Internet ahead of Newspapers/Radio/TV as main information source for Restaurants

Posted on 19. Dec, 2011 by in All Local Search Posts, Food & Dining, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Traditional Media

WHERE PEOPLE GET INFORMATION ABOUT RESTAURANTS AND LOCAL BUSINESSES (Internet vs. Newspapers vs. Radio vs. TV)

From Pew Research -

People looking for information about local restaurants and other businesses say they rely on the internet, especially search engines, ahead of any other source.

Newspapers, both printed copies and the websites of newspaper companies, run second behind the internet as the source that people rely on for news and information about local businesses, including restaurants and bars.

And word of mouth, particularly among non-internet users, is also an important source of information about local businesses.

Some 55% of adults say they get news and information about local restaurants, bars, and clubs.  When they seek such information, here are the sources they say they rely on most:

  • 51% turn to the internet, including:
    • search engines – 38% rely on them
    • specialty websites – 17% rely on them
    • social media – 3% rely on social networking sites or Twitter[1]
  • 31% rely on newspapers, including
    • printed copies – 26% rely on them
    • newspaper websites – 5% rely on them
  • 23% rely on word of mouth
  • 8% rely on local TV, either broadcasts or websites

Local Business Ad Budgets: 2012 Considerations

Posted on 21. Oct, 2011 by in All Local Search Posts, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Mobile, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Social Networking, Traditional Media, Websites

Despite the rough economic climate in Westchester and the rest of the U.S., small businesses still understand the value of advertising, and in particular online marketing.

According to BIA/Kelsey, total small business ad spending for online media increased to almost 40% of total ad spend in the fourth quarter of 2010, up from 22% in the third quarter of 2009. By 2015, it’s estimated that 70% of small business marketing budgets will go to digital/online media (mobile, social, online directories, online display, digital outdoor), performance-based commerce (pay-per-click, deals, couponing) and customer retention business solutions (email, reputation and presence management, websites, social marketing, calendaring/appointment-setting).

In this weeks “Locals Only” column, Stephanie Hobbs discusses some “Considerations in planning your 2012 small business ad budget“. These include:

  • Mobile websites. They have a lower bounce rate and higher customer conversation than traditional websites, so moving forward with creating a mobile site will reap additional rewards down the line. More on mobile here.
  • When considering third-party advertising partners such as Yellowbook360, business owners should be careful in who they choose. Criteria that needs to be considered includes the company’s history & experience, contractual requirements, special incentives and their network/ad distribution across the Internet. And watch out for those crazy “guarantees and claims” out there!
  • While social media has received well-deserved hype for its ability to create new connections between local businesses and their customers, Yellow Pages continue to provide strong and reliable leads to local businesses.

Local Online Success: “it’s a journey, not a destination”.

Posted on 05. Sep, 2011 by in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Classified Sites, Coupons, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Internet Yellow Pages, Legal & Financial, Maps, Mobile, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Reputation Management, Retail, Social Networking, Traditional Media, Travel & Transportation, Video, Websites

To achieve a high-level of online visibility and internet marketing success, local businesses need to consider multiple factors…  

 
So what’s the definition of “online success”? For most local business owners – it’s a visible, productive presence across search engines and the increasingly more fragmented local Internet. Strong, relevant visibility will enable a website to act as the marketing tool it should be, and its success can come in several forms; including phone calls, contacts, and on/off-line sales. 
 
It all starts with the “foundation” – aka the website; one that is both user and mobile-friendly (why? check out these recent findings). A properly designed and optimized site and domain name has replaced the local phone number as the “hub” of all marketing and advertising efforts. The domain name in particular should be properly formatted and included in all online and offline promotional efforts, including yellowbook ads, newspapers, billing statements, business cards, vehicles, store fronts, direct mail, creative media and promotional items. The website itself should be locally optimized and contain embedded video, images, relevant title tag/meta descriptions, and other search-engine friendly elements. A “call-to-action” statement will help drive conversions (or actions): give visitors a reason to take the next step and not hit their browser’s back-button!
 
And speaking of search-engine friendly elements, the ongoing off-page optimization of your site is critical. Specifically, a strong network of inbound links from authoritative sites will all act as “votes of confidence” for the search engines. Strategies include distribution and syndication of videos, blogs, press releases, and inclusion within IYP’s, local maps databases, directories and Google Place Pages. Without this important off-page piece of SEO, you’ll most likely never see top ranking or first-page placement for your most important keywords.    
 
Search engine marketing (pay-per-click) campaigns will ensure you maintain high visibility for the literally hundreds of keywords and keyword combinations that SEO cannot address. You’ll want to work thru a provider that can manage your campaigns across multiple search engines to effectivly reach your entire market. Use of landing pages and multiple ad groups will help maximize conversions. Also, make sure reporting includes all forms of conversions, including phone calls.
 
Lastly, these most basic requirements of online success need to include social media. These days, an active presence on Facebook, Twitter and more recently Google Plus will not only give a businesses more places to be found, but will help in overall optimization efforts (social is now a factor within search engines algorithms). Blogging, video/photo sharing and online ratings/reviews should also be considered important online social elements.            
 
In summary, it’s important to realize there’s no quick-fix. This should be thought of more of a ongoing process, which most often should be left to a professional firm or agency. One place to start to learn more are on free online seminars. And remember, watch out for anyone making those unrealistic promises and claims!   
 

6 Key Takeaways From The Local Search Association’s Conference

Posted on 09. May, 2011 by in All Local Search Posts, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Social Networking, Traditional Media

Some very relevant information for local businesses,and those of us in the industry alike -

1.  Social Media Is A Natural Extension Of The Local Search Experience

 Many of us who live and breathe local search understand the growing value of integrating social media into the advertising strategies of our small business customers. But finding ways to convey the importance and opportunity of social media to small businesses—and how it fits into their existing (or yet undeveloped) digital strategies—is not always an easy task.

In a keynote speech at the conference, Facebook’s director of North America sales, Yvette Lui, provided a clear and compelling case for why social media should be a component of local advertising.

According to Lui, personal networks are playing a growing role in driving purchasing decisions. Instead of coming online with a topic in mind, Liu said consumers now “come to listen and learn” from the people and businesses they care about. She said this presents a perfect opportunity for small businesses to gain an advantage, because they too are essentially social by design.

Based on this approach, Lui offered the following advice to small business owners:

  • Create an authentic identity to foster relationships
  • Advertise to build a community
  • Bring people to your business with social ideas
  • Make the point of sale and in-store experience social
  • Run sponsored stories to amplify the word of mouth and help new people discover your business.

Lui also noted that amplified word of mouth via Facebook has the potential to reach a large audience at an extremely fast rate. With the average Facebook user having 130 friends on the social networking site, connecting with one loyal customer can mean potentially tapping into 130 more people that know and trust their friends “likes,” “check-ins,” or comments.

By incentivizing customers to check into a store and share their opinions/experience with their friends, the ROI potential from this investment in engagement is potentially significant.

2. Mobile Is The Next Frontier Of Local Search

Growth in smartphone use – including iPhones, Androids and BlackBerries – is rising fast, and the impact on local business advertising will surely be significant. The challenge for local search providers, however, will be creating services that successfully leverage the growing array of mobile opportunities and help small businesses integrate the platform into their daily operations.

Today, stats on mobile growth are off the charts. Smartphone use grew 54% year-over-year and now reflects 28% of total US mobile users. GPS capable handsets rose 16% year over year and now represent 73% of total US mobile users.

As a result of these trends, mobile advertising is expected to increase from 15% of the online advertising market to more than 60% in 2015, according to Borrell Associates. Furthermore, there are a variety of new and potentially game-changing mobile offerings on the horizon.

As Neil Salvage, EVP of advertising at CityGrid Media noted in his presentation, lat / long detecting applications, push offers, card-linked offers and mobile payments will play an important role in the local space because their return-on-investment can be easily tracked. It’s clear that local businesses that haven’t started to develop and activate a mobile advertising strategy are already behind and could be putting potential new leads at risk.

3.  Daily Deals Show Promise, But Real Test Will Be Repeat Business

Many of us have personally experienced or read articles about how daily deals sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial are providing local businesses with an unprecedented avenue to attract large-scale and rapid sales for discounted services. However, not much has been said about whether or not these opportunities provide real long-term benefit to local businesses, which make a significant investment in offering the deals.

Rich Razgaitis of Reach Deals and Martin Tobias of Tipper participated in a panel about the growing daily deals space, which currently boasts more than 500 daily deals sites.

The two noted that while advertisers discount their products and services and share profits with the daily deal provider, they’re not being asked to pay anything up front – a very attractive model to some small businesses looking for new customers. Different than coupons, the daily deal model incentivizes quick purchases and promotes engagement with purchaser’s networks.

When asked to explain the difference between the daily deal and coupon model, Tobias cited the extremely high and fast redemption rate as compared to coupons – around 70% are used in the first 30 days of purchase.

To be a win-win for SMBs and consumers, daily deal companies will need to encourage relationships with merchants over time, as opposed to selling as many as they can in one day. This will allow for a particular business to repeat this model in a month, three months, or even quarterly.

Nonetheless, in the meantime, daily deals are providing an exciting and effective new way for local businesses to promote their offerings.

4.  Print Business Directories Continue To Provide Quality Leads

There is a great deal of excitement about new local advertising platforms, but one should not overlook the significant role that print continues to play in driving leads to small businesses. As the local media environment continues to evolve, many local businesses still rely on print as their greatest source of local leads and a foundation of a successful advertising strategy.

Just look at the numbers. Print Yellow Pages attract 11 billion references annually by consumers searching for local business information, according to our annual Local Media Tracking Study conducted by Burke.

Statistics also show that 54% of consumers said they referenced print Yellow Pages in the last month, which is within single digits of the 58% of consumers who said they referenced search engines. Furthermore, almost 7 out of 10 adults surveyed (68%) said they contacted a business after finding it in the print Yellow Pages.

Print Yellow Pages offerings include the same ROI components as advertising on other platforms, so local businesses can keep a close eye on the ability of their print ads to attract quality leads.

5.  Demonstrating ROI Is Challenging, New Methods Are Emerging

In today’s extensive and fragmented media environment, it’s increasingly difficult for local search providers to demonstrate the individual performance of local advertising initiatives. With that in mind, many companies are developing innovative approaches and cutting-edge tools designed to give local businesses the reassurance they need that their advertising is paying off.

In a panel discussion on changing sales trends in the local search industry, Ken Ray, vice president and chief marketing officer, AT&T, noted that metrics alone are simply not enough to satisfy local businesses:

“Most of us have moved into SEM so we’re looking at cost per click and cost per lead,” said Ray. “We’ve made real learning around pay per call. Now the whole conversation has changed. What kind of call is it? … How long was the call? … Was it a local call? We’re working with customers to really figure out what makes them comfortable about the calls.”

A presentation at the conference by C.J. Arseneau, director of marketing at Telmetrics, a call measurement solutions company, focused on several offerings that I think represent a good start in the industry’s efforts to tackle both the metrics and the “quality” aspects of local advertising measurement.

One tool allows local providers to attribute calls to specific advertising campaigns. Phone numbers on advertiser websites are dynamically replaced with call tracking numbers based on how the user arrived at the website, so local businesses can determine where calls are coming from – whether it’s a search engine or another local search provider.

Another tool automatically tracks and transcribes calls and provides data for advertiser review in real-time. Detailed analytics on the keywords used on calls help inform marketing, sales and operations departments at businesses about the impact of their advertising strategies.

In a separate session, Daniel Shaked, founder and CEO of NO PROBLEM, described his company’s approach of allowing consumers to post their service need, and then enabling local businesses to bid on the service in real-time based on their immediate new business demand. Interestingly, each business’ cost per call is based on their unique bid for the call. The advantage of this approach is that if an business decides not to bid on a job at all, they do not have to pay for a potential call.

These are just a few examples of the types of tools now available to local businesses to help them better understand and appreciate the impact of their advertising and only invest in tactics that work.

6. Local Businesses Are Increasingly Looking For One Point Of Contact

As Neil Salvage of CityGrid explained, local businesses today are so overwhelmed with just running their day-to-day operations that exploring the evolving world of local advertising is proving too difficult for many. Increasingly, local businesses are looking for one central point of contract to help advise and execute their integrated advertising strategy across print, online and mobile.

Salvage said that the local search industry has a significant opportunity to simplify the process for local businesses and offer a variety of solutions to attract new customers. He noted that local search providers are beginning to see their offerings as part of a single product since “the small business owner doesn’t care if his new customer comes from the phone book or the Internet.”

Going forward, I think local businesses want and will benefit most from integrated, one-stop solution approaches to their advertising. This will enable businesses to participate in meaningful interactions with trusted advisors who understand their specific industry and know which combination of advertising options will make them successful in attracting and retaining quality customers over the long-term. It will also prevent local businesses from being responsible for playing middle-man between several local advertising vendors and paying for redundant advertising solutions.

The entire article may be found on Search Engine Land, here.

This Week in NY Small Business…

Posted on 27. Dec, 2010 by in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Legal & Financial, Mobile, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Traditional Media, Travel & Transportation

From this weeks NY Times Small Business section, and recommended reading for Westchester County based business owners…

Read the entire article here.

Filed under: All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Legal & Financial, Mobile, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Traditional Media, Travel & Transportation

Ford drops Super Bowl Ads for Online Spends

Posted on 11. Nov, 2010 by in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Social Networking, Traditional Media

From Search Engine Watch today…

Ford Motor Company will not be advertising during the next Super Bowl and are using that money to increase their spend in online marketing, Reuters reported today.

“Customers are spending as much time with the mobile smart phone or online as they are watching TV now, so our advertising dollars have to flow to where the people are,” Ford’s marketing chief Jim Farley told Reuters in an interview.

Farley joined Ford in 2007 and has been aggressive in taking advantage of digital marketing. The company leads the way in use of Twitter by any of the big 3 US car companies – having two accounts @Ford and @FordCustService compared to GM’s @GMblog and Cheveolet’s @Chevrolet.

The car industry has embraced social media. Chevrolet has even been advertising on Twitter.

Farley is “betting Ford can use Facebook and Twitter to accelerate the word-of-mouth recommendations long familiar to the auto industry and help the blue-oval brand connect with younger and richer people.

Farley said he learned at Scion that the only way to push past consumer skepticism is “to break into their world.”

“You have to shove your way in there. The way we do that is to break down myths. The great thing about Americans is they are always hungry for something new,” he said.

Ford’s U.S. sales are up almost 22 percent so far this year, twice the growth rate of the industry overall,” Reuters reported.

Interestingly Farley also told Reuters that the Super Bowl was a good place for unknown companies to build branding. It reminded me of Master Lock that used to only run one ad a year and it was during the Super Bowl. There ad of their lock being shot and still staying closed was a memory any person looking for a lock at a hardware store would remember.

If sales continue to grow after the Super Bowl and the company continues its successful marketing online it will be interesting to see who else drops their Super Bowl ads.

Filed under: All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Social Networking, Traditional Media

Newspapers: to cancel, or not to cancel…

Posted on 11. Sep, 2010 by in All Local Search Posts, Coupons, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Traditional Media

After years of retrieving and reading my morning weekend newspaper, I’m no longer walking down the drive way in rain, sleet or snow. I’ve gone online. I’ve reluctantly cancelled my local home delivery – but don’t worry Gannett, you could win me back.

I say “reluctantly” because this cancellation was not due to a new e-reader, iPad, or because I’m an internet marketing guy that felt this was my obligation. Actually, my recent vacation-hold was screwed-up again, and I had yellowing papers sitting in my driveway for a week. I was annoyed, as this acts as a nice “we’re not home” notice to the thousands that drive past my home every day.  In retrospect, this has become my own experiment in whether or not a full transition to electronic media is a realistic option for me…

My first observation was the Subscription Dept’s reaction. After calling and requesting the cancellation, the Customer Service Rep essentially followed his script, asked why, and apologized. Surprisingly, they let me go quite without much of a fight. The only response I received after mentioning that I can now “read it online for free” was “you won’t get the coupons”. I replied by saying there are many online coupon sites – to which he said “but they’re hard to use, and don’t work very well”.  I suggested they call me back in several weeks and I may reconsider (I’m still waiting).

Granted, group buying sites like Groupon and Weforia don’t yet serve my home-town or county (north of NYC), so his statement is somewhat valid I guess. But don’t publishers have more ammunition than “losing the coupons”, especially to their male subscribers?  

I’m sure the majority of publisher’s revenue is ad-based, not subscription; but with a continued erosion of subscribers (as well as other factors) I’d think that ad revenues would continue their slide. Or, perhaps they’re now hitting bottom. According to MarketWatch, print-ad spending fell 7.6% in the second quarter of 2010, to $5.69 billion, after plunges of 42.3%, 40.4%, 37.9%, 31.7% and 14.4% in the last five quarters. Their online-ad spending rose by 14% to $743.9 million, following a 5% improvement in the first quarter and declines during each quarter of 2009.

The online version of my local paper is actually impressive; organized well, blogging, video etc. It’s also free. I can get much more content than the RSS feeds (which I access constantly via smartphone) – but I’m not sure if 100% of their content is online either. My personal feeling is that I wouldn’t pay monthly subscription fees to access the online version (I purchase Wall St. Journal print version mid-week, and don’t subscribe online). I would however, consider a “pay as you go/pay-per issue” model – I’m not aware of anyone that offers this option. By the way, there’s a creative ad for Newsday’s online edition posted on Screenwerk today.

My biggest challenge to online editions is this; the content and stories are not as easy to “glance over”, or read. There’s something about opening up the full spread of the paper version that can’t be replaced – but this is something that probably doesn’t exist with younger generations.  Some of the pop-up ads are too intrusive, and of course paper is more portable and manageable than my laptop. Then again – when online I can access it anytime, anywhere.

One last (critical) factor; my wife just complained that there’s no newspaper to start fires in the fireplace, and she’s asking about the lack of coupons around the house. I may be back sooner than planned…

Filed under: All Local Search Posts, Coupons, Traditional Media

Hot New Westchester NY Social Network!

Posted on 13. May, 2010 by in All Local Search Posts, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Social Networking, Traditional Media

Some Friday morning humor for everyone, courtesy of Andy Borowitz…

Introducing the Hot New Social Network; PhoneBook

yellowpages

Allows User to Call Friends, Speak to Them !

SILICON VALLEY (The Borowitz Report) – A new social network is about to alter the playing field of the social media world, and it’s called PhoneBook.

According to its creators, who invented the network in their dorm room at Berkeley, PhoneBook is the game-changer that will leave Facebook, Twitter and even the much anticipated Google Buzz in a cloud of dust.

“With PhoneBook, you have a book that has a list of all your friends in the city, plus everyone else who lives there,” says Danny Fruber, one of PhoneBook’s creators.

“When you want to chat with a friend, you look them up in PhoneBook, and find their unique PhoneBook number,” Fruber explains.  “Then you enter that number into your phone and it connects you directly to them.”

Another breakout utility of PhoneBook allows the user to arrange face-to-face meetings with his or her friends at restaurants, bars, and other “places,” as Fruber calls them.

“You will be sitting right across from your friend and seeing them in 3-D,” he said.  “It’s like Skype, only without the headset.”

PhoneBook will enable friends to play many games as well, such as charades, cards, and a game Fruber believes will be a breakout: Farm.

“In Farm, you have an actual farm where you raise real crops and livestock,” he says.  “It’s hard work, but it’s more fun than Mafia, where you actually get killed.”

 

Filed under: All Local Search Posts, Social Networking, Traditional Media

Local Media Tracking Study Released -

Posted on 24. Mar, 2010 by in All Local Search Posts, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Internet Yellow Pages, Traditional Media

 
Released today: Yellow Pages claims greatest local-reach. 

Reported with some additional analysis on Screenwerk.

Findings include: 

  • In total, consumers referenced print and Internet Yellow Pages 16.9 billion times in 2009
  • comScore found that Internet Yellow Pages continued to chart growth, increasing from 4.6 billion in 2008 to 4.9 billion references in 2009
  • Respondents also turned to print Yellow Pages more frequently as the year progressed. In the first quarter, there was an average of 0.93 references per U.S. adult per week. By the fourth quarter, that had grown 19 percent to 1.11 references per adult per week.
  • Internet Yellow Pages saw an even sharper 20 percent growth during the year, with the percentage of adults that used Internet Yellow Pages within the past month growing from 31.6 percent in the first quarter to 37.9 percent in the fourth quarter.
  • The frequency of Internet Yellow Pages usage grew 24 percent from the first quarter (0.54 references per week per adult) to the fourth quarter (0.67 references per week per adult).

Filed under: All Local Search Posts, Internet Yellow Pages, Traditional Media

Web, Print to Dominate 2010 Real Estate Ad Spends.

Posted on 24. Jan, 2010 by in All Local Search Posts, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Real Estate, Traditional Media, Video

 

Print newspapers and Internet media to dominate advertising spends from local Real Estate Agencies in 2010, according to Borrell Associates, who just released their 2010 forecast. In summary:  

“Newspapers will see an increase in real estate advertising this year over last due in large part to spending by government agencies and banks to promote the sale of distressed properties. Other print vehicles will also rebound in 2010, but not to their 2008 levels. Online advertising continues to dominate the real estate market, reacting the consumer’s ongoing rapid adoption of the Web as a preferred method for researching homes for sale. The Web has now caught up to Agents as the top way that consumers found the homes they ended up buying.

A more immediate development within online advertising is the strong growth of video, which provides real estate shoppers with a much more immersive and compelling experience of the attributes of each unique property.

The uptick expected in 2010 will also mask large differences among media choices, as the following table indicates. Within these totals, advertising by locally-based real estate businesses spending to reach nearby consumers is actually heading up in 2010, although not enough to overcome the decline in spending by out-of-market advertisers”.

                                                             

Posted in All Local Search Posts, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Real Estate, Traditional Media, Video

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