General Marketing Strategies for Los Angeles Businesses
You can reach a larger audience and gain customers with the right marketing strategies. Here are some marketing tips to help you succeed in the Los Angeles market.
Research Your Market
Understanding the unique personalities of the various cities within Los Angeles County is crucial for a successful digital marketing strategy. By focusing your marketing efforts on specific regions, you can reach your target audience – those likely to be interested in your product or service.
For instance, a studio executive in Long Beach is unlikely to be interested in social media posts about a gym located in Pasadena. At the same time, someone in Santa Monica probably won’t travel to East Hollywood for coffee. Utilizing this knowledge of the distinct communities in LA will help you create a more effective digital marketing plan for your local business.
Establish a Brand Identity
Your brand identity is how you define yourself to the world, set yourself apart from your competitors, and build recognition and loyalty. If you don’t have one already, you should:
- Define your values: Your brand identity should be rooted in your company’s mission and vision. Take the time to define what you stand for and what sets you apart.
- Research your competitors in LA: Understand what your competitors are doing. Look at their logos, color schemes, slogans, social media accounts, and messaging. See what’s working and what isn’t to inform your brand’s decisions.
- Develop your visual identity: Your visual identity should include a logo, color palette, typography, and any other graphic elements that represent your brand.
- Create a voice: Your brand should be consistent across all channels and social media sites. How do you want to communicate with your audience on your social media pages, website, and marketing content? What kind of language do you want to use?
Create Local Awareness
Once you’ve established your identity, it’s time to spread the word. There are many ways to create a buzz about your business:
- Create a localized online presence: Establish a website, blog, and a social media marketing campaign for your business and include local keywords in your content (also, register a Google My Business profile!)
- Participate in local events: Attend local networking events, volunteer opportunities, and other meetups in your area to get your business out there.
- Get involved in the community: Sponsor a local event or participate in a community project to show that your business cares about the local area.
- Use local advertising: Utilize local newspapers, radio stations, and TV networks to get the word out about your business.
- Offer discounts and promotions: Run promotional offers and discounts to encourage residents to try your business.
Target Specific Locations
Los Angeles is more than just its beaches, celebrities, and sunny weather. It’s not a single, small city like San Francisco, but an expansive array of neighborhoods located by the ocean and in the desert basin.
The ocean breeze carries the city’s smog into the valleys of San Fernando and San Gabriel. At the center of the bay is Downtown L.A., located 12 miles away from the Pacific Ocean. Most find themselves along the coast, in Hollywood, or on the fashionable Westside.
Ideally, you want to create specific ad copy for each region where your customers reside in Los Angeles. Local SEO is a great way to target people in specific regions. Optimizing your website for local keywords ensures that when people in a specific area search for services or products you offer, they will find your business.
You can also use local directories and review sites like Yelp or Google My Business to boost your visibility and reach a local audience (more on this later). Additionally, you should create content tailored to your target geographical regions, such as local events and news stories, and create social media campaigns focused on the local area.
Partner with Local Businesses
Partnering with a local business can be an extremely beneficial marketing strategy. It can increase visibility, create positive relationships with local customers, and build brand awareness within your local community.
Not only can it result in increased referrals, but it also provides an opportunity to access new customers. Moreover, forming partnerships with trusted locals will make your business more reliable in customers’ eyes.
For example, if you’re a divorce lawyer, you might partner with a local therapist; if you’re a cleaning service, you might partner up with a repair company; if you’re a roofing company, you might work with countertop installers, etc.
Offline Marketing Strategy Tips for Los Angeles Business
Offline marketing is still important for your businesses because it allows you to reach customers who are not online by providing physical materials such as business cards, flyers, and posters and driving a past in a vinyl-wrapped vehicle. See below for inspiration:
Business Cards
Business cards are still relevant because they are a tangible way to leave a lasting impression on potential clients and customers. They provide a physical reminder of your company’s services and let you share information quickly. You can print them for between $0.11-$0.20 per card.
Create Merchandise
Merchandising’s main objective is to increase brand awareness and spread the brand message. Keyrings, laptop stickers, notebooks, hoodies, t-shirts, and pens are easy items to merchandise, but it depends on your business.
Do partner with a pro if you get into merchandising as part of your marketing strategy. Custom One, for example, does screenprinting on T-shirts for less than $4 per shirt.
Advertise on Billboards
Billboards have the highest reach among OOH (Out-of-Home) advertising types in the U.S. – about 80% of American consumers noticed a billboard ad.
The billboard areas in LA include Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County (the two counties that make up the Inland Empire), and Ventura County.
Digital/LED billboards can also be found in the outer regions of Los Angeles County, located on highways and some surface streets. Average billboard pricing generally ranges from $2,000 to $15,000 per month, depending on where you purchase space.
Create a Local TV Ad
Creating a TV ad can be a great way to reach a large audience with a powerful visual message. It lets you present your product or service in a creative way and can also be used to advertise on social media platforms.
Producing a 30-second commercial in Los Angeles could be as little as $1,500 – $3,500, while a high-production commercial can venture anywhere from 20k to 30k. There are loads of production companies around, so you won’t have trouble finding the needed services.
Create Even More Local Ads for Newspapers and Radio!
Then there are also local magazine and radio ads. As far as newspapers go, it costs anywhere between $12 – $800+ for a column inch of black and white advertising space in the paper. On the other hand, radio spots range from $200 to $5,000.
Notable radio stations and newspapers to advertise on include, but aren’t limited to:
- Radio stations: Kost, Klive, KIIS-FM, and KFI.
- Newspapers: Los Angeles Times, The Orange County Register, La Opinion, The Korean Times, Los Angeles Daily News.
Both radio and newspaper ads can be used to build brand awareness and reach customers who may not be familiar with your business.
Sponsor a Local Event in Los Angeles
You can benefit from sponsoring events by gaining increased brand exposure through the event itself, event advertising, media coverage, and in-event speaking opportunities that help build brand equity. You will also have direct contact with an audience full of potential customers.
Discover Los Angeles and TimeOut are good resources to get a feel for the types of events your local business might be interested in sponsoring. Providing a ballpark cost is challenging, as every event and sponsorship involvement differs.
Attend Trade Shows
Attending trade shows is a great way to market your business because you can show your products and services directly to potential customers. Trade shows also allow businesses to network with other professionals in their field, establish new relationships, and stay on top of trends and industry news.
Some famous trade shows in LA are: WestPack, Natural Products Expo West, Los Angeles Auto Show, International Home + Housewares Show, LA Fashion Market, Los Angeles Gift Show, MAGIC Marketplace, LA Textile, Los Angeles International Boat Show, and the LA Art Show.
Organize Master Classes, Workshops, Seminars, and Other Events
Hosting workshops, seminars, or master classes is a great way to demonstrate your knowledge and gain the trust of your audience. Additionally, workshops can help you to acquire leads, build an email list, and even boost sales.
Running a seminar gives you some degree of control over the audience you speak to. This enables you to tailor them to your product. Finally, they can be a powerful tool for spreading the word about your business and gaining publicity.
Online Marketing Tips for Los Angeles Businesses
The average person spends 3 hours and 15 minutes daily on their phone shopping, Googling, and using social media. While traditional marketing is useful, other marketing strategies, such as online marketing, are more prevalent and necessary if you want to remain competitive.
We recommend implementing these tactics:
PPC
PPC is cost-effective because it allows you to target specific audiences and only pay when someone clicks on your ad. This is especially useful for businesses, as they can target their ads to the most relevant people and get the most bang for their buck.
The keywords you use will depend on your profession; however, it’s beneficial to include area words like “Los Angeles,” “Southern California,” “Hollywood,” “Beverly Hills,” “West Hollywood,” and “Downtown LA,” so your advertisements reach users searching from those locations.
Local SEO
Local SEO is a search engine optimization (SEO) technique that helps your business become more visible in local search results on Google. Companies with a physical location or services in a particular geographic area benefit from local SEO. Take note: Nearly 50% of all Google searches are made by people looking for local products and services.
Businesses that don’t have a local SEO strategy will miss out on this valuable online traffic. Rankings and conversions are closely related, so having a local SEO strategy can be key to gaining conversions. Your competition isn’t necessarily the businesses next door but those who appear first on Google search results!
GMB
Google My Business (GMB) is a free web tool designed to help local businesses appear higher in the search results of relevant local searches on Google. By optimizing your business listing and page, you can increase online visibility and stand out from your competition in your local area.
A greater presence on Google Search opens up more opportunities for customers to discover and interact with the business. Many people begin their customer journeys with a Google Search, which is key to ensuring the business can be found for relevant services.
Directories
Statistics show that 81% of shoppers conduct an online search before visiting a store, making local directory listings an invaluable tool for increasing customer chances to find your business online. These listings have a crucial role in rankings, revenue, and reputation, and they also help drive more traffic to your business.
The directories you choose depend on your business. Some popular ones include; Yelp, Yellowpages, Superpages Citysearch, Angieslist, MerchantCircle 7, Thumbtack, Insider Pages, Manta, Kudzu, and even Facebook.
If the thought of doing business marketing yourself as you launch your business is too daunting, you may consider hiring a digital marketing agency to manage it. They have the tools, resources, and expertise to ensure you succeed.
Be on Top of Your Los Angeles Marketing Game
Marketing aims to maximize your business’s return on investment (ROI) by promoting its products and services. You can ensure your business reaches its highest potential and grows efficiently by utilizing effective marketing campaigns.
At Comrade Digital Marketing Agency, we are passionate about helping businesses in any sector reach their potential. Our full-service marketing agency utilizes the latest methods and tools to target your desired audience and generate more leads. We can help your business thrive in Los Angeles. Contact us today for a free consultation.
