The brand, which operates more than 500 stores, is looking to capitalize on the significant growth in ?near me? searches on mobile, which are up 34 times since 2011, according to Google. The store location pages are meant to drive visibility when and where consumers are looking for work boots. 

?Red Wing Shoes core customers are mobile by nature, as they live and work outside traditional office environments,? said Dave Schneider, chief marketing officer at Red Wing Shoes. ?It?s essential that we are visible when our customers conduct ?near me? searches for safety footwear products while on the go. 

?When Red Wing Shoes? customers need to replace footwear or make a new purchase, they?re using mobile to quickly research and decide on where to go and what to buy,? he said. ?With the Velocity platform, we?re improving the customer experience -- as well as driving foot traffic to our 500+ retail stores -- by making Red Wing Shoes stores visible when those micro-moments of need happen.?

Red Wing Shoes, which was founded in 1905, partnered with location-based marketing technology provider SIM Partners to enable the new strategy. 

The footwear marketer is leveraging SIM Partners? Velocity Location Data Management to manage, distribute and monitor Red Wing?s store location data, including name, address, phone, store hours, and other key attributes. The goal is to ensure store locations are visible when and where consumers are looking for footwear or work wear. Doing so will enable Red Wing to create contextually relevant content and experiences to convert searches into actual customers, driving engagement and conversion both in stores and online. 

Contextually relevant content is increasingly important on mobile as 88 percent of ?near me? searches come from mobile devices, per Google. 

 

Store managers will be able to update their pages, including localized content, on services provided and brands carried. Additionally, the platform provides custom workflows and moderation to ensure content and messaging stays on-brand.

The location-driven search strategy is important for Red Wing Shoes because many of its customers work in field or non-office environments. 

 

?When a consumer searches for footwear ? whether it be via Google, a map, app, or GPS ? Velocity Location Data Management ensures that our locations are visible in those ?near me? moments through ongoing management, distribution, and monitoring of Red Wing Store location data,? Mr. Schneider said. 

 

?Once they click through to a store page, they are able to connect directly with the store to get driving directions, store hours, email or click to call,? he said. ?Users also get a deeper level of content about each store, including brands carried and services offered, such as expert fitting and footwear maintenance. 

?The actionable data paired with contextual content provides a premium experience for our customers right from the start ? it also helps convert those searches to in-store sales.?