How Local Businesses Forge Connections that Build Brands
See what small business marketers say are their top goals and challenges—and how they reach more loyal customers on Facebook and Instagram.
CONTENTS
By 2020, more than half the connected world will be making purchases online.1 What does this mean for local businesses, who could once rely on convenience, word of mouth and loyalty to fuel sales?
For many, this shift to online offers new opportunities for growth. The channels and methods that help foster communities may be evolving, but people’s desire to be connected remains just as strong. In fact, more than 1.6 billion people on Facebook are connected to a small business, and more than 1.2 billion people on Facebook are connected to a small business in another country.2
To give local business owners insight into how others are retooling their marketing in response to this shift, we surveyed local businesses, asking them to identify their top goals, as well as new opportunities and challenges. In our research, we studied Facebook data and also commissioned a survey through Factworks (a third-party international market research and analytics company) of more than 6,000 local businesses and over 10,000 people in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Canada.
For this study, we define a local business as one that isn't part of a chain, franchise or non-profit and isn't purely online, but has fewer than five store locations in a single market. The survey participants in this study were those registered for the business on Facebook, which included both professional marketers and business owners.
The opportunity: building brand awareness across communities
Of businesses surveyed, 46% say they maintain a close connection to the local community.3 And the feeling is mutual; 48% of the 10,000 people we surveyed say they shop locally to support local businesses.4 With their commitments to their local areas still firmly established, we asked small business owners to rank their marketing priorities.
While growth and conversion are important, the people behind these businesses said their number one marketing goal is to raise awareness of their brand. For small businesses with limited staff and even more limited budgets, online platforms with existing networks and communities can prove scalable, cost-effective and quick.
Of those surveyed, 64% see having an online presence as most important for the long-term success of their businesses. While going online helps a business build their brand presence and increase reach, social platforms can take this even further to build more meaningful connections. Among the local businesses we spoke to, 57% say Facebook is a top service for strengthening connections with their local community.5
With a strong online identity, a business can showcase its brand, drive awareness and connect with customers outside of a physical store location.
Top online marketing tactics of local businesses
creating an online presence
adding business information online
producing online content
interacting with customers online
The challenges: lacking time and technical knowledge
Building and maintaining brand awareness online requires a steady stream of fresh content. But one of the biggest marketing challenges small business owners said they face is a lack of time to produce content. Still, most say they do produce online content regularly.
We looked into different approaches that local businesses take when it comes to their marketing, and identified six marketing mindsets based on the strength of their online presences and digital activities. We discovered for each type of marketer, more than half said they regularly produce online content.6 Opportunities for those feeling time-challenged include platforms like Instagram Stories, which offer a quick way to broadcast short content, from behind-the-scenes looks to daily thoughts.
Local business owners and marketers also cited lack of knowledge as another key challenge. While this may seem like an easy fix, when a business owner is the sole marketer, day-to-day operations take precedence. When looking for strategies and ways to sharpen their skills, they tend to rely on personal connections for advice, turning to friends or relatives, other businesses, online forums and communities.
The outcome: forging new connections with wider reach
Recommendations from friends are powerful. More than half the consumers we surveyed (52%) said they feel that their personal connections on Facebook and Instagram help them discover interesting businesses or events.7 When business pages post an event or photo, these can reach beyond those who follow the page as people share, like and comment on the posts, for example.
46% agree that information shared by local businesses makes local shopping more personal.8
Businesses can turn their Facebook and Instagram pages into a communication hub—a place where people can connect to them and others through comments and questions. Brands can build and strengthen these connections even further through messaging, which is quickly becoming the new normal for how people reach out to brands with questions when they want quick responses.
Creating and retaining a loyal following online—one that can blossom into a thriving community—has never been more in reach for all types of local business marketers.
What it means for marketers
Build a sense of community online across platforms.
Amplify content by posting regularly around topical holidays or events, and linking your business back to these relevant opportunities. Engage your followers in promotions or surveys to find out what they want to see more of and maintain a two-way channel of communication by responding to their comments and queries.
Identify quick content wins.
If lack of time to produce content is one of your challenges, think about what can be created quickly and will have the largest impact. Visit our Creative Hub to mock up ad concepts and be inspired by success stories on Facebook Business to see how other effective campaigns have worked.
Sharpen your digital skills.
If a lack of practical knowledge is a challenge, leverage readily available resources that may be relevant to your category and marketing strategy. Join Facebook Community Boost in a city near you to grow your network, meet other local business owners and get online training that meets your needs. Take our quiz to see “What type of marketer are you?” or learn more about different marketing mindsets in “Meet the People Behind Local Business Marketing”.