Contributed by: Stephanie Hobbs
You may have heard, BIA/Kelsey is hosting a new one-day conference on June 27 in San Francisco – Mobile Local Media San Francisco (MLM San Francisco). This event will examine the convergence of mobile, local and social and the opportunities for local media players.
Speakers at MLM San Francisco represent some of the top companies in our business, including Google, Yelp, PayPal, and shopkick, to name a few. Additionally, BIA/Kelsey just announced the addition of tech investor and Silicon Valley luminary Stewart Alsop to the speaker line-up. Looks like a jam-packed day focused on mobile local media! Check out the full agenda and list of speakers.
For a preview of the key topics to be discussed at MLM San Francisco, think about attending BIA/Kelsey’s upcoming webinar, “Mobile Local Media’s Top 10 Trends,” which is scheduled for Tuesday, May 22 at 2 pm ET. Click to learn more about the webinar and to register online.
I hope to see you at MLM San Francisco. Here’s an additional incentive: Save $100 when registering by using sign up with promo code MLMLSA. We’ll share more details in the weeks ahead, right here on Local Search Insider. Stay tuned!
May 16, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: BIA/Kelsey, Local Search, Local Search Association, MLM, Mobile Local Media San Francisco, San Francisco
Contributed by: Stephanie Hobbs
YP is taking a deeper dive into the menu territory with a new feature for hungry local searchers. YP app users can now not only search for restaurants by location and type of cuisine, but also by specific menu items as well. Looking for lobster rolls? Schnitzel? ….YP’s new app features can help you find restaurants in your area with the exact menu items you want and user reviews to help guide you to the best choice.
Leveraging its database of more than 300,000 menus from restaurants across the country, the YP app offers more than 13,000,000 dishes for its users to choose from
David Williams, VP of Consumer Products said, “We believe local is evolving from ‘search’ to a deeper experience that’s helpful in actually making a decision. Adding menu item search is a simple, yet powerful new option for smartphone users. It empowers them to express what they’re looking for and leads them to restaurants offering what they crave.”
YP’s announcement marks the latest innovation in the continuing evolution of local search tools that enable more customizable and specific search capabilities. It comes on the heels of Yelp’s new “Yelpy Insights” feature that helps searchers customize local business results based on age group and affinity group – another way of leading customers to the exact products and services they’re looking for.
Download the YP app and find your favorite dish in the neighborhood!
May 14, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: David Williams, item, Local Search, Local Search Association, menu, mobile app, restaurant, search, YP, YPMobile
Contributed by: Stephanie Hobbs
YP Holdings LLC (YP), which combines the assets of AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive, officially launched following the acquisition of a controlling interest in YP by Cerberus Capital Management. The new company, which will be based in Tucker, Georgia, will publish the iconic Yellow Pages and operate YP.com, the top-rated YPmobile app, and the expansive YP Local Ad Network.
I’m glad to see that David Krantz, the former CEO and president of AT&T Interactive, has been named CEO of YP, leading YP’s overall strategy and operations. Joining Krantz is a new leadership team including executives from AT&T Advertising Solutions, AT&T Interactive, Cerberus Operations, as well as executives recruited from outside AT&T.
According to Krantz: “We have a great future in front us. We also have an extensive customer base, the largest local sales organization, an unmatched product portfolio, industry-leading platforms across the web, mobile and print ecosystems, and a great brand. We are ready to invest in this business, innovate and provide excellent service to our customers.”
Check out the YP launch press release, which includes some impressive stats on the size, scale and effectiveness of YP’s local advertising solutions.
May 10, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: AT&T, AT&T Advertising Solutions, AT&T Interactive, David Krantz, Local Search, Local Search Association, Yellow Pages, YP, YP Holdings LLC, YP Local Ad Network, YPMobile
Contributed by: Stephanie Hobbs
Sensis, the Australian local search provider, is incentivizing app developers to create innovative apps to promote its business listings. The company, which launched an API service (or SAPI) for its Yellow Pages listings and advertising content, is encouraging developers, entrepreneurs and designers to create viable apps through a new SAPI Bounty Program. The program’s first content asks developers to create an app that helps consumers survive the “inevitable zombie apocalypse.”
Sensis asks:
- How will you survive and thrive during the inevitable zombie apocalypse?
- What should you have prepared?
- What do you need to know when the walking dead come looking for brains?
- How do you make your way in a post-apocalyptic world?
Sensis is awarding $2,500 to the developer with the best app based on originality, usability and design, effectiveness, back story, and SAPI integration and use.
Entrants are encouraged to submit their app idea by May 24 at developers.sensis.com.au. What great idea to tap into the current craze for the walking dead!
May 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: API, app, Australia, business listing, challenge, content, developer, Local Search, Local Search Association, Sensis, Yellow Pages
Contributed by: Guest
Peter Buxton, principal at Buxton Independent Consulting, participated in our “Reinventing the Directory Organization” session at “Search Starts Here.” Today, he shares his perspective on the importance of the Yellow Pages sales organization.
The Yellow Pages sector has always been a sales business. The future of the sector is now totally dependent on the effectiveness of the sales organization. In recent years I have undertaken Sales Audits in four different continents and 12 different countries, assessing the opportunities for efficiency improvements in the sales process.
Before a Yellow Pages company can start to consider the essential transformation process, it is important to understand where the sales force stands today. If a Yellow Pages company has 500 sales people, making five visits per day, there are 2,500 discussions taking place each day with the small business market that we serve. Making sure that Yellow Pages salesmen are giving the best advice available to local businesses about their advertising options is key to our sector’s continued success.
The Sales Audit process which I conduct also provides publishers with a benchmark analysis comparing the activity rates and productivity levels in many other countries. For example, do you know the average percentage of the day each salesman spends actually talking to customers? Is the customer time for your salesman higher or lower than the industry standard?
Yellow Pages companies should be giving serious consideration to the following factors which impact the re-shaping of the sales process:
- Are salespeople really “selling on value” today?
- Are salespeople spending too small a percentage of their time each day actually talking to customers ?
- Is the commission scheme actually motivating salespeople?
- Are salespeople really convinced that the sales process needs to be re-shaped?
- Is the Yellow Pages brand image helping me or hindering me?
For more information and to contact Peter Buxton directly, visit www.buxton-independent.com or e-mail buxton@buxton-independent.com.
May 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: Buxton, Buxton Independent Consulting, Local Search, Local Search Association, Peter Buxton, print directories, print Yellow Pages, Yellow Pages
Contributed by: Stephanie Hobbs
Yellow Medya, Turkey’s leader in local search solutions, announced a partnership agreement with Google earlier this week. As part of the agreement, Yellow Medya’s business listing database of 750,000 businesses in Turkey will supply content to Google’s online offerings. Yellow Medya’s database currently includes a variety of content including geo-codes, logos, photos, company profiles, business hours and forms of payment accepted.
It’s great to see that Yellow Medya’s valuable business listings are once again being recognized in the marketplace. As we reported last November, Yellow Medya partnered with TripAdvisor to help supplement the former’s listings with TripAdvisor reviews and create new advertising exposure for its clients on the popular travel site. It’s clear that Yellow Medya is quickly building out a great offering for Turkish businesses to attract new customers.
May 4, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: business listings, Google, Local Search, Local Search Association, TripAdvisor, Turkey, Yellow Medya
Contributed by: Guest
We’re continuing our “Lightning Round” series today with a post by Victor Wong, CEO of PaperG.
Search has solved a lot of problems for advertisers and consumers. When consumers know what they want, search ads help funnel users to an appropriate business. However, many small businesses can’t rely solely on search ads for demand generation, if at all, since it depends entirely on people knowing about a specific business or looking actively for something.
A recent case study on local display done by PaperG reveals a telling example of a local sandwich shop, Cheeseboy, which sought to increase broader brand awareness and drive people to a special event. Due to low search query volumes for related keywords, Cheeseboy turned to other media like broadcast and local online display ads to reach its users. Through online local display, Cheeseboy was able to generate clicks at a cost-per-click competitive to search but at a far greater volume. Each customer spent more money during the event than the cost to acquire that customer, leading to a positive ROI and proving display as a direct response medium. In addition, tens of thousands of local customers saw the Cheeseboy ads, which set the stage for future conversion.
Increasingly, local display ads have become a must buy for small businesses looking to grow their business. Directories have learned they can no longer simply capture existing demand for their customers; instead, they have to be able to generate new demand and really own the whole purchase consideration funnel from top to bottom. The ones that have that capability can help businesses produce real results in good economic times and bad times.
May 3, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: Lightning Round, Local Search, Local Search Association, PaperG, Victor Wong
Contributed by: Stephanie Hobbs
In our monthly Local Search column on Search Engine Land, I shared my key takeaways from the compelling presentation by Mary Boysman, VP Brand Marketing and Advertising at Aspen Dental, at our annual conference last week.
As those of you in attendance saw first-hand, Boysman described in detail how she and her team developed a comprehensive strategy that drives meaningful local leads for her business and has elicited support from the highest levels of her organization.
Take a few minutes to read my column about the Boysman’s recommendations on how to create a powerhouse marketing organization.
May 1, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: advertising, Aspen Dental, Local Search, Local Search Association, Mary Boysman, recommendations, Search Engine Land, Search Starts Here, strategya
Contributed by: Guest
The following post is from Val Onyski, director of operations at the Local Search Association.
As many of you know, the LSA Rates & Data suite of products includes three key offerings:
Traditionally, these offerings featured data for print Yellow Pages, including close dates, publication dates, rates, etc. However, in recent years companies have started to add completely different product lines into Rates & Data in order to attract the interest of the CMR community, which relies on the tool for information on special pricing rates and distribution figures.
For example, several companies have added direct mail products – in fact, more than 330 are now listed! There are also rates and other pertinent information for more than 300 Internet Yellow Pages directories. There is even a recently added suite of mobile products.
So… if it’s been a while since you last used our Rates & Data products, it may be time for another look!
May 1, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: direct mail, IYP, Local Search, Local Search Association, LSA IRIS, LSA IRIS Online, LSA Rates & Data, mobile, print Yellow Pages, Rates & Data
Contributed by: Guest
The “Lightning Round” session at our recent annual conference, “Search Starts Here,” generated very positive feedback. As an extension of the session, we’ve offered the opportunity for its participants to further showcase their companies and offerings here on Local Search Insider. Our first contributor is Ian S. Cruickshank, chief revenue officer of Wishpond Technologies.
You don’t need us to tell you that that consumer behavior has changed, and continues to change.
Local search businesses have two huge assets: established relationships, and active, talented sales forces. The easiest way for you to continue to provide value to your clients, and grow your revenue, is through an easy-to-use, simple-to-explain suite of digital solutions that are seamless additions to a client’s existing services.
Wishpond is a leading provider of product-based digital media solutions for merchants, brands and malls – with offerings covering mobile, social, and local search. Our mission is to build easy-to-use marketing tools that deliver engagement, insights and returns. With our roots in local product search, including a powerful search API, the marketing solutions we deliver for offline and online retailers provide tight integration with existing inventory systems and boast nimble cross-platform user interfaces.
You have the brand, the reach, and the sales force. We have the digital marketing product suite, self-serve applications, and local product data. Together we can continue to provide outstanding value to your clients.
We would love to talk to you further about working together. For more information, check out my full presentation at “Search Starts Here” or contact me directly at ian@wishpond.com.
April 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Tags: annual conference, API, digital, Ian Cruickshank, Lightning Round, local product, Local Search, Local Search Association, marketing, retailers, Search Starts Here, self-serve, Wishpond
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