Analytics is quickly changing the nature of the marketing profession. Savvy marketers are finding increasingly creative ways to use data analytics to give themselves a greater edge.
Data analytics is especially important for more complex marketing channels, such as marketers operating in multiple regions. Multi-location marketers can use analytics to optimize their strategies and tailor them to each locality.
The Growing Role of Analytics in Multi-Location Marketing
Data analytics has clearly played a huge role in the evolution of digital marketing. However, it is equally important with omnichannel strategies that involve reaching customers across both online and offline channels.
Did the COVID-19 health crisis have a negative effect on brick-and-mortar businesses? Is shopping online becoming more popular due to recent lockdowns? While the answer to both of those questions is yes, the fact still remains that the majority of sales still occur in store. This means that data analytics tools need to look at retail data as well as online sales.
It’s tempting to get excited about the power of digital marketing and ecommerce in terms of scope, but for a truly successful strategy, marketers with physical locations must not forget the importance of multi-location marketing and the role data plays in it.
Multi-location marketing refers to the type of marketing used by companies with local branches or franchises throughout the country. By incorporating location-specific marketing tactics to drive traffic to their nearby stores, companies can greatly increase their revenue. Top brands who utilize localized marketing campaigns grow their sales three times faster on average than their competitors, according to recent studies.
In this article we will discuss the importance of multi-location marketing, how to take the first steps towards a multi-location marketing campaign and which tactics are best for your strategy.
Multi location-based marketing relies on data analytics
Knowing the location of your potential buyers at any moment is important due to the rise of mobile phone usage for internet browsing. Most search engines emphasize local results due to this recent development, and the fact that local search results consistently convert faster sales and have a greater ROI.
Whether you are reading this article as a franchisee, local owner or corporate employee, it’s important to make sure that any multi location marketing campaign you conduct is a team effort. Corporate branding guidelines are important to follow, but there is a way to stay on-brand while also personalizing marketing for your local store.
This is where data analytics can be particularly useful. You can use consumer behavior data to see how customers respond to various marketing messages, so that you can create a marketing strategy that aligns with their needs.
Knowing your regional buyer and their needs and pain points, and incorporating aspects of local life such as seasonal marketing, local events, landmarks and sports teams in your marketing message can pay off hugely. It’s also essential to be on top of protecting your online reputation, especially when it comes to service received at local branches.
With so many people working remotely now due to social distancing, the dependence on mobile phones and geolocation services is at an all-time high. For example, which restaurant or store someone decides to go to depends largely on how the business shows up on their search engine or social media feed. Mobile phone users expect that when they Google “Thai food” they will immediately be presented with all the closest restaurant options, details regarding the menu, their reviews and corresponding stars
Brand guidelines – and regional guidelines
A recent study states that 93% of consumers have reported using the internet to find local businesses last year. In order to establish name recognition with your company, it’s important to make sure all your company locations are fully familiarized with your overall brand guidelines.
Creating a central brand guideline will help outline your unique marketing assets and create a cohesive message to your customers. It ensures that your company operating in Idaho follows the same branding as your branch located in Massachusetts.
Information about current logos and how they should be used, branded phrases and terminology, key details about messaging, brand tone and voice as well as image, font and brand color details should be included in your central brand guideline.
The branding on your website should be visually appealing, easy-to-navigate, and up-to-date with major trends such as relying on gradients, user triggered animations, and 3D elements as much as possible. Consider getting your website redesigned to make it more reflective of your branding.
Equally important to your central brand guidelines is creating a regional brand guideline. By creating this regional guide line, you can take advantage of your different locations and their unique features and see how they play with your brand’s image.
For example, a national clothing store with locations near a popular beach may want to focus their marketing on swimwear and incorporate brand-appropriate ocean imagery. That same strategy may not work for another location in the Midwest.
Your regional guideline should contain details regarding local buyer demographics, and describe all the business locations in the region as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Important to note in your regional branding guides are local events that may affect the type of customer you may expect depending on the time of year.
Delve into data and digital marketing
One of the greatest benefits you will gain from embarking on a multi-location marketing strategy is from the data you will collect regarding your customers. One of the most efficient ways to do this is to use payment or accounting tools that can collect critical customer data such as their buying habits, whether they tend to only buy with coupons or special deals, and when they bought from you after discovering your business.
By truly addressing the unique assets in each of your locations, you can get a better understanding of your customer demographics and detect emerging trends.
Another strategy to amplify your local digital presence is understanding the power of online reviews. Studies show that 47% of people would not consider going to a business with a less than 4-star review, so capitalizing off of your best experiences with customers is crucial. If you’ve just opened up a location in an area, consider soliciting new customers via email for reviews.
Google My Business allows businesses to interact with users via posts and question & answer features. Whether you focus on Facebook or Google ads largely depends on your demographic, but it’s important to interact with potential buyers as much as possible on both search engines and social media.
For useability and hyper-focused localized marketing targets, Facebook and other social media platforms are a great tool. Always make sure your pages or ads are geofenced to make sure that they reach the relevant local audience.
You also should not discount the value of email marketing either, which can be up to seven times more effective than using all social media outlets together. Location-based email marketing in particular is very effective because it means you can deliver incentives to customers at the right time and place.
For example, if you know that Tampa is experiencing a heat wave and you have a location there, you can send targeted emails to your Tampa customer segment with a coupon for fans or air conditioning units.
You can also create reward programs for loyal local customers and then promote them via email. This allows you to cross-promote other products you offer based on where the customer is located geographically.
Consumers are buying more things online, but these digital behaviors don’t necessarily mean that in-store purchases are going away soon. Most in-store purchases are influenced by research done online, so it’s important for local businesses to care just as much about their digital reputation as their local reputation.
As the internet changed the world, consumer behaviour increasingly reiterated the importance of businesses having websites. In 2020, consumer needs have evolved. Now, it’s expected that any local business looking to compete must provide a potential buyer with relevant information regarding their location, product availability and local reviews.
Data Analytics is Very Important in Multi-Location Marketing
Big data has created massive changes in the field of marketing. Data analytics can be particularly valuable for multi-location marketing strategies. You can’t afford to overlook the benefits, as highlighted in this post.
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