More often than ever are consumer decisions driven by impressions on smartphones and laptops. In fact, over 90% of consumers look for a product or service online and 78% are likely to purchase within 24 hours. It’s evident that there is a lot to win online for local businesses and the vast majority of small business owners understand the importance of online marketing. Yet, why is it that this group is so heavily underserved?

The war on consumer attention

(Online) Marketing has become technical, complicated and constantly evolving, making it a true skill and specialism. All while brands and businesses are fiercely competing with each other to win consumer attention online. The demand for expert marketing personnel and services is extremely high, driving wages and pricing up. For small businesses, hiring marketing personnel is out of the equation and marketing agencies focus on serving the bigger customers, with bigger budgets. The few agencies that do serve small and medium businesses typically start their pricing around €1000 – €1500 per month (in the best case). 

Lack of online visibility and conversions

Online marketing efforts have become too time consuming and complicated for most small and business owners. With the rise of technology and AI, some are able to manage their online presence but this still requires time and knowledge. Most entrepreneurs look to outsource their online marketing to specialized agencies but this has become costly. The few that do, typically see their budgets evaporate on short-term and expensive online advertisements.

As a result, most small businesses are lacking online visibility and struggle to convert online searches into customers willing to visit their business locations. 

Focus on what matters most

If you’re a local business owner, the best way to attract new customers is to have fully optimized Google and Apple Business Profiles. This boosts your rankings on Google search and even more significantly on Google Maps (Maps is most used by local consumers). Optimizing your online business profiles is time consuming and you need to know what you’re doing, but it will result in long-term results for your business.

The make or break moment

Today, almost all your potential customers are looking for products and services online. They utilize Google search but even more often Google Maps to find businesses in specific areas. In the future, even more consumers will rely on Google and other search engines. As local marketing is a long-term play that requires profile updates on a weekly basis, it has never been more relevant for local businesses to invest in this now. As of 2024, the vast majority of local businesses have not optimized their online profiles, so there is tons to win! However, with the rise of automated technology more and more businesses will adopt this effective strategy, wait longer and your risk that your competitors will be another year to two years of optimization ahead of you.

About Toppi:

At Toppi, we aim to bridge the gap between online impressions and real-world actions for local businesses. We are a local marketing software provider that offers a full-stack online marketing service for small local businesses. There is no need to understand the software, or to stay up-to-date on the ever changing search engine algorithms.

Our experts manage hundreds of small businesses from our Toppi dashboards on a daily basis. A cost-effective solution that actually works, tailored to your needs.

Curious? Learn more on: www.toppi.io/single-location