About Toronto and Scarborough:
Toronto isn’t like most other cities in the world. There are administrative regions of the city that are bigger than the capitals of many provinces. Scarborough is one of these – with a population of about 632,000 people, it’s bigger than any city in Saskatchewan or the Maritimes! With such an enormous population, it makes sense to market your business directly to the residents of Scarborough.
Marketing Options:
A direct-to-Scarborough marketing plan automatically rules out most traditional forms of advertising. TV and radio ads are far too broad – you’ll be advertising your business to the whole of the GTA, not just Scarborough. That’s not to say traditional advertising doesn’t have its place – advertising to the whole of the GTA can confer a number of advantages. Starting in a smaller region like Scarborough, however, can build you some local clout before you expand your advertising.
SEO:
Online marketing, particularly search engine optimization (SEO), gives you a number of ways to advertise specifically to people living in Scarborough. Let’s start with SEO.
Imagine you own a bike shop in Scarborough, and you want to attract more people to your business. Perhaps you rent and sell bikes, and you want people in Scarborough to use your bike rental service. That’s a highly localized demand – people from Etobicoke aren’t going to drive to your shop just to rent a bike.
Instead, you’ll advertise directly to people in Scarborough who want to buy or rent a bike by optimizing your website to show up when people make localized queries for bikes and bike rentals. Localized queries are terms like “bike shop near me”, “bike rentals nearby”, or “bikes for rent in Scarborough” (to search engines, these searches all look incredibly similar). Search engines also include a local modifier when they predict you’re searching for something nearby – that means the term “bike shop” being used by someone in Scarborough is pretty similar to the term “bike shop in Scarborough”.
Now that we know what optimization does (it makes it easy for local clients to find your business), it’s time to look at how we can optimize.
One excellent way of going about it is to make reference to Scarborough on your home page. You should also make reference to intersections (“located near Ellesmere and Markham”), landmarks (“just a few blocks from the Toronto Zoo”) and other geographical features (“right on the banks of Highland Creek”). This helps search engines confirm that you are indeed located in Scarborough and it helps your clients form a mental picture of your location.
Another easy win is to create location pages for the various neighbourhoods in Scarborough. That could be incredibly handy for our bike shop. They might have locations in Golden Mile, Eglinton East, Steeles, and Malvern. By creating a location page for each of these locations, our bike shop will be more likely to pop up in searches for “bike shop in Malvern”, and sends search engines even more signals that they’re located in Scarborough.
Even if you don’t have multiple locations, making a location page for each neighbourhood in Scarborough can be helpful – talk to your SEO experts to see if the strategy is right for you.
Set up your Google My Business (and to a lesser extent, Bing Places). They’re the search engine equivalent of a business directory, and you’ll get better looking search results (complete with your address, phone number, and images) when you’ve got them set up properly.
When it comes to local marketing, it pays to be involved locally. Joining groups like the Scarborough Business Association can help you find cross-promotional opportunities with other businesses in the area. Our bike shop, for example, might run a promotion with a local coffee chain – a free coffee with every bike rental.
Volunteering and charitable activities can also boost your local cred. You might volunteer at events held by the Scarborough Women’s Centre, or run a drive for a local pet shelter. You’ll feel good about giving back, be noticed by other people in your community, and get some great opportunities for photo ops that you can use on social media.
Social Media:
Speaking of social media, it’s one of the least expensive ways of marketing your business in Scarborough. You can join local Facebook groups, or even create your own group for Scarborough businesses. Try to post content every day – images and videos tend to play very well on platforms like Instagram, and local landmarks in the background let other people in Scarborough know where you’re from.
Find more information on SEO services here
Expanding your Toronto based business? Find out how to market your business in: Greater GTA
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