Have you noticed that more and more small businesses are trying to get global recognition? Sure, if you’re running an ecommerce, then it’s completely understandable, but if you’re a restaurant, a food truck, or even just a small boutique and your customers are almost always just the locals (and maybe some tourists and outsiders ever-so-often) why focus on a larger scale when most of your customers are just the locals within your vicinity? 

It’s entirely understandable that you want more growth and success, but sometimes, missing your target local audience and trying to shoot for something much bigger isn’t always going to work out. Not all businesses are doing this, but it’s something that is happening more, especially in digital marketing (and some traditional marketing, too). So, here’s why your small local business just might be better off sticking solely to local marketing. 

It’s All About Building Up More Meaningful Connections

You have to keep in mind that small businesses are the heartbeat of local communities, and there’s something special about the relationships they build with their customers. At the end of the day, it’s all about fostering genuine connections with your audience. If you’re shooting too high in an area you don’t even live and operate in, how are you going to get loyal customers? 

Sure, the idea of getting people who are short on time to try out your business is fine—in fact, that can be a great idea—but it’s still about your locality, and your main focus should be on your locality. Again, doing some marketing for the outer areas is fine, but it’s still about building up a relationship with locals. That’s what matters most—they’re the ones who will make sure your business lives on for years to come. 

It’s About Reaching the Right Audience

Now, sometimes it can be fun and silly getting to cast a wide net; for example, Buc-ees, the gas station brand, is known for making some funny billboards that target entirely different states on the highway (as in over 500 miles away), and this can work. 

But this isn’t going to work for every single brand or every single business; of course, it has to be incredibly strategic! But if your business has no purpose in targeting a whole other area, then why do it? Sometimes, you’re better off just reaching the right audience that’s right in your hometown. 

More Cost-Effective

For the most part, it’s more expensive to hire a marketing agency to target a further reach than it is to just buy some business yard signs and politely ask to put them on properties in and around Main Street (and the areas around your business). Honestly, yard signs are just one example of cost-effective local marketing, but generally speaking, both digital marketing and traditional marketing on a local scale are just a lot cheaper, and it’s usually more effective, too, at getting your brand recognized. 

For example, someone driving or walking past a yard sign or even seeing a poster you designed on Canva posted somewhere will see your storefront or physical business. This instantly makes you more recognizable and will give that nudge for someone to come visit your business.