The Power of Online Local Search
The power of online local search is making paper directories a thing of the past. Be it booking that last minute restaurant, finding your nearest florist or pinning down a reputable plumber, more and more of us are turning to the internet to search for local information.
Recent findings have found that a staggering 86 percent of internet users search for local products and services, which is why it still amazes me that paper directories are so full of ads. When you can get relevant, up-to-date results online, does is make sense to keep referring to paper directories?
Effectively out of date before they are even printed, it looks like it could be a real uphill struggle for them, especially when 35% of homes say they do not want to even receive a paper directory anymore.
I’m certainly not alone in thinking this. A report by the Kelsey Group suggests that 2008 will be a pivotal year for the global Yellow Pages industry.
Charles Laughlin, managing editor of the Kelsey Group, was quoted,
In the past, small and medium-sized businesses have protected their print Yellow Pages investment at the expense of other media. Given the structural changes in the local ad market, we believe the next downturn will favour media choices that are more flexible and provide a lower cost per lead than print directories, which would signal a profound shift.
Taking the “flexibility” and “lower cost per lead” argument, you can immediately see why that shift is taking place. Nearly half a million business today still spend on average just less than £1.3k every year to be in the biggest directory, yet for the same price, we can give an SME an unrivalled service. We can give them their own campaign on Yahoo!, Google and many other websites that provides a good return in investment, as well as being able to revise and refocus any campaigns at a click of a button. It’s an obvious choice to me.
I’ll leave you with one final thought. Do you think even the concept of Yellow Pages may be suffering just in general? It’s worth reading this article, which although not quite giving up on the industry yet, certainly questions its future. Will the new generation of young consumers even know what “yellow pages” means in years to come?
Tags: Local Search
May 21st, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I read this piece, and it reminded me of the extraordinary weight of evidence supporting widespread use of the internet by all sorts of people looking for all sorts of things in all sorts of places, and then I contrasted that with the day to day reality of persuading business customers that they should advertise their goods and services exactly where their customers are looking! I am still surprised that so many small and medium businesses still feel they need convincing that they should take a substantial proportion of their marketing budget, and spend it online.
I am 25, so I have lived my adult life with the internet as a reality that me and all my friends take for granted. I would no more think of looking something up in a paper directory, or look in a local newspaper than I would think of going to a Neil Diamond concert; although I know from my work each day that I see life differently to most of my customers, the fact is THEIR customers are increasingly like me! I read the other day that 97% of 18-24 year olds begin every internet ‘experience’ on Google or Yahoo! - I certainly do- and surely everyone will do this soon. Businesses NEED to be found on these vital search engines if they are going to attract customers and leads.
From my perspective, the tougher the economy gets, the more important my job is in helping businessmen and women see the amazing results they will get by getting their name and phone number in front of potential customers EXACTLY when those customers are looking to buy. I almost feel that I am there to HELP them, although of course in the end, I want them to buy campaigns to promote their business. Yes, I sell them things, but I really can see the benefits in what we offer, and nearly all of them renew every 6 months or each year because it works so well for them.
I spend a lot of time talking to Dentists, as I work mainly in this area, and this sector has really understood the value in promoting themselves online. Implants, whitening, and all forms of cosmetic dentistry are actively marketed online. However, if I contrast that with less modern, more traditional areas of business, we seem to still be talking to people who don’t have a website, or those that do have one don’t promote it or look for customers to visit it. It’s like having boxes of leaflets in the back room, but never giving them out to any customers!! Also, I know that the vast majority of consumers LOOK online, but ACT offline- they pick up the phone and arrange a visit or ask questions before coming in to buy locally. At £5.50 a gallon for petrol, I see local buying getting more and more popular, so I see my role of advising my customers how best to spend their money to maximise their returns as ever more important.