Local Search Authority

Beware the Local Social Bandwagon -- Social is Still Shaky

As business owners, we all walk a fine line ... trying to stay up-to-date, without getting sliced and diced on the bleeding edge of technology. So, we watch and debate and contemplate whether NOW is the time to jump on the local social bandwagon.

As a YP publisher, how much should you invest in bringing social solutions to your SMB customers?

I think you still need to be cautious. Not head-in-the-sand unaware, but cautious. Facebook's IPO may make some think the social experiment has finally gone mainstream ... but other indicators tell me the verdict is not in yet.

Why? Because I think social is still shaky. Oh, there's no doubt that social media is here to stay -- but in what form, on what platform, and at what cost? We still don't know. When should you hop on? Right now social is a bit like a high-speed train whose destination and time of arrival are both unknown. Imagine trying to hop that train before it stops at a station. Sounds like a really messy way to die!

Let me share a story about my cousin Jeff, who canceled his Facebook account last week.

This makes me sad because I enjoyed chatting with him and keeping up with family through his regular posts. But it also makes me think about Facebook's value to business. You see, Jeff is a customer no one wants to lose. He is a wealthy business owner. He buys luxury cars, vacation homes and small jets. He has a CPA and a lawyer. He belongs to a gym and invests in his personal health and fitness. He and his wife eat at the finest restaurants, frequent upscale shopping venues, and have an abundance of that "perfect customer" trait known as discretionary income.

You won't reach Jeff on Facebook (or any social platform) ... not anymore. Why not? Because he got disgusted, just plain disgusted, with what he felt was manipulation by "a bunch of twenty-somethings who just won the IPO lottery treating this platform like own personal playground." Those were his exact words, and frankly, words I have heard from an awful lot of people (aka "buyers"). He hated the new Timeline, and he hated even more that it was foisted upon him despite his protests. He hated the new algorithms that FB is applying to news feeds and displays. He hated the targeted advertising that was starting to feel like Big Brother watching him. He just hated it.

So he quit.

And, for the record, he still does not Tweet, and does not even know about Google+, FourSquare, Yelp or any of the targeted social platforms. Facebook was about as "social" as he was willing to get. Worse yet, after this dismal experience, he is even less likely to get wrapped up with the next social phenomenon.

He's a fifty-something with a smart phone and a pair of reading glasses. He's the guy your SMB customers want delivered to their doorstep.

I'm just saying that local social isn't going to do it ... at least not yet.

AT&T Considering Potential Sale or Restructuring of Directory Operation

Dave Goddard of Simba Yellow Pages / IMS Local Search  Authority reports today that AT&T is considering the potential sale or restructuring of its directory operations.

AT&T Advertising Solutions (St. Louis) shows declining revenues for 2011. CEO and president Randall Stephenson says the company will be taking a hard look at their directory operations, according to a story released today in Yellow Pages & Directory Report.

You can read the full story, free for a limited time, on the Yellow Pages & Directory Report website.

Follow this link to subscribe to Yellow Pages & Directory Report, for continuous, online news coverage of the yellow pages / local search industry.

 

When Should You Jump on the Local Social Bandwagon?

Local Social is getting a lot of press these days -- as with any growing marketing channel, the use of social platforms brings questions and concerns about where companies should allocate their efforts and budgets.

So -- how do you know when you should jump on the local social bandwagon, whether you are a Yellow Pages publisher, a small business owner, or a directional media marketer? Your decisions in this -- and the many growing digital advertising options -- should be guided by high-quality research from reliable sources.

Not all research is created (or reported) equal.

For example -- here is a quotation from a recent Wall Street Journal blog:

Of those (businesses) engaging in social media for business purposes, 28% have a company Facebook page, 18% have a company LinkedIn page or group, and 8% have a company blog.

Don't be fooled. This does NOT mean that 28 percent of businesses have a company Facebook page. It only means that 28 percent of those businesses who engage in social media for business purposes, have a Facebook page.

A good first question would be, "What percentage of small businesses engage in social media?"

These people offer a cornucopia of statistics with a wide range of results. ; these people say 81 percent engage; and these people bemoan that only 37 percent are socially engaged.

A good follow-up question would be,"Of those small businesses who engage in social media, what percentage do so for business purposes?"

Now, those numbers are harder to find. But, let's say (for the sake of illustration) that 40 percent of small businesses engage in social media, and 40 percent of those do so for business purposes.  If those hypoethetical numbers were correct, that would mean that 16 percent of small businesses engage in social media for business purposes. Now, take 28 percent of that hypoethical 16 percent, and you would have about 4.4 percent of small businesses with a Facebook page.

At the end of the day, that number may not even be statistically significant!

The take aways? There are two:

1. Question Authority. Dave Goddard, our lead analyst for Simba Yellow Pages, had a previous career as a tough-as-nails newspaper editor and publisher. Whenever an ambitious reporter brought him a story loaded with "facts," Goddard would ask, "And who's your source?" It's a good question. Learn to ask it. And pay attention to the answer.
2. Develop Reliable Sources. You are faced with mission-critical strategic choices in this ever-changing market. Thinking that 28 percent of small businesses have a Facebook page, when in reality that number is much much smaller, could lead to your making bad decisions, allocating resources inappropriately. Those bad decisions could mean lost profits and opportunities, they could lead to unnecessarily lost jobs and income in the communities you serve.
   
   Of course, at some point, you have to trust someone. Just be careful, ask questions,  and choose wisely.

 

When You Really Need the Facts

Today is a big day for IMS / Simba Yellow Pages. We are going into the studio to record a series of educational / promotional videos on the exciting topic of Market Research.

Ahem.

Yes, I know that Market Research may seem about as exciting as chicken salad on white ... but bear with me. For those of us -- and those of you -- who make business decisions every day, Market Research may not be "exciting," but it is definitely vital. Especially in the Yellow Pages / Local Search industry.

Why? Because this is an industry in transition. Every day we learn about new product / service offerings that may or may not be "the next big thang." Every day we learn about the latest big thang that just went belly-up. Every day we learn about some new struggle at a company we never dreamed would ever hiccup. Every day we are bombarded with messages about new technologies, changed user patterns, and the most recent over-hyped offerings from the loudest well-heeled publicists.

It's within this environment that business leaders must make strategic choices, choices that can carry huge impact -- not only on the business itself, but on employees and the communities they serve.

In this environment of rapid-fire change, tight credit and even tighter margins -- business leaders need a reliable source for facts. They need someone who will tell them how it is -- the good, the bad and the ugly.

That someone is Dave Goddard.

It's an exciting story to tell. And, for the record, Dave does take his chicken salad on white!

What Went Wrong at WebVisible?

WebVisible, a local search marketing firm, was shut down by its bank last month. According to an email circulated by CEO Ron Burr, the firm simply was overcome by its debt load, the bank foreclosed, and they shut down effective Dec. 27th.

Though Burr called it a "shock," few of those watching the company could hardly be surprised. The company has struggled, downsized, and re-focused management over the past two years.

According to their own blog, dated Oct. 17, 2011 -- just two months before foreclosure -- they served more than 100,000 customers in 14 countries. And yet, they apparently could not service their debt. Why? What went wrong?

There are plenty of financial pundits who will be more than ready to analyze the rise and fall of this pay-per-click advertising (aka search engine marketing) company. But from the pure common-sense observation of a professional marketer, it's not hard to see what went wrong.

WebVisible did not work for the customer.

At the end of the day, it's the CUSTOMER who pays the bills. Ignore customer success at your own peril. Oh, you can probably fake it for awhile with talented, smooth-talking sales and infusions of venture capital, but if your customers are not satisfied ... well, we have another saying here in the Midwest --  those chickens will eventually come home to roost.

The churn rate at WebVisible has been reported on blogs across the web to be as high as 300 percent. Now, I don't know if that number is even close to reality, but I do know a few things about search engine marketing, local search, and pay-per-click, so I would not be even mildly surprised to learn those numbers are accurate. Every day, we talk to clients who are coming off of an expensive PPC campaign. They are universally frustrated and disappointed, not to mention frequently broke.

Pay-per-click advertising works to drive traffic to a website. Period. It can be a reasonable adjunct to a comprehensive marketing plan, as long as costs are contained, the campaign is expertly crafted, and results meticulously tracked.

But PPC can be, and frequently is, a disaster for small businesses. Here's why:

• The cost to run a PPC campaign, especially through an agency that siphons off a big percentage (as much as 60 percent) of your budget to pay their fee, will likely eat up the entire marketing budget of most small businesses.
  
  
• It is not enough to merely deliver leads. Yes, an effective PPC will drive traffic to a website. But, if the entire budget is blown on driving traffic, what is left to build an effective website that actually converts that traffic to new business?  There simply is no point in driving traffic, at a cost per visitor, to a website that doesn't work.
  
  
• What about follow-up? The social media component or other relationship marketing to nurture leads into buying customers? The PPC campaign doesn't include a follow-up strategy, and seldom leaves any money in the budget to develop one.

When we talk about an integrated marketing approach, it's because in today's environment -- which is increasingly challenging for the small business enterprise -- integration is key to success. Marketing initiatives must be scaled to fit the tight budgets of small business and appropriately allocated to achieve a reasonable ROI within a reasonable timeframe. The budget simply cannot be blown on one initiative, no matter how flashy.

At the end of the day, flash does not matter.

Results matter.