2nd Annual Localized Marketing Benchmark Report Provides Valuable Benchmarks for Brands

By: Eddy Goldberg
Published: March 23rd, 2020

The second annual 2020 Localized Marketing Benchmark Report, released today (March 24), is a 70-page research project from SOCi (a platform for multi-location marketers) in partnership with Localogy (formerly the Local Search Association). The report examines how top multi-location brands are performing in the top digital channels covering local search, social, and ratings and reviews. Results are broken down by sector (ranging from fitness to restaurants to real estate), and include recommendations for improvement for each category.

Key takeaways

1. Multi-location brands are collectively evolving and improving in localized digital marketing. The average benchmark rose 9 points from the previous year's study (from 45 to 54, a 20% improvement).
2. Localized marketing sophistication varies widely by category. The top 3 scoring categories in this year's LMBR were Fitness (67), Education (64), and Personal Care Services (64). The lowest-scoring categories were Real Estate (40), Business Services (42), and Cleaning Services (46).
3. There is a direct correlation between localized digital marketing performance and revenue. As seen for a second year in a row, the top 10 LMBR leaders outgrew their peers in annual revenue growth rate by 3x.

Top 10 Brands (ranked by overall score)

• 87 (2) Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, Amazing Lash Studio
• 85 (3) Jason's Deli, Sky Zone, CPR Cell Phone Repair
• 82 (5) Anytime Fitness, Pet Supplies Plus, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Club Pilates, The Learning Experience

View Original for Full Data Table

Methodology

Multi-location brands (most, if not all, franchises) were evaluated on their overall presence, ratings and reviews, and community engagement. Localogy analysts analyzed data from 251 top franchise marketing and property management brands. More than 200,000 locations, 600,000 local pages, and 1 billion reviews were examined and used as the basis for the benchmark scores. Scoring: 100 possible points were awarded based on 23 ranking factors that covered presence (37.5), customer care (45), and engagement (17.5) across the top three digital platforms for localized marketing: Google My Business, Facebook, and Yelp.

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