Growing a local business takes more than just wishful thinking, it requires a comprehensive business growth strategy. But what is a business growth strategy? This comprehensive guide lays out exactly what you need to get started. What is a Local Business Growth Strategy? A local business growth strategy is an action plan for growing your small business in the local community. Simply put, it outlines everything your business needs to do to grow. There is no one size fits all business growth strategy. The right solution will be unique to your business, brand, audience, and location. Key Business Growth Examples There are a handful of ways that your business can grow. Depending on your business goals (more on that later!), you should have more than one growth avenue when creating your local business growth strategy. Organic Growth Organic growth occurs when a business grows and expands naturally and internally, using its resources. An example of organic growth is streamlining internal processes to improve production or time spent on administrative tasks allowing for increased sales or increased availability for client interactions. One of the benefits of this type of growth is that it requires only internal resources, it can be achieved without accumulating any debt. Internal Growth Internal growth is similar to organic growth in that it, too, relies on internal resources and processes. This type of growth requires businesses to focus on internal operations, trimming waste, to maximize resources. An example of internal growth would be cutting costs by automating certain tasks and processing rather than hiring more staff to do the same work. This can be difficult for businesses as it means shining a bright light on the company’s inner workings rather than focusing on external factors like market expansion, for example. Strategic Growth Strategic growth focuses on expanding the business in the long term. This might include developing new products or finding ways to reach a new niche… […]

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  Shops, businesses, service providers, and dining establishments make up neighborhoods and a city’s downtown core. They rely on local digital marketing to survive. Sometimes, reaching the local population and standing out can be challenging. Luckily, a targeted local digital marketing strategy can help you gain more clients or customers and grow your business. Knowing you need a local digital marketing strategy and knowing how to get started are two completely different things. Here is what you need to know about starting your local marketing online and the best first steps to get started. What is Local Digital Marketing? Local digital marketing targets an audience in the same city, town, or geographic region as a business through online methods. The most important aspect of effective online local marketing is targeting or speaking to those who can physically visit your location (i.e., who use your services or purchase your products). Local marketing is an important tactic for any business with a brick-and-mortar location, but this is especially true of businesses that rely on foot traffic and in-person transactions above e-commerce sales. Examples of local digital marketing strategies include Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for local keywords, Google Business Profile claiming and optimization, targeted Google Ads, and social media marketing. Businesses can use a local marketing strategy to maximize marketing efforts and budget to target those more likely to visit your business to purchase your products or use your services. How to Do Local Digital Marketing Right There are several reasons you need a local marketing strategy. Primarily, local marketing tactics increase conversion rates by marketing more effectively to the people most likely to benefit and purchase from your business. But there is a big difference between doing local marketing and doing it right with a strategy. Let’s say you operate a high-end clothing boutique with only a brick-and-mortar shop in the Chicago area. If you’re using content marketing to drive traffic to… […]

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