The “Search Starts Here” Conference in Vegas is quickly approaching and we are just 11 days away. Help us spread the word and let the Twitter world know you’re coming by using the #SearchStartsHere hashtag.
But before you make your way to Vegas, we want to make sure you are prepared. Here are some things you are going to want to bring:
Business Cards: With an expected attendance of around 400 people and a variety of networking events, you’re going to need a lot of business cards to pass out.
Bathing Suit: With the poolside Strategic Exchange Session (SES) cabanas, you might want to take a dip and cool off between meetings because the temperature is looking to be in the upper 70s and 80s.
Lucky Rabbit’s Foot: If you have anything that will improve your chances of winning, then bring it. You can also improve your odds of winning an iPad mini. Each time you get a friend, co-worker, vendor or business partner to sign up for our conference, you will be entered into a raffle for an iPad mini. Just make sure they submit your name and company in the appropriate field when they register.
Black and White, Business Casual Attire: This year’s Industry Excellence Awards theme is “A Night in Black and White.” Come see some of the most innovative and creative work taking place in the local search space as we honor our winners with a brief black and white movie.
Chargers: The 4 day, jam-packed agenda is will give you plenty of strategic and tactical insight that you’re going to want to take notes on. Come see our influential speakers and workshops with a full charge.
Golf Clubs: This year’s conference golf tournament is sponsored by the Yellow Pages Group and will be held at the beautiful Arroyo Golf Club nestled alongside the breathtaking Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas.
Cocktail Attire: Dress up and get pictures with some special guests, enjoy some food and drinks, and take advantage of even more opportunities to network during the Viva Las Local Cocktail Reception and Dinner.
Smartphone: The updated LSA mobile app also acts as your personal concierge for the conference. Find out who the next speaker is, where the workshops are being held or get the phone number of a company that you want to do business with, all from your phone!
Questions: Be ready to get concentrated access to executives and the many influential local search pros while at the conference. Pick their brains, get their insight and make the partnerships you need to drive your organization forward.
In addition, TODAY is the last day to take advantage of our special room rate at Planet Hollywood. After today, the price will increase! When booking your room, simply use the attendee group code “SMLSA3″ to guarantee the rate. BOOK ONLINE or you can call the hotel directly at (866) 317-1829.
Our conference has really come together nicely and with such great content, it got me thinking about all the compelling reasons local search professionals should come. Here is my top 10 and while it doesn’t capture every benefit of attending, it gives a good glimpse into the relevancy and importance of our event.
10. Venue: The dynamic Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in the heart of Las Vegas is a one-of-a-kind venue for a one-of-a-kind conference. Book your room today!
9. Las Vegas: Shows, clubs, dining, tours, shopping, gaming, golf, spas, hiking, attractions and more! Take in the great content of our conference while taking advantage of the exciting city of Las Vegas.
8. Industry Excellence Awards: See some of the most innovative and creative work taking place in the local search space during the Industry Excellence Awards.
7. Strategic Exchange Sessions: Whether you registered for an SES or not, these are great for networking and making connections with executives from influential local search companies. There are still tables and poolside cabanas available. For more info, check out our SES Brochure or contact Terri Stabnick (terri.stabnick@localsearchassociation.org) today at (248) 244-0743.
6. Networking Events: With all the networking events planned for the conference, you can catch up with old friends, make some new ones, and, most importantly, develop partnerships with the companies that will help drive your business forward.
5. Vegas: Just in case you forgot, the conference is in Vegas!
4. Workshops: The subject matter and panelists for this year’s workshops are particularly relevant. Come learn about the latest and greatest technologies and innovations that are impacting areas such as mobile, SEO, social media and more.
3. Speakers: The biggest names in digital, mobile, social and print media will discuss many strategic and tactical topics that are driving the local search industry forward.
2. Attendees: With an expected attendance of about 400 people, our conference puts all of the biggest names in local search in one place. Don’t miss your chance to network with this influential group.
1. Search Starts Here: Local search is evolving and so are you. Get ahead of the latest trends and be part of the conference that influences the industry. Search truly does start here…
The speakers and panelists coming to our 2013 “Search Starts Here” Conference in Las Vegas include experts, veterans and thought leaders from all areas of the local search space. The biggest names in digital, mobile, social and print media will discuss many strategic and tactical topics that are driving the local search industry forward.
In addition to the great keynote speakers from Solocal Group (formerly PagesJaunes Groupe), Facebook and CityGrid, here are some more exciting subjects and speakers you can’t afford to miss:
SMB State of the Union Greg Sterling (Opus Research) Neal Polachek (Industry Observer)
Making Transformation Happen Paul Plant (Radicle Consulting)
What’s Working in Mobile Tim Garcia (Moasis)
Dan Hight (xAd)
Tae Kim (Google)
Michael Rubin (YP)
State of the Industry Bill Dinan (Telmetrics)
Neg Norton (Local Search Association)
Print Directories in a Multi-Platform World Matt Centofanti (YP)
Eric Webb (Marquette Group)
Dave Wolf (Linkmedia 360)
Emil Morales (TNS)
Sales Differentiation in a HYPER Competitive Selling Environment Bob Sanders (AXIOM)
Building the “Local Commerce Operating System” Ethan Anderson (MyTime)
Dave Gilbertson (Constant Contact)
Sean Harper (Groupon)
Bob Gregerson (hibu)
Finally, as announced earlier, we also have some great workshops and breakout sessions with Yelp, Yext, edō, Supermedia and many more.
To better showcase its wide array of local search offerings, Louisiana firm, SunShine Pages, this week relaunched as Sunshine Media.
“The new name is more reflective of our expanded online offerings, coupled with our highly successful print directories, providing our clients a diverse directional marketing tactical lineup,” said Joshua Descant, General Manager.
Sunshine serves more than 300 local communities throughout South Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf region with its 1.7 million print directories and online and mobile offerings.
In the same vein as our national campaign, Local Pays Off, Sunshine Media has rolled out a community campaign – “We Are Local” – in conjunction with the rebrand announcement. The campaign aims to build a stronger local business community in the Gulf region through education and awareness. Check out the campaign’s new microsite at www.WeAreLocal.com and see the brand new ad below.
Check out this video from PinDot Media, a marketing agency, on print Yellow Pages’ continued competitiveness as a local advertising tool. PinDot stresses the importance of a holistic, multi-platform approach that includes print Yellow Pages in order to receive maximum impact.
Also be sure to watch out for a brief history on how phonebooks got their yellow color back in 1883!
Yell Group, which operates Yellow Pages and Yell online in the UK, Yellowbook in the U.S. and Paginas Amarillas in Spain and some countries in Latin America, announced last week that the company will soon rebrand its corporate identity as hibu.
“In addition to being consumer oriented and a symbol in its own right, we wanted our identity to tell a story. We have developed a new positioning for the organization – ‘connecting communities’. Communities are built on the connections people make and people are connected at the heart of the hibu logo. The identity utilizes typography with soft shouldered edges like the human body and colored dots represent the people behind the identity, diversity, connections and conversation. By using bold lower case typography with soft edges we project a human and approachable company.”
As many of you know, despite extensive work to demonstrate our commitment to consumer choice and sustainability, the Yellow Pages industry has been targeted in Seattle and San Francisco with government regulations restricting publishers’ ability to deliver directories to consumers. We’re now at an important crossroads in both cases.
Seattle
In late 2010, the Local Search Association joined with Dex One and SuperMedia to file suit to overturn a new Seattle ordinance that restricts Yellow Pages publishers’ right to free speech. The ordinance unfairly singles out Yellow Pages with regulations and fees that are not imposed on other media, including license fees and advance recovery fees. The ordinance also ignores our industry’s national consumer choice website, www.YellowPagesOptOut.com, in favor of a new duplicative and unnecessary website launched by the City that does not protect residents’ privacy.
We are waiting for a decision that may come any day from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on an appeal we filed in response to the Seattle District Court’s decision upholding Seattle’s ordinance. The three-judge appeals court panel heard oral argument in Pasadena, Calif. on February 9. During the argument, the City of Seattle abandoned its claim that the ordinance protects the privacy of residents and the judges appeared skeptical of the City’s environmental claims about directories as well. The Court questioned both sides extensively on whether Yellow Pages could be treated differently from newspapers and other advertising-supported print media.
San Francisco
Last June, we made the decision to file suit against the City and County of San Francisco, the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Edwin Lee in an effort to overturn the city’s controversial new law, which effectively bans the distribution of Yellow Pages. The ordinance’s onerous opt-in requirements make the cost of publishing directories nearly impossible. In our suit, we emphasized how the ordinance limits our right to free speech and disenfranchises local businesses and residents without Internet access.
On March 7, the City of San Francisco filed a motion to stay all proceedings in the litigation challenging its ordinance until the Seattle case is decided by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, or October 15, 2012, whichever occurs first. During this period, the City has agreed not to enforce its ordinance. According to the City, a decision by the Court of Appeals in favor of our industry in Seattle will like “dispose of this case” as well. On March 9, the Local Search Association filed a response opposing the stay and urging quick action on our motion to immediately enjoin enforcement of the ordinance. We pointed out that federal courts are required to give priority to preliminary injunction motions and that the Local Search Association’s motion has been pending for almost six months. We also noted that the City now agrees that no harm will come from granting an injunction. We expect that the Court may rule on the City’s request in the coming days.
We look forward to what we hope will be favorable outcomes in both Seattle and San Francisco. Our advertisers in these markets depend on Yellow Pages advertising to bring in business, and consumers rely on Yellow Pages to help them find and shop from local businesses. While we wait for these decisions, it is difficult for us to continue to do our job of supporting local businesses and Yellow Pages employees’ jobs hang in the balance.
While these cases move forward, we will continue to work with local municipalities to illustrate how our industry-led consumer choice and sustainability programs achieve better outcomes than legislation that limits our ability to compete competitively and for local businesses to get found by consumers.
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.
With the holidays right around the corner, Americans nationwide looking to buy the perfect gift for a loved one, will turn to Yellow Pages search tools in record numbers to find a local jeweler.
Men continue to drive searches for jewelers in print and Internet Yellow Pages, compromising 60% of searchers.
Of the total number of searches each year, more than 70% are made by married individuals.
Prior to referencing print Yellow Pages, nearly half of consumers (48.1%) had a decision to make, meaning they had no jewelers or multiple jewelers in mind.
Nearly three out of four consumers searching for jewelers (73.1%) look at multiple ads, turning to an average of 7.4 ads before making a purchase decision. This is significantly higher than the 4.7 ads referenced in the average Yellow Pages search.
Consumers, on average, spend $227 after searching for “jewelers.”
Jewelers of America (JA), a national trade association for businesses serving the fine jewelry marketplace, says that print and Internet Yellow Pages are an important asset for their members to connect with customers.
Earlier this year, the Local Search Association and the Association of Directory Publishers launched an upgraded consumer choice website, www.yellowpagesoptout.com, which makes it even easier for people across the country to choose which phone directories are or are not delivered to their homes.
As part of our ongoing commitment to generating visibility for this valuable resource, today we joined with Councilman Matt Zone of the Cleveland City Council to issue a news release to Cleveland media and residents informing them of the program and providing additional information on how to contact local publishers to limit or stop directory delivery.
I applaud Councilman Zone for his leadership in working directly with directory publishers to raise awareness for www.yellowpagesoptout.com. As a chair of the National League of Cities’ Energy, Environment and Natural Resources (EENR) Committee, I hope his commitment to this program will resonate with other local leaders across the country.
I’m eager to continue to work with other state and local municipalities to address any of their questions about phone book delivery and consumer choice options. By partnering together, we can ensure that phone books are only delivered to those who want to receive them.
Nir Lempert, CEO of Golden Pages, the main directory publisher in Israel, discussed the innovative approach he is taking to bring his company into digital.
In 2004, 91% of Golden Pages’ revenue came from print. Last year, print accounted for just 30% of revenue. The company’s online business listings, as well as its 12 owned verticals, have grown to account for 70% of revenue. Lempert credited verticals with saving Golden Pages as print declines at a rapid pace.
Lempert said Golden Pages’ digital offerings need a larger audience, which will only come by creating rich and advanced content that empowers consumers. In the past six months, Lempert has divided his company into categories that reflect on the consumer experience – including reliability, necessity, affordability and experience – and placed service-specific verticals (e.g., a vertical for finding doctors) under these categories. He said that each vertical is responsible for its related headings in Golden Pages’ print edition.
Lempert highlighted the success of Zap, a price comparison website for electronics, computers and other consumer goods, which he said has fundamentally changed the way Israelis search and purchase products.
Moving forward, Lempert said Golden Pages will need to further specialize its work force, deliver a richer content experience and continue to empower consumers. He also said the company will also rebrand with a younger, digital brand name in the near future.
Bill Dinan, president of Telmetrics, runs one of the leading companies in the growing call measurement space. He spoke this afternoon on key trends in the industry and where he sees call measurement heading next.
Based on the millions of calls measured by Telmetrics each month, Dinan said they are experiencing strong growth across all media channels (print, SEM/interative and mobile). Print continues to grow, but is no longer the majority of their business as it was seven years ago. Traditional performance metrics vary with each, with print traditionally measured with calls, Internet performance measured by clicks, and mobile, in his words, being “the perfect marriage of clicks plus calls.” Overall, pay-per-call programs are growing more than 200% in 2011.
A sample of the trends across media channels include:
Print: Performance-based advertising is increasing; transition to pay-per-call / pay-per-action remains at a measured price; and QR scans increasing to initiate calls and bridge the relationship offline.
SEM/interactive: Increased emphasis on measuring post-click actions and consumer engagement points; search and IYP providers leveraging technology to gain attribution
Mobile: Will open to a variety of new categories (i.e. gas stations and parking lots) and increase relevancy of location-based performance metrics; increased mobile QR cocktails; and complete call intelligence to determine quality as opposed to quantity (accounting for dropped calls, telemarketers, etc.).
The biggest takeaway for me was the consumer experience across media influencing call duration. Longer calls doesn’t necessarily equal a purchase, but it certainly implies high-quality leads. Based on Telmetrics research, calls through mobile leads last an average of 3.7 minutes, Yellow Pages 2..2 minutes and SEM/interactive at slightly less than 2 minutes (1.7 minutes). It makes sense for mobile since consumers are the go are probably looking to do something or book something at the point of search.
No matter what the platform, small businesses are careful where they’re spending the money and will increasingly want to see performance results. Our clients’ desire for action-based metrics will fuel the growth of mobile and greater acceptance of pay-per-call and pay-per-action pricing.
BIA/Kelsey’s Neal Polachek and Charles Laughlin hosted an interesting panel on the future opportunities and challenges facing traditional Yellow Pages providers, and how these companies need to continue to transform their business models to embrace the fast-growing digital market.
David Sharman, senior vice president and chief strategy officer, Dex One, made clear that Dex One no longer sees itself as a Yellow Pages company, but a marketing solutions company providing commercially-oriented local search offerings to local businesses. Sharman said the good news about this transformation is that Dex One is positioned as a player in one of the hottest spaces in the investment market today. The bad news, he said, is that is one of the most competitive as well.
Scott Pomeroy, CEO, Yellow Pages Group, New Zealand, said his company has had debates about where the business is going and how they should embrace it. So far, he said, there is no concrete example of a business model that has been completely successful. Pomeroy said the industry needs to do a better job implementing a sustainable model. He said Yellow Pages Group is looking specifically at share of wallet – how quickly small businesses are shifting from print to digital – and working to provide the right product set to make the company credible in the marketplace. Our own Neg Norton stressed that in today’s increasingly digital world, print Yellow Pages still provide valuable lookups. He noted that he believes that industry’s real struggle has been with sales execution.
Sharman agreed that print still has a lot more life in it and remains attractive – and that his company continues to explore creative ways to extend the medium. He said that local businesses are simply interested in ways to drive leads – so whether that comes from print or digital isn’t an issue to them. He said his company’s salespeople today help determine the combination of print and digital that makes sense for each of their customers.
The panel also spent time talking about the best business strategy for traditional Yellow Pages companies in today’s world – and the pros and cons of creating standalone digital businesses as opposed to today’s integrated print-digital businesses. Sharman said that the capital structure and cultures of the traditional Yellow Pages providers makes it difficult to build out digital offerings and attract the right workforce. Pomeroy built on that by noting that the Yellow Pages company culture was a major constraint to growth – and that publishers felt entitlement given decades of high margins and low competition. He said the industry needs to adopt a more customer-centric and fluid culture in order to be successful.
The remainder of the panel focused on other segments like mobile, and the importance of traditional Yellow Pages driving digital growth through partnerships with more specialized companies with distinct offerings as opposed to creating their own from scratch.
Last week, Google made a major move in the local search space: it acquired Zagat.
The deal, estimated at $100 million to $200 million, will bring together Zagat, whose user-generated ratings and reviews of restaurants are among the most regarded in the dining industry and with consumers alike, with Google, which is placing an increasingly strong emphasis on local content.
Google estimates that about 20% of its daily searches are for nearby businesses and offerings, and that the percentage is even higher on mobile, according to the New York Times. The Zagat acquisition will strengthen Google’s ongoing efforts to boost its Google Places platform, which it launched last year after its unsuccessful attempt to acquire Yelp, the popular local search site and Zagat’s largest competitor.
It will be very interesting to see how Google integrates and leverage the Zagat brand. At present, Zagat’s online presence is limited – and its listings on Google not high – because the site is subscriber-only. On the print side, Google said it intends to keep publishing Zagat’s printed books, which it says are very profitable – proving again that print and online complement one another in a number of ways.
Shotland’s day job is focused on promoting the value of digital advertising solutions for local businesses. But when a main water pipe to his house started to leak and flooded his lawn, Andrew admits he turned to his Yellow Pages directory to find a local plumber to help fix the problem.
On this blog, we frequently cite the various reasons why print Yellow Pages continue to play an important role in the local search experience. However, nothing we say can compare to the words of support spoken from a respected digital enthusiast like Andrew.
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