Over the past few years, we’ve seen a dramatic shift in the way consumers seek out information about a business: from desktop, to mobile, to voice search (now 20% of searches according to Google).  The information provided in response to queries is also changing, with more precise answers tailored to the individual asking the questions.  We’ve gone from Google delivering 10 blue links on a page to nearly every search we do now returning maps powered by diverse types of data, from menus and product offerings to reviews and opening hours.  If you ask Google for information about Premier Inn, it gives deep attributes & facts about the hotel each having an impact on the customer perception and intent. 
 

So far 2017 has been the year for digital assistants, with an expected 33 million voice-first devices in circulation by end of year.  The voice landscape is a fascinating environment with huge possibilities and challenges for marketers.  The biggest challenge being that, when a person performs a voice search, they often only receive one answer in response, which means it’s no longer good enough for a business to rank second. If you’re not number one, you won’t be discovered.

This will make the search landscape more competitive than ever.

To accommodate this shift, search engines have moved towards mobile-friendly results across the board, favouring locally-optimised information determined by relevance, proximity and prominence. When searching for a restaurant or pub near me, results are prefiltered based on these factors, with high star rated businesses topping the list. According to Google, nearly one-third of all mobile searches are performed by people looking for businesses nearby. Of these local searches, 76% convert to a business visit within one day and 28% of those visits result in a purchase. Your local search results are your brand in the eyes of the customer.

The question marketers need to ask themselves is ‘are they in control of the digital knowledge presented to the public about their business’. The choice is whether to leave control of your brand image and reputation to search crawlers and crowd-sourced content, or to have a strategy to present the best version of your brand everywhere your customer is.

Why should a business care about digital knowledge management?

Digital knowledge is at the centre of this search ecosystem, powering results that provide searchers with useful information about people, products and places of interest: What time does a restaurant open and close? What are today’s specials? Are there any promotions running? Ensuring the search ecosystem presents the searcher with all the correct information they require can result in increased traffic and revenue, more inbound phone calls, e-commerce transactions and you getting the business over your competitors.

But what if the facts presented about the business are wrong? What’s the impact on a business and the customer experience, especially in a world where people want accurate and complete information in the moment?  Here’s a good example.  If you search Bing, Apple Maps or Facebook for information about the Marlborough Head pub in Farnham it shows the pub is open for business. See the first Bing example below.

On the surface, looks brilliant, all the information in one place. However, there’s one big problem, the pub closed down around six months ago as shown in the second Google example. Frustrating for customers who don’t look at Google and turn up for a night out with their friends.

In a survey Yext conducted among 2,000 UK consumers, 80% said they had encountered incorrect online information about a business, and over half of them said it is not a rare occurrence. This information included data about opening hours, products and services, phone numbers, addresses and promotions.  The most worrying statistic is that nearly half of all consumers blame the business itself for data issues encountered in its online presence, affecting their reputation.

Here are five key things a business can do to ensure it is prominent and relevant at every consumer interaction:

1. Think about the whole digital ecosystem –  You need a vibrant and active presence.  This isn’t just Google and Facebook, you need to include Snapchat, Instagram, Uber, Bing, car GPS systems, maps, apps, Apple, Yelp etc.
2. Maintain and manage accurate business data – A business must be able to manage and maintain accurate facts and attributes including locations, opening hours, menu options, reservations, products and ensure this data is accurate and represented on web pages per individual locations.  It’s imperative to have a robust internal system to centralise this data or find partners to automate this.  Managing this data manually is extremely labour and time intensive especially if you have hundreds of locations.
3. Deploy rich localised content – The richer the information about your business, the better.  Include photos and videos, business descriptions, products, service offerings, local promotions and events, Snapchat Geofilters etc.
4. Create relevant, real-time content – Create an agile strategy that enables the business to continuously deliver fresh content, as fresh content drives prominence.
5. Implement a consumer review strategy – Consumer reviews, not just opinion, now impact and affect organic search results.  Make sure your business has a robust consumer reviews strategy in place which includes brand, product and location reviews right down to an individual location level.

Businesses can increase their share of intelligent search, the new way that people are searching, by establishing a digital knowledge management strategy about their people, places and products.  This will help them to take control of the public facts about their business across the whole ecosystem.  These facts will be increasingly influential in signalling to search engines and voice search AI, for example, that you fulfil the needs of the searcher.

The post How Advances in Search are Forcing Brands to Rethink Digital appeared first on PerformanceIN.

Retailers with e-commerce sites have been grappling for years with the phenomenon of cart abandonment – the majority of online shoppers leaving sites before completing a purchase. 

Although online-only retailers are justifiably concerned about missed opportunities, those with brick-and-mortar locations should take heart. Not every cart abandoner is a missed sale; many of these people are later walking through shop doors to buy in person. Many cart-abandoners never intend to check out online in the first place.

Cart abandoners are comparison shoppers, often using the cart for research before buying in person at their local store. Local search has been on the rise in recent years to the tune of 146% year-on-year according to Google, as customers increasingly use smartphones to find physical stores nearby. And local search is big business; 76% of “near me” searches on Google result in a store visit within 24 hours.

There are many reasons for the customer journey from online research to in-person purchase. For items like clothes, musical instruments, and high-value items there is a prevalent “try before you buy” preference, where people need to see and touch the product in order to feel comfortable buying it.

For others, like hot tech gadgets and highly anticipated books, customers simply do not want to wait for the items to ship, and would rather go to the store to get them sooner. In these cases, customers who did their research on your site are likely to buy from your shop, as they now know your price for the item and that you carry it. The convenience of e-commerce still can’t beat the in-store experience.  

It’s not all good news, though. This means competition to win those users on the high street and drive them into store is moving to local search, and winning the battle for search ranking increasingly makes the difference between winning and losing these mobile customers. If your customer searches retailers where one can buy an item and your store location does not pop up on the map on the customer’s mobile phone, the sale will likely go to a nearby competitor.

So how do retailers improve their local search ranking and convert these savvy consumers? Winning the competition for the highest quality location data is critical.

Accuracy

Your store name, address, phone number, hours, products, and any other relevant information have to be up to date in your business listings, or you risk a needless loss of revenue. Search engines favour listings with more information over those with less because they are optimised to serve up all the information the customer needs to know. Simply having a listing is not enough.

Consistency

The highest-ranked businesses are listed on all major online publishers, not just Google and Yell, but Facebook, Yelp, and even hyperlocal business directories.

There are two reasons to prioritise this; the first is that you want customers to find you no matter where they search. The long-tail of where people search is important.  In such a competitive landscape, imagine telling your CEO that you’re not interested in converting the 2% of folks searching on a more niche search engine or directory.  

The second is that consistency of online information signals to Google and other search engines that your business location is, in fact, legitimate and up-to-date. Consistency is crucial in this respect, and incorrect data anywhere can seriously impact search rank overall.

Local customisation

Anything you can do to make each location’s online presence robust positively impacts its search discoverability and signals legitimacy as well as a better customer experience to search engines. 

Local pages for individual business locations are an increasingly important front in the contest for a share of search. Imagine searching for the nearest location of an Italian restaurant chain to check times and menu, and being taken to the corporate home page, leaving you to then navigate their site to find the specific detail you want; web pages for each location are essential for optimisation and for improved conversion. 

At the dawn of e-commerce in the 90s, there was much hand-wringing about the downfall of in-person shopping. It’s ironic to see the roles reversed less than 20 years later. But just as they were then, the dire predictions may be overblown. Yes, commerce has changed. We are more mobile and informed consumers than ever before. But e-commerce and brick-and-mortar are not competitors in a zero-sum game, they’re complementary stops on the digital customer journey.

By building a robust digital presence that includes a world-class local search discoverability strategy, retailers can convert cart abandoners into in-person buyers and successfully bridge the digital and physical shopping divide

The post The Rise of Local Search & Why Cart Abandonment May Not be a Problem appeared first on PerformanceIN.

The Christmas season is a make-or-break time of year for local businesses, and reaching mobile customers during this season is more important than ever.

From watching ads to searching online, and from finding transportation to navigating the in-store experience, consumers are becoming increasingly dependent on their mobile devices for every stage of the customer journey.

When 75% percent of UK retailers rely on the Christmas period for over a fifth of annual sales, there’s every reason to plan ahead, and ensure you maximise on this festive opportunity.

Here are some tips to help guide your mobile-first marketing strategy this Christmas season.

Update your local listings (and check them twice!)

Optimise your local listings in response to customers’ mobile phone searches to ensure you amplify foot traffic to your location. At Yext, we found that high-intent mobile searches, i.e. those likely to lead to sales, occurred at a rate 70% higher than normal around major holidays, such as Thanksgiving or Christmas. Ensuring your online listings are accurate is crucial to taking advantage of this time.

Confirm your holiday hours

The chances are, your store hours will be altered in some way during the Christmas season. Whether you are extending your hours, cutting them back or not changing them at all, it’s imperative that you confirm your listed hours of operation for every upcoming holiday.

Updating your special hours is more important than ever because Google now alerts searchers to whether holiday hours are confirmed or not. And with one in four shoppers saying they’ll steer clear of a nearby store altogether if they feel uncertain about the accuracy of its listing, you risk losing business if you don’t give this detail its due diligence.

Make sure your information is consistent. Everywhere

This Christmas, 60% of smartphone owners plan to use their devices to find store locations. Location has become essential to the mobile experience and to many of the most popular mobile apps. With consumers’ increasing reliance on ride-sharing services like Uber to get where they need to go, it’s more important than ever to have your location data accurate online.

Each piece of the shopper’s journey – from using your store locator to checking-in – should be seamless. This becomes even more important in the week of Christmas. These last-minute customers are less likely to compare shops, and are even more reliant on their smartphones. These shoppers look to get the information they need quickly and don’t have time to spend searching around.

Shoppers will use their phones during every step of the customer journey. Staying on top of your digital channels this festive season will be key to having a productive and happy Christmas, for you and your business.

The post Making the Most of Mobile to Maximise your Christmas Potential appeared first on PerformanceIN.

Last year’s Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes Report from Ofcom, revealed that there has been an increase in the number of adults going online since 2012, particularly those over the age of 65. This shift in demographic represents a massive source of untapped revenue for retailers and service providers, not least because this age group often have the money as well as the time to purchase online. However, according to a recent Criteo survey investigating consumer’s attitudes and behaviours towards advertising, browsing and shopping online, many advertising campaigns are failing to appeal to consumers over the age of 45, let alone those in the 65+ bracket.

In general, the survey results found that those aged over 55 are frustrated by the adverts they view online; they find them irrelevant and intrusive. Not surprisingly more than 65% said they would like to get rid of advertising all together. It would appear that not only are brands failing to engage with older users, but advertisements could stimulate negative associations with brand messaging and ad content. To combat this and capitalise on the ‘silver pound’, brands need to adopt a personalised approach, in order to serve timely and relevant ads that appeal to those of a certain age. 

‘Silver Surfers’

To date many advertisers have taken a one size fits all approach and this was reflected through the survey results. It has not taken long for many to realise though, that this does not work. Silver Surfers cannot be treated the same as millennials. Indeed figures published by eMarketer found there was a clear divide between younger (under 45) and more mature generations (45 and over), with the latter requiring an even more personalised approach when it comes to advertising. 

In fact, the survey results went on to identify some key differences in demographics – all of which need to be considered when marketers are designing campaigns. For example, a third of 16-24 year olds have a strong positive reaction to attractive imagery in online advertising, but only a tenth of over 55s feel the same; 16-24 year olds were almost twice as receptive to ad placements on non-familiar websites, with the over 55s preferring ads on site the know and trust.

Something else for marketers to consider is how the older generation acknowledges adverts online. The results show they are much more prone to noticing an advert on a webpage they have visited before, rather than on a website they were visiting for the first time. This is in stark contrast to the younger generations who tended to notice an advert as long as it was relevant, no matter the website. Again, this is a huge endorsement for ad personalisation rather than spray and pray tactics. 

Thankfully for Silver Surfers, marketers are making changes – adverts are becoming more relevant with the survey results showing 11% of those over 55 finding ads more relevant now than a year ago.  This is only a small improvement and significantly lower than that of the figure for 16-24 year olds (46.6%), but it is an improvement nevertheless.  We can’t stop there though – more needs to be done. Brands need to think about the individual, delivering relevant, timely bespoke ads to will engage both the grandparents among us and those still in their teens.  

The post Mature Content: How to Advertise to the Older Generations appeared first on PerformanceIN.