Marketing on Main Street is about making marketing make sense.
If you’re a local business owner, you don’t need a massive budget or a full team—you need clear, practical steps that actually move the needle. This column breaks down real strategies you can use right away, starting with one of the most important: showing up correctly on Google.
Written by Alice Canada, MA, CNP, a rural Oklahoma-based marketing and communications consultant, Marketing on Main Street delivers straightforward, approachable insights designed specifically for small and mid-sized businesses.
We have talked about quite a few marketing concepts in this column—brand awareness, consistency, social media, advertising, knowing your audience and making the commitment to market your business. But as I sat down to think about today’s topic, I found myself wondering: What is it all for? Generally, business owners
Committing to a marketing budget can be difficult for a small business. There is always something else that needs the money. Inventory. Payroll. Equipment. Repairs. Insurance. The list goes on. Marketing can quickly become the thing we will spend money on when there is money left. But investing in marketing
The “ber” months are officially here. I know here in Oklahoma we are still begging for the cool mornings and evenings that fall promises, and it looks like we may be waiting a while. BUT! The holiday season will get here regardless of whether the “ber” months still feel like
In a world of AI-generated flyers and content that looks just a little too perfect—with the occasional extra finger thrown in—aren’t I better off posting something genuine, even if it’s “bad”? This is a hard balance. On one side, you have polished AI content that is becoming increasingly easy to
As a marketer, I have watched the marketing environment change from a place where “self-marketing” was mostly limited to word of mouth and posters on telephone poles, (The younger crowd probably doesn’t have quite the same visual here as those of us who are a little older.) to today, where
SEO, Meet GEO Remember when every business needed a website? Then we needed to be on Google. Then Facebook. Instagram. Google Ads. Search Engine Optimization. Well, you still need those things – but something new has entered the group chat. The way people search for information online is changing —
Triple-Digit Slowdown It’s late July in Oklahoma. It’s hot. Really hot. The kind of hot where nobody wants to get out of the AC unless there’s a very good reason. Summer vacations are wrapping up. Back-to-school lists are starting to take over. Families are returning to routines, summer spending is
To AI or Not to AI? Welcome back to Marketing on Main Street. In this series, we focus on practical ways small businesses can market themselves without overcomplicating the process. Today, let’s talk about AI. If you have been on social media lately, you have seen the AI flyers. So.
Welcome back to Marketing on Main Street. In this series, we are breaking down practical marketing tools for local businesses. Last time, we talked about paid social media and the difference between boosting posts and running full ad campaigns. Today, we’re moving into another digital strategy: programmatic display advertising. You
Welcome back to Marketing on Main Street. In this series, we break marketing down into practical, usable steps for small businesses. Last time, we talked about the importance of having a solid website before stepping into more advanced digital marketing. Today, we are going to dive into paid social media.
