Local advertising is essential for small businesses for several reasons. Firstly, it is a way to get the small businesses' goods and services known around the immediate area where most of their customers will be based. Being a small business that can harness the business potential of the local market means that you can relax knowing that you have the potential to rely on a captive market that will remain loyal to you as long as you treat them well.
Local advertising is often cheaper that national advertising. And if you are a small business, the chances are that your marketing budget is limited, making cheaper ways of spreading the word about your business more viable.
Happily for all small businesses and retailers especially where edible produce is concerned the trend towards shopping is not just organic and free-range but also local. Shoppers are encouraged to shop local wherever they can, and this is something that benefits not just the environment but all small businesses (whatever they sell) and is a concept that can be incorporated as part of local business marketing.
Local business marketing can take many forms. Advertising using posters or billboards or new multimedia forms such as television screens in petrol stations and other public spaces are just a few of them.
The best form of advertising has and always will be word of mouth. Gaining popularity with an individual or group of people who are outspoken about where they shop is a sure-fire way of getting new business.
(The only problem with those customers is that you can be sure they will be just as outspoken should your goods and services disappoint them!)
Having a good product and providing good customer service, being able to communicate with your clients and being able to confidently and diplomatically handle any confrontation, is as much part of your marketing as anything else.