MomentFeed, which specializes in software that connects global and national brands with consumers who use mobile when they are ready to buy locally, has published a report that reinforces the value of local-mobile in the brand marketing mix.
Although major brands are spending upwards of $70 billion in TV advertising and digital marketing spend is at 44 percent of budgets and on the upswing, location marketing strategy is often forgotten, especially by the largest of consumer brands. This can be deadly for companies that rely heavily on local stores and venues for the vast majority of sales, according to MomentFeed.
For example, 82% of consumers search their phones for a product type (e.g., “nitro brew near me” rather than a specific branded coffee shop) and will often make choices based on Google ranking and proximity first.
“I’ve met with many senior marketing executives who assume that because they’ve invested in search marketing and digital that they’ll automatically show up in mobile searches,” says Jim D’Arcangelo, MomentFeed CMO. “But to show up consistently in the ‘Google 3-Pack’ (top three listings), brands need to be hyper-focused on and savvy about their location marketing and review management and their impact on SEO. We’ve seen huge sales boosts among retailers and restaurants who focus on location marketing in addition to brand-building.”
“Brands that aren’t devoting significant attention and resources to local and mobile marketing are not only falling behind competitors, they’re potentially losing revenue,” adds Greg Sterling, vice president of Strategy, Local Search Association.