The explosion of smartphones has transformed the way retail brands and consumers interact with each other at the local store level. Consumers are using mobile devices to engage with locations by checking in, sharing photos, seeking deals, rating the retailer, writing reviews and tips, and discovering new places. Not surprisingly, Facebook has responded to smartphone adoption by launching features intended to help brands and consumers engage each other with localized content on the world's largest social network. This point of view discusses those changes. Our key take-away for retailer marketers: it's time for you to invest in a dedicated social media strategy at a local level.

1. ICROSSING POV:
The explosion of smartphones has transformed the way retail brands and consumers interact with
each other at the local store level. Consumers are using mobile devices to engage with locations
by checking in, sharing photos, seeking deals, rating the retailer, writing reviews and tips, and
discovering new places. Not surprisingly, Facebook has responded to smartphone adoption by
launching features intended to help brands and consumers engage each other with localized content
on the world's largest social network. This point of view discusses those changes. Our key take-away
for retailer marketers: it's time for you to invest in a dedicated social media strategy at a local level.
LOCATION-BASED MARKETING ON FACEBOOK:
Written by Ashmi Elizabeth Dang, Associate Director, Social Strategy, iCrossing
© ICROSSING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
CONNECTING WITH CONSUMERS THROUGH A MORE TARGETED STRATEGY
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2. 2© ICROSSING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
MAY 2013LOCATION-BASED MARKETING ON FACEBOOK
THE BIG PICTURE
Several recent enhancements to Facebook point to the platform’s commitment to location-based marketing, which requires a
more coordinated effort to drive meaningful engagement. In 2012, Facebook began expanding location-based features with the
launch of the Parent-Child Framework and an updated mobile platform, which are more aligned with the way consumers interact
with retailers at the social/local/mobile level. A recent smartphone study conducted by Facebook and IDC reveals that:
+ 70 percent of those who own a smartphone use Facebook on their phone; 61 percent of them use it daily
+ Local search ranks in the top 10 most popular activities on smartphoness
+ 46 percent of smartphone owners use Facebook during errands and shopping; 49 percent use Facebook during live events
Those behaviors create a tremendous opportunity for brands with retail locations to connect with shoppers at the local level
through a more targeted approach on Facebook.
LOCAL PAGES ARE AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE MORE RELEVANT THROUGH HYPERLOCAL CONTENT
No retailer with physical locations can manage customer relationships with just a global Facebook Timeline brand page. To be
sure, a Target or a P.F. Chang's can build goodwill and share information that affects the brand on its global Timeline -- but
consumers really conduct business at their local Targets or P.F. Chang's, both online and offline. On our mobile devices, we
typically search for nearby store locations on Google and on Facebook mobile search while we're running errands or looking for a
place to eat. We use social to check in, rate, and recommend based on our local experience. Facebook understands that reality.
The world's largest social network has launched and expanded several features that make it even more critical for brands to focus
on deepening relationships with consumers through Facebook pages at the local level.
PARENT-CHILD FRAMEWORK
Last year, Facebook launched the Parent-Child Framework with community management at the local level which several retail
brands, including 24-Hour Fitness, Macy’s and west elm have implemented. Key features include:
+ Parent [Brand] Page Locations App: The ability to create locations for individual retail stores, displayed on a searchable
map, on the Parent Page (i.e., the corporate master page, such as Facebook.com/Walmart). Each location can have a unique
username, such as Macy’s Herald Square (Facebook.com/MacysHeraldSquareNY).
+ Child [Local] Pages: Cover Photo and Profile Picture branding can be inherited from the Parent Page allowing brands to
centrally manage overall presence on Facebook at local retail outlets.
However, launching Parent-Child Pages alone is not enough to capitalize on the features of Facebook Mobile and consumer
social/local/mobile behaviors. Brands also require a strategic approach to community management to ensure they are optimized
for discoverability, reach and engagement. Brands can enact local page community management by allowing key store staff to
post local content and news, talk about products, and promote the latest in-store events. Local staff is the brand’s best resource
to provide relevant, hyper-local content. 24 Hour Fitness and Macys are examples of brands implementing the Parent-Child
framework with community management through hyper-local content.
SEARCH ON FACEBOOK MOBILE
Search on Facebook Mobile is one of the features that Facebook is relying upon to keep pace with our mobile society. When users
perform a search on Facebook mobile, preference is given to the local page, which is deemed more relevant because of geo-
targeting to one’s location. Search results are ranked in order of relevancy based on the number of friends who engaged with the
local page, followed by that of Facebook Community overall. A local page, without content, is not likely to generate engagement
that allows retail brands to capitalize on this opportunity for connecting with on-the-go consumers such as check-ins, photo
sharing, recommendations and more.

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MAY 2013LOCATION-BASED MARKETING ON FACEBOOK
GRAPH SEARCH
Launched in limited beta on January 15, Graph Search
allows Facebook users to examine relationships with
trillions of objects, currently focusing on a subset
of content within its ecosystem: people, photos,
places, and interests. Places searches include: "retail
and shopping nearby," "furniture stores my friends in
New York like," and the example shown to the right.
Graph Search results are indexed (in order of
relevancy) based on the strength of the relationship
with one’s social network connections. The stronger
the relationship between a person or a page, the
more likely that content is deemed relevant and
is displayed in search results. To ensure brands
with multiple physical locations appear in these
results, local pages must be optimized to generate
meaningful engagement.
FACEBOOK MOBILE NEARBY TAB
FacebookMobile’sNearbytabisanewlocaldiscovery
feature that displays a list of local businesses also
based on what is deemed more relevant to the
user. Content is ranked according to several factors
including friends who have Liked, checked in, rated,
or written a recommendation on the local business
page. Users can filter Nearby results by categories
such as Shopping, Restaurants, and Arts. If no friend
activity exists for a local page, result ranking defaults
to the overall Facebook Community’s engagement
with that location. Optimizing local pages for
engagement online and in-stores is key to building a
meaningful presence in the Nearby tab.
The examples cited in this section illustrate the need
for community management of local pages with
hyper local content that increases discoverability,
engagement, and advocacy as a key component for
optimizing retail presence on Facebook, which can
be seen as "Facebook SEO."

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MAY 2013LOCATION-BASED MARKETING ON FACEBOOK
PROS OUTWEIGH THE CONS OF COMMUNITY MANGEMENT AT THE LOCAL LEVEL
Optimizing local pages for desktop and mobile can have substantial benefits, which include a brand appearing and ranking
higher in search results, increasing the likelihood of being discovered, and generating foot traffic. However, moving community
management to retail employees has several pros and cons:
+ Pro: Local pages have a greater likelihood of connecting with consumers through hyper local content such as news, local
events, and photos, which are authentic to the location.
+ Pro: Without timely, relevant content to engage with, consumers have nothing to like, share and comment. The ability to
publish timely relevant content is easier at the local level through the lens of on-the-ground employees.
─ Con: Maintaining local pages requires training and guidelines to ensure success.
─ Con: Having community management at the local level can be viewed as giving up control of the brand to those less
experienced with marketing.
─ Con: There is no mechanism to publish brand content across all local pages at once.
─ Con: Local pages may only attract several hundred fans, which may seem like a lot of effort for little reward. However,
studies show there is 5-times greater reach and 8-times greater engagement by fans reached on local pages.
Brands can manage the risk of overtaxing local community managers by agreeing for Corporate to manage essential brand assets
such as the brand's cover photo and profile pages. Such an agreement helps the brand ensure consistency while empowering
community managers to service customers locally.
THROUGH A PILOT PROGRAM, BRANDS CAN TEST, LEARN AND OPTIMIZE FOR SUCCESS ACROSS
LOCAL PAGES
iCrossing recommends launching a pilot program in key retail markets for activating local page social strategy and community
management. As an example, lifestyle-focused retail brands can become vibrant members of the community through a mix of
hyper-local content, which includes regional experts and influencers related to the product or service, locally sourced products
and in-store/partner events such as pop-up shops. Doing so creates a strong foundation for success at the local level. Your pilot
program, executed in key markets, should include the following steps:
1. Create a Facebook Local Page Strategy for community management at the local level. Doing so ensures brand approach in
social is consistent across all pages.
2. Create and distribute a weekly content calendar with key messaging and assets for local pages.
3. Select key employees to create unique content for Child pages. Doing so creates relevancy through hyper-local content,
which cannot be achieved at the corporate level.
4. Invite local influencers, such as bloggers and artists behind locally sourced products, to rate and recommend your store
-- for example, Home Depot might enlist insight from a DIY project expert] via the Nearby mobile tab.
5. Measure and optimize strategy of local page activity to ensure success when scaled nationally.
Pilot programs are essential for testing, learning, and improving performance of your local pages.

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MAY 2013LOCATION-BASED MARKETING ON FACEBOOK
CONCLUSION
Consumers are engaging with retail brands on Facebook in new ways that create an opportunity for retail brands to connect
with them at the local level. Several recent enhancements to Facebook point to the platform’s commitment to location-based
marketing, which requires a more coordinated effort to drive meaningful engagement. Moving community management to the local
level ensures brands are optimized for greater reach and engagement, which leads to discoverability. Through a pilot program,
with ongoing support at the corporate level, brands with physical locations can test and optimize its local page strategy prior to
rollout nationally.
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