Posts Tagged ‘BIA/Kelsey’
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
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
Friday, September 14, 2012
I’m off to Chicago on Sunday to attend BIA/Kelsey’s highly anticipated SMB Digital Marketing Conference 2012, taking place Monday-Wednesday at Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.
As in previous years, I’ll be live-blogging the various expert speakers and panelists as they discuss opportunities for small- and medium-sized business to increase their investment in digital marketing and experience strong return-on-investment.
Two sessions I’m really looking forward to include:
- Managing Ever-Expanding Digital Portfolio Panel: Mike Centorani, cofounder, Sales Transformation Now, and Bob Sanders, president and COO, Axiom Sales Force Development, will discuss how local media companies are successfully blending their traditional and digital media products. The panel will explore evolving sales strategies, impact on recruitment and training, and effective multimedia selling tactics.
- Presentation by Fred Haung, manager, Partner Relations, Facebook: Haung, who previously led SMB marketing for Google in China, will discuss Facebook’s SMB initiatives.
There is still time to register, so don’t miss this great opportunity. You can check out the full agenda here and follow along throughout the week on the virtual conference website or with hashtag #SMBDigital on Twitter.
If you’re attending and get a chance, come by and say hi! See you in Chicago.
September 14, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, Chicago, conference, Local Search Association, small and medium businesses, Small Business, SMB, SMB Digital Marketing 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
We’re less than two weeks away from BIA/Kelsey’s highly anticipated SMB Digital Marketing Conference 2012, taking place Sept. 17-19 at Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago.
There’s still time to save on registration for those who sign up in advance rather than at the door. Additionally, Local Search Association members receive an extra $200 off by using promo code “SMBLSA.” So don’t delay – register today!
Check our recent posts on the conference for more on the jam-packed three-day agenda, which includes key speakers from companies including Facebook, Google, Dex One, ReachLocal and more.
See you in Chicago!
September 4, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, Chicago, Dex One, Facebook, Google, Local Search, Local Search Association, registration, SMB, SMB Digital Marketing 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
We’re just several weeks away from BIA/Kelsey’s highly anticipated SMB Digital Marketing Conference 2012, taking place Sept. 17-19 at Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago.
This annual event, which brings together innovators, influencers, and inventors in the digital marking place, will focus on small and medium sized businesses’ increased investment in the space and their greater appetite for ROI-based strategies. Specific topics will include local sales strategies, merchant outreach, SMB engagement and promotions, local search, social media, mobile strategies and technology innovation.
The jam-packed three-day agenda will feature a variety of exciting speakers, including:
- Alfred Mockett, CEO, Dex One
- Bob Sanders, President & CEO, Axiom
- Court Cunningham, CEO, Yodle
- Ben Wood, Head of Channel Sales Partnerships Americas, Google
- Fred Huang, Manager, Partner Relations, Facebook
- Anthony Bratti, SVP – Business Development, vSplash
- John Busby, VP, Marchex Institute
- Barnell Holloway, Manager, Local Business Outreach, Yelp
- Sanjay Gupta, VP, Global Merchant Marketing, Groupon
Visit the conference website and register today! I look forward to seeing many of you in Chicago. For those who cannot attend, stay tuned to Local Search Insider for live coverage of the event.
August 29, 2012 | 1 Comment
Tags: agenda, BIA/Kelsey, Chicago, conference, Local Search, Local Search Association, SMB Digital Marketing, speakers
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Next month in Chicago, BIA/Kelsey will be hosting its annual conference for innovators, influencers, and investors in the digital marketing space. The SMB Digital Marketing 2012 conference will focus on small and medium sized businesses’ increased investment in digital marketing and their greater appetite for ROI-based strategies.
Leaders from local search and social media will be discussing what the changing landscape means for firms in those spaces.
Head over to BIA/Kelsey for a full agenda and list of speakers.
SMB Digital Marketing 2012
September 17 – 19, 2012
Chicago
Hyatt Regency McCormick Place
I’ll be there and will be blogging from the event, hope you’ll be joining the Local Search team in Chicago!
August 14, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, BIA/Kelsey Event, Chicago, Digital Marketing, Local Search, Local Search Association, ROI, small and medium businesses, SMB, social media
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Last week, former BIA/Kelsey CEO and President Neal Polachek presented a very impressive sales tool developed by the vSplash team. The tablet tool (currently for iPad and web-version) named “BuzzBoard” is designed to drive to efficiency and effectiveness for local media sales representatives.
First a bit of background on vSplash. Via its managed services business, vSplash currently delivers thousands of high quality digital media executions to its array of local media partners around the world. This includes producing traditional and mobile websites, display ads and mobile apps in multiple languages across multiple time zones. vSplash operates out of its New Jersey and Hyderabad, India offices.
As Neal tells the story, the launch of the BuzzBoard tool is a natural outgrowth of vSplash’s value-added services to large local media companies. The idea for BuzzBoard was germinated by vSplash CEO and founder Umesh Tibrewal as he witnessed first hand the sales challenges his clients were facing in the marketplace as it related to digital media products. One of vSplash’s clients began sending the vSplash analytical team merchant websites for evaluation. These websites were be analyzed by the team and a report was sent back to the sales representative. The sales representative was then able to meet with the merchant and offer a more precise and empirical assessment of the merchant’s digital presence. The empirical assessment enabled the sales representative to feel more confident during the sales call and often led to better conversion and higher revenue generation. As Umesh and team witnessed this, vSplash began building a platform to automate the website assessment process.
BuzzBoard is the manifestation of this learning process. There are some key elements of the BuzzBoard tool that Neal took our team through during the call last week. First, at the core of BuzzBoard is the audit of the merchant’s website. This audit focuses on the presence and performance of the website. Presence is defined as where and how consumers can find a merchant’s website. The audit therefore determines if the website is being properly indexed in the search engines, on the key directory sites and whether or not the site can be access and viewed via a mobile device. In terms of performance, BuzzBoard analyzes the functional aspects of the merchants’ website. This includes key technical aspects and assesses the site in terms of search engine optimization.
The second key aspect of the BuzzBoard tool is the automated proposal generator. The tool takes the website assessment and automatically creates a proposal for fixing and improving the presence and performance of merchant’s website. The tool offers the sales representative three options for generating a proposal – an automated proposal, a proposal based on one-time and ongoing investment and a menu based option. Neal showed us some other important features of the tool that we’ll describe in forthcoming post.
It seems clear that BuzzBoard has some great potential to transform the sales experience for the sales representative and the merchant. Early evidence suggests the tool can greatly reduce the time spent by sales representatives preparing for a sales call while enabling the sales representative to have a more effective presentation and merchant interaction and engagement. Just imagine if BuzzBoard could enable outside sales representatives to see one more merchant a day and improve overall revenue conversion by say 10-20% – then BuzzBoard could be a real game changer.
July 11, 2012 | 2 Comments
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, BuzzBoard, Local Search, Local Search Association, Neal Polacheck, vSplash, website
Thursday, June 28, 2012
The BIA/Kelsey Mobile Local Media conference finished up yesterday with an excellent group of speakers, highlighting a range of topics that covered the full spectrum of mobile revenue models, mobile content creation, investment in mobile and more.
I really enjoyed a standout interview with David Hornik, general partner at August Capital, who likened a successful business to an unmentionable virus. Hornik humorously described the ups and downs of finding the right start-up investments.
Hornik was followed by a variety of great speakers and panelists, including Aisle411′s Nathan Pettyjohn, Pandora’s Doug Sterne, Marchex Institute’s John Busby, DudaMobile’s Itai Sadan, WillowTree Apps’ Tobias Dengel, among others.
As always, the BIA/Kelsey team delivered a really full agenda, plenty of networking and an great location in San Francisco. I found the investment in time and resources well worth it. To learn more about their services, visit their website.
June 28, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, Local Search, Local Search Association, MLM, MLM SF, Mobile Local Media
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Matt Booth, BIA/Kelsey’s chief strategist and program director, participated in a great conversation with Stewart Alsop, partner at Alsop Louis Partners, about investment in technology and entrepreneurship.
Stewart described his company’s approach to venture capitalism: being the first investors in a project and having a close connection with the technical team. He said his firm looks for outlier companies that require it to predict how they will fare in the market.
Stewart said his job is to take a normal investment and multiply it. He noted that he does not participate in “momentum” investing such as the app business, which he thinks is a temporary market. Stewart described how the app market solved the browser issue, and overviewed how new offerings like Funsockets enable users to play games without an app at all. He said that users are not interested in format, just the offering they receive. Stewart said that the market will get to a place where we don’t need to go to the store to get games, among other things.
Stewart said that Facebook continues to face issues on the mobile front, and that it’s a problem that needs to be solved. He suggested that Facebook put together a team to work on the issue.
Stewart concluded by saying the consumers still want to talk on the phone, so it will make sense to invest in companies that blend search and talk.
What an interesting conversation with a man with deep experience in so many areas.
June 28, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: Alsop Louis Partners, BIA/Kelsey, Local Search, Local Search Association, Matt Booth, MLM, MLM SF, Mobile Local Media, Stewart Alsop
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Peter Kravilovsky, VP Markeplaces at BIA/Kelsey, held a fireside chat with Mihir Shah, VP Mobile, Groupon that focused on Groupon’s business and what is driving their growth strategy.
Mihir said that mobile “is a big part of our business,” noting that 30% of all Groupon purchases in April were conducted via mobile devices. He said that over the past 12 months, mobile customers have generally spent 50% more than web-only users.
Mihir overviewed two Groupon initiatives – Products (Goods) and Travel (Getaways) – that the company is launching outside of its core local deals offering. He said the Groupon brand is now being perceived as more than just a daily deals site and that part of Groupon’s mission is discovery, not just deals.
For more on this session, read BIA/Kelsey’s blog item.
June 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, Groupon, Local Search, Local Search Association, Mihir Shah, MLM, Mobile Local Media, Peter Kravilovsky
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
BIA/Kelsey’s Mike Boland conducted an interview interview today with Mok Oh, chief scientist at PayPal. As we all know, PayPal is the preeminent digital transaction company with 100 million accounts worldwide.
Mok discussed PayPal’s 17 retailer direct POS integrations. PayPal is preinstalled with POS software vendors including Leapset, Vend and Erply and POS hardware partners including Veifone, Equinox, and Ingenico. Because of the hardware integrations, PayPal is now available at 40 million POS terminals.
Popular retailers Home Depot, Office Depot, JCP, Nine West and others now allow customers to purchase products via PayPal. But how can PayPal help bring in additional customers? How can businesses entice consumers to think about PayPal at the checkout counter?
Mike presented some interesting questions:
- What value-add does PayPal have versus credit cards, where are an entrenched habit for both merchants and consumers?
- What advantages does PayPal have over other mobile payment formats?
- What loyalty programs will be bolted on to leverage closed loop data?
- Will PayPal create front-end loyalty programs or provide platforms for third parties (or retailers) to build on to?
Mok said PayPal is ready to help merchants and has a lot of ideas, but is often still asking – what is the first step to get us in-store?
Mok also noted that PayPal is addressing privacy concerns and allow consumers to opt-out of information sharing, but legally things are changing constantly. Mok said PayPal follows the rule of always doing “the right thing” for its customers.
What’s next at PayPal? Mok talked about integration with cable providers and set top box hardware to bring its offerings to TV, as well as social media integration opportunities. For example, PayPal just recently integrated ads with Twitter.
We’ll surely be watching with interest as PayPal continues to address these challenges and expand its business.
June 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, Equinox, Erply, Ingenico, Leapset, Local Search, Local Search Association, mobile, payment, Paypal, POS, social media, TV, Twitter, Vend, Verifone
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Jed Williams, analyst and program director, Social Local Media, BIA/Kelsey hosted a panel this morning entitled “Mobile and Social: Where’s the Sweet Spot?,” which overviewed the growing role of mobile and social in consumers’ everyday lives. Participating in the discussion was Mike Ghaffary, director of business development, Yelp; Beau Haugh, co-founder and CTO, Localmind; and Steve Jang, CEO, Schematic Lab.
Some interesting takeaways from the panel:
- There are more than 105 million smartphones in the U.S.
- 75% of smartphone users are conducting local searches
- 80% of consumers prefer ads that are locally relevant
- Consumers check their phones an average of 40 times per day
- 91% of consumers keep their mobile phones within arms length 24 hours a day
Steve said that the traditional goals of building websites were ensuring that content was viewed and attracted impressions. He said that the mobile phone is a great agent to capture and share experiences quickly, and noted that we all want our apps to be useful, powerful and provide a feedback loop. He also said that the reality is that the majority of us don’t travel everyday – but are eating, drinking and going to concerts locally, so local and social content is extremely important.
Beau said that mobile apps should be intuitive and navigate the way consumers want them to, providing them with a quick in and out. He said that if the process isn’t immediate, that the chance of achieving initial engagement is more difficult.
Mike noted that Yelp has an enormous database content and that the challenge is how its ported and what experiences are made new. He said that Yelp has decided to make every strategic decision with a “mobile lens.” For instance, restaurant reviews are subject to an algorithm that uses reviews to create rankings for specific dishes. He also talked about Yelp’s efforts to create specific apps for tablet use.
Mike also discussed the value of the check-in and the importance of developing a level of experitise through Facebook and Twitter. He said consumers are really looking for local, authentic experiences in their mobile searches.
June 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: Beau Hagh, BIA/Kelsey, Jed Williams, local, Local Search, Local Search Association, Localmind, mike Ghaffary, mobile, Schematic Lab, smartphone, Steve Jang, Yelp
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
In his opening remarks at BIA/Kelsey Mobile Local Media conference, Mike Boland, senior analyst and MLM Conference Chair, set the stage an important conversation on tactical ways to maximize opportunities in local mobile.
Boland shared some interesting stats for context on the current environment:
- Consumers bought more smartphones last year than PCs
- 40% of mobile searches are for local information
- Mobile usage advertiser share is only 1%. There is still opportunity, but the imbalance is causing mobile ad rates to go down
Moving forward, Boland believes there is a lot of room for growth:
- Mobile usage is strong
- Advertisers are evolving
- Geo-targeting is enabling premium ad rates
For Yelp – which has been getting a lot of attention lately because of its role in supplying reviews to Apple’s planned Maps offering – mobile is only 10% of monthly traffic, but represents a high 40% of total search traffic on the site. Yelp and others have some work ahead of them to monetize this high usage rate, but the opportunity is clearly there.
Can you believe that OpenTable, the restaurant reservation service, seated 15 million diners via mobile last year? That speaks volumes to how significant mobile is in the local experience, especially the dining category.
Boland said that mobile campaign management deals, landing pages, pay-per-call and paid search were all opportunities for Yellow Pages companies to expand their reach. He also discussed future offerings like wearable technology (Google is working on this) and more in-car offerings.
With such strong activity in mobile, it’s clear there’s a lot for us to discuss today!
June 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, Local mobile, Local Search, Local Search Association, Mobil Local Media, mobile, OpenTable, Yelp
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
It’s exciting to be in beautiful San Francisco today for BIA/Kelsey’s Mobile Local Media meeting. A number of great speakers will be here during the all-day event. Some of the big names that caught my attention include:
- Google Mobile leads Surojit Chatterjee, Head of Mobile Search Ads Products, and Brendon Kraham, Global Mobile Sales Product Strategy
- Mike Ghaffary, Director of Business Development, Yelp
- Mok Oh, Chief Scientist, Paypal
- Chris Folmar, Director of Mobile Development, SuperMedia
- Mihir Shah, VP, Mobile, Groupon
- David Kurtz, VP, Publisher Network, YP
- Anna Martinez, VP of Technology, CityGrid
- Heidi Browning, Senior VP of Strategic Solutions, Pandora
I’ll be blogging throughout the day and I’m looking forward to talking with the attendees. More to come as the day progresses!
June 27, 2012 | 1 Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, CityGrid, Google, Groupon, Local Search, Local Search Association, Localmind, MLM, Mobile Local Media, Pandora, Paypal, SuperMedia, Yelp, YP
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
As we all know, mobile local advertising is playing an increasingly central role in how consumer search for local business information. I’m very excited to get a deep-dive on the space at BIA/Kelsey’s new Mobile Local Media event, taking place next Wednesday, June 27 in San Francisco.
The A-list lineup includes legendary Silicon Valley venture capitalists Stewart Alsop and David Nornik, Groupon’s Mihir Shah, PayPal’s Mok Oh, Google’s Surojit Chatterjee and Bendon Kraham, Pandora’s Heidi Browning and Yelp’s Ghaffary. What a group!
I look forward to seeing you all there. Visit BIA/Kelsey’s website for more information and use discount code “MLMBLOG” at checkout for $100 off.
For those who can’t join us, I’ll be blogging my key takeaways from the event, so stay tuned.
June 20, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, Kelsey, local advertising, local mobile search, Local Search, Local Search Association
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