6 Techniques for Driving Adoption of Local Marketing Automation
Local Marketing Automation provides benefits to both the corporate entity and the local businesses they serve. HQ benefits from brand compliance, marketing workflow efficiencies, cost savings, and a satisfied local business community which is especially important in a franchise model. The local businesses benefit from the ability to provide their local market with relevant marketing communications in a timely manner, which allows them to drive traffic to their locations and, ultimately, higher sales. It’s a win-win!
Yet, so many businesses struggle to get their local marketing initiative off the ground. Is it the technology, or lack thereof? The marketing sophistication of the end users in the field? The relevancy of the campaigns and collateral?
The answer is, “Yes” to all of the above, and here are 6 things you can do to drive higher adoption of your Local Marketing initiatives to grow your business.
- Develop easy to use, easy to understand marketing campaigns.
The average franchise operator, hotel manager, and agency owner is not a marketing expert. The key to getting them to use what you give them is to keep it simple and easy to understand. Package all related content into a single campaign and provide fact sheets, FAQs, and other tools to help them use the materials you have provided.
- Educate them on the ins and outs of the technology
Some of your users have grown up with a smart phone in their hands. Others have never held one at all. For the latter, it is possible that the idea of using the technical solution you have provided could scare them. So, they just don’t use it. Even if they did, it’s likely that they wouldn’t need to on a daily basis, so the steps they need to take to create a piece of marketing may need to be relearned each time. Provide them with a variety of training tools such as scheduled webinars, office hours, support desk help, as well as in-solution help content to help them get their jobs done.
- Don’t delay – get it in their hands quickly
Whether you are implementing a new solution or doing a refresh on an existing one, don’t delay. We see many customers waiting until every I is dotted and T is crossed before launching their local marketing solution. The result: Lack of incremental feedback that can influence the final product, months – if not years – of analysis that delays the business value possible from the solution, and a team of field marketers that lose interest and go rogue on you. Take a page from the Agile development book - go live with a roadmap that provides early benefit to end users and adds to that benefit over time. Let them get use to a few easy to use pieces to get them hooked, then add volume and complexity over time.
- Keep it fresh – don’t let them get bored
Even the least sophisticated end user knows when her marketing efforts are getting stale. Users in the field are more likely to start to create their own marketing materials if they get tired of the materials HQ is providing. Add new materials, refresh old campaigns with new creative and calls to action, and provide a few unexpected pieces outside of the normal campaign calendar to keep your end users engaged and working with you.
- Make some pieces required
We have seen some customers successfully drive end-user adoption by ensuring that at least some pieces of creative, whether a business card, a restaurant menu, or a new hire kit, can only be accessed and ordered through the local marketing solution. This forces users to come to the system for at least those items. Once the users are in, you can promote other campaigns and collateral, driving adoption of other pieces, as well.
- Promote the heck out of it
It’s not enough to simply announce it and provide initial training. As I mentioned earlier, many users won’t have a need to be in the system daily or even weekly. Some may forget that the system is there or how to log in. It is critical that you promote the system regularly through newsletters, corporate social media channels, and other communication vehicles you maintain with your end-user community. Promote how others are using the solution and getting value. Thank end users for their ideas and contributions. Promote new creative and collateral. Consider leaderboards – most people are competitive, after all. “Build it and they will come” is a lie. “Build it and promote it” is the truth.
Forming new habits is hard. It takes time, reinforcement, and commitment. Brand Marketers at HQ locations have a role to play in helping end users form habits around local marketing initiatives and using the solutions HQ is providing. Education, ease of use, and fresh and compelling content are all ways to ensure your end users think of utilizing the local marketing solution you have provided rather than building their own.
For more information about how CampaignDrive by Pica9 can help you be wildly successful in your local marketing initiatives, request a consultation with our team here.
