3 Ways to Build Local Email Marketing That Rocks

Location, location, location. This favorite real estate mantra is now vital to your email marketing strategy as well. When it comes to sending the most timely, relevant campaigns possible, leveraging the geographic location of your readers can give you a huge advantage.

Even better news? Chances are your competition is not localizing their email content. According to the CMO Council, only 39 percent of marketers have a reasonably effective localized marketing strategy in place.

This means you still have time to beat them to the punch by making sure localization takes a starring role in your email personalization strategy.

How do you do this, specifically? Here are three rock-solid ways to make the most of your geographic data and increase the effectiveness of your emails.

1. Be Aware of Time Zones

   When your subscriber list is large and includes readers from across the country-or even the globe-you need to strategize when to send your emails. This is particularly important if your message contains time-sensitive material. For example, breakfast time in Seattle is actually lunch time in New York, and this can make for a significant difference in open rates and engagement overall.

   Consider the email below from Best Buy, a master at localization. Its four-hour flash sales are routinely targeted to the subscriber’s time zone, and the emails are carefully scheduled to arrive right about when subscribers are pouring their first cups of coffee in the morning-giving them plenty of opportunity to participate in the sale.

2. Pro tip: Remember seasonal changes differ depending on region. While early spring might be the right time to start marketing flip-flops to customers in California, the same message probably wouldn’t convert as well in Boston.

3. Add Local Flavor to Your Content

   Stand-up comics know a sure-fire way to build instant rapport with their audiences: Make a joke or two about the city where they’re performing. This quickly warms up the audience with a touch of relevance and familiarity.

   A similar approach can work wonders in email marketing if you look for opportunities to connect with local readers. Did their sports team just win big time? Is the city known for a particular kind of food or a specific landmark? What are residents proud to show off?

   Sports Authority saw a tremendous opportunity recently when the Chicago Cubs scored a berth in the Major League Baseball playoffs. To commemorate the historic occasion-and to take advantage of the intense fan base the Cubs are known for-Sports Authority created an entire in-store event, complete with custom Cubs merchandise.

   In another example, Email on Acid blogger Mallory Mongeon describes how Brooks, an athletic shoe company, cleverly used local weather to spice up its emails. The company created multiple campaigns based on various weather scenarios. Using the services of a weather analytics firm called Skymosity, subscribers received emails that were targeted to what was happening in their neck of the woods.

   Make It Easy for Local Readers to Find You

   Sometimes the point of email localization is to help readers take action. In the same post, Mongeon also describes how agency S-Digital did a stellar job in the campaign it created for The Open, golf’s oldest championship. S-Digital knew that avid golf fans would jump at the chance to attend the event, and providing localized travel directions made it easy for readers to get there.

   

   The highly effective campaign helped drive a 250 percent increase in online traffic and more than 500 leads-a truly impressive accomplishment.

In other words, the more you know about your reader’s location, the better you can customize and personalize the messages they receive. Implement these three tips with your email, and put “location, location, location” to work for you!

For further insight on how to get more from your data and other crucial insights, download our free guide today, Using Customer Data to Achieve Email Marketing Success.