“Think global & act local” should be the growth mantra of businesses looking to increase their traction. Targeting local communities can open a whole new avenue of business opportunities for SMEs, startups and business.

Here are 5 effective strategies to boost your business in your local community.

1. Invest in local SEO

List your business in local business listings. The power of local businesses is immense & search engines and social media outlets are leveraging this capability.

Consumers search for local businesses online, so it's vital to have a robust online presence. Most of the major search engines allow you to list your business for free, so that your geographic location and contact details appear when someone searches for your business/type of business and town or city. Sign up for Google Places, Bing and Yahoo.

Make sure your website is optimised for local searches by using the name of your town, city or region in the page description, page title and in the content of the page.

2. Leverage social media

To access & reach your local community, harness the power of social media. Create your business page on various social media channels, & keep your customers up-to-date on your products, special offers and discounts.

Make sure you sign up on GlobalLinker, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to list and market your business.

The best part is that most of these services are free!

3. Offer discounts

Offering attractive deals and discounts is an effective way to lure customers. Depending on your customer demographic and product type, you can offer special discounts to students, senior citizens or minors.

4. Participate in events

Meeting your customers face-to-face is a great way to build your business credibility. Participate in local events to create awareness about your product or service. You may offer free promotional products or demonstrations of your service and collect the contact details of potential customers to keep in touch with them.

5. Get recommendations

Word of mouth is a powerful tool. People trust the recommendations of family and friends. Go the extra mile in your efforts to ensure that your customers are happy and if any grievances crop up, they are quickly addressed. This will ensure that you build a positive reputation for your business and will ensure future referrals. You can even run reward programmes for referrals, to ensure consistent customers through recommendations.