A Local Marketing Awakening

Recent developments in the online local marketing space have left companies of various walks of life scrambling for position in an increasingly competitive and transparent marketplace. Marketers are beginning to realize that while national branding campaigns can prove value, brick and mortar transactions happen on a local basis.

As consumers, our preference or distaste for online purchases has oscillated between predictions of “the end of brick and mortar,” and where we are today – a mixed up hybrid of face-to-face and online consumer behavior. The current brick-and-mortar marketing situation requires a strong online presence, but the connection with human beings cannot be set aside.

There is no escaping the fact that consumers are using more and more mobile (i.e. local) technology to discover and experience their own communities. Whether they’re looking for an insurance agent who can walk them through the complicated process in person, or a place to grab a bite as they enjoy a night on the town with friends, a smartphone is often the source of knowledge.

National Local Marketing Requires Effort

The phenomenon has created a few headaches for companies that have hundreds or even thousands of locations. An article in Search Engine Journal by Melih Oztalay entitled Moving Towards Local Store Marketing And Advertising For National Companies articulates this very point.

“National companies have been focused on using data feeds through syndication services to push their local store information out to the Internet at large. While this is an admirable starting point, it is exactly that–a starting point.”

Mr. Oztalay goes on to say that keyword + city ranking reports are valuable for monitoring the health of a set of local listings, but few ranking tools are even capable of providing such data. Most tools present national ranking averages which don’t accurately paint the picture of visibility in front of consumers.

At SyCara Local we pride ourselves in the relevance of our ranking data because our extensive proxy network allows us to report rankings as if the user is searching from a specific location. This give our clients a realistic perspective on the health of their local listings.

Not Everybody is Excited About All The Extra Work

Regarding the level of effort needed for success, Mr. Oztalay  said, “Map listings should be actively managed. Passively watching them does not result in visibility.” In other words, there is no magic bullet when it comes to local marketing. Success in this space requires strategic planning and accurate information.

“National companies are not particularly enthusiastic about pushing their branding, marketing, and advertising to the local level due to budgets and the level of work required to manage these activities at the local level. In some cases, their ad agencies are avoiding the topic, and in other cases the company’s staff is more focused on advertising and less involved with organic marketing.”

SyCara Local is Designed to Make the Local Marketing Headaches Go Away

SyCara Local has anticipated this shift in consumer behavior and has crafted a platform which specifically addresses the needs of—what we’ve termed—national local companies. The intuitive roll-up views will allow you to digest information in seconds and have more time left-over to take action. Combining data for Map Rank, Local Organic Rank, Listing Accuracy, Citation Sources will help national companies save hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in their marketing efforts. To learn more about how we can make your Local Marketing more productive, schedule a demonstration today!