A new breed of Advertising Agency?

The next wave of Local Marketing is here. Traditional avenues for getting your business noticed are dead or dying. The business owners who take steps now to engage the next generation of customers will see success.
 
Jan. 16, 2011 - PRLog -- Today's business owners are faced with an enormous problem. Until a few short years ago the traditional avenues of advertising were sufficient to promote their brand and get noticed. But today things are changing at an exponential rate.

The problem lies in the way that consumers are seeking out the products and services that they buy. Over 80% of U.S. Households have at least one computer; of these, most have two or more.  More and more people are searching online for information before going out to buy locally. All this is probably of no surprise to the reader, but what is surprising is that the local search is shifting from desktop and laptop computers, to smart phones.

For those who don't know, a smart phone is like a scaled down version of a laptop computer, with the capability to make phone calls. More importantly it can access the internet on the go, basically anywhere the user happens to be.

Currently only 10% of all cell phone users own smart phones but experts believe that number will hit 90% by the end of 2012, due to falling prices. In fact, it is expected that smart phones will soon be free because the carriers such as Verizon, Alltel, AT&T, etc. will get a percentage of the marketing budget from the coming flood of mobile advertising.

Ideally a business owner would have the necessary skills to optimize their web presence, but most would prefer to tend to their areas of expertise and turn over the internet marketing to professionals. So a new breed of advertising agency is growing. Their title hasn't yet been defined, but “Local Internet Marketing Consultant” comes close. What they do seems miraculous to most business owners; after a few hours of work they are able to take an unclaimed Google Local page that is sitting 30 or 40 listings down, dress it up with photos, citations, reviews, and even videos, and then usually within a month or two, get that Local page to move up in rank to the top seven listings!

This in itself is worth a lot; in a densely populated area a move like this can result in a 20% increase in phone calls and foot traffic. But a Local Internet Marketing Consultant can do much more. Additional services are available, such as creating signs with QR codes; customers with smart phones and the right application will be able to take a picture of that QR code and link directly to a coupon that they can use right from their smart phone—no need to print and clip!

The consultant can also create signs that invite customers to text a message to a certain number, which gets them opted in to a list so they can receive specials and coupons. The open-up rate for text messages is at about 95%, which is huge.

Here's an example of how this could be used: a local restaurant is having a slow night, so the owner sends out a text message to his/her list that says “25% off of your next meal, including your entire party! Good only for the next three hours.” A person reads that and says, “hey let's go out to eat tonight!” Suddenly that restaurant is filled up with customers.

What does this mean to the small business owner? Simply this: those who position themselves now to engage these next-generation consumers will dominate.

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In the first month we will help our clients claim their Search Engine Local pages; adding photos, reviews, citations, and other details. Each month we update citations and reviews, analyze the client's market position and make recommendations.
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