LOCAL PRESENCE FOR NATIONAL BRANDS

Transcription

1 LOCAL PRESENCE FOR NATIONAL BRANDS Connecting the path from online to brand outlet Second Edition July 2015

2 Table of Contents Forward... 3 Introduction... 4 The National Brand s Customer Path to Purchase is Now Being Driven by the Mobile Experience... 5 Mobile Search Is On the Rise... 6 Business Listings Management is Foundational for Digital Marketing Campaigns... 8 Building the Foundation of Local Identity... 9 Why National Brands Need Business Listing Management Reputation Monitoring & Management Powers Push/Pull Interaction with a National Brand s Customers The Six Components of a Complete Local Strategy Conclusions Contact Us About Local Market Launch Works Cited... 17

3 Forward In 2013 we at Local Market Launch released a critical white paper for multioutlet brands looking to achieve local presence with an ever more mobile consumer. Since that time the trends we recognized have become foundational as brands and agencies have tapped into, and embraced the strategies discussed. With this second edition of the white paper we revisit those foundational concepts. Where we could, we have updated the data with more recent data and those updates have shown acceleration of the trends and stronger alignment between the consumer's local buying decision and their technology interaction prior to actions and purchase. We have also added new insights covering the six components to a complete local presence strategy.

4 Introduction Primary business objectives haven t changed. Companies are still moving to the same core drivers, such as: providing good value, promoting the brand, improving customer retention, differentiating in the marketplace and bringing in new customers. But the how of engaging the customer has changed significantly. Companies have already adjusted to the change presented by desktop search by engaging in SEO. The profound changes brought by the recent mobile and social media revolutions require that multi-outlet brands that want to be present on the local path to purchase touch point have a local strategy to optimize the proverbial last mile. The local strategy must accommodate presence and findability in search and social apps. But it would be folly to view these changes as just an additional marketing cost. With the ability to monitor reputation generated from mobile apps, a national brand now has an additional channel to generate feedback and participate in the conversation with its customers. Those national brands that embrace the paradigm shift and nurture this new opportunity will be the winners in the amplified local marketplace. This white paper discusses this profound change in consumer behavior and buying habits. The goal is to provide insight into how brands can optimize their local presence to empower its customers with information and roll up feedback from the local outlets to the brand parent. To get to this goal we will first discuss the mobile experience, the nature of the current apps and how they are used in the consumer path to purchase. We will then look at how reaching a state of presence with the consumer via these apps relates to the other marketing channels in which a brand engages. Next, we will discuss the typical stages a brand moves through to achieve a point of presence. Finally, we will present the four components of a complete solution for optimizing the success of a national brand s local initiatives.

5 The National Brand s Customer Path to Purchase is Now Being Driven by the Mobile Experience Mobile devices in the hands of consumers have dramatically altered buying behaviors. Where National Brands were pushing information to customers, now customers are becoming savvier, seeking information and driving the conversation about the brand and their local presence between themselves. National brands need an online presence for their local stores to compete effectively and positively impact sales. 1 1 (Eventility 2015) (comscore 2012)

6 Customers are using mobile search to seek richer information just prior to purchase. Customers are also acting on online information and using it for offline, local purchase decisions. 2 Mobile Search Is On the Rise In 2000 projections from a pure search engine perspective (i.e. Google, Bing, Yahoo!), showed mobile searches would conservatively overtake desktop search by This trend accelerated, with Google confirming on May 05, 2015 More Google searches take place on mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries including the US. 3 2 (Google 2013) 3 (Dischler 2015)

7 4 In addition to the proliferation of maps applications, which are location search engines, there are apps like Yelp that are in essence a search engine for local reviews. With each new app we are seeing not just search results, but increasingly, recommendations and other rich information that powers the user s buying decision. Local search continues to get bigger, with 144% growth since This fact requires marketers to expand their traditional marketing plans to include these sources or risk a reduction in the volume of sales leads from the fragmenting marketplace. 4 (BIA Kelsey 2012)

8 Business Listings Management is Foundational for Digital Marketing Campaigns For national brands with multiple outlets, engaging with customers at the local level is the first step in digital marketing because local search is often the last step before purchase. It is a critical moment of truth. Information about the local outlet needs to be accurate, synchronized to the national brand identity (presence) and optimized for local search with rich information (findability.) DIGITAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN SPEND CONTINUUM Local & Mobile Search Optimization Desktop Search Engine Optimization Cost Per Click (Desktop & Mobile) Social Media Initiatives Display (Desktop & Mobile) Video

9 Building the Foundation of Local Identity Stage 1 for the national brand is establishing an online presence for their local outlets. This includes: Unique local landing pages Being consistent with its offline identity Employing responsive design for display across all devices Beginning a conversation with their customers via a blog or other social media initiatives. Stage 2 for the national brand is ensuring findability through local search optimization for their local outlets. This includes: Build your business profile on all relevant search portals and leading apps and manually publishing enhanced business data on the top 30 search portals for each location. Syndicating enhanced business data via Localeze, Neustar, and InfoGroup, Dunn & Bradstreet over 200 mobile and internet portals Buying pay per click advertising when needed to drive traffic Stage 3 for the national brand is reputation monitoring and management. This includes: Real-time monitoring of your local visibility, social media buzz, and reviews across all platforms Facebook engagement and customer service Social initiatives such as Twitter and Foursquare Creation of a feedback loop based on your monitoring to attenuate problems and recognize success

10 Why National Brands Need Business Listing Management Because of the decentralization of search, the local business is now required to ensure that they are listed on all search platforms. The problem is that this is a manual process which requires the business owner to visit each of the important search portals and upload the pertinent business data, including photos, description, keywords and 40+ pieces of additional information. Every business must have its listings managed, yet the local business parent does not possess the time, expertise or desire to manage its business listings and local search optimization. 5 Once a business is listed on the multitude of search portals, directories and mobile applications, there is a need to ensure their results are found before their competitors on Google, Yahoo! and Bing search results. The ability to ensure top ranking results requires specific knowledge and expertise as well as an ongoing and consistent effort in building the business online presence. The optimization process should focus on ensuring that the business is listed correctly, is present where their competitors are listed and listed in places where the competitors are not. 5 (Sterling 2014)

11 Reputation Monitoring & Management Powers Push/Pull Interaction with a National Brand s Customers National brands used to (and in some cases still do) spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on studies to find out how their brand is perceived in the marketplace. Now that word-of-mouth has moved online, brands can tap into the constant and ongoing conversation generated by its customers via social media and review sites and apps. With seven out of ten online consumers trusting reviews the requirement for the business engagement is obvious. However, with more than fifty sites that currently accept user reviews, (and more being launched every day), there is no simple way for a business to participate in these conversations without a robust monitoring tool. Properly executed reputation monitoring and management provides a national brand with information closer to the customer and allows them to control the brand identity seamlessly from the national to the local level. 6 6 (M. Anderson 2014) (M. Anderson 2012)

12 The Six Components of a Complete Local Strategy Now that we have discussed the impetus for brands and agencies to engage in local marketing initiatives and the foundational stages for building a local identity, we will cover the six critical components a brand should look for in a technology platform. These components should be perfectly integrated with the brand and work together in a virtuous cycle to provide a complete local strategy and solution. Here is a simplified diagram of the basic components. 1 Claiming 2 Syndication 3 Brand Proprietary Database Local Presence Platform Local Landing Pages 4 Store Locator 5 Reputation Monitoring 6 Auditing & Tracking

13 Each component is critical to the overall success of the local strategy. It all starts with the Brand s proprietary location database. This synchronizes to the Local Presence Automation Platform. From there the platform does all the heavy lifting with integrations to the major search platforms like Google, Bing, Foursquare and more to Claim the location in their location database. On a Google search results page this would display as verified. The primary search engines are only a piece of the search puzzle. Consumers will often use point of interest searches on their in-auto GPS device or Siri on their iphone. This requires additional integrations and syndication of the location data to a range of auto, tech, cell phone and other data aggregators and providers. While data aggregators populate GPS maps and other mapping apps downstream, companies that are particularly location information sensitive should look for a platform that supports upstream mapping database population. Once a search is complete, the user is delivered to the location landing page to access the critical information that will drive their actions and purchases. Synchronizing the landing page data quickly becomes unmanageable for multioutlet brands. For instance, a regional restaurant chain may have 100+ locations. Each location should have a corresponding landing page on the brand s site to improve organic search results. Each brand location may have a Facebook page, a Google+ page, a Yelp page and more, all synched back to the specific site landing pages. We are now at over 400 pages. To make a simple change such as extended holiday store hours would be unmanageable without a powerful platform. In addition to the major search engines and other relevant points of search, consumers will use desktop and mobile web to search a brand site directly for store location. A complete solution will provide a responsive store locator that sits within the brand site, but is driven by the enhanced database hosted by the platform. Once the basic components are in place, the platform should then provide feedback to the brand. Reputation monitoring for each claimed location to

14 monitor reviews and consumer engagement on review sites and social media should be presented with aggregations that allow the brand to perform both broad assessments and surgical precision assessments. Finally, in addition to reputation monitoring, auditing and citation tracking are the critical to monitor the progress of the brand s local presence strategy. Through a single screen you should be able to see how your business has been tracking in total presence and syndication status as well as completeness of listing for the major platforms such as description, pictures, store hours and landing page URLs. Local Market Launch offers a powerful product suite for brands to optimize their local presence and to provide for a complete strategy. Local Presence Automation Package Launch Pad - Your mission control for all your local management needs. An easy to use self-service platform that puts you in control of on-boarding. Strategy Component: Auditing Syndication - Partnerships with Infogroup, Axciom, Factual, Tom Tom, Nokia, and Nuestar Localeze ensure correct data citation growth across hundreds of digital discovery sites, apps, and navigation systems. Strategy Component: Syndication Reputation Monitoring - Follow the progress of your local presence solution. See where your business is showing up online and easily track citation growth over time. Strategy Component: Reputation Monitoring Citation Tracking - Follow the progress of your local presence solution. See where your business is showing up online and easily track citation growth over time. Plus the ability to export the most up-to-date citation report, including citation URL. Strategy Component: Citation Tracking

15 Premium Options Premium Claiming - Create enhanced and optimized business profiles on the top search, social and directory sites. Claim and verify your brands listing to ensure consumers have correct and accurate information. Give your brand a competitive edge over other unclaimed and un-enhanced listings Strategy Component: Claiming Local Landing Pages - Local landing pages are excellent supplementation to your Clients digital marketing strategy, directing local search traffic into organized sales funnels. These funnels are designed to present the most compelling call to action, whether it is a phone call, online lead inquiry, or direct online sale. Strategy Component: Local Landing Pages Maps - We publish enhanced data to our mapping network including, Apple Maps, Foursquare, HERE (Nokia) and TomTom. Rest assured that your business shows up across mapping platforms and customers can receive turn-by-turn navigation directing them to your storefront. Strategy Component: Upstream Mapping Data Syndication Store Locator - The store finder lets you manage and deploy a fully responsive and searchable interface for consumers to determine the best location to visit. Configure pin placements, store numbers, address, contact and hours of operation. Strategy Component: Store Locator Conclusions National brands with multiple outlets are experiencing a state of amplified full circle. Marketing campaigns for their local outlets were traditionally presented in the local yellow pages and consumers looking for outlet location information relied on that as the last touch point on the path to local purchase. Fast-forward and we have seen a rapid shift in consumer behavior with the adoption and daily use of mobile devices with iphones, Androids and ipads.

16 Now consider the norm, no longer do traditional media channels reach the consumer at their time of need. National brands must adapt to the digital age of marketing and learn to engage the local consumer with a complete local strategy and integrate with a platform partner that can provide the technology to do the heavy lifting. A well-executed local strategy removes the barriers between the brand and the consumer and provides for a successful relationship in a time where consumers increasingly desire to have a seamless connection and conversation with a brand directly. Contact Us LocalMarketLaunch.com Sales@LocalMarketLaunch.com (800) About Local Market Launch Headquartered in the heart of beautiful downtown Santa Barbara, California, Local Market Launch provides solutions for the local business to build, expand, monitor and grow their online presence by delivering a suite of brands to navigate the local search universe with scalable, co-branded solutions for channel partners and agencies. Brian Coryat Founder & CEO : :

17 Works Cited Anderson, Miles. Search Engine Land. July 07, (accessed July 08, 2015). Anderson, Myles. Search Engine Land. March 12, (accessed April 03, 2013). BIA Kelsey. BIAKelsey.com. April 18, (accessed April 04, 2013). comscore. "Localeze Local Search Usage Study - 5th Annual United States of Local Search Infographic." January 1, (accessed April 03, 2013). Dischler, Jerry. Google - Inside AdWords. May 05, (accessed July 08, 2015). Eventility. Our Social Times - The Power of SoLoMo for Small Business. February 19, (accessed July 08, 2015). Google. "Mobile Search Moments Study." March 01, (accessed July 08, 2015). Schwartz, Barry. Search Engine Land. June 06, (accessed April 04, 2013). Sterling, Greg. Search Engine Land. April 09, (accessed July 07, 2015).