Earlier this year BrightLocal published results of the 2014 BrightLocal SMB Internet Marketing Survey. One of the key takeaways from the study, written about by Greg Sterling, is that the results showed high “internet marketing effectiveness” ratings despite high churn rates. However, that is not what really got to me. The study broke down data into…
Rebranding is one thing, but reorganizing sales staffs, learning new technologies, updating training practices and basically changing a company from the inside out is a tremendous task. That is precisely the challenge being faced by legacy media organizations whose bottom lines have taken a hit as a result of digital media and device proliferation. However,…
In September, Greg Sterling of LSA and Neal Polachek of BuzzBoard released a free white paper titled, “Local Media Sales 2020: Platforms, Profits or People?” which explored the future of the local digital media sales landscape. To expand on the topic, they, along with Kerry Baldwin of Web.com, held an LSA webinar yesterday. During the…
When it comes to local search advertising, will SMBs be more inclined to utilize automated, self-service tools in coming years? Or will sales reps still play an important role? Only time will tell, but automated services does not equate to self service and small businesses struggle with the time needed to manage self service offerings….
Please join LSA for an exclusive webinar presentation next Tuesday, January 6 from 2 pm – 3 pm EST. The local market is more competitive than ever and profit margins are declining. The cost of a large outside sales force is no longer sustainable. But telephone sales alone won’t work for all accounts and may…
In roughly 2004 the way that paid-search marketing was introduced to many small business advertisers was in the form of a “bucket of clicks” sold by yellow pages publishers and independent sales channels like the now defunct WebVisible. Paid clicks on Google and elsewhere were sold in bundles for a fixed price. That product was easy to…
It looks as though the holiday shopping madness has gotten a little less mad this year. According to a variety of studies (see below), shoppers are spreading purchases out over the Thanksgiving weekend, more are going online to do their shopping, and the number of people choosing to order online and pickup in-store is growing….
The shopping stats are flying fast and furiously. The narrative emerging from this past shopping weekend is that stores suffered traffic and sales declines while online sales and mobile commerce grew. That’s only partly accurate. Certainly mobile shopping growth is one of the most important stories this year. Smartphones and tablets drove roughly 50% of traffic to websites…
Research from Google and CEB says that 57% of a prospect’s buying decision is based on what they’ve found online. Google calls this the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT)—the point in the buying cycle when a consumer researches a product before the seller even knows they exist. Armed with this data, inbound marketing advocates say…
