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Featured Employee: Kacy Buettner

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Kacy profile

What are some fun facts about you?

• I grew up in Huntington Beach. Most weekends were spent in Catalina with my family, at the beach, or at the Equestrian Center.

• I played varsity golf in high school and continued to play recreationally through college up until now.

• Love activities, I’m game for anything outdoors.

• My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.

• I like my coffee black.

What’s your favorite activity in SB?

My favorite SB activity is hiking. Montecito has one of my favorite trails and Hollister Ranch has gorgeous ocean views. Discovering new trails on the weekends has become a hobby. I also love going to the beach, paddling, sailing, wine tasting in The Funk Zone, concerts at The Bowl and trying new restaurants!

You can take 3 items with you to a deserted island. What would you take?

• The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom.

• Sunscreen

• A boat (to get home…eventually)

What’s your favorite part of your job?

Kacy Buettner profile

My favorite part of my job is working with my team in Santa Barbara. I love the new opportunities and challenges we face together and the energetic environment we create. Being a part of something so forward thinking and fast paced is deeply rewarding.

My coworkers are inspiring, intelligent people with a knack for game changing ideas. With such a dynamic space I grow daily in my knowledge and experience; I consider myself blessed to be a part of something so new and big!

 Fill in the blank: Bad location data makes me feel ____LOST_______ .

 

In Search Of Transparency In Free Vs. Paid Listings

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In Search Of Transparency In Free Vs. Paid ListingsWhen performing an online search, besides combing through and deciding which listing best answers your query you must also be weary of paid listings fighting for your click. Can you spot them?

Nearly 50 percent of Internet search cannot distinguish paid search ads from organic search listings on a search engine results page  (SEO Book).

The FTC and and the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) see the lack of transparency between organic search and paid search listings to be concerning. While there have been guidelines released in order to push major search engines to offer a better distinction, how do would these guidelines affect paid-submission directories?

Read the full article to follow this discussion.

Effective National Advertising and marketing Policies for Your Local Franchisees

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Effective National Marketing Policies for Your Local FranchiseesFranchisees might not be fully flexing their marketing powers due to the regulations and marketing policies put on them by the corporate or franchise brand.  In fact, research shows that franchisors limit or filter social media used by franchisees.

In an effort to keep brand consistency, these restrictions are understandably made. The danger in this conflict for franchisees and local operations is not connecting with their local marketplace which is key for long-term success.

Gideon Rubin details just how franchisees and local operations can effectively and safely market at a local level by keeping the brand’s message consistent across all listings and directories. He explains, “In branding, consistency is king. This is why franchisors often limit and regulate individual franchisees: to ensure that a consistent brand appears across their national or regional market.”

Read the full article

The Significance of Separate Landing Pages for Multi-Location Organizations

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landing pagesIn the early days of the commercialized Web, the idea that you could purchase goods and services from providers anywhere in the world using your personal computer was exciting and irresistible. But as the Internet has evolved and the search experience has advanced, consumers have become increasingly focused on their local world when looking online for products and services.

From desktop to smartphone to tablet, local search intent is strong, with one in three searches having local intent, according to Google.

For businesses with multiple locations—whether national brands, regional chains or small businesses with more than one location—finding a way to capitalize on local search intent is critical. Research shows that 49% of local searches are conducted without a specific brand in mind, and 61% of searchers consider local results to be more relevant than standard search results.* Even if you are successful in appearing in local searches, if you don’t point consumers to a landing page with relevant local content, you will lose them along the path to purchase.

Separate landing pages, rich with relevant content and keywords, will help you engage local consumers. These landing pages will not only help local consumers find you more easily, they will increase the chances consumers will conclude their purchase journey with you.

Here are just a few reasons why deploying individual local landing pages is a smart move for your multiple location business:

1. Hyperlocal presence – be seen where your consumers are searching. With separate landing pages containing location-specific content and keywords, you can dominate hyperlocal searches in more than one city, town or neighborhood.

2. Increased brand awareness through visibility across multiple markets. Make full use of online and mobile search portals, directories, aggregators and review sites. Your business will stay in front of the consumer, creating constant visibility and market saturation.

3. Enhanced, relevant content draws local consumer attention. Increase your findability in local searches by ensuring the consistency of your information and the inclusion of enhanced content like location-specific website links, hours of operation, logos and other images. Consumers are more likely to click on a local search result for your business that includes an image. What’s more, your business will show up in image searches, increasing your overall search visibility.

4. Express your local personality. More than one-third of smartphone users are looking specifically for retailer contact details such as phone number, address and directions (source: The Mobile Path to Purchase). Separate landing pages enable you to add specific information about each business location (e.g., local phone number, local address, cross streets and directions, special products and services offered by the location, other details specific to the location), helping a consumer see you as a truly local business.

Ultimately, if your business—whether a national brand or SMB—has multiple locations, you are a local business. You need to focus on the needs of your local consumers across the cities, towns and neighborhoods you serve. And that begins with helping your customers find you and quickly identify you as a local business that can fulfill their needs. Separate landing pages for each of your locations will help you establish your local presence in the minds of local customers. From there, it’s up to you to win their hearts and their business.

* Resource.com

Can Local Mobile Consumers Uncover You?

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mobile searchMobile search has fast become consumers’ preferred method when searching for local businesses. In fact, 50% of Google mobile searches are local. The data is clear—mobile search is surging as desktop search continues to decline.

Having a mobile optimized website is now a must for local businesses that want to be found by the millions of local consumers who are routinely conducting mobile local searches from their smartphones and tablets. Mobile optimization—and the related building blocks of local SEO—is nearly as essential for a local business as having a business phone number.

And yet, most small and medium-sized businesses, many of which are local businesses, are not well positioned to be found by mobile searchers. According to data from SMB DigitalScape, 94.5 percent of U.S. SMB websites are not mobile optimized. It’s time for local businesses to get serious about mobile, or risk losing ground to mobile-ready competitors.

Is Mobile Really So Important for My Local Business?

Among the advantages of mobile search is that it’s newer; therefore mobile search results are a lot less cluttered than desktop search results. This lack of competition in the results gives a local businesses even greater visibility in searches.

If that doesn’t offer sufficient motivation to start thinking seriously about mobile, there’s a growing mountain of data to support the urgency to get mobile optimized…now.

Consider that:

  • Mobile searchers convert faster, with 55% responding within one hour of a search. ***

  • Mobile optimized websites have 11.5 percent higher click-through rates. *

  • 25% of mobile users who search for a local business make an in-store purchase. **

  • 49% of mobile users who search for a local business location search for it on a map. **

  • One out of three smartphone users search specifically for contact information, such as phone numbers, maps and driving directions. ****

I’m Mobile Optimized, But I’m Still Not Showing Up in Mobile Searches

Optimizing a website for mobile devices is only one piece of a local business’ mobile strategy. The smaller screen size means a business has to show up among the top listings for its particular product or service, otherwise the customer will never see the business’ listing. Therefore, search engine optimization is a critical component for visibility in mobile searches. Local businesses must ensure they not only claim their online business listings, they must also make sure their basic business information – name, address, phone number – is accurate and consistent, everywhere it appears online.

Where’s My Google Map Pin?

Local search is broken on most major directory apps. For example, when performing a local search on Google, your business may not show up – even if you are standing inside your business location.

Once again, to show up on the Google map in a local search, you need to make sure your business listing is claimed, the data is accurate and the location pin is in the correct place.

Just Do It

Smartphones have clearly changed the way we perform everyday tasks. For local businesses, mobile is no longer something to push off until next year. If you want to remain competitive in your local marketplace, your business has to be visible to the growing number of mobile local consumers. Move local SEO and mobile website optimization to the top of your to do list. And just do it.

* Google-Nielsen Study

** Startapp

*** Google Smartphone Study

**** Mobile Path to Purchase Study by Telmetrics and xAd

 

Seven Causes why the Mom and Pop Shop is now a Franchise

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woman standing in front of storeEveryone has their own opinion of the “franchise” concept in America. Some argue that franchises are leading to the extinction of mom and pop shops, dissolving the local micro-cultures and communities that make our towns and cities unique. While this idea may have validity, I believe that franchises are the new mom and pop shop. Here are seven reasons why Mom and Pop are increasingly interested in the franchise option:


1) Buy with bargaining power

Independent operators have limited buying power. With an unknown brand and the buying power of one, it is a challenge to negotiate rates for purchasing inventory, supplies, and anything else needed to run the business. Franchisors, who have a well-established brand and tens to thousands of locations, have the ability to negotiate bulk prices and share these reduced rates with franchisees. Moreover, vendors often view franchise customers as dependable long-term clients, making them more inclined to cut deals and extend credit to franchisees.

2) Ease of navigating government regulations

Understanding the laws and regulations that come along with opening a new business can be a tedious process. Depending on your city and state, you are likely required to adhere to different building codes, marketing laws, employment laws, workplace safety laws, environmental regulations, and more. (Some of these can be found on the SBA website.) Acquiring the necessary legal consultation and learning to structure your business to comply with these regulations will eat up time and resources, franchises already offer functional business models, making it faster and easier to open up your doors.

3) Accessibility of peer support

A successful entrepreneur has a strong support system of mentors, consultants, and helpful peers. Independent owners may gain this through friends or membership in the chamber of commerce and other business organizations. But, franchisees inherently amass a huge network of supporters through the franchise system. Whether it be through fellow franchisees, company conventions, or online support groups, the franchise owner has many forums to direct questions toward from people who have likely experienced similar issues and problems.

4) Availability of capital

Knowing that insufficient capital is a recurring reason why small businesses fail, finding adequate financing to build and operate a business is instrumental in the startup process. Entrepreneurs with little experience frequently learn that securing a sizable loan can be difficult without a financial history to ensure profitability. Franchisors, on the other hand, oftentimes have relationships with lenders who perceive a diminished risk of lending to franchisees because of the brand recognition, documented financial history, and proven business model provided to them. Another accelerator in the franchise loaning process, the Franchise Registry was developed in 2012 by the IFA and Consumer’s Bank Association to give loan officers access to detailed financial information, allowing them to make faster, more informed decisions on lending to franchisees. These resources and relationships make the loaning process much more efficient than it is for sole business owners.

5) Design & Marketing Costs

Branding has become an increasingly expensive task in the digital age for two reasons- for initial brand development and for ongoing marketing expenses. For example, in Santa Barbara, every business must submit their storefront logo design to a sign committee, which determines whether or not it is appropriate for public display and is consistent with the city vision. For this process, business owners must allocate a budget for a graphic designer to assist them with developing proper signage and branding. Additionally, with the onset of the “digital age,” business owners aren’t able to simply put out a yellow page ad anymore. You must be seen and found on a myriad of different channels. This means strategic advertisements, social media advertising, publishing on local directories, and building and managing business profiles on review sites like Yelp. Whether this entails hiring a social media marketer or paying for services like reputation monitoring and business listings management, a proactive marketing approach can be costly and time-consuming. Franchisees are able to save on these expenses as their brand is already developed and they are usually supported by regional or national multi-million dollar advertising campaigns. As day-to-day marketing strategy is not a constant worry, the franchisee has more time to focus on running an efficient business.

6) Expandability

The franchise model itself is designed to be easily replicable. Mom and Pop shops do not have this luxury, and owners often have a difficult time maintaining consistency and quality when opening up multiple storefronts. If a franchisee wants to expand and open a new location, the process is streamlined so that the equipment, supplies, and inventory needed to do so are either outlined or provided. This scalability is extremely appealing for entrepreneurs who foresee themselves managing multiple businesses.

7) Ability to resell

Generally, there comes a time where an entrepreneur wants to move on to new opportunities or retire and sell the business. If successfully developed over the years, a mom and pop shop can sell and be extremely profitable. However, the overall demand to buy into a franchise is much higher than it is for purchasing an independent business. The power of names like Wendy’s or Pizza Hut is a major selling point to potential buyers, who value the customer loyalty and familiarity associated with nationally recognized brands. While it is possible to sell a small business, selling a piece of a franchise will likely result in a much larger pool of interested buyers and a faster sale.

I believe that these are just seven of many reasons why the popularity of the franchise model for small businesses is growing exponentially.  It seems somewhat of an obvious choice for many aspiring entrepreneurs. It’s not that the mom and pop business model is dead, its just that these small business owners are now buying into the value of a franchise model and see the benefits of building their own business as part of a larger brand.


What do you think, is a franchise the best choice for those who want to start their own local business?

The Altering Face of On-line Ad Spending

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changeNow matter how you slice and dice the numbers, the advertising and marketing industries are embracing digital at an astounding pace. While traditional forms of offline advertising like physical newspapers are floundering, their online equivalents are doing better than ever. Even old, monolithic stalwarts like the New York Times are heeding the call of the web and investing heavily in their online advertising departments. Despite sluggish growth in advertising overall, digital ad revenues across the board continue to increase steadily. More than just a fad, the transition to an all-digital advertising regime seems to be a foregone conclusion.

The Online Ad Spending Explosion

For starters, online ad revenues in the United States reached a record $ 9.2 billion in the 3rd quarter 2012 according to research by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PwC. Compared to the same quarter in 2011, that’s an 18% increase. During the first half of 2012, online ad spending amounted to an incredible $ 17 billion. That’s a 14% increase over a similar time frame at the start of 2011. In 2013, for the first time ever, the amount of money spent on online advertising is expected to surpass both print and television ad revenue by a significant amount.

New Milestones in Online Spending

The most significant trend is the diversification of online advertising options like mobile ads and paid social media promotions. Through the first six months of 2012, mobile ad spending experienced significant growth as revenues surged 95% to $ 1.2 billion, which is a $ 636 million increase over the first half of 2011. Digital video also did quite well, notching an 18% year-over-year increase in the first half of 2012, totaling about $ 1 billion. Even traditional search revenue jumped 19% to $ 8.1 billion in the first half of 2012, up from about $ 6.8 billion during the first six months of 2011.

From One-Size-Fits-All to Custom Advertising

As traditional media ad spending growth slows, traditional online advertising platforms like Google AdWords continue to gain ground due to their superior, quantifiable ROI and their ability to let advertisers directly target niches. Unlike broad, generic television and radio spots, web ads make it easy to fine-tune a marketing campaign and zero in on specific demographics. As more people in developing countries enter the Digital Age and go online, a commensurate surge in e-commerce and online ad revenues is a given. More importantly, the immense popularity of low-cost mobile devices in those developing countries bodes well for the digital advertising game moving forward.

The ability to go after consumers even when they’re away from their desktop PCs has opened up a world of possibilities to advertisers. The term “SoLoMo” is sometimes used to describe the merger of social media, localized ads and mobile platforms. While quickly become an overused cliché, SoLoMo is nevertheless an apt way to describe the direction that online advertising is headed. With SoLoMo, targeting users where they shop out in the real world is easier than ever. While desktop search advertising is still raking in the big bucks, the highest rates of growth are found in the mobile arena.

Organic Marketing vs Paid Promotion

For roughly a decade now, Internet marketing has been roughly divided into two camps: organic Search Engine Marketing and PPC ads. While viral and organic marketing still have their place, the increasingly mobile nature of the web is demanding a greater financial investment from advertisers. Even organic methods of social marketing will demand greater sweat equity and money to yield dividends in the coming years. Though positive reviews on sites likeYelp and Google+ are critical for local businesses, paying for targeted ads that sometimes incorporate mobile coupons is also growing in importance when it comes to attracting and retaining customers.

How Businesses are Playing the Trend

Unsurprisingly, local businesses are gradually shifting their budgets in favor of online advertising. According to a popular report making the rounds published by Borrell Associates, SMBs plan on spending 26.6% of their local ad budgets on print media and 25.4% on online campaigns. What’s happening is that the gap between online digital ad spending and offline print budgets is narrowing. Furthermore, SMBs are planning on spending 7.5% more overall in 2013 on ads in general. Even though SMBs still spend more local dollars offline on print ads for the time being, that will most likely change by the end of the year.

A Few Years Down the Road

It’s not difficult to see where we’ll end up in a the long run. Print media is dying because it lacks either the will or the ability to transition to digital. A few organizations are successfully making the switch, but many more will cease to exist soon enough. Online ads will eventually consume the lion’s share of most businesses’ marketing budgets and most of that will be spent on local consumers. Ultimately, competition between Main Street businesses will heat up online like never before as more and more dollars are spent on chasing the same customers for their business.

How Multi-Place Companies Need to Develop Content

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Article WritingIf you have a business with branches in many cities, there are some aspects of Internet marketing that you should consider before creating content for your brand. With the increasingly stringent rules for search engine optimization, you do not want to be penalized for simply trying to bring business to your websites.

There are certain ways in which you can draw the attention of local customers to a local branch in your business. Below we will discuss some of the things that you should and should not do when creating content for multi location businesses.

One – Do NOT create articles with similar content.

The number one technique to stay away from is to create a multiple websites with similar content on each page. Many businesses simply copy and paste their content, changing only the location of the business on each post. Search engine algorithms cannot tell the difference between this type of content and spam content; therefore, all of your websites will be lumped into the low-quality category. You will lose ranking within search engine listings and overall trust within the search algorithms.

Two – Make sure to localize the content for each city that you serve.

One of the ways in which you can create different content for different websites is to localize the content to each area. For example, placing the names of local tourist attractions in each webpage is a great way to help legitimize each local blog post to human visitors and to the search engines.

Three – Make sure to speak directly to the customers in the locale.

If you think about it, different locations will probably respond to different marketing techniques anyway. People in different parts of the world live different lives; therefore, they will naturally need your product for different things. One of the best ways to quickly build an audience in a particular location is to speak directly to their local experience.

Four – Make sure to write about your customers, not about your business.

Although your customers definitely want to know what kind of service you offer, it is much more important for you to communicate how you solve their problems. People do not care about what you can do unless they first realize that you care about them. A great way to localize the content in your different websites is to showcase your knowledge about the specific problems that a locale may be having. For instance, if you offer lawn service to Seattle, you may mention the fact that you do not let bad weather dictate your appointment schedule.

Five – Use your resources wisely; hire a professional writer if you are not a good writer.

One of the worst ways in which you can use your time is in trying to re-purpose content if you are not a good writer in the first place. It is much more effective to simply hire a professional content creator and focus on the day-to-day aspects of your business. A professional copywriter will be able to finish the process much more quickly and effieciently. A professional copywriter will also be able to research each locale for you so that you do not have to spend time learning geography and history rather than simply conducting the business of your company.

Six – Make sure that you create content on a regular basis.

Whether you keep your content creation in-house or outsource it to a professional, make sure that you create content in a consistent manner. Dynamic content is much more attractive to search engines than static pages, and you will endear yourself to your local audience that much quicker.

How National Brands Can Get Their Local Fix

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LML_ICON copyIn a recent study by the CMO Council, in partnership with Balihoo, 59 percent of national brand CMOs surveyed said localized marketing is essential to the growth and profitability of their business. Yet only 7 percent of the brands believe they have “highly evolved campaigns and measurements in place to activate customers at the local level.”

A number of factors—from budget constraints and lack of resources (43 percent cited lack of resources and bandwidth to coordinate with multiple regions, local marketers, partners and agencies), to the desire to tightly control brand assets in local marketing campaigns—have hampered the local marketing aspirations of national brands.

Local Marketing Automation

One of the keys to overcoming these challenges lies in the adoption of local marketing automation technologies.

The CMO Council study revealed 94 percent of brands currently use primarily manual methods to track compliance and application of their brands at the local level.

Manual approaches are simply no match for the ever-increasing number of digital channels publishing local business information today. It seems that national brands recognize this, as 30 percent of the CMOs surveyed said they intend to invest in local marketing automation technologies to overcome their bandwidth, budget and brand asset control issues.

Local Presence for National Brands

One area of local marketing automation that addresses branding objectives and helps drive local traffic for national brands is business listings management. An important first step for national marketers targeting locally is to ensure their local partners and affiliates can be found in local online and mobile searches. Syndication and publication of consistent and enhanced business listings of local partners will go a long way toward helping national brands increase their local findability.

What’s more, the increased traffic resulting from national brands’ local business listings management efforts, should help brands win the hearts and minds of their local partners, making them more inclined to support additional local marketing initiatives.