Strategies to attract local customers.

Relevancy isn’t a modern concept in marketing. It’s underwritten every successful hashtag#advertisingandmarketing campaign since… well, since day one.

But as the ability to deliver hashtag#marketing has become ever more democratised and with digital channels being even more diverse and congested, re-focussing on relevancy in your marketing is needed now more than ever before.

The possibility for us all to become marketing strategists, planners, creatives, and media-buyers is a reality. But it can come at a very high cost for the inexperienced. Opportunities to ‘boost’ your post make it look so easy. And it seems like such good value too. A click of a button and you are transformed into a digital marketing guru.

But if the relevancy of the messaging wasn't pivotal when you developed the campaign, it won’t look like great value when you run the ROI reports. This is something many multi-location brands struggle with.

The lack of marketing maturity amongst their local partners, whether branches, retailers, dealers, franchisees, venues, or affiliates means they could be wasting thousands on ineffective local marketing activity that simply isn’t relevant to the audience.

So, where do you start when it comes to improving relevancy, and thereby effectiveness? We like to keep things simple, so always focus on these three areas:

• AUDIENCE
  It might sound obvious, but relevancy relies initially on knowing your Audience - who you’re trying to speak to, and why. Only then can you try to find them (using Targeting) and tailor your message to them (using Creative).
  
  
• TARGETING
  Once you’ve settled on who your audience is, for example ‘People who are like my most profitable customers’ you can set about trying to find them.
  
  Be as specific as possible, build personas for them …what motivates them? …what are they trying to find out at this stage of the customer journey? …what concerns them?
  
  It sounds complicated, but it can be surprisingly simple if you use the right tools.
  
  
• CREATIVE
  Now the fun bit! Google Media Labs stated that 70% of campaign performance can be attributed to creative work. Good creative can increase ad viewing times and double purchase intent.