Local Lead Machines

3rd Party Social Proof

How To Create Instant Social Proof For Your Prospects

Before you make this investment for your business to drive targeted leads using the power of internet marketing and social media, Here are some Quick Links To Check Out: http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/05/10/entrepreneurs-journal-ramp-up-yourcustomer-leads-with-local-w/ http://eyetools.com/research_google_eyetracking_heatmap.html http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/small-business-seo-costs-expectationsrealities/2081/ http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/onlinemarketing/article174700.html http://www.kelseygroup.com/services/view-ILM-Summary.asp? DocID=2092&SFlag=No http://knowem.com/ Many times Im asked for 3rd party proof (news stories & studies) showing why internet marketing for local offline businesses is 1. needed and 2. better than traditional offline marketing. Now of course I have a huge list in my mind but to suspend any disbelief, here is some recent 3rd party proof I came up with. 1. The Kelsey Groups Annual Forecast: Global Search & Local Search March 23, 2009 Source: http://www.kelseygroup.com/services/vie ... 2&SFlag=No Interactive Local Medias latest global search and local search forecast projects that in most established interactive markets, local search growth will outpace topline search growth through 2013. Local businesses and those that target geographic areas will make a sustained effort to build Web sites, buy search, add content and actively manage their online presence. Overall, we are more bullish on the local search market (and related areas) than in previous years. 2. This one is from 2005 but even back then it showed the benefits of Local Online Marketing - 70% of U.S. Households Now Use the Internet When Shopping Locally for Products and Services March 22, 2005

Source: http://www.kelseygroup.com/press/pr050322.asp Findings also suggest the Internet is poised to surpass newspapers as a local shopping information resource. Princeton, NJ (March 22, 2005) -- According to a new study by The Kelsey Group and ConStat, Inc., 70 percent of U.S. households now use the Internet as an information source when shopping locally for products and servicesan increase of 16 percent since October 2003. This puts the Internet on par with newspapers as a local shopping information resource, with the Internet likely to surpass the impact of newspapers in the very near future. Use of the Internet as a shopping resource is already changing the face of local advertising, said Neal Polachek, senior vice president, The Kelsey Group. Traditional local advertising media must find ways to evolve or risk losing dollars to the new advertising options available to local and small businesses. Most of the Internets growth for shopping research can be attributed to large search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and Ask Jeeves, the usage of which increased significantly, from 47 percent in 2003 to 55 percent in 2005, said Tim Trickett, vice president of business development at ConStat. Further, the research shows that the increase in usage of the major search engines has been powered by broadband users exclusively. 3. Offline Traditional Brick-and-Mortar retailers are loosing to Online ecommerce stores in the search results. Feb. 4, 2009 Source: http://www.internet-engine.net/RetailSearchPresence.htm Online retailers represent over 30% of the search listings from a typical online retail search on a major search engine, while brick-and-mortar stores only show up in searches 12% of the time, according to an analysis of search-engine results by Internet-Engine . The results from the Retail Search Presence Study reveal that online-only retailers, such as Amazon.com, have a very strong presence in both paid and organic search listings, while brick-and-mortar retailers despite a slight increase in search presence over the past three years consistently have the weakest performance of every group, including manufacturers who do not sell directly to consumers, MarketingCharts writes . The research suggests that traditional retailers might not be keeping up with changes in consumer behavior since they are relying on a brand-push marketing strategy while online retailers using search marketing present a consumer-pull

strategy, said Internet-Engine. "Online retailers have developed and maintained a dominant presence in search marketing," said Thom Disch, Internet-Engines CEO and the director of the study. "To put this in perspective, when a shopper does a search on the internet, he or she will find three listings from on-line retailers for every one listing from a traditional retailer. I find it very surprising that brick and mortar retailers have not invested more dollars in search marketing, since e-commerce sales have grown 28% since 2006 (according to comScore ) while total retail sales have grown by only 3% over the same time period." Free vs. Paid Results Show More Dramatic Difference The study also compared paid and free search results and finds that the free or organic listings of the traditional retailer websites have only a 2% share of the total listings. This is dramatically smaller than the share for free listings for eCommerce sites at 17%, shopping comparison sites at 11% and manufacturers websites at 10%. "Not appearing in the free listings means that the brick-and-mortar retailers must spend more of their money on paid search listings which ultimately will have a negative impact on their overall profitability," said Disch. "Investing in search optimization techniques to increase the organic or free listings would help these traditional retailers by balancing their listing placements, reducing their overall costs and increasing their market presence." 4. Online Ad Spending To Follow Video and Social Networking May 1, 2009 Source: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/? ... aid=104833 According to a new report on the Global Online Media Landscape by The Nielsen Company Online, engagement by Internet users is deepening, in part a result of a shift toward video content and social networking as popular online subcategories. Highlights of the report include: * The number of American users frequenting online video destinations has climbed 339% since 2003 * Time spent on video sites has shot up almost 2,000% over the same period * In the last year, unique viewers of online video grew 10%, the number of streams grew 41%, the streams per user grew 27% and the total minutes engaged with online video grew 71% * There are 87% more online social media users now than in 2003, with 883% more time devoted to those sites.

* In the last year, time spent on social networking sites has surged 73% * In February, social network usage exceeded Web-based e-mail usage for the first time. Charles Buchwalter, SVP, Research and Analytics, Nielsen Online, says "The Internet remains a place of continuing innovation, with users finding new ways to integrate online usage into their daily lives... " Since 2003, interests of the average online user have shifted significantly from portal-oriented browsing sites such as Shopping Directories and Guides and Internet Tools/Web Services, to video and social networking sites that have moved to the forefront, becoming the two fastest growing categories in 2009. With the global recession in full swing, says the report, online display advertising has plateaued at 20% of total online ad spend in the U.S.. Spending on online display advertising by financial services, automobile and retail companies has declined steeply. On the other hand, several key, heavy ad-spending industries such as healthcare, consumer products and telecommunications appear to be moving even more spending online. The longer-term prospects for global online advertising continue to be brighter. Projecting, Nielsen reported: * Led by social media, search and video, the Internet's share of total ad spend will continue its steady upward trend as global economies emerge from the current recession * Given the increased focus on digital marketing by leading packaged goods companies, the Internet's share of commerce will continue to rise * In the age of Twitter, feedback barriers have all but disappeared, creating a near friction-free environment for playing back brand experience, campaign reactions or brand events. Recent public cases show that marketers must be quick to react to these channels of instant feedback * 30% of U.S. mobile subscribers recalled seeing some form of advertising while using their mobile phones, up from 18% one year prior

Why Local Search? According to a Piper Jaffray 2008 research paper, 30 percent of all queries contain a city, state or zip code. With 2.6 billion local searches performed each month, the Internet has now surpassed print Yellow Pages and newspaper as a primary source for local consumer service information.

And the adoption of smart phones will only add to these numbers; 27 percent of all mobile searches are for local information. SMBs Continue to Shift Their Advertising Mix to Online By Gregg Stewart, Search Engine Watch, Sep 18, 2009 With broadband improvements and the economy forcing an increased scrutiny on every advertising dollar comes a turning point for SMB media buying habits. For the first time, SMBs used more online advertising than traditional media advertising, according to the "Local Commerce Monitor Wave XIII," from The Kelsey Group and ConStat. As of August, 77 percent of U.S. SMBs are using online for advertising. As more SMBs and national advertisers who desire to target locally crowd into the local search space, look for the competition and potentially the price of placements to increase. If you're new to the local space, dive in and make sure to track your progress. U.S. SMBs that use Online vs. Traditional Media for advertising, 2007-2009

SOURCE- The Kelsey Group