Local Websites: Driving Sales Growth for National Brands - White Paper

7/31/2019 Local Websites: Driving Sales Growth for National Brands - White Paper

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LocaLWbsts

Local Marketing.

Automated.

Driving SaleS growth

for national BranDS

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FuS: LocalWebsiteStrategy&Education(wat,ow,wy) ExerciseforDeterminingLocalMarketingPresenceR:

DecisionMaker Inf luencer

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Driving SaleS growthfor national BranDS


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xutv SummRyThe Internet and its mobility have undamentally changed marketing. Over the past decade, websites

have become the hub or all marketing activities, i.e. the centralized landing pages through which all

tactical programs both online and ofine can be driven, tracked and measured. Mobile phones will

soon overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide. And within the last two years, local

marketing has emerged as the next big rontier in eective demand generation.

For national brands, having a local presence online is now imperative to ensure that the consumer can nd

their resellers at the local level. Local websites do this they are the rst step required or national brands

to build a local market presence. They ensure search engines direct customers to the right place at the right

time; they make sure local reseller messages are consistent with national campaigns; and they guarantee

customers arent routed to the competition.

This paper explains how national brands can use local marketing automation to create and implement local

websites, and in turn:

Drive top-line growth and market share

Leverage the growing importance and strength o local markets

Maintain control o their national brand urther down the sales cycle

Increase ROI o marketing expenditures

mRktg t th v S hg FR t BRdS

For the majority o national brands who sell through local outlets, local marketing is a highly under-served

marketing channel. Brand marketers spend millions o dollars nationally both online and ofine to build

brand awareness, interest, consideration and preerence o the consumer, with consistent messaging that

builds across multiple touch points in the cycle.

However, when it comes to marketing at the local level, where nal preerence and purchases actually occur,national brands oten lose control o the brand message and the eectiveness o their marketing dollars.

The reasons national brands struggle with local marketing are varied, but they all into 3 categories:

Reliance on fliaes an Parners National brands typically have to rely on aliates or channel partnersto execute brand marketing at the local level. This is problematic because whenever responsibility isplaced on separate entities to nish-out marketing programs, it has a negative impact on programadoption, quality and eectiveness. Local-level partners are oten either business owners who are time-constrained and not ocused on marketing or a reseller who also sells competing brands. I a nationalbrands programs are not extremely easy to implement, they oten get completely ignored by partners.

oplicae soizaion an manaeen - Local marketing requires customization o messaging and

graphics across a growing number o mediums at a highly localized level oten across hundreds ocities with multiple outlets in each one. Without technology, its simply not cost-eective or a nationalbrand to modiy and manage all o these elements at a local level.

difcl measrin R - National brands typically have to rely on sell-through or order data rom aliatesand partners to gauge the impact o local marketing eorts, and this data is typically unreliable anddated. Without good visibility into the ROI and eectiveness o local programs, its dicult to justiyspending.
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The disconnect between national and local

marketing is particularly interesting when

one considers that local marketing is the last

mile o marketing i.e. communication a

potential customer receives when they are

at their closest point to making an actual

purchase decision making it highly relevantwhen it comes to converting consumers

with purchase intent into buyers o a brands

products. There is no doubt that by nding

a way to close this gap, brand marketers can

signicantly improve leads and sales at the

local level and increase the brands top-line

revenue.

gRwg mPRt F

dgt md mRktSWithin the last two years, local marketing hasemerged as the next big rontiers in eective

demand generation. As partial proo, Google

recently announced that over 2.8 billion

searches a month have a local intent.

th ShFt FRm tRdt t mRktg

When it comes to what works at the local

level, the importance o online vs. traditional

marketing is shiting. Digital media is

growing exponentially and is expected torepresent 23.6% o advertising spending

by 2015. And with that growth, the way

consumers are buying is changing. From

2010 to 2011, the number o sources used

by consumers in making buying decisions

increased rom 5.27 to 10.4. (see Figure 1)

Consumers are embracing the many sources

o inormation and including them in their

investigation process. (see Figure 2) And

increasingly, theyre accessing them while

on the go. Gartner predicts that by 2013,

mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most

common web access device worldwide.

(Gartner, 2010)

2010 2011 2010 2011

5.27

10.4

9%

17%

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All o these new digital outlets or

marketing and accessing inormation

make up The Local Web, an integrated

growing ecosystem o online media

channels that collectively drive online

local marketing. (see Figure 3)

National brands must claim and at least

minimally participate in the majority o

the Local Webs integrated channels or risk

being invisible in local searches.

So how does a national brand begin to

take advantage o the Local Web? The rst

step is by creating and implementing local

websites or their local resellers. Local

websites are at the heart o the Local Web.

wBStS:th FRSt StP wB mRktgLocal websites serve as the centerpiece,

or hub, or all local marketing tactics

both online and ofine. They are smaller

variations o a national brands corporate

website, carrying through the brands

image and messages. They allow the

national brand and its local resellers to

be ound at the local search level. Local

websites unction as centralized landing

pages through which all o the local

marketing tactics can be driven, tracked

and measured. While there are other Local

Web elements that are important to take

advantage o sooner rather than later, its

necessary or local websites to be in place rst.

ocal ebsies can ae liple ors. here are ree eaples:

Co-branded aliate sites with each o the brands agents, distributors, dealers, etc., which allow allpartner/aliate locations to show up individually in location searches and maps

City sites ocused on the corporate brand, which enable all o the brand locations or that city to be listedin a single spot, and or the nationally branded site to be ound in organic search listings or the city

Promotional sites which enable a brands new oers or products to be ound in organic searches in eachrelevant city

LOCALREVIEWS

LOCALSEARCH

LOCATIONBASED

SOCIAL

MEDIA

MOBILE

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marein wiepaper a:

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proies a i-leel ie o e ipac eac eleen can ae

on iproin local arein.
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A brand might choose to implement one type o local website or all o them simultaneously in order to

ensure their products and resellers are always ound in local searches.

For eaple, a anacrer o ili ses i sell e ses ro 1,000 resellers inclin naional oe iproeen

sores, local o-an-pop arare sores, an local reoelin conracors in 300 ieren ciies. to ensre eir procs are

alas on a e local are leel, e i se p:

1,000 co-branded reseller/aliate sites that link to each and every resellers website 300 dierent city sites that list all their partners in a given city

300 promotional sites (one per city) per quarter to promote their most important oerings

All these local website variations will ensure the manuacturers brand and resellers are always ound at the

local level by customers who are looking to buy a utility shed, regardless o whether or not a reseller has a

good web presence or might be promoting a competitors similar product at the time.

For national brands, relying on resellers to help implement such a large number o local websites would not

be easible, but its possible to scale to this level using local marketing automation.

utmtg wBStSMarketing automation makes implementing a large number o nationally branded local websites easy.

First, brands build and oer local website templates to their aliates and resellers, providing them with

as many, or as ew, customization options as they choose, and a brand message appropriate or each

regions local presence. Then, using automation, its possible to launch hundreds or even thousands o sites

simultaneously. When its time to make campaign updates, with the same eort it would take to update one

site, hundreds o sites can be updated simultaneously.

oaion o local ebsies enables naional brans o:

drie op-line ro an aresare by ensuring that a brands products, services and dealers can be oundlocally and inuencing the customer experience closer to the point o purchase.

ncrease R o arein epenires. Automated local websites oer a simple way or resellers to engagein marketing with a national brand they can even be implemented without any direct eort by thereseller. This helps increase reseller participation in marketing programs, resulting in more leads beingdriven to the reseller.

mainain conrol o eir brans iae an essaeurther down the sales cycle while driving leads to localresellers.

more efcienl anae reseller arein proras.Automation enables brand updates and promotions to bequickly and easily disseminated across all websites, to all markets, at once.

trac an easre R a e local reseller leel. Local websites provide outstanding, measurable perormanceas a landing page or digital marketing eorts, such as pay-per-click (PPC), email marketing and banneradvertising.

uSWithout eective local marketing strategies that take advantage o the Local Web (i.e. the integrated

growing ecosystem on online media channels), national brands risk losing visibility and sales at the local

level. Local websites are a strategic way or national brands to combat this problem. They are the hub o the

Local Web and the rst step in building a local-market presence. And with local marketing automation, they

can be implemented eciently and cost-eectively.
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xRS: dtRmg BRd PRFRm t th vAny brand can get a gut check on how well their marketing is perorming at the national and local levels

through an easy exercise. The objective o the exercise is to determine the percentage o real estate your

brand and product categories own or strongly inuence on Page One o search engine results pages (SERPs)

in brand name searches and in searches with local intent. The higher the percentage, the better your brand

is perorming. We will start with an example and then provide you with a worksheet or your own brand

calculation.

aple: ho o ec yor ocal marein visibili

In this example, well use a Converse brand, Chuck Taylors, as the brand, and basketball shoes as the

product category were measuring. Google will be the search engine. The search will be perormed on a

laptop. The city we will be searching in is Boise, Idaho.

We will run the three searches listed below and determine the results.

1. Brand Name Search (Chuck Taylors)

2. Brand Name + City Search (Chuck Taylors, Boise)

3. Product Category + City Search (Basketball Shoes, Boise)

For eac searc, e ill eerine e resls or Pai pporniies, ocal isins (e.. goole Places) an ranic Searc b

conin e nber o ies e bran sos p in e resls or eac o ose areas an iiin b e oal nber o resls

rerne or eac area.

The results or our Chuck Taylors example is shown on the ollowing pages.


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bRaND NaM saRcH (XaMPL)

huk tyRS

xRS: dtRmg BRd PRFRm t th v

saRcH RsULts:

Searc Resls toal yor Bran ns or nences yor Bran Resls

Paid Opportunities 5 5 100%

Local Listings 0 0 0%

Organic Listing 11 11 100%

Total Search Real Estate 16 16 100%
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bRaND NaM saRcH + ctY saRcH (XaMPL)

huk tyRS + BS

xRS: dtRmg BRd PRFRm t th v

saRcH RsULts:







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8Driving SaleS growth for national BranDS

The results of our example show that Chuck Taylors performed well in the broad search for the brand name,

garnering 100% of the paid and organic listings. However, searches at the city level for both the brand name

and product category were dismal at only 18% and 0%, respectively. Its also worth noting that the local

results returned in all three examples were 0% each time. Ideally, instead of no listings, the top retailers who

sell Chuck Taylors would show up in Google Places listings.

These results are fairly typical for national brands. But by shifting a relatively low level of resources and

budget to local marketing, brands will see a dramatic, positive shift in their local marketing results. And

by implementing a local marketing automation solution to ensure local partners are found and actively

marketing the brand, channel organizations will quickly see measurable increases in channel program ROI.

PRODUCT CATEGORY + CITY SEARCH (EXAMPLE)BASKETBALL SHOES + BOISE

EXERCISE: DETERMINING BRAND PERFORMANCE AT THE LOCAL LEVEL

Search Results Total Your Brand Owns or Infuences Your Brand Results





SEARCH RESULTS:


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wRkSht: dtRm yuR BRdS SRh R SttUse this worksheet to gauge the local marketing visibility o your own brand.

t: yo a an o rn e resls liple ies or ieren bran naes, proc caeories, are seens an ciies in

ic o pla. For eaple, in e c talors eercise, e eercise col also be rn or c talor, onerse c talor,

onerse, Jac Prcell an onerse hooies.

nsrcionsFor each search outlined below, run the search and tally the results in the corresponding spreadsheet beore

moving on to the next search. Follow these three steps or each:

1. For oln , con p all o e resls a so p or eac o e Pai, ocal an ranic searc areas, rearless o i erelae o or bran or no, and enter them in the appropriate row. Add the numbers in Rows 1, 2 and 3. Enterthe total in Column A, Row 4.

2. For oln B, con p e resls a relae solel o or bran iin eac o e searc areas (i.e. Paid, Local andOrganic). These can be your national brands paid ads or search results, ads paid or by your partners, locallistings or your partners, and/or directory listings (such as Yellow Pages) or web pages or you or yourpartners, as long as they clearly relate to your brand. Enter the results or your brand in the appropriaterow under Column B. Add the numbers in Rows 1, 2 and 3. Enter the total in Column B, Row 4.

3. For eac ro iin oln , divide the number in Column B by the number in Column A. The results in Rows1, 2 and 3 are the percentages o real estate your brand owns or each respective search area Paid, Localand Organic search. The results in Column C, Row 4 are your brands total results, or real estate, or PageOne o that particular search. The higher the percentage, the better.

um um B um


Rw 1 Paid Opportunities 2 1 1 2 = .5 or 50%

Rw 2 Local Listings +4 +0 0 4 = 0 or 0%

Rw 3 Organic Listing +10 +1 1 10 = .1 or 10%

Rw 4 Total Search Real Estate 16 2 2 16= .125 or 12.5%

NstRUctoN saMPL StP 2 StP 3StP 1


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um um B um

Searc Resls toal yor Bran ns or nence yor Bran Resls

Rw 1 Paid Opportunities

Rw 2 Local Listings

Rw 3 Organic Listing

Rw 4 Total Search Real Estate

bRaND NaM saRcHyuR BRd

um um B um



Rw 2 Local Listings



um um B um



Rw 2 Local Listings



bRaND NaM saRcH + ctY saRcH

yuR BRd + y ty whh yuR BRd S Sd

PRoDUct catGoRY + ctY saRcHyuR BRdS PRdut tg Ry + y ty whh yuR BRd S Sd


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But BhBalihoo is the premier provider o local marketing automation technology and services to national brands with

local marketing needs.

Balihoo enables enterprise-class marketing at the local level and gives national brands ull visibility into all

local marketing activities and results.

Providing a combination o web-based sotware and services, Balihoo enables national brands to dramaticallyreduce marketing expenses and immediately increase local sales revenue. For local aliates, Balihoo takes

the complexity out o local marketingmaking it easy to quickly implement an expert, integrated marketing

strategy that is consistent with the national brand.

Let Balihoo help your brand assess its online local marketing eectiveness.

866-466-9914

[email protected]

Balihoo.com

@Balihoo

Local Marketing. Automated.

2011 Balihoo, Inc.

All rights reserved.
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Local Websites: Driving Sales Growth for National Brands - White Paper