Balihoo, the premier provider of local marketing automation technology to national brands, released findings from its new Local Digital Marketing Study, Shifting from Awareness to Execution: How Brands Can Execute National Campaigns At Scale.*

While local marketing is a top priority for national brands, activating measurable local campaigns continues to be a challenge. One of the major contributors is the strong disconnect between how much priority brands believe they should be giving to local digital tactics and how much priority is actually given.

  • 76% of marketers feel that local websites are "very important or essential," yet only 22% of brands reported prioritizing local websites as "very important or essential" to their local marketing efforts
  • The greatest areas of disconnect were SEO for local websites and mobile, with 71% saying SEO should be "very important or essential," yet only 18% actually prioritizing it; and 78% of marketers saying mobile should be "very important or essential," yet only 19% actually prioritizing the tactic

Additional insights from the study include:

  • 90% of brands report executing on at least one digital tactic
  • Less than 5% of marketers say that traditional media such as radio, newspaper, and outdoor advertising are "essential" to their brand's local marketing efforts
  • Only 38% of respondents believe they are "very effective" at capturing customer demand and directing them to a local place of purchase
  • Smaller national brands (<$500M) are more likely (34%) to leave marketing up to local partners than larger brands (24%)

"Research shows that consumers prefer buying products and services in their local markets," said Susan Tormollen, VP of Marketing at Balihoo. "With nearly 75% of all brands investing in local marketing, we expect to see more of these brands embracing the partners and technologies that enable them to scale their national campaigns to local markets. Activating local websites, SEO strategies, and other digital local tactics leads to increased returns on a national brand's ability to capture consumers and direct them to a desired place of purchase."

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About Balihoo

Balihoo is the leading local marketing platform, helping national brands activate millions of data-driven campaigns. The cloud-based technology incorporates a full suite of solution modules, ranging from traditional tactics to local digital tactics. Each module marries powerful technology with data, allowing national brands and agencies to scale campaigns and track results.

*The study was fielded via email surveys October 1 - December 1, 2013. Results based on 185 completed responses from individual companies.

Balihoo
Lana Odintsova, 208-629-7520
Managing Editor
lodintsova@balihoo.com