While there are loads of “How To Advertise Online In A Small Market” resources out there, rarely do we see examples that address the determining factors which make a market “small” in the first place beyond the size of it’s population. Geographical borders, local culture and GDP, for example, all play a huge part in determining how best to market yourself online: even if a mid-sized town in the U.S. and a small Caribbean nation happen to have the exact same population, they’ll still require wildly different marketing strategies to take the habits of their respective audiences into account.
Take, for example, the Cayman Islands. With a population of roughly 55,000 living on a total landmass of 264 square kilometres (much of which is uninhabitable swampland), it’s an entire country with about as many people as Niagara Falls, New York. As it’s one of our primary markets for digital marketing, we’ve noticed that social media and web design in Cayman work differently than that of similarly-populous areas in larger countries: overall, people are more responsive and willing to engage with a business online. Here are three main advantages that web advertising in a small, self-contained locale has over it’s equally-sized American, British and Canadian counterparts:
Truly Local Brand Engagement
Due mostly to a lack of multinational franchises and a close-knit community, internet users in Cayman are more likely to have direct experience with the local businesses they interact with online. For example, if you own an Italian restaurant in George Town (the Capitol) and want your website to appear on page #1 of Google for the term “italian food cayman”, you have a significantly higher chance of achieving that goal compared to a restaurant in Niagara Falls, who has to compete with chain restaurants like The Olive Garden, not to mention scores of pizza franchises, for the term “italian food Niagara Falls”. A dense, self-contained population is typically grounds for a culture of small business loyalty, which places like Cayman are in a prime position to take advantage of.
Ultra-Precise Facebook User Targeting
For small businesses advertising on Facebook, operating in a place like Cayman results in the best value for money hands-down when compared to other web advertising platforms. Consider this: if you run an Italian restaurant in Niagara Falls, you’d probably want to target your ads to include every Facebook user whose listed themselves as a resident of Niagara Falls, New York, right? Unfortunately, there’s one crucial problem you’d encounter that a similar business in Cayman wouldn’t: the U.S. is currently experiencing a massive population shift, the results of which make it hard to tell who actually lives in the city listed on their profile and who’s just forgotten to update their account since they moved. Sure, Facebook tracks location by IP address, too, but with the abundance of free proxy programs available online that are designed to make it look like you’re logging on from somewhere else, you’d never know exactly how much value you’re getting for your Facebook ad money. On the other hand, Cayman is a reliable market with stable population growth/shift and almost half of it’s entire population on Facebook (http://www.internetworldstats.com/carib.htm).
Potential For Truly Inspirational Web Designs
I’ve saved this one for last because it’s arguably the most subjective, but with a skilled web designer, the uniqueness and sheer physical beauty of places like Cayman inspire more interesting and compelling site designs than in more (*ahem*) uninteresting places. Sure, Niagara Falls has one of the biggest waterfalls in the world, but in terms of the imagery and visual elements that can be drawn on for graphic inspiration, that’s about all it’s got. Customizing the look of your website to reflect the traits of the physical environment around you is one of the most effective ways to provoke engagement from a local audience.
Though I’ve used Cayman vs. Niagara Falls as my small market examples in this blog post, the logic can apply to any comparison between an isolated, self-contained market and a similarly-sized town or city in a large country. The differences are staggering, which is why it’s important to understand how to best take advantages of the web advertising options at your disposal.
Read more about social media management best practices here or contact us to share your thoughts on small jurisdiction web marketing.
Image Credits: Darmano Typepad & America Atlas
While there are loads of “How To Advertise Online In A Small Market” resources out there, rarely do we see examples that address the determining factors which make a market “small” in the first place beyond the size of it’s population. Geographical borders, local culture and GDP, for example, all play a huge part in determining how best to market yourself online: even if a mid-sized town in the U.S. and a small Caribbean nation happen to have the exact same population, they’ll still require wildly different marketing strategies to take the habits of their respective audiences into account.
Take, for example, the Cayman Islands. With a population of roughly 55,000 living on a total landmass of 264 square kilometres (much of which is uninhabitable swampland), it’s an entire country with about as many people as Niagara Falls, New York. As it’s one of our primary markets for digital marketing, we’ve noticed that social media and web design in Cayman work differently than that of similarly-populous areas in larger countries: overall, people are more responsive and willing to engage with a business online. Here are three main advantages that web advertising in a small, self-contained locale has over it’s equally-sized American, British and Canadian counterparts:
Truly Local Brand Engagement
Due mostly to a lack of multinational franchises and a close-knit community, internet users in Cayman are more likely to have direct experience with the local businesses they interact with online. For example, if you own an Italian restaurant in George Town (the Capitol) and want your website to appear on page #1 of Google for the term “italian food cayman”, you have a significantly higher chance of achieving that goal compared to a restaurant in Niagara Falls, who has to compete with chain restaurants like The Olive Garden, not to mention scores of pizza franchises, for the term “italian food Niagara Falls”. A dense, self-contained population is typically grounds for a culture of small business loyalty, which places like Cayman are in a prime position to take advantage of.
Ultra-Precise Facebook User Targeting
For small businesses advertising on Facebook, operating in a place like Cayman results in the best value for money hands-down when compared to other web advertising platforms. Consider this: if you run an Italian restaurant in Niagara Falls, you’d probably want to target your ads to include every Facebook user whose listed themselves as a resident of Niagara Falls, New York, right? Unfortunately, there’s one crucial problem you’d encounter that a similar business in Cayman wouldn’t: the U.S. is currently experiencing a massive population shift, the results of which make it hard to tell who actually lives in the city listed on their profile and who’s just forgotten to update their account since they moved. Sure, Facebook tracks location by IP address, too, but with the abundance of free proxy programs available online that are designed to make it look like you’re logging on from somewhere else, you’d never know exactly how much value you’re getting for your Facebook ad money. On the other hand, Cayman is a reliable market with stable population growth/shift and almost half of it’s entire population on Facebook (http://www.internetworldstats.com/carib.htm).
Potential For Truly Inspirational Web Designs
I’ve saved this one for last because it’s arguably the most subjective, but with a skilled web designer, the uniqueness and sheer physical beauty of places like Cayman inspire more interesting and compelling site designs than in more (*ahem*) uninteresting places. Sure, Niagara Falls has one of the biggest waterfalls in the world, but in terms of the imagery and visual elements that can be drawn on for graphic inspiration, that’s about all it’s got. Customizing the look of your website to reflect the traits of the physical environment around you is one of the most effective ways to provoke engagement from a local audience.
Though I’ve used Cayman vs. Niagara Falls as my small market examples in this blog post, the logic can apply to any comparison between an isolated, self-contained market and a similarly-sized town or city in a large country. The differences are staggering, which is why it’s important to understand how to best take advantages of the web advertising options at your disposal.
Read more about social media management best practices here or contact us to share your thoughts on small jurisdiction web marketing.
Image Credits: Darmano Typepad & America Atlas
