Local Search Marketing White Paper

LocaL SearchMarketing:

targeting conSuMerS in aDiverSe MeDia LanDScape

Local Search Study — Media Usage TrendsWhite Paper General FindingsSeptember 2009

Search in a conSuMer-controLLeD anDMeDia-SaturateD MarketpLace

In the past, companies successully marketed to audiences through a ew select mediachannels, but what used to work is no longer as eective. Mass marketing used to sufcebecause consumers only had access to a select number o businesses and a limited amounto media outlets or advertising exposure. Truth is, today’s consumers are inundated by anabundance o business choices and media channels, especially with the rise o interactivedigital platorms. With so much multimedia available today, you would think reachingtargeted consumers would be easier. But targeting your message is difcult in a media-saturated marketplace because potential customers are scattered across many dierentcommunication outlets.Not only do consumers have more media choices than ever, they are fnding ways to blockout marketing messages and can selectively control how they receive your advertising. Thismeans that empowered consumers today are seeking out relevant business inormationwhen they need it or, more importantly, when they are ready to buy. This is causingmarketers to change their approach o outbound marketing, or the process o reaching outto unsolicited audiences — oten via mass advertising — with the hope o resonating with aew people. The ocus today is shiting heavily toward consumer searches. Rather than takecostly chances by marketing to uninterested consumers, companies are adopting marketingstrategies that help them get ound by searching consumers who have highly relevant,product- or service-specifc needs. Marketers use consumer-initiated media channels toprovide consumers with the inormation or direction they need — at the critical moment o purchase selection — to perorm specifc actions such as contact local businesses or makepurchase decisions. The power has shited to consumers, who now have the reedom to seekout businesses on their terms and through the media channels they eel most comortableusing.This marketing shit has created a booming, constantly evolving industry o consumersearch among print, online and mobile platorms. In act, total U.S. searches grew by 31percent across all platorms between June 2008 and June 2009 (21.9 billion total searchesin June 2009), spurred primarily by a growing base o 202 million searchers. But asconsumers migrate to the Internet and other digital communication platorms, media usageis constantly changing, oten leaving traditional methods in the wake o innovation. Thegood news or marketers is that consumers are searching or business inormation, but thequestion is, “How are they searching?”To help you arrive upon the best ways o getting ound, we analyzed the latest media trendsand developments so you can better understand the constantly evolving search landscapeand its eects on consumer behavior. Our study fndings provide the data necessary to helpyou develop search marketing strategies that apply a better use o a balanced, integratedmedia mix or connecting with your target audience across multiple platorms. As soonas you understand consumer media selection, you can begin to more eectively engagepotential customers, yield measurable results, and meet your specifc advertising andmarketing objectives o growing your brand awareness and sales.

LocaL Search StuDy objectiveS anD MethoDoLogy

The objective o our annual study, commissioned through comScore, was to monitor theshits in consumer behavior and media selection within the ramework o local search.Understanding these shits helps us determine how consumers use search engines as wellas print and Internet Yellow Pages. In order to get the most accurate depiction o consumersearch, our study consisted o two parts: survey results and observed online behavior. Thesetwo components help us determine i what consumers say about their search experiencesare in line with how they actually search.

Survey Results

Survey results were collected in Q2 and Q3 o 2009. All behavioral data is rom Q2 2009,while our survey was felded and completed in July 2009. For survey purposes, localbusiness search is defned as ollows: “Local business inormation includes details suchas the business name, phone number, address, hours o operation, specials, promotions,products carried, payment types accepted, etc.”Surveys were administered to actual online users o local business search platorms.Our survey sample was based on comScore’s proprietary panel o two million onlineconsumers. Panelists were e-mailed an invitation to participate in the survey, which requiredapproximately 15 minutes to complete. Survey results are based on 4,000 completedresponses, which we collected and grouped into three major site categories (see Table 1).

Observed Online Behavior

Observed online behavior results are based on a sample o one million consumers whoagreed to have their online search behavior monitored anonymously.

IYP: Internet Yellow Pages (+/-2.8)Local Search Sites (+/-2.9)General Search Sites (+/-2.4)

SuperpagesGoogle Local/MapsGoogle YELLOWPAGESYahoo! LocalYahoo!DexKnowsMSN Local (Live.com/Bing)Bing YellowbookCitysearchAOLLocal.comAskCity.Ask.com/Maps.Ask.comMapQuest

Margin o error: all respondents (+/-1.6).*These three groups, which are reerenced throughout our study, have been identifed to show that consumers searchdierently online, depending on their search needs.

Table 1. Local Search Site Categorization.