AI advancements continue to impact tech-savvy businesses with solutions that can transform local marketing efforts. Local marketing is a specialty that targets customers based on their geography, delivering the most relevant messages when shoppers are close to making a purchase decision. Doing it well can make all the difference for sales growth, so having the right team to do that is important.
Now is the best time to become the solution that your customers are looking for. Get ready to elevate your engagement and increase your impact with brand new trends and insights tailored for a hyperlocal audience.
In 2025, advanced AI algorithms will be used to analyze hyperlocal consumer behavior, enabling businesses to tailor their marketing messages with unprecedented precision. For example, a local retailer might use AI-powered analytics to identify the most effective times to promote product specials based on real-time foot traffic patterns. AI enhances the ability to provide predictive analytics, empowering marketers to proactively tailor promotions and offers.
Data insights are critical to provide a personalized experience for your customers. Using AI, marketers can distill large amounts of data into actionable next steps to reach your lead generation and sales goals. Data-driven insights allow marketers to transition from traditional marketing to precision marketing.
Are you set-up to put your data to work for you?
Many local dealers might not be ready to implement augmented reality (AR) experiences within their stores, but for those who are, the experience for customers could be very influential. Immersive, virtual shopping experiences can quickly change a buyer’s perceptions, and even decrease time to purchase decisions.
Imagine using AR to demonstrate what a lawn could look like after being freshly mowed or how much of their property could be maintained on a single battery charge. AR experiences could provide additional product information including pricing, availability and customer reviews using just the customer’s smartphone camera.
While customers want advertising to be highly personalized and relevant, they also want to know that their data is being protected. If a customer trusts a brand enough to provide their name, phone number or email address, the value exchange for that customer must be worthwhile. Consider what you can offer to that customer that has true value to encourage them to engage further with your brand and retail locations.
Follow all local regulations and security best practices to ensure that the customer data in your possession is well-protected. Trust and confidence are key as marketers work to build a long-lasting connection with their customers.
Customers care about their local market, and demonstrating that you are invested in the community as well is a powerful testimony to your brand values. Social media advertising is a highly effective way to promote local community events and promotions to a targeted audience.
By strategically employing social media advertising, you can effectively draw local audiences to your events and promotions, ultimately driving higher attendance and engagement.
Email marketing is a core channel for establishing personalized connections between your brand and the local retail location's customers. For 2025, marketers will continue to implement an email marketing strategy for customers all along their buying journey, from brand awareness to loyalty.
By leveraging technology, email can become a pathway to build lasting relationships and enhance brand loyalty at the local retail level.
You may have read about the ongoing, and perhaps surprising, growth of independent bookstores. Despite the pressure of online marketplaces, bookstores are thriving in local communities. Two take-aways from the success of bookstores include:
Billions of dollars are spent each year as brands employ influencers to reach their audiences, and 2025 will be no exception. Influencers are viewed as authentic storytellers who build connections and relationships with customers. An influencer strategy may be particularly valuable to brands and retailers who want to build long-term relationships with their customers.
Leverage this trend locally by identifying a niche influencer in a local market who might have a smaller, but significant following. Local television and radio personalities could be a starting point to build an influencer strategy to reach customers who may need an introduction to a brand, product or to make a purchase decision.
Short form videos are brief, engaging and capture interest quickly. And because they are short, they require less time and resources to produce than traditional, longer videos. AI video production is expanding rapidly, and becoming more realistic as the technology improves.
If you’re not ready for AI creation, consider producing short videos on a smartphone or tablet to start - content could be how-to tutorials or short maintenance advice. Short form video performs particularly well on social media channels like Instagram and TikTok, making it a great opportunity to build authenticity and local awareness. Just remember, the majority of consumers watch videos on their phones without sound, so don’t forget the captions!
For those who are passionate about marketing, 2025 will be an exciting year. AI is changing the local marketing landscape with more meaningful data insights, faster content development and increased personalization. However, the main goals of local marketing - building strong customer relationships, enhancing brand visibility within the local market, driving foot traffic to physical locations and fostering trust through personalized interactions - remain the same.
We hope these examples and trends allow you to build a sense of community and stay responsive to evolving consumer expectations!