This session was presented at the LSA19 event in Dana Point, California, February 25-27, 2019.

1. The Location
Factor: How
Multi-Location
Brands Win
in Social
Monica Ho
Gary Drummond
#LSA19

2. The Location Factor:
+
How a High Visibility Multi-Location
Brand is Winning in Social

3. Local Marketing Manager | Ace Hardware
Gary Drummond
Chief Marketing Officer | SOCi
Monica Ho
+

4. The Location Factor

5. Experiential Local Retail
• Local Experiences
WWW,MEETSOCI.COM5
How Local Retailers Win in this
Amazon and eCommerce Driven
World

6. Experiential Local Retail
• Local Experiences
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How Local Retailers Win in this
Amazon and eCommerce Driven
World
• Local Expertise

7. Experiential Local Retail
• Local Experiences
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How Local Retailers Win in this
Amazon and eCommerce Driven
World
• Local Expertise
• Local Community

8. Experiential Local Retail
• Local Experiences
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How Local Retailers Win in this
Amazon and eCommerce Driven
World
• Local Expertise
• Local Community
• Local Care

9. Localized Social
Marketing

10. Localized Social Marketing
[loh-kuh-lahyzd soh-shuhl m ahr-ki-ting] | noun
Marketing efforts that focus on building a local presence for a business, leveraging locally-
driven com m unication channels to reach the specific local com m unities it serves (rather
than a broad/national approach). May include social m edia m arketing, review sites, social
advertising, and other two-way engagem ent channels.

11. Presence
Are you On -Brand?
Are You Being
Found, Locally?
Care Growth
Are Customers or
Prospects Talking?
Are You responding
properly?
Are You Reaching New
Audiences? Are You
Driving Results?

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Presence
Consider These Facts
85%of brand engagement is happening
at the local page level
Source: LSA and SOCi
Share of User Engagement
72%
28%
LOCAL
CORPORATE
PAGE*?

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Presence
Consider These Facts
If you don’t manage
these pages, someone
else will.
Source: LSA and SOCi

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Presence
Consider These Facts
If you don’t manage
these pages, someone
else will.
Claim all your locations!
Source: LSA and SOCi

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Care
Consider These Facts
70%of consumers use social media
to air and resolve grievances.
Source: Social Media Today

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Care
Consider These Facts
Source: : LSA & SOCi: The Great Conversational Divide
In fact, reviews are now
the top factor consumers
use in deciding which
business to visit.

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Growth
Consider These Facts
Source: : 2016 Franchise Industry Marketing Survey, HigherVisability.com
Social Media is now the
2nd largest source for
new custom er acquisition
behind personal referrals.

18. Localized Social Marketing Is
Now Impacting Every Part of
Your Business

19. Local Management at Scale is Complicated

20. 100 locations X 10 sites =
1000’s Pages To Monitor

21. Top 10 National Franchise Brand
5,000 + locations

22. ● 25% of pages were unclaimed
● Three types of local pages
○ Fully engaged
○ Exists, but no engagement
○ No one’s home
● Rogue content and brand
inconsistency
● Consumers are searching and
we knew we had to play harder
● No metrics or ROI
● Over 4,000 domestic locations
● Diverse owners
● Social knowledge from novice
to expert
● Ability to segment multi -stores
● Communication
● Retailer Testimonials
● Technology to drive local
customers and experiences
● Ability to provide care for
weather and disasters
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Co-op Model Need Scalable Solutions
Ace Hardware Challenges

23. ...with a program that allowed us
to activate at the local level
● Local Care
○ Store hours
○ Phone number
○ Products on -hand
○ Customer service
● Authenticity
○ Ability to help our stores
communicate to the local market
23
We Needed To Be Better
Prepared For the Un -
Expected...

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Ace Hardware’s Localized Social
Marketing Objectives
• Protect & grow the Ace Hardware
brand and local sales
• Ensure local authenticity and brand
consistency in -market
• Retailer understanding, education
and participation in the top social &
reputation management sites

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Ace Hardware’s Localized Social
Marketing Objectives
• Protect & grow the Ace Hardware
brand and local sales
• Ensure local authenticity and brand
consistency in -market
• Retailer understanding, education
and participation in the top social &
reputation management sites

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Ace Hardware’s Localized Social
Marketing Objectives
• Protect & grow the Ace Hardware
brand and local sales
• Ensure local authenticity and brand
consistency in -market
• Retailer understanding, education
and participation in the top social &
reputation management sites

27. The Results

28. Presence
• Claim ed & now own alm ost all
location pages
• Generated over 1 Million followers
in < 3 m onths
• Producing 1k+ Local Posts per week
• Receiving 7X’s the Engagement
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42,016 people like this
42,016 people follow this

29. Care
• Managing over 500 new
reviews per week
• Maintaining an average
4 Star Rating

30. Growth
• Nearly 1 in 4 retailers participating
• Adding 100+ new retailers per
m onth
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31. 31
Local Activation and Authenticity When It
Matters Most
● Preparedness and activation
● Community presence and engagement

32. The key benefits of developing and implementing
a Localized Social Marketing program
Keys To Success

33. 33
Ace Hardware:
Keys to Program Success
Removed Adoption Hurdles
Local, regional and corporate buy -in
Investment in:
● Technology
● Ongoing training and learning for the retailers
Promoting & Sharing Results
Retailer testimonials & case studies
Empowered Local Locations
Corporate oversight with local control
& management

34. ● Technology solution
○ Centralized content management
○ Pre-schedule content
○ Workflow solutions
○ Multi -store functionality
○ Customer Service solution
○ Reporting and Metrics
● Creates a bridge from National to Local
(Hybrid model)
● Allows local authenticity
● Builds a strong community presence thru
events and more
● Speed to market
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Ace Hardware:
Program Benefits

35. Lessons Learned
Social Can’t Be Ignored
• Social and custom er service solutions are
critical if you want to com pete
• Social coupled with technology = success
Engagement = Listening
• It’s an opportunity to drive your business.
• Even m ore im portant, it’s actively listening
to build trust
Reputation = Customer Service
• You have to respond and be authentic
• We have to keep them com ing back
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In Summary
Localized Social Marketing can
increase your brand presence, build
your customer loyalty and drive
growth in your business.
● Corporate and local partnership (buy-in)
● Investm ent in technology and ongoing learning
● Prom ote, share and optim ize your results

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DOWNLOAD NOW!
http://resources.meetsoci.com
/franchiseplaybook
We Wrote The Book
On Localized Social
Marketing!

38. monica@meetsoci.com
www.m eetsoci.com
#m eetsoci
Thank You
gdrumm@acehardware.com
www.acehardware.com
#mylocalace