The catch is that while local advertising may not be as lucrative, it’s often perceived as easier and less expensive than national advertising. Subsequently, most small business “start small” with local campaigns and then expand to a wider market once they have PPC figured out… or at least that’s the plan.
In my experience, one of the following things typically happens instead:
- A poorly planned or executed local approach discourages a planned future launch in a larger market
- Successful local efforts aren’t modified before being launched nationally, resulting in budget waste and poor performance
- Time constraints cause expansion efforts to be put off indefinitely
Before you start paid search locally or nationally, plan for how you’ll win at both!