediately

Get a free listing by clicking here

Digital Marketing

Includes:

Website design
Search engine optimisation
Online advertising
Social media
e-Commerce
Content
Strategy

Print Services

Includes:

Logos
Branding
Business stationery
Flyers
Menus
Brochures
Posters

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Find out more regarding how Local Pages can drive more customers to your business. Call 0117 923 1122 today, email sales@localpages.co.uk or book an appointment with the Local Pages Team below.

Leave a commentAdvertising, Blog, Help & Advice, Marketing, Sales, Small businesses, Websites

Market Research Advice for Small Businesses

Research your market

Before investing any money on developing or advertising a new product or service, it is important to find out if anyone wants it. Researching the market enables you to test your idea, evaluate the competition and check to make sure your idea is viable.

The following headings will help guide you through the process.

USP

The first thing you need to discover is what sets you apart from all the other competitors in the market. There is a temptation to say that the people within your organisation is what makes it unique. Unfortunately, that’s not good enough. Consider the following:

What does my product or service provide that is better than anything else available?
How can I go the extra mile to ensure my customers have the best user experience?
Is my product or service required by the general public or is it more niche?
Can my product or service solve my customer’s problems in a way that’s never been done before.
How is my product or service easier to use than that of my competitors.

Customers

It is essential to know who your customers are so that you can tailor your products and services to meet their needs. Defining them will also help you build a relationship with them in your communications. It is highly probable that you will have multiple customer types. To help you identify your customer types consider the following:

Who is buying similar products and services?
Create a picture of each of your ideal target customers based on their demographic (age, gender, profession etc.), likes, dislikes and behaviours.
What needs or problems will your products or services solve for each of your customer types?
Will your customers types be interested in paying for the products and services you offer?

Prices

Once you have established that there are customers for your products or services, you then need to find out how much to charge. Consider the following:

What prices are being charged for similar products and services by your competitors.
Ask potential customers how much they would be willing to pay.
Could you charge different prices to different customers based on levels of service or quality?
Could you offer discounted packages of products?
Try some either or questions with different customer types to find out what your product or service is actually worth.
Once you have decided on a pricing structure, ensure that your business idea is still viable.

The Competition

By finding out what your competitors are doing, you can challenge them on price and service.

Check out what people think of your competitors’ prices, levels of service and what could be improved by asking their current customers.
Research your competitors online, through trade associations, trade publications, market reports, local chamber of commerce and their advertising
Ask your competitors questions either by phoning them or email.

Product

If you are developing a product it is essential to find out what potential customers think of it.

Develop a prototype to test it.
Use focus groups to obtain a wide range of opinions.

Tips

Use questionnaires and surveys.
Surveys, questionnaires and focus groups can be carried out simply and cheaply using online platforms like Mailchimp, Survey Monkey and social media.
All answers should offer a score or opinion rather than a yes or no.
All questions should be clear and concise.
Be wary of questions that could be misinterpreted
Encourage both positive and negative responses
Ask a reasonable number of people to get a better perspective.
Do not try to lead people to a particular answer.
Be realistic and remember that people don’t always say what they feel.
Get qualitative data that involve thoughts and feelings
Get quantitative data that involve facts and figures that can be measured.

A Continual Process

Market research should be done continually. Once you become established in a market, your competitors will look to copy and improve on what you are doing to reclaim their lost market share. By regularly testing and researching your market, and adapting your products in light of any feedback, you should always stay one step ahead.

For more information…

For help with market research or generating leads call the marketing team at Local Pages on 0117 9231122 or email us at marketing@localpages.co.uk

Leave a commentBlog, Business Tips, Help & Advice, Marketing, Small businesses

Time to Change

Change is constant

According to the ancient greek philosopher Heraclitus, “The only constant in life is change.”

And to misquote Shakespeare, “Some are born to change, some achieve change and some have change thrust upon them.”

Change in light of Covid

For most of us the Covid pandemic has meant massive changes forced upon our lives. Businesses faced with uncertainty are having to adapt to new ways of working that may involve employees working from home or restricting face-to-face contact. On a personal level we have had to change our behaviour and adapt to new challenges such as social distancing and homeschooling while learning new technical skills in order to work and socialise online.

Whether change is a voluntary process or forced upon us, it is always uncomfortable.

Adapting to change.

Below we look at the various steps in the change process. It’s worth noting that depending on the significance of the change, we can go through all seven steps in minutes or in years. At each stage we consider the emotions felt and ways in which we can make each phase a little easier.

The 7 steps of change

Step 1 – A sense of loss

Something has changed, it’s different and it’s put you in a spin.

You can feel: loss, out of control, fear, shock, overwhelmed, unsafe and paralysed.

It’s important at this stage not to ignore these feelings and to find some sense of control. This can be done by addressing your concerns and trying to regain some perspective by considering the most likely and worst case scenarios.

For managers of change: You should listen, empathise, offer support and give as much information as possible. If the change is likely to have a negative impact on people, do not try and sell it as a positive.

Step 2 – Feeling doubtful

Doubt and uncertainty can create defensive behaviours and, even though you may be aware that change is necessary, you may resist the change and try to obstruct the process.

You can feel: resentment, angry and righteous.

Despite feeling that the old way is the best way, it is important that you gather the facts to form an accurate picture of reality.

For managers of change: Be patient, continue to offer support and offer any extra information to allow the person to reach their own conclusions

Step 3 – Frustration

You now know what’s going on but are unsure of how to deal with it.

You can feel: anxious, uncomfortable, confused and lethargic.

The danger here is that if you don’t come to grips with the new reality you could end up back at stage one. It is therefore important to stay motivated by planning and taking the best steps forward.

For managers of change: Allow the expression of difficult emotions while giving stability in areas that can be controlled.

Step 4 – Acceptance

Your perception changes.

You can feel: more resourceful, energised and positive

There is light at the end of the tunnel and you start to feel more in control.

For managers of change: You coach, encourage and support people to complete their unfinished tasks and create goals to allow people to focus on their immediate future.

Step 5 – Test the future

You consider your options, make decisions and try out new plans to see what does and does not work.

You can feel: excited, optimistic and pessimistic

You will experience a wave of positivity when plans go well and feelings of despondency when new ideas fail. The important thing is that you keep on experimenting to see which solutions deliver the most success.

For managers of change: Create clear achievable objectives and encourage risk taking without the fear of failure.

Step 6 – Understanding

You come to accept the reality that change can be forced upon us by a wide range of circumstances and that they have to be dealt with and endured.

You can feel: confident, competent and productive.

You accept that life is a messy process and even though you may never reconcile or fully accept the changes, you are able to apply and implement what has to be done.

For managers of change: Encourage learning, celebrate success and provide the opportunity to reflect.

Step 7 – Integration

Instead of feeling different, the change now feels normal.

You can feel: satisfied, focused, more generous and resilient.

By reflecting on the past and present you are aware of the consequences and rewards of the change. By experiencing change and proving that you can be flexible during a time of uncertainty can lead to a sense of personal accomplishment and great satisfaction.

Thanks to changecycle.com and Anchor Success

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