TMP Hosted Webinar on June 25: National Brands Marketing Local June 23, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Lind in Local Search.Tags: local marketing, local search webinar
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Local Search is the focus of this upcoming Webinar, hosted by TMP Directional Marketing. I hope you can attend!
National Brands Marketing Local
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
- 1:00 PM EDT (10:00 AM PDT)
Speaker: Greg Sterling, Sterling Market Intelligence and Search Engine Land
The majority of consumer transactions take place offline, yet the Internet influences more of them every day. This is the true opportunity for “local search”: tying consumer Internet research to offline conversions.
In this webcast, Greg Sterling will discuss the latest developments in the Local Search landscape and how brand marketers — of any size — can take advantage of this evolving channel.
The implication for marketers is significant: how do you track offline conversions that began in an online search? How does a large, national brand take advantage of search at the local level? As consumers become more adept at searching online, how do marketers keep up with the shifting behavior? Are Internet Yellow pages the way to go – or should you consider a combination of print and online advertising to maximize your offline sales?
Other questions I hope will be addressed:
- How do website businesses (pure ecommerce) target local consumers?
- Besides print and Internet Yellow Pages, what other methods can be used to target locally?
- If given the choice to do a national yellow pages ad to cover every geography vs many local ads, which has the better CPA and how do you go about choosing those local geographies to cover?
Do you have any other questions?
To register please click on the following link: https://www.etouches.com/2481?reference=TMP
Update: to view the webinar recording, go to: http://searchmarketingnow.com/
3 Interactive Website Examples June 22, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Lind in Interactive Marketing Website Reviews.Tags: interactive websites, retail marketing
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Great Ideas for interactive websites:
- LL Bean – used to have a person you could create on their website with your measurements. You could try clothes on your virtual person to see how they fit. I haven’t seen this feature on their site recently.
- Toys R Us – the book Groundswell (Li, Bernoff 2008) recommends tools that would help parents choose the best toys for their kids, write reviews of the toys, and save toys to a favorites list. What about a tool that helps you plug in types of activities your kid enjoys or something you want them to learn, and Toys R Us recommends the best toys for you.
- Lowes has a garden planner that allows you to put flowers, trees, and shubs in any location on your lot, plus see plants that are only available for your area: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=pg&p=Down_to_Earth%2FGardenPlanner%2Fgarden_planner_launch.html. The problem is you have to know measurements and it is not very user friendly unless you are an engineer. What about a landscape designer that has large sections of landscape designs in various shapes and you can then switch out certain plants if desired and place these large sections on your lawn. A great quality Lowes’ tool has is a shopping list for when you finish your design.
What would a Yellow Page Niche Social Network Look Like? June 9, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Lind in Local Search.Tags: internet yellow pages, Local Search, niche social networking
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A recent article from The Kelsey Group (okay, it was in May & I’m a little behind) discussed reasons why the Yellow Pages should develop “a platform for niche social networks since directories covers such a broad array of topics and content that can be related to highly conversational topics such as travel, music, legal, weddings, new mothers, retirement, interior design, home improvement, etc.”
The article goes on to explain that a Yellow Page owned social networking site has the power of a wide range of topics in any of their 5,000 headings, and could utilize its advertisers content as a source of adding revenue potential throughout each niche site.
The Kelsey Group says “the real benefit to Yellow Page owners would come in the form of increased traffic, narrow targeting opportunities for advertisers, additional revenue opportunities and leadership in the fast emerging social marketing space.”
So what would a yellow page niche social network site look like?
To really work, this needs to be a very innovative local networking site. It needs to get the local businesses involved in the content, and offer lots of applications for the users. It needs to be a mixture of twitter, squidoo, Ning, and facebook with a local business flair. Is that too much to ask for?
A local social networking site needs to have a minimum of the following features:
- mobile applications to upload posts and reviews
- user generated video & images
- pages that can be created by users
- the ability to allow users to create profile pages; the ability to save friends and certain posts as favorites
- many headings such as reviews, events, special offer commentary, where to get the best whatever, etc.
- allows the local businesses to add posts or have their own pages
- links in as an application with other social networking sites such as facebook, blogging sites, etc.
- rotating featured companies who have earned the right to get special attention through an innovative product or feature or community service, etc.
What other applications would you like to see on a local Yellow Page social networking site?
Writing Creative for Internet Yellow Pages June 6, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Lind in Internet Yellowpages.Tags: online advertising, writing creative
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I read a post from Seth Godin a couple days ago about writing ad copy. He says that you need to write creative as if you were writing a classified ad. You have 30-50 characters to say what you need to say and draw people in. Once you start with a short phrase, you can carefully insert more words to get to the desired length you want. Godin says to “Gently and carefully add words until it’s as effective as possible, but as short as possible.”
With internet yellow pages or other online advertising placements, it seems that most times once a marketer decides to place an ad online, they throw the basics up – logo, business name, phone number, website – but no one pays any attention to creating the copy. On Superpages and Citysearch, you have 70 characters to state a promotional message and a reason for a customer to visit your site or give you a call. Here are some great examples of advertisers who have taken advantage of those 70 characters:
High Speed Internet Telephone-VOIP-No Contract. USA Cust Support.
Look Great, Feel Great. 25% off. Restylane, Sculptra. Free Consult.
The creative in these ads can stand alone. I didn’t include the title on purpose because you know from the creative what they do. They also make you a promise if you act.
Another thing to consider when writing creative is to tailor it to the channel you are placing advertising on, and by keyword or category. For example, if you are a maid service but you offer window cleaning and you also will wash the dinner dishes, you should have different creative for each. Someone who is looking for a dish washer after a big party is going to expect a different promise from you compared to someone who needs their windows washed.
As internet yellow page sites are expanding to mobile, tv, and other channels, I hope they will eventually consider allowing various types of creative for each outlet. Obviously someone who is driving in their car looking for a place to grab lunch has different needs than someone sitting on the couch ordering pizza.
To summarize: keep it short, make a promise, and tailor to your audience!
