You want the short answer? Yes. The longer answer though is something that is different for every business. But generally, local marketing is something that must not be neglected. When you already have the power of the internet to reach every household that has an internet connection, I believe that it would be extremely limiting for businesses to just concentrate on global marketing when it is very very possible nowadays to do both. It is a new virtual world and the world has gotten a bit smaller because of technology. You may no longer be surprised to find that even some brick and mortar stores have jumped ship and have successfully penetrated the virtual marketplace selling physical products and manual services. Businesses today have an extensible farther reach and are able to capture a larger audience because of one thing that seems to be a requirement for all successful businesses nowadays – an online presence.
An online presence lets the world know that your business exists. The WORLD – mind you! Anywhere that the internet can reach is a potential audience to capture and get in your businesses line of sight. With just a few keystrokes anyone anywhere can find you when you put up your business online. The strongest following though are those who share some kind of kindred spirit with your business. It pays to have your audience feel that they know you personally. That they have a connection with you somewhat. That they have seen you before – that you look and sound familiar! This loyalty will come from your local market. Your local market will provide you with repeat business.
Entrepreneurs harness the power of the internet to make themselves known. With a couple of marketing tricks they make sure that everyone can find them in a couple of clicks. You would think, “why would a business settle for being known within the confines of a local market when they can be known in the virtual world? That would be extremely limiting.” It is not to say that you must do away with targeting your local market. In fact, you must strive to add this to your marketing plan. Do not forget to define what your local market is before embarking in this plan.
One very real concern of trying to manage a local and global marketing strategy is cost. It is a common misconception that businesses have to have separate tools for different marketing campaigns. This is something virtual businesses are really smart about. The internet has a large hub of available online tools and resources to make a parallel marketing campaign possible. Businesses just have to find the right one that addresses their needs.
Anything is literally possible now. When you have a reach as far as the other side of the world, it is easy to forget your own backyard. But you must never neglect your local market. It is your community, the place where everyone should know you. And more importantly, it is where you have homecourt advantage.
Written by Jaie T.- The Help