In his recent blog post, CM Executive Scott Shamberg answered some of the top questions he fielded at a recent forum. One of which revolved around making social media relevant for smaller-scale, local efforts. He defined the makings of a successful local-focused social media campaign as relevance. Specifically, “any offer or service that is relevant to me in my geographic world.” I absolutely agree with Scott. When localizing social media, relevance to the user’s life is above all the most important feature of strategy.

Considering what other guidelines are necessary, I’ve developed the SHARE framework to help you shape your future local efforts. By grouping relevance with these five strategic considerations (that just so happen to spell the word SHARE—one of the central drivers behind consumers desire to localize), a brand can create content that will be of value to its consumer at various important and specific geographic points throughout his day.

Save Time: Time is one of the most valuable resources we have and consumers have an insatiable appetite for time saving tools. Share content with your users that will help them accomplish their goals or manage their time better. A great example of this within my city is the Chicago Transit Authority’s Bus Tracker. I seldom give props to the CTA, however this tool allows users to answers the great unknowns of public transit including “will it be faster for me to wait for the express bus that stops where I’m standing?” In creating this simple tool, it’s obvious that the CTA asked the following necessary questions: 1. What will make my demographics goals more achievable when we know their location? 2. Where will I put content so that it is easy to find or access on the go?

Help: Localized and location-based social media content, when done well, will allow a brand to share almost altruistically within a branded strategy, while maintaining a human and helpful voice. This ideally fosters Online sharing without requesting it of consumers. Charmin’s Sit or Squat, is a very specific example of this. The location-based network is filled with information to help its users find a public toilet based on their location. This network is a natural fit for Charmin and gives seriously useful information for any civilized human looking to meet basic hygienic needs.

Apply Insights: When a brand builds its location-based campaign on what’s unique about its target, it can successfully foster a community of repeated users that will interact with and share relevant information. One local social program by Purina leverages the brand’s learnings on its community of pet lovers. Purina uses the Petcentric Places app to put its Petcentric community in touch with locations and resources to make their dogs’ lives better. Offering tips on everything from dog sitters and walkers to bars, restaurants and lodging that allow for four-legged visitors, this app has the potential to really deliver for its target. Based on iTunes ratings, there are a few complaints on the amount content and usability, but if time is invested by Purina and its community to develop a more robust set of tips this app will be perfect for the pet-minded.

What about the R and E? Read More