In the franchise marketing world, it’s common to see a franchisor develop one-size-fits-all marketing materials for their franchise networks. While this may assist with overall brand awareness, some franchisees realize that this approach doesn’t work across all markets. If you’re wondering what to do to drive traffic in your specific market, this is where local store marketing comes in.
Local store marketing is the process of executing marketing campaigns designed to attract customers to nearby stores. These campaigns can be customized to the nuances of your market to better capture customer attention. With recent innovations in technology, it’s easier than ever to execute a local store marketing campaign. So, how do you know where to start?
Know Your Customer
First, you must know who your customers are in order to market to them effectively. Even in your own city, demographic and psychographic characteristics of consumers can vary greatly and not every household is a potential customer.
For example, your best potential customers may be middle income consumers who live active lifestyles, while the business across the street may attract customers who are focused on family activities. Knowing who you are targeting will help you to make better local store marketing decisions.
Target the Right Potential Customers
Secondly, you must use a targeted approach in the way you get your marketing messages out to your potential customers. In the past, it was common practice to send marketing materials to an entire ZIP code prior to a big event or store opening. As mentioned above, this just isn’t effective given the fact that not every household represents your best potential customers. Once you know where your best potential customers are, you can target only those households, which will save you money by not marketing to the wrong people and increase your ROI.
Want to learn more local store marketing trends and tactics? View our webinar recording “Drive Foot Traffic to Your Stores with Local Store Marketing.”
