When you sell a local service such as yoga classes, massages, osteopathy appointments, zumba… something that you want to deliver in person, not over zoom… understanding the best strategies for local marketing is of vital importance. I know it can seem a bit overwhelming and scary, but lots of these are not as tricky as you imagine and could make a big difference to your reach and how you can grow your business.

Local marketing is crucial for service based wellness businesses to attract your ideal clients in their specific geographic area. Here are some top ways to do effective local marketing:

1. Create a Strong Online Presence:

Your website is really important for attracting new customers. If you can afford to, I’d certainly say get some professional help. Squarespace or Wix have great templates you can use, make sure you have information about your services, qualifications, and contact details clearly listed. Don’t opt for style over substance, remember the most important is that it’s easy for customers to navigate.

Optimise your website for local SEO by including location-based keywords. You hear me say this alllllll the time! If you deliver yoga classes in Hogsmead you should write that! Your location shouldn’t just be a tiny word in the footer. Tell Google where you are based and what you offer.

Set up and optimise your Google Business Profile with accurate information and images.

This is the business listing that’s shown on a map when someone looks for a local service. It’s really handy and a great way to attract local customers. Keep asking for reviews, doing updates and keep everything accurate to get the most out of this service. You’ll also get an analytics report which is helpful to see how much traffic it's driving to your website.

2. Best Ways to Use Social Media:

`Firstly think about where your customers are. When I worked in B2B tech, I was all about LinkedIn but used to find Twitter great for reaching journalists. You can use different platforms for different purposes, such as Instagram for your millennial audience and Facebook groups to appeal to a different demographic. If you have a younger audience and you love to create video content, you’ll find TikTok a perfect place to hang out, or if you do Workplace Wellbeing why not start leveraging LinkedIn. 

Think about your content, make sure you have a range of content to share advice, sell your services, tell a story or entertain and be informative. The best social media is a mix of all of these. Set up a canva account to easily create branded graphics. It’s best to plan out your content so it doesn’t end up a last minute scramble.

Use geotags and location-specific hashtags to target local audiences eg #Yoga is going to get pretty lost, but #Hogsmead might get you in front of more of your customers who like to read news from their local area.

3. Email Marketing:

Having an email list is a fantastic way to build a community and appeal to potential customers. Make sure it’s easy to sign up on your website and you give customers an incentive to do so. It could be a free yoga nidra recording, some advice or tips. It’s a good idea to set an email automation as a welcome email, something that tells your audience about you and what to expect. Make sure it’s not content that will age quickly otherwise you’ll have to keep revising it.

4. Engage with Local Communities:

You should definitely consider attending local events, health events, or groups to network and promote your services.You could consider partnering with local businesses that have complementary services like healthy cafes, sports stores, or wellness centres for cross-promotions.

5. Online Reviews and Testimonials:

Encourage happy customers to leave reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and Facebook. Remember these should not be financially incentivised but keep asking! You can then showcase positive testimonials on your website, social media and marketing materials.

6. Local Advertising:

I always say to clients, don’t start with ads. Make sure you have all the foundations in place first such as an optimised website, Google Profile, Social Media etc before you start spending money. You can get great reach on targeted online ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram but you need to set up a landing page, email automation and a nurture path. It’s not as simple as just boosting a post. It does need consideration.

7. Referral Programs:

Consider implementing a referral program where existing clients can refer new clients in exchange for discounts or free classes. Word of mouth will always be one of the best marketing strategies!

8. Backlinks

List your business on sites like Yelp, Yell, Next Door, or industry specific ones like Hey Yoga. Credible backlinks to your website are a factor in SEO, and the more good websites that point to your site the better your authority. It’s a bit of a boring job but well worth doing! If you have the budget you can do it via Bright Local to save time.

9. Content Marketing:

Blogs are great for getting website traction. Think about sharing advice and tips that are relevant to the services that you offer. It also gives you good content to share on social media and over email. Talk to your strengths, what are you an expert in?

10. Mobile Marketing:

Make sure your website looks good on mobile. You’ll be amazed what percentage of traffic is mobile, for my studio it’s around 80%. So it’s no good if modules don’t work or look rubbish on mobile, no matter how good it looks on desktop. Most people won't be accessing your site via desktop. So think mobile-first! Keep checking your site, testing, learning and improving.

As always, this can look like a lot…. But break it down. Give yourself a task a week. It doesn’t all need to be done today. It’s a layering of healthy habits, the more you do, the more you’ll improve your reach locally and attract more customers.

You can save and print this checklist to give you a helping hand, or create yourself something similar in Canva.

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