Want to get online?

Let’s be careful out there!

I heard from a friend of mine this week – he owns a local jewelry business here in Westchester County NY. Antique jewelry, unique hand-made pieces, buys gold, etc (great stuff for the holidays, by the way). I’ve been helping him with some social media marketing, and he mentioned that he’s been receiving numerous calls from an “Internet marketing company” this month.

These automated calls were getting annoying, so he finally pushed “#1″  to speak with a Rep and be taken off the list. This is where it got entertaining…

The Rep said “sure, no problem” and then proceeded to launch into his pitch;

“I’ve got some bad news, but I believe in ripping off the band aid quickly, so I’ll cut to the chase. Your business is not optimized. You cannot be found online.  Your Google listing is not set up correctly, and you’re missing a huge opportunity. Would you like to be #1?”

     ”Uh, I am online, and I’m already in many of the top positions. Have you checked”?

Clearly this person is sitting on the opposite end of a automated predictive dialer, and no real analysis is being done. In fact, I’m sure he’s not even looking at the website. This Rep then proceeded to ask for the keywords, typed them in, saw the first position listing and without hesitation – hung up! Nice, huh?

It’s practices like this that I fear are starting to give our industry a tarnished image. I urge any business I speak with to consider the marketing companies track-record and history; disregard promises and guarantees. How many years have they been in business? Are they local? Do they have any testimonials or success stories to share?

If you’re a local business you’re no doubt getting solicited by these fly-by-night companies at an increasing rate. Unrealistic claims and guarantees are being thrown at an alarming rate, so please – read these important warnings and hey – “let’s be careful out there“!

Apple’s iPhone and iPad helped make mobile devices a key driver of Thanksgiving and Black Friday e-commerce this year, according to a report from IBM Coremetrics.

Online Thanksgiving shopping grew by 39.3 percent year over year, creating momentum that continued into Black Friday, where online sales grew by 24.3 percent compared with the same period last year, said the report(PDF).

And Black Friday witnessed the arrival of the mobile deal seeker, who embraced his or her mobile device as a research tool for in-store and online bargains. Mobile traffic came close to tripling year over year, to 14.3 percent on Black Friday 2011 from 5.6 percent last year.

The iPhone and the iPad accounted for 10.2 percent of all Black Friday online traffic. The iPhone and the iPad ranked 1 and 2 for mobile device retail traffic (5.4 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively). Android-based devices came in third at 4.1 percent.

But it’s not all about mobile browsing. The value of individual orders also increased, while the number of items purchased decreased. Home goods, for example, saw an average order-value increase of nearly 16 percent, while the number of items per order dropped by more than 6 percent.

Here’s a rundown of the report’s other key findings:

• Sales on mobile devices surged year over year, to 9.8 percent from 3.2 percent.
• Shoppers using the iPad accounted for more actual purchases per visit than shoppers using other mobile devices, with conversion rates reaching 4.6 percent for the Apple device versus 2.8 percent for overall mobile devices.
• Mobile shoppers demonstrated a laser focus that surpassed that of other online shoppers, with a 41.3 percent bounce rate on mobile devices versus a rate of 33.1 percent for shoppers on other computing gadgets. The bounce rate records how often people jump from one site to another looking for the best deal on a particular item, rather than browsing around through various items in a more leisurely fashion.
• Shoppers referred from social networks generated 0.53 percent of all online sales on Black Friday. Facebook led the pack, accounting for 75 percent of all traffic from social networks.

From a local search optimization point of view, it’s essential for local businesses to include local terms (aka “geo-modifiers”) in their site content and link building activities. Google needs to know where you’re located and which areas you serve in order to return your business as a search result for a relevant, local search.

Some fantastic local SEO tips researched and included in last weeks “Locals Only” column. Specifically; 

• How do searchers go about their search for local businesses?
• Do most searchers use local modifiers or not?
• Do searchers expect to get local results for a generic, non-local search term?

This panel consists of 1,250 “local consumers” based in the U.S. (broad mix of ages, gender and location). We received 1,081 responses to this survey; this findings include: 

• 60% of searchers said that local listings with a photograph grab their attention more than standard listings.
• The survey also shows that 17% of searchers never use a local modifier in their search terms, with this percentage rising to 21% among younger searchers. However, older searchers are more inclined to add a local modifier to their search terms — 63% usually do.
• People generally use street names when they’re looking for a specific business — i.e. they know the business name and its location but they are looking for contact details, driving directions or some other specific piece of information.

Read the entire article here.

As discussed here last year, certain local service and retail type businesses need to be optimized and visible by November to capture their fair-share of increased online activity. And here’s a new statistic; Google states “44 percent of total searches for last minute gifts and store locator terms will be from mobile devices this holiday season“

So, it’s not just about being visible – it’s now about being “mobile ready“. Google recently announced the importance of websites being optimized for mobile, which includes incentives such as higher Quality scores in AdWords programs.

Most businesses experience ups and downs throughout the year; some cyclical, some triggered by one-time events.  The holiday’s of course are a biggie. Changing seasons, one-time events and increased competition are also factors. Thinking 30-days ahead of the predictable trends and positioning yourself  “ahead of the curve” will ensure you remain competitive. At the same time, you’ll capture additional new customers and gain market share.

Now stop procrastinating and get that campaign going!

To achieve a high-level of online visibility and internet marketing success, local businesses need to consider multiple factors…  

2011 will mark the year that this new digital marketing model exploded, and if you’re a local business owner you can probably relate as you field weekly calls from Groupon, Living Social and others. 

Since Groupon launched in late 2008, more than 400 additional companies have entered 80+ U.S. markets, including pure-plays, aggregators, publishers and retailers. In fact, the daily deals market will generate over $3 billion in 2011, and this is predicted to double by 2013.

Despite some mixed early results, local businesses are increasingly attracted to the “no risk” propositions of daily deals, and are already starting to shift existing marketing budgets.

The latest research released last week from Opus provided some timely information on the daily deals space, including: 

• The daily deals model appeals to both consumers and merchants, though challenges exist in sustaining that appeal. Deals also sit at the center of three powerful digital marketing trends: local, social and mobile.

• There are two types of daily deals: specific item/service promotions and dollar deals. Dollar promotions may be “safer” in some respects, but item deals appear to perform better overall for merchants.

• Though they’re typically not being communicated to business owners, a number of daily deal best practices are starting to emerge.

• Just over 50% of deals are profitable for merchants and up to 48% of merchants indicate an intention to offer another daily deal.  

• Merchants and consumers show limited awareness of or loyalty to particular deal providers. Yet winners will necessarily emerge.

 This is a land grab, and a huge game-changer within local Internet marketing. 

Ultimately, I don’t believe more than a dozen or so providers will be in existence long-term; some will go public, some will succeed vertically, and a few aggregators will strike profitable, large long-term deals. Faulty deals that create dissatisfied advertisers will quickly burn the marketplace as well as the vendors brand. 

The most successful providers however will succeed by focusing on distribution, favorable pay-out terms, competitive margings (commissions), levergeing social, penetrating local/mobile, and most importantly by implementing “best practices“. By that, I mean setting proper expectations with the advertiser, insuring that proper inventory exists (in-stock products or service appointments), and that the details of the offer itself will drive a postitive R.O.I. 

This is new, unexplored territory for Advertisers, so the responsibility of insuring that the deal makes financial and practical sense rests with the provider (and Sales Rep). The latest example of this NOT happening is detailed here. The goals and objectives of the advertiser must be understood before a proper deal can be structured and executed.  

And  finally, at the end of the day, we need to remember that this is about commerce; the purchasing of goods and services, usually at a local level. Business owners want customers, not necessarily clicks, impressions or “likes”. The providers that are in-tune with the challenges of SMB’s and local commerce will be successful, and the Advertisers that structure the best offers (which they can execute without delay) will win.

NOTE: this is not me.

I’ve been in the “local search” business since the earliest days. From selling IYP on BigYellow.com, the Yahoo! Yellow Pages and InfoSpace in the 90′s, to SEM, SEO and more recently Social Media, video and Reputation Management services – and all I can say is “I’ve heard it all”!

Lately however, there seems to be a higher proliferation of questionable sales pitches and practices – and it’s not just coming from the local independent guys or fly-by-night start up’s. Increasingly, these unrealistic promises and aggressive lyrics are being used by larger, more “legitimate” firms in the SMB space. Some discussion on this being a sales “training issue” recently took place over on Screenwerk, but I think there is more to it than that…

The reality is this; the marketplace continues to become more competitive. Local search represents the fastest growing segment of online marketing – and some companies/individuals will say just about anything to get their piece of the pie. Additionally, the continued fragmentation and complexities of the “splinternet” is generating more confusion for business owners. Although most local business now realize they need to be visible wherever and whenever potential customers are searching, I think their judgement can become easily impaired under some of these strong sales and closing tactics.

I’ve personally taken a great amount of pride in setting realistic expectations with clients. As a seasoned sales professional I’ve learned that as much as one wants to exceed quota or win the current sales contest; it’s a consistent honest, realistic and passionate approach that wins the game and builds long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. Strong Clients relationships are a journey – not a destination.

So as a public service, here are the latest and most frequently heard unrealistic and questionable sales tactics to look out for…

• Performance guarantees! Any time the word “guarantee” is used within the world of marketing, watch out! This is especially true in the areas of SEM & SEO. There are never any guarantee: not with PPC positioning, not within organic rank, not within local listings and certainly not regarding your advertising ROI. This is one of the most popular tactics being used; “Mr. Business, I guarantee first position in 30 days, for $199/month”! Run for the hills…
• Something for nothing? Online, local businesses really can get something for nothing! Inclusion within Google Place Pages, Yahoo! Local and Bing Maps is FREE, and it’s a good place to start building an online presence. As a matter of fact – most businesses already have some level of inclusion – but “claiming” that listing and optimizing it for better rank is the next natural step. This can usually be done with minimal time and expertise (although true website SEO is a critical ranking component – with this you’ll need some assistance). I’ve personally received calls (as have my clients) from Marketing Representatives that offer Google listings for a flat fee of $49, $99, or even several hundreds of dollars per-month! Now, having the marketing experience and knowledge to optimize a Place Page does have some value, but positioning the service a recurring $99/month charge into perpetuity is where I have a problem…
• Optimization of ___ (fill in the blank). I recently worked with a Client that got swindled into a long-term contract for optimization services, and thanks to that ineffective effort – this business now falls into a growing group of “SEO doubters”. “Optimization” is quickly becoming the most mis-used term in our industry. Everyone it seems wants to “optimize” something, but few of these SEO services I’m hearing within the local-space really address all the critical SEO factors (on-page factors, inbound links, social, listings, ratings/reviews, etc.). High organic rank and visibility is a product of multiple efforts and hard work – don’t’ get fooled by anything less. Ask for references!
• Cheap SEO/or cheaper PPC. Generally speaking, you get what you pay for. In the world of PPC, I’m continually surprised at the number of business owners that fall victim to claims of cheaper pay-per-click advertising. PPC is a commodity, and outside of set-up or monthly service fees the market/competition is what dictates the budget (“supply and demand”). The best PPC agencies don’t sell on price, they propose budgets that would maximize advertising R.O.I. SEO on the other hand is more of a “service” that consists of significant man-hours and expertise. Some components of SEO may be more competitive if fulfilled off-shore, but generally speaking – a full-blown, inclusive and effective SEO project cannot be completed for less than several thousand dollars. Watch out for the one-size fits-all “cookie cutter” strategy!

Feel free to “comment” and let us know what you’ve heard out there as well…