61% of CMOs Find Local Marketing Too Complex

A significant majority of Chief Marketing Officers, specifically 61%, perceive local marketing efforts as excessively complex, according to a survey. This complexity arises from managing various aspects of local presence, including listings, reviews, and sentiment analysis across multiple locations. The survey suggests a strong desire among senior marketers for an "AI orchestration layer" to simplify these tasks.

Marketers are grappling with questions about who should be responsible for AI-driven search visibility across all company locations. The decision of whether to implement additional AI tools for managing local listings and reviews, or if this approach exacerbates the problem, is a key concern. The ideal scenario envisioned by marketers involves agentic AI systems that can autonomously correct duplicate listings, respond to customer reviews, analyze sentiment, and identify optimization opportunities proactively.

However, the current reality for multi-location brands often falls short of this ideal. The complexity is compounded by the need to manage a decentralized marketing effort that requires consistent brand messaging and customer engagement across diverse geographical areas. The survey, sponsored by Uberall, points to a gap between the desired efficiency and the current operational challenges faced by CMOs in the local marketing domain.