If you’re a small business owner in Portland, Maine, you know that your success depends on making the most of your advertising and marketing budget. But what’s the best way to do that?

Should you work with a local digital marketing agency? (Absolutely!)

Do you need to worry about search engine optimization (SEO)? (Definitely.)

Is it a good idea to DIY your web design? (Big nope.)

You have a lot of marketing options to consider—some offering more benefits than others—so keep reading to get ahead of your competition.

Portland Overview
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Did you know that about 86% of Portland’s population has access to the internet? That translates to a huge audience of nearly 57,000 potential customers you could be reaching online. But if you don’t have a website or a digital marketing strategy, they might never see your business—or even know it exists. After all, there are more than 10,000 businesses registered in Portland, so you’ve got some steep competition for getting noticed. You need to stand out, and your business’s website and digital marketing strategy can help you do just that!

Working with a small business marketing agency can help turn that local internet audience into leads, jobs and sales for your Portland, ME business. Here are three more reasons you should consider working with a digital marketing agency:

Reason 1: You Need a Professionally Designed Website With SEO

Without a website, you’re missing out on a huge online audience and putting your potential customers who hear about you through word-of-mouth out in the cold. They need a place to learn more about your business, the services or products you offer and how to contact you. If you have a website but don’t provide that information, you might as well not have a website at all.

It’s important to remember that more than 85% of consumers in Portland search online to find the products and services they need. That means they’re heading to Google and other search engines and clicking on one of the top results. Without a website, how is your business supposed to show up?

Another must-do for your website is to invest in a solid SEO strategy. SEO stands for search engine optimization—it’s the practice of using relevant industry and location keywords in the content on your site to get it noticed by Google. The better your SEO strategy, the happier Google will be. And the happier Google is, the higher you’re likely to show up on page one of Portland-based search results.

You could try doing all of this yourself and cross your fingers that it works, or you could work with a digital marketing agency with the technology and experience to get it done right the first time. They’ll provide a list of the keywords you should be ranking for and provide progress reports so you can see the results.

Reason 2: Your Online Reputation Matters

If you’ve ever stumbled upon a negative online review for your Portland, ME business, you know that reputation monitoring matters. If you have the time, you could set aside an hour or two every day to comb through all the major review sites and see if any new reviews (good or bad) have come in for your business. But a small business marketing agency can set up automatic alerts that send you an email each time a new review comes in.

Getting an immediate alert thanks to reputation monitoring will allow you to respond to your reviews quickly and get ahead of any sticky situations. While you should respond to all of your reviews no matter what, it’s especially important to reply tactfully and kindly to any negative reviews—your business will look better in the end.

Reason 3: You Need a Small Business Marketing Agency That Knows Portland

Any digital marketing agency you work with should be familiar with your local Portland market. Consumer habits and market trends tend to vary from city to city and state to state, so try to find a small business marketing agency that knows Portland and has a history of success. That experience will allow them to:

  • Recommend products and services that fit your business’s overarching goals.
  • Brainstorm digital marketing ideas that will appeal to your local audience.
  • Suggest improvements to your digital marketing campaign to help you get more leads.
  • Create a personalized marketing campaign, including professional website design, SEO and reputation monitoring.

Townsquare Interactive is a local digital marketing agency with experience working with Portland businesses. We’ve helped thousands of small business owners break into the digital marketing space and find success. We can help you, too! Fill out the form below to receive more information about our digital marketing services.

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