There was a time when local service businesses like plumbers and roofing companies could largely rely on word-of-mouth marketing to reach new customers. Today, however, most customers turn to the internet when they need to find businesses in their area—and from social media to review sites, there are a lot of different places they tend to look.
To reach new customers and create a consistent experience for them, what local services companies need is an omnichannel marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know about omnichannel marketing, including what it is, why it matters for local service businesses, and the best practices you can leverage to start taking full advantage of this approach to digital marketing.
What is Omnichannel Marketing?
Omnichannel marketing is a strategy that delivers a consistent and integrated brand experience across multiple platforms and touchpoints. Whether a customer finds your business via a Google Search, clicks on your Facebook ad, reads a Yelp review, or sees your sign while driving by, the experience should feel seamless and connected. In other words, omnichannel marketing requires your branding, messaging, and the overall customer experience to be consistent across all touchpoints.
Unlike multichannel marketing (which simply means being present on multiple platforms), an omnichannel approach ensures that every channel is synchronized. This not only increases the likelihood of customers finding you online, but it also helps ensure the kind of consistent messaging and experience required for brands to stand out in a crowded market.
Why Omnichannel Marketing for Local Service Businesses Matters
Customers, especially those looking for local services, are doing their research online and in more places than ever before. Here are all the reasons why an omnichannel approach to marketing is key to reaching those customers:
1. Visibility Across Multiple Platforms
When searching for a business like yours, your customers might begin their search in any number of places. They might look on Google Maps, ask Alexa for a recommendation, check reviews on Yelp, or browse local Facebook groups. The bottom line is: if you’re not showing up in all these places, you’re losing opportunities.
An omnichannel strategy ensures that your business is visible wherever your potential customers are searching. For instance:
- Home Services (HVAC, remodeling, roofing): Customers often begin with a Google search for “[service] near me” but may also check directories like Yelp or Angi.
- Law Firms: Reputation matters—your Google Business Profile and client reviews can influence decisions in seconds.
- Fitness Centers & Med Spas: Social media and Instagram are especially powerful visual tools for showcasing results and facilities.
With an approach to marketing that emphasizes all these possible touchpoints, you can ensure that wherever customers go looking, they’re capable of finding your business.
2. Builds Trust Through Consistency
Trust is built through familiarity and consistency. If someone sees your brand on Google, visits your website, and then finds a completely different message or look on Facebook, it can erode trust. If important information like business hours and pricing isn’t consistent across your entire online presence, it is even more likely to do so.
Omnichannel marketing ensures all of your touchpoints speak the same language. That means consistent branding, tone of voice, contact information, and offers across:
- Google Business Profile
- Your website
- Facebook & Instagram
- Email campaigns
- Local directories
This consistent approach not only prevents issues and confusion, but it also helps you build a brand image that customers can come to recognize and trust.
3. Increases Local Search Rankings
Google rewards businesses that maintain accurate, consistent information across platforms. Having the same NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) data everywhere improves your local SEO. More importantly, engaging consistently across channels—by responding to reviews, posting updates, and getting backlinks—can drive your rankings up.
Local SEO is a long game, but the same practices that make omnichannel marketing effective will also help you build the kind of online presence that search engines favor.
4. Converts More Leads into Customers
When a potential customer hears about your service on Facebook, visits your website, and later sees your ad while watching YouTube, you stay top of mind. This repeated exposure—especially when it’s consistent—warms leads and nudges them closer to conversion.
This is especially true for businesses like home remodelers, landscaping companies, or any other business offering high-ticket, trust-dependent services. By being present and professional across platforms, you can passively nurture potential customers who need a little convincing before they are willing to reach out.
5. Enhances Customer Experience
Today’s customers want options. Some prefer to call, while others want to book online, chat via Messenger, or get updates via email. When customers are uncommitted and have other options, even a minor inconvenience like a business not offering their preferred contact method can influence their decision.
Omnichannel marketing also means omnichannel service: giving your customers the ability to interact with you on their terms. It improves the customer experience right from the start and removes barriers that might otherwise cause a customer to choose one of your competitors.
What Omnichannel Marketing for Local Businesses Looks Like: A Real-World Example
Let’s say you own a small HVAC company located in Athens, GA. Here’s what an omnichannel marketing approach might look like:
- Google Business Profile: Fully optimized with service categories, updated hours, and frequent posts
- Website: Mobile-optimized, with zip-code-based landing pages for each service area.
- Facebook & Instagram: Before-and-after photos of repairs, customer testimonials, and seasonal promotions.
- Email Campaigns: Monthly newsletters with maintenance tips and service offers.
- Review Management: Automated follow-up requesting Google reviews from customers.
- Local SEO: Directory listings, citations, and backlinks from local blogs or chambers of commerce
By connecting the dots between all of these marketing efforts and touchpoints, your business can be discovered more often, trusted more quickly, and chosen more confidently.
How to Build an Omnichannel Strategy
If you want to start channeling your marketing efforts into a cohesive and unified approach, here are the key steps to building an omnichannel marketing strategy:
1. Audit Your Current Marketing Approach
Start by identifying where your business currently appears online, which can include places like Google Business Profile, Yelp, Facebook, Instagram, Bing, and directories. Once you know where you are, make sure your business information and branding are consistent across all these platforms.
Your current online presence will be the foundation for your omnichannel marketing strategy, but it may need to be expanded. Think carefully about where you are most active, where you’re not, and where there are opportunities for engaging with potential customers. This brings us to our next step.
2. Identify Your Key Channels
In an ideal world, businesses would fully leverage every marketing channel at their disposal. But time and marketing budgets aren’t infinite, and it’s important to focus on the channels that are best aligned with your business and its customers.
Are your customers searching for you on Google Maps, following Instagram content, or reading Facebook reviews? Do they embrace technology and social media, or are they technology-averse? What type of content do they find most engaging and compelling? Asking and answering questions such as these will help you identify the channels that deserve the most focus.
3. Unify Your Message
It’s important to make sure that your brand’s online presence is consistent across all platforms and channels. This not only means ensuring that your information is accurate and consistent, but also that your messaging and visual branding remain consistent as well.
This creates a seamless, familiar experience for the customers interacting with your brand, and that accomplishes a couple of key goals. For one, it makes your brand more memorable and distinct from the competition. It also helps foster trust by giving customers the sense that they can know what to expect from your business.
4. Invest in the Right Tools
Managing numerous marketing channels can be challenging, but it’s a lot less challenging when you use the right tools. Platforms such as Surefire Local allow businesses to update listings, schedule posts, respond to reviews, and monitor performance all from one centralized dashboard. This streamlines omnichannel marketing for small businesses with limited resources and allows you to scale your efforts with ease.
5. Measure and Adjust
Track data from each channel to learn what’s working, and use those insights to adjust your omnichannel approach over time. You may discover that some channels are more effective at converting customers and warrant more investment, or that certain messaging appeals more to your customer base.
Start Building Your Omnichannel Marketing Strategy With Surefire Local
For local service businesses, an omnichannel approach to marketing offers numerous benefits. However, it also introduces new complexities. If you’d like to enjoy the benefits of omnichannel marketing without the hassle of managing each channel manually, Surefire Local’s automated marketing platform, designed specifically for local businesses, is an ideal solution! Contact us today to schedule a free demo!