Digital is causing the world to shrink. I'm not referring to volume, of course, because in that sense digital is exploding. In fact, as of 2015, 90% of the world's data had been created in the previous two years! What I mean is that the digital and mobile revolution is making us hyper-aware of the world around us.

Said another way, the rise of mobile phones and digital connectivity has increased consumers' expectations of understanding their surroundings. People expect to know everything happening near them—and they use mobile devices to see everything from their physical location, weather, time of day, trending conversations, friend activity, nearby restaurants and shops—right down to local inventory.

Conversely, brands themselves have access to that information, and they have the power to reach potential customers precisely at a time of need. By using that consumer information—location, interests, weather, time, etc.—as well as browsing history, habits of similar customers, tech devices they're using, and more, the mobile revolution has created a powerful new world of marketing—and it's all local (or hyper-local or location-based, depending on your jargon du jour).

Being able to harness that power means being ready for it.

So let's look at four adjustments that global and national brands need to make to seize the opportunity for local digital marketing.

1. Measure online-to-offline traffic

Before now, digital marketing's rapid growth has not forced brands to worry about how much of their digital efforts are driving in-store sales; they have instead focused on optimizing online conversions. However, now that mobile use has outpaced desktop use, brands are finding that looking only at online sales gives them just part of the picture—especially considering e-commerce accounts for only about 5% of all retail transactions.

Does that mean mobile ads or experiences aren't driving sales? Heck no! Brands just need a different way to measure.

"Click-to-brick" can be measured in numerous ways—from Google's in-store measurements to geo-fencing to CRM integrations. Which method is right for your brand depends on different factors; but, no matter what you choose, taking the step to measure online-to-offline consumer traffic is critical.

2. Make sure you're mobile-friendly

Having a mobile friendly website is no longer a nice-to-have; it's required—if for no other reason than the biggest search engines' saying it is.

Source: Moovweb

Google even built a tool to test your site to see whether it holds up to its mobile standards. Plus, data directly proves that mobile-friendly sites are more likely to appear in the top organic search positions.

Search is how people find you. And since mobile searches make up the majority of traffic, you are missing the largest segment of consumers if you're not available for mobile.

Need more proof? Take note of the more than 70% growth in "near me" searches, which further underscores why your brand should focus on local.

3. Experience your brand locally

Have you ever done a search for your own brand? Or followed your own brand's Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram accounts? How about reading the reviews on Yelp about your company?

Surprisingly, I've found that marketing leaders are not doing such basic gut-checks. Instead, they are relying on the strategy of how things were supposed to work when they drew it up in the war room.

Take the following image of a search engine result for "Fast food restaurants near me." There are a few interesting items that make sense as a corporate strategy, but they don't pan out in local execution.