4 Ways Brands Can Use Local Search to Their Advantage [INFOGRAPHIC]

Is your marketing strategy aligned with current local search trends? According to Google, four in every five people use search engines to find products or services nearby. These local searches have a high potential to drive traffic through your doors and, most importantly, drive sales in the immediate future.

To help advertisers understand how consumers use local search, Google commissioned a study of over 5,000 smartphone users in the U.S. to find relevant tips for local advertisers. If your business has a local presence and you’re looking to drive more customers to your business, consider these four tips for using local search ads to their full potential.

1. Help Customers Find You

When consumers use their smartphones to find local information, they’re often searching for how to get to a physical store nearby. 50% search for a local store address, 53% search for directions to a local store and 54% search for business hours. To make the most of your targeted local presence, make sure your ads contain links to your address along with directions to your stores.

2. Make Your Ad Copy Applicable to Any Context

Though smartphones are becoming an ever more integral part of our daily lives, people are still using a variety of devices to conduct local searches. What’s more, people conduct local searches within an even bigger variety of contexts. Your customers might search for you while on their computer at home, from their smartphone on the bus, from a computer in the workplace or even from their tablet while at a bar. Make sure your ad copy speaks to your customers no matter what context they’re in.

3. Gain Local Customers through Radius Bidding

Consumers who search for your business while on the go have a huge potential to bring more sales to your business. 50% of smartphone users visit a store within a day of conducting a local search, and a whopping 18% of local smartphone searches led to a purchase within a day! Make sure your business reaches out to local searchers through ads targeted through radius bidding. This way consumers can find your services whenever they conduct a Google search nearby.

4. Cater to Individual Regions

Four in five consumers want ads that are specific to their city, zip code or immediate surroundings, and 70% say it’s important that ads feature directions and a call button. Adjust your location bids so that each of your ads caters to people of a specific region.
What strategies do you use to take advantage of local search?

Source: Google