Local Websites: Improving Channel Organization Marketing Results - White Paper

7/31/2019 Local Websites: Improving Channel Organization Marketing Results - White Paper

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Local Marketing.

Automated.

ImprovIng Channel

organIzatIonmarketIng results

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Buyig Stg:

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ResponsibleforChannelPrograms/ChannelMarketing

FuS: LocalWebsiteStrategyEducation(what,how,why) ExerciseforDeterminingLocalMarketingPresenceR:

DecisionMaker Inf luencer

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ImprovIng Channel

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11111IMPRIGCELRGIzIMRKEIGRESLS

xutiv 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

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

them 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 partner messages are consistent with national campaigns; and they guarantee customers

arent routed to the competition.

This paper explains how channel organizations can use marketing automation to create and implement local

websites, and in turn:

Extend the reach o their national brand in local markets

Increase partner participation in marketing programs

Improve the ROI o their partner programs

Contribute more to top-line revenue

gS Fd By mRktig RgiztiSMore than ever, channel organizations need to improve results rom partner

marketing programs. The channel is a vital sales pipeline or national brands, and

executives in the C-suite want to see partner programs contribute more to top-line

corporate revenue. This puts a lot o pressure on channel marketing organizations

that have always been challenged with:

Increasing partner awareness and participation in channel programs

Managing partner marketing programs more eciently and eectively

Properly tracking and measuring ROI o marketing programs

Balancing partner needs with brand needs

Added to these challenges are the acts that partner marketing is inherently local by nature, and local

marketing has traditionally been dicult or national brands because it requires customization o messaging

and graphics or multiple partners within hundreds or even thousands o markets across a growing number

o media choices.

Due to this, channel marketers have typically had to rely on their partners to execute brand marketing at the

local level. This is problematic because whenever responsibility is placed on partners to nish-out marketing

programs, it has a negative impact on program adoption, quality and eectiveness. Local-level partners

are oten either business owners who are time-constrained and not ocused on marketing, or resellers who

also sell competing brands. I a national brands channel marketing programs are not extremely easy to

implement, they oten get completely ignored by partners.

ocal hannelParners incle:

Retailers

Franchisees

Resellers

Distributors

Dealers

gents
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gRig imPRtF digit mdi i mRktSTo gain awareness and participation

among partners in brand marketing

programs, channel organizations need

to properly address partner needs at the

local level, and increasingly this means

helping them gain online visibility and

leads in their local markets.

Within the last two years, local marketing

has emerged as the next big rontier in

eective demand generation. As partial

proo, Google recently announced that

over 2.8 billion searches a month have a

local intent.

t SiFt FRm tRditit i mRktigWhen 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 to represent 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 consumersin making buying decisions increased

rom 5.27 to 10.4. (ee Figure 1) Consumers

are embracing the many sources o

inormation and including them in their

investigation process. (ee 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%

AVERAGE SOURCES USED

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t BAll 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. (ee Figure 3)

National brands and their partners 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 channel organization begin

to take advantage o the Local Web? The

rst step is by creating and implementing

local websites or their partners. Local

websites are at the heart o the Local Web.

BSitS:t FiRSt StP i B mRktigLocal 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 partners to be

ound at the local search level. Local

websites unction as the 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 webses can ae lple fors. ere are hree eaples:

o-branealaeses with each o the brands agents, distributors, dealers, etc., which allow all partner/aliate locations to show up individually in location searches and maps

ses 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

Prooonal ses 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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A brand might choose to implement one type o local website or all o them simultaneously in order to

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

For eaple, a nancal serces copan h sell serces hroh a newor of 2,500 asors n 500 eren ces. to ensre

her procs are alwas fon a he local are leel, he h se p:

2,500 co-branded aliate sites that link to each and every partners website

500 dierent city sites that list all their partners in a given city

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

All these local website variations will ensure their brands nancial services and partners/advisors are always

ound at the local level by customers who are seeking nancial guidance, regardless o whether or not a

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

For channel organizations, relying on partners 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.

utmtig BSitS

Marketing automation makes creating a large number o nationally branded local websites possible. Withautomation, channel marketers can build and oer customizable local website templates to their partners,

update the templates as needed, and have a brand message appropriate or each regions local presence that

helps the channel partner grow revenue/leads.

oaon of local webses enables channel parners o:

increase parner awareness an parcpaon n channel proras Automated local websites oer clear value topartners and a simple way or partners to engage. They can even be implemented without any directeort by the partner.

nsre parner proras conrbe o op-lne reene Increasing partner participation and driving leads topartners when local customers are ready to buy adds to revenue growth.

more ecenl anae parner proras Automation enables brand updates and promotions to be quicklyand easily disseminated across all websites, to all markets, at once.

manan conrol of her brans ae an essae while driving leads to local partners.

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

uSiWithout 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 theLocal 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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xRiS: dtRmiig BRd PRFRm t t v

Any 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: ow o hec yor ocal maren vsbl

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 each search, we wll eerne he resls for Pa ppornes, ocal sns (e.. goole Places) an ranc Search b

conn he nber of es he bran shows p n he resls for each of hose areas an n b he oal nber of resls

rerne for each area.

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


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RND NM RH (XMPL)

uk tyRS


RH RUL:

Search Resls toal yor Bran wns or inences 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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RND NM RH + Y RH (XMPL)

uk tyRS + BiS


RH RUL:







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8IMPROVING CHANNEL ORGANIZATION MARKETING RESULTS

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:
http://www.balihoo.com/http://www.balihoo.com/


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RkSt: dtRmi yuR BRdS SR R SttUse this worksheet to gauge the local marketing visibility o your own brand.

t: yo a wan o rn he resls lple es for eren bran naes, proc caeores, are seens an ces n

whch o pla. For eaple, n he hc talors eercse, he eercse col also be rn for hc talor, onerse hc talor,

onerse, Jac Prcell an onerse ooes.

insrconsFor 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 of he resls ha show p for each of he Pa, ocal an ranc search areas, rearless of f herelae 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 he resls ha relae solel o or bran whn each of he search 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 each row whn 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


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

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

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

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

NRUN MPL StP 2 StP 3StP 1


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um um B um

Search Resls toal yor Bran wns or inence yor Bran Resls

R 1 Paid Opportunities

R 2 Local Listings

R 3 Organic Listing

R 4 Total Search Real Estate

RND NM RHyuR BRd

um um B um



R 2 Local Listings

R 3 Organic Listing


um um B um



R 2 Local Listings

R 3 Organic Listing


RND NM RH + Y RH

yuR BRd + y ity i i yuR BRd iS Sd

PRDU GRY + Y RHyuR BRdS PRdut tg Ry + y ity i i yuR BRd iS Sd
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But BiBalihoo 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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Documents

Local Websites: Improving Channel Organization Marketing Results - White Paper