If you own a small business in Pittsburgh, do you really want to devote your time and money to marketing to customers in San Francisco? Or Sydney, Australia? Or China?  It all depends on what you are selling.

For example, if you are a local business that provides in-person services — such as in-home health care or vehicle towing services — there is absolutely no reason to focus your marketing efforts any further than your own zip code, in most cases. But if you specialize in products or services that can be used anywhere in the world — such as digital content production or physical products that can be delivered — there may be benefits to expanding your marketing globally.

Think Local, Act Global

Small business owners have to consider three customer groups: Local, National, and International. Local would be people who live and work in the same area as you. This could be as close as a single street or as broad as an entire city or region.

Let’s say you own an air conditioning repair service in Philadelphia. To optimize your marketing, you could focus specifically in your neighborhood or expand it as far as Bucks County or western New Jersey. But there would be little value in promoting your business in Ohio, for example.

Lytron Strategic

But what if you own a business that can deliver its products digitally, such as a stock photo licensing company? Or if you have physical products that can be delivered anywhere, such as a teddy-bear delivery business? In this case, there are huge benefits to promoting your business online across the entire country or even worldwide.

Identifying the potential markets for your products or services is the first step in developing a successful online marketing campaign. At Lytron Strategic, we can help you reach customers across the street or on the other side of the world, depending on your specific needs.