Archive for September, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Consumers are becoming daily deals junkies – checking sites like Groupon and Living Social each day and awaiting the daily e-mail from platforms like Gilt City and Google Offers to see the latest deals in their city.
Last week, in the midst of SMB Digital Marketing 2012, BIA/Kelsey released a new report projecting that daily deals spending will rise by 87% in 2012 alone. U.S. consumers will spend $3.6 billion on sites like Living Social and Groupon by the end of the year.
BIA/Kelsey expects the daily deals space to grow an additional 23% in 2013 and projects that it will become a $5.5 billion industry by 2016.
Growth in this area presents a major opportunity for small business. Stay tuned.
September 25, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, daily deals, Gilt City, Google Offers, Groupon, Living Social, Local Search, Local Search Association, report, research, SMB Digital Marketing
Thursday, September 20, 2012
We weren’t the only ones with small business on our minds out in Chicago at BIA/Kelsey’s SMB Digital Marketing 2012 Conference – Dex also had some helpful tips for small business.
Yesterday, Dex hosted a webinar featuring business coach, author and business community builder, Sarah Robinson, and Dex’s own Senior Product Manager, Laura Malcolm. The two discussed how small businesses can better manage online reputation and better engage with communities on and offline.
You can catch a recording of the webinar on September 22 at the link below so don’t miss this great discussion full of actionable tips.
Listen for Success: Reputation, Community & Your Business
September 20, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: community building, Dex, Dex Marketing Matters, Dex One, online community, online reputation, Small Business, webinar
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Recently, a legal marketing firm issued a press release on the changing ways that people find lawyers. The release, citing an American Bar Association (ABA) public opinion poll, stated that the use of print Yellow Pages “as the primary way to find a lawyer for a personal legal matter appears to be waning.”
The marketing firm’s conclusion is misleading for several reasons.
- The poll, which was conducted way back in September 2010, told us what we already know: that many people searching for a lawyer for a personal legal matter find one through friends and family or by contacting a lawyer they’ve used previously. But when it comes to those who find a lawyer through advertising, the poll showed that the same number of people who search for a lawyer via the print Yellow Pages search for one online. The report itself said there may be “some erosion” from anticipated use of print Yellow Pages compared to research that was conducted prior to the availability of the Internet, but the degree of shift to the web is difficult to assess. So while there’s no doubt the Internet is playing a bigger role in how lawyers are found, there is also minimal evidence to suggest that print Yellow Pages are losing their historical prominence as a place where consumers go to find lawyers.
- The 2011 Local Media Tracking Study, conducted by the independent research firm Burke on behalf of the Local Search Association, found that print Yellow Pages generate an impressive 93.4 million look-ups annually for attorney services. The attorneys heading ranked 9th based on usage among the top 300 print Yellow Pages headings. This is a decline over previous years, but still a very strong and healthy standing.
- Our Local Media Tracking Study also demonstrated the high value of print Yellow Pages look-ups for attorneys. Approximately 55% of consumers have a decision to make when searching print Yellow Pages for attorneys. This includes consumers who had no name in mind or had two or more names in mind before looking in the directory. Additionally, 63% of consumers contact an attorney they found in the print Yellow Pages, while 68% of consumers using directories make a purchase of attorney’s services or intend to make a purchase. Furthermore, 70% of purchasers secured through print Yellow Pages are new customers for the attorney they contact.
- Print Yellow Pages deliver an unduplicated audience because they have low duplication with other media, according to the 2011 Intermedia Shopping Study conducted by TNS. For example, when print Yellow Pages is used in combination with online services advertising, it extends the reach to purchasers by 58%.
- Finally, a review of 26 display ad call tracking studies conducted for 10 national advertisers showed print Yellow Pages deliver strong value to attorney advertisers. Average return on investment is 7 to 1, and median return on investment is 4 to 1, according to Local Search Association data.
While our industry recognizes that general use of print Yellow Pages is declining, that does not mean that legal related ads are no longer an effective marketing tool. The data above speaks for itself: that an integrated advertising approach that leverages directories in addition to newer platforms like the web will garner the best results for lawyers looking for new customers.
September 20, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: ABA, advertising, American Bar Association, attorneys, law, lawyers, Local Media Tracking STudy, print Yellow Pages, PYP, Yellow Pages
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Neg Norton, president, Local Search Association and Congressman Aaron Schock
The Local Search Association’s Board of Directors welcomed Congressman Aaron Schock (R, Illinois) at a meeting in Chicago today.
Congressman Schock provided a brief overview of the issues facing the business community and his work on the House Ways and Means Committee. As the youngest member of the House of Representatives, elected at age 26, the Congressman recounted his early entrepreneurship – programming computers in elementary school, operating a ticket agency out of his parents’ home and buying his first real estate while still in high school.
Congressman Schock also explained the work of the Ways and Means Committee and its focus on taxes, trade and entitlement, pointing out that it is the oldest functioning committee in the House. He expressed concern about the impact on increasing taxes on business sector growth and the ongoing issue of unfunded entitlement programs.
Acknowledging the political atmosphere in Washington, Congressman Schock stated that tax issues like the looming “fiscal cliff” are unlikely to be resolved before year-end. He also stated that proposed changes to U.S. tax policy will be decided by the upcoming election.
Congressman Schock entertained questions from the Board before returning to Washington to continue his work. The Board was grateful that the Congressman took the time to meet with them and provide an insider’s perspective on issues related to our industry and the overall business community.
September 19, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: Aaron Schock, board meeting, Congressman Aaron Schock, Local Search Association, local searchb
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
We’re in the last day of SMB Digital Marketing 2012, presented by BIA/Kelsey here in Chicago. The final day is packed with speakers and analytics.
The morning will include John Pletz, Senior Reporter from Crain’s Chicago Business, a panel on Mobile Advertising for SMBs, a presentation by Valentine Matrat and Ben Wood from Google and more.
If you missed this event, take a look at BIA/Kelsey’s next meeting, ILM West, December 4-6 in Los Angeles. That’s your next opportunity to take advantage of BIA/Kelsey’s special blend of research and networking. Hope to see you there.
September 19, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: Ben Wood, BIA/Kelsey, BIA/Kelsey Event, Chicago, Crain's Chicago Business, Google, ILM West, ILM West 2012, John Pletz, Local Search Association, Mobile Advertising, SMB Digital Marketing, SMB Digital Marketing 2012, Valentine Matrat
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Mike Nabasny, Director of Midwest Sales at Wildfire, closed out the day with an interesting story of a guy, a girl, a ring, a friend and a Social Media hook-up. The story had a happy ending and helped demonstrate what the statistics show – 81% consumers say that friends can influence a purchase.
And he answered that old question, what DO consumers want? – 67% want exclusive offers, 60% want to interact with others and share their purchasing experience and most love games, contests and of course, prizes.
He offered three keys to Social Media ROI success:
- Create compelling offers
- Give people a reason to come back
- Take an integrated approach
His final word on Social Media marketing? The ROI is there!
All in all, it was an intriguing series of presentations. Go to biakelsey.com/smbdigital for more about SMB Digital Marketing and BIA/Kelsey.
September 18, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, BIA/Kelsey Event, deals, Facebook, Local Search Association, Mike Nabasny, Offers, ROI, social media, Twitter, Wildfire
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
A session entitled ’Social Media: Focus on Business Models’ was hosted by Jed Williams, who kicked off the session by revisiting LCM 16 and reiterating that SMBs number one objective for Facebook is new customer acquisition.
Pamela Springer, CEO-Manta presented metrics on online networking:
- 50% of SMBs (with fewer than 9 employees) are networking online and that number is expected to grow to 70% in 2013. The goal of such networking is to acquire new customers.
- SMBs are using a variety of sites to do so:
- 19% Facebook
- 12% LinkedIn
- 1% Google
- However, 58% say they are still struggling with Social Media.
“Revolution is being implemented in an Evolutionary way”, Springer explained to attendees. Manta is helping customers get in the game, find out what works and tie it all together.
From creating profiles for their SMBs, to providing tools and channels, Manta is working alongside their customers to find the right solutions. And soon they plan to add activity streams and status updates to their mix.
September 18, 2012 | 1 Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, BIA/Kelsey Event, Facebook, Google, Jed Williams, LCM 16, LinkedIn, Manta, Pamela Springer, Small Business, SMB, SMB Digital Marketing, SMB Digital Marketing 2012, social media
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Following a full morning of presentations, Gail Goodman, CEO – Constant Contact, took the stage after lunch to speak to a full room – attendance was estimated at over 400 for this event. Introduced by Rick Ducey (link), Goodman’s list of awards is lengthy and impressive. In addition, she is the author of the bestseller, Engagement Marketing.
Goodman, who worked to grow her company’s roster of SMBs to 500,000, took the audience through her recommendations for “Connecting the Dots” of digital marketing.
Constant Contact’s clients are truly small businesses – 70% have less than 10 employees and her company interacts with them exclusively online. They offer their clients:
- Email Marketing
- Event Management – on and off-line
- Social Campaigns – 80% of their SMBs have a Facebook page
They also enable their merchants to run their own local deals. Recently, they added Single Platform to provide digital storefronts.
Consolidating these services ensures that their clients get the services they need, so they can avoid answering repeated calls (up to 29 per month) from online marketing vendors.
Through the process of growing the company, Goodwin’s team made some discoveries that echo much of what we’ve heard for the past two days at SMB. Perhaps the most interesting concept is that consumers can be tracked from their first contact, to their offline purchase through their repeat purchases, without the SMB coming off as “spammy”.
Currently, small businesses are advised to ask the customer when they come into the store, “how did you find us?”. Goodwin gives that approach a #Fail. She believes that through the right combination of deal offers, social connections and engagement, SMBs can optimize the customer experience AND get the tracking information they need to create ongoing relationships.
Constant Contact wants to bring it all together for their clients and that’s a win-win.
September 18, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: constant contact, Engagement Marketing, Gail Goodman, Single Platform, Small Business, SMB, SMB Digital Marketing, SMB Digital Marketing 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Sanjay Gupta., VP – Global Merchant Marketing, Groupon, described their approach to winning new clients for the daily deal. He made the important point that the term SMB can be very broad – it covers a multitude of business owners from the one person kiosk to much larger, more sophisticated concerns, and each has differing needs.
His formula for reaching merchants seems to contradict accepted tropes about small businesses:
Keep it simple – everyone talks about how busy SMBs are. Groupon has found that they may be busy, but SMBs will spend time to learn complex ideas. He addressed what he thinks are some common misconceptions about small business:
Very Concerned About Price – Groupon has determined that with trust, SMBs will pay for product/vendor stability.
Don’t Have the Time – Gupta says that merchants will find the time for critical needs.
Know it All or Not at All – maybe, but he says that Groupon’s experience is that SMBs are willing to learn.
Groupon specializes in small, “Mom and Pop”, local merchants and is winning them over through 5 main tenets –
- Make them successful and your success will follow
- Support – provide both sales and account support, as well as self-serve and self-prep options
- Empower the merchant with tracking tools – a merchant center and customer interaction tools
- Continue that support through lifecycle management
- Align your strategy and offerings with the evolving needs of SMBs
BIA/Kelsey anticipates strong grown in the daily deals space over the next few years as large businesses enter the fray and add their loyalty programs to the mix. Meanwhile, it appears that Groupon is continuing to reach SMBs of all sizes with a combination of new tools and traditional customer care.
September 18, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: daily deals, Groupon, Local Search Association, Sanjay Gupta, Small Business, small businesses, SMB, SMB Digital Marketing 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
After a quick review of yesterday’s meeting by Tom Buono and Mark Fratrik, this morning kicked off with Richard Hanna, EVP – Sales and Marketing, Dex One. His presentation of Dex’s journey of digital transformation clearly intrigued the attendees. Hanna outlined why the next two years are so important to both SMBs and providers, and how his team has worked to prepare for the challenges.
Hanna emphasized that advertisers are no longer satisfied with one-product solutions, but expect at least four or more options to meet their needs. Discussing the changes that have to occur to ensure a sales force equal to the challenge, he explained that Dex One has:
- Invested in a 21st century sales force and world class support technology
- Invested in product solutions
- Showed sales teams that “we mean business” – making an impression on the sales team through compensation plans, and by delivering products and services they can believe in.
“Easy to buy, easy to sell” – Dex One created an assortment of bundles and delivered them across multiple platforms, as well as creating Dex Guaranteed Action (DGA), to encourage customer confidence in their approach.
Hanna returned several times to the theme of high-tech training, describing how they have outfitted their reps with iPads, and now deliver training, sales results, new compensation incentives through webinars, videos and podcasts.
His plan to “motivate and captivate” has resulted in measurable success. And the strategy continues to deliver – a 40% growth in digital revenues since its inception.
Hanna did a great job of answering some probing questions from the audience and his presentation gave the audience a lot to consider.
September 18, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, Dex Guaranteed Action, Dex One, iPad, Local Search Association, podcasts, Richard Hanna, sales force, SMB, SMB Digital Marketing 2012, videos, webinars
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Do you believe in omens and portents? Yeah, neither do I, especially when it comes to predicting how SMBs will deploy their marketing budgets over the next four years.
To help us understand more about ad spending, SMB Digital Day Two began with a special session for attendees, with Tom Buono and Mark Fratrik, BIA/Kelsey, presenting some of the recent findings from their Media Ad View (MAV). This study tracks competition, online dollars and share shifts in the local ad market.
The study outlines a bullish view of ad spending through 2016 and the continued shift away from traditional media to online and digital spending. It also captures the move to mobile ads and provides a tool to help your sales team rate that “trusted advisor” status, key to working with SMBs and growing your revenues.
Click here to learn more about how to get MAV and help your advertisers make those critical marketing decisions.
September 18, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, Mark Fratrik, MAV, Media Ad View, Small Business, SMB, SMB Digital Marketing 2012, Tom Buono, trusted advisor
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
I’m excited to report that CIO Leadership Network has identified Michael Dunn, chief information officer at SuperMedia, as one of its annual Top 10 Breakaway Leaders. This year’s awards focused on the theme of Business Acceleration and Leadership in the Evolving Global Economy – Predict. Transform. Deliver.
In a news release, Frank Gatto, EVP of Operations at SuperMedia, said, “Michael’s vision, leadership and overall business acumen led the transformation of our architecture from a print centric company to a digital-focused one. His passion has earned the respect of his colleagues, peers and staff. Michael and his team are always delivering excellence and exceeding expectations in a fast-paced, results-driven environment.”
Each year, a panel of elite CIOs chooses a list of 10 Breakaway Leaders who exemplify leadership, dedication and influence as a CIO. This is the only CIO awards program where winners are determined by the CIO peer community alongside an elite judging panel. Dunn was selected to join elite CIOs from companies such as Alcoa, Lockheed Martin, PepsiCo, and Sysco Corporation.
Congratulations to Michael and his team at SuperMedia on this honorable distinction!
September 18, 2012 | 1 Comment
Tags: Alcoa, CIO, CIO Leadership Network, Local Search Association, Lockheed Martin, Michael Dunn, PepsiCo, SuperMedia, Sysco, Top 10 Breakaway Leaders
Monday, September 17, 2012
Matt Booth, Charles Laughlin and Steve Marshall, from the BIA/Kelsey team gave some tantalizing insights from the LCM 16 results which will be available to their clients in the coming weeks. Their findings will no doubt stir a lot of conversation at the “Best of Chicago” Reception sponsored by YP this evening.
For instance, it seems that 40% of SMBs purchase their online advertising themselves. And as they become more skilled at using Facebook, they are focusing less on creating awareness and more on customer acquisition.
The SMB Digital sessions will have some key themes:
- The “right” sale
- Beyond advertising
- Loyalty matters
- Keeping it real
- The Social SMB
They offered two more LCM 16 findings:
- Ad spend is stable
- SMB spending intent over the next 12 months = 36.3% increase!
(Acknowledging that what SMBs say vs. what they actually do isn’t always connected, they did say that they’d be checking back in a year to see if this pans out.)
With the exponential increase in mobile marketing (20% of the SMBs polled are now engaged), a result of either bundling media services or the doubling of mobile devices and SMB perceptual changes, the BIA/Kelsey team is watching that space with interest as well.
Up next – Nathan Hanks, president of ReachLocal, did an enthusiastic job of taking the audience through some of the key points that add up to his company’s “Five Ways to Win”. From discussing the Proctor and Gamble anthropologists in China looking at how to sell products to consumers who make less than $2 per day, to challenging the attendees to be ready for 020, from advising them to remember that “Job 1” is to make the cash register ring to invoking “ROI or Die!” as his company’s battle cry, he quickly proved why his organization is experiencing strong sales and satisfied customers.
He also shared that his organization is striving to be more than a point solution and to have a “client first” attitude in this deeply competitive space. I’ll be keeping an eye out for future updates from Hanks.
Patrick Barry, CMO of Demandforce/Intuit did a masterful job of taking the audience through an explanation of how applications and networks are converging to create new opportunities for SMBs. He stressed that there are thousands of workflow apps out there with tremendous diversity and specific designs allowing clients to meet their needs for scheduling, tracking inventory, marketing products and managing staff.
He also reinforced the need for SMBs to work harder, with their providers’ help, to retain existing customers, explaining that it is 4-10X more expensive to acquire a new customer than to keep a current one.
Both presentations were compelling and I’m sure we’ll hear more about these trends over the next two days.
Now it’s time to catch up with some of our Local Search Association members and meet some of the new faces here at SMB Digital!
September 17, 2012 | 1 Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, Demandforce, Intuit, LCM 16, Local Search Association, ReachLocal, ROI, Small Business, SMB, SMB Digital Marketing, SMB Digital Marketing 2012, YP
Monday, September 17, 2012
In a column posted today on Marketing Land, I discuss the growing importance of visual content in a local business’ social media strategy.
In the past year, the unbelievable growth of visually focused sites like Instagram and Pinterest, the redesign of Facebook with the introduction of Timeline and the cover photo, and the rapid increase in use of smartphones with high-resolution cameras have highlighted changing consumer preferences in favor of images over text in the digital space.
In the piece, I offer five steps for local businesses to join the visual revolution online. Click here to read my full column.
September 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: Facebook, Instagram, Local Search Association, Pinterest, Search Engine Land, SEL, social media
Monday, September 17, 2012
This morning started off with a great line-up of speakers in a special preconference workshop, Building a Winning SMB Sales Organization.
Bob Sanders, president and COO of Axiom Sales Force Development kicked off the presentations with a thought provoking segment tracing the evolution of sales from the “peddler”, through needs-based sales, to the current “Trusted Advisor” approach which has proven important in a dynamic marketplace.
He emphasized the necessity for specific, industry-based questions for each customer – this approach takes the relationship with the SMB to the next level, and creates a successful environment for selling. Asking the advertiser, “What is the negative impact you want to eliminate?” allows the sales rep to get past the question of cost and into the SMBs specific needs and how they can be met.
Mike Centorani, cofounder of Sales Transformation Now, weighed in with a presentation that focused on the difficulty of gaining the attention of today’s overwhelmed and overworked SMB. Centorani has firsthand experience – he’s worked with three YP firms and has gone out on hundreds of sales calls with their teams.
In addition to suggesting something that is in very short supply these days – patience – he reminded the audience that SMBs by nature are: risk takers, tellers vs. askers, and want to get straight to the bottom-line. Usually, sales reps have the same traits!
He suggested learning to speak the language of the client and make it about them. Finding out:
- What they are trying to sell?
- Who is their target audience?
- What do their customers care about when choosing who to do business with?
- And why would the client be the best choice for their customer?
Next Todd Handy, VP at Deseret Digital Media, spoke about the guiding principles that have helped Deseret’s transition and boost revenues:
- Digital Requires Digital – your sales team should mirror your customers
- Leveraging Your Legacy – it’s not about your products, it’s about a solution for the SMB and a different model for sales
- Focusing on the Long Tail – the average SMB is overworked and under-educated when it comes to available media, they need guidance and help understanding the importance of ROI
Paul Plant, principal at Radicle Consulting, rounded out the opening session by taking a slightly different approach, pointing out that we are in a dynamic marketplace requiring a team approach that includes multiple customer touch points and access to media specialists to meet the needs of most SMBs. This creates a more positive experience for the SMB resulting in a stronger relationship with your brand.
Plant has consulted with Trader Media, O₂ and Pages Jaunes – all companies successfully using this approach. He suggested that there are some common themes at these organizations that have enabled them to succeed in a changing marketplace, including:
- Single-minded focus on delivering customer value
- Compensation tied to Customer Satisfaction Index
- Aligned leadership
- Impeccable execution
- Seamless business-wide technology
- Workplace satisfaction
It was a busy morning, but these speakers had a large audience, and provided a good opening to the remainder of the event. There’s still much more to come, so check in here over the next two days to see what’s going on at SMB Digital.
September 17, 2012 | 1 Comment
Tags: AXIOM, Axiom Sales Force Development, BIA/Kelsey, BIA/Kelsey Event, Deseret Digital Media, Local Search Association, Pages Jaunes, Radicle Consulting, Sales Transformation Now, SMB, SMB Digital Marketing, SMB Digital Marketing 2012, Trader Media
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