Grand Rapids is one of the fastest-growing cities in the Midwest.
If you’re a business owner in Grand Rapids, this growth is good news and bad news. It’s good news because it means more potential clients are moving here every day. It’s bad news because more potential competitors are moving in, too. That means you’re going to have a lot of noise to cut through.
But don’t shell out the money for a billboard on US-131 just yet. We have a simple solution. Digital marketing in Grand Rapids is the best way to reach your potential audience. At Hughes Integrated, we specialize in creating digital marketing funnels for Grand Rapids business owners. We’ve helped them save time and money, all while creating targeted content that reaches their audience. That’s more than a billboard can do!
In this blog, we’ll break down what you need to get your small business’s digital marketing efforts off the ground in Grand Rapids.
The Grand Rapids Digital Landscape
Grand Rapids is home to hundreds of manufacturers, landscaping companies, lawyers, and other service-based industries. Depending on what industry you’re in, you still need to stand out from the crowd.
A 2021 report found that over half of Grand Rapidians are employed by small businesses, making our city one of the most dependent on small businesses.
What does this mean? It means that our city needs you! You owe it to yourself to establish your brand and continue to grow it. That’s almost impossible to do without a digital marketing strategy. And if you’re still wondering if you need a strategy to stay in business, take a look at these statistics from Linchpin SEO:
- 87% of Michiganders use search engines to find local businesses. That’s nearly 900,000 people, and nine times the size of Grand Rapids alone.
- 78% of Michigan residents access the internet on their phone, not on a tablet or laptop. Certainly not on a Dell in the family room.
- 76% of Michiganders will visit an establishment they found on a search engine—on the very same day they searched it.
As you can see, the growth of your brand depends on the growth of your online presence. Let’s get you started with some practical tips.
Leveraging Local SEO
Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the simplest ways to boost visibility to your business’ website. As we noted above, over 80% of Michigan residents find products and services they need using search engines. And optimizing your website for search engines can be a tricky game.
Try Googling (or Binging, or DuckDuckGo-ing) your business. First of all, does your business show up on the results page at all? If it does, is it the very first result? Does a business profile pop up? Even if just one of your answers is “no,” it’s time for an SEO checkup. Here are a few things to consider to get you started.
- Do your research. Use a platform like SEMrush or Ahrefs to research your website domain. These platforms can show you what keywords you rank for, your ranking, and even who your competitors are. This can give you an idea of what people search for when they try to find businesses like yours.
- Set up your Google Business Profile. Google Business Profiles are like the Yellow Pages of the internet. When someone searches your business, the Google Business Profile will show them your address, phone number, website, and business hours. If they are searching on their phone, they can call you with the click of a button. All you have to do is log in using your Google account and take a few extra steps to verify your business.
- Go mobile-friendly. Remember when we said most internet users access the web on their phones? If your website isn’t optimized for mobile (meaning it’s easy to access and read on a mobile browser), users will have a tough time using it and might go elsewhere. Website building tools like Squarespace and WordPress can host your website and optimize it for mobile.
Want to level up your local SEO game even further? Take a deeper dive. A digital marketing specialist can help you reach your search engine goals by creating engaging content that boosts your ranking, as well as managing your Google Business Profile so it’s fully optimized and up-to-date.
The Hughes Integrated team has written extensively about SEO. Check out our blogs about local SEO and SEO 101!
Building a Strong Online Presence
Beyond SEO, having a strong online presence can help you grow your digital reputation. In fact, 76% of your potential clients look at your online presence before buying from you. And 45% of them are more likely to visit you or call you if they can easily find you and look at your website.
You don’t have to have a magic wand or a Master’s degree in coding to build your online presence. You just need to make a few changes to your digital strategy first.
- Build an email list. Offer exclusive content on your website that requires an email address to receive. Make the content valuable to your audience (more on this later!) For example, if you are a landscaping company, you could offer a free “lookbook” in exchange for an email address. Store these email addresses in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system like Mailchimp so you can stay in touch. Hint: a digital marketing agency can manage your CRM for you and create customized funnels for different segments of your audience!
- Be active. Post on your active social media channels regularly and engage with your followers. Post videos or blog posts that are relevant to your audience. Users especially love seeing before and after photos and success stories from your clients.
- Ask for reviews. After you’ve done business with a client or customer, ask them to leave you a review on Google. Positive reviews on your Google Business Profile are social proof that real people enjoy doing business with you. These reviews will attract more of your ideal clients to your doorstep!
- Know who you are talking to. No matter what you write or post—talk directly to your audience. To do this, you have to understand who they are. If you can’t clearly state who your ideal client is and what their pain points are, it’s time to do some research. Start by asking former clients a few questions—what problem did they face before reaching out to your business? How did they find you? This can provide a window into what kind of content you should write and where you should post.
Targeted Content Marketing for Grand Rapids
Understanding your audience is a key factor in digital marketing—especially digital marketing in Grand Rapids. Now more than ever, businesses are niching—they are zeroing in on the one thing they do best because they have to. In a marketplace saturated with messages and noise, your business’ message needs to cut through to those who need to hear it.
That means you have to write content that speaks to your ideal client. You should be able to address their problem and what information they are looking for. For example, say that you are a general contractor for home renovations, and the housing market in Grand Rapids is hot. Should you post a blog about Chip and Joanna Gaines’ newest book, or should you post a blog about 10 red flags homebuyers look for in a home? The second one is going to speak to your audience more because it’s relevant to their situation. And you just piqued the curiosity of someone interested in selling their house. Now, they might call you to fix some of those red flags.
Another way to learn more about your audience and target them with content is, of course, through search engines. Search engines like Google often feature a “people also ask” section on the first page of results. If you type in a question like “what should I look for during a home inspection,” you’ll see a dozen other similar questions pop up. If you just happen to be a home inspector, you have a dozen potential titles for blog posts, videos, social posts, and more.
Getting to know your audience takes a lot of legwork, but it’s worth it in the end. At Hughes Integrated, we guide our clients through understanding who their audience is and what problems they have. Then, we help our clients clarify their message so they speak directly to that audience.
Paid Advertising in the Grand Rapids Market
At Hughes Integrated, our team believes that you don’t have to break the bank to get more leads, especially when it comes to paid advertising. Traditional methods like print and out-of-home (billboards) can be pricier, but paid digital advertising can go a long way for not a lot of money.
However, it’s crucial to know your audience before launching a campaign. The more airtight your strategy, the more your dollars will go toward reaching your target audience. And there’s no need to overspend on Google ads or social ads. Set a budget beforehand. Provide margin for extra spending, but don’t blow your whole marketing spend on one campaign.
Google ads and social ads help you first and foremost boost visibility and brand awareness. If you are a service-based industry in Grand Rapids, you probably won’t see direct conversions out of paid digital ads. That’s why it’s important to craft the ad’s message around where your audience is in the customer journey. Awareness is at the very top of the marketing funnel, which means this is your largest audience, and not everyone who sees your ad will convert. However, the more your target audience sees your advertisements, the more aware they will become of your brand. And the more aware they become of your brand, the more likely you will be top-of-mind when they make a purchasing decision.
Local Engagement and Community Building
In 2021, socially responsible consumer behavior was the highest it’s ever been. Consumers are drawn to brands that give back, whether that’s through volunteer activities or charitable donations. Consumers also have a heightened awareness of what brands are socially conscious and which ones aren’t, so it’s impossible to fake it.
Engaging in the Grand Rapids community is one of the best things you can do as a small business. Not only are you supporting your friends and neighbors, but you’re also creating connections and a good reputation in the city.
Set aside time with your employees to engage with the community. This could take several different forms, including:
- Taking part in a day of community service
- Join the board or committee for a non-profit organization you care about
- Host a giving event or fundraiser as a company, like a golf outing or banquet
- Sponsor a local event, like a 5k or a community concert (advertising for a cause!)
Blending local engagement into digital marketing in Grand Rapids is tricky. On one hand, you want to let the community know what you’re doing. On the other hand, you don’t want to be boastful or use your service as a means of engagement. However, we believe it is possible to tie digital marketing into your local engagement strategy. Set up a fundraising or community event on Facebook and invite your followers to participate. Publish photos of behind-the-scenes moments that celebrate your team and the causes you care about.
As a small business ourselves, our team at Hughes Integrated takes time once a year to give back to our neighbors. We also let our clients know that we are stepping away from our work that day—and we tell them why. As a small business in a mid-sized town, you can make a big difference through local engagement.
Measuring and Optimizing Digital Marketing Efforts
None of your digital marketing efforts will be effective if you don’t measure and optimize your results. When we talk about measuring, we mean tracking and analyzing your digital marketing metrics. Let’s break down the difference between the two.
- Tracking metrics means recording key marketing metrics over periods of time, such as monthly, quarterly, or annually. Google Analytics or a simple spreadsheet can help you keep track of these numbers.
- Analyzing metrics means sitting down with the numbers and determining what they mean. The more you track your metrics, the more you’ll be able to see patterns and trends.
There are a ton of marketing metrics that you could track and analyze, but there are only a few that you should examine.
- Web traffic. As we’ve already discussed, your audience can come to your website from a number of different sources, including social posts, search engines, and emails. Analytics tools can help you determine which source is driving the most traffic to your website.
- Lead conversions. A lead conversion is when a user takes a meaningful action on your website, like scheduling a call or downloading a whitepaper. Tracking these conversions can help you determine where potential buyers are in the marketing funnel and how to best communicate with them.
- SEO ranking. Your SEO ranking can change over time. Analyze what keywords you are ranking for and use this data to determine if you need to make changes to your website or Google Business Profile.
- Qualified leads. Not every lead that converts through your website will be a qualified lead—a user who matches your ideal audience. Determining what lead generators are most effective at converting your ideal audience can help you hone in on your strategy.
Remember to track your metrics at regular intervals. That way, you can see how users interact with your online presence and make real-time changes to your website and strategy.
Find Your Audience Using Digital Marketing in Grand Rapids
In this blog, we looked at the landscape of digital marketing in Grand Rapids and how you can leverage the power of digital marketing for your small business. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s a lot of work! And as a small business owner, you have a lot on your plate to begin with. Digital marketing can sometimes seem like an extra time drain—and expense—that nets few results. Why not call on an expert to help you get the results you’re looking for? At Hughes Integrated, we love working with Grand Rapids businesses like yours as you establish your brand in the Beer City marketplace. Getting started is as simple as a phone call with us. Schedule a free call with us today to find out more!
