Based on the general point of view, summer is mainly related to two moments of celebration, sale and holidays. However, the third point is often forgotten: public holidays. Indeed, whether in France or Belgium, at least there are two days of holidays: the national holiday (July 14 in France, July 21 in Belgium) and August 15.
One of the questions that arise during these times is “how do you take an advantages out of these summer celebration from the point of view of our point of sales”. This is indicated with the habit of preparing beautiful national campaigns, mainly for sale; however, managing the outlets local digital presence sometimes tends to be forgotten… Here’s what to do for your local digital marketing!
Checkpoint 1: publish the opening hours of your stores, restaurants or other stores
Regardless of sale or holidays, many outlets are benefiting from the increasing of consumers presence during the opening hour extension. For example, it is possible for the stores to open for 7 days/week (this circumstance is not happening all year long). Since these periods are exhibited over several weeks, it is essential to indicate by modifying the normal opening hours.
The public holidays are the moment not to be neglected. There are usually two holidays in France and Belgium during the summer: the national holiday and August 15 (Assumption day). These two days must be marked with a different hour than usual.
Google My Business has a feature that allows you to set specific schedules. If this process is not done correctly, the Google Maps and Google Search users may potentially see that the actual opening hours may potentially change. Therefore, this point is very important in the case of sending people to your stores. It will also an opportunity to be standout of the local competition that does not necessarily put this feature into practice.
Checkpoint 2: publish posts on local pages of your outlets
Posts can be published for various objectives on three main medias which is related to your stores: Google pages, Facebook and the local website page of your stores.
As to figure out what content to be published, refer it to the reality of your:
- Brand: what campaign is carried out in all outlets over those periods.
- Point of sale: how this campaign or a local activity is proposed within the point of sale.
Take the example of a campaign in the fashion retail that decided, during sales, to open until 21 p.m. instead of at 19 p.m.. Related to that example, you can publish the subject of the national campaign (sales) and describe the atmosphere in the stores after 19 p.m.. This could be done, for example, by posting pictures of customers who are trying on the clothes during the evening hours in the particular ambiance that you have set up during that period.
Besides, a restaurant that offers a terrace could uplift its local business by presenting a summer menu, linked with photos of the dishes offered. Then, if the terrace is open later, why not publish a photo of the ambience that customers might experience in the case of late arrival.
Be creative and, above all, adapt your content to the local actions.
Here you’ll find some possibilities offered to you by the posts as part of your local communication.
Checkpoint 3: increase your local presence with local digital advertising
There are more and more opportunities to do local digital advertising. If you are already on Facebook or Adwords, you’re able to create simple local campaigns which have an awareness or transformation’s goal.
Remember to identify the potential impact of your actions on the local level and see if it’s able to boost a benefit in social media channels. If you’re managing your geographic area correctly, you can create high-performing local campaigns with little budget.
The last alternative is Waze. It is now possible to create campaigns in Waze, around your outlets. Think about it!
Any questions?
