Manchester is home to 371,636 businesses — the most out of any region in the North West. Maintaining a strong online presence can be a powerful tool to promote your Manchester business and attract customers. By increasing your online visibility, you can put your business in front of local customers, generate leads, and boost sales.
Smart social media use
Manchester is the UK city most addicted to social media, a study by AddictiveTips found. Mancunians spend 16 hours and 13 minutes each week on average on social sites with Facebook being the most popular platform. By making a social media business profile, you can increase online visibility and get your business in front of potential customers browsing social media. Rather than spread yourself too thin over multiple platforms, however, it’s sensible to focus on just one. Since Facebook is already the most popular platform locally and ideal for business promotion, starting a Facebook business page is your best bet to start with.
Optimise your website for SEO
SEO (search engine optimization) is essential to boost your online visibility. By implementing SEO best practices, you can ensure your business appears higher up in the Google search results when potential customers search for specific words and phrases. Local SEO, in particular, can ensure you reach local customers, resulting in increased leads and conversions. For example, creating a Google My Business account is an effective way to gain visibility in local search results as well as Google Maps. To help optimize your account, make sure to provide comprehensive, accurate, and current information, including opening times, acceptable payment methods, and plenty of photographic images. You should also encourage your customers to leave reviews of your business as well as respond promptly to those who do so.
Invest in targeted ads
While most digital marketing strategies require time and patience to achieve results, targeted ads work as a short-term fix able to reach your target market fast. All social media platforms (such as, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) offer the option of targeted ads to familiarise a wide audience to your products and services, as well as increase sales. Ad platforms also let you monitor the success of your campaigns with valuable detailed metrics, so you can make any adjustments as needed to improve their success. Facebook ads, for example, are an effective way to build brand awareness, boost engagement, send traffic to your website, generate leads, and increase purchases. They can also be used to drive foot traffic to brick-and-mortar stores. With Facebook targeted ads, there’s no need to use just one blanket ad for all customers. For example, you can ensure the right products are advertised to the right demographics.
Boosting the online visibility of your Manchester business can help attract local customers and build up a loyal following. By using social media, optimising your website for SEO, and investing in targeted ads, you can effectively get your business seen, boost sales, and maintain a competitive edge.
