Once upon a time, all shops and service providers were local. They were present in town, knowledgeable about their specialty, personal in their customer service.
Ahh, the good ol’ days.
Then, came big chain stores. After that, e-commerce. Now, little mobile computers in the palm of your hand. Local stores have dwindled, and now even the biggest chains are being challenged. We’re living in the age of Amazon.
But let’s think about what made that local guy “special” in the first place – because this is the very heart of today’s smart digital marketing strategy. I’ll use my neighborhood hardware store as an example.
At one point, he became an ACE Hardware franchise, but a year or two later wrestled back his independence. His store is the picture of chaos, a total mess. But it doesn’t matter because he knows where everything is and always has what I need. If I don’t know what I’m looking for, but can kinda sorta articulate my project, he’ll make suggestions and provide a ton of helpful guidance.
His little store could fit 50 times over in one of those big-box joints, yet it competes on a whole different level. He's not just surviving in dodgy economic conditions – he's thriving because he's local, knowledgeable, valuable. In today’s digital parlance, he’s “hyperlocal.”
Whether your business is a “big brand,” e-commerce or a combination of both, what can my local hardware guy teach you?
If you think that running a simple geotargeted ad campaign translates as “deeply connecting” you to local consumers, you’re way off base. Sure, you may get a little bit of action, somewhere in the vicinity of 1-2%, for as long as you keep funding that campaign. But once you stop?
Nothing.
Think of it like staying at a rental property. Once your vacation week ends, you pack up, leave and that’s it.
Next time you run another campaign, you’ll be spending that first dollar all over again to reach many of the same people. This is inefficient and wasteful.
No matter if yours is a brick-and-mortar model or e-commerce, act like you have “locations” in any of the places that are relevant to your business.
Here are a few examples on how to do that:
Each of these examples demonstrates empathy and relevance to a particular location. They deliver service, ease of utility, and thus real value – to an audience. Your business becomes a resource to return to, again and again (unlike the temporary ad flight we mentioned that puts you back at Square One. Every. Single. Time).
Plus, you can keep expanding that local connection through fresh content, products, and recommendations. Again, think like my go-to hardware store: Be local. Valuable. Knowledgeable.
We're experts at helping large scale companies create, sustain and monetize location-based digital presences in any and every city and town, anywhere.
One example on our fast-growing client list? We implemented, currently manage and host 29,512 city and town “Location Pages” for a national organization boasting 38MM members. Those pages address the different, subtle needs of each community involved. That’s what we call effective “local reach.”
Let us show you how you can “hang your shingle” literally everywhere you need (or want) to reach. And how to deliver a robust, knowledgeable and above all, local experience that will drive ongoing engagement. Reach out to us!