Advertising with a Local Connection - Affiliate Tips

If given the option, most people would prefer to make a purchase from a business they believe has a local connection to the community. People shop online for convenience, for the ability to research and view many different options, and for lower prices and deals.

With the plethora of online advertising choices businesses have today, there’s no reason an online business in Petaluma, California can’t create a local connection to Flatbush, North Carolina. Let’s consider some ideas on how to build that connection.

Suppose you are reading the news, and you come across a story where a particular city, let’s say Austin, Tx. is having a big festival, or won a big award, or perhaps a local team won a sports championship. (It can be something big like the Superbowl, or it can be small like a Double-A Minor League Division win, or a University NCAA title in 2nd tier sport). With ad targeting on Google or Bing (and even Facebook now allows you to specify location), you can title your ad to directly address that even in that locality.

“Tea for AA Eastern Champs”

Now these aren’t keywords for the ad, this is the actual ad heading text. Your keywords would be your typical keywords you use in a campaign, and the ad would geo-targeted to the specific area. Set-up a quick landing page on your site with the heading text directed to your target audience. Point that ad at your landing page, and voila! You have built an instant local connection. You should definitely be able to catch the eye of anyone searching for Tea from that local area, and your local hook should bring them in.

The cost would be nominal, as you’re targeting a very specific audience, but conversions will be high (provided your keyword text is still targeting interested buyers). Anyone interested in Tea and from that locale would have that extra incentive tugging at them of, “hey, this company is recognizing my town!”

Consider all the huge number of local newspapers, dailies and classified ads that are available out there for another local tactic. Typically the cost to put an add in a local paper is relatively low, but the response could have a definite impact on your business. (By the way, if the affiliate program offers pay-per-call, this is a tremendous way to promote). Even without pay per call, just make a very easy to remember URL, or use a Q-Code that they can easily scan with their mobile phone. Another option could be to offer an email address. The message being: send us an email, and we’ll send you back a coupon and offer details. This tactic is also easy to do from a mobile phone, and you’ll be able to capture their email address and send them the direct offer with your affiliate link.

Local, geo-targeted advertising is a powerful tool, if you take the time and effort to localize the ad. Don’t be overwhelmed with the idea you have to localize hundreds of ads. Experiment, try a few different locations on different days. Learn for yourself locations respond best to what kind of offers. But consider the impact on your business if you’re able to get 5–10% increase in sales coming from one specific area just because you put in a little bit of time and effort in creating a local headline and tweaked a landing page with a local message.

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