10 Super Examples of Inbound Marketing for Local Businesses

inbound marketing for local businesses

There are thousands of articles on the internet that will tell you how to implement a local inbound marketing strategy.

However, a surprisingly small number of them offer real-life examples to show you what they’re talking about.

If you’re looking for guidance on how to structure your own local inbound marketing campaign, these 10 examples should provide you with plenty of inspiration.

Guidance on how to structure your own local inbound marketing campaign.

Village Family Clinic

The Village Family Clinic is a multi-specialty medical facility in Hackettstown, NJ. Their inbound marketing strategy consists of a website, a blog, accounts on three social media platforms, a YouTube channel, an email newsletter, and profiles on Google My Business and Yelp.

Website

The Village Family Clinic website is the hub for their online presence. It includes the following elements, all of which help them with their inbound marketing efforts.

  • Prominent contact information. It’s easy to contact and find this business, as they include their phone number and address at the very top of their home page.
  • Multiple About pages. Not only does the Village Family Clinic have an About Us page for their business, but they also have individual bios for each doctor practicing there.
  • Appointment request form. Many consumers don’t like calling to schedule appointments. Village Family Clinic accommodates those consumers by offering a “Request Appointment” form.
  • Consumers trust the opinions of other consumers over the claims of businesses. By including a testimonials section on their website, the clinic can show potential patients what other people think of them.
  • Additional useful information. Their website was designed with the interested consumer in mind, as it contains a host of additional info that someone thinking about making an appointment might want to know; accepted insurance plans and a comprehensive list of services are two examples.

Blog

The Village Family Clinic blog has a large number of posts about a variety of topics related to healthcare. These posts bring in traffic from Google and also give the clinic content to share on social media.

Social media

The Village Family Clinic uses the following social media platforms to great effect:

Facebook is the clinic’s most active social media account. With over 2,700 followers and daily posts that receive a decent level of engagement, their Facebook page definitely brings additional patients in the door.

Their Instagram and Twitter accounts have significantly less reach, but as it only takes a minute to post something, the time investment in maintaining these accounts is likely still worthwhile.

YouTube

The Village Family Clinic YouTube channel is chock full of helpful content. While the channel only has about 100 subscribers, some of their most popular videos have view counts in the tens of thousands.

These video views are likely from ad runs or social media shares, which indicates the presence of a YouTube channel has benefited the practice, even though the channel doesn’t have much of an organic following.

Email newsletter

The Village Family Clinic also has an email newsletter. They typically send notifications of new blog content, though they also use the channel to send promotional messages to their email list.

Roto-Rooter

Roto-Rooter is a national company.

Roto-Rooter is a national company with a large network of local subsidiaries placed across the United States. Their inbound marketing strategy consists of a website, a blog, accounts on five social media platforms, a YouTube channel, an email newsletter, and accounts on Google My Business and Yelp.

Website

The Roto-Rooter website allows visitors to find the Roto-Rooter facility closest to them easily. The first thing a visitor sees is the company’s phone number and a search box that allows the visitor to input their zip code.

In addition to a home page that has been optimized for lead generation, the Robo-Rooter website has the following useful elements.

  • A “Schedule Service” link in the first navigational menu slot. Robo-Rooter’s main goal is to get website visitors to schedule a plumbing or water cleanup service. This is made abundantly clear by the phone number and zip code search box prominently displayed on the home page and is reinforced by the fact that the first item on the menu is a link to the “Schedule Service” page.
  • A list of locations. As Roto-Rooter is a company with a few different locations across the country, consumers who want to use their service need to find the location nearest to them. Roto-Rooter makes that easy by placing a link to their “Locations” page in the second slot on their main menu.
  • A list of services. Like Village Family Clinic, Roto-Rooter recognizes the importance of telling visitors exactly what services they offer.
  • A series of DIY guides for fixing plumbing problems. While Roto-Rooter ultimately wants consumers to hire one of their plumbers, they are still following the basic principle of successful inbound marketing: be helpful. By offering DIY guides on fixing plumbing problems yourself, they are establishing trust with the reader and increasing the likelihood that website visitors choose Roto-Rooter whenever they have a plumbing problem they can’t fix themselves.

Blog

Robo-Rooter has a comprehensive blog on which they post helpful articles about plumbing, appliance repair, and other topics related to their work.

These blog posts are optimized for ranking in the organic search results, and Roto-Rooter likely generates a substantial number of leads from people who find their website after looking up a problem on Google.

Social media

Roto-Rooter uses the following social media platforms to nurture leads and engage with existing customers.

The content they post on social media includes video guides, funny images and memes, newly posted blog content, relevant industry news, and interviews with employees. The wide array of content Roto-Rooter produces and posts is honestly exemplary, and many companies could take some notes from their social media marketing playbook.

YouTube

Roto-Rooter also runs a YouTube channel. With more than 70,000 subscribers and millions of views on their most popular videos, it’s safe to say their YouTube marketing endeavor has been relatively successful.

The content Roto-Rooter posts on YouTube includes video guides on how to fix common plumbing problems, funny skit videos designed to go viral and increase brand awareness, and an introductory video that explains what Roto-Rooter does.

Email newsletter

Roto-Rooter also has an email newsletter. The content they send in this newsletter is similar to what they have on their blog and YouTube channel. Plumbing tips and promotional content make up the bulk of their email newsletter.

Addison Auto Center

The Addison Auto Center is an auto repair and body shop in Denver, CO. Their inbound marketing strategy consists of a website, a blog, two social media profiles, and accounts on Google My Business and Yelp.

Website

The Addison Auto Center website is another excellent example of how to design a local business website to be helpful while still making an effort to generate leads. Here are a few essential website features they incorporate into their design.Looking to accelerate your social media marketing?

  • A prominent “Call Us” button. Browsing the web on your mobile phone is becoming increasingly common with each passing year. By adding a bright yellow “Call Us” button to the top of their website, the Addison Auto Center makes it easy for mobile users to call and ask questions or schedule an appointment.
  • A slideshow of pictures showing the building and staff. One effective inbound marketing strategy is to humanize your brand as much as possible. By displaying a slideshow of their building and the employees that work there on the website’s home page, the Addison Auto Center is reminding consumers that they are a local business composed of real humans just like them.
  • A list of services. Any business that offers multiple services should tell consumers exactly what they offer on their website. The Addison Auto Center does just that by placing a link to their Services page in the main menu.
  • A link to their reviews. With a bit of web design savvy, you can embed Google and Yelp reviews directly on your website. Addison did just that and consequently made it easy for visitors to see how trusted they are.

Blog

The content on the Addison Auto Center blog includes a combination of helpful guides designed to generate organic search traffic and articles written specifically about the local community. A few examples of local-centric posts include a guide to driving the national parks in the Denver area, a post about an upcoming back-to-school drive, and an article about the history of the Auto Center.

Writing and sharing local-centric content is an excellent idea for local businesses, as social media followers will often find it more relevant and interesting than other types of content.

While these kinds of articles won’t generate much organic search traffic, that’s okay. Most organic blog traffic will come from people who aren’t local to your area. So, unless you have an online component to your business, these visitors will be worthless from a revenue perspective.

Social media

Based on their relatively low follower counts, Addison is still working on building their social media presence. That’s okay, though; they’re making an effort to post every day. As consistency is one of the key elements of social media success, Addison’s consistency in posting despite not having much of a following is an excellent example for businesses to follow.

Additional web presence

Yelp

The Addison Auto Center Yelp page is claimed and has been updated by the business to provide a comprehensive list of their services. Consumers who view their Yelp page will see exactly what they have to offer, and those who are interested can view their phone number or visit their website from the Yelp page.

Mayfield Florist

Mayfield Florist is a flower shop located in Tucson, AZ.

Mayfield Florist is a flower shop located in Tucson, AZ. Their inbound marketing strategy consists of a website, a blog, accounts on two social media platforms, and profiles on Google My Business and Yelp.

Website

The Mayfield Florist website is heavily geared toward promoting their online sales. This is a smart choice if you have a business with a product that can be shipped to anyone willing to buy it, as it expands your reach far beyond the local community you’re based in.

Here are a few of the ways their website is optimized for online sales.

  • The menu is almost entirely composed of different flower types. Many local businesses have pretty similar links on their website menu: an About page, a list of services, a link to their blog, etc. This is not the case with Mayfield Florist. Their menu consists of different categories of flowers: birthday flowers, wedding flowers, sympathy flowers, etc.
  • The homepage displays a slideshow. This slideshow consists of a photo of the Mayfield team and some of their most popular flower options. Both of these have a purpose: the photo of the team humanizes the brand, and the photos of the flowers further promote the products they have for sale online.

Blog

Like any blog designed with inbound marketing in mind, the Mayfield Florist blog has content geared toward ranking on Google and becoming popular on social media.

These articles are good examples of content made to rank on Google, as they are targeting specific keywords people might type in:

And here are some articles that will perform better on social media. It’s unlikely anyone would find these articles by typing something into Google. However, the titles and engaging photos will likely attract attention on Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms.

Social media

Mayfield Florist uses their social accounts to share their latest bouquets. They also share their latest blog posts, though the images of bouquets tend to get the most engagement.

Cowboys AC

Cowboys AC is an air conditioning and heating company located in San Antonio, TX. Their inbound marketing strategy consists of a website, a blog, accounts on two social media profiles, an email newsletter, and profiles on Google My Business and Yelp.

Website

Like the websites of many service-based businesses, the Cowboys AC website is designed to get visitors to reach out via an online form or by calling a phone number.

Here are a couple of the more notable elements of their website.

  • Prominent advertisement of their 24/7 emergency service. No matter what industry your business is in, it’s important to stand out from the competition by highlighting your unique selling points. Cowboys AC does this by prominently advertising their 24/7 emergency HVAC service at the top of their website.
  • A testimonials page. If you scroll down past the initial information request form, the next item on the home page is a list of testimonials from clients. Making it easy to find reviews of your business is important, as it will increase the likelihood that a prospect becomes a lead.

Blog

The Cowboys AC blog is another blog that does what it should: attract traffic from the search results and provide content for sharing on social media. Here are some of the most recent articles posted:

Social media

Cowboys AC uses its Facebook and Twitter accounts to share video reviews from clients and the most recent blog posts.

Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort

Mammoth Mountain is a ski resort located in Mammoth Lakes, CA. Their inbound marketing strategy includes a website, accounts on three social media platforms, a YouTube channel, and profiles on Google My Business and Yelp.

Website

Mammoth Mountain is a ski resort located in Mammoth Lakes, CA.

The Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort website is a helpful and informative place for people interested in visiting Mammoth Mountain to find a wide variety of information.

  • Ticket prices
  • Ski/Snowboard lesson information
  • Rental information
  • Lodging information

Social media

Mammoth Mountain relies heavily on social media to bring traffic to their website and visitors to their resort. As skiing and snowboarding are primarily visual activities, sharing awesome images and videos of people performing these winter sports can generate a lot of social engagement.

YouTube

The Mammoth Mountain YouTube channel is filled with skiing/snowboarding montages and footage of the lodge and surrounding mountain. Anyone interested in visiting Mammoth Mountain will find this YouTube channel extremely helpful.

Barcade

Barcade is a company that owns a series of bar arcades across the United States. They have locations in Brooklyn, Jersey City, Los Angeles, and six other cities. Their inbound marketing strategy consists of a website, a blog, accounts on three social media platforms, an email newsletter, a mobile app, and profiles on Google My Business and Yelp.

Website

The Barcade website is designed to direct visitors to the Barcade location nearest them. The main menu bar is composed of the nine cities Barcade has a location in.

Clicking on one of these cities will take you to a different website explicitly made for that Barcade location. The city-centric sites have specific information about that location, such as drink menus, operating hours, and ongoing promotions.

Social media

Want to learn how Dr. Shalabi was able to gain 77 new patients?

Barcade uses social media very effectively. Their most popular account is Instagram, which makes sense given the younger demographic they’re targeting. The content they post typically consists of new arcade games, the different drinks they have on tap, and behind-the-scenes stuff like DJ playlists.

Mobile app

Barcade also has a mobile app that allows users to keep track of current tap lists, promotional events, and high scores on certain arcade games.

Basil Bandwagon

Basil Bandwagon is a health food store located in Clinton, NJ. Their inbound marketing strategy includes a website, a blog, accounts on four social media platforms, an email newsletter, and profiles on Google My Business and Yelp.

Website

The Basil Bandwagon website is an excellent example of what a local, niche grocery website should look like.

  • Their homepages slider displays seasonal meals and deals.
  • Their menu offers links to content relevant to local consumers. An events page, an “order online” page, and information about their rewards program are all included at the top of the website.
  • An embedded Google Maps feature near the bottom of the site makes it easy for website visitors to navigate to the store.

Blog

The Basil Bandwagon blog is geared toward content that works well on social media. Here are some example blog posts.

Social media

As food is another topic that is primarily visual, Basil Bandwagon has a lot of success posting photos of new products and the outcomes of some of their favorite recipes.

They also share posts from their blog, post photos of their most loyal customers, and provide updates on promotions and events that could affect store operating hours.

East Dallas Vet Clinic is an animal hospital located in Dallas, TX

East Dallas Vet Clinic

The East Dallas Vet Clinic is an animal hospital located in Dallas, TX. Their inbound marketing strategy consists of a website, a blog, accounts on three social media platforms, and profiles on Google My Business and Yelp.

Website

Healthcare providers of all kinds need to ensure their web presence evokes a sense of authenticity and professionalism. And yes, that includes animal healthcare, too.

The East Dallas Vet Clinic website more than succeeds in that endeavor. The very first thing you see after loading the home page is a high-quality photo of the veterinary staff. A message also proclaims that the clinic has been “providing the best care for over 20 years.”

If you scroll down a bit, you’ll see a photo with the full staff of the clinic, which shows an impressive array of over 30 people.

Not only do these photos and messages humanize the East Dallas Vet Clinic brand, but they also create an initial sense of trust in the website visitor. Any business that has been in operation for over 20 years and has a staff of more than 30 people clearly knows what they’re doing. This clinic leverages its staff size and longevity by making them one of the main focuses of their web presence.

Here are some of the other standout features of the East Dallas Vet Clinic website.

  • An About Us page. About Us pages are useful for all businesses, but they’re especially helpful for healthcare businesses. People don’t want to entrust the well-being of their loved ones to a service they don’t fully trust. By including an About page that provides some background on the clinic and the veterinarians who practice there, the East Dallas Vet Clinic can further establish the sense of trust they began building with the photos on their home page.
  • A Services page. I’ve already discussed the value of Services pages at length; so I won’t go into too much detail here. However, I want to highlight how comprehensive the clinic’s Services page is. They offer about 50 specific veterinary services, many of which the average person wouldn’t expect a veterinary clinic to offer. By mentioning they offer these services on their website, the clinic can bring in additional business they might not have gotten otherwise.

Blog

The East Dallas Vet Clinic blog is yet another example of a local business doing blogging the right way. Some content will rank on Google, while other content will do well on social media. Here are a few examples.

Social media

The clinic shares different types of content, depending on the platform they’re using. They primarily post funny images, comics, and quick tidbits of information on Twitter and Instagram, while their Facebook is used for blog posts more than image-based content.

Ben’s Roofing

Ben’s Roofing is a commercial roofing company located in San Francisco, CA. Their inbound marketing strategy includes a website, a blog, accounts on two social media platforms, a YouTube channel, and profiles on Google My Business and Yelp.

Website

The Ben’s Roofing website is just another reaffirmation of the essential components of a local business website. The menu contains links to an About page, a Services page, a Contact page, and a Products page. Scrolling down the home page provides a brief feature-benefit sales pitch discussing why the reader should use their roofing services.

The structure and web design are both excellent, and any local business could use this as a template for their site.

Blog

Like the other blogs in this article, the Ben’s Roofing blog has content designed for both social media and organic search traffic. Here are a few examples:

Social media

Ben’s Roofing uses its social media channels almost entirely for sharing blog content. While there’s probably more they could do, this is perfectly adequate; blogs contain tons of helpful information, and that type of content is well-suited for an industry like roofing.

final shawn
Shawn Manaher
Shawn Manaher is the founder and CEO of Ignite Marketing. He's one part local business growth specialist, one part campaign strategizing ninja, and two parts leader of an awesome nerd pack. He won't eat pancakes unless you call them flat waffles.
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