Are you a small business owner? If yes, would you always choose a local SEO agency to do your digital marketing? Tough question, but no worries, you don’t have to answer it right now. Maybe wait until after reading this article.
You’ve probably already came across some e-mails or even phone calls from various marketing firms offering you amazing results online, such as showing up on first page of Google within 3 weeks or getting your company listed in hundreds of directories or other similar seductive propositions. What they usually have in common is that the price they ask for these services is not a huge investment.
Most of these companies have really good and persuasive sales people so you might have been tempted to try their services. It is difficult to decide especially if the company is not local and in many cases you cannot be quite sure where it’s actually based. Even if it is a legitimate firm with proven history of clients, there are many factors to look at.
So before you jump into this SEO business, take into consideration the points below to make sure that you will get the best match for your specific requirements and if it’s better to choose a local digital marketing company or a global one.
- Locals know the local
 Most of the small businesses are interested in attracting customers from their area or specifically from the city they are based in. Every bigger city or municipality has its local specialties though.
People who live and work there know the nuances of weather, understand the language popular in the area and are familiar with the location specific slang.
Here in Calgary if you say something like “I got stuck on Deerfoot this morning. Again.” everyone knows what you’re talking about, because who did not get stuck there at least once, right? Do you think someone in Los Angeles or Ahmedabad would have the same understanding?
This is one of the reasons why locally based marketing companies can help better their fellow local businesses with their online presence.
They speak the language of your potential customers and know how to attract them in order to get local results.
- Personal approach
 Multinational or remote companies might know your website and social media profiles, but do they really know You? Are you a real person with real life and business problems for them or just another account number in their portfolio?
The technologies are very advanced these days allowing us to see each other on the screen despite the distances but discussing important or sensitive subjects is always better in person when you can get the full attention of attendees and follow the body language of the other person.
Communicating face to face also prevents misunderstandings that often come up in phone or email conversations. And let’s be honest, certain things, particularly the unpleasant ones are much easier to write in an email than to say in person, right?
- Get the word of mouth
 There are many different ways to raise awareness about what you’re doing and getting a recommendation from a friend or acquaintance is usually the final push your prospect needs to become a customer.
Your local SEO company, for the most part, has more local clients and a micro network could be established recommending each other’s services/products.
Good digital marketing agency also most likely will have a Facebook group that you can be part of to promote your company services and you can bet that the employees of your local SEO agency will always talk to their friends and family about your business, thus further widening the net.
The local SEO agency may even be an organizer or member of local networking groups and invite you to present your business there or to become a member as well. Again this is only possible and makes sense in the local frame.Â
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- Get what you need fast
 Another advantage of working with local digital marketing company is that it’s just a phone call away.
Is your website down? Did you make mistake in your promotion offer and instead of 10% off it says 20%? Or you just got a great idea for your next tradeshow and you need to start working on it like yesterday?
Well, try to phone your digital marketing agency in Bangladesh and see how they can help you when there is 2 am when you call. Before they fix what needs to be fixed and do what has to be done it can cost you a lot of money and frustration and maybe some customers that you will never see again.
Your local agency will always be there to support you when you need it.
To set up a short notice meeting with your local SEO company is easy, definitely much more effective and less time consuming.
- Support your community
 Wherever you live, you have neighbours, friends, your kids’ school and their little buddies as well as your favourite store or coffee shop that you go to every Sunday with your best friend. You would be probably sad if you came there one day just to find out it’s closed down.
To make local small businesses survive local people have to support them. They bring money to the community and create jobs. Compared to multinational brands and stores, locally owned businesses give much larger share of their revenue back into the local economy, enriching the whole community.
So by choosing local agency, shopping locally, recommending local services that you like or taking classes at your community center you actually contribute to the well-being of your neighbourhood and building stronger community. You can find more info on how to choose a local agency here.
Most of you have probably seen different variations of these words, it may sound cliché but it pretty much says it all.
When you buy from a local company
You help a family pay their mortgage
You help a little girl take dance lessons
You help a college student pay tuition
You help a mom provide for her family
You help someone reach their dreams.
P.S. Oh, one more thing. If something sounds too good to be true, it’s probably not true and if some offer looks too good to be legitimate, it’s probably not 🙂
P.P.S. Let us know your opinion on local vs. global in the comments section below.
