Research Study Findings: Multi-Location Brands That Consolidate Local Marketing with SOCi Achieve Efficiency Gains, Business Growth, and Customer Loyalty

SOCi helps marketers turn visibility into action, chaos into clarity, and trust into ROI in today’s fragmented landscape

As traditional search declines and consumer search behavior fragments across Google, TikTok, Reddit, and AI-generated answers, enterprise marketers are struggling to keep up. According to SOCi’s 2025 Consumer Behavior Index (CBI), this fragmentation is rapidly eroding visibility, relevance, and trust for brands still clinging to outdated search strategies.

The Total Economic Impact of SOCi, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of SOCi in May 2025 reveals a solution: consolidate local digital marketing efforts onto a single, AI-powered platform purpose-built for the complexity of modern discovery. Forrester’s findings show that a composite organization based on interviewed brands using SOCi’s unified platform achieved:

Efficiency Gains: SOCi reduced the time required to manage search listings, social profiles, and reviews by 75%, reclaiming over 55,000 hours annually per store for marketing teams. This is an essential advantage for corporate teams that are often under-resourced and for local operators who lack marketing expertise or time to manage their own digital presence

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Business Growth: Brands saw an 8% increase in digital traffic and a 20% lift in conversion rates, a remarkable achievement in an environment where most brands are seeing search demand and traffic decline.

Increased Customer Loyalty: SOCi empowered local teams to deliver authentic, community-focused digital experiences, driving a 3% boost in repurchase rates and $1.36 million in loyalty-driven revenue over three years.

“Marketing has never been more complex, and the pressure on multi-location teams has never been greater,” said Monica Ho, Chief Marketing Officer at SOCi. “Consumers no longer rely on one platform for discovery. They bounce between AI tools, social media, reviews, and forums, seeking authentic validation before making decisions.”

SOCi’s 2025 CBI highlights that 95% of consumers still trust human validation over AI recommendations, turning TikTok, Instagram, and review platforms into critical decision-making hubs. Meanwhile, AI search engines like ChatGPT increasingly rely on review content to inform local recommendations. In this fragmented discovery landscape, consolidation is no longer optional. It’s the only way to remain discoverable, trusted, and competitive.

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“For brands to not only keep up but lead in this fragmented discovery era, they must consolidate their tools, streamline execution, and empower both corporate teams and local operators to build their visibility and trust at scale,” Ho added. “That’s exactly what SOCi delivers.”

According to the TEI study, in total, SOCi helped unlock $2.11 million in efficiency gains from an accelerated digital presence, proving that fragmented discovery doesn’t require more tools. It just requires the right one.

Download the full 2025 Forrester TEI study of SOCi here to see the complete ROI breakdown and business impact. Then, sign up for an exclusive webinar on June 25, 2025 here to unpack the findings, explore real customer outcomes, and dive deeper into how SOCi is solving fragmented discovery at scale.