Your Complete Guide to Local Lead Generation

Local lead generation is all about identifying and nurturing potential customers near your business. It means taking a targeted approach that fosters connections within the community and builds relationships with the customers most likely to walk through your doors.

If you own a locally oriented business, like a restaurant or a retail store, you already know a lot about the strategies and tactics that go into local lead gen. You need to:

• Be where your customers are
• Provide value
• Get good reviews
• Advertise in a targeted, cost-effective way

Some of this work is done locally—in person, through the mail—but a bigger and bigger piece of local lead gen is done online these days (since that’s where people are). That means digital marketing has to be a piece of your strategy if you want to drive traffic to your storefront.

Why Digital Marketing Works for Local Leads

Local lead generation via digital marketing is often cost-effective for small local businesses, since you’re targeting audiences with a higher likelihood of conversion. You’ll waste less money on mass-market advertising outlets, like magazines and shoppers. It’s also easier to buy and administer, with performance reporting you can’t get with print or radio.

Digital marketing efforts can also do wonders in building local brand awareness. Repeated exposure to your business name and offerings in customers' digital world will give your business the edge when it comes time to think of a place to eat or shop. Search engines are now the public’s #1 source for brand discovery, just above television ads, while nearly half of people surveyed said they would favor a local business with a strong local presence. You can’t afford not to be online.

Great, but how do you do that? We here at Informatics generally recommend 3 steps:

1. Invest in Local SEO
2. Build Local Credibility
3. Keep Customers Moving Through the Funnel

1. Invest in Your Local SEO

Local SEO is the domain of all tactics that make your business findable by the world’s biggest search engines. Proximity, relevance, and prominence are Google's key local search ranking factors. Make sure your business has the best possible position in local search results by optimizing your website for local keywords.

There are many steps and layers to local SEO; one of the most fundamental is how you use words to describe your business.

Improve Your Local Keywords

Your first step should be integrating relevant local keywords throughout your website. Relevant local keywords should be found in:

• Service pages
• Blog posts
• About us
• Meta titles
• Meta descriptions
• Alt image tags

Use your city or community’s name often (but not overly), and reference local landmarks, events, organizations, etc. Think about intent when picking your keywords—what does the searcher specifically want to know or find out with their search? Are they trying to buy something online, or just looking for information? Good keyword research—through a tool like SEMRush, used here—will tell you what Google thinks of a specific query.

One other note: If you see the keyword “near me” pop up in your keyword research, don’t go writing that on your page. Google interprets that request geographically, meaning you need to do everything you can to tell Google where your business is located and the populations you serve.

You also need to account for the growing trend of voice search. When dealing with voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, users tend to behave differently than when they’re typing, phrasing the searches as questions, like “What restaurants are open near me?” To help with voice search, incorporate long-tail keywords like "What are the best happy hours in Cedar Rapids?" into your content strategy.

Building Trust and Credibility

You naturally benefit from some basic trust levels as a local business and member of the community (as opposed to an online business), but you can’t assume that will elevate you over the competition. Today’s customers are savvy shoppers and surfers, meaning they will do their homework on potential businesses before even reaching out to learn more.

Part of that sense of trust and credibility comes from your website and how you appear in Google search, but a bigger part of it is what they find on social media and review sites.

Social Media Engagement

When it comes to local lead generation, your business should consider both organic and paid social channels; if paid ads aren’t an option, go heavy on the organic side. Showcase your products, your service, and your local involvement to let customers know your dedication to the community. Consider tagging local businesses and people in your posts to build relationships and increase visibility, and share local content that aligns with your brand and audience needs.

Paid social (and search) campaigns are great for potential customers who are further down the funnel and getting closer to a conversion point. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow precise geotargeting, which helps narrow down your ads to a neighborhood level if needed, while local imagery or references can make your ads feel more personalized and relevant.

Learn more: Your Ultimate Guide to Social Media Advertising

Encourage Detailed Reviews

We know that reviews are essential to conversions among today’s shoppers. More than 99% of customers say they read reviews online, and nearly half trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends and family. Positive, authentic reviews buy you instant trust and credibility, at least as compared to businesses without them.

Please share your thoughts on the specific aspects of your experience that you found most valuable. Your review can help other customers make informed decisions about our business.

Thank you for your time and support!

[Your Business Name]

3. Keep Them Moving Through the Funnel

Once you’ve gotten their attention and they visit your page, you need to keep them moving through the sales funnel so that they ultimately come to your store or pick up their phone to place an order (either via actual voice or your website).

A great starting point is building localized landing pages that include clear and actionable calls to action. Your landing page’s design, content, and style should match that of your ad campaign; it should flow naturally from top to bottom; and it should include clear and specific calls-to-action (CTAs) throughout the page so viewers understand exactly what they need to do.

Learn more: Lead Gen: 6 Ways You’re Doing it Wrong

It seems like obvious advice, but we’ve seen businesses do everything right to attract potential customers and then blow it in the end. We’ve seen websites without phone numbers or any way to get in touch; a recent one we were asked to review had broken forms and email links, so you couldn’t submit your order. A loyal customer might stick around and figure out how to get in touch, but a new one sure won’t. When you leave the conversion up to them, few will be motivated to keep chasing it.

For your call-to-action, consider bold buttons with actionable words or even sentences. We like to use a first-person voice when possible to really drive home the action in the viewer’s mind.

• Yes, I want to order this
• I want to reserve my spot
• I’m ready to make an appointment.

Check out our own landing page for local business owners—designed to showcase our hometown pride and involvement, while also pushing them to reach out and engage.

When possible, give them some value, preferably in exchange for a piece of their information—but even potentially free, depending on what it is. A coupon for a free dinner side might be enough to move the needle; a discount on services might be even better.

And remember, lead gen doesn’t stop once you’ve made the sale. A satisfied customer will tell six or more people about a positive experience, which is one of the most valuable pieces of local lead generation. Strive to keep your customers happy and satisfied, and they will keep coming back—and bring others.

Local lead generation doesn’t have to be an exercise in frustration, but it does take work to optimize your funnel. Don’t let the inertia of acceptable lead gen results keep you from making changes that could ultimately transform your business.

Need help putting all the pieces together? Reach out to the Digital Marketing team here at Informatics. We can help you create a holistic lead generation strategy that does the hard work for you.

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