Archive for December, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Outstanding products always shine during the holiday season. This year, Amazon’s Kindle is standing out from the crowd.
Amazon is selling Kindles at an unbelievable rate of more than 1 million per week – and demand is only increasing. At its current rate, the Kindle family is outpacing the iPad’s post-launch sales.
The newest addition to the Kindle clan is the Kindle Fire, which remains the No. 1 bestselling and most gifted product across the millions of items available on Amazon.com.
Yellow Magic presaged the growth of digital platforms early on. Recently, the company launched a version of its YelloReader application that transforms white and Yellow Pages directories into eBooks for Kindle. Additionally, Yellow Magic also recently launched a version for Barnes & Noble’s e-book reader.
Millions of Kindle and Nook users now have access to Yellow Pages in the print-like format they’ve known for years. To find out more about how to navigate Yellow Pages from your eReader, check out these Kindle YelloReader and Nook YelloReader demonstrations on YouTube.
December 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Tags: e-reader, Kindle, Local Search, Local Search Association, Nook, print Yellow Pages, YelloReader, Yellow Magic, Yellow Pages
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
We’re partnering with a great blog for mothers, 5 Minutes for Mom, to spread the word about different uses for print directories.
In a post on the site this week, blogger Jennifer Sikora shared some interesting information on practical uses for Yellow Pages beyond finding local business information.
For example, did you know that your Yellow Pages includes important emergency contacts, background on local parks and recreation activities, and maps of nearby arenas and stadiums?
Take a look at Jennifer’s blog for details!
December 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Tags: 5 Minutes for Mom, arenas, emergency information, local business information, Local Search, Local Search Association, parks, recreation, stadiums, Yellow Pages
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
In his keynote yesterday afternoon, Matt Idema, director of monetization product marketing at Facebook, talked about the No. 1 social network’s success and promise as a platform connecting local businesses with consumers.
Facebook, which now has more than 800 million users worldwide, is one of the most visited sites around – with users averaging more than 7 hours on the site monthly. And local businesses are doing a nice job taking advantage of consumers’ interest in Facebook. In California alone, more than 40 million people are connected to local businesses on the site.
Idema focused on two key components to helping local businesses succeed on Facebook: first, instilling the importance of creating a presence that is authentic and second, stressing the need to engage users on a regular basis.
Idema noted that local businesses should first focus on building quality connections on Facebook before worrying about impressions. He explained how each local business connection multiplies out to a user’s average of 130 friends – and can continue to multiply out if content is shared by those friends with their connections, and so on.
As Facebook continues to play a central role in the online experience, Idema’s perspective is an important one for us to share with our clients.
December 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Tags: digital, Facebook, local businesses, Local Search, Local Search Association, Matt Idema, social media
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
In the session “Converting Calls to Local Sales (and Competitive Intel), Matthew Berk, executive VP at Marchex, stressed the ongoing value that local businesses place on calls as a key driver of new business. Berk said that the promise of mobile as a local marketing tool becomes reality when it results in a phone call to a local business.
Berk stressed the importance of the quality of calls delivered to local businesses through advertising – in short, the ability of a call to turn into a sale. He discussed Marchex’s tool that enables audio analysis that classifies the nature of call conversations. But he also said that local businesses need to do their part by being call-ready at all times and adapting their marketing strategies to take advantage of robust growth in mobile search.
December 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Tags: call, call tracking, leads, local advertising, Local Search, Local Search Association, Marchex, Matthew Berk
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
In the session “Digital First Directories: The New Marketing Services Companies,” Dex One’s Chief Strategy Officer David Sharman discussed his company’s strategy as it adapts its business to service today’s digital world.
Sharman said that today, Dex is faced with the reality of engaging local businesses that are overwhelmed with marketing options and need help.
He talked about some core challenges facing Dex, including:
- The likely turnover of about two-thirds of Dex’s employees to achieve alignment as a digital company and to move from being “order takers” to “service partners”
- Managing the decline of print while not allowing it to affect current growth in digital
Sharman also discussed Dex’s evolving product set, which included several significant additions in 2011 with more coming in 2012, including SEO, display, social and mobile offerings. He said the company is beginning to see healthy margins from digital offerings and hopes more is to come.
December 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Tags: David Sharman, Dex One, digital, ILM West, Local Search, Local Search Association, transformation
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
In a research presentation yesterday entitled “The Data on Local Usage,” Gillian Heltai, senior director at comScore, provided a great overview of current consumer trends in mobile.
As Heltai noted, small businesses today are overwhelmed by local advertising opportunities, so our industry has a major opportunity to provide guidance on their marketing strategies – especially in hot growth areas like mobile.
Some of the most striking mobile statistics Heltai shared include:
- One-third of consumers own a smartphone
- 77% have GPS on their mobile device
- 25% of mobile users conduct searches on their phone, making search is the top activity on mobile browsers
- 40% of all mobile users access local content, while 75% of smartphone users access local content
- Smartphone users are scanning QR codes primarily from print media – a trend that is getting retailers attention
Heltai’s data echoed the points made by my colleague Stephanie Hobbs in her Search Engine Land column this month, in which she described the growing role that mobile is playing in the average shopping experience.
December 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, comScore, Gillian Heltai, ILM West, Local Search, Local Search Association, mobile, research, The Data on Local Usage
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Neg Norton and I are in San Francisco this week for BIA/Kelsey’s ILM West 2011 conference, “Closing the Local Loop.” The three-day event features an impressive agenda of speakers and panels focused on exploring the new wave of commerce-centric local solutions – everything from location-based services and geotargeting to deals, online coupons and customer engagement and retention solutions.
One of my favorite sessions from Monday’s jam-packed agenda was “Facebook Next: Leveraging the Platform for Local,” which explored Facebook’s emergence as a leader in social local media as well as targeted advertising and marketplaces. The 45-minute panel discussed the strategies that local businesses, agencies and publishers should pursue to succeed in driving customers in the world’s largest social network.
Facebook experts Craig Donato, CEO, Oodle; Sivan Metzger, GM, Kenshoo Local and Social, Kenshoo; and Niel Robertson, CEO, Trada led a spirited conversation. My key takeaways came from Craig, who argued that:
1) Facebook is more like TV than search. The focus is on social discovery with the browse model.
2) Local businesses must have a footprint on Facebook to be successful. Businesses should keep existing and potential customers on Facebook – not send them to other sites.
3) Friends are necessary but not good enough for commerce. We need to attract neighbors and coworkers, too.
The group also talked about the importance of using Facebook as the top of the funnel to push through higher customer conversion rates.
Neg and I will be sharing some of our other takeaways as the conference moves on. Be sure to check back here on Local Search Insider, or visit BIA/Kelsey’s Local Media Watch blog for real-time updates.
December 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, Closing the Local Loop, Facebook, ILM West 2011, Kenshoo, Local Search, Local Search Association, Oodle, Trada
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Our president, Neg Norton, announced plans for the Local Search Association’s 2012 annual conference, “Search Starts Here,” scheduled for April 21-24 in Boca Raton, Florida, at BIA/Kelsey’s ILM West today.
For years, our annual conference has been known as one of the most important industry gatherings of the year. So we’re excited that in 2012, we will build on expertise with the help of BIA/Kelsey, which will help produce this year’s conference. By combining our experience in creating memorable industry meetings with BIA/Kelsey’s well-known reputation for developing dynamic, content-rich agendas, attendees will benefit by getting the best of both worlds.
Speakers from around the world will be on hand to discuss industry trends, lessons learned, success stories, new technology applications, and useful innovations in the local search industry. We will be leveraging the knowledge and experience of our talented teams to ensure that the program exceeds your expectations and that networking opportunities – both formal and informal, yield positive results for your business.
The successful Strategic Exchange Sessions will be available again in 2012 and sponsorships are still open for the event. In addition, you can book your hotel registration at the beautiful Boca Resort here.
So plan to join members of the local search industry, including international CEOs and other influencers, for an unforgettable meeting. Schedule an SES, consider a sponsorship and bring your team for three days of information, discussion and networking. This is a meeting you won’t want to miss.
December 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Tags: annual conference, BIA/Kelsey, Boca Raton, Florida, Local Search, Local Search Association, Search Starts Here, Strategic Exchange Sessions
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
In my Locals Only column on Search Engine Land this month, I talk about the growing role that mobile is playing in the average shopping experience.
With a fast-growing and appealing consumer base now utilizing mobile devices throughout the purchasing process from pre- to post-sale, local businesses are taking note and investing in mobile marketing at an unprecedented rate.
In the column, I map out a five-step process to better understand the mobile shopping phenomenon to enable local businesses to better influence customer decisions in 2012. The process includes:
- Recognizing that mobile is a big deal – and that it’s only better bigger
- Understanding that young and wealthy customers are the most common mobile shoppers
- Paying attention to the geographies where mobile is hot
- Influencing mobile shoppers’ pre-purchase decisions
- Ensuring in-store visits result in sales
Click here to read my full column on Search Engine Land.
December 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Tags: Data, IAB, Local Search, Local Search Association, mobile, mobile shoppers, research
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
In a joint press release this morning, AT&T Interactive and SuperMedia announced an agreement for SuperMedia media consultants to offer YP.com subscription-based advertising products nationwide to small businesses beginning in the first quarter of 2012.
SuperMedia will serve as the first premier channel partner to join AT&T Interactive’s new YP Authorized Reseller Program. According to AT&T, the reseller program will also be available to other resellers in the near future, helping to supplement the company’s existing local advertising sales force – which it says is the largest in the country.
Click here to read the full release. We’ll be watching these developments with interest over the coming year.
December 13, 2011 | 3 Comments
Tags: AT&T Interactive, Local Search, Local Search Association, reseller, SuperMedia, YP.com
Friday, December 9, 2011
Yellow Pages Group is once again receiving top recognition for the success of its digital transformation. This week, the company announced that its Yellow Pages 360 Solution won the grand prize at the Boomerang Award for best business to business website for a large corporation. This is the second year in a row that Yellow Pages Group has won this prestigious award for its advertisers’ website.
Launched in 2011, the Yellow Pages 360 Solution is a complete one-stop-shop for Canadian small- and medium-sized businesses’ local marketing needs. The site offers a full suite of tools and services including online, mobile and print advertising, as well as search engine marketing and optimization and website creation and management. Additionally, local businesses can take advantage of a variety of free tools and seminars on the site to develop a better understanding of the advertising options available to them.
Please join me in congratulating Yellow Pages Group on a job well done! We look forward to the company’s continued progress in creating next generation local advertising solutions for its customers.
December 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Tags: awards, local business, Local Search, Local Search Association, Small Business, SMB, website, Yellow Pages 360, Yellow Pages Group, YPG
Friday, December 9, 2011
BIA/Kelsey released the sixth edition of its Global Yellow Pages report this week, which forecasts the rate of revenue growth for the Yellow Pages industry over the next five years.
Among the report’s top findings:
- By 2015, 53% of global Yellow Pages revenues will be digital, compared with 29% in 2011. BIA/Kelsey notes that some of the world’s largest directory publishers, such as Yell Group and Seat Pagine Gialle, are plotting a much more aggressive course, projecting an estimated 80/20 balance of revenues favoring digital by 2015. Additionally, the firm points out markets that are currently or will be majority digital by the end of this year include Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Norway and Sweden.
- BIA/Kelsey believes that newer Yellow Pages product offerings – including websites, video, social, mobile and search engine marketing – will be the primary growth drivers for directory publishers in the coming years, as opposed to established Internet Yellow Pages platforms.
- While print revenues are projected to decline, BIA/Kelsey believes that a growing number of global Yellow Pages companies are approaching an “inflection point,” where digital growth can offset declines in the traditional print set.
BIA/Kelsey’s projections are welcome news to our industry, which is rapidly embracing change and capitalizing on new opportunities to deliver the next generation of local advertising solutions and state-of-the-art consumer offerings. It’s clear to me that we are on the right track to a successful future.
For more information on BIA/Kelsey’s Global Yellow Pages report, join their free webinar on Wednesday, December 21 by registering here.
December 9, 2011 | 1 Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, digital, global, Local Search, Local Search Association, mobile, print, print directories, Seat Pagine Gialle, SEM, Video, website, Yell Group, Yellow Pages
Thursday, December 8, 2011
This past October, an unseasonal snowstorm hit the Northeast from New Jersey to Maine. Following the storm, local consumers flocked to their phone books to find a wide variety of important business services, according to internal data shared with us by Telmetrics, which tracks consumer calls from ads in print directories.
Telmetrics looked at the change in average daily call volume per print directory ad between what it designated as Week 1 (October 22-28), the week before the storm, and Week 2 (October 29-November 4), the week of the storm.
According to the data, the daily average number of calls per print ad increased by more than 18% across the region as a result of the storm, with Connecticut seeing a nearly 47% increase:
Telmetrics also found triple digital growth for the daily average number of calls per ad for a wide variety of important business headings, ranging from security services and systems, to lighting systems and equipment, generators, attorneys, tree service and car towing:
These findings provide clear evidence of the important role that print Yellow Pages continue to play in connecting local businesses with customers during important life events like the aftermath of a storm.
December 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Tags: call measurement, call volume, headings, Local Search, Local Search Association, print directories, print Yellow Pages, PYP, snowstorm, Telmetrics
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Coming off a successful joint promotion of America Recycles Day with Keep America Beautiful, the Local Search Association extended its relationship with the country’s leading recycling organization by participating in its 58th National Conference last week in New Orleans.
Representatives of AT&T Advertising Solutions, Dex One, Yellowbook and the Association exhibited before hundreds of Keep America Beautiful affiliates who traveled from small towns and big cities across the country to attend the two-day conference.
A highlight of the conference was a panel discussion that I led with Matt Krug, Environmental Relations Manager at Yellowbook, showcasing our industry-supported consumer choice website, www.YellowPagesOptOut.com, as well as other source reduction initiatives.
I was very encouraged by how receptive the Keep America Beautiful audience was to our industry’s sustainability efforts, especially our industry’s proactive effort to pick up the costs of our consumer choice program.
Keep American Beautiful is a fantastic organization that is held in high regard among countless communities for its commitment to our nation’s natural resources. I’m confident that the relationships built at the conference will help us achieve better understanding of the effectiveness of our print solutions and continued efforts to be better stewards of the environment.
December 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Tags: AT&T, AT&T Advertising Solutions, Dex One, KAB, Keep America Beautiful, Local Search, Local Search Association, national conference, Yellowbook
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Last week, Greg Sterling profiled an interesting new offering from AT&T: The Real Yellow Pages for iPad. Now for the first time, users can search and browse hundreds of AT&T print directories from across the country in the same “book look” format they’ve known for years.
Additional features include:
- Finding local merchants quickly by typing or browsing popular categories including restaurants, attorneys, hotels, auto dealers, pizza and more
- Accessing comprehensive business listings including business details, open hours, videos and links to the local business’s website
- Browsing through local coupons and discounts with ability to access and redeem them on the go
- Option to share businesses with family and friends via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter
- Ability to download any directory to the iPad for repeat usage
- Predictive text and easy-to-use search capability
I think this new iPad app is great for consumers who like the print experience but are embracing the iPad. It’s yet another way for consumers to access Yellow Pages on the platform that suits them best.
December 6, 2011 | 1 Comment
Tags: Apple, AT&T, iPad, Local Search, Local Search Association, phone book, print directories, Yellow Pages
RSS Feed