Top 10 Local Marketing Trends and how you can apply them

When it comes to marketing, the strategies that work on a national scale might not perform the same across all of your local retail markets. The dynamics shift, and what resonates with your audience on a broader scale might not have the same impact when applied locally.

As you create your 2024 marketing plans, we’ve curated a list of trends that will not only positively impact your brand, but also perform well when applied across your distribution channels.

1. Hyperlocal marketing

Tailoring your branding and marketing strategies to suit the unique climate, challenges, and customer needs of each local retailer is crucial for success. Local Relevance is important to keep top of mind. Customers in Florida may have vastly different needs and preferences compared to those in Colorado. Recognizing these differences and aligning your branding accordingly helps your brand feel more relevant and relatable to local customers.

Hyperlocal marketing is a targeted marketing strategy that allows you to focus on reaching potential customers in a very specific, localized area, often within a few blocks or miles of a business location. There are two ways to approach this marketing: Geotargeting and Geofencing. 

Geotargeting delivers content to users based on their geographic location, while Geofencing creates a “virtual perimeter” around a physical location, and when a user enters that area, it can trigger notifications or content.

2. Influencer Marketing

Leveraging the influence of local personalities and community leaders can be a strategic move to enhance your brand's presence and connect with your local audience. Collaborate with local influencers or community leaders who have a strong presence and following in your local areas. 

For example, a local landscaping influencer could host a product demonstration at a local dealership. Before the event, it could be promoted by the brand, the local retailer, and within the influencer’s audience.To make the most of the event, it's important to choose influencers whose values align with your brand and whose followers are likely to be interested in your offerings. That additional audience of the influencer, increases your reach to a key target audience.

3. Augmented Reality (AR) for Local Retail

Many local dealers might not be ready to implement AR experiences within their stores, but for those who are, the experience for customers could be very influential. AR can be implemented in many different ways ranging in levels of engagement.

AR can be used to show a customer what their property could look like after being freshly mowed or how much of their lawn could be maintained on a single battery charge. AR experiences could also include additional information about products like pricing, availability and customer reviews when customers point their smartphones at them.

4. Social Media Advertising for Local Events and Promotions

Social media advertising is a highly effective way to promote local events and promotions to a targeted audience. 

Ways in which your dealers could implement social advertising are by: 

• Creating a dedicated event page for local events and using Facebook's paid promotion features to increase its visibility. They can build an audience for the promotion to reach people in the specific location and demographics most likely to attend. 
• Utilizing Instagram story ads to promote time-sensitive promotions like flash sales, limited-time offers or one-day events. These ads can include eye-catching visuals, and even countdowns to create a sense of urgency.

By strategically employing social media advertising, you can effectively draw local audiences to your events and promotions, ultimately driving higher attendance and engagement.

5. Email Marketing

Email marketing is a powerful avenue for establishing personalized connections between your brand and the local retail location's customers.  With an email marketing strategy for customers all along their buying journey, from brand awareness all the way to loyalty.

• Brand Awareness

• • Welcome emails for new subscribers introducing them to your business and highlighting your products or services or offering a special welcome discount or incentive.

• Consideration
  • Targeted emails featuring exclusive discounts or promotions for local customers could be sent for new product launches or to clear inventory toward the end of the season.
• Loyalty

• • Express gratitude to local customers for their support by offering them a special thank-you discount or invite them to an exclusive in-store event.

Email becomes a conduit for building lasting relationships and enhancing brand loyalty at the local retail level.

6. Personalize, Personalize, Personalize

Tailoring your messages, products and services to meet the specific preferences and needs of individual customers is central to building local relationships. Personalized emails, loyalty programs and product recommendations based on local factors like seasonality demonstrate to customers that you care about sharing content that is relevant to their needs. 

The key to successful personalization and customization is collecting and using customer data responsibly and ethically. Always ensure that customers have opted in to receive personalized marketing messages and respect their privacy preferences.

7. Tap into Micro-Moments

Micro-moments are quick, intent-driven interactions with customers. Tapping into micro-moments involves understanding and responding to the immediate needs or queries of potential customers in real-time. 

Here’s how: 

• Ensure local websites are optimized for local search queries and are mobile-friendly. This helps dealers show up in search results when people are looking for products or services in their area. 
• Retail locations should make sure their Google Business Profile is up to date. Maintain accurate info, including operating hours, location, and any special announcements. This is crucial for appearing in local search results. 
• Actively engaging with customers in these micro-moments to to provide immediate value, address immediate needs, and build stronger connections with your local audience. This can lead to increased brand loyalty and higher chances of conversion.

8. Data-Driven Marketing  

Data-driven insights play a crucial role in shaping effective local marketing strategies. Customer data should be analyzed to understand the demographics, interests and preferences of local audiences. This information can help tailor marketing messages and offers to better resonate with them. 

Study customer behavior patterns, such as browsing habits, purchase history and interaction with marketing materials to inform content creation, product placement and messaging strategies. By leveraging these data-driven insights, you can make more informed decisions about your local marketing strategies, ultimately driving better results and improving the overall customer experience.

Ways to implement data insights in your marketing could include: 

• If data reveals that customers in one area prefer video content, you can focus on video marketing for that region.
• If a particular product is consistently popular in one location, you can ensure it's well-stocked and prominently displayed.

9. Localized Content Marketing Strategies

Active dealers have the opportunity to create content that deeply resonates with their local audience, nurturing strong community connections. 

A few ways to do that would be:

• Active dealers can utilize a range of content formats to connect with their local audience, including blog posts, videos, and social media updates to keep your audience engaged and informed.
• Showcase success stories and testimonials from local customers. This helps build trust within the community and provides social proof of the business's value. 
• For dealers who sponsor local events or sports teams, they could feature it on their website. Highlight their commitment to the local community, reinforcing your brand's dedication to the area.
• For more in-depth-content opportunities, local businesses could conduct interviews with local influencers, business owners or community leaders and share their insights and stories to connect with the local audience. 

By implementing these localized content marketing strategies, businesses can better connect with their local audience, demonstrate their understanding of community needs, and ultimately build stronger relationships within the local market.

10. Customer Reviews and Testimonials 

Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and other local review sites. Reviews and testimonials can offer valuable insights into the preferences, needs and experiences of your local customers. 

Positive reviews and testimonials from local customers serve as social proof of your business's reliability and quality. They help establish trust with potential customers who may be considering your products or services. At the same time, negative feedback can be constructive. It provides an opportunity to identify areas where local retailers can improve and make necessary adjustments to enhance the customer experience. 

By actively collecting and leveraging local customer reviews and testimonials, businesses can strengthen their presence within their local market, build trust with their audience, and ultimately drive growth and success.

Local marketing builds strong customer relationships, enhances brand visibility within the local market, drives foot traffic to physical locations and fosters trust through personalized interactions. 

By tailoring marketing trends to apply to local preferences and needs, your brand and your local retail locations can establish a loyal customer base, improve search engine rankings, and ultimately, boost revenue. Additionally, it creates a sense of community and allows businesses to stay responsive to evolving local trends and consumer behaviors.

Start your journey to localized marketing today.

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