Primitive (and perhaps misleading) estimates on effective ROI have driven many local publishers up the wall. During Yelp's IPO period, one analyst suggested that it cost pizza shops almost a hundred dollars in advertising on Yelp for every pizza sold.…
BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local 2013 conference March 18-20 in Boston broke so much new ground it's hard to build a report card on what happened among the 50+ speakers and hundreds of participants. But the "local industry" has clearly moved…
Significant news in the online presence/reputation management space came across the wire at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local conference last week in Boston, as VendAsta announced $8.25 million in Series B funding to accelerate the company's holistic identity/reputation/social management solution. In…
The recent Boston Consulting Group study done in cooperation with Yelp, raises many questions about SMB online ad spend and presence. We want to comment on the key top-level metric they reported: Three percent of their [SMBs] advertising budgets flows…
Yellow Media's longtime CEO Marc Tellier is stepping down and the company is seeking a replacement who can lead it through a full transformation to digital. Tellier has been at Yellow Media's helm since October 2001. He has agreed to stay…
At this week's Leading in Local conference we introduced a new dimension. From now on, we'll be holding startup competitions in order to invite "new blood" into the atmosphere. This builds from the Future Stars program we launched last year.…
To close out BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local Conference, Hearst Executive Vice President and BIA/Kelsey conference regular Lincoln Millstein gave a cautiously optimistic view of print media's future in a brave new mobile and social world. Brand equity and direct local…
Today at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local Conference, Google Channel Sales Bus Dev lead Kesh Patel uncovered several aspects of Google's local efforts. Besides his former life as a 7-11 franchisee (before it burned down), and his first Google role to…
Tuesday at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local Conference, HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan emphasized that the local marketing game has changed - dramatically, secularly. Traditional "push" marketing techniques (usually requiring large budgets) no longer resonate with many consumers. Rather, small/medium businesses must…
Deals are still going strong but are never going to be the principal promotional channel for the vast majority of businesses, noted Deal Current President Patrick Dillon, who was speaking March 20 at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local conference in Boston.…
One of the key challenges in local is to level the playing field for local SMBs so they can compete against national brands. Key areas where national brands outgun local SMBs include search ranking, automated listings management, lead generation and…
Sabrina Alimi, IAB's senior manager of Industry Initiatives spoke today at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local Conference. Alimi reported that, "IAB's Local Committee has been looking at three areas - local search; mobile location; and data transparency." For local search, the…
Today at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local conference, CBS Radio President and CEO Dan Mason underscored radio's sustaining power as a megaphone and community connector, while also discussing its role in the fragmented digital audio ecosystem. CBS has moved aggressively into…
The old model of pay per leads that had driven the success of ServiceMagic and other home and trade oriented service companies is shifting as social media makes its impact. Speaking at Leading in Local 2013 in Boston March 19,…
Local search is taking lots of new directions, with unprecedented opportunities opening up for low budget SMBs, according to an all star panel of search experts at Leading in Local in Boston March 19. Moderator Andrew Shotland of Local SEO…
This afternoon at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local BIA/Kelsey launched its version of the Shark Tank start up competition, the LOCAL Liftoff Awards, where three finalist companies gave a short pitch, followed by a brief grilling by celebrity judges Randy Parker, the…
This afternoon at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local, David Kidder, serial entrepreneur, angel investor and author of the "Start-up Playbook" offered some tips that separate the truly great entrepreneurs from the also-rans. Some of his advice includes: * Don't do things you…
Last week at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local Conference, a panel of players in the local deals and loyalty space walked through the biggest opportunities and pain points they're facing. Tom Beecher: President and CEO, Cartera Commerce Angus Davis: Founder and…
Today at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local Conference, John Busby, VP, Marchex Institute, shared some compelling data about mobile calls and conversion rates. Busby kicked off the "Mobile Superforum" that capped off a busy morning here in Boston. Busby shared that, somewhat…
Native advertising was on stage today at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local Conference. Chris Cunningham, CEO, appsavvy and Jeff Moriarty, VP Digital, The Boston Globe spoke to reimagining advertising by integrating ads and content for a seamless experience. Cunningham spoke to…
