There is tremendous value in local digital marketing! Not only are you reaching consumers directly, but targeting their niche. Consumers rely on local searches, reviews, social media, and other third-party sites to decide where to shop or dine, including what business to own. Managing these messages and customer experiences requires brands to monitor their online reputation and drive awareness, engagement, and sales at each store’s location.
Deploying local strategies across an entire system can be complex with a lack of location-specific insights, leaving brands to default to a national focus. However, COVID-19 disruptions revealed that franchise businesses could no longer market to just the general national audience. There’s a critical need for brands to operate and market with a local mindset to make their presence known at each location in today’s landscape. With the help of a public relations agency specializing in franchise businesses, they can help build a regionalized program focused on reaching the local demographic, including a local influencer program.
Social Media Marketing
There’s no question that social media has become a significant role in digital marketing. In today’s market, consumers value social proof more than ever before. To build awareness and online presence, many brands utilize social media marketing strategies to reach and engage new audiences across social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and more.
To take social media marketing to the next level, brands should go beyond running ads or just posting content on their page. They should go the extra mile to engage with the community by commenting on their social media posts, responding to customer reviews, and offering exclusive promotions. Another element of social media marketing is connecting with the local influencer market.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has evolved over the years as it’s no longer limited only to celebrities and a few dedicated bloggers with high follower counts. In recent years, social media influencers have been on the rise. There are now different levels within the influencer structure that range from celebrities, macro-influencers (with 100,000 – 1M followers), micro-influencers (with 10,000 – 100,000 followers), and nano-influencers (with 1,000 – 10,000 followers) that are saturating the market. Whatever amount your budget will allow will help determine which option is best for your brand.
You may want to consider working with smaller, local influencers that are connected with their community. In doing so, you are geotargeting your message, which can drive better results for your brand and location rather than the conventional ‘big name’ influencer who reaches a broader audience geographically. The key is to find influencers who have built a sincere relationship with their community so you can tap into their local and regional audiences. Compared to celebrities and high-profile influencers, local macro- and micro-influencers tend to be more relatable and have established trust with their followers. Not only do they have a more meaningful connection to their local communities, but there’s also local relevance, generating a more targeted following.
The most challenging part is finding relevant influencers and kickstarting marketing campaigns. But once you’ve established your targeted local influencers, it’s essential to confirm that there’s a good fit on both sides. Ensure that their content doesn’t contradict your business – for example, you wouldn’t want to reach out to a vegan influencer when you’re trying to promote a new meat lover’s pizza. Take a moment to examine the quality of their content and profile engagement. The influencer will be one of the many vehicles that can help spread your brand’s message, so make sure that this is a personality you want to associate with your brand.
Next Steps
From there, you can move forward with the influencer marketing campaign, whether it’s inviting them to experience your service or product, offering access to exclusive events, providing affiliate marketing codes, or more. Wining and dining influencers is a great way to promote Instagram-worthy content, which will help generate buzz that can drive more foot traffic to your local stores.
Local influencer programs can produce powerful engagement capabilities but identifying, pitching, and working with the right local influencers takes time. You need to research and carefully consider your ambassadors to create the most effective partnerships and return on investment. But, when done right, these partnerships can provide a significant boost to the foot traffic and overall awareness of your stores, wherever they may be. With a better understanding of building a local influencer program, it’s time to generate local buzz around your business and franchise.
Need support in local digital marketing? Konnect with us to learn how we’ve helped other brands make their mark with national, regional, local programs and how we can help build your brand’s presence by driving awareness, engagement, and sales.
– Yvonne Lo