Research overwhelmingly shows that today’s consumers want to shop within their communities, with 70 percent of consumers preferring to support local businesses and 92 percent of urban residents travelling less than 15 minutes for routine purchases. Whether the driver is community support or convenience, shopping close to home is important to customers today.
Local businesses—and businesses with local presences, whether franchises, office branches, or distributors—can capitalize on these consumer preferences by building and executing strong local marketing campaigns, emphasizing their community involvement, and personalizing their outreach to nearby audiences. Let’s take a look at why this local outreach is important and how businesses can do it successfully.
Why Is Local Marketing Important to Building Customer Loyalty?
Local marketing is a critical opportunity to introduce your brand to the community and welcome neighbors into your store or office. The personalized experience will not only increase revenue through added foot traffic, but it’s also likely to increase retention rates as customers return for more of the community feel. (And we know those returning customers are critical revenue drivers, as increasing retention rates by a mere 5 percent can increase profits by anywhere from 25 to 95 percent.)
What’s more, tracking what’s resonating with customers (and what’s not) in a localized marketing campaign can help your team get even more familiar with consumer preferences, tailoring your outreach — and even your products and services — in order to better meet their needs and further increase brand loyalty.
Finally, loyal customers are a company’s best marketing tool, as their referrals inevitably grow your customer base — and research shows customers who are referred to a business by people who shop there are 18 percent more loyal, have a 16 percenter higher CLV, and spend 13 percent more money than other customers. In other words, your investment in local marketing to build customer loyalty has a powerful ripple effect.
5 Best Practices for Building Customer Loyalty Through Local Marketing
An effective omnichannel local marketing campaign is all about being a part of the community — a shop or office that not only offers goods and services but is in touch with and involved in the surrounding neighborhoods. Highlighting that throughout your communication will help bring local buyers to your brand.
Engage Online
A study from Google found recently that 25 percent of shoppers who click on mobile search ads find their way into the store, and that 75 percent of consumers are more likely to visit a store if they find local retail information in search results online.The moral of the story? Digital outreach is a critical foundation for your local marketing campaign, from targeted advertising to engagement on social media platforms. Meeting your audience online is a great way to build familiarity with your brand and let them know you’re available and eager to welcome them in.
Go Deeper than Digital
But web outreach alone isn’t enough to turn your local audience into loyal customers. Pair your digital marketing with print materials—promotional postcards, catalogues, signage near your physical location and maybe even at the nearby little league field—in order to capitalize on the awareness you’ve built online.
You can read our recent deeper dive into cross-platform campaigns here, but the bottom line is this: When customers see your printed materials and recognize your branding from their newsfeeds or Google searches, they’ll be more likely to take action based on your outreach.
Make Your Presence Known
All of your marketing is ultimately aimed at inviting people in, but one great way to get customers in the door is to literally invite them in with a grand opening bash, a holiday party, or some other event designed to bring the community together, show off your products and services, and provide special promotions to encourage browsers to become buyers. Welcome them into the store with banners over the door, captivating product displays, and swag-filled party favors. Your audiences experiences the best you have to offer, and you establish your store or branch as a community hub they’ll be excited to return to.
Tailor Your Content to Your Local Audience
Research shows that 80 percent of consumers want to see ads customized to their cities, zip codes, and areas, so when you’re working to attract local audiences, the first step is to be sure you’re personalizing your communication to speak to their experiences. If you’re a local business, this pretty well goes without saying, as the only audience you’re marketing to is your local audience. But if you’re a national brand creating localized marketing strategies for locations in different territories, it takes a little strategic thought and planning.
In print, it means postcards must be tailored to geographic preferences, including language and time zone at a minimum and ideally regional lingo and terminology as well. Online, consider landing pages dedicated to different markets and social media advertisements highlighting local sales and events. 78 percent of consumers look online for information about local businesses at least once a week, and offering them locally tailored connection is the first step in showing them you’re interested in their business, specifically.
Lead with Your Purpose
Research found that 62 percent of consumers had made purchasing decisions based on brand values in the last year. Half of survey respondents said they cared much more about social values than they had just a year prior. Long story short, consumers want to buy from brands that prioritize purpose and not just profit — and for local audiences, purpose related to their own backyards is even better. So, if you’re looking to build local customer loyalty, it’s to your advantage to ensure every aspect of your marketing highlights the ways your company invests in making your community a better place. (Learn more about showcasing corporate values through marketing in our recent blog post.)
World-Class Local Marketing Support
Effective local marketing campaigns involve a lot of moving pieces, and the prospect can feel overwhelming. But, whether you’re a franchise owner with minimal marketing expertise or a CMO with minimal time to juggle the local campaigns along with all the global initiatives you’re running, you don’t have to do it alone.
At OneTouchPoint, we know the power of a perfectly executed marketing campaign, and we’re here to help at the global and local levels. With our world-class print production facilities, full suite of digital marketing capabilities, and robust vendor-managed services, we help brands and organizations implement powerful omnichannel marketing strategies to turn potential buyers into lifelong customers. Contact us today to learn more about how OneTouchPoint can help you deliver a flawless localized brand experience.