Local Business have the Advantage over Online Giants

What does it take to beat the online giants? You need a local strategy that targets your community’s consumers in the moment they are making a purchase decision.

To thrive and grow in today’s on-demand economy where consumers reach for their phones to act on impulse purchase decisions, local business can turn the table on the online giants. With as much as 94% of consumers using their phones to search locally, the opportunity is enormous.

How does this give local business an advantage? You are location relevant, the “nearest me” concept that no online retailer can replace, and you can connect in the moment with real-time content about products and services to capture spontaneous purchase decisions.

To do this local business already have all the advantages.

It’s about real local engagement

The squeeze is happening all around us. Businesses that do not offer a credible reason to engage locally can easily be replaced by online retailers.

Many big enterprise bricks and mortars, alongside local businesses, are losing the battle because they do not take advantage of their best natural advantage – their local connection.

But it takes more than an occasional print ad, flyer or online ad. It’s more than sponsoring an event or donating to a charity.

Businesses that want to stand out and demonstrate a value to shopping locally understand they need to “talk the talk and walk the walk”. This might include featuring local suppliers, serving locally focused specialties, offering services online cannot, being accessible to the community, and encouraging direct human engagement.

Making these part of a local strategy gives businesses an advantage that cannot be replicated online and is not credible without a true physical connection to the community.

Making your Products and Services Location Relevant Makes the Difference

Apple and Google dominate mapping, and Google Places and others provide the replacement to the Yellow Pages. This is a great start, but it is not location relevant and does not offer real-time content that will capture the impulse buy. With the intense clutter of ads, sponsored content, and fake news/reviews it seems impossible to break through without a big tech and big advertising budget.

This is a challenge, but if big tech and big budgets were the answer then big box enterprises would not be feeling the squeeze. Using the “in the moment” and viral power of mobile marketing can be a more simple and direct way to sell 10 more pizzas a month, move 10 more pairs of shoes, or sign up 10 new yoga memberships.

The Answer Doesn’t Have to Be Big, Hard and Expensive

A local business strategy to capture impulse buys can be simple and cost effective.

At InstantLocal we believe that local businesses need to:

• take control of their brand online and post their own product and service content,
• get their own content in front of the consumer without third party advertising distractions
• offer a simple nearest/newest approach to local searching without trending algorithms and out-of-date search results
• improve visibility of local listing and local offers

With InstantLocal local business can post content about their products and services. Locals can find and discover offers, and local advocates can promote their favorites – all in real-time, location based and without the distraction of competing ads from the online giants.

This is how local business can capture the market and take the advantage from the online giants.

Right now, in your community, 1000’s of consumers are on their phones looking for something to eat, do or buy. If you are not getting your products and services in front of them you are missing out.

Get started today for free on InstantLocal – now live in Austin and Dallas-Ft Worth, Texas.

Original URL http://junction.ai/blog/local-business-advantage-online-giants/