Running a business is a time-consuming and difficult ordeal.  You’re constantly working on something, whether it be work on the floor or committing time to networking around your local area.   Let’s not forget the stress than running a business can weigh upon you.  Especially when it comes to the digital side of your busines

The Internet is the most important tool in your arsenal.  With it, you can advertise your business and services, locate info on local competitors, and manipulate search engines to give priority to your site.  Needless to say, it’s pretty important to know what you can do with digital marketing.  So, what exactly can you use the Internet for?

1.   Tailor Your Content Appropriately

No matter how big your business is, your local community will always be your backbone.  Without them, you would have no business, so keep their needs in your view. Because of this, it’s important to constantly impress the local community and retain their positive feelings.

The most efficient way to impress your community is to try to relate to them on your site or social media page.  Does your company frequently donate to schools in the area?  If so, you’d want to mention that.  Has your company had any sort of professional relations to the local sports league?  Let the community it on it.

The community needs to feel like you are more than a business.  That you are part of the community, and that you understand their needs.

Now that I’ve said all this, there is one important fact to note:  Don’t lie to the community.  If you say your business donated to a school, be prepared to show evidence.  Lying to the community is the quickest way to ruin your business.

2.   VPN’s Help Analyze Competition

After you make friends with the community, you need to find your competition, since every business as one.  For example, your brand-new restaurant may not be perceived as well as the restaurant that has a history and has been linked to one family for decades.

But let’s ignore your “local” competition.  For all we know, your real competition is an online presence.  This “competition” commonly takes form of small startups that take up space on search page results, pushing you further down from the eyes of the public.

If you want to find out your online competition, all you need to do is search for your location and type of business after connecting to a local VPN server.  The reason you’d introduce a VPN into the equation is because a business network may make Google a bit biased in it’s results.  So, using a VPN to search through a different IP address helps keep the results from being skewered with bias.

After you find and make note of competition on the search engine, you should list your business with Google, if you haven’t already.  Listing your business on Google will help your business get listed higher on the results pages.

3.   Network Through the Local Internet

Everything comes back around to networking.  And while, sure, listing your business to Google is a form of networking, it’s not good enough.  After all, most other businesses do it.

The best form of networking will always remain in the local personalities.  Bloggers, critics, organizations; these are the entities you should be targeting.

Build relationships with these people.  Get them to review your products or services.  Let them link your site and business on their pages.  Not only will them mentioning you on their sites help grow trust within the community, Google will also bump you higher in the SEO.  This because Google has “sensed” a form of trust with your business.  Hence, the more networking you perform, the higher your SEO results are.

4.   Keep a Constant Internet Presence

I touched on this earlier, but you must keep a digital presence!

People forget easily, even when the business they’re forgetting may only be a 5-minute drive from them.  If you want people to be constantly reminded of you, make your presence known through the Internet.

Whether you do this through blogs or a social media account is up to you.  Either way, give content that the local community will enjoy.  Remind them why they need to spend on your business.

5.   The Tried-And-True 80-20 Rule

The most important marketing tip when it comes to any business is the 80-20 rule.  But what even is that?

Simply put, the 80-20 rules says that 80% of your success will come from 20% of your efforts.  In other words, 80% of your content online should have some sort of value to the readers or viewers.  The content should help solve problems for the viewer, give advice to the viewer, or just be unique!

The other 20% should be plain, old marketing.  Share promotions or deals, tell the readers about how good your product is, and just market your business!  As long as your 80% is fantastic, the readers will take the 20% of your content seriously.  Tried and true since the beginning of businesses and applies to every realm of digital marketing.