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Localize Your Social Marketing

Localize Your Social Marketing

Katie Powers

A new report suggests that franchise brands seeking to engage local consumers can’t just rely on their corporate presence

Collaborative research from the Local Search Association and SOCi Inc. explores the potential of localized social marketing for franchise brands through an analysis of the performance of 163 leading brands across 10 industries.

Survey data suggests that most consumer engagement in the franchise space is happening at the local level and brands can’t solely rely on their corporate marketing strategies to engage consumers from the top down. According to the report, ratings and reviews are the No. 1 factor consumers use to determine which company to do business with. Three out of four brand engagements are happening on local pages versus national pages on platforms such as Facebook and Google My Business. The report analyzes the success of the brands based on local social media presence on top platforms, customer care and local community engagement.

Courtesy of SOCi.

Based on the data, the following were identified as the top 10 most successful brands in localized social marketing, having seen three times the sales as their category peers over a period of five years:

  • McAlister’s Deli
  • Courtyard by Marriott
  • Culver’s
  • Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers
  • Holiday Inn Express
  • The Camp Transformation Center
  • Blaze Pizza
  • Crunch Franchise
  • Planet Fitness
  • The Learning Experience Academy of Early Education
McAlister’s Facebook Local Pages. The report identifies McAlister as a top 10 brand. Courtesy of SOCi.

To build a successful localized social marketing campaign, the report recommends brands do the following based on the analysis of the top 10 brands:

  • Each franchise should have 100% of local/location pages claimed or verified and fully built out with accurate content and images.
  • Brands should be responding to critical or negative reviews the same day if not within one hour.
  • Respond to positive reviews, but not mechanically.
  • Monitor and respond to Google Q&A.
  • Have a local content strategy for Google as well as Facebook.
  • Don’t neglect Yelp.

Katie Powers is editorial content intern at the American Marketing Association.