Every marketer hears it at least once: brands that are closest to their customers will ultimately win. But how do you get close, when the distance between you and your customers is increasing? With shopping behavior changing and adblockers keeping your ads from your audience, international brands can’t just rely on their brand equity and global marketing anymore. They have to invest in local marketing.
We listed 5 reasons why local marketing brings you closer to your customer.
Do you want more general info on local marketing first? We've got you covered!
1. Customers search locally
Don’t underestimate the number of local searchers: 46% of all searches on Google are local. They represent billions of high-value queries. Research shows that when people are searching locally, there is a much higher conversion rate, especially for mobile users. The usage of some geo-modifier in search queries like “near me” or “where to buy” has grown by over 200% in the past two years.
If your marketing strategy isn’t targeting the locations you are operating, you could miss out on many customers who are likely to visit local businesses or national brands that are investing in a local marketing strategy. This goes for any marketing: paid, earned, and owned.
2. Local Reviews
Customers who visit a local store don't leave a review of your national brand and identity. Their review will be specific to the local branch they visited; their employees, the in-store experience, the product offering, and so on.
Even when you didn’t create and manage the local listing on the various platforms, it doesn’t mean it’s not out there. Unclaimed profiles can still generate reviews, maybe unnoticed by you but probably not by your (potential) customers.
With 60% of consumers looking at online reviews at least weekly, over 93% say that online reviews impact their purchasing decisions. Further, the same study shows that almost two-thirds of consumers are willing to pay up to 15% more for the same service or product if they are assured they will have a better experience. Managing your local online reputation is something you definitely can not afford to ignore and should be a key focus of your local marketing strategy.
3. Customers are local
Sounds simple, right? Even if you are the biggest global brand in the business, your customers are still all local (apart from the occasional tourist). Your location in Amsterdam, serves customers in Amsterdam, just like your location in Seattle serves locals there. Your customers want to know what’s going on at the store around the corner, not the one across the ocean.
It is, therefore, crucial to have a local presence wherever you operate. Many national and global brands are establishing separate social media accounts, landing pages, or microsites for their different locations so that they can localize content and interact with local customers.
4. It humanizes your brand
Part of what keeps customers coming back is the personal connection they have during their experience with your brand. Investing in the local communities you are operating in, is a great way to establish and enhance these relationships. Sponsoring or hosting local events, engaging on social media, or offering local-specific promotions can all work to humanize your brand. Being visible outside of your actual place of business provides your audience with authentic reminders of your brand. Become a part of the fabric of the local community, while growing your business across the country.
5. Local marketing is (cost)effective
Personalization is what allows a brand to stand out and win over customers. Local marketing can be a cost-effective tool to help with that. While national marketing campaigns can help you build brand awareness, local campaigns can help you reach consumers in a more targeted way, and at a point where they are searching for your goods or services. Many local marketing tools are free, such as local business listings, localized social media accounts, reviews, and the best local marketing tool: word-of-mouth. Aside from the free options, hyper-local Google ads and social media campaigns can target audiences in specific locations better than ever for a lower cost per click and higher ROI.
Working together for success
Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. While your national marketing team may be the brand experts, the local team ultimately knows their market best. So how can your brand engage in localized marketing that caters to local needs, while still maintaining that strong national brand status?
At Marvia, we develop tools to help large national brands market their business on both a large and local scale. By making marketing a team effort and empowering local users to make on-brand marketing materials in minutes thanks to dynamic templates, for instance. This gives central teams the ability to focus on developing and refining your brand’s mission, identity, and marketing strategy.
You don’t have to be small to be local. Be where your customer is in a way that’s recognizable as the national brand and feels local and personal at the same time.
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Marvia can help you. It is our mission to make brands more successful by activating their local marketing potential. We steer clear of overcomplicated software systems and confusing processes that take months to implement within an organization. Instead, we offer simple solutions with huge potential.
Local marketing made simple. Let’s get in touch!