Posts Tagged ‘xAD’

Telmetrics & xAd: Retailers Should View Mobile as a Complement to the Purchasing Cycle not as Competition

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Given the popularity of online shopping, it has been thought that brick and mortar retailers are increasingly becoming more like product “showrooms” than places for commerce. But with a new study from Telmetrics and xAd that said 77% of smartphone retail shoppers ultimately made their purchases in-store, the “showrooming” trend does not seem as detrimental to the retail industry as originally thought.

The study, which was conducted by Nielsen, found that only 6 percent of smartphone users actually conducted their most recent mobile retail search in a physical store.  In addition, 57 percent of smartphone users expect retailers to be within five miles of their location and the majority of tablet users (21 percent) sought coupons/offers with their device.  The low percentage using mobile devices to search in-store and the high percentage seeking location and coupons suggests that the majority of mobile usage is actually taking place at the beginning of the purchase cycle.

In addition, the study found that the majority of mobile retail shoppers are ready to buy, with 55 percent ultimately making a purchase.  Similarly, 30 percent of smartphone users and 25 percent of tablet users intended to make a purchase within an hour.

Given the data, retailers looking to combat “showrooming” by matching online prices or cutting off access to in-store Wi-Fi should instead be focused on gaining share of the ready-to-buy consumers that are conducting retail research on their mobile devices.

For more information, check out the official press release.  Also, below is a great infographic courtesy of Telmetrics and xAd that highlights the mobile path-to-purchase for the retail industry.

May 23, 2013 | Leave a Comment
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‘Search Starts Here’: Google, YP, xAd and Moasis Discuss What’s Working in Mobile

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

An expert panel on mobile advertising discussed what’s working in the mobile space.  Represented on the panel were Tim Garcia from Moasis, Dan Hight from xAd, Tae Kim from Google and Michael Rubin from YP.

The group agreed that the best way to measure mobile performance is to not just look at click through rates but also look at what’s happening after a click.  “Advertisers that are focused on offline type of conversations are working very well,” Dan from xAd said.

Dan went on to say that national agencies need to help clients measure and track performance beyond clicks.  “This is where the agencies still have to progress … For most of the traditional agencies, if it doesn’t take place online, they think it doesn’t really take place.”

Google’s Tae believes it’s important to look at mobile as part of a holistic advertising strategy, not as a separate strategy.  “Simplify your strategy.  Mobile doesn’t have to be just another thing you have to work out.”

Tae said the lines are blurring between devices.  “Phones are getting bigger and tablets are getting smaller” making it harder to target desktop vs. various devices.

Michaels at YP said the mobile is delivering results for its advertisers, with 40% of tracked calls and clicks coming from mobile.

With demand in the mobile space building, Tim from Moasis said it’s all about educating the small businesses so that they will look at directing their advertising spend into mobile vs. other offline channels that may not work as well.

April 16, 2013 | Leave a Comment
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LSA Annual Conference Welcomes Influential Speakers from Google, Groupon, YP and more

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

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 learn more about all of our impressive speakers, visit our Speakers Page and don’t forget to check out the agenda for all the great content planned for the conference.  Register today and we will see you in Vegas!

March 5, 2013 | Leave a Comment
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xAD/Telmetrics: 90% Conversion Rate for Mobile Restaurant Search

Monday, October 8, 2012

In their latest installment of the Mobile Path to Purchase Study, xAD and Telmetrics partnered to deliver some interesting insights on mobile restaurant behavior.

The study found that the restaurant category, as compared to others like auto and travel, is the most urgent and locally driven. Mobile restaurant search has a 90% conversion rate, with 64% of smartphone searchers converting immediately or within the hour.

Interestingly, search behavior varied by mobile device. Smartphone users, as on-the-go searchers, were more likely to look up locations using GPS, search for directions and call a restaurant, while tablet searchers, who generally search at home, were more likely to look at online ratings and reviews, find online promotions, and research menus.

xAD Inc’s VP of Marketing, Monica Ho, explained that due to possible issues with connectivity and device size, tablets are more likely to be used in-home in a more PC-like fashion, making smartphones the choice for finding local businesses right there and right now.

Another interesting tidbit is that 70% of time spent searching mobile restaurant content is done through apps. It’s imperative for local restaurants to make sure all info including their address, menu items, and hours are up-to-date and available on popular mobile apps like MenuPages, OpenTable, Yelp, and YP.

Check out the full installment for more on the study and take a look at a fantastic infographic on mobile restaurant behavior below by the xAD and Telmetrics teams.

xAD/Telmetrics Mobile Path to Purchase Study

 

October 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment
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xAD, Telmetics Partner with Nielsen to Release Mobile Path-to-Purchase Study

Friday, September 7, 2012

We came across a great story in tnooz about a new study that shows the power of local mobile advertising to generate purchases in certain business categories.

xAD, the local mobile ad network, and Telmetrics, the mobile call measurement provider, teamed up with Nielsen to study mobile purchase behavior in a new Mobile Path-to-Purchase report released last week.

The report found that overall intent to purchase among mobile users is high; however, the time between search and purchase varies among the type of business being searched. Restaurant searchers showed immediate transaction intent with 87% of those surveyed saying they planned to make a buying decision within the day, while 33% of Travel searchers said they intended to make a same-day purchase.

Interestingly (and important to our industry), the report also showed that if a business ad or listing doesn’t have immediate “local relevance” – for example, a local phone number or local address – consumers will move on to a business that does. Telmetrics suggests that local business make sure to include a local number instead of a toll-free number so that the business appears relevant to mobile searchers.

Click below to check out a great infographic with these initial findings and look out for the full report coming this fall at www.MobilePathtoPurchase.com.

 

September 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment
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Panel on Pay-Per-Call 101

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Mike Ostrom, national sales director, Ai Media Group, moderated a session this morning on how pay-per-call is evolving to a new media selling and buying approach. Panel participants included:

  • David Read, director-Sales-Pay-Per-Call, AT&T Advertising Solutions
  • Daniel Shaked, founder and CEO, NO PROBLEM
  • Craig Hagopian, CMO, xAD
  • John Elliott, VP and GM, Ziplocal

As background, pay-per-call is a performance-based offering in which advertisers only pay when inbound phone calls are received. These phone calls-which can come from a combination of platforms including online, mobile, and direct mail-typically must qualify in some way to be a quality lead. The cost per call paid by the advertiser to the provider is related to the revenue the former is expected to generate from the opportunity.

Read discussed AT&T’s efforts over the past three years to build out its pay-per-call offering, which he said is proving to be a valuable addition to sales teams in attracting new advertisers. Read described the differences between AT&T’s fixed cost per call rates – which apply to specific headings and categories with more straight-forward, standard pricing – and its bidded rates that are more open and apply across a variety of industries.

Shaked talked about the importance of providing a comprehensive platform that allows both consumers and advertisers to interact with one another. Shaked said NO PROBLEM allows consumers to post their service need, and then enables advertisers to bid on the service in real-time based on their immediate new business demand. Each advertiser’s cost per call is based on their unique bid for the job. The advantage of this approach is that if an advertiser decides not to bid on the job at all (e.g., they’re too busy with existing business), they do not have to pay anything.

Hagopian brought up the importance of qualifying advertisers and their ability to convert calls they receive into sales. He said providers need to have an understanding of how advertisers are handling incoming calls so they are not held to account if the business does not generate news sales from calls they pay for. Hogopian also said providers should provide customized, incremental offerings to advertisers, who may have other lead generation services already in place and do not need duplicated services.

Elliot said that advertisers want to pay for results only, and so proof points for results are extremely valuable. He explained that Ziplocal listens to and qualifies every single call and provides its advertisers with the ability to also listen to both qualified and unqualified calls using a personalized dashboard.

Overall, I found this to be a very interesting session — and it was highly attended! Pay-per-call is clearly an offering that our industry sees as having great potential for the future.

April 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment
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