In today’s consumer market, 85% of purchases happen within a 15-mile radius of the consumer’s home or place of work. It is now more important than ever that National Brands tap into local online markets to maximize visibility, create brand awareness, and increase profitability. National Brands with local marketing strategies are predicted to increase profitability by 15-20% in the year 2015. So why not get ahead of the competition by developing a local strategy for your national brand today?

The Takeaways:

1. Create A Local Website: Utilizing brand-approved messaging from your National company, create a geo-specific website for your local market, sharing location information, store hours, product details, and local deals. This allows your national brand to have a strong presence on the local search level, capturing consumers in the “brand preference” and “purchase” stages of converting. Through your local website you can expand your brand presence in individual markets, and ensure that you obtain top organic rankings for that city.
2. Collect Data: One of the hidden benefits of having a local website is the data you can collect from it. Analytics reporting for your website can help you narrow down the demographics of your local consumer, and you might find that it is different from your national consumer. This data can be used in your online and offline marketing efforts within that market.
3. Put it to good use: With your new local website providing a strong online presence and new consumer information for your market, it is time to employ your digital marketing strategy across other platforms. Utilize your newly-collected data for your social media and advertising campaigns. Ensure that your local website is responsive for mobile and tablet use in order to capture the 61% of smartphone owners who perform local searches on the go. Take advantage of consumer data to ensure your brand appears as often as possible on your local SERP (Search Engine Results Page). The SERP consists of paid ads, local directory listings, and organic search results. For maximum visibility, utilize the demographic information to obtain first page rankings on all of these search listings.
4. Measuring Success: Your local digital marketing strategy will require constant monitoring and optimizations until you get it just right. Figure out what works and what doesn’t, from your local website’s content strategy, to daily deals, to social media engagement. If one strategy isn’t working, focus on what is leading to purchases and center your efforts here. Success on the local level comes in many forms, so don’t forget about the power of brand awareness.

As season six of Mad Men comes to a close, we wanted to look back at the history of marketing since the 1960s. It’s fascinating to look back and see what kind of advertising has had the longest impact.

A lot of what’s great about Mad Men is the kind of self-reflection it has, both on its characters and the culture. In many ways, the kind of advertising back then still influences many of the designs we see in advertising today. The Volkswagen “think small” campaign is particularly interesting, as in many ways, it reminds me of Apple’s iPod and iPhone advertising campaigns. Both have a particular simple approach to it, as well as a focus on typography. Even then, simple concepts and design made a brand completely unique and signature. It’s one of the best approaches to design and a way to make it last. The simpler it is, the less it’s anchored and dated by time.

It’s important to keep in mind the changes that advertising has gone through in the past few decades. One of my favorite facts here is that email was really invented before the Internet was. ARPANET was the predecessor of what would become the Internet, but email was invented within it through the 60s and 70s. Lucky Strike, one of the clients of Sterling Cooper and a popular American brand in the 60s, was bought out by British Tobacco in the 70s. Technology has, however, offered rapid growth for advertising. By 2012, Internet marketing hit $39 billion in revenue. Mad Men itself is a good example of this. While the show itself gets modest ratings, the studio that owns the rights to it signed a deal with Netflix to stream all of its seasons for around $75 million. People in general are watching TV less and are using alternative and more selective ways to experience content.

As a fan of the show, I think the show has as much to say about current times as it does about the time it takes place in. It’s important to remember what has changed and what hasn’t. Good design and content last in many different ways. I’m reminded of the scene in the season three finale where Don, Roger and Lane decided to build something different – something of their own. It’s a great scene and pretty motivating to watch. Don’t get bored. Be creative. Perspective is necessary to have to keep getting better, and it’s what makes Mad Men one of our favorite shows.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcnEDQXo_0s]

There is nothing like a good natured debate, unless of course it involves Apple and Android devices, their operating systems, or any peripheral even remotely related to one of these two camps. All too often, these good natured debates spiral out of control until both sides have their hackles raised and canine incisors showing like sparring wolves.

To preserve my safety, I will refrain from exposing my leaning in this debate, and simply say that products from both companies have their strengths. Both offer cutting edge devices with capabilities that my father believes to be some sort of “magic” rather than technology.

On the one hand, Android devices offer access to a great range of products and services from a vast market of manufacturers. Choices range from various user interfaces (HTC, Samsung, Motorola, etc…), to chargers, bluetooth devices, software, music, apps, and more. Yes the iPad offers these things, but once you are in the Apple club, it can feel as though you have committed your life, and your life savings, to Apple products, and that does not exactly foster a competitive capitalist market. The upside to this for Apple enthusiasts is that their offerings do blend together very well across devices, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, and the list goes on.

While Android may offer more freedom, the market here is perhaps muddied to the opposite extreme. By that I mean that the Android operating system is arguably as strong as iOS, though not all of the devices that carry it are exactly up to snuff. Even the big name manufacturers with the strongest entries into the market, like Samsung and Motorola, offer lower end devices that often do not live out the initial warranty period. These devices do offer access to the technology at a much lower price point, but if the device is constructed with the quality of a disposable camera (do they still make those?), then the consumer will likely end up spending the same or more as one of the better built devices in the long run.

The higher end Android devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, and many smartphones from the same manufacturer offer extremely fast processors, huge upgradeable storage, and removable batteries, all areas where Apple devices often fall short.

The iPad is extremely user-friendly, which is a big selling point for the technologically-challenged. My mother, whom could not after a full year adequately use her Kindle Fire, seems to be able to operate her iPad 3 as if she were operating the record player she has had for forty years. It is not that Android devices are not user-friendly, but at present, Apple certainly has a leg up here.

I feel certain we all can agree that we are living in an amazing time where technology for our own personal/mobile use continues to grow in mind blowing ways year after year. So it does not really matter which side of the debate you are on, as long as you keep it to yourself.