how data will boost your business

How to integrate data into a local marketing strategy for a retail network? What does a data-driven approach bring? The point on the different possible strategies, the tools and good practices to know to take full advantage of the data for your local business…

Global or local marketing strategy for a network of brands?

The benefits of a global strategy :

• Ensure the consistency of the brand image,
• Harmonize the highlights and provide franchisees with the various associated assets (visuals, texts, key messages, tools, etc.),
• Capitalize on centralized marketing expertise at headquarters and knowledge of the global market,
• Take advantage of more substantial means and resources, with a multiplied impact,
• Be based on a global vision with feedback from the entire distribution network.

The limit: a global strategy does not always make it possible to adapt sufficiently to local specificities.

The benefits of a targeted local marketing strategy :

• Communication adapted to the local market and its specificities,
• A product offer localized according to the particularities of the sector to maximize turnover,
• Taking advantage of the relational fabric and the construction of a loyal local community,
• Better consumer engagement with the brand.

In short, local or global, it is up to the head of the network to inspire the brands with the strategy to adopt and the guidelines for applying it, while the franchisees have the challenge of implementing it in the most relevant way for their territory.

The role of data marketing in a local strategy

To implement a local strategy, the exploitation of data is an essential resource in retail.

To choose its location

Where to open a store? In which catchment area? The choice of location is a key moment. The success of the store will largely depend on this. Thanks to geo-decisional tools, you can determine the ideal location to set up a point of sale. To explore the catchment area and places with potential, it is notably possible to visualize the network of stores on a map.

The data also makes it possible to analyze the potential of a geographical sector:

• Competitors located nearby,
• typical consumer profiles,
• The commercial attractiveness of the district,
• Overlaps with other stores in the network and sectorization.

Data as an acquisition lever

Data improves your customer knowledge, i.e.:

• Identify and understand customer behavior, on digital channels or not,
• Anticipate and prevent behaviors,
• Fine-tune local prospecting,
• Create tailored operations based on customer profiling.

Personalize your local communication

This customer knowledge also makes it possible to better adapt communication operations, adapt national actions according to the specificities of local customers and choose the levers most suited to the sector according to the customers. How ? By analyzing socio-demographic, transactional, behavioral and marketing data. As a result, franchisees increase their local visibility and maximize consumer engagement.

To optimize the customer experience at the store

Bringing customers to the store and retaining them over time is a challenge in itself. Collecting in-store data through different devices and technologies, combined with general data analysis, enables the deployment of personalized and seamless experiences for customers. Points of sale are increasingly connected and the data potential is immense for:

• Analyze the pain points in the customer journey.
• Propose promotions adapted to the customer’s profile.
• Inventing new shopping experiences.

10 best practices for performing in local marketing

1. Make a audit of its customer base and a review of the knowledge acquired,
2. Rely on a segmentation regular customer (RFM for example) to build its offer
3. cross his data (customer data/market data),
4. To create a predictive scoring to target high-potential customers,
5. Use the data visualization to know where the customers are coming from, who they are and prepare the area to target for next operations directly from the map.
6. Test it retargeting to retarget Internet users who have already visited the website in order to convert them into customers (it can be geo-targeted)
7. Do not forget mobile approach to get in touch with local customers. It bridges the physical and digital world, for example through geo-targeted SMS or beacons;
8. Work on his natural reference locally is essential in order to be visible in the searches of Internet users. Thanks to Google’s My Business listings or the creation of localized content, the brand gains visibility;
9. Integrate the social ads in its strategy to target specific areas.
10. Read a White Book on local marketing.

Photo by GeoJango Maps on Unsplash