According to our newly released LCM wave 18 data, SMBs find that call-based leads tend to be of higher quality than email (where SMBs reported 43% to be good/excellent), Facebook (35.3% good/excellent) and even in store visits (58.8% good/excellent). Between those SMBs that found call-based leads to be of “good quality” (33.2%) or “excellent quality” (35.5%) that’s an astonishing 68.6 percent. What does this mean? Increasingly, phone calls are becoming the bread and butter lead-type for the vast majority of small businesses.

This has led to a lot of interesting and complex challenges for marketers that service SMB campaigns – with the most pressing issue being how to attribute offline calls that came from online campaigns back to the campaigns themselves. Dynamic call-tracking numbers have been able to solve this problem partially, but still don’t provide the depth of analytics that are necessary to create the highest return on investment for marketing campaigns.

This is where companies like Invoca come in. Until recently, SMBs have had a difficult time tracking the digital path a consumer took that led to them placing a phone call. Essentially, once a person calls into a business from an online campaign, they would switch from online to offline and would appear “new” to the business. Existing marketing automation, retargeting, and CRM software platforms often go blind once this transition takes place.

Invoca and other call analytics platforms have developed solutions to bridge the online-offline call intelligence gap, and have been able to equip marketers with the necessary data and insight needed to maximize marketing campaign ROI. We recently sat with the Invoca product team to learn about Signal, their new phone call analytics solution designed to assist businesses with connecting keywords and campaigns to phone calls – layered with contextual data that aids in analyzing the content of the call in real-time.

A key element of the tool is dynamic session-based tracking. In the event a number changes from one campaign to the next, the customer will still be remembered and identified from the last time they clicked through and called. Once the call occurs, the software creates or links to an existing profile, attributes information related to the call, then allows for data dips into third party solutions, then finally routes them to another sales department based on a lead scoring and routing automated metric system.

Signal takes the context of the call a step further with sentiment analysis after the call has been connected and a conversation has begun. Pairing these two types of data while connecting it with keywords from the online campaign provides SMBs with interesting call attribution capabilities.

Call-based leads will continue to be the gold-standard lead-type for SMBs as mobile devices and mobile search continue to boom. We expect the interest/demand for call intelligence and analytics solutions like Invoca’s Signal product to grow as marketers continue ride the mobile-call wave.

The post Invoca Adds Context to Calls with Launch of Signal appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

GoDaddy, continuing to rev up its expanding SMB platform as its IPO nears, has launched “Get Paid”, an online and mobile payments service.

Get Paid lets Go Daddy’s base of 12 million customers – many of them SMBs – accept credit cards, debit cards, eChecks and PayPal transfers. The service has been developed in partnerships with PayPal, Dwolla and Stripe.

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GoDaddy will offer Get Paid service in three service tiers starting at $4/month and going up to $15/month depending on the configuration of features like expense tracking; connecting bank accounts; and other accounting integrations.

GoDaddy’s decision to integrate payments in their service offerings is because they did not have an existing product that allowed their customers to get paid for their products and services. In the press release, SVP of Applications Steven Aldrich said,”when we heard from customers that they want to offer their clients more ways to pay, we set out to create a best-in-class solution to ensure easy access to all the tools they need to collect payments quickly and efficiently.”

GoDaddy already offered other financial services for small businesses in the form?of accounting and billing, so the addition of payments should tie in well to the existing services. The combination of a payment tool and existing financial and business management systems can be very powerful when it comes to tracking and measuring sales for ROI purposes.

The post GoDaddy Enters The Payment Arena appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

The most notable similarity is that both genders make the majority of local purchases in person. According to BIA/Kelsey’s Consumer Commerce Monitor™, 66.6 percent of men and 65.2 percent of women purchase products and services in person from local sources.

Because consumers make most purchases at physical locations, reaching them at or near those locations is a good bet; enter mobile marketing. How to reach them on mobile devices, however, is where we see differences by gender.

Women are socially engaged, so social advertising is essential. According to Nielsen, the majority of mobile social network users are female, so it’s understood that a lot of their social network usage is done via mobile device.

Because Facebook is the most used social media site for local shopping by women, it is important for local businesses to establish a Facebook page and form relationships with female consumers. This could include promotional opportunities on Facebook pages that female consumers can redeem at physical business locations.

Men, as we’ve discussed, are more engaged with mobile devices. They also interact more with traditional media than women do. TV in fact is men’s most used source for local shopping (women’s is online search), according to Consumer Commerce Monitor.

To effectively reach men, local businesses should therefore maintain advertising through traditional media. But when doing so, traditional media can be used to drive traffic towards digital opportunities. This is especially true for mobile, given that the data indicate men are highly engaged there.

CCM data also indicate that local businesses can benefit from mobile advertising and innovation at their physical locations. This includes smartphone scan loyalty programs.

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The post Men vs. Women: How to Reach Local Shoppers Based on Gender appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Not only do consumers use these devices for shopping locally, but they do so frequently. Thirty-three percent of tablet users and 40.3 percent of smartphone users use them once a day or more for shopping locally.

There is an apparent disconnect between consumer’s heavy use of smartphones and tablets to shop and SMBs adoption of advertising with these devices. SMBs are devoting just 5 percent of their total ad spend to mobile advertising, according to BIA/Kelsey‘s Local Commerce Monitor™. That 5 percent is spread among SMS, search, display, and other forms of advertising on smartphones and tablets.

Looking just at apps we see that 17.1 percent of consumer use apps regularly for local shopping and 3 percent make purchases based on apps. Only 9 percent of SMBs are tapping into this market and use apps for advertising.

While only a small portion of SMB budgets are going towards advertising through smartphones and tablets, its is providing big returns. Four of the top 10 media, based on ROI, are related to advertising through these devices. Mobile deals, mobile apps, mobile banners and location aware mobile ads all were felt to have provided SMBs with between 10 and over 20 times the return on spending by at least 40 percent of SMBs who utilize them.

Not only are SMBs who participate in advertising with smartphones and tablets seeing big results, the consumer base for use of these devices when shopping locally is expected to grow. Fourteen percent of those who do not currently use a tablet or smartphone for shopping locally say they plan to do so in the next six months. So for all of the SMBs out there who are not capitalizing on the mobile advertising opportunity, it is definitely a move that would be wise to make.

The post Major Disconnect Between Consumers and SMBs When it Comes to Mobile Advertising appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Baby boomers — those aged 55 plus — are often stigmatized for being behind the times when it comes to technology and the digital world. According to the results of a new survey conducted by Thrive Analytics and released by the Local Search Association, this generation — including Boomers and Seniors — are embracing mobile as a local shopping companion.

Our Consumer Commerce Monitor? survey data supports many of the results highlighted in that study. When it comes to smartphone use, according to the Local Search Association’s study, 69 percent of baby boomers and seniors use their smartphone at in-store locations for local shopping. Our CCM data supports their find with 61 percent of our respondents using smartphone for local shopping at in-store locations.

Our CCM results also showed that 47 percent of baby boomers and seniors use their smartphones at least once a week for local shopping. The Local Search Association’s study outlined that baby boomer and senior smartphone users said that price comparisons and discounts were their top reasons for searching via their mobile devices while shopping in-store (50 percent of baby boomers & seniors).

According to CCM, Baby boomers are also far more likely to use mostly search engines on smartphones or tablets when compared to mobile apps for local shopping (66 percent vs. 4 percent). They’re also more likely than other age groups to shop in-person.

SMBs and national brands need to retire the notion that baby boomers are not a “connected“demographic. Our data shows that advertisers need to learn how best to adapt their mobile strategies to reach this older and more experienced demographic. Mobile continues to shake up the local shopping chain but and leaves opportunities for SMBs to engage with their customers in a new innovative ways.

Learn more about Consumer Commerce Monitor here.

The post How Baby Boomers Are Embracing Mobile Shopping appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

On the latest installment of BIA/Kelsey’s analyst roundtable series, analyst Mike Boland explained why he is even more bullish on mobile ad revenue with his latest forecast and Managing Editor Charles Laughlin assessed recent actions of Hibu’s new CEO aimed at cutting costs and rationalizing the product set.

Boland outlined his 2013-18 mobile advertising forecast, which was published last week for BIA/Kelsey clients. Boland also provided a detailed forecast summary in a blog post last week.

One of the notable elements of the new mobile forecast is the projected growth in the share of total mobile ad revenue generated by location-targeted mobile ad campaigns, roughly from 40 percent to 51 percent over the forecast period.

“What is driving that growth is a lot more adoption from national advertisers to localize their campaigns in various ways,” Boland said.

Notably, this movement of greater local targeting by national advertisers is the central them of BIA/Kelsey’s upcoming Leading in Local: The National Impact conference, May 7-9 in Atlanta.

Laughlin then examined the flurry of recent developments at the global directory company Hibu under its new CEO (since March) David Eckert.

Eckert has imposed some heavy cost cutting, with hundreds of jobs eliminated and production sent offshore. In addition, Hibu will shut down its U.S. hyperlocal magazine initiative, citing no clear path to profitability. Laughlin detailed these developments in a blog post last week.

On the roundtable, Laughlin summed up Hibu’s recent actions this way, “Actions [Eckert] has taken in the short time he has been there suggest that he is going to be very aggressive not only in cutting costs but in making tough decisions about which products they are going to keep and which products they are not going to keep.”

Check out this video to listen to the full roundtable discussion, recorded on April 11.

The post Analyst Roundtable: New Mobile Forecast Data & Tough Love from New Hibu CEO appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

On the latest installment of BIA/Kelsey’s analyst roundtable series, analyst Mike Boland explained why he is even more bullish on mobile ad revenue with his latest forecast and Managing Editor Charles Laughlin assessed recent actions of Hibu’s new CEO aimed at cutting costs and rationalizing the product set.

Boland outlined his 2013-18 mobile advertising forecast, which was published last week for BIA/Kelsey clients. Boland also provided a detailed forecast summary in a blog post last week.

One of the notable elements of the new mobile forecast is the projected growth in the share of total mobile ad revenue generated by location-targeted mobile ad campaigns, roughly from 40 percent to 51 percent over the forecast period.

“What is driving that growth is a lot more adoption from national advertisers to localize their campaigns in various ways,” Boland said.

Notably, this movement of greater local targeting by national advertisers is the central them of BIA/Kelsey’s upcoming Leading in Local: The National Impact conference, May 7-9 in Atlanta.

Laughlin then examined the flurry of recent developments at the global directory company Hibu under its new CEO (since March) David Eckert.

Eckert has imposed some heavy cost cutting, with hundreds of jobs eliminated and production sent offshore. In addition, Hibu will shut down its U.S. hyperlocal magazine initiative, citing no clear path to profitability. Laughlin detailed these developments in a blog post last week.

On the roundtable, Laughlin summed up Hibu’s recent actions this way, “Actions [Eckert] has taken in the short time he has been there suggest that he is going to be very aggressive not only in cutting costs but in making tough decisions about which products they are going to keep and which products they are not going to keep.”

Check out this video to listen to the full roundtable discussion, recorded on April 11.

The post Analyst Roundtable: New Mobile Forecast Data & Tough Love from New Hibu CEO appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

AppLovin will launch its Adaptive Personalization Platform (APP) after two and a half years of development, we learned yesterday from CEO Adam Foroughi. APP will help brands better serve personalized recommendations on mobile devices and re-target mobile ads.

Key features of the platform are to:

—Learn an individual’s shopping behavior and predict what he or she will be interested in next, creating tailored recommendations.

—Remind customers of items they may have left in a (virtual) shopping cart, and suggest related products or offers.

—Allow marketers to measure effectiveness of personal recommendations by attributing influence and conversions across screens, so they can spend where their users are located.

APP ingest insights from each customer’s shopping behavior across screens and retarget ads accordingly, including location targeting.

These ads will merge with the user experience and show contextually relevant information. AppLovin currently targets U.S. brands as clients but plans to expand its client base to SMBs in the future.

Foroughi released these key findings from product testing:

— APP increased conversion rates from 2 percent to 10 percent.

— Advertisers see ROI from APP within in 2 week .

— APP can reach 70 percent of an advertiser’s audience within 72 hours.

— For every $1 spent, advertisers see$20 in return.

AppLovin’s success can be measured by the growth rate in consumers’ time with mobile.

“Consumption of media is high but transaction behavior is not high yet. And there lies AppLovin’s opportunity,” said Foroughi, who believes the web’s evolution will repeat itself in the mobile web. AppLovin is positioned to help brands better manage mobile consumer transactions.

“By delivering personalized recommendations on mobile to a billion consumers each month, we’ve cracked the code; beta response has been incredible among tops brands across retail, travel and hospitality,” said Foroughi. “We’re excited to officially turn the platform on to give this same opportunity to any advertiser looking to dramatically boost their mobile revenues.”

AppLovin also plans to bring these solutions to social networks. The company could be on the cusp of a promising future given accelerated growth in mobile, where consumer behavior is becoming more and more transactional.

The post Capitalizing on the Growth of Mobile: A conversation with AppLovin appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Millennials sometimes get a bad rap for being the disinterested and out of touch generation. But BIA/Kelsey survey data actually pegs them as the most in-touch (literally). When it comes to smartphone, tablet, and social networking they blow their gen-x and baby boomer forbearers out of the water.

Millennials — those between 18-34 — use digital devices more than ever. According to BIA/Kelsey’s Consumer Commerce Monitor™ survey, 56 percent said that they have interacted with social media in the past 6 months at some point in the purchase funnel. 32 percent made purchases online.

Generation X — those between 35-54 — report that among types of local businesses, they rely heavily on social media for restaurant choices, but trust family and friends most for local shopping decisions. They also reported online search as their number one source for information on local shopping.

Baby boomers — those 55 and older — are more likely than other age groups to own printed yellow pages. However, yellow pages are not among their top five sources of information for local shopping (i.e. retail and product info). They’re also more likely than other age groups to shop in-person.

Many SMBs are still trying to understand how to deliver content to consumers at various age groups. All three age groups reported to have purchased more in store than online. Along with e-commerce efforts, it is essential that local businesses incorporate social strategies to get consumers into the store. It’s often forgotten that 93 percent of U.S. retail spending is done offline (as opposed to e-commerce).

Social campaigns are effective for SMBs to drive in store purchases when targeting both 18-34 and 35-54 year-old age groups. Marketing campaigns must include traditional media: 55 and older consumers use devices to inform local shopping decisions; but they’re more likely to use traditional media for local business information.

Learn more about Consumer Commerce Monitor here.

The post Millennials Are More Connected Than They Get Credit For (and Other CCM Takeaways) appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Right now mobile advertising accounts for about 9% of advertising spending for business franchisees or licensees according to BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor™. About 68.4% of business franchisees or licensees say they are planning to increase their current level of advertising and promotional spending in the next 12 months. This increase in spending will likely lead to a larger allocation of advertising budgets towards mobile with franchisees and licensees planning to use 42.2% of their future advertising budgets on digital/online advertising (7.1% more than last year).

For those franchisees and licensees who are not yet involved in mobile advertising, it is something they are considering for the future. About 34.3% of those who do not already advertise with mobile said they would invest in mobile search advertising, 34.3% showed an interest in mobile apps, 31.4% showed an interest in text message advertising and 31.4% in mobile deals according to the Local Commerce Monitor.

Many franchisees and licensees are taking advantage of bar codes in store. These bar codes are scanned by consumer’s smartphones with 54.7% of bar codes used being in print and 36.8% being posted somewhere in the store. Check-in information is also utilized with 70.5% of franchisees and licensees saying they actively use the information that is generated when customers check-in to their location, according to the Local Commerce Monitor.

Franchisees and licensees are clearly not ignoring mobile. In fact we expect their spending on mobile advertising to increase. To learn more about how national brands will be using mobile to appeal to the local population their franchisees and licensees cater to, come to BIA/Kelsey’s Leading in Local: The National Impact conference that will be held May 7-9 in Atlanta. Hot topics in national to local realm will be discussed by industry leaders so do not miss this opportunity to learn about and network with the experts.

For additional reasons to come to Atlanta in May, see below:

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