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How to Make a Local Advertising Plan

A local advertising plan does not need to be long. It needs to answer four questions: what you want, who you are talking to, where the money goes, and how you will know it worked. Here is a plain way to do it.

1. Pick one goal

More phone calls, more people walking in, more online orders, a grand opening, or a fuller slow season. Choose one for the next month. Ads built for one goal are easier to write and easier to count than ads built to do everything.

2. Know who lives and works near you

Look up your ZIP code in the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Population, number of households, median household income, median age and the share of homes lived in by their owners all shape what will work. A ZIP code full of homeowners with families points toward different places to spend than one full of young renters. These are averages for the whole area, so use them as a starting point and then add what you know about your own customers.

3. Set a monthly budget you can keep up

Advertising works through repetition, so a budget you can keep for three months beats a big burst you cannot repeat. Our guide on how much to spend shows how to choose a number.

4. Pick two to four places, not ten

A small budget spread across many places is too thin everywhere to be noticed. Pick two to four. Put the most money where people are already looking for what you sell, such as Google searches and your Google Business Profile, then add one place that reminds your neighbors you exist. Our guide to the best ways to advertise a local business explains what each place is good for.

5. Write one clear offer

An ad should say what you do, where you are, and why to act now. A specific offer with an end date, such as a free extra with a first visit this month, gives people a reason to move today and gives you something to count.

6. Put it on a calendar

Write down what happens in each of the next four weeks: which account gets set up, which ad goes live, which postcards get mailed. A plan that lives on a calendar gets done.

7. Decide how you will count the results

Before you spend a dollar, decide how you will know a new customer came from an ad. Our guide on telling if your ads are working has simple ways to do it.

8. Review after four weeks and adjust

Look at what each place cost and how many new customers it brought. Move some money from the weakest place to the strongest, and keep going.