Online Marketing is providing business owners with the most exciting opportunity we’ve ever experienced. The only event that can be compared to what is happening now is the Industrial Revolution, and yes, I’m serious. How can companies called Google and Facebook be compared to the Industrial Revolution? Let me explain.

The Industrial Revolution was a time of growth and expansion. Despite the recent economic downturn that we’ve been experiencing, Cyber Monday just reported record sales for the second year in a row, as well as sales for online shopping on Black Friday. People are spending money, and in the case of the small business owner, you have to go where the money is, online.

In the past, if a local business owner wanted to start advertising or marketing for Black Friday, they’d have to prepare way ahead to make sure that the newspaper ad was ready to go. Now, you can setup an online marketing campaign in less than 15 minutes and have it shown to the same people, if not more. Using online marketing strategies such as Facebook advertising or Google Adwords, allows you to target your local marketing efforts down to the exact town you want to market to the exact age range, gender, interests and so on.

When utilizing all of these factors involved, you have local online marketing strategy that can’t go wrong. For example, if you own a local eyeglass store in Long Beach, NY, you could run an ad for not only Long Beach, but local towns surrounding it as well. You could market to women with one ad by using an attractive, stylish pair of sunglasses offering them a free case with their purchase, or a discount on their next pair. Most people wear sunglasses when they go to the beach, so in the case of Facebook Ads, you could target people who’s hobbies include “going to the beach.” The best part of all of this is that you setup the online marketing campaign in minutes and have it up and running the same day, all for $5.

Hopefully you’re starting to see the potential that’s out there for marketing a local business online. Many local business owners are starting to realize that local online marketing is the way to go, but a word of caution, get educated before you get involved. You can end up spending much more money than you anticipated, receiving less than favorable ROI. If you want to market your local business online, either do your due diligence first, or hire a local online marketing expert to help you out.