• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, November 15, 2012

According to the findings of the “National Brand Use of Digital in Local Marketing” study, a survey of national brand marketing executives in North America commissioned by Balihoo, national brands are betting big on local marketing with 91% surveyed expecting to spend more or the same on local marketing in 2013 as they did in 2012. 

Digital tactics will play an important role across the board for national brand marketing planning, with 67.5% surveyed reporting digital marketing as extremely or very important to national brand success. 

When asked about local digital tactics they’re currently using, national brands ranked Other Social Media (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), Facebook and SEO as their top priorities. National brand marketers were also asked about local digital tactics they’re not currently using but would like to begin using in 2013.  

 Additional local digital priority findings:

• Only 22.6% of respondents are currently using local search registration and only 19.5% ranked it as a priority for 2013
• Larger national brands ($500M+) are using a wider mix of digital tactics than smaller national brands ($100M - $250M)
• A larger percentage of smaller national brands ($100M - $250M) are using Facebook and Other Social Media (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) than the larger national brands ($500M+)

Pete Gombert, Balihoo’s CEO “...particularly interesting is how national brands are prioritizing their local marketing tactics... there is a lot of opportunity for national brands to better lead and support their local channel partners...”

The study probed into the digital marketing trends for national brands that rely on local affiliates (dealers, agents, resellers, channel partners, retailers, and franchisees).  Only 4% of this sub-segment ranked their affiliates as excellent at marketing, with the majority (47%) ranking affiliates as moderately effective.

 87% surveyed said that their national brand is not well represented on affiliate web sites.  When asked in what areas their local affiliates lack expertise and the ability to execute effectively, respondents identified as top weaknesses:

• Mobile marketing (53.4%)
• SEO (49.4%)
• PPC (46.6%)   

 To obtain the free PDF study from Balihoo, please visit here.