5 Reasons Small Businesses Will Invest in Local Search Marketing in 2009

It’s official – customers use search engines more than they use the Yellow Pages to find local businesses.

TMP Directional Marketing found in their second annual Local Search Usage Study (conducted by comScore) that 31% of those surveyed use search engines to find local business information compared with 30% who use traditional print Yellow Pages.

It may come as a shock that such a high percentage of people still use the print Yellow Pages – I frankly wish they’d stop dropping these clunky books on my doorstep.  But then I represent a specific demographic – the twenty-something geek who spends 10 hours per day at his computer (ok, maybe 12 – but I take breaks!).

Still, it’s clear that people are turning increasingly to search engines for answers – including local business solutions.  And since many small businesses target local markets this represents an opportunity for them.

Here are five reasons smart small businesses looking to advertise locally will move their budgets to search marketing in 2009:

1. Search Now Represents the Largest Slice of the Pie
   Simply put,  search now offers the greatest exposure to local markets.  Clearly folks are still thumbing through their Yellow Pages (YP) book (which is so 90s) so advertising in this traditional medium should still be on the table. A decent portion are also using YellowPages.com and SuperPages.com (11% according to the Local Search Usage Study). But search is now in the lead, and with more people joining the online community every day this trend isn’t likely to tip the other way.
2. Search is easier to track
   I’ve worked with many businesses who advertise locally, and I have yet to hear a definitive answer to the “so is the Yellow Pages ad working?” question.  The trouble with YP and other traditional print advertising is simple: you don’t know who’s seeing your ad.  Sure, occasionally your customer will tell you they “saw your ad in the Yellow Pages” –  and there are phone number tracking solutions available (although few businesses utilize them) – but at the end of the day it’s just plain hard to know who you’re reaching.  With the recession looming, business owners need to know if their advertising is working, and until they figures out how to track print impressions there will always be unanswered questions with YP and other print advertising – the kind of questions that web analytics answer quite directly.
3. You can target specific markets
   The way to be efficient in advertising is to get your message in front of the right people at the right moment. It’s tough to achieve this timing and targeting in a print medium – especially one that offers business listings for every possible topic.  With search marketing keyword research allows you to both identify and zero in on your target market.  This ensures you’re only investing in advertising to the people you want to reach.
4. Search offers a strong ROI
   A 2006 MarketingSherpa survey of 3,053 client-side marketers determined that SEO was viewed as the most valuable marketing solution in terms of ROI, even higher than email marketing to in-house email lists (paid search marketing came was a close third).  Bottom line: search works.  It’s earning businesses great returns. In shakey economic times, ROI is everything.
   
5. The costs are scalable
   In short, you don’t need to break the bank to gain visibility in search engines (depending on your vertical, of course).  For most local-specific keywords the competition is relatively low both on the organic and paid sides of search, and there are usually rich long tail opportunities.  For paid search that means a lower cost per click.  For organic SEO it means it will take fewer links to rank well (once you’ve optimized your content).  This allows you to test strategies for ROI with a modest budget before you turn up the volume – and even those without extensive resources can gain visibility in their market.