Traditional Small Business Yellow Pages advertisers turning to the Internet
Worldwide yellow pages revenues hit an estimated $30.5 billion in 2006, according to “Global Yellow Pages 2007: The Kelsey Group’s Outlook & Forecast” report.
This report estimated that almost 30% of all yellow pages advertisers would be online by 2011, up from 12.4% in 2006.
Estimates are that yellow pages ads accounted for 7.1% of all global advertising revenues.
Charles Laughlin of the Kelsey Group said, “Small businesses are showing more interest in using the Internet to get customers. But buying digital media is complex, and most small businesses need help. For this reason, the yellow pages sales force has emerged as an enviable asset among local media players vying for small business ad dollars.”
Basically if you are a small business who has been solicited in the past year to advertise on the net you are not alone. Also taking the time to educate yourself or have a consultant handle the complexity of online advertising is a good idea. The facts are for all of the hype that internet advertising is getting there is no way around it. If you are choosing to stay on the sidelines and continue to advertise in traditional media outlets you are doing a disservice to your business and more importantly to your potential customers who are turning to the internet to find your businesses services and products.
source emarketer
Dennis Ventura is an Internet marketing consultant and managing director of Local Interactive, a successful Internet marketing agency in New York City. Dennis consults small to medium sized business as well as entrepreneurs who want to develop and implement successful online marketing campaigns. Dennis and Local Interactive have many industry relationships and resource and are ready to help. Visit http://www.localinteractivenyc.com
Auto Dealers Are Getting the Biz Online: Source emarketer
MAY 31, 2007
Lisa Phillips, Senior Analyst
The local Internet scene is heating up for automotive dealers and sellers, according to a recent report from Borrell Associates. Local online advertising by automakers, dealers and individual sellers will escalate to $4.2 billion in 2011, up from $2.3 billion in 2006.
Data from the National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA) indicate that of the $7.8 billion spent on advertising by auto dealers in 2006, the Internet’s share was 11.5%.
Common features on dealer sites in 2006 were price and inventory information, financial forms and information, and the ability for customers to schedule sales and service appointments. Yet although visits by car shoppers are on the rise, conversion rates are not. The NADA’s “2006 Dealership Internet Survey” shows a monthly average of 319.9 unsolicited prospects visited dealer sites in 2006, compared with just 227.9 per month in 2005.
But of the qualified leads these dealerships received — 52.9 in 2006, up from 29.5 in 2005 — the conversion rate to sales dropped, from 26.4% in 2005 to 19.2% in 2006. Conversion rates among customers who arrived through third-party buying sites were far better — 29.6% in 2006.
What are they missing? Prompt follow-up with prospects does not appear to be the issue. Although Capgemini, in its 2006 “Cars Online 06/07″ survey, demonstrated that 84% of US respondents expect their e-mail inquiry to a dealer or manufacturer to be answered in less than 24 hours, Chinese car shoppers were the most impatient, with 43% expecting an immediate response, while 91% of British respondents expect an answer within the same day.
Dealer responses to the NADA for its Internet survey indicate that 98.3% are responding to customer inquiries within 24 hours, with 82% boasting they are getting back to prospects in seven hours or less. Perhaps the responses themselves are turning away prospects. While the Internet has speeded up response time, that greater speed can reduce, rather than improve, the quality of communication.
Learn more about how cars are marketed on the Internet. Read the eMarketer Automotive Online: The Race Is On report.
Blogging for Business
Hi
Its been some time since I last posted sorry about that, but I have been busy building some new revenue channels. This week I meet with several business owners and realized that the web is evolving at an tremendous pace. While discussing some ways to implement pay-per-click advertising with these business owners, I presented the idea of blogging.
The reaction I received was one of intrigue. I mentioned that blogging for businesses today is a great way to get some more exposure on the web; and in addition to getting more visitors to your website blogging can also help you earn some revenue. This is when I really got some interest.
It is clear to me these ideas are floating out there but no one is really explaining how to incorporated this into an online marketing effort. If you are reading this blog right now you perhaps know what blogging is all about or perhaps you came to this page by a link. either way I am happy to share the techniques and resources I have available to incorporate a blog into your business’ online marketing strategy. depending on what you want to accomplish implementing this can cost virtually nothing or a the very least a very small investment. to learn more visit my agencies site and email me or just call either way I will be happy to share some information with you.
www.localinteractivenyc.com
Internet Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses in NYC
So, why should small businesses want to advertise or market their business on the Internet? Because Internet marketing is the most ROI driven method of advertising in the 21st century.
I consult with a lot of business owners in the New York City area and what I see is a over saturation of information when it comes to Internet advertising or search engine marketing. Many of these business owners have been called on everyday by 25 different Internet Marketing Consultants trying to get then to advertise with them. The result is that a 21st century opportunity is being presented and advertised in a very antiquated method.
So what is a business owner to do? They have a need for this new form of business development, but have become desensitized to learning about it. For that reason what is a Internet Marketing Consultant to do, when he knows that the knowledge and resources at his or her disposal can help any size business grow in a global economy.
That was the question I proposed to myself. So what I did was leave the corporate structure where you are demanded to call on 100 possible prospects a day every day and start my own Internet Marketing Consulting Agency. Local Interactive www.localinteractivenyc.com
My goal is through the knowledge, industry relationships and resources I have at my reach, I can offer the small businesses true Internet marketing strategies to help them understand and capitalize on the advantages Internet Marketing has to offer. This blog will provide real world tips and strategists that any small business owner can incorporate today and see some results. I invite you to come back periodically and use or share this information with anyone you feel may benefit from it.
Below is a great resource for anyone new to Internet Marketing. I invite you to visit thier site and learn more about the most exciting and rewarding way to grow your business in the 21st century.
“The Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization SEMPO is a global non-profit organization serving the search engine marketing industry and marketing professionals engaged in it.
Our purpose is to provide a foundation for industry growth through building stronger relationships, fostering awareness, providing education, promoting the industry, generating research, and creating a better understanding of search and its role in marketing.” source SEMPO site
http://www.sempo.org/learning_center/
DVentura.
