Staying Local While Having an Online Brand

A huge part of having a successful online marketing strategy is to remain a local business while still appearing big enough to have an online brand. There can be a struggle between staying local and opening your brand to the online market. Staying local keeps you in your comfort zone, but it can limit your opportunities for leads. While with your online presence, you open your business up to the whole state and beyond, bringing in new opportunities.

Before you had an online presence, you may have built your book of business through word of mouth, referrals, and the locals in your area. While it is good to keep that momentum going, turning your company onto the internet requires you to think outside of your local bubble. There’s a fine line between appearing to be small-town and appearing to be big business. Although you don’t want to lose your local appeal, you do want to build your brand to reach outside of your town. Keep in mind that you are licensed to serve your entire state, not just your town.

For example, if someone calls you for auto insurance on the other side of the state from you, your first “local instinct” may be to send that lead to an agency closer to them. Stop right there! Just because technically that lead isn’t local to your physical office location doesn’t mean you cannot serve that customer. You don’t need to see the customer in order to get them the coverage they need, so why discard such a valuable lead? Instead, take that potential customer’s information and see what you can find them for auto insurance rates in their area. You can use this as an opportunity to show the potential customer that although you are an online brand and can help those throughout the state, you’re also a local business and you understand the needs of local people. Customers will appreciate you being able to stay local while serving “non-locals.”

Think of those throughout the state you’re licensed in as your locals. You are not restricted to selling insurance within a 10 mile radius of your town, so you should be welcoming in leads from all over your state. Obviously there can be restrictions for certain products and/or areas, but don’t simply take a local only stance. That is a quick way to lose business and deter from the development of your online brand.

Remember, you now have two locations – your Virtual Insurance Office and your brick and mortar location. Finding the balance between staying local and building your online brand is all about your attitude and the attitude of your entire staff – do you have the right strategy? Tweet me @astonish_shawna and tell me how you’re doing with balancing local and online strategies.