Local Marketing in Suffolk (11 ideas)

Suffolk is a fantastic county; we have some of the best scenery and beaches in the UK, historic towns, the UK's smallest pub, and Ed Sheeran grew up here!

But, how do you market your business and get it in front of the people of Suffolk?

There's almost too many places you can market your business, so picking the right places and spending money in the right areas is really important.

The web is full of local marketing ideas, but what's the best local marketing tactics for Suffolk and Bury St Edmunds? Find out below!

Local Marketing Ideas for Bury St Edmunds

Want your business to grow in Bury St Edmunds? Use the following tactics.

Get listed on the Visit Bury St Edmunds directory

The most visited directory in Bury St Edmunds and the surrounding area is the Visit Bury St Edmunds directory. It costs £125 a year, but the Visit Bury St Edmunds site is a high-authority site that will benefit your website's SEO and the visitors to it outweigh all of the other directories by far.

Register to Menta's Business Directory

Menta is Suffolk's best business support network, with office space, mentoring, and networking events. Their recently launched business directory is another string to their bow and we highly recommend you register for their directory.

The support offered by Menta is unrivalled, get involved with the community and support other business owners in Suffolk.

Ensure you have a Google My Business profile

The most prominent position on the world's favourite search engine, Google My Business is essential for all businesses, big or small. Google My Business helps businesses be seen on Google Search and on Google Maps too and allows you to show crucial information about your business directly on the Google Search Engine Results Page.

It's easy to sign-up for Google My Business and the benefits are huge.

Consider Offline Marketing in Magazines

There's plenty of magazines and local flyers that reach people all around Bury St Edmunds, and they're cheap to advertise in too. There's something very powerful about having your business printed in a magazine, no matter the size of your ad. 

Local marketing in magazines is a broader brand awareness approach so don't expect results straight away. The goal here is to be front-of-mind when your audience needs the service, and then they'll get in touch with you.

Use Google Ads

Google Ads can be surprisingly cheap, with successful campaigns possible with as little as £5 a day. Consider using a Google Smart Ad campaign if you do not have the budget to employ a digital marketing agency (such as us!) to help you optimise your ads.

Google Search Ads target people on the Search Results page, so it's really relevant as your ads will only show on keywords that you choose.

Consider Local Sponsorship

Get your logo printed on your local rugby team's shirt, get your logo on their website, or sponsor the matchday ball, local sponsorship has many options. 

The benefits of local sponsorship is brand awareness and winning goodwill amongst your local audience.

Sponsoring a local team isn't a quick win for securing new business, but what it will achieve is positive brand sentiment, brand awareness, and the possibility of referrals from players and fans to their contacts.

Local Marketing Ideas for Suffolk

Grow your business across Suffolk with the following tactics.

Ensure your Google My Business is Optimised

Google My Business helps your business be seen for relevant searches, so it's essential that you show which area you serve on your Google My Business settings.

It's simple to add, but makes a big difference to your visibility to local searchers.

Add Schema to your Website

This one's a bit more complicated, but if you're not using Schema on your website you need to! Adding location schema to your website will help it rank for searches in that area, so make sure you add the right location.

The Search Engine Journal have created a handy guide to using Schema, or you can contact us and we'll help you optimise your business locally.

Advertise in Suffolk Newspapers

The two biggest local news websites and papers in Suffolk are the Suffolk News and the East Anglian Daily Times. Both of these publications could be a great source of business for your company! Advertising isn't going to be as cheap as social media ads, nor as targetted, but for brand awareness on a consumer brand, it'll work wonders.

Advertising in newspapers isn't for everyone, if you're a particularly niche brand you may want to try sector-specific magazines instead, if you wanted to try print.

Use Guerilla Marketing Tactics

Often talks about, but rarely executed properly, Guerilla Marketing is the art of executing a marketing campaign at a fraction of the cost it would normally cost, but achieve all the benefits of an expensive campaign. 

Sounds easy? Think again. The best guerilla marketing is well thought out and planned, see these great examples of guerilla marketing from HubSpot.

Here's some easy and cheap ideas for a new bar launch...

• Buy 500 bottle opener magnets with your brand and date of your opening on, and stick to every magnetic surface around your area. Offer a free/discounted drink for each one shown to your bar staff!
• Doing bar nibbles? Get a big tray of them and a QR code to your listing on Google Maps and stand outside a competitor bar! 
• Looking to attract a younger audience (18-24)? Get a bottle of tequila, some branded headbands, and give them away to students leaving their students' union on a Saturday night. Get them to put the headband onand no-matter where they go, your brand will be there.

Guerilla marketing is hard to get right, but brainstorming ideas is a fun activity and can lead to some fantastic ideas!

Write For Your Local Publication or Group

If you have something valuable to say, there's a chance your local publication, group, business support group, or networking group would want to put it on their website or in their next printed publication.

By offering up your expertise for free and writing helpful content for your audience, your brand will be top of mind when it comes to that subject again. 

Accountants can write about financial advice, estate agents about selling advice, solicitors about 10 things to insure your business against, the list goes on.

Your local marketing checklist (priority order)

Local marketing is a challenge for any business, but if done right it can reap rewards for years to come. Here's the order that you should tackle your local marketing in:

1. Setup & optimise your Google My Business Profile
2. Register to Local Directories
3. Add Local Schema to your website
4. Sponsor a local team
5. Use targeted Google Ads
6. Offline marketing in newspapers and magazines
7. Write valuable content for your local business group
8. Investigate guerilla marketing tactics

We hope this has been useful for you, if you need a hand, get in touch.