One Metric to Rule Them All: Location Performance Score
For businesses with multiple locations, local marketing can feel like a guessing game. You invest in optimizing Google Business Profiles, managing reviews, and running localized ads—but when it comes to proving impact, the data is often fragmented, unclear, or incomplete.
Traditional digital marketing metrics like clicks and impressions tell only part of the story, and even foot traffic tracking has its limitations. How do you know if your local marketing efforts are actually driving real business outcomes? And how do you compare the performance of multiple locations with different conditions, customer bases, and competitive landscapes?
The Challenge of Isolated Metrics
Most businesses rely on a combination of different data points to measure location success. And by all means, these top 5 location marketing metrics are essential for understanding and optimizing your local strategy:
Local Search Rankings: How well does your location rank in local search results, and how often does it appear for relevant queries?
Local Conversion Rate: How many online interactions—like clicks, calls, or direction requests—turn into actual visits or sales?
Cost per Local Lead: How much are you spending to acquire each potential customer through local marketing efforts?
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Are your local advertising efforts generating enough revenue to justify the investment?
Local Customer Lifetime Value (LCLV): How much revenue does a customer generate over time after engaging with your local marketing?
Each of these metrics provides a piece of the puzzle, but they rarely work together. A high search ranking doesn’t always mean more customers, and a strong conversion rate doesn’t guarantee a local revenue increase. Without a unified approach, businesses struggle to connect the dots and optimize their strategies effectively.
Existing Approaches: The Strengths and Gaps
To tackle this challenge, businesses have tried various methods to evaluate local marketing performance.
1. Google Business Profile Insights
GBP offers useful data like views, searches, and customer actions. However, these insights are limited to Google’s ecosystem, excluding interactions from third-party directories, social media, or in-store traffic.
2. Customer Surveys and Feedback
Direct customer feedback through reviews and surveys can provide qualitative insights into a location’s performance. However, these methods are subjective and often biased towards extreme opinions—either very positive or very negative.
3. Footfall Tracking and Attribution
Using Wi-Fi, GPS, or beacon technology, businesses can measure store visits influenced by online searches. While effective, these methods require additional hardware, data-sharing agreements, and customer opt-ins, making them challenging to scale.
4. Revenue Attribution Models
Some businesses attempt to tie online interactions directly to revenue through unique discount codes, loyalty programs, or CRM integrations. While these methods can provide valuable insights, they often fail to account for customers who visit but don’t make an immediate purchase.
“It’s not just about switching the structure of your performance analytics; it’s about shifting your focus to metrics that provide deeper insights into customer behavior and engagement. Consider moving beyond likes or clicks and looking at more comprehensive metrics like the time spent per page per location or repeat visits per store. These metrics go deeper, revealing customer loyalty and engagement trends.”
To be clear, each of these approaches offers a valuable perspective; but none of them provide a complete measurement of location performance across different channels and customer touchpoints. This is where the Location Performance Score (LPS) comes in.
How to Measure Location Marketing Impact
Enter: Location Performance Score (LPS)
Location Performance Score™ (LPS) is a unified metric designed to provide a holistic view of how well a business location is performing across online and offline touchpoints. In other words, it aggregates multiple data points into a single, actionable score, helping businesses understand what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus their efforts.
Key Components of LPS
LPS combines several critical factors to evaluate location performance:
Visibility: How easily customers can find your business online.
Engagement: Clicks, calls, and requests for directions.
Reputation: Review ratings, volume, and response times.
Conversions: The relationship between online interactions and offline visits.
Instead of analyzing these factors in isolation, LPS brings them together into a single, easy-to-understand score, allowing businesses to make data-driven decisions at scale.
“By keeping revenue at the center, you’re not only meeting internal goals but also creating a data-driven case to prove the ROI of every campaign. LPS also allows you to compare performance between different locations to learn from top-performing ones and prioritize improving the low-performing ones.”
Why LPS Matters for Multi-Location Businesses
1. A Standardized Performance Metric
Instead of relying on inconsistent or siloed data, LPS provides a standardized way to evaluate location performance. This makes it easier to compare locations, identify underperforming stores, and implement targeted improvements.
2. Better Resource Allocation
With LPS, businesses can allocate marketing budgets more effectively. If one location has high visibility but low conversions, it might need better in-store engagement. If another has great foot traffic but poor reviews, reputation management should be a priority.
3. Actionable Insights at Scale
LPS doesn’t just highlight problems—it provides recommendations based on real data. Whether it’s improving local SEO, responding to customer reviews faster, or optimizing Google Business Profiles, businesses get clear next steps to improve performance.
4. Bridging the Online-Offline Gap
Many businesses struggle to connect digital marketing efforts with in-store success. LPS helps bridge this gap by showing how online engagement translates into real-world visits and revenue, making it easier to prove the ROI of local marketing.
“Our goal has always been to put every business on the map. Location Performance Optimization (LPO) is the next step in our clients’ journey to attribute revenue and performance to every dollar spent.”
How to Optimize Your Location Performance Score
To increase LPS, businesses should focus on Location Performance Optimization, which involves implementing the following crucial measures
1. Optimize Online Listings
Ensure all location details are complete, accurate, and up to date. Regularly update photos, posts, and business hours to stay relevant in search results; and don’t forget to add local landing pages and a locator to your website either.
2. Manage Customer Reviews
Respond to all reviews—both positive and negative. Ask satisfied customers for feedback, and address complaints promptly to improve reputation and trust.
3. Analyze Customer Engagement
Monitor how customers interact with your listings. If engagement is low, test different calls to action, improve descriptions, or invest in local social media to increase visibility.
4. Implement Direct Ordering and Reservations
For restaurants, retailers, and service businesses, integrating direct booking or ordering options can drive more conversions and reduce reliance on third-party platforms.
5. Leverage Data-Driven Decision Making
Use LPS insights to continuously refine your strategy. Compare location scores, set benchmarks, and adjust marketing efforts based on real performance data.
Can This One Score Really Transform Your Local Marketing Strategy?
Yes and no. The Location Performance Score (LPS) is a powerful tool, but it’s not a magic fix. A high score isn’t the goal, but a reflection of the work you put into optimizing your locations; it helps you stay on track by turning complex data into actionable insights.
A low score signals where change is needed, whether that means refining your local SEO, responding to customer reviews more effectively, or enhancing your online and offline customer experience. A rising score, on the other hand, confirms that your efforts are paying off.
By consistently monitoring and improving your locations, you don’t just improve a number; you build a stronger, more competitive business that customers choose time and time again. Reach out to us, and give it a try!
How to Connect Digital Presence to Local Revenue