Hyperlocal marketing, as a philosophy, involves understanding the human aspect of your message at a very local level. What resonates with people based on where they eat, shop, or live? What are their points of pride, local landmarks, or favorite sports teams? How do they speak to each other? Who are their local heroes?
How do you do this? How do you target people at the local level? What are the different types of advertising tactics that can be used to reach them? This can be daunting if you’re looking at a national campaign that needs to hit people locally. Here are a couple of options to consider:
OPTION 1
Same Tactic, Same Message, Different Targets
This idea is to keep it simple and easy. Adjust your targets based on geography. Use media that can be measured or controlled by region, city or zip code. Most likely this will be digital or direct mail. You are no longer trying (and paying) to reach the entire country/region when you know your customers reside in specific DMAs/cities. This is a simple and effective way to save money and be more targeted.
OPTION 2
Same Tactic, Dynamic Message, Different Targets
Taking it one step further, this option considers changing your messaging to the overused marketing term, “meet your customers where they are at.” Create different messaging that will resonate with people based on where they live. This will take some research and a little extra thought, but there are some basic things to think about that may be doing your brand more harm than good. For example: When is the best time to sell wiper blades in Michigan? When is the best time to sell wiper blades in Arizona? (Answer: Fall, when they melt off your windshield.) Even simpler, insert the name of the city or town you are trying to reach in order to grab their attention: “Hey, Chicago! The windy city…”
OPTION 3
Different Tactic, Different Target
This last option may require you to rethink your entire strategy and budget so that each area has a local activation fund to work with. This option considers that the best way to reach human beings in a community is to support and join them IN the community. These tactics may be more offline and require the “boots on the ground” type of research that leads to community activation, events, little league baseball sponsorships, celebrating hometown heroes, or even letting the local scout troop cook hot dogs for your grand opening event.
Long story short…there are a lot of ways to consider hyperlocal marketing. The best way…well, just don’t be afraid to get your shoes a little dirty.
