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.