5 proven best practices for running multi-location ad campaigns across diverse markets

Ads present a huge opportunity for multi-location companies to expand their reach and convert more leads across all locations. However, when managing ads and ad budgets for multiple locations, it can be tricky to determine where to start and how to make sure that each location gets equal attention and results. Luckily, we have built high ROI campaigns for multi-location businesses across varying industries and can provide valuable insights into the process. To get the most from your ads and to start off on the right foot with advertising best practices for multi-location businesses, continue reading! 

Tip #1: Tailor ad campaigns to different locations

As a multi-location business, you are constantly balancing the need to tailor messaging and graphics to each location with keeping a consistent voice and visual identity for overall brand cohesiveness. When it comes to ads, it’s best to tailor different campaigns to each location and set general ads for the brand. Essentially, this means tailoring the tone, imagery, and language to reflect the desired location and unique audience. With most ad platforms, you can be very selective about your audience, meaning you want to make sure you are sending them the correct information so the ads resonate with each audience. In the end, this can lead to a higher engagement rate and deliver more value for your ad spend. 

Different communities may have different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and if you don’t incorporate those nuances, you’ll lose your audience or they will be less likely to interact with your ad. Additionally, most ad providers will lower the amount of times they display your ad if they do not think it relates to your audience, giving you even more reason to pay specific attention to location-specific nuances. Creating tailored ads for each location also allows you to address local trends and adjust for real time data insights.

Tip #2 – Build location-specific budget allocation strategies for maximum impact

Most ad platforms will have a vast array of settings you can use to carefully control how much money you spend. Keep in mind that to get the most out of your ads, and build a strong audience, you should run the ads for at least two weeks. This can vary across platforms, but this should help give you an idea of what works and how your audience responds for future ad campaigns.  

When setting budgets for multi-location ads, you will want to take into consideration local competition and local trends. Some locations may have very competitive audiences or keywords, requiring you to spend more money to get further, while others will not require that much effort. Performing market research beforehand can help give you a lay of the land so you can construct ads that will push through the noise and get the best return. Consider the impact of local and seasonal trends on your ad performance as well. Certain times of the year might work much better than others, depending on your community. 

Set a dynamic budget for each campaign. This allows the platform to make adjustments based on KPIs. For example, if certain ads aren’t getting enough clicks, the platform can reduce the number of impressions on those particular ads and allocate the budget to the graphics or videos that are doing well. 

Tip #3 – Complete local market research and build targeted audiences

Targeted audiences are key to multi-location business’ success with ads! Building accurate and hyper-targeted audiences will improve your ad return. If you are going to create ads for each location, you also need to build audiences for those locations that go beyond simple geotargeting. This is where market research comes in. Each location can engage in market research that highlights the unique qualities and characteristics of that particular audience, which can range from culture to interests and demographics, and everything in between.

The more specific your ad campaign is, the more targeted your audience needs to be. For example, if you are running a conversion campaign for one service in particular, your audience should meet very strict specifications because you want them to perform a very specific action. On the other hand, a brand awareness campaign should be sent to a much broader pool of candidates because you are simply trying to spread the word about your company. 

Tip #4 – Analyze performance and adjust for better results

Before you build ad campaigns, set clear and achievable goals that are related to the business’ goals and an overall marketing strategy. Ads are very powerful, especially when they are intentional and purposeful. Your goals will also illuminate the metrics that will be most important when measuring ad campaign success. It is important to use the same metrics across all locations for each ad campaign as this allows you to compare equal results and understand which strategies work where.  

We cannot stress enough the value of running A/B tests to deliver new insights! You may have done lots of research on your audience but each location and campaign will be subject to the actual results of the ads. By testing different messaging, graphics, and keywords, you can hone in on what works best for your audience. When you perform tests, do not change too many things at once or you will risk missing out on valuable data because it will not be clear what inspired the connection. 

Tip #5 – Engage in centralized management, but incorporate local input

Managing ads is not as manual as it used to be, but there is still value in opting for centralized management when running multi-location ad campaigns. Centralized management ensures budget adherence and provides greater control over structure and metrics. However, local input should be solicited and incorporated to ensure each location has creative control over the individualized aspects of the campaigns and can better tailor their ads to meet the needs of their unique audience. 

Overall, ad campaigns for multi-location businesses can be incredibly successful for the overall rand and individual locations. If you need help setting up ad campaigns for a multi-location business, give us a call today. The MDG team has years of experience guiding multi-location businesses to advertising success.