Adapting Your Digital Marketing for Local Events and Seasons

Here’s a comprehensive guide to help elevate your local business’s online marketing presence by actively engaging with your community through targeted events and relevant occasions.

Local businesses frequently face the challenge of proving their “localness” and relevance to search engines to improve their online visibility. Demonstrating your connection to the local community can make a significant difference in search engine rankings and customer engagement.

In a previous article, we explored how local partnerships and collaborations can effectively build authority and enhance visibility. This guide will delve deeper into the importance of community engagement and participation. By involving yourself in local events and seasonal activities, you can strengthen your business’s local presence and appeal to both search engines and potential customers. Engaging with your community not only boosts your online presence but also helps in creating meaningful relationships with local customers.

Both strategies offer valuable opportunities for local businesses to create various types of content, including informational, educational, or promotional material. By engaging in these content types, businesses can effectively demonstrate their expertise, experience, and trustworthiness. This practice aligns with Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines, which emphasise the importance of these elements, known collectively as E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), in determining search rankings.

Participating in local events and addressing seasonal themes also plays a significant role in enhancing a business’s local presence. These activities help tackle crucial ranking factors such as distance and prominence, which are key signals for local search results. By actively engaging in the community and aligning content with local events, businesses can better position themselves in local search outcomes.

Furthermore, Google’s ranking algorithms are refined by both locality and personalization. The primary goal of these algorithms is to ensure that users receive the most relevant content based on their specific location and search intent. This means that content related to local events or seasonal promotions is more likely to be served to users who find it pertinent to their immediate context.

In addition, effective visibility of engaging content in search results can significantly boost a business’s online presence. Improved search rankings for relevant content can drive more targeted traffic to a business’s website, increasing the likelihood of attracting potential customers who are actively searching for related products or services.

By leveraging local events and seasonal communications, businesses can enhance their relevance and visibility in search rankings. This strategic approach not only helps in building a stronger local presence but also contributes to attracting and retaining more engaged customers.

Why Seasons Matter

Seasons play a crucial role in shaping consumer behaviour and can significantly influence purchasing patterns and service needs. As the weather changes throughout the year, so do the demands of consumers.

For instance, a small ice cream shop is likely to experience a noticeable increase in sales during the warmer summer months when people are looking for ways to cool down. Similarly, a landscaping company may see a surge in inquiries as spring arrives, with customers eager to start garden projects, or towards the end of summer when people prepare their gardens for the fall. Tax preparation and accounting services, on the other hand, generally see a spike in clients as tax season approaches, reflecting the increased need for financial services during this time.

Utilising seasonal trends effectively can also involve offering limited-time promotions or special deals. By aligning these offers with specific times of the year, businesses can create a sense of urgency and exclusivity, encouraging customers to take action before the opportunity ends. This approach not only boosts sales during peak periods but also helps businesses stay relevant and competitive in a dynamic market.

Where To Start

To create an effective local event or seasonal strategy, start by identifying events and occasions that are most relevant to your business and its customers. Think about which types of events will resonate with your local audience and look for ways to engage with them authentically.

These events could be hosted by your business, in partnership with other local businesses, or supported through local organizations. For instance, consider hosting new product launches, special promotions, educational seminars or webinars, and client appreciation events. You might also think about celebrating business milestones, participating in holiday promotions, or supporting local charity and sports events.

When planning your involvement in these events, consider the following types:

– Product launches or exclusive promotions.

– Educational events such as seminars or webinars.

– Milestone celebrations, like anniversaries or openings.

– Client appreciation gatherings.

– Seasonal promotions, such as Black Friday or Christmas.

– Charity events or community fundraisers.

– Local sports and club events.

Once you’ve identified the types of events you want to participate in, develop a detailed event plan. This plan should include:

– The goals of the event, such as the number of attendees or new leads.

– The event organizer(s) and their roles.

– The date, time, and schedule of the event.

– The location or venue where the event will take place.

– A list of speakers or presenters, if applicable.

– The budget for the event.

– Promotion strategies, including where, when, and how you will advertise the event.

– Content requirements for the event.

Having a clear and detailed plan will help ensure your events are well-organised and successful in connecting with your local audience.

Creating Event-Based Content

Participating in or hosting events offers excellent opportunities to generate valuable content for your business. After identifying the key local events and occasions relevant to your business and customers, you should tailor your content to highlight your local expertise and authority, boost your event’s visibility, and drive attendance.

Event Web Page Content

To effectively showcase your community involvement and provide easy access to event details, consider creating a dedicated Events page or adding an Events section to your About Us page on your website. This page should include all essential event information and link to relevant service pages or additional content. If you’re collaborating with other businesses or organizations, this is also a good place to feature links to their websites, which can enhance your local SEO by demonstrating your connection to the community.

Ensure this page includes an FAQ section to address common questions about the events or the participating organizations. If you’re linking to a partner’s website, try to secure a reciprocal link, as these links are valuable for search engines to verify your local relevance.

Informative Blog Posts and Articles

Based on the theme of the event, create detailed blog posts or articles with relevant images, audio, or video. These should provide useful background or educational information for potential attendees and link back to your event page and related product or service pages. For example, a landscaping company hosting a Spring event could publish a blog series on preparing gardens for the season. Similarly, a tax accountant might collaborate with a local investment advisor to co-publish an article on tax minimisation before tax season and host a joint seminar or webinar.

Google emphasises the importance of high-quality, relevant content for ranking. Events and seasonal themes naturally lend themselves to creating such content, benefiting your target audience and improving your search rankings.

Video Content

Video content is increasingly popular and effective, particularly on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Creating and sharing educational or promotional videos related to your event or seasonal changes can help your business stand out. With a mobile device, you can quickly produce and distribute authentic videos.

Optimize your YouTube videos to appear in both YouTube and Google search results, as Google owns YouTube. Embed these videos on your event pages and in blog posts to support your content strategy and enhance visibility.

Social Media Content

For local businesses that have established a social media presence, it’s crucial to share all new web, blog, and video content through these platforms. Social media should be viewed as an extension of your offline community, where you can engage with your audience and promote your content effectively.

The goal of social media posting is to ensure that your content is seen, read, liked, shared, and clicked on. Every post should have clear calls to action (CTAs) and include links to relevant event details.

When creating social media posts related to specific events or seasons, use unique and relevant hashtags, such as #SpringGardenPrep or #LocalEventName. Hashtags help in searching and categorizing content and also serve as branding tools that connect your posts to the event and location.

During events, encourage attendees to share their experiences or comments on social media using the designated hashtags. You can even create a reward system for the most engaging posts to boost participation and interaction.

Sharing these user-generated posts on your own social media channels provides an opportunity to showcase your local expertise and build trust with your audience.

Back To Partnering

Partnering with local influencers, like-minded businesses, or organisations can be an effective strategy for managing the workload associated with hosting events or running joint promotions. Such partnerships not only share responsibilities but also help extend your reach and introduce your brand to new audiences who may not be familiar with it.

To start, identify organisations or individuals who have a similar target audience to yours. Look for those whose values, goals, and interests align with your own. Once you have identified potential partners, approach them with a clear proposal outlining the benefits of collaboration. Emphasise how the partnership will be mutually beneficial and how it will achieve shared goals and desired outcomes.

Collaborative efforts can include co-hosting events, running joint promotions, or creating co-branded content. These activities can enhance your visibility and credibility in the local market while leveraging the established networks and influence of your partners. By working together, you can optimise resources, increase engagement, and drive more impactful results for both parties.

Measure And Analyze Everything

The effectiveness of any digital marketing strategy is significantly influenced by the analysis of various metrics.

To evaluate how well your events and campaigns are performing, it’s essential to monitor several key indicators. These include organic search visibility, which measures how well your content ranks in search engine results, and the performance of paid ads, which provides insights into their effectiveness in driving traffic and conversions. Social media engagement metrics, such as likes, shares, and comments, reflect how well your content resonates with your audience. Additionally, tracking website visits can show how your event or campaign influences overall site traffic. By analysing these metrics, you can identify which aspects of your events were successful and which areas need improvement, enabling you to make informed adjustments for future campaigns.

Moreover, obtaining direct feedback from participants can be highly beneficial. After your event, consider sending out surveys to attendees to gather their opinions on their experience. Ask questions about what they found most valuable, what they would have liked to see done differently, and any other suggestions they might have. This direct feedback is crucial as it demonstrates that you value their opinions and are committed to improving future events. It also helps you tailor your content and strategies to better meet the needs and preferences of your audience, ultimately leading to more successful and engaging events in the future.

Get Eventing

By taking a comprehensive approach to incorporating local events and seasonal campaigns into their marketing strategies, local businesses can build stronger ties with their communities. This approach helps improve their visibility and meet Google’s standards for expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness, and relevance (E-A-T-T). Tailoring content to these local and seasonal factors can drive steady growth.

Google aims to provide users with personalised and relevant local results. Businesses that are actively engaged and consistent in their efforts are more likely to be rewarded with better visibility.

Maintaining consistency and adapting based on data are essential for achieving long-term success in local marketing.