Leveraging Hyperlocal

Because of the pandemic, the distance at which we venture outside of our own neighborhoods has naturally drastically decreased.  Not only for visiting friends and family and commuting or traveling for work, but for our purchasing habits as well.  Of course, there has been a dramatic shift to e-commerce, and businesses all over the world are adapting to that shift, but there are plenty of businesses that cannot shift to e-commerce.  A local coffeeshop, for example, depends on in-person sales and many businesses like it are sustained through touchpoint with their community.  In a situation where businesses not only depend on the strength of community word-of-mouth but need to stay afloat during the pandemic at a time when tourism is down and the word-of-mouth will not reach as many people, a hyperlocal marketing strategy can be very useful.  

Hyperlocal marketing targets potential consumers in geographically restricted areas and messaging is very specific to that small area.  A great example is the “near me” search on Google, which is probably the most accessible and commonly used form of leveraging the hyperlocal strategy.  According to a Wordstream blog posted this summer on the subject, near-me searches have been increasing at a rapid YOY pace since 2014.  But how else can businesses take advantage of hyperlocal?  Another key element to successful hyperlocal marketing are strengthening online product reviews and making them readily accessible to local markets of consumers with the intention of inspiring in-store purchases.  Another effective strategy is advertising on podcasts or publications that are particularly popular within a small geographic location.  New York City is ripe for hyperlocal marketing because not only is there a strong city-wide culture, but many subcultures specific to smaller boroughs, neighborhoods, and even zip codes within neighborhoods.  Businesses can leverage channels beloved and/or widely utilized by their particular community to get the word out and encourage in-person patronage from their prospective customers.  

source:

https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2018/01/25/hyperlocal-marketing