To survive, local businesses need to learn how to adapt to the modern way of marketing.

If you are seeing a plateau or decline in sales, it’s time for you to mix up your marketing strategy.

Even if your small business is profitable right now, you need to stay ahead of your competition to remain successful in the future.

Analyze the latest marketing trends. Recognize the consumer buying behavior. Learn how to get more money from your existing customers.

Unfortunately, only 33% of small businesses reach the 10-year mark. The rest fail.

I don’t want you to become the sad statistic. This was my inspiration for writing this guide.

If your company is new, you need to do everything possible to stay strong for years to come.

Local businesses that have been around for decades may be ready for a marketing facelift. Your strategies that worked 20 years ago probably won’t be as successful in 2018 and beyond.

I narrowed down the top 15 marketing tactics for local business owners. Use this guide as a reference for your future marketing campaigns.

1. Set up your free listing with Google

How are new customers finding you?

If you’re old-school, you may be relying on word of mouth, radio promotions, print ads, and direct mailing. But last year, 97% of consumers searched the Internet for a local business.

Furthermore, positive online reviews make 73% of consumers trust local businesses.

That’s why you need to make sure your local business is listed on Google

2. Start blogging

As you’ve just seen, consumers use the Internet to find local businesses.

That means you need to understand the basic principles of SEO if you want to increase your chances of getting ranked as a top result.

Roughly 47% of clicks go to the top three positions of Google search results.

3. Join a local group

Local businesses need to remain active in their communities. Joining a local group is a great way to stay connected with residents and other business owners.

I suggest joining your local Chamber of Commerce. There will be a small annual fee, but it’s worth it.

Attending these meetings and events will expose your brand to other businesses.

Will your competitors be part of these groups? It’s possible. But that’s even more of a reason for you to be there.

4. Run contests

Contests are a great way to get people excited about your local business.

The best way to run these contests is through online platforms. Leverage your social media profiles for this strategy.

Run contests that encourage user-generated content. For example, ask your followers to post pictures related to your business. Then pick a winner based on who gets the most likes on their photo.

The whole idea behind these contests is to grow your social media following.

5. Implement a customer loyalty program

If you’re looking for a fast way to increase sales, you need to learn how to create a customer loyalty program.

The best part about this marketing tactic is you can make more money without having to acquire new customers. Your focus will be on getting your existing customers to spend more money.

The goal of your loyalty program should focus on two things:

• increasing purchase frequency
• increasing average purchase amount

By accomplishing these two things, you’ll be able to drive growth through sales.