2. You know how important social
media is for brand awareness, but
what about its potential for targeting
audiences in a specific geographic
location and building local
communities to drive more in-store
traffic and word-of-mouth?
That’s local social. Whether you’re
new to it or just wanting to understand
it a little more, this eBook is jam
packed with everything you need to
know about harnessing the power of
local social.
what is local social?
Matt Forman
Hearis Co-Founder
1
3. 2
1. what is local social media & who is it for?
2. why do you need it?
3. how does it work?
4. who’s doing it well?
5. take back control of your brands social media
4. 3
•
•
•
Local Social is a method by which brands develop
their own local communities by using social channels
(Facebook, Google My Business) or other niche location
networks like Foursquare or Yelp to post locally relevant
content, resulting in increased local foot traffic, brand
awareness, loyalty and retention within your local
community.
LOCAL SOCIAL?
A local social media strategy is a must have for any
social media manager, brand manager and franchise
group/retailer looking to:
5. 4
why do you need it?
3 KEY BENEFITS TO
LOCAL SOCIAL MARKETING
In addition to building awareness
and boosting local foot traffic, a local
social media strategy also provides an
excellent source of secondary search
traffic as local directories and social
media sites provide citation signals for
search engines.
Despite being an integral part of any
marketing strategy, too few businesses
are harnessing the power of local
social. In the franchise industry, only
20% of franchisees are already active
in local social. 50% are waiting for the
franchisor to develop a formal local
social strategy, and 30% don’t see the
benefit in local social.
Unfortunately for the combined
80% of franchisees who aren’t using
local social, the following stats on
Facebook/Social Media Mobile would
indicate that brands who can effectively
implement and manage a local social
strategy are at a huge advantage to
those who cannot.
Franchise brands who can effectively implement and manage
a local social media strategy are at a huge advantage to
those who cannot.
INCREASE BRAND
AWARENESS
GROW CUSTOMER
LOYALTY
DRIVE SALES
IN-STORE
6. High quality and useful content is key to the
success of any local social strategy. Head
office can support a local social strategy by
supplying content in the form of blogs, videos
and links to appropriate landing pages across
You can get started with local social in just 3 easy steps:
High quality content is key
to the success of any local
social strategy.
1. Create individual pages:
3. Create & share content:
2. Include business information:
Set up specific pages for each of your local
stores. These pages can be collectively
controlled by head office or individually
managed in house by each store.
To maintain consistent brand messaging, head
office can supply / publish a certain amount
of branded content across all local pages.
Individual stores can supplement this with their
own locally-relevant content (such as promos,
photos & events).
Each local page should include specific
information unique to their location that
customers or potential customers are looking
for including:
• Store location
• Store hours
• Store directions & a map
• Pictures
• Business reviews and testimonials
This information not only assists in helping
customers find what they are looking for, but
they also help the local store to be found in
search engine results.
To manage customer feedback and properly
monitor conversations and community
sentiment, Facebook managers should ensure
they respond to comments in a timely fashion
(generally within one hour). As Facebook
pages now show how responsive a business
is, a slow response rate could easily deter
followers or potential customers from engaging
with you.
all local pages. Each individual store can
then add their own local content on an ad
hoc basis, such as status updates, contests,
promos and photos.
5
7. 6
Goodlife Health Clubs - Goodlife uses social media to control
conversations their members are having about their brand online.
Through their Head Office, they’re able to identify top engagers
for specific gym locations as well as centrally schedule content
and monitor community sentiment.
who is doing local social well?
Ray White provides an opt-in program for local agents and offices
which helps provide the brand with an advantage over their
competitors.
Head office supports local pages on Facebook with visually
appealing content such as inspirational quotes, viral memes and
informational posts designed to keep local buyers and sellers
engaged with their local agent and more importantly, to enable
agents to spend more time on what they do best: Selling property.
Kwik Kopy are proof that B2B brands can also benefit from local
social marketing. Run on an opt-in basis, Kwik Kopy franchisees
can be part of the local social media program run by head
office. Content on the franchisee pages is a mix of relevant local
information, offers and promotions, supplemented with broader
brand content from head office which drives traffic to the Kwik
Kopy website.
8. see how our local social
management tool, Hearis™ has
helped business like yours
7
“Hearis™ advanced social
segmentation and targeting
tools has enhanced our ability to
build local online communities
and has empowered our staff to
easily manage more than 162
local Facebook pages.”
“There is a plethora of social media management systems in the
market, and many just don’t cut the mustard. Hearis™ ticked all of
our requirements!”
“Hearis™ allows our franchisees to
play in the social media space with
a direct line of support and content
from our system.”
9. - Protect brand messaging
- Receive and manage customer
feedback in real-time
- Manage content across hundreds
of pages
- Monitor buying sentiments across
all profiles, all in one place
SIGN UP FOR YOUR FREE TRIAL TODAY TO:
A local social media management tool that helps you manage
unlimited Facebook profiles so you can build awareness, grow
customer loyalty and drive more sales in-store.
