I recently read a White Paper from Mediative about Local Based Marketing which I found very informative. Here are some of the facts highlights:

• 95% of purchases are made offline
• 80%+ of online consumers use their web-enabled devices to research where to make offline purchases
• 41% of offline retail sales in 2011 (estimated) were web-influenced
• 55% of smartphone owners use their devices frequently while shopping in stores
• 68% of smartphone users visit a business as a result of their mobile search
• 61% of smartphone users have called a business as a result of a local mobile search
• For all smartphone users who conducted a local search, 43% visited the store location and 22% made a purchase at the location
• 60% of mobile users are more likely to search with specific businesses in mind because they are already outside the home and looking for a nearby business to fulfil a need

So, mobile devices are democratizing access to digital content for a broader range of consumers; everyone has access to the same information at the same time.  Mobile is great because it lets consumers stay connected while on-the-go. For marketers, the beautiful thing about this is that – for the first time – digital is interacting in the physical space. That means that “place” can now be central to our digital marketing strategies.  The current marketing reality is a mix: the challenge in the near future will be how to plan strategies that merge the digital and physical worlds.

Accordingly, Yellow Media has established a clear distinction between passive browsing and the more dynamic searching with intent-to-buy.

On search engine properties: Users are both browsing and searching with intent. 20% of searches are conducted with an intent-to-buy in a context of a local need therefore, 20% of search engine’s searches combine location and intention.

With Yellow Media: All users are searching with intent-to-buy. In other words, 100% of the company’s searches combine location and intention. This is a crucial difference for marketers and is worth re-stating:

100% of Yellow Media searches are made within a local context and
with an intent-to-buy.

It all comes down to trust. 30% of Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) users state that they use IYP because:

1. It has a good reputation for local business information
2. They know it has the information about businesses they are searching for

Online searches with a local component are not all created equal. Search Engines claim that 20% of searches on its site are “local based”. But local-based is pretty broad – it can range from local news, to local weather, to scores from the local sports teams. Yellow Media’s definition of local search relates to its mission as a company: to help consumers find local businesses.

The proof is in the pudding: Yellow Media’s focused approach reaches more Canadian consumers than other business search sites:

• 43% reach of all online Canadians
• 83% of online Canadian local business searchers visit Yellow Media sites vs. 10% who visit Google Places
• With close to 4M downloads of Yellow Media’s Find a Business apps, on-the-go mobile customers are using Yellow Pages mobile apps to search for nearby businesses from the palm of their hands.

over 90% of online Canadians are reached by sites with ads from Yellow Media’s advertisers (comScore, 2012).

• Over a year, users give Yellow Pages (print and online directories) more usage (84%) than a search engine alone (76%)
• Yellow Pages properties (45%) are more trusted than search engines (41%) and social networks (1%)

• 45% of offline sales will be web-influenced come 2014
• US local digital ad revenues are expected to nearly double to $42.5B by 2015 from $21.7B in 2010

Get the full eBook on Local Based Marketing today!

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