Being that you’re a small business owner, your biggest competition (aside from the other small businesses in your vicinity) is the big-name companies with big budgets, right? Yes. Well, do you know the most effective way to knock them out of your competition? Believe it or not, your secret weapon is right in your backyard… No, it’s not a real weapon in the shed in your backyard… your secret weapon to beating out those big name companies lies within your very own neighborhood. In fact, it’s called Neighborhood Marketing, and it is vital to the success of your small business.

What is Neighborhood Marketing?
So what exactly is neighborhood marketing, you ask? Well, neighborhood marketing is a process of marketing your business from the inside out, meaning, you’re bringing awareness about your business in your local communities first and then branching out to the larger communities… that’s why it can be looked out as starting out “in your backyard” as a figure of speech.

Typically, with neighborhood marketing, the system never takes place further than a five to ten minute drive away from your business but the focus of this type of marketing is to take all aspects of the great customer experience people find in your store and serve it up (promote it) in high doses to people in your community who can receive the greatest impact and benefit from your business.

So why would you put your focus on a smaller number of people first than reaching out to the larger communities? Well, you want to start in your local communities first because that’s where your best customers will come from. Not only that, but that’s where almost all of your customers will come from. Anyone living outside of that five to ten-minute drive might not be as willing to make that drive for a new business they know nothing about.

Where Most Go Wrong...
That’s where lots of small business owners go wrong. When you decide to start your own business, there are things you need to know upfront but marketing in your own neighborhood is something that small business owners seem to forget about; they always want to start out with big marketing efforts for the larger communities and end up running out of money within the first two years, according to the Small Business Administration.

So instead of following in the footsteps of failed small business owners, why not take the road that they didn’t travel? Why not start small, in your own community first, then branch out? If you’re a small business owner, take a look at how neighborhood marketing is vital to your small business.

Neighborhood Marketing Enhances Your Business’ Prestige
As a small business owner, do you know what one of the biggest things going for you is, especially when you’re first starting out? It’s your reputation. If you indeed do want to eventually branch out to the larger communities, you need your local community to deem you as a reputable and prestigious company first.

If your local community member shop at your store and have wonderful customer experiences, the word will spread like wildfire, and guess where it will spread to… the larger communities… in due time. You may have bigger dreams for the larger communities but it’s also important that you realize your local neighborhood is where your neighborhood marketing efforts will have the biggest impact and bring you the most sales.

Neighborhood Marketing Allows Your Business to Be Active at Community Events
Community events are the best ways to not only get to know other local businesses but to also get to know the locals that live in the community. Whether it’s a fundraiser you have a tent set up at or an event your business is helping sponsor, it’s the perfect time to hand out “swag” to the locals in attendance. What is “swag,” you ask? Swag is merchandise that represents your business… you give those items away to people who visit your booth or tent.

You might want to purchase notepads with your custom logo and company name on them, that way when people need to jot things down, they’ll always see your business and be subconsciously reminded that if they ever need your services to contact you.

Neighborhood Marketing Allows You to Network With Other Local Businesses
You want to team up and network with other local businesses to increase your exposure and attract new customers. This is especially important and beneficial to your business if there’s no other business in the local area with products or services your business provides. You can ask a business to post a flier in their high traffic areas or on their door or window. As thanks to them, you can offer to do the same for them.