The world is becoming exceedingly mobile, and customers are using smartphones for 90% of their online searches. They don’t just look for products or services; they want to procure them from within range — and use location-based search services to find the ideal vendor. This is where hyperlocal digital marketing kicks in.
Moving beyond flyers, banners, and print ads, local businesses are now deploying precise location targeting. Hyperlocal marketing tactics zero in on a targeted number of buyers who want to buy from businesses in their neighbourhood. SMBs and other local businesses and startups are deploying location-based keyword targeting, optimising Google My Business Page, and setting up hyperlocal ad campaigns to maximise their return on investment (RoI). However, there is still a huge untapped opportunity as digital technologies make location awareness and geo-targeting more precise.
Near-me searches
The primary goal of hyperlocal digital marketing is to drive buyer traffic to physical locations and online channels and capitalise on near-me searches, which have a strong purchase intent. Near-me searches have become a prominent element for elevating organic search results and also offer support to the pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.
Increasingly, users are expecting local search results to take precedence over wider search results. Users expect search engines to automatically track their location while serving results. There has been a seismic shift in customer attitudes towards real-time geolocation targeting and how location data can help provide more accurate, relevant results for a wide range of search queries. There has been an increasing trend for the “research online, purchase offline” (ROPO) model, which is further driving interest and demand for locally focused search results over time.
Need for hyperlocal marketing
Search engines like Google and Bing have been shaping local search by prioritising fewer, higher quality search engine maps results for near-me searches and offering near-me suggestions in recommendations at the bottom of search engine results page (SERP). This, along with the adoption of mobile devices, has made hyperlocal digital marketing services a must-have tactic in the toolkit of every company’s SEO strategy.
Hyperlocal marketing is extremely useful for businesses and enterprises that want to target specific geographical locations. It entails grabbing customers’ attention in real-time and augmenting their online business search experience. Especially in today’s competitive market conditions, hyperlocal marketing could just be the shot in the arm that businesses need. Marketing to a targeted group helps improve the lead quality and reduces cost-per-lead while bolstering the return on advertising spend (ROAS).