The biggest challenge large brands face when utilizing local marketing platforms is keeping their messages consistent. Sixty-four percent of brands surveyed are looking for ways to eliminate the customer confusion that can occur when different marketing messages are sent out across competing platforms, and 81% say communicating a consistent brand message is their top priority for the upcoming year. Here are five ways that brands can do just that...

The retail giant isn’t trying to dissuade customers from using their smartphones while they shop. In fact, the retailer is beefing up the carrier signals inside its stores to make it easier for customers to get online. Instead, the company is combating the threat of showrooming by encouraging customers to fill their screens with its own mobile application.

Rather than relying solely on traditional advertising to promote the company’s recent rebranding efforts, the drugstore chain's online/public relations manager Calvin Peters has expanded the company’s social media efforts and created what he calls a “VIP blogger team.” Peters has partnered with bloggers with online communities centered around the New York metro area to generate buzz and organic media in the form of user-generated content...

The cleaning products manufacturer ran a promotion last year with inMarket's CheckPoints mobile app, which rewarded customers for scanning CLR and CLR Bath & Kitchen products with their smartphones. As a result, Jelmar saw an immediate uptick in sales at stores where the mobile promotion ran...

Rather than creating a single Facebook page to serve as a hub for all 300 plus Texas Roadhouse locations, Dave Dodson and his team have created local Facebook pages for each restaurant in the national chain. Dodson says people are more likely to be engaged with local pages, leading to an increase in comments, likes, and photo submissions on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Foursquare...

A roundup of today's big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.... Groupon Acquires Realtime Location-Aware Service Glassmap To Help You Find Deals (TechCrunch)... Google launches Google Launches Zavers, Targeted Digital Coupons with Real-Time Redemption Data for Retailers (The Next Web)... 21 Things I Learned Running Hyperlocal News Sites (Vouchification)...

A roundup of today's big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology... Local Online Ad Rev to Grow 31% in 2013 (NetNewsCheck)... Google’s Location-aware Field Trip Tour Guide App Now Serves Up Local Deals, Courtesy of Scoutmob (The Next Web)... How Location-Based Social Networks Are Changing the Game for Businesses (Entrepreneur)...

At Innovative Mattress Solutions, online marketing director Brett Morris relies on display ads that work in tandem with his company's print and television campaigns to promote holiday sales and in-store events. He uses geo-targeting to reach consumers living within a 15-mile radius of his company's stores, and relies on different ad sets based on the demographics of the consumers he's trying to hit...

Rather than having individual franchises run their own social check-in campaigns, Moe's Southwest Grill decided to pull together their promotions and launch a nationwide campaign that aggregates Foursquare and Facebook check-ins at more than 440 Moe's locations. Lauren Barash, the chain's director of marketing, says she is already seeing enthusiasm from customers...

By restricting advertisers from targeting users at specific locations, Twitter has made it difficult for big brands to use its platform when running geo-targeted campaigns in the past. Clif Bar found a way around this challenge earlier this summer, when the company began asking customers with GPS-enabled devices to voluntarily tweet their locations for the chance to win coupons and prizes...