Spreading the word to the locals

Recently, I have been learning about how to target my audience and get the most out of my social media presence. Monitoring and measuring how I am influencing the people connected to me and how they are influencing me is essential in the creation of the online presence I truly want. As I am reading all of this information about how to monitor who is being influenced by me through websites such as klout, this information showed me that I connect with people nationally. After realizing this information I soon started to wonder what is the best way to connect locally?
The reason this question came to mind is because my mom and I have recently started a cake, cupcake and French macaron in home service. She is depending on me to get the word out, which hasn't been a challenge however, the problem I have come across is connecting with people in the area. Rather than connecting with some one who is in another state or five hours away in the same state, I am trying to work on a way to target locals. So far, I have been networking with local companies that will advertise our business cards and posting statuses with tags from locals in the area.
At first the promotion online was a hit but after awhile the post died down with capturing the attention of the locals and gravitated more towards other local cake decorators. Like most things in the world of social media, one tactic does not work the best way for very long. As I am furthering my studies in the social media world I hope to adapt to the everyday changes and find new ways to help spread the word.  

Finalized cake

This is a cake I helped my mom make. All of the flowers on top are hand made. I chose this photo because it shows my hobby and creativity. It's always nice to have some type of escape from the stresses of day.