The importance of local relationships

Building meaningful local connections

46% of all Google searches are driven by what’s commonly known as ‘local intent’. Furthermore, according to brand management business Chat Meter, “close by” or “near me” searches have increased by a whopping 900% since 2016.

These figures highlight the importance customers place on locality when making a purchase decision. With such compelling evidence, it’s hard to ignore the need for your business to have a local focus or presence.

Taking Google Adwords for example, data illustrates businesses showing a healthy return based on their local advertising investments. From small businesses to large brands, it seems everyone is focusing their attentions on the local market. To further highlight this, Google data shows that 69% of customers expect business search results to be within 5 miles of their current location. In short, Google’s algorithm will determine a searchers location to display local businesses applicable to their search. What’s important here is how Google ranks your business and you have more chance of a higher ranking if you are seen to be advertising locally.

So what are some of the best channels for local advertising and marketing?

As with all marketing strategies, the mix is key. There are a number of ways to reach and engage your local audience and we’ve listed some to consider below:

Direct Mail & Door Drop Campaigns
Social media channels – Linkedin, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok etc
Pay per click
Outdoor such as billboard and local signage
Regional newspaper, radio and television

Given our specific expertise in Direct Mail, lets focus on some of the ways a joined up marketing strategy with direct mail at the forefront of your campaigns can increase your local presence and drive engagement.

Having a direct mail piece or even simply a letter your customer can touch and feel is an extremely effective way of engaging your local audience, especially in the current climate where online advertising and marketing is present on every laptop, mobile phone or ipad.

When Direct Mail is targeted on a local basis, it is a very effective channel for building brand awareness and driving new customer acquisition. In fact, recent research from the extremely reliable JICMAIL has shown that 73% of door drop mail is read, displayed and kept within the home whilst people will revisit them almost 3 times on average. When compared to an email in an inbox amongst potentially tens or even hundreds of others, it’s a really useful tool for customers to absorb your message.

To drill down further on that JICMAIL research, and looking at local metrics specifically, 85% of door drops containing local content are engaged with and 75% are read. On the instances where local content is included within a door drop campaign, they are 33% more likely to be discussed with someone and, wait for it… 100% more likely to result in the recipient going online for more information or visiting the company’s website and the journey from offline to online has just started!

We’ve long been advocates of a varied marketing mix with touchpoints offline and online throughout the journey, so when it comes to local marketing and engagement our approach is no different. Target your audience, be that within 5,10 or even 15 miles from your base and engage that demographic with thought provoking or informative pieces that tell the story of your brand or business and the importance of its presence within the local community.

And if building local relationships and connections is part of your marketing strategy this year, why not consider adding direct mail into mix?

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog, if you require any assistance or would like to discuss your own direct mail campaigns, we’d be happy to help.