How Local Content Marketing Can Drive Engagement

Local content marketing needs to be part of just about every businesses overall strategy. After all according to Google 97 percent of Americans use search to find local businesses, and approximately 21 percent of big brands dedicate up to a quarter of their internet marketing budgets to local targeting. (Image credit: Google)

So how can local content marketing be used to drive engagement and what makes local stories more social than others?
According to Eric Athas and Teresa Gorman who researched this, there are 9 types of local stories that tend to be winners as compared to others.

Place Explainers – explaining the quirks, habits and traits of cities
Crowd Pleasers – celebratory stories focusing on pride like big wins and great weather.
Curiosity Simulators – the quirky stories that audiences can’t help but read.
News Explainers – making sense of complex local topics and issues.
Breaking News – events with massive impacts.
Feel-Good Smilers – “think ‘awww,’ think ‘awesome,’ think, ‘hilarious.’”
Topical Buzzers – stories that everybody’s talking about locally.
Provocative Controversies – stories that get people “ticked off and highly opinionated.”
Awe-Inspiring Visuals – imagery with major ‘wow’ factor. People like to gaze at beautiful things.

From a business perspective while local content marketing topics are great ideas it is sales and driving engagement that really count.

A business will really need to start with business objectives before engaging in local content marketing intiatives. A constant vigil needs to be kept in order to ensure that leads and traffic are being generated by So here are 4 ways to drive sales and engagement-

1. Spend wisely and efficiently on local content marketing.

The ability to target marketing dollars at certain geographic audiences is important.

“Companies need to look at their marketing objectives and targets to determine how local really plays into their strategy,” Smith said. “Frankly, it would be good to have a local tie in with the product or service or create a tie in that appeals to that local audience.”

2. Understand the values of the community.

Local content marketing often fails when it doesn’t fit in well with the community or misses the cultural aspects of the community.
An example of a company that does local marketing well is Nectar Clothing.

It’s a small fashion boutique in Claremont, Calif. The company hosts community-based calls for models. The key driver of engagement? Content — the shop’s customer base of young women submit and share photos of themselves wearing Nectar’s products. Through content, local customers are able to help influence, participate in, and define the business.

3. Build relationships and networks.

To ensure that local content marketing succeeds, it must match the needs of the community. One of the best ways to do that is to tap into influencers or events and institutions that play a major role in the life of the community.

Ryder Smith, President of Tripepi Smith & Associates says –

Tap into local institutions.

“Tying into local institutions within a community can be a catalyst for the marketing effort: if it’s a small town where high school football is king, then figure out how to market around the team. If it’s a mid-sized city in Southern California with a large Latino population, make sure your marketing message is focused on the local Spanish newspaper.”

4. Optimize for local searches.

Another important aspect is to ensure that your content marketing is tailored for the site for local searchers. Create content that engages local consumers informational needs and organically increases the use of local keywords. Check out Brafton’s infographic below for more inisghts.

Sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4