How can a local business use a local media brand to win customers?

A plumber I run Meta ads for hired a young woman to be the face of his local brand. She's in the Instagram videos, writes the newsletter, and even does some sales. The brand isn't named after the plumbing company. That's the whole trick.

What is the Trojan horse model?

"You're building this brand that's gonna make so many local people know, like, and trust you. And then whatever your backend business is... when you want to sell something else, they already know and trust you."

The local brand is the front end. Your business (roofing, pest control, insurance, mortgage, marketing services) is the back end. A lot of operators are already doing this.

Why not just market the business under its own name?

The world has changed. In a '90s newspaper you didn't know who the reporters were. Now people like to buy from people and follow people. A brand called something like "[Town] Scoop" with a real person in front of it gets followed. A pest control company's Instagram doesn't.

The mistake real estate agents make is doing it in their own name and constantly pushing "I'm a real estate agent, hire me." You're building a brand. You just happen to own a pest control company. In nine out of ten videos, don't talk about pest control.

What does the setup look like?

• A neutral local name, ideally the town or region.
• A human face who creates first-person social content, mainly Instagram.
• A newsletter, a Facebook page and a website.
• Optionally a local podcast, which is great for networking with other business owners.
• Your business in the footer or at the end, mentioned occasionally.

Selling happens through trust. Useful free advice from a local voice makes a reader pick you over a random result on Google. Hyper-local works even in a market of about 80,000 people, though that's on the small side.

Which businesses is this best for?

High-value local businesses, where one customer is worth a lot. Insurance is my favorite because every household buys it (see should an insurance agent start a local newsletter). Real estate, mortgage and home services fit too.

What if it doesn't produce leads right away?

It probably won't at first, and you should know that going in. Even then, you grew your email list, you're building trust, and you own it. If you're renting a lead source from a portal, you're hoping they send you something. Few businesses have a failure case that leaves you with 10,000 to 15,000 local people paying attention to you.

Locals will want proof before they buy in, and that takes time. Plan for a long horizon, and keep the self-promotion to a small slice of what you publish.