the local web: the linchpin to a successful local marketing campaign (with planning matrix)

THE LOCAL WEBThe Linchpin to Successful Local Marketing

» THE LOCAL WEB, WHAT IT IS, AND WHY IT MATTERS

» LOCAL WEB PLANNING MATRIX

» HOW THREE NATIONAL BRANDS ARE EMBRACING THE LOCAL WEB

PAPER INTENDED FOR

BUYING STAGE» Education

AUDIENCE» Responsible for National Branding,

Channel Marketing, and Advertising

FOCUS» Trends and Channel Elements of the

Local Web» How to Incorporate in National

Marketing Strategies

ROLE» Decision Maker» Influencer

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SECTION 1: THE IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL MARKETING FOR NATIONAL BRANDS THE GAP BETWEEN NATIONAL BRANDS AND LOCAL MARKETING LOCAL MARKETING IS THE “LAST MILE” OF MARKETING HOW LOCAL MARKETING INCREASES TOP-LINE GROWTH CHALLENGES NATIONAL BRANDS FACE WITH LOCAL MARKETING

SECTION 2: THE IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL MEDIA TO LOCAL MARKETING MARKETERS INCREASINGLY RELY ON DIGITAL MEDIA TO REACH CONSUMERS AT THE LOCAL LEVEL

SECTION 3: THE LOCAL WEB WHAT IS THE LOCAL WEB AND WHY SHOULD IT MATTER TO NATIONAL BRANDS? STRATEGY FOR ADDRESSING LOCAL WEB ECOSYSTEM ELEMENTS WHAT ARE THE ECOSYSTEM ELEMENTS OF THE LOCAL WEB? » LOCAL WEBSITES » SEARCH » LOCAL REVIEW SITES » LOCATION-BASED MEDIA » DAILY DEALS » MOBILE » LOCAL MEDIA » SOCIAL MEDIA LOCAL WEB PLANNING MATRIX – STRATEGY AND IMPACT FOR ADDRESSING LOCAL WEB ECOSYSTEM ELEMENTS

SECTION 4: HOW THREE NATIONAL BRANDS ARE EMBRACING THE LOCAL WEB CASE STUDY #1: NATIONAL MANUFACTURER SEEKS LOCAL BRAND AWARENESS AND IMPROVED CO-OP MANAGEMENT CASE STUDY #2: NATIONAL MEDICAL ORGANIZATION INCREASES PATIENT LEADS CASE STUDY #3: NATIONAL INSURER DEVELOPS STRONG LOCAL ONLINE PRESENCE

SECTION 5: CONCLUSION EFFECTIVE LOCAL MARKETING IS THE SINGLE LARGEST OPPORTUNITY FOR NATIONAL BRANDS

333445

6

6

777888999

10101012

13

131415

1616

WHITEPAPERTHE LINCHPIN TO SUCCESSFUL LOCAL MARKETING

3THE LOCAL WEB: THE LINCHPIN TO SUCCESSFUL LOCAL MARKETING

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYLocal marketing is the “last mile” of marketing – i.e. communication a potential customer receives when they are at their closest point to making an actual purchase decision – making it highly relevant when it comes to converting consumers with purchase intent into buyers of a brand’s products. But for the majority of national brands who sell through local outlets (e.g. dealers, distributors, agents, franchisees, or retailers) local marketing is a highly under-served marketing channel.

This paper explains:

• The reasons why national brands are falling short when it comes to local marketing and why ignoring the problem is simply not acceptable anymore.

• The transformational shift occurring in digital media.

• The rise of the “Local Web” as the dominant segment of the local advertising marketplace.

• What the Local Web is and how it can help national brands close the loop on the “last mile” of marketing, and in turn, increase top-line revenue.

• How national brands can begin taking advantage of the Local Web.

SECTION 1: THE IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL MARKETING FOR NATIONAL BRANDSTHE GAP BETWEEN NATIONAL BRANDS AND LOCAL MARKETINGFor the majority of national brands who sell through local outlets (e.g. dealers, distributors, agents, franchisees, or retailers) local marketing is a highly under-served marketing channel. In the Awareness-Preference-Purchase Cycle (Figure 1), brand marketers spend millions of dollars nationally – both online and offline – to build brand awareness, interest, consideration and preference of the consumer, with consistent messaging that builds across multiple touch points in the cycle.

However, when it comes to marketing at the local level, where final preference and purchases actually occur, national brands often lose control of the brand message and the effectiveness of their marketing dollars because they must rely on their local outlets – many of whom lack marketing expertise and bandwidth – to execute the remainder of the campaign. This disconnect between the national and local marketing levels causes lost sales, and there is no doubt that by finding a way to close the gap, brand marketers can significantly improve sales and revenue.

WHITEPAPER

FIGURE 1


LOCAL MARKETING IS THE “LAST MILE” OF MARKETINGThe disconnect between national and local marketing is particularly interesting when one considers that local marketing is the “last mile” of marketing – i.e. communication a potential customer receives when they are at their closest point to making an actual purchase decision – making it highly relevant when it comes to converting consumers with purchase intent into buyers of a brand’s products.

When well-executed, local marketing can essentially close the loop to national brand advertising expenditures and deliver significant benefits, including:

• Increasing top-line growth without significantly increasing marketing dollars. According to Gartner, “By 2015, companies that focus on integrated processes for local marketing enablement will increase revenue by 15 to 20 percent.”

• Ensuring that a brand’s products, services and dealers can be found locally when national marketing efforts have driven them to make a local purchase. Without this last mile, there is significant waste in the national spend.

• Building long-term dealer relationships far beyond that of competitors by capturing local demand and delivering leads to a brand’s local partners.

• Mitigating competitive demand-gen capture. When consumers have an interest in a brand’s product category and are driven locally to purchase, effective local marketing can ensure that they are not persuaded to a competitive product. Conversely, effective local marketing allows companies to capture demand driven by competitors’ efforts by delivering the right message to the right person at the right time.

While it seems obvious, it’s worth pointing out that local versions of, “last-mile” messages are more effective than mass-market messages because they show the consumer that they matter to the brand, making them feel as if the message is speaking directly to them. For example, an auto repair chain might acknowledge a particular city’s recent hail storm in their messages and promote a discount or fast repair turnaround to people in that area whose vehicles were damaged. Because they’re delivering the right message to the right person at the right time, they’re likely to close more sales.

HOW LOCAL MARKETING INCREASES TOP-LINE GROWTH

To illustrate the significant impact that effective local marketing can have on increasing revenue, let’s look at a hypothetical marketing program for WidgetCo, a manufacturer of widgets. They are launching a new product and are planning to allocate $10M in national marketing efforts to support this launch. Based on prior experience (and industry benchmarks) they assume that this national marketing spend will result in a 2:1 ROI, so the simple math is:

$10M spend x 2:1 ROI =$20M revenue

However, let’s assume that WidgetCo decides to allocate a relatively small portion of their budget (20%) to execute highly effective local marketing on behalf of their local dealers. Based on historical performance of local marketing, this spend results in twice the ROI, or 4:1. Additionally, with an effective local presence, it also increases in the effectiveness of what’s spent at the national level, bumping its performance to a 2.5:1 ROI. The resulting math is:

$8M national spend x 2.5:1 ROI = $20M revenue

$2M local spend x 4:1 ROI = $8M revenue

Total revenue = $28M

Relative to putting all of the dollars at the national level, reserving just a small portion for local efforts results in a 40% revenue increase for this single campaign. There is no other marketing strategy or tactic available to marketing organizations today that can consistently provide this level of immediate return.


CHALLENGES NATIONAL BRANDS FACE WITH LOCAL MARKETINGWith the recent changes that the major search engines Google, Yahoo and Bing have made to their algorithms, most national brands that sell through local outlets are currently losing market share in terms of search marketing visibility to local small businesses (SMBs). Many national marketers are not even aware of this because of their traditional lack of focus on local marketing.

Given all the evidence, it’s clear that effective local marketing presents a significant opportunity for national brands. So why aren’t CMOs putting more emphasis on building effective local marketing programs?

The reasons are varied, but they fall into 3 major categories:

1. National brands typically have to rely on a separate entity to execute local marketing – dealers, distributors, agents, franchisees, or retailers who are usually business owners or managers – and this group is often unskilled in marketing in addition to having a plethora of competing responsibilities, marketing being only one of them. With a reliance on potentially hundreds of independent businesses, executing a well-timed, effective local marketing effort is an extreme challenge.

2. Simply put, local marketing is difficult for brand marketers. It requires customization of messaging and graphics across a growing number of mediums at a highly localized level – often across hundreds of cities with multiple outlets in each one. Without technology, it’s simply not cost-effective for a national brand to modify all of these elements at a local level.

3. Visibility into ROI and effectiveness is practically non-existent, so it is difficult to measure and justify the spending. National brands typically have to rely on sell-through or order data to gauge the impact of local marketing efforts, and this data is typically unreliable and dated.

Regardless of the challenges, it’s critical that national brand marketers recognize the scale of the local marketing opportunity available to them today so they can begin building the organizations and processes that will enable them to effectively execute.


SECTION 2: THE IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL MEDIA TO LOCAL MARKETINGMARKETERS INCREASINGLY RELY ON DIGITAL MEDIA TO REACH CONSUMERS AT THE LOCAL LEVELA wide range of media channels exist – both offline and online – for delivering brand messages to local markets. Traditional media channels will always have their place for building brand awareness, particularly at the national level, but when it comes to what works at the local level, the importance of online marketing is growing significantly because of its cost-effectiveness, the ability it gives marketers to interact on a more personalized level with their customers, and its ability to reach consumers when they’re searching for products and making comparisons.

Consider these statistics on consumer behavior which underscores why online and mobile channels are becoming so important in local marketing:

• Nearly 70% of adults in the U.S. rarely or never use the phone book. Instead, most of them (60%) use the Internet to find contact information. (Harris Interactive)

• Print revenue for Yellow Pages publishers will continue to decline, while online revenue will continue at a double-digit growth rate through 2013 (YP Talk blog reporting on Simba Information Yellow Pages Industry Forecast 2011)

• In 2013, 56% of PC local searches resulted in a purchase, 78% of mobile phone local searches 77% of tablet searches resulted in a purchase (Neustar Report, March 2013)

• Online ad revenues in the U.S. hit a record-breaking high of $10.69 billion for the third quarter of 2013, according to IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, while print advertising dropped $1.8 billion in 2012, as report in the 2013 State of the Media Report.

There is clearly a transformational shift underway in local marketing and why it’s fast approaching a tipping point where digital media will soon be the dominant segment of the local advertising marketplace.

Research shows (Figure 2) that online/interactive advertising revenues are expected to climb to $41.1 billion by 2017, almost double 2012’s $23 billion, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.3 percent. This means digital media will represent 27.6 percent – over a quarter – of all local ad spending by 2017.

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

$23.0 B

$25.7 B

$29.1 B

$33.1 B

$37.0 B

$41.1 B

17.4%

19.4%

21.3%

23.7%

25.5%

27.6%

82.6%

80.6%

78.7%

76.3%

74.5%

72.4%

ONLINE/ INTERACTIVE REVENUES

SOURCE: BIA/KELSEY, “U.S. LOCAL MEDIA FORECAST (2012-2017),” MARCH 18, 2013

ONLINE/ INTERACTIVETRADITIONAL

US LOCAL ONLINE & TRADITIONAL AD SPENDING SHARE 2012-2017% OF TOTAL

FIGURE 2


SECTION 3: THE LOCAL WEBWHAT IS THE LOCAL WEB AND WHY SHOULD IT MATTER TO NATIONAL BRANDS?As the number of U.S. Internet users and mobile device owners continues to increase, so too does the amount of online advertising channels available to local marketers who are looking to capitalize on this growing audience.

The “Local Web” is the name for the integrated, growing ecosystem of online media channels that collectively drive local online marketing (Figure 3). The Local Web is how local online marketing happens. A national brand must claim and at least minimally participate in the majority of these integrated channels at the local level or risk being invisible in online and mobile searches in those geographic regions.

Collectively, new technologies and the channel elements of the Local Web are changing the way consumers buy and brands communicate. The Local Web’s social channels typically encourage consumer engagement with the brand, while the search channels focus more on affecting a consumer’s purchase intent and conversion to sale.

STRATEGY FOR ADDRESSING LOCAL WEB ECOSYSTEM ELEMENTSNational brands’ traditional online tactics do not effectively penetrate the ecosystem elements of the Local Web. In order to gain traction in the Local Web, brand marketers must consider all of the ecosystem elements of the Local Web and strategically decide:

• Which ones to address (i.e. How much can they impact local marketing success?)

• At what level they should be addressed (i.e. heavy involvement vs. low involvement)

• How they will be addressed (i.e. manually vs. automation)

• Who will address them (i.e. brand marketer, channel marketer, or local marketer)

• When to address them (i.e. short term, long term, as needed)

Refer to the Local Web Planning Matrix in (Figure 4) on page 10 for guidance on how national brands can strategically address and manage each Local Web element.

THELOCAL WEB

FIGURE 3


WHAT ARE THE ECOSYSTEM ELEMENTS OF THE LOCAL WEB?Local Websites – As with the national brand’s website, local websites serve as the centerpiece, or hub, for all other local marketing tactics – both online and offline. They serve as the centralized landing pages through which all of the other tactics can be driven, tracked and measured. National brands need variations of local websites to allow them to be “found” at the local search level.

Examples of local website variations include:

» Co-branded affiliate sites with each of the brand’s agents, distributors, dealers, etc., which allow all affiliate locations to show up individually in location searches and maps.

» City sites focused on the corporate brand, which enable all of the brand locations for that city to be listed in a single spot and for the nationally branded site to be found in organic search listings for the city.

» Promotional sites which enable a brand’s new offers or products to be found in organic searches in each relevant city.

Search – Still the granddaddy of the local web, search maintains a dominant position and continues to evolve quickly, particularly in the local/maps arena. National brands must participate in the majority of the other Local Web elements outlined here to optimize their ability to rank, how highly they rank, and how many times they rank in organic and local search/ maps results.

Key facts/ stats:

» 43% of all search queries on Google carry a local intent. (Chitika)

» Local content reaches 79% of online Americans. (Pew)

» 74% of Internet users perform local search. (The Kelsey Group)

» Organic Search Optimization (SEO) – The major search engines are placing an emphasis on local search results and placing local listings at prominent places in results. While their algorithms are complex, search engines determine what to show largely by looking at relevant pages and the quality of their content and links. This is a key reason why local websites are important for national brands. Consistency of information, number of citations, number of reviews, and locations of businesses also play a key role in organic search results.

Key facts/stats:

» Many SEO experts agree that “citations,” (i.e. references to name/address/phone) have a significant impact in local SEO.

» 18% of organic clicks go to the #1 position, 10% of organic clicks go to the #2 position, and 7% of organic clicks go to the #3 position. (Slingshot SEO)

» Paid Search (Pay-Per-Click/PPC) – PPC is old-hat for national marketers, but most local affiliates have either a very unsophisticated PPC program or none at all. National brands should create tailored PPC messages that can be used in local markets because emotionally, consumers are more comfortable with locally-oriented PPC ads – they feel more connected to them and know what action to take. In addition, PPC ads that click-through to local sites generally perform better than ones that click-through to broader, national brand sites.

Key facts/stats:

» Local search advertising revenues are forecast to increase from $5.1 billion in 2010 to $8.2 billion by 2015. (BIA/Kelsey)

» By 2015, 30% of all search volume will be local in nature. (BIA/Kelsey)


» Local Search / Maps Optimization – Local search/map results are playing an increasingly large role in the search engine results, yet many national brands have no strategy in this area. All three of the major search engines have local/mapping services – Google+ Local pages, Bing Local and Yahoo Local – that offer free listings for each business location. Claiming these listings and fully completing them for all business locations should be a major priority for national brands because of the significant exposure they provide.

Key facts/stats:

» Google+ Local generates pages automatically. Millions of these pages are waiting to be unlocked by business owners. (Google)

» 80% of budgets are spent within 50 miles of the home. (DMA/proprietary)

Local Review Sites – Local review sites are playing an increasingly important role as they become integrated into the major search engines’ results. National brands should claim and fully complete their listings with review sites at the local level to help optimize local search results. Ongoing, they should regularly monitor reviews and have a policy for responding to issues at the local store level. This will ensure that goodwill established by the national brand is maintained at the local level. Automation technology is available to help monitor sites at an aggregate level.

Key facts/stats:

» Yelp reported they have over 47 million local reviews, and in Q3 welcomed 100 unique visitors to their site.

» 59% of all local-business searchers say ratings and reviews are important while searching for a business.(TMP/15 Miles)

» 72% of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, while 52% said that positive online reviews make them more likely to use a local business. (BrightLocal)

Location-Based Media – Location-Based Media (LBM) delivers multimedia and other content directly to the user of a mobile device dependent upon their location. Consumers use location-based applications like Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt to search for businesses nearby, and also to “check in” at business venues. These applications offer an easy, low-cost way for national brands to attract new customers at the local level, retain existing ones through a “remember-your-name” type of loyalty that consumers want, and track information and statistics about visitors. At a minimum, national brands should set up their brand pages and claim all of their local venues to take advantage of the brand awareness these applications can offer.

Key facts/stats:

» 74% of US smartphone owners use location-based services, and 18% “check in” to locations. (Pew)

» 42% of people who have downloaded the Foursquare app are using it at least once per month. (Neilsen)

Daily Deals – Bridging the online-to-offline gap, Daily Deals are pioneering a new breed of “trial-based advertising.” While the popularity of these sites, like Groupon and Living Social are growing at an astounding pace, for national brands, the merits of participating in Daily Deal promotions remain unclear. There is no doubt that Daily Deals can help create awareness and drive traffic into local retail outlets, but how well that traffic can be translated into repeat business and long-term customer loyalty remains to be seen. National brands should look closely at whether or not Daily Deals can support their local objectives before deciding if they’re a tactic that makes sense.

Key facts/stats:


» Groupon had 41.7 million subscribers as of January, 2013. (Groupon)

» Between 55% and 61% of businesses running daily deals make money on the promotions. (Rice University)

Mobile – Both 2011 and 2012 were referred to as the “Year of Mobile” as a result of the growing popularity of smart, mobile, Internet-connected devices. However, the majority of top brands have yet to create a compelling experience in the mobile space. This is a major oversight, considering that consumers use mobile devices (like smartphones and tablets) to research products and make purchasing decisions. Therefore, mobile-friendly local websites are a must. Brands should also consider how text messaging campaigns and QR codes might support their local marketing objectives.

Key facts/stats:

» 85% of American adults own a cell phone, 45% have a smartphone, and 25% have a tablet computer.” (Pew)

» 95% of smartphone users have looked for local information. 61% call a business, 59% visit a business, and 44% actually make a purchase. (Google)

» U.S. local mobile ad spending will grow from $404 million in 2010 to $2.8 billion in 2015. (BIA/Kelsey)

» 53% of national brands relying on affiliates (dealers, agents, resellers, channel partners, retailers, franchisees) believe these localized entities lack the expertise and the ability to effectively execute mobile marketing strategies. (Balihoo)

Local Media – Although traditional media continues to decline, the online version of local media outlets are gaining momentum as consumers consume local content via the web. Many people, especially baby boomers, still draw conclusions about the strength of brands from traditional print and broadcast ads. National brands should continue to consider traditional media when planning media in local markets.

Key facts/stats:

» About half of North American consumers trust content on brand websites (52%), television ads (46%), print ads in newspapers and magazines (47%), and radio ads (45%). (Neilsen)

» Digital media will represent 27.6% of all local advertising by 2017. (BIA/Kelsey)

» The U.S. local advertising market is forecasted to reach $148.8 billion in 2017. (BIA/Kelsey)

Social Media – Social media is critical to the interplay between brands, local resellers, and their consumers. For example, when fans “like” a brand on Facebook, they see the brand’s updates in their personal news feeds, giving the brand a valuable opportunity to use its messaging to build awareness and create loyalty, therefore extending their reach.

Key facts/stats:

» 71% of social media participants say they are more likely to purchase from a brand they follow online. (Universal McCann)

» Facebook now has over 1.2 billion active users. (Facebook)

» Twitter has over 645 million registered users. (Twitter)

» LinkedIn now has more than 259 million registered users. (LinkedIn)

» Advertising – With sophistication growing in targeting, technology and reporting, advertising via social


media may very well surpass search advertising in the long-term. Using the precision-level targeting available for social media sites, national brands can personalize ads at the local level, making them: 1) more relevant to readers, 2) more likely to perform better for the brand, and 3) more cost-effective for the brand – especially when compared to most traditional and search media. And because of the analytics available through social media sites, ads placed there are extremely measurable, giving brands a clear view of ROI.

It’s important to note that while it’s highly recommended that brands engage in social media sites at the national and local levels, doing so is not necessary for a brand to take advantage of social media advertising.

Key facts/stats:

» Forecasted ad spending on social media in the U.S. will top $3 billion in 2014. (Forrester)

» There are currently 12 Facebook ad products available, and annual revenue from these is projected to reach $12 billion in 2016. (Topeka Capital Markets)

» Twitter advertising revenue is projected to top $807 million in 2014. (eMarketer)

» Local Engagement – Beware! Regardless of whether or not a national brand has actively engaged in social media, consumers are using it to talk about national brands and their local resellers – often in a negative light. By engaging in social media, particularly at the city level, national brands can create place-specific communities where consumers can have personal interactions with the brand that are more relevant to their daily lives, and where the brand can monitor and manage their reputation. City-level sites also provide more avenues through which the brand can push demand-generation activities.

While engaging in social media at the local level may seem daunting for a national brand, it is doable if they put infrastructure, processes and guidelines in place that support planning globally (by the national brand) and acting locally (via affiliates or local community managers).

Key facts/stats:

» A typical user engages at an average of six to seven hours a month. Among local searchers, 91 percent say they use Facebook to find local businesses online. (comScore/Localeze)

» 61% of social media users rely on user reviews of products before a buying decision is made. (ODM Group)

SECTION 4: HOW THREE NATIONAL BRANDS ARE EMBRACING THE LOCAL WEB


CO-BRANDED LOCAL WEBSITES

CITYSITES

PROMOTIONAL WEBSITES

PAID SEARCH (PPC)

ORGANIC SEARCH (SEO)

LOCAL SEARCH / MAPS OPTIMIZATION

LOCAL REVIEW SITES

LOCATION-BASED MEDIA

DAILY DEALS

MOBILE

LOCAL MEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA: ADVERTISING

SOCIAL MEDIA: LOCAL ENGAGEMENT

High on the front end; low

thereafter.

Medium on the front end;

low thereafter.

Medium on the front end;

low thereafter.

High

High

Low to medium on the front

end depending on quantity;

low thereafter.

Medium on the front end

and ongoing

Low to medium on the

front end; depends on

brand strategy/campaigns

thereafter.

Medium

Medium to high on front

end; low thereafter.

Depends on brand strategy

Medium

High on front end; medium

to high thereafter

Near-term; ASAP

Near-term; ASAP

Depends on brand strategy.

Not urgent for day-to-day

operations.


Near-term; ASAP

Near-term; ASAP

Near- to mid-term for

claiming sites; mid-term

for establishing monitoring

process

Depends on brand strategy.

Not urgent.


Mid-term



Mid-term. Sustained, on-

going management is a

requirement for success.

High

High

Depends on brand

strategy

Depends on brand

strategy

High

High

High

Medium to High

Depends on brand

strategy

High

Depends on brand

strategy

Medium - High

High

Automated

Automated

Automated

Automated

Automated

Automated

Manual

Manual

Manual

Automated

Manual

Automated

Manual

National marketer on the front

end; affiliate thereafter. National

marketer provides ongoing content

updates as-needed.




updates as-needed.




updates as-needed.

National marketer and/or affiliates

National marketer

National marketer


end; affiliates or national marketer

thereafter.



National marketer

Affiliates


National marketers must train/

coach affiliates or community

managers who can then manage

long-term

LOCAL WEB PLANNING MATRIX – STRATEGY AND IMPACT FOR ADDRESSING LOCAL WEB ECOSYSTEM ELEMENTSThe following matrix provides a high-level view of the impact each element of the Local Web can have on improving local marketing. It also provides insight on what it will take for national brands to implement and manage Local Web elements near-term and long-term.

LOCAL WEB CHANNEL ELEMENTS

IMPACT ONSUCCESSFULLOCAL MARKETING

INVOLVEMENTNEEDED BYNATIONAL BRANDS

AUTOMATEDOR MANUAL?

WHO MANAGES? HOW QUICKLY IT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED?


CASE STUDY #1: NATIONAL MANUFACTURER SEEKS LOCAL BRAND AWARENESS AND IMPROVED CO-OP MANAGEMENTChallenge

A product manufacturer with a well-known brand had invested significant advertising, marketing and research dollars to ensure their brand had a strong national presence. However, despite a compelling, well- funded national advertising campaign and a strong website, they were concerned that a lack of retailer effort in localized markets was negatively impacting their broader marketing efforts, ultimately making it difficult for consumers to find—let alone purchase—their products, due to a weak local presence. The manufacturer turned to Balihoo to implement a solution that would enable their resellers to efficiently customize advertising and marketing materials and to automate the highly manual co-op process.

Solution

After investigating the manufacturer’s local retailer websites, Balihoo identified that these dealer sites poorly represented the manufacturer because they 1) provided too little information about the brand and its products, 2) did not highlight the manufacturer’s products in a way that reflected superiority over low-cost competitors and 3) were not well-positioned in local search results and rarely optimized for lead generation.

Balihoo provided a solution that made multiple creative pieces available across 12 mediums to over 900 of the brand’s qualified resellers. Using data provided by the manufacturer, Balihoo then implemented high-quality, local websites for each reseller represented in the manufacturer’s dealer locater. Once the data was input, all of the sites were automatically generated and rolled out simultaneously.

To ensure that local brands were also represented, all dealers were given the ability to co-brand and customize traditional and online creative elements. Each local reseller received a login account, enabling a full customization of creative and execution of production or media—all within a matter of minutes.

In addition, by implementing Balihoo’s Local Web Program, local resellers’ businesses and websites were fully registered across all major search engines and directories (for dealers who chose to use co-op funds provided by the national brand for this purpose). Balihoo also created and executed online advertising to drive traffic and leads to local websites for dealers who chose to participate in this program using manufacturer co-op funds.

These co-op funds were applied instantly to the creative and media orders, eliminating pre-approval, approval and proof-of-performance steps, and enabling brand compliance and tracking reports. The fully integrated, automated co-op dollar functionality in the application subsequently saved the national brand and the resellers hundreds of hours of administration time.

Results

• Each of the manufacturer’s dealer locations now has a high-quality, co-branded website optimized for lead generation and search.

• Over 50% of the brand’s resellers have customized creative pieces in the past six months.

• Due to the integration of Local Web elements implemented throughout the program and newfound trackability, the manufacturer has determined that more than 28% of the traffic to the local dealer sites is now being driven by organic search results. These are visitors—and leads—the brand and local affiliates were not capturing previously.

• The brand tracked over 70,000 unique visitors to dealer microsites in the first six months of program, with


a total of 158,000 unique visitors in the first year (a 25% increase in unique visitors between the first 6 months and the second 6 months).

• Total visits to local dealer sites doubled in the first year of the program.

• The automated co-op program has enabled the brand to incent dealers in the execution of programs and tactics that are of strategic importance to the brand.

• 8,700 co-op claims have been automated since the launch of the program.

• More than 70 % of the dealers chose to apply the co-op funds provided by the manufacturer for local business and website registrations and local online advertising. Because of this, the national brand now has easy-to-access visibility into the results generated from these co-op investments.

CASE STUDY #2: NATIONAL MEDICAL ORGANIZATION INCREASES PATIENT LEADS Challenge

A national medical organization needed to drive patients into their network of doctors across multiple cities in one of the country’s largest DMAs (Designated Market Areas). Because healthcare is fundamentally a local decision, they recognized they would need a solution specialized for geographic targeting to achieve the results they needed.

Solution

To solve the medical organization’s unique challenge, Balihoo developed a custom solution consisting of the following Local Web elements:

• A series of city-specific and medical-specialty specific local websites that enable potential patients to find the medical organization’s doctors regardless of whether they search for doctors based on the city they live in or the specialty they require (e.g. family practitioner, dermatologist, surgeon, etc.). In total, more than 2000 combinations were created for the single market area.

• An integrated ad campaign that crossed online, traditional and mobile media to drive traffic and patient referrals to the new highly targeted local websites.

Results

Through the combination of the local websites and integrated ad campaign driving traffic to them, the medical organization has seen a 6:1 ROI in the first 3 months of the campaign. This was three times higher than the 2:1 ROI the organization expected.

CASE STUDY #3: NATIONAL INSURER DEVELOPS STRONG LOCAL ONLINE PRESENCE


Challenge

Despite a robust national marketing presence, one leading insurer realized an untapped opportunity to connect with their existing customer base (and potential insureds) on a personal, local level. Given their strong brand identity and the industry’s significant legal compliance issues, however, it was essential that local marketing efforts be tightly controlled by the national brand.

Solution

Balihoo built, launched, and registered 3,400 city websites (cityname.InsurerNameLocal.com). By targeting specific cities in the US, the national insurance brand is able to use geo-targeting to drive better relevance of their message and increase lead generation. Through the use of unique call tracking numbers and lead forms, all leads are automatically pushed to agents and tracked.

Based on the success of the initial pilot program, the insurer expanded the program in 2012 to develop and launch another 2,500 sites on behalf of top-tier agents. These data-driven sites have been maintained and updated without any effort/involvement required by the agents. The resulting vanity URLs are available to agents for use in their off-line advertising efforts and other marketing initiatives. Agents are also registered in such local search engines as Google, Yahoo, Bing and through the Localeze network using a consistent Name/Address/Phone for local SEO purposes.

Results

• 2,500 of the brand’s top state and regional agents now have high-quality sites, each of which has been optimized for local search and lead acquisition.

• 3,400 city sites in key geographies have been published as part of a complimentary paid search strategy.

• Each site has its own mobile version, and mobile devices now drive approximately 20% of web visits.

• Local phone is the preferred response channel for leads with 11 calls placed for every one web form submission.

• The national insurance brand can view regional or individual agent performance and consolidated local marketing metrics.

• Beginning in Q1 of 2013, the insurer plans to make an additional 20,000 local sites available to local agents throughout the US.

SECTION 5: CONCLUSION


THE LOCAL WEB IS THE LINCHPIN TO EFFECTIVE LOCAL MARKETING; AND EFFECTIVE LOCAL MARKETING IS THE SINGLE LARGEST OPPORTUNITY FOR NATIONAL BRANDSThe goal of this paper was to raise awareness of how critical effective local marketing is to the success of national brands – and in turn – how big of an impact the Local Web can have on increasing the effectiveness of local marketing.

Balihoo believes the Local Web is the linchpin to effective local marketing, and that effective local marketing represents the single largest opportunity for national brands to drive top-line growth and reach consumers at the point where they are making final preference and purchase decisions.

Clearly, CMOs across the country agree. According to two recent CMO Council reports, “State of Marketing 2012” and “Brand Automation for Local Activation,” three critical areas of attention for CMOs are:

1. Extreme Digital Marketing Makeovers: Only 18% of respondents rated their digital marketing performance as excellent or good, but 50% indicate that a digital marketing makeover is a key transformational mandate in the year to come. However, 64% of marketers are still budgeting less than $500,000 for digital spend, and 46% note this figure is less than 10% of their overall marketing spend.

2. Investment in Automation, Not Just Technology: Expanding localization efforts is a challenge, due to taxed in-house marketing teams struggling to keep up with local agents or partners. Despite this fact, marketers realize that effective localization involves “enabling and localizing the customer experience to become a highly relevant and far more targeted engagement” and are prioritizing accordingly.

3. Collaboration for Improved Activation: Brands gain a deeper understanding of customer needs when they create a “flawless, connected customer experience.” This means they must utilize their local sales networks to connect and enable brand assets, strategies, and campaigns. These must then be delivered, measured and optimized with full partnership at the local level and visibility at the corporate level.

National brand marketers who want to increase revenues and extend their brand closer to the point of purchase decision should take a serious look at how they can increase their performance in the Local Web and close the gap on the last mile of their marketing.

ABOUT BALIHOO

Balihoo is the leading local marketing platform, helping national brands activate millions of data-driven campaigns at scale. Our cloud-based technology incorporates a full suite of solution modules, ranging from traditional tactics like direct mail to local digital tactics, including local websites. Each module marries powerful technology with data, allowing national brands and agencies to scale campaigns and track results.

Leading national brands, across a multitude of industries, use the Balihoo local marketing platform to activate millions of data-driven local campaigns for over 300,000 local outlets.

Ready to rethink local? Request a live demo, or contact a Balihoo team member for more information.

2014 Balihoo, Inc.All rights reserved.

@balihoo

balihoo.com

[email protected]

866-446-9914

©