Local + Social: the Future of Promotion

Moderator:
Anne F. Kennedy, SES Advisory Board, International Search Strategist, Beyond Ink USA
Speakers:
Benu Aggarwal, Founder & President, Milestone Internet Marketing
Gregg Stewart, President, 15miles

local + social
Gregg Stewart

importance of local search
Online retail only represents 7% of all spending. Most research is done online, but purchases still occur offline for the most part.

Consumers are increasingly using more sources to find local information. 1/3 of Facebook users use Facebook on a mobile device. Social networkers are frequently finding local business information through recommendations from connections and consumer reviews.

Consumers are looking for businesses in a variety of places and expect the information to be easily available and accurate. 49% of social network searchers are looking for address/location and other basic business data.

Best Practices for local search.

business names do not:

• include marketing tag lines in your business name
• incl

business location

• use precise address information
• don’t include an address if you don’t have one

website and phone

• provide a phone number that directly connects to the location described
• local numbers are better than 800 numbers

categories

• use correct categories

custom attributes

• include enhanced listing information

To help ensure that consumers are able to find your pertinent business information, it is important that your business listings are distributed across multiple channels.

It is important that your information appear exactly the same across all distribution channels.

claiming listings and content development

Claiming and optimizing local listings lead to better results

Nearly half of social network searchers select a local business based off of consumer ratings and reviews. Only 23% of consumers have actually left a review online.

Consumers are actively searching for a great deal. Deals are a great way to track interactions.

Local + Social: the future of search
Benu Aggarwal

ultimate goal
Saturate all search engine buckets across all channels

SOLOMO – social local mobile

Hyper local targeting – explore local trends on Twitter

QR codes let you convert your offline users into trackable online visitors, allowing you to interact with them on social channels.

Research the local area and find out hot social trending topics in the local area. Develop a content calendar around events and things to do in the local area.

Businesses should make sure a create a Foursquare business page, instead of just a page listing. Create a special or deal and how the user can unlock the deal. Remember that business info should be consistent across all channels.

• define your goals
• leverage most popular SOLOMO channels
• optimize NAP across all channels

Because business info has to be consistent across all channels, call tracking numbers become an issue. Make sure that you do not classify your tracking numbers and include a local number in your hcard.

Related articles

• SES Live: Local + Social: the Future of Promotion (seroundtable.com)
• The SoLoMo Landscape (outspokenmedia.com)