Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing every industry, including retail. The ever-evolving technology is transforming how retailers approach their local marketing strategies.
Local businesses can streamline their business processes by leveraging generative AI in content creation, machine learning-based recommendations, automation, local recruiting, AI-assisted workflows, and more.
46% of all Google searches consist of users looking for local information, particularly businesses in their local area. This highlights the importance of local marketing for generating leads, but what is it, and how is AI transforming local marketing for retailers?
What Is Local Marketing?
Local marketing, also known as neighborhood marketing, is a marketing and brand promotion strategy that uses both offline and online tactics to promote local businesses that serve customers face-to-face.
Source: IntoTheMinds
Online strategies include local search engine optimization (SEO), which improves website visibility in local search rankings.
Whilst offline tactics can include distributing business cards or placing a chalkboard with written offers outside the store.
A local marketing strategy is often cheaper than other marketing strategies because business owners don’t need to reach a wide audience. They simply target consumers who live near the business's physical location.
5 Ways AI Is Transforming Local Marketing For Retailers
Creating Marketing Content
By combining large language models with customer machine learning algorithms, generative AI can generate detailed content from a basic human prompt. This means generative AI tools like ChatGPT can help businesses create marketing content.
Generative AI helps local businesses quickly produce high-quality content without sacrificing quality, accuracy, or compliance. Retailers can benefit from AI-written content for local flyers, promotional emails, online blog posts, and more.
In addition, the lack of human input into content creation saves employee time and retailer resources, allowing them to focus on other business operations, such as serving customers.
On the topic of marketing content, you can go one step further than a written post and even AI-generate images for your socials, blog, flyers, and more.
Take this example from Heinz:
Source: RethinkIdeas
In an attempt to prove to their audience that even AI thinks of Heinz first, they created content using an AI generator, which proved to be a great success. Asking the AI tool a basic prompt of ‘This is what ketchup looks like to AI”, they created a number of unique and interesting images that were repurposed for marketing ads for a number of local and global audiences.
However, AI should by no means be seen as a full replacement for human writers or editors.
Optimize for Voice Search
Voice search has transformed the way people interact with search engines, with consumers using AI-powered voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant to make queries.
To stay ahead of the competition in local marketing, retailers need to use AI to enhance their voice search strategy. AI algorithms can understand the context and aim behind human voice searches, allowing businesses to optimize their website content, meta descriptions, and meta tags accordingly.
In addition, businesses can increase their online visibility and attract local customers who use voice search by adding long-tail keywords and context-specific phrases to their content.
Automating Workflows
As mentioned, generative AI can free up employee time by creating marketing content. Many other local marketing tactics can also be automated when retailers introduce AI-assisted workflows.
AI is able to schedule and publish social media posts, schedule and send emails, manage and order inventory, and more so you can get back to running your business and offering your customers a great experience.
Whilst any retailer with a brick-and-mortar store can benefit from a range of local marketing strategies, it is most common for small businesses that are trying to reach their target audience. Small businesses, in particular, can benefit from AI-assisted workflows.
For local stores opening up an e-commerce alternative, AI can also enhance your online customer service. With the ability to power human-like chatbots, AI can reduce the need for sales reps to talk to customers 24/7.
Take this example from Sephora for instance:
Source: Click
Here, customers can interact with AI online in the same way as an in-store sales representative. This is a brilliant way to automate the workload, especially for a small team.
Personalizing Marketing Campaigns
Creating personalized content that resonates with local audiences and compels them to visit your store is a key aspect of local marketing. This level of personalization helps businesses enhance customer engagement and build stronger relationships.
AI algorithms can gather and analyze customer data to better understand their preferences, shopping behaviors, and demographics, such as location, age, and gender.
Once AI data shows the behaviors and preferences of nearby consumers, you can create highly targeted content that directly speaks to the interests and needs of your customer base.
Starbucks is a great example of a company that does this well. Using AI to predict customer preferences, they upgrade their personalized recommendations for each and every customer.
Source: GeekWire
By doing this, Starbucks ensures that all marketing efforts are personalized to customer preferences, whether on the app or in the local store. AI helps the company feed its buyer's customized offer codes and drink discounts for a tailored experience every time.
Coming Up With Marketing Ideas
Not only can generative AI tools create your marketing content, but it can also come up with ideas for your future campaigns - even if you want to create and run them yourself.
For example, I asked ChatGPT to “Provide me with a list of offers a small local jewelry company might run to increase footfall”.
In response to my prompt, the AI-powered tool came up with 15 promotions including seasonal sales, loyalty programs, referral programs, exclusive in-store events, flash sales, bundle deals,
and more.
Remember, the more detailed the prompt, the more accurate and effective the AI response will be.
Will You Use AI For Local Marketing In 2024?
Overall, AI is transforming local marketing for retailers by automating workflows, creating content, enabling personalization, and optimizing for voice search. Therefore, businesses that embrace AI will gain a competitive edge.
However, to reap the benefits of such a revolutionary technology, retailers need to understand the challenges (it is a robot, after all!), develop strategies accordingly, and continuously monitor their performance.
Ironhack’s AI bootcamps teach you how to use AI in your local marketing strategy effectively. As new AI use cases emerge and technology evolves, so will your local marketing campaigns, so stay on top of the trend!
