In his discussion “Lost on the Map” at the Web 3.0 conference in Istanbul, Trevor Nadeau, managing director of Yellow Medya, discusses the problems local and multi-location businesses face due to their incorrect or missing business listings. From store locators with locations in the middle of the sea, to major brands missing in digital local search, Nadeau discusses what he describes as a “wake-up call” for the local search industry regarding the need for professionals to make sure local businesses can be found and found accurately. Here is the video of his presentation:
Please join LSA and WebsiteAlive for an exclusive webinar presentation this upcoming Thursday, April 25.
In this webinar, WebsiteAlive’s Managing Partner and CEO Adam J. Stass will discuss the importance of giving consumers the means to easily connect with local businesses via directory listings. Adam will discuss ConnectNow!, a solution that is intended to quickly connect consumers to companies via live chat, e-mail lead, click-to-call or text/SMS.
WebsiteAlive is a software developer and online communications provider. Since 2004, their live chat and click-to-call solutions have been used to meet and greet website visitors, answer questions, increase leads and close sales. Used by more than 11,000 web and mobile sites, WebsiteAlive’s solutions support Internet-based small, medium and large businesses and organizations.
According to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast, “global mobile data traffic grew 70 percent in 2012.” With more people online via mobile devices, local businesses are faced with the challenge of connecting with their customers on this growing platform. The mobile advertising experts at VoodooVox and SkyBridge Mobile were each recently featured on our 2013 Webinar Series to share their insight on how local business can adapt to this change.
Mobile: How to Generate Calls (VoodooVox)
VoodooVox discussed the impact that mobile is having on consumer shopping patterns and how local businesses and national brands are taking advantage of this. Specifically, they discussed how to drive calls from mobile, based on costs per lead acquisition and key case studies.
Mobile Local Directories to Connect Biz & Consumers (SkyBridge Mobile)
SkyBridge Mobile discussed local mobile search and their MobiLocal Directory that connects consumers and businesses. They also discussed the impact of mobile on local businesses and the consumers that are connecting in local markets.
We are pleased to announce our third and final keynote speaker for the “Search Starts Here” conference: Jason Finger, CEO of CityGrid.
During our fireside chat with Jason, he will discuss the current environment and future of “local” including merchant product offers and the investment landscape. In addition, he will give a glimpse of what’s to come for CityGrid’s properties such as Citysearch, Urbanspoon and Insider Pages.
CityGrid is one of the largest content and advertising networks for local and small businesses. Jason oversees the entire ad network in addition to all of CityGrid’s owned and operated websites that include Citysearch.com, insiderpages.com, Urbanspoon.com and GetFelix.com.
Prior to CityGrid, he cofounded SeamlessWeb in 1999 and was responsible for growing the company’s presence to 22 cities throughout the U.S. and London. SeamlessWeb was acquired by Aramark in 2006 at which time Jason was responsible for setting and executing corporate strategy for 260,000 employees in 19 countries.
In addition to his success at CityGrid and SeamlessWeb, Jason has been named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Innovator of the Year by the Corporate Executive Council of New York, and to Crain’s 40 Under 40 list of leading young executives.
Last week, Dex One was honored for its work in the digital space with the 2012 Eloqua Markie Rookie of the Year award for excellence in digital marketing. The company was recognized for its “How Findable Are You?” campaign, which teaches local businesses how to reach and maintain searchability as well as other helpful local marketing tips.
The campaign helped Dex improve lead volume and conversion rates and increase the average sale per customer. Aside from helping bring in new customers for Dex, the campaign included very helpful blogs, webinars, and how-to’s for local businesses on how to get found on the web.
Use of social networking sites for local search has grown 67% since 2010. Will Scott, owner of Search Influence, and Mike Boland, a mobile-focused analyst from BIA/Kelsey, led a session on leveraging this rapidly expanding space. Some insights I learned this morning:
Increased interaction through user reviews has contributed to the growth of social media for local search. As we blogged about yesterday, user reviews are a key component of business listings.
Those users most likely to review a business are also most likely to be frequent social media users. What this means for advisors is an increased need to focus on frequent social media users, both for their high degree of influence in their respective social channels, and the higher likelihood they’ll rate a particular business.
Twice as many SMBs 0-3 years old used social media as compared to those 11-plus, who are using social media primarily for retention (as opposed to acquisition).
Overall social media use for SMBs is just over half at 54%.
According to Will, Facebook is taking the lead in terms of frequency of use and opportunities to reach consumers, but there are a number of opportunities on the variety of channels. The “Facebook Like Box” creates a touchpoint into social for SMB websites and sponsored stories have worked well for many of his clients. Will cautions, “fans are not the end game” – you need to create converts. Whether Facebook or another channel, people convert because of good and complete content.
According to Telmetrics, while pay per call usage is growing among all local search media channels, mobile advertisers and SMB programs are driving the increases. Additionally, the company said that it is seeing call duration increase more than 20% year-over-year as advertising providers continue to optimize their local search programs through pay per call. Call duration is a reliable indicator of lead quality and typically indicate a positive propensity to make a purchase, the company said.
Telmetrics data shows that mobile call durations are the longest at 3.5 minutes/call, followed by print Yellow Pages (2.8 minutes/call), Internet Yellow Pages (2.7 minutes/call) and paid search (2.2 minutes/call). As Screenwerk’s Greg Sterling notes, mobile’s leading position makes sense since “mobile users tend to have a greater and more immediate needs than online users.” Sterling also points out that the data argues that “print YP leads are of better quality than paid search.”
I think this data echoes our own research that has consistently shown that “ready to buy” consumers frequently turn to Yellow Pages. These results are worth pointing out to local advertisers who may need additional context on the quality of leads they might expect from Yellow Pages and other local search offerings.
Today’s Yellow Pages providers offer a strong portfolio of new offerings including websites, mobile apps, SEO and search services; maintain a good understanding of local businesses’ needs based on years of experience; partner behind the scenes with search engines and other local sites; and maintain valuable print offerings.
Canada’s Yellow Pages Group is debuting a redesigned YellowAPI.com website for the company’s popular public application programming interface (API), which has enrolled more than 1,700 software developers since its launch in late 2010. The tool, which features YPG’s business database of 1.5 million business listings, has sparked the creation of 35 innovative web and mobile applications. One great example is Yellow Pages TV, a new application that allows viewers to access, share and map business listings on their television. Additionally, YPG is starting a new API Fanboy blog focused on fostering stronger relationships with the developer community to help developers reach their innovation potential.
Twitter announced that a select group of small businesses can begin using its self-service advertising platform to share promoted tweets and create promoted accounts. The self-service platform, which Twitter developed with American Express, will initially include a $100 credit offering for free advertising to the first 10,000 businesses that are either American Express merchants or cardholders. Promoted accounts suggest a brand’s Twitter account to users who it believes might be interested in the brand, while promoted tweets leverage tweets that generate significant activity and highlights them in search results. Small businesses pay a fee when users follow their account or engage with their promoted tweet.
Google is testing an extension of its Google Offers program, called “Google Offers with Rewards,” which enables consumers who register their credit card and then use it during their purchase to receive automatic rewards at participating local businesses. The program is designed to provide a more comprehensive approach to offline purchase tracking as a means of helping connect the dots between online ads and offline transactions. Google Offers with Rewards will initially be available to customers who previously purchased Google Offers from a list of Bay Area businesses.
As I discussed in my Search Engine Land column last week, growing consumer use of mobile as part of the local search experience is making it increasingly critical for local businesses to build out their mobile strategies. One area I talked about in particular was the opportunity to engage consumers via mobile apps, which are now used by nearly half (49%) of mobile users, according to a new study released by Localeze and 15miles.
According to the release, App Express can benefit a variety of businesses, including service-based companies, local-based services, high-value vertical industry businesses and retailers. I look forward to seeing and experiencing local business apps created through this unique offering.
In our monthly Local Search column on Search Engine Land, I talk about the growing necessity of local businesses building out their local mobile strategies. A local business’ ability to maximize their visibility, ensure a great customer experience and ultimately drive new sales through smartphones all depends on their understanding the mobile landscape and laying the foundation for success.
Click here to read my full column, which notes the latest research on consumers and mobile and best practices for local businesses tackling the mobile space.
According to a new report by Borrell Associates, small businesses are quickly adjusting their online advertising spends to invest in social media.
The report found that local businesses expect to spend nearly 14% of their online advertising budgets on social media in the coming year. Borrell Associates anticipates that small businesses will spend $2 billion on social media in 2012, and double their investments to $3.9 billion in 2013.
Although approximately two-thirds of small businesses have already established a strong social media presence, the number of small businesses adopting social media will continue to climb in 2012. According to more than 4,000 small businesses surveyed, social media is the third-highest category in online spending in the coming year – ahead of banner ads, streaming video ads, and mobile advertising.
In 2012, numerous businesses will funnel cash into bolstering their social media engagement. When done right, these efforts can enable better customer service, build greater customer loyalty, and drive sales.
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.
This afternoon’s social media forum at DMS ’11 provided some important insights into how companies are empowering and enabling small businesses to take advantage of this increasingly popular space.
Rita Fabi, head of market solutions, global customer marketing and communications at Facebook, kicked off the forum by talking about the various ways local businesses can leverage the world’s largest social network to engage with new and existing customers.
Fabi, who is part of a three-person team at Facebook dedicated to small businesses education and outreach, said that she is focused on bringing the offline small business experience online in meaningful ways. She outlined the progression of small business’ marketing strategies: in the past, small businesses were set on generating positive word-of-mouth, and then worked to develop a website, improve their standing in search and eventually enhance their presence on local search sites.
Today, local businesses are increasingly working to build out their Facebook Pages, which Fabi said can serve as online communities for small businesses and their customers. She outlined Facebook’s advertising offerings – including Facebook ads, check-in deals and sponsored stories – which can be used to promote these pages among small business’ target demographics.
Fabi said that although a strong number of small businesses now have Facebook Pages, many are not active and “don’t know the power” of what can be gained through effective use of the site. She highlighted several meaningful examples of small businesses that have effectively leveraged their Facebook presence to build meaningful communities and generate significant revenue – making clear that opportunities do exist for those who do it right.
Another interesting session during forum included David Lifson, CEO, Postling and Mike Nabasny, regional sales manager, Wildfire, who discussed how their companies are making it easier for small businesses to create and manage their presence on social networks like Facebook.
Lifson outlined about how Postling, which he described as a “five minute daily social management solution,” allows users to easily control their presence on 16 individual sites ranging from Facebook to Twitter. He noted that Postling’s online dashboard has been complemented by an e-mail functionality that allows users to receive updates on the latest Yelp reviews or Facebook comments about their business, and then reply to those messages via e-mail.
Nabasny described how Wildfire assists local business in creating content in order to grow their fan bases, engage those fans and then drive in-store and online retail. He reiterated the need among small businesses for an easy and flexible one-stop-shop that helps them do things like create Facebook welcome pages and launch polls.
It’s clear that small businesses have opportunities available to them to grow their social media presence in ways that can directly influence sales – and a variety of partners are standing by to help them. The real question seems to be, what is necessary to convince many small business owners who aren’t actively involved to get on the bandwagon and take advantage of this new platform? Based on today’s panel, it seems like this field is wide open.
In my Locals Only column on Search Engine Land this month, I provide an overview of the latest trends and developments in the local search space, and what local businesses should keep in mind as they start to build out their advertising strategies for 2012.
Three objectives that local businesses should consider include:
Taking Charge of Social Media: Today, local businesses are doing a better job of creating a presence on social networks, but they need to further expand their efforts and engage more with their followers. Businesses also need to up-to-speed with what’s next, which today is the new and fast-growing Google+.
Prepping for Big Mobile Changes: Last week’s announcement by Google that it’s purchasing Motorola Mobility could spell big changes for the local search industry, especially as mobile apps become a preferred source for local mobile content. Ensuring that a business is visible on as many online and mobile directories as possible—as well as the most popular apps—is increasingly key to attracting new customers.
Widening Online Exposure: Popular search engines and local sites are continuing to team up with Internet Yellow Pages companies to help inform and expand their online directory databases, as well as provide additional distribution opportunities. Local businesses should look for opportunities to get the most exposure for their spend by placing ad dollars where they’re guaranteed the widest range of consumers.
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