If you run a small business in a place like Strathroy, Lucan, or Mount Brydges, you already know the truth about local marketing: most of your best customers came from someone else who already trusted you.
Word-of-mouth is the foundation. It’s also the ceiling.
When you’ve talked to everyone you know — and everyone they know — what comes next? That’s where local marketing has to step in. And it doesn’t have to feel like a second job.
Here’s a practical playbook we use with the small businesses we work with across Middlesex County. None of it is glamorous. All of it works.
1. Claim and finish your Google Business Profile
If you do nothing else this week, do this one. A complete, current Google Business Profile is the single highest-leverage thing a small local business can fix in an afternoon.
- Make sure your hours, phone, and address are correct. (Yes, even if you’ve had the same phone number for ten years — go check.)
- Add at least 10 photos. Inside, outside, your team, your work, your storefront.
- Use the products / services section — Google reads this.
- Pin a recent post so the profile doesn’t look abandoned.
Most of your local searchers never click through to your website. They’re deciding from your profile.
2. Use the words your customers actually use
A “small-town strategist” in London or Toronto will tell you to “rank for relevant keywords.”
What that actually means: your customers don’t search “professional dog grooming services Southwestern Ontario.” They search “dog groomer near me” or “dog grooming Strathroy.”
Look at your own search history. That’s how your customers think. Write your website headlines that way.
3. Make it easy to leave a review — and obvious how good you already are
Reviews are the second-most-important thing on a Google Business Profile, after the basics.
- After every good interaction, send the review link. Not “if you have a minute.” Just the link, with one line: “If we did right by you, this helps a lot.”
- Reply to every review. Negative ones especially. A measured, human reply to a tough review tells the next customer more than ten 5-star ones.
If you have happy customers and you’re not asking for reviews, you’re leaving real money on the table.
4. Show up where your community already is
In small towns, “social media” doesn’t mean Instagram first — it means Facebook groups, the local Buy & Sell, the Chamber of Commerce page, the township newsletter.
A useful, helpful comment in the right Facebook group does more than a paid ad on Instagram. Be present. Don’t pitch. Help.
5. Pick one paid channel — at most
You don’t need to be on every platform. Pick the one where your customers actually decide:
- Service business with urgent jobs? Google Search ads + Local Services Ads.
- Local retail or experience? Meta (Facebook + Instagram) ads with a clear local geo-radius.
- B2B or referral-driven? Probably none — invest in relationships and partnerships instead.
One channel, run well, beats four channels run on autopilot. Every time.
6. Measure two things
You don’t need a dashboard. You need two questions answered every month:
- Where did this month’s new customers come from? Ask them. Write it down.
- What’s it costing me to get a new customer? Add up the marketing spend; divide by the number of new customers.
If those two numbers move in the right direction, what you’re doing is working. If they don’t, change one thing — not five — and check again next month.
The point isn’t more marketing. It’s marketing that actually fits.
Most small businesses don’t need more channels, more posts, or more campaigns. They need the basics done well, consistently, with someone paying attention to what’s actually working.
That’s the gap re.market.able Consulting fills — fractional marketing leadership for small and rural businesses in Middlesex County and Southwestern Ontario who want their marketing to keep up with the rest of the business.
If that sounds like where you are, book a free consult. One conversation. No pressure. Just a clearer picture of what’s actually worth doing.