You might aspire to make your business a worldwide brand but if you want to be successful with the marketing efforts you need to segment your target market. One way to do it it’s by location.
In this post, I want to talk about the advantages of local marketing and the reasons why you should adopt these strategies when entering a new market. Let’s look at it!
What is local marketing?
Local marketing might be a relatively new buzzword in the world of business, but it’s one of the oldest methods around.
Remember the days before websites and Amazon? When you had to pick up a phone book to find an area business and you always shopped at the corner store? That was local marketing. Today, things are different, and yet still the same. Welcome to local marketing 2.0!
Local marketing generally refers to the set of promotion techniques that aim to position a brand or business in a specific geographic area. In other words, it is the work done for a company to stand out in the city where it is located and to attract a perfectly segmented customer base. It is also known as “neighborhood marketing”.
These localized tactics or techniques are used to supplement the broader strategic marketing initiatives. Promotional messages are directed to the local population, rather than the mass market.
Barriers to market entry are challenges to be overcome if you want to enter a market and succeed and this is where a local marketing strategy makes sense.
Advantages of local marketing
If you have finally decided that the best strategy for your business is local marketing you must be aware that it is not just a translation it involves much more and if you do it properly you will get enormous advantages for your business:
Higher and faster market penetration
With local marketing you will have direct access to clients, your brand will be present at the channels used by your potential clients, you will know what are the most popular social media platforms and which are the main sources of information for your customers as a consequence you will be more efficient in your strategy.
Increase acquisition and retention business
You will be able to better understand what are the particular needs of your clients and adapt the message accordingly, the same way, the client service and after-sales service will perfectly understand and meet the expectations of your clients providing a remarkable shopping experience.
Improved customer satisfaction and brand loyalty
With local marketing, you will be able to perform a better design of your buyer personas. Thanks to that you will know exactly when, where and to whom make the offer. In addition, the creative process becomes simpler as you know your client’s specific needs you will be able to develop tailored content according to the different tastes, trends, events and other topics related to the location so the information you provide will be more useful and interesting for your customers.
Organically extending customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
Customer lifetime value is defined as a prediction of the net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a customer. As a result of the foregoing, your brand will build long-term relationships with clients and therefore the LTV will be longer.
Improved competitive edge
Local marketing allows you to compete with your direct competition as a local brand. It also helps to gather marketing resources to be more efficient. Local positioning places you over your direct competitors especially if you optimize your location on Google maps what makes you the preferred option among the existing ones.
Get ahead of the competitors when entering the market
As a local brand, you have competitive advantages compared to global brands. It is proved that customers rely on local brands rather than on global ones, if something goes wrong they think that they will have a rapid response or a face to face contact with the client service and therefore the chances of commercialization increase considerably.
Become more attractive to investors
Sometimes money solves specific problems for your business or allows to grow your company faster, at some point you may have to decide if raising money is right for you. If this is your case, choosing a local marketing strategy will help you to be more attractive to possible investors thanks to the better penetration rate in the market and the worldwide coverage achieved.
Improve the level of brand sympathy in the country
We refer not only to brand awareness but also to the net promoter score which is an index ranging from -100 to 100 that measures the willingness of customers to recommend a company’s products or services to others. It is used as a proxy for gauging the customer’s overall satisfaction with a company’s product or service and the customer’s loyalty to the brand. Based on their rating, customers are then classified into 3 categories: detractors, passives, and promoters.
It allows you to team up with local partners
Therefore you can increase your brand visibility in the region. Partnering with local producers will have a positive impact on corporate reputation, being a sustainable brand is a plus nowadays. This could not be possible without a local marketing strategy.
Other aspects to take into consideration
Nowadays it is a fact that most Internet searches are mobile, thus, smartphone users search for local and close information to the location where they are. For this reason, it is important to geo-locate your business on the map and let your potential clients find you easily, for local businesses, there are a few places to jump on right away like: Google my business, Foursquare, Yelp or any other business directories.
This is linked in with search engine optimization and it is an important component of any local marketing strategy. Beyond your website, you also want to make sure your site is getting highlighted in other places online.
This does two positive things:
- Increases the chances of your small business grabbing a potential customer.
- It helps improve your search engine rankings.
If you want to learn more about Local Marketing don’t miss our related posts: Tips to start your Local Marketing Strategy, Reasons to hire a Local Marketing Agency.
Nementio is an Inbound Marketing Agency specialized in local marketing services such as website translation and localization, content marketing and marketing strategy for Spanish markets. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate and contact us!
