Over the past five years, dramatic changes in how consumers select businesses in the local marketplace have evolved from a heavy reliance on directories and local media sources such as printed Yellow Pages to online mediums, such as search engines, local search sites, first on desktops and now increasingly on mobile devices including tablets.
This year we have observed six (6) major trends that marketers should understand and leverage in the coming year:
Trend 1 – US Search & Local Search Market Continues to Grow At an Impressive Rate
Trend 2 – Explosion of Tablets and Mobile Shapes Local Search and Buying Behavior
Trend 3 – New Methods for Finding Local Business Information Including Social and Daily Deals
Trend 4 – Local Listings the Most Relevant and Trusted Search Results for Consumers
Trend 5 – Ratings & Reviews – Used Often, But Lack Complete Content
Trend 6 – Local Searches Have Shifted from Business Name to Category
The above six trends require marketers to evolve their marketing strategy and execution plans to leverage the consumer migration from traditional media vehicles to local online resources and their accelerated adoption of mobile devices, including tablets.
Gillian Heltai, Senior Director of comScore, will host a webinar on Wednesday, April 18th at 3pm EST. During the session, in-depth findings from the 5th Annual Local Search Usage Study and the impacts to marketers will be reviewed by Heltai, Jeff Beard (Localeze) and Gregg Stewart (15miles). To register for the webinar go to www.comscore.com/2012_Local_Search_Webinar.