In this globalized age, where internationally recognized brands’ marketing efforts spread far and wide, it can seem like the new industry buzzword ‘hyperlocal’ is a recent phenomenon. In fact, before the advent of the internet, TV, or radio — markets were very much hyperlocal in nature.
However, with today’s technology, marketing to micro areas can be done in a much more efficient and impactful way than merely shouting the loudest. With ‘Near me’ Google searches increasing by 500% from 2015 to 2017, this could be a strategy you can’t afford to miss out on. Not only this, but the recent change to the Facebook algorithm means generic blanket marketing campaigns are being trumped by hyperlocal, targeted efforts. Here are the top 3 ways your business can succeed in building local relationships through hyperlocal marketing:
Hyperlocalize your social media strategy
The world has a staggering 3.03 billion active social media users as of April 2018, with 81% of all small and medium businesses using some kind of social platform. Marketing on social media has become a no-brainer for the vast majority of companies, but few of them are taking advantage of the benefits that adopting a hyperlocal strategy can bring.
Remind consumers of the rich value of their local communities by serving them hyperlocal content through social media channels. Digitalizing the daily smiles and friendly chats that consumers have in their local communities through a hyperlocal social media strategy can help you build relationships and brand trust.
This can be done on Facebook through regularly posting image and video content centered around your store, local employees, happy customers, and points of interest in the area. Facebook is also a great place to get local customer feedback, which builds trust between you and the target audience, like the guys at Five Guys did.
With Instagram, you can post updates to an event on your story, tagging local influencers involved and the location where it’s being held — which extends your reach to other people browsing content in the same area. Instagram’s ads are highly visible, with the potential to receive a lot of interaction when targeted properly.
Tell local stories
It’s no secret that people identify with stories that have real people behind them, rather than just blanketed, soulless marketing messages. The effect of this is intensified further when those stories are hyperlocal, and could easily have come from anyone in your community. Hyperlocal marketing allows the consumer to feel like they’re buying into the personal. Take a look at gym franchise Orangetheory, which does a great job of showcasing users’ fitness testimonials in local settings on their Instagram, which keeps people engaged and localizes their marketing strategy.
Instagram stories serve the storytelling purpose perfectly, along with Instagram and Facebook Live videos, which are watched 3x more than traditional videos. Tweetstorms also work great for longer stories — where the account posts a series of tweets that consumers can follow with anticipation, often aided by including the same hashtag.
Go out and engage
Active hyperlocal marketing strategies that add value to their communities by engaging with local people are a sure fire way to build meaningful relationships with your target consumers. Just think about how much more memorable a brand is once you engage with it in a real-life way, while it’s doing something memorable in your community. By activating your employees to reach out to the community, your business can get people more than just digitally engaged with your brand.
Just look at the success of Sensodyne’s London event where it offered the public dental checks, the chance to play games, and photo opportunities with Tower Bridge as a backdrop — 232 people participated in a world record attempt, 600 goody bags were distributed, and the brand received 150 mentions, giving them a reach on social media of over 4,000,000.
Run events, or sponsor those already going on, and make sure to market these on your social media accounts, keeping your omnichannel approach seamless. Furthermore, 65% of consumers say that live events and demonstrations help them understand a product better than a standard commercial method — ultimately promising more sales.
With all this in mind, the many benefits that hyperlocal marketing can bring — not least relationship building and brand engagement — make it a strategy for success that your business can’t afford to miss. By framing your brand image around its local impact and local people, a culture of trust and loyalty can evolve between you, your employees, and your consumers.
-by Andreas Füchsel
Courtesy of MarTechSeries