I think it’s time we renamed local advertising. I don’t know what we should call it but my first thought is to call it the World Wide Local.
Here’s one reason why, a Massachusetts dealer’s display ad appears on the Chicago Tribune’s site to a consumer from Massachusetts, who previously visited the dealer’s site.
We setup our dealer sites to re-target site visitors who come to our dealer’s site and who live within sixty miles of the dealer’s location. The idea is that for a considered purchase, like a riding mower, consumers may want to think about it for awhile and we want to continue to remind them of our dealer, no matter where they go on the Internet.
So, even if the local consumer in Massachusetts goes to the Chicago Tribune site, they may see a banner ad for our local retailer. This works with our Google local landing pages, local e-promo pages, dealer locator results pages, dealer banner ad landing pages and more. Now is that what you think of when someone talks about retail or local advertising? I think not.
So maybe we should call it the World Wide Local? Or, maybe the Big Local?
Even if we don’t rename it, as marketers we have to at least, rethink it.