To succeed in today’s hyper-competitive retail environment, retail marketers need to understand how customers find and choose businesses. People today are less reliant on websites and traditional media channels such as direct mail or local radio to find and choose retailers. Consumers are increasingly discovering and interacting with retailers’ digital profiles on search, social, and other digital media channels. Think of your business’ digital profile as your own personal profile on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat. It’s ubiquitous. It’s influential. And it’s instantly accessible by everyone.

To gather these insights, our analysis of over 165,000 businesses across the US and found that five times the amount of direct customer visits are to a business’s digital profile than a business website.

Digital profiles are helping companies be found, trusted, and chosen in their local markets. Are yours?

Top findings in this report:

• How businesses are managing their presence across locations, devices, and media channels
• Where businesses can optimize content to more effectively acquire customers
• Why monitoring customer ratings and reviews (good and bad) across all listings will improve brand reputation