Reach Locals at Every Stage of the Customer Journey with These Marketing Campaigns

By Raubi Perilli

May 12, 2022 Solutions

Local marketing isn’t as simple as moving someone from being a potential customer to being a paying customer. You need to guide interested locals through the full customer journey to get them to choose your business.

Every buyer goes on a customer journey on their way to buying from you or visiting your local business. Your job as you promote your business is to make sure you have marketing campaigns that reach people at every stage of this journey.

Here are a few ideas for how you can use marketing campaigns for every stage of the customer journey.

Launch these campaigns to keep a healthy flow of customers coming to and back to your business.

The Awareness Stage

In the awareness stage, a customer is realizing that they have a need or a problem. They know they need a business to help them, but they aren’t sure who to turn to. In this stage of the customer journey, you need to get your business in front of prospective customers and show them who you are, what you offer, and how you help. You need to build awareness for your brand.

Social Media Ads & Influencer Partnerships: Get in front of new audiences by using paid social media ads and campaigns with influencers. Work with influencers who have the audience you want to reach and use targeting to reach your ideal audience through ads.
Geofencing Ads: Target customers based on where they are using geofencing ads that present your brand to people when they are in a place where they might be ready to buy from or visit you.
Business Directory Profiles: Create profiles for your business on popular listing and directory sites such as Local Area Sites, Yelp, and Google Business. These profiles boost your local SEO and make it easier for new customers to find you through search.

Stage: Consideration

In the consideration stage, a customer is aware of their options and trying to decide what is the right choice. They are looking at multiple businesses to decide which one offers the best solution for what they need. To reach customers in the consideration phase, create campaigns that help interested prospects learn more about you and see why your business is the best choice.

Website & Blog Content: Use your website and blog as an opportunity to share additional information with potential customers. Answer their questions and share the details they need before they buy or visit.
Coupons and Limited Time Offers (LTOs): Give customers a reason to visit your business right away by sharing coupons with expiration dates and limited-time offers that are only available for a short period of time.
Social Media Contests: Drive audiences closer to becoming customers while generating leads by running a social media contest that collects contact information from interested prospects and gives them a coupon to use at your business.

Stage: Purchase

When a customer reaches the purchase phase of the customer journey, they are ready to buy. They have decided that they like your brand and want to do business with you. Now, it’s up to you to make it easy for them to take the next step. Here are a few marketing campaigns that can give your customers what they need to buy from or do business with you.

Text Marketing: Give customers a nudge toward your business by sending text marketing campaigns that offer deals, incentives, and links to click to buy or make a reservation.
Email Marketing: Run email marketing campaigns with promotions and clear call-to-actions that tell your audience exactly what they need to do to take the next step with your business.
Landing Pages: Create landing pages for each of your products and services so you can drive audiences to targeted pages with all of the information they need to make a purchase.
Online Ordering: Set up online ordering options so customers can buy right when they want to. Make it as easy as possible for customers to take the next step in the moment when they decide to buy.
Online Reservations: The same goes for online appointments. Provide an online scheduler so customers can quickly make a reservation or secure their spot to come and do business with you.

Stage: Advocacy

Once a customer has made a purchase or visited your business, they may be able to help you guide other prospects through the customer journey. Happy customers can spread the word about your business and bring in other customers. But for this to work, you must have campaigns set up that help existing customers become brand advocates.

Customer Reviews: Encourage customers to share their experience on review sites or through social media. Offer incentives or coupons for customers who leave an honest review on one of your review platforms.
Customer Referrals: Reward customers who send their family and friends your way. Create a customer referral program that rewards both the referrer and the referee to build even more brand loyalty.

Stage: Return

A customer journey has a beginning, but it shouldn't have an end. Once you get a prospect to turn into a paying customer, you don’t want them to walk away from your business and never return. You want them to come back. You need remarketing campaigns that help reconnect with existing customers and get them to return.

Marketing Automation: When customers do business with you, collect their contact information so you can use marketing automation to send them future promotions that align with their past purchases.
Customer Loyalty Programs: Reward customers for coming back to your business. Create a customer loyalty program that offers coupons and special deals for people who sign up to join your list or program.
Retargeting Ads: Put your brand back in front of previous customers using retargeting social media and display ads. Remind customers why they love your brand and give them an incentive to return again.

Create Campaigns for Every Stage of the Customer Journey

Customers follow a path as they decide who to do business with. They go through a customer journey that helps them learn about a brand, decide if it’s right for them, become a customer, and then come back again.

If you want to keep your sales funnel filled with new and existing customers, you need marketing campaigns that reach customers at every stage of their journey. Use this post to get ideas for how to reach customers where they are.

And if you need help with these tactics, MyArea Network is here to help.

We specialize in helping brands create campaigns that connect with local customers in all stages of their journey. Let’s see how we can launch these campaigns for your business. Contact us for a free call to discuss your marketing goals and how we can help you reach them.

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