Case Studies – Local Search
Local Searches for local business are increasing daily. The average customer is going to the internet to find that local business. Are you Missing Out on Customers?
*More than 74% internet users conducted searches for local services online last year, and 45% of all local searches were performed with the intent of finding a business (reference Kelsey Group, published by Internet World Stats – September 2004 (http://www.internetworldstats.com/articles/art070.htm))
With the boom in computer literacy and widespread internet access, millions of consumers are searching online every day for professional services.1
Online market for Professional Services
* 84% of internet users have used search engines – and on any given day 56% of those online use search engines 2
* 68% of users say that search engines are a fair and unbiased source of information for locating professional contacts 3
* 92% of CFOs, treasurers, and cash managers use the Internet to obtain information about professional services 4
* 62% of users are not aware of a distinction between paid and unpaid search results 5
ref
1. Sys.con Media Research (http://www.sys-con.com/read/filter/sys-con.htm)
2. Pew Internet & American Life Project, ‘Internet searchers are confident, satisfied and trusting’ January 2005 (http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/146/report_display.asp)
3. Ibid.
4. Clickz, ‘Financial professionals increasing net use’ – April 2001 (http://www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/pro … php/752341)
5. Stompernet Stats
More proof:
Source: http://www.kelseygroup.com/services/vie … 2&SFlag=No
Interactive Local Media’s latest global search and local search forecast projects that in most established interactive markets, local search growth will outpace top-line search growth through 2013. Local businesses and those that target geographic areas will make a 1. The Kelsey Group’s Annual Forecast: Global Search & Local Search
sustained effort to build Web sites, buy search, add content and actively manage their online presence. Overall, we are more bullish on the local search market (and related areas) than in previous years.
2. This one is from 2005 but even back then it showed the benefits of Local Online Marketing – 70% of U.S. Households Now Use the Internet When Shopping Locally for Products and Services
March 22, 2005
Source: http://www.kelseygroup.com/press/pr050322.asp
Findings also suggest the Internet is poised to surpass newspapers as a local shopping information resource.
Princeton, NJ (March 22, 2005) — According to a new study by The Kelsey Group and ConStat, Inc., 70 percent of U.S. households now use the Internet as an information source when shopping locally for products and services—an increase of 16 percent since October 2003. This puts the Internet on par with newspapers as a local shopping information resource, with the Internet likely to surpass the impact of newspapers in the very near future.
“Use of the Internet as a shopping resource is already changing the face of local advertising,” said Neal Polachek, senior vice president, The Kelsey Group. “Traditional local advertising media must find ways to evolve or risk losing dollars to the new advertising options available to local and small businesses.”
“Most of the Internet’s growth for shopping research can be attributed to large search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and Ask Jeeves, the usage of which increased significantly, from 47 percent in 2003 to 55 percent in 2005,” said Tim Trickett, vice president of business development at ConStat. “Further, the research shows that the increase in usage of the major search engines has been powered by broadband users exclusively.”
3. Offline Traditional Brick-and-Mortar retailers are loosing to Online ecommerce stores in the search results.
Feb. 4, 2009
Source: http://www.internet-engine.net/RetailSearchPresence.htm
Online retailers represent over 30% of the search listings from a typical online retail search on a major search engine, while brick-and-mortar stores only show up in searches 12% of the time, according to an analysis of search-engine results by Internet-Engine .
The results from the Retail Search Presence Study reveal that online-only retailers, such as Amazon.com, have a very strong presence in both paid and organic search listings, while brick-and-mortar retailers — despite a slight increase in search presence over the past three years — consistently have the weakest performance of every group, including manufacturers who do not sell directly to consumers, MarketingCharts writes .
The research suggests that traditional retailers might not be keeping up with changes in consumer behavior since they are relying on a brand-push marketing strategy while online retailers using search marketing present a consumer-pull strategy, said Internet-Engine.
“Online retailers have developed and maintained a dominant presence in search marketing,” said Thom Disch, Internet-Engine’s CEO and the director of the study. “To put this in perspective, when a shopper does a search on the internet, he or she will find three listings from on-line retailers for every one listing from a traditional retailer. I find it very surprising that brick and mortar retailers have not invested more dollars in search marketing, since e-commerce sales have grown 28% since 2006 (according to comScore ) while total retail sales have grown by only 3% over the same time period.”
Free vs. Paid Results Show More Dramatic Difference
The study also compared paid and free search results and finds that the free or organic listings of the traditional retailer websites have only a 2% share of the total listings. This is dramatically smaller than the share for free listings for eCommerce sites at 17%, shopping comparison sites at 11% and manufacturers’ websites at 10%.
“Not appearing in the free listings means that the brick-and-mortar retailers must spend more of their money on paid search listings which ultimately will have a negative impact on their overall profitability,” said Disch. “Investing in search optimization techniques to increase the organic or free listings would help these traditional retailers by balancing their listing placements, reducing their overall costs and increasing their market presence.”
4. Online Ad Spending To Follow Video and Social Networking
May 1, 2009
Source: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/? … aid=104833
According to a new report on the Global Online Media Landscape by The Nielsen Company Online, engagement by Internet users is deepening, in part a result of a shift toward video content and social networking as popular online subcategories.
Highlights of the report include:
* The number of American users frequenting online video destinations has climbed 339% since 2003
* Time spent on video sites has shot up almost 2,000% over the same period
* In the last year, unique viewers of online video grew 10%, the number of streams grew 41%, the streams per user grew 27% and the total minutes engaged with online video grew 71%
* There are 87% more online social media users now than in 2003, with 883% more time devoted to those sites.
* In the last year, time spent on social networking sites has surged 73%
* In February, social network usage exceeded Web-based e-mail usage for the first time.
Charles Buchwalter, SVP, Research and Analytics, Nielsen Online, says “The Internet remains a place of continuing innovation, with users finding new ways to integrate online usage into their daily lives… ”
Since 2003, interests of the average online user have shifted significantly from portal-oriented browsing sites such as Shopping Directories and Guides and Internet Tools/Web Services, to video and social networking sites that have moved to the forefront, becoming the two fastest growing categories in 2009.
With the global recession in full swing, says the report, online display advertising has plateaued at 20% of total online ad spend in the U.S.. Spending on online display advertising by financial services, automobile and retail companies has declined steeply. On the other hand, several key, heavy ad-spending industries such as healthcare, consumer products and telecommunications appear to be moving even more spending online.
The longer-term prospects for global online advertising continue to be brighter. Projecting, Nielsen reported:
* Led by social media, search and video, the Internet’s share of total ad spend will continue its steady upward trend as global economies emerge from the current recession
* Given the increased focus on digital marketing by leading packaged goods companies, the Internet’s share of commerce will continue to rise
* In the age of Twitter, feedback barriers have all but disappeared, creating a near friction-free environment for playing back brand experience, campaign reactions or brand events. Recent public cases show that marketers must be quick to react to these channels of instant feedback
* 30% of U.S. mobile subscribers recalled seeing some form of advertising while using their mobile phones, up from 18% one year prior.
