Grow Market Lead
Local Marketing Rules!
Local marketing winners
Local marketing methods make it easier
than ever to build relationships. Lechner’s take on the following strategies
provides plenty of ways to build your
brand at the local level.
• Direct mail. It may not sound as
sexy as social media, but direct mail still
delivers. Lechner considers direct mail
to be the best, most cost-effective, and
traceable way to reach prospective and
existing customers—and says it should
be the largest component of an LSM
campaign. Use saturation direct mail
campaigns for grand openings, new
product launches, and limited-time
offers. Targeted and personalized mail
Sandy Lechner
work for specific messages, such as
“Happy Birthday,” “Welcome to the neighborhood,” “We
miss you,” and “Thank-you” programs. A database mail
campaign also allows companies to select specific criteria
and focus dollars on the targeted prospects to communicate specific messages at selected times.
• Day and day-part promotions. Since most of Lenny’s customers dine before 4 p.m., Alvord is a big fan of
specific day and day-part specials. These methods, used
frequently by retail and food service businesses, work to
build loyalty and traffic for selected
groups, individuals, organizations, and
cultures. Parents will drive across town
to dine or shop at a place that benefits
their child’s team, group, or club. By
singling out segments of a prospect or
customer base, your system creates an
emotional bond and sense of loyalty that
cannot be replicated. Some examples:
Military Night, Kids Eat Free, Teachers’
Night, Student Night, Senior Night, and
special nights for sports teams.
• Loyalty programs. A strong loyalty program is one of the easiest, most
productive ways to create long-lasting
relationships with customers and better
understand their habits. Programs can be
based on number of visits, dollars spent,
specific products, and selected days or
day parts. When Lenny’s converted its
loyalty program from a stamped card
to an electronic format, nearly 120,000
customers opted to receive an email
newsletter. This also provides an easy
avenue for the company to send a free
birthday sub coupon or an automated
“We miss you” message when a customer
hasn’t visited in 30 days.
• School and fundraising programs.
Fundraising programs create both emotional customer bonds and community
loyalty. These programs, aimed at Girl
Scouts, Boy Scouts, churches, synagogues, Little Leagues, school bands,
and school sports teams and clubs are
traditionally inexpensive, and outside
groups can become part of your marketing team. Strategies include coupon
books with weekly or monthly offers
and special nights when a percentage
of sales benefits a specific group, team,
or charity.
• Social media. While the ROI from
social media marketing is still a moving
target, Facebook, Foursquare, or Twitter, for example, can
be an important part of the mix for