Local Marketing Strategies: How to Get Clients On Instagram and Off

As a local business owner, have you ever felt a little left out…like most of the marketing advice you hear is geared towards online businesses? 

Maybe you’ve even wondered if growing a social media presence is worth it at all when your clients actually need to drive up to you. 

Well, have I got news for you. 😏

Whoever told you that local business marketing strategies shouldn’t include social media got it COMPLETELY wrong. 

The way I see it, it’s not a disadvantage to have a location-specific business. It’s an advantage because you can use ALL the online and social media marketing strategies that everybody else uses and the local ones.

In this post, I’ll be breaking down some local marketing strategies that actually work (both the boots-on-the-ground kind AND the Instagram kind) plus exactly how to optimize your Instagram for local business so the right people in your area can find you. 

I’ve taught this stuff, I’ve personally managed accounts for local-based businesses and everything I’m going to suggest here is actionable and you could try literally today.

First up, let’s start with the fun, scrappy, boots-on-the-ground marketing strategies that online businesses can’t even touch.

Pin this to your Marketing Board 👇🏼

Local Business Marketing Strategies to Attract More Clients in Your Area

Here’s the thing about having a local business…

You have an ENTIRE toolkit of marketing strategies that online businesses simply don’t have access to. And a lot of them are way more fun and bootstrappy than you’d think!

Online businesses can’t exactly show up in their community the way you can. They don’t get to be the local name that people recognize, talk about, and refer to their neighbours. 

That kind of real-life, in-your-community presence is one of the strongest marketing advantages there is.

And it’s yours for the taking. 

So, before we even get to Instagram marketing for local businesses, let’s talk about the on-the-ground strategies that are made for businesses like yours! 

Post on Local Bulletin Boards

This first local business marketing strategy might sound a little old school, but hear me out.

I live in a teeny-tiny place outside of Winnipeg, Canada. It’s so small that it’s not even really on a map. I’m not even kidding when I say the hydro company thinks we’re in a different city than what the mailbox says we’re in. 

But because of how small the city is, I live and die by the local bulletin board by our corner store/liquor store/fry truck/gas station (aka the only establishment in my not-town). 

On it, you can find local babysitters, dog walkers, roofers, people selling firewood… just a variety of different services provided by other businesses in the area. 

And for local businesses, that kind of hyper-local visibility is genuinely PRICELESS.

You’ll find these in small towns and big cities alike. Just check out your local coffee shop, grocery store, or park. You’ll often find a bulletin board filled with fliers advertising services in your community. 

Because if I’m actively looking for services on my local bulletin board, you can bet your next client in your community is doing the exact same thing.  

Collaborate with Local Businesses That Share Your Ideal Client

Another seriously underrated way to get local customers is to collaborate with another business in your area. 

The business you collab with doesn’t even need to be in the same industry as you. The important thing is that they just need to have the same ideal client. 

For example, I work with someone who is a flower farmer. She had an amazing boost in her local customer base after she collaborated with a local coffee shop. 

Now, you might be thinking… flower farmer? Coffee shop? What could those two things have in common? 

On the surface, nothing. But their customer base was identical. The same people who were regulars at the coffee shop were also regulars at her flower farm. Working together just seemed like the next smart move for both businesses. 

Let me give you another example – say you’re a chiropractor and there’s a local yoga studio. Your ideal clients are the same pool of people looking for alternative wellness. 

Or maybe you own a karate studio, and there’s a family-friendly restaurant nearby. You can do a collab where kids get a free trial class when they order from the kids menu or a free dessert when they sign up. 

You get the picture. 😉

When you find a business whose ideal client looks just like yours, you’ve essentially found a warm audience that just hasn’t heard of you yet. 

And THAT’S the kind of referral network worth building.

Get Local Clients with Door Hanger Marketing

Believe it or not, door hangers are another super clever way to get local customers for your business.

(I see that skeptical look you’re giving me but stay with me for a sec. 👀 )

I have a friend who runs a thriving swimming school. One of the ways she built her client base was by doing door hangers. 

Yup, literally just walking around the neighbourhood hanging little signs on people’s doorknobs. 

This is something you see realtors doing all the time, but there’s no reason your local business can’t use this move too!

If your ideal clients live in a specific neighbourhood, getting your business literally onto their front door is about as direct as local marketing strategies can get.

Promote Your Local Business in Community Facebook Groups

Local communities LOVE Facebook groups. 

Sure, they can get kind of snarky and gossipy sometimes, but they’re also great for pitching local businesses and letting people know that your business exists. 

For example, I saw in my local Facebook group that a new Vietnamese restaurant opened up just 10 minutes away from my not-town. 

(This is reeeeally exciting when you live somewhere with exactly ONE whole store.) 

I immediately texted the local WhatsApp chat and now the whole community has rallied behind this restaurant. 

You CANNOT beat that kind of organic local buzz. 

Show Up on Google Maps with a Google Business Profile

If you have a local business and you haven’t set up your Google Business Profile yet, what are you even doing?! 

Your Google Business Profile is essentially a free online storefront where you can display your logo, business hours, and services — plus show up on Google Maps and collect customer reviews.

Just showing up on Google Maps is easily one of the most effective local marketing strategies available to you because people are literally Googling what they need every day. 

Like if you’re ever in a new city or even just want to find someplace new in your own town like a restaurant, café, dry cleaner, dog groomer, anything… Google Maps is the easiest place to look and discover what’s closest to you. 

As an added bonus, you can prompt clients after purchase to leave you a Google review. Now, you’re not just showing up on the map. You have a whole slew of reviews and testimonials that help build trust and make a great first impression before any new customer even clicks on your website. 

That alone adds incredibly valuable social proof to your business. 

➡️ Speaking of reviews, reviews and client testimonials are one of the BEST ways to help turn more followers into clients. 

Check out my Testimonials That Sell mini-course to learn how to get more worthwhile client testimonials and how to use them to create powerful posts that convert leads. 

Show Up at Local Events to Get More Local Clients

Don’t forget about local events and meetups! Both of these are AMAZING ways to meet and connect with your ideal clients in real life!

It doesn’t even have to be complicated or expensive. In fact, one of my clients is a dog trainer and will sometimes head out to the local dog park to hand out business cards and free dog treats. 

She shows up exactly where her ideal clients already hang out and makes a memorable first impression for basically zero dollars. 

Okay, so now that you know how to market your business locally, the best part about all of these local marketing strategies is that they don’t replace your online or Instagram marketing.

They work alongside it.

Global Reach for Local Sales: Why Instagram Matters for Local Businesses

If there’s one idea that every local business owner needs to hear, it’s this: 

What you actually need is global reach for local sales. 

I know what you’re thinking… “Jenna, what on earth is that supposed to mean?”

Think about it this way – even online businesses like mine intend to cast a MASSIVE net with their content knowing that only a fraction of those people will convert into clients. 

It’s like panning for gold. You stick your pan into the river and sift out all of the rocks, sticks, and sand, leaving only little gold nuggets behind. 

You need the VOLUME to find the ✨gold. ✨ 

For local business owners, it works exactly the same way except that your gold nuggets also need to be local. 

When you start using social media marketing strategies to promote your local business, you’re increasing your potential reach and getting your content in front of global AND local customers.

How the Instagram Algorithm is ACTUALLY Working in Your Favour

Here’s the thing: the Instagram algorithm isn’t as random as you might think. 

If out of everyone you’ve reached with your content, someone in your city engages with one of your posts, the algorithm takes notice. It will start showing your posts to more people connected to that person. 

That means your content will get shown to their neighbours, their friends, and people in their community – which, of course, is also YOUR community, eventually leading you to get more clients.

And the bonus side effect is local people LOVE a local celebrity!

When a local potential client finds you on Instagram and sees that you have this whole engaged audience of people from all over the world, they instantly trust you faster. You become a local celebrity with a global audience. 

All that credibility from near and far makes a HUGE impact when it comes to getting local clients through the door.

How to Get Local Clients from Instagram

The idea that social media and Instagram marketing aren’t for you because you run a local business is just simply UNTRUE. 

I’ve worked with realtors, therapists (who can only legally see clients in their own city, by the way!), dog trainers, karate schools, theatres, and comedy producers since 2019. I’ve personally run the socials for a yoga studio, a bar, and a local choir. 

Local businesses of all kinds can absolutely get clients from Instagram.

So now that we’ve established that, here are Instagram marketing tips for local businesses.

Optimize Your Instagram Bio to Show Up in Local Searches

First and foremost, you need to optimize your Instagram bio for local SEO so you can pull in all those dream local clients. 

Take a look at your bio right now. Does it say where you’re located?

If not, we need to fix that ASAP. 

When someone lands on your profile, you want them to immediately know where you are.

Just imagine someone scrolling Instagram. They stumble across your content and vibe with it right away. Then, they click over to your profile and OMG you’re in their neighbourhood! 🤩

So, go add your city or area to your bio with a little 📍 emoji (the circle pin like the one you’d drop on a Google Map, not the thumbtack one!) and just wait and see how many local clients start heading your way. 

➡️ If you want to dive even deeper into optimizing your Instagram bio, my 5 Minute Bio mini course walks you through everything you need to know to get more followers, more engagement, and more leads in just 5 minutes!

Tag Your Location on Every Instagram Post

Every single time you create a post, tag your location. 

Whether you’re posting on Facebook or Instagram, you can tag the location it was filmed or taken in. 

Think both micro AND macro here. 

Tag your physical business location if you have one. Tag your neighbourhood, your city, your region. If you filmed your content at the local Starbucks down the street, tag that Starbucks.

Every location tag is another signal to the algorithm about who should be seeing your posts.

The only thing I don’t recommend is tagging your home address. You don’t need to be telling the whole internet where you live! (Unless you run a home-based business, in which case, go nuts.)

Use Location-Based Hashtags to Reach Local Customers on Instagram

Hashtags are definitely not the you-absolutely-NEED-these-in-your-captions powerhouses that they used to be. 

BUT they’re not completely dead either. Think of them as a way to categorize your content rather than a way to go viral or get tons of visibility.

You can use hashtags to tell the algorithm who you are, what you are, where you are and what the post is about. 

It’s a small thing you can add to your posts so that they have better chances of helping you get local clients for your business. 

Again, think micro and macro. Start broad and keep going smaller and smaller like: 

#Canada ➡️ #Ontario ➡️ #Toronto ➡️ #Parkdale ➡️ #MomsOfParkdale ➡️ #ParkdaleBIA

The more specific you get, the more you’re signalling to Instagram’s algorithm exactly which community you’re a part of and which hyper-local audience you actually want.

Use Local SEO in Your Instagram Captions to Get Found by Local Clients

Another good local business social media marketing strategy is to use local SEO in your captions. 

Just mention where you are in your caption. You can find some really natural ways to do it like, “Man, this is the best pizza in Parkdale!” or “Good morning! What a beautiful day in Toronto, Canada!”

Instagram’s algorithm is constantly looking for clues about who your content is relevant to. Dropping your location into your captions is a simple form of Instagram SEO that gives the algorithm a little nudge in the right direction. 

It doesn’t actually want to show your post to someone in Timbuktu if what you’re offering is only relevant to people in your city. 

So, keep it casual, keep it conversational, and let the algorithm do the rest.

Why the Best Local Business Marketing Strategy is a Hybrid One

As someone who’s worked with hundreds of businesses (both online and local), I can personally confirm that the whole local vs. online marketing debate is kind of a grass is always greener situation.

Online business owners look at local businesses and think, “Wow, you have a storefront. People just need to drive past to notice you. The whole community rallies around you!” 

Meanwhile, local business owners are looking at online businesses going, “Yeah, but you can infinitely scale and sell to people all over the world without even manning your desk!”

Both sides have real advantages. It’s really just about embracing the ones that fit where you are in your marketing and taking full advantage of the opportunities before you.

I learned this lesson firsthand from a friend of mine years ago. 

Back in my twenties, I helped my friend Cole run his viral YouTube channel doing flash mobs. One day, he wanted to brainstorm ways to get more views. I suggested we print out flyers and go to Yonge and Dundas Square (basically the Times Square of Toronto) to hand them out on the corner. 

Cole stopped me right there. He said, “If we do that, we reach one person at a time. But if we use online marketing, one right move can get us in front of millions of people.”

That reframe changed everything for me. 

Because the answer was never local OR online. It’s local AND online. 

Use in-person marketing to build deep genuine relationships with people you bump into at the local networking breakfast. 

Use Instagram marketing for your local business to reach tens of thousands of people with a single five-second reel.

You don’t have to choose. Using both TOGETHER will help you get all of the local customers you’ve been aiming for. 

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So there you have it! If you came to this post thinking Instagram just wasn’t for you, I hope I’ve thoroughly changed your mind!

No matter what anyone else says, local business owners can ABSOLUTELY take advantage of social media marketing strategies just like any online business. 

Because as a local business owner, you now have a whole toolkit of local marketing strategies to work with: 

✅ The boots-on-the-ground tactics that online businesses simply can’t touch,

✅ AND the Instagram strategies for local businesses that put your content in front of the right people in your area. 

And now, all that’s left is to put both into action. 

If you want a proven strategy for turning your Instagram into a consistent client-generating machine – for your local business or otherwise – I’d love to show you exactly how inside my free training straight from my Magic Marketing Machine program. 

In this training, you’ll learn the proven Instagram strategy a physical therapist used to DOUBLE her client load – all without spending hours glued to your phone.