The Transformation of Local in a Search Driven World
Moderator:
* Michael Boland, Analyst, The Kelsey Group
Speakers:
* Bob Armour, Chief Marketing Officer, ShopLocal * Scott Dunlap, CEO, NearbyNow * Manish Patel, CEO, Where2GetIt * Richard Rosen, CEO, FastCall411
Richard Rosen
FastCall411 started off talking about how they connect consumers with local service providers faster, easier and more reliably than any other search platform.
Consumer Expectation / Current Market Reality
* Of 250,000.000+ calls per month, 2 out of 3 sent to merchants who are not “available” * 87% of consumers say availability is an important factor when hiring a local vendor * 10,000,000 merchants are not relevant to the customer * Proximity is the wrong approach to local search. Meta data is poor
Local search is frustrating for the customer; an effective business model hasn’t been materialized
* Bad base data (old listings, no relevant, poor meta data) * Not enough user generated content “reviews” * Difficult prospecting and selling local merchants * Poor match of “leads with needs” * Poor concentration of lead volume to individual merchants
Identify “availability” as part of a completely new approach to local search
Connect consumers to relevant available local merchants
Think outside the “web”
Manish Patel
Consumers want choice
* Where 2 buy * When to buy * How they buy * They want basic questions answered * Where is the nearest? * Where is it available? * How do I get there? * What is the price?
Consumers have adopted search but other very relevant mediums still exist
* Search engines * Retailer websites * Manufacturer websites * Vertical directions * Comparison shopping engines * Social media
Getting found = retailer website
Most visited section on their clients websites
Consumers are much more savvy
Filtering functionality
Move ready to buy customers from the product page to where to buy
Answer questions like:
* Where is the product sold? * What price? * Is it in stock? * Can I buy from you directly?
Getting found using search
* Organic * Vertical * Paid Search
Get found in emerging media
Even Adidas has a MySpace page
Consumers are in control and you have to be found everywhere whether selling a product or service
Nearly 80% of online searches follow up offine via in sotre visit or phone cal. Of these 66% go on to make a purchase
Engage with Relevant information
If your are selling a product or service today
* Add Local Content to your Website * Add Mobile Extensions * Add Registrations
Scott Dunlap
Example – Mobile Targeting
* Shoppers see signs for service on mall directories * Opt-in by texting “NEARBY” * Retailers can target nearby customers in real-time * Limit 2 ads per hour * Service shuts itself off after 90 min
Mobile can extend existing media
* Can be used to extend in-mall advertising * Shoppers choose preferred retailer * From emotion to action * Make existing media more measurable
Ex: Text “ng1” to NEARBY to find the nearest store that carries this “widget”
If you have buy online pickup in store option, it quickly becomes about half of your online sales
If you put the ability to get a mobile receipt about 35-45% of online sales will use that
Bob Armour
ShopLocal helps advertisers drive in-store sales using the web
Driver #1
The Internet is being used more as a research tool than a buying too
92% of shoppers use internet to do product research but 95% of retail sales happenin store
Driver #2
The web’s influence on offline sales will continue to grow to almost half of all retail sales by 2011 (over $1 trillion)
Driver #3
Advertising spend will follow consumers media time
On advertiser’s sites:
- Smart Circular (The web version of what you get on your Sunday paper)
- 53% of shoppers visit store within 1 week; 95% within the month
- 267 milion page views on Black Friday 2007, up 84% over last year
All across the internet:
- smart media (Local promotions in rich media)
- “close the loop” test: CPG retailer + Large publisher + consumer tracking panel – test produced 2x planned lift. Results were “too good”
- Interaction time: 17 seconds vs 10.7 seconds for standard rich media
On ShopLocal.com:
- 56% of shoppers bought the items they saw on the site in a store
- Over ½ of purchasers would not have bought if they didn’t see the ad online
Contributed by: Justin Davy is a search engine marketing specialist for the E.W. Scripps Company and a guest writer for SER.
