| A catering company in a suburban Connecticut | | | | consultant, or expert on local search marketing, |
| town eliminates its Yellow Pages advertising, which | | | | as it is sometimes called, who can put it all |
| once ran to $12,000 a year, in favor of promoting | | | | together for the local businesses. Such an expert |
| its website. For a growing number of small | | | | is essential. The field is strewn with ill-advised |
| businesses, local Internet marketing is proving | | | | offers and products from companies promising to |
| cheaper, and more successful, than traditional local | | | | simplify the process and bring tons of new |
| advertising. | | | | customers to the local business. Some examples |
| People have talked forever, it seems, about how | | | | of "get rich quick" schemes for internet marketing |
| consumers are searching online for local products | | | | include mass submissions to search engines |
| and services, and how this will siphon millions in | | | | (useless); affiliate linking schemes that will boost |
| advertising dollars away from print Yellow Pages, | | | | search engine rankings (this one may result in a |
| newspapers, and other local media. If the story of | | | | website actually being dropped by a search |
| one caterer, who axed his $12,000 per year | | | | engine); "guaranteed" search engine placement |
| Yellow Pages advertising budget in favor of local | | | | (no-one can guarantee this) to name just a few. |
| internet marketing, is anything to go by, the | | | | Also questionable are "packaged leads" whereby a |
| worm may finally have turned. | | | | vendor provides traffic to a website for a flat |
| As recently as 2004, clients of | | | | fee. Successful Internet marketing depends on an |
| SmallBusinessOnline.net, located in Norwalk, CT, | | | | integrated approach, from lead acquisition to sales |
| were leery of spending anything in the online | | | | conversion. It is useless to drive traffic to a |
| sphere. Small Business Online's clients are, for the | | | | poorly-designed, single webpage. The business |
| most part, local businesses serving a local | | | | ends up paying for leads that don't convert into |
| customer base: lawyers, realtors, caterers, small | | | | customers. Contrary to what some marketers |
| retailers, sailing schools, chiropractors, lumber | | | | may say, the online space can be complex, and a |
| yards, to give a sample. In 2004, most were | | | | local business must maximize its Internet |
| happy to get a search engine-optimized website | | | | marketing with a careful strategy. |
| online, and leave it at that. By 2005, a marked | | | | Done properly, local Internet marketing views |
| change had occurred. Success in the online sphere, | | | | each business as unique, and creates an |
| for these local businesses, led to more investment | | | | affordable, ongoing marketing plan that fits the |
| in Internet marketing, which led in turn to more | | | | business. Successful elements of the mix include |
| success. Examples: the caterer who received so | | | | such things as optimization of the website both |
| much new business from the Internet that he | | | | for search engines and for customer conversion; |
| needed to hire a new employee. A furniture | | | | carefully-planned pay-per-click campaigns, that |
| retailer, with a bricks and mortar store, who now | | | | deliver quality, rather than quantity, of leads; online |
| gets about 90% of his new business via the | | | | publicity; appropriate linking campaigns; submission |
| Internet. A lumber supplier who is selling $20,000 | | | | to local and vertical directories; special website |
| flooring jobs spurred by his website. | | | | promotions; customer email-marketing, and more. |
| The siphon effect? Two out of these three | | | | The secret is in getting the mix just right for |
| businesses have already eliminated virtually all of | | | | each business, and maintaining an ongoing program |
| their print Yellow Pages spending — in one | | | | to keep the business's website front and center |
| case, representing a $12,000 a year loss to the | | | | before the local audience. When carefully-planned |
| Yellow Pages industry. Their new Internet | | | | and executed it can bring big dividends to a small |
| marketing campaigns are costing these businesses | | | | business. |
| less than their old Yellow Pages or newspaper | | | | For many local businesses, the question is no |
| advertising. The caterer who added a new | | | | longer whether they should begin to market in the |
| employee is now spending about $500-600 a | | | | local online space, but when. Currently, as Neil |
| month on Internet marketing — the | | | | Street, sales and marketing director of Small |
| equivalent of a modest Yellow Pages ad or a | | | | Business Online sees it, incredible opportunities are |
| single newspaper ad. For this, he is getting a | | | | being missed, as consumers search online for local |
| steady stream of visitors to his website, with a | | | | products and services, but the businesses do not |
| successful conversion rate into paying customers. | | | | have an effective online presence to serve those |
| For these small businesses, local Internet | | | | customers. But as success stories such as the |
| marketing is proving both cheaper, and more | | | | caterer's, or the furniture retailer's, begin to |
| successful, than traditional local advertising. | | | | spread, that gap will close, and significant |
| A new professional niche is emerging to support | | | | advertising dollars may soon shift to local online |
| this growth: the local Internet marketing | | | | marketing. |