Local Networks enable you to save time by creating reusable groups of businesses
Available for all plans on the Locable Marketing Platform
The information in your CRM can be useful for many things including sending email newsletters to your Contacts (people) and cross-promoting with your Local Connections™ which are made up of Companies & Causes (organizations).
To help you stay organized and speed up using Locable's many tools, you can create Local Networks which are groups or categories of businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations.
Why use Local Networks?
You likely use our Community Calendar, Directory, job board, volunteer opportunities board, and other embedded tools to automatically feature content from local organizations. Additionally, you may leverage Express Email Newsletters to distribute this content to your subscribers.
While you can add businesses individually, this process can be repetitive, time-consuming, and prone to errors—such as inadvertently missing businesses in your directory.
Common Uses for Local Networks:
- Grouping Businesses by Industry: Examples include categories such as Restaurants, Retailers, or Professional Services.
- Organizing Businesses by Participation: This might include designations like Members or businesses that Accept Downtown Dollars.
- Categorizing Businesses by Activities: For example, businesses that Host Live Music.
- Highlighting Sponsors and Supporters: Such as businesses sponsoring specific initiatives, like Summer Concert Series Sponsors.
Creating Local Networks
You can create or view your Local Networks by going to Local Connections > Local Networks.
A single business or nonprofit can be in multiple Local Networks and as a rule, a network should have multiple or even many businesses. Think of it like adding a song to a playlist.
For most businesses and nonprofits, Local Networks will be simple and streamlined. For example, you may simply have two local networks - Businesses and Nonprofits.
As you create and manage the various Local Connections™, you can use these networks to quickly add or remove businesses, filter content, etc.
Adding Companies to Your Local Networks
You can add or remove Companies & Causes from Local Networks in a couple of different ways:
1. By editing the Local Network to add or remove businesses
2. OR by editing the Company's record directly in the CRM Companies & Causes section
If you remove a company from a Local Network in its CRM record, you won't see it 'removed' from associated Local Connections™ tools until you click Save Company Details. At that point, all of the tools that reference the Local Network will be updated to reflect the change.
NOTE: If a business belongs to multiple Local Networks that are used as data sources in a Locable tool, it will only appear once. For example, a directory that pulls from several networks will ensure each business is displayed only once.
Exporting your Local Network Data
You can export the list of businesses in a specific Local Network by clicking Export Companies while viewing the Local Network.
The export will begin to be processed and the data will be emailed to you in a CSV file once complete.
Leveraging Local Networks allows you to make a single change that will automatically update across all your calendars, directories, job boards, and other tools when adding or removing Companies & Contacts. This also streamlines finding and sharing content in your Express Email Newsletters.