Do you have a streamlined marketing system in place? If your answer is no or you’re not sure you know what a marketing system even is, you’re going to want to read on and listen to this week’s episode of the Marketing Your Local Business Online podcast!

 

A marketing system is your set of processes that you use to market your products or services with the purpose of attracting new customers to your business AND strengthening relationships with existing customers. Today, we’re going to dive into what makes a strong marketing system that works for your local business, and how you can set it up in just ONE DAY.

 

First, let’s start with setting up your social media accounts or ensuring that you’re on the right platforms.

 

These are my top tips for seeing results from your social media:

• Choose 1 or 2 platforms and do them super well before adding others into the mix
• Be where your ideal customers already are, don’t try to draw them to a platform they’re not using
• Be consistent (perhaps the most important one!)
• Remember growth is a marathon, not a sprint (and actually platforms get suspicious when there’s random growth of hundreds of people and think you’re buying followers)
• Be YOU → show up authentically and you will stand out

 

Things to Consider When Choosing a Platform

• The main age ranges of each platform, especially in your area
• Household income level of users
• Whether the platform is better suited for product or service based business
• What type of content each platform uses: text, image, or video

 

My free guide below details demographics and information about the major social media platforms!

 

Second, set up your email marketing system so you can manage communication directly with customers.

 

Choose an email service provider. This protects your business legally because when you email people they should have opted in to your list and they legally need a way to opt out in case they don’t want to receive emails anymore. Constant Contact is my go to and I use it for multiple local business clients! It has great deliverability rates and features to save you time. Try it free for 60 days and receive 30% off for 3 months after that! If you don’t like it, feel free to check out others as technology preferences can differ for everyone.

 

My free guide below also includes ideas for incentivizing people to join your email list!

 

Finally, make sure your business is optimized on Google MyBusiness.

 

Here are a few best practices to help your local business stand out and bring in    customers:

• Check your profile for accuracy at least once a week (updates can happen without your knowledge!)
• Post once per week (save time by reusing a social media post or you can share a promotion or deal you’re currently offering)
• Upload high quality photos of your business
• Respond to reviews

 

In summary, social media, email, and Google MyBusiness are the 3 essentials I recommend having in your marketing system as a local business. Once you have these established, you can expand your system in a number of ways depending on what works best for your business:

• Blog
• Podcast
• Text Messaging
• Google Ads

 

And there you have it! You have all of the materials and information you need to set up a streamlined marketing system in just one day. I’ve created a free resource for you below that lays out everything we discussed in today’s episode (with some bonus tips as well!). Be sure to check it out as you tackle setting up your marketing system. 

 

Next episode, we’ll dive into how to create your content calendar and save you a ton of time. In the meantime, keep running your race!

 

Resources:

Download the free guide: Create Your Marketing System in a Day