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Article attributed - Times of India
The sharp rise in using mobile phones and technology has shown a change of behavior in the consumer. Now, consumers depend more on information before going to a store and hence ‘searching’ before visiting plays a huge role in safety and convenience for the users. In a world recovering from covid, everyone is looking to create each location as a profitable unit. That means the process is no more just converting a user landing to the store but covering the complete funnel from engagement to driving commerce for each location of the brand.
Being aware of the entire tracking process for a brand is important to understand that the window for knowing or researching a brand is actually one of the search platforms. It is here that a brand needs to ensure that they are discoverable and post that create seamless journeys for users to engage and transact. This is the success mantra for brands across various sectors like Banking, Automobile, Lifestyle, consumer durables, or any other industry. Each brand has to ensure that- correct, updated and right information is given to users every time they search and also that the consumers are able to connect with the brand anytime they want. According to google report, in the last 2 years, the local search including the keyword ‘near me’ has gone upto 150% as compared to the search without ‘near me.’
There is a huge amount of inaccurate, unverified, and inconsistent data spread across the web. Such data hinders customers from reaching a particular outlet or dealership. Let us assume the company in point is a leading car manufacturer. Consumers being mobile friendly expect brands to have an omnichannel presence with a simpler interface to interact. Whenever the customer searches for a brand, the landing page needs to have all the relevant information like contact number, email address, physical location address, store timings, etc. A recent report* shows that, 51% of all offline transactions are digitally influenced and 93.2% of consumers transact with businesses located within 20 minutes from their home. Hence, hyperlocal marketing accomplishes one main goal: raising foot traffic to a store’s physical location for people who rely on “near me” queries for shopping.
Information Parity across Locations- Having consistent information across the digital ecosystem like google maps, Google Business Profile listings and other social media platforms is of utmost importance which will increase your brand’s reach. Having NAP consistency can help brand’s local listings rank better in Google Maps, which will increase the reach and let people find your business. The more accurate and consistent NAP details Google finds, there is more chance for Google to consider your business as legitimate and rank high for local searches‘. When used efficiently and effectively, hyperlocal marketing can boost a brand’s visibility and add great value to it.
24×7 discoverability- Being available for your customer can create a frictionless customer journey. Direct call services owned by Brand but routed to each location ensures that any company’s local dealerships are able to engage with customers directly from the Google My Business Listings. This helps to bridge the gap between information seeking customers and the dealerships, while also giving them the opportunity to answer questions, communicate their offerings and convert these queries into sales for dealer partners. A hyperlocal marketing tactic can help the customers to find exactly what they are looking for, and get them to engage with your brand. Various researches have shown that if a brand’s competitor has not started using hyperlocal marketing then that brand already has a levay over the other brand in terms of building a larger customer base.
Manage the “Near Me” customer journey – from discovery to transaction through an AI Platform for all the business locations. With location level configuration brands can manage all data for their locations from one central hub. From local level admin, regional managers to brand managers, brand control is critical when they empower their teams.
Flexible workflows support the processes and controls of business so that location managers can have as much or as little responsibility for their data fields. Businesses can monitor and manage the customer reviews for all their locations centrally or at a location level – configure based on what works for the business.
With such a configuration center, one can empower locations to answer their reviews or manage it centrally through business’s online reputation management team or manage it through smart automation. Improve business reputation online, improve business’s website search engine ranking, and gain valuable customer feedback.
According to a study by google, 93.2% consumers transact with businesses located within 20 minutes from their location. 88% consumers after making a search, call or visit the store and 78% of local searches lead to a purchase. Hence, it is extremely critical for brands to have their important information available for consumers in buying mode and be present at the right time and at the right place. Moreover, there has been a huge shift in consumer behavior post the pandemic, wherein there’s been an increased dependency on online channels at the convenience of their homes. This shift is here to stay for a long run, further becoming an important reason for why brands should have a strong hyperlocal strategy.
*Source- ThinkwithGoogle Report
Digital Transformation Marketing Stack for Physical Retail Enterprises.
