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With nearly 20 years of experience in database markets, Brian Wool oversees all aspects of Localeze’s sales, business development and client services efforts for local search engines, internet yellow pages and mobile and social local search. Prior to joining Localeze, Wool held sales and marketing positions at comScore Networks, Claritas and Equifax-National Decision Systems.

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The Evolution of Social-Local Search

Written on
Jul 15, 2011 
Author
Brian Wool  |
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The Evolution of Social-Local Search

ADOTAS - Most social media posts are inherently local. Friends post a photo of themselves on Facebook at a new local restaurant, another social connection checks-in to a nearby retail store via Foursquare and so on. All of these online social interactions present tremendous market potential for businesses trying to engage with consumers online.

Before social-local-mobile search, businesses relied on Yellow Pages directories, and then search engines and local search platforms. These advertising tools were and still are the foundation for newer social-mobile apps and sites. However, a transformation has begun.

Search Transforms to Local Search

Yellow Pages were the primary form of local search, before the term local search was ever coined. Print directories were the go-to advertising tool for many businesses and a search starting point for consumers. Search engines in the early 1990s, however, changed everything. For the first time, you didn’t have to go to a print Yellow Pages directory to look up contact detail for a local business. Instead, those details were accessible from your computer, even if it was via dial-up in the early days.

This isn’t to say that all business information could be found online. In fact, it could be spotty at times, but publishers and search engines have worked hard over the years to improve their technology capabilities, ease of use and business data accuracy and reliability.

In 1996, as more consumers started to add a “where” to their search, making queries local in nature, Yellow Pages publishers turned their attention to online directories. And later, in 2005, Google launched their first local product alongside their general search features. About 15 years elapsed between online search’s development and local search becoming a strong focus for the major players.

At the time, the growth from general search to local search seemed on pace and adequate based on technology requirements, business education and awareness and sales, although there wasn’t much to compare it to along the way.  With the growth of social and mobile over the last few years, it almost seems surprising that it took search companies and businesses 15 years to hone in on the power of local search – considering the staggering growth in the number of localized searches conducted by consumers.

Today, BIA/Kelsey forecasts that local search advertising revenues will increase from $5.1 billion in 2010 to $8.2 billion by 2015.  The combination of tech-savvy consumers, the availability of high speed Internet and mobile devices, along with businesses eager to increase their online presence is driving local search closer to social-local-mobile search.

Social-Local-Mobile Connects Businesses and Customers

Previously, businesses had to rely primarily on clicks and calls to measure lead generation, but now they can also utilize mobile app check-ins to find out who has been frequenting their establishments. This includes demographics, like gender and age, as reported on Facebook or Foursquare, that help supplement the detail that clicks and calls provide.

Foursquare also provides metrics including the total number of check-ins to a business, unique visitors, top visitors, check-in times and social sharing figures.  If a business sees that 35 customers checked-in over a given period of time, they might want to consider raising their presence on that particular social site, since they know their audience is engaged and interested in receiving information via that channel.

With these increased insights, business owners can now start to better understand and identify what types of consumers are visiting their stores and purchasing goods and services. This provides a new way for businesses to add relevancy to their marketing campaigns – above and beyond local search advertising – because social engagement like check-ins add the dimension of more precise location, time and previous consumer behavior.

Social-local-mobile also gives businesses outside high engagement industries like restaurants, an opportunity to connect with their consumers, e.g., automotive, real estate and home improvement. For businesses that have less frequent interaction with their clientele, social media and mobile apps open the door for future interactions and up selling. For example, many home and garden centers are using Foursquare and Facebook Places to update customers about new products and special offers.

Beyond check-ins, social-local-mobile technology is evolving rapidly.  In fact, consumers can now even use their smartphone to pay for products in stores and then share those details with friends. This is extending local search even further and presenting businesses with more marketing tools.

We expect innovation around local, mobile and social search to grow exponentially over the next few years bringing more power and capabilities to local search and bringing local businesses closer to consumers. This is largely due to the opportunities that the combination of consumer adoption in social-local-mobile, technology platforms and more savvy businesses bring to the table. Collectively, this combination uniquely positions the local search marketplace for greater growth and additional opportunities.

 





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