This marketing checklist for businesses in Philadelphia is made up of 5 different key components every Philadelphia based business should consider when building their marketing campaign. It includes:

1. Brand Awareness
2. Community Engagement
3. Local SEO
4. Google My Business
5. Special Bonus

There are a few things that we’re known for in Philadelphia and that’s Cheesesteaks, the Eagles, and crude humor. So how do you set yourself apart from your competition if you’re not a cheesesteak shack or an Eagles outfitter? You need to be clever and you need to appeal to the average Philadelphian. Philadelphia has a very unique culture and if you can buy into the culture, the consumer will buy into your business. One of our clients is a prime example, Lokal Hotels. They’ve shown they’re a business in Philadelphia that wears their Philadelphia pride on their sleeve. They’ve tied in the term “Jawn”, a word native to Philadelphia and turned it into an incredibly clever marketing stunt. See below: 

Philadelphia is arguably one of the most close-knit communities in the entire United States of America. While this is amazing from the perspective of someone living in Philadelphia, it can be a huge headache for a small business owner. You have to constantly provide value to and communicate with your entire audience. That could mean a daily newsletter, personalized responses on social media, or handwritten notes delivered to their door, it all depends on what you have the time for. Regardless, you need to keep up with your audience, otherwise they might turn on you as quickly as they turn on the Eagles after a dropped pass. A well-known Philadelphia Non-profit that does a great job providing value is YIP (Young Involved Philadelphia). Every week they share upcoming events and initiatives for you or your business to get involved in. This type of content is perfect for a community that likes to be as involved as Philly.

The 3rd aspect of the marketing checklist for businesses in Philadelphia is Local Search Engine Optimization. This is arguably one of the most important aspects of your organic marketing campaign. But what exactly is Local SEO? Let me give you a visualization: your business is located in Center City, Philadelphia and you service all areas of the city. However, your website only has content targeting “Philadelphia” as a whole. As a result, your website and your content isn’t ranking in local search results because of the high competition for the query “Your Industry | Philadelphia”. A solution would be to create “Local SEO Pages” or “Geopages” for all of the major areas of Philadelphia. With well optimized, keyword-rich content, geared specifically towards each of the specific locations you would like to rank in, you’re almost guaranteed to rank on the first page of Google for at least a few of the Local SEO pages.

Google My Business is another key contributor to Local SEO and certainly something you need to check off the list. Essentially, it’s the equivalent of your Yellow Pages listing from 20 years ago, but with infinitely more capabilities and benefits. Now that all of those Yellow Pages books are in the trash or buried in storage, it’s important that you’re listed on the internet everywhere you can be. That starts with Google My Business. In local search results, the Google Map Pack is the closest thing to the top of the page besides paid Google ads.

That means if your Google My Business is the most optimized in your industry and area, it’s likely that your business will be seen first before anyone else’s. Does that sound like an advantage? It sure does. Lucky for you, we’ve put together a guide for optimizing your Google My Business.

In this day and age you need to accommodate the lazy to be a successful business owner. You also need to do something that other businesses are not. Luckily, our partners at Momentum 360 have just the thing; 3D Virtual Tours. Not only do these tours make it easier for consumers or clients to check out your business during their decision phase, it also gives you the upper hand against those businesses without a virtual tour. It’s arguably one of the most essential components your business could implement in its marketing campaign. Not to mention, it creates tons of content opportunities! Follow this link to see some of our work.

Now that you’ve been introduced to the 5 key components of a successful marketing campaign, it’s time for you to put it all together. Head to the drawing board and plan out your Brand Awareness strategy, your Community Engagement approach, optimize your Google My Business, and build out those Local SEO Pages. And if you really want to take your campaign to the next level, go ahead and schedule that virtual tour!