Week2o: Local search/review sites: what are they and why are they important?

To me one of the most important aspects of online social media is the ability it gives us to quickly share information with people regardless of their immediate location or even whether or not we actually know them. This unique ability is in many ways a double-edged sword for companies: on one hand when something positive is said about the company or its product the news spread around quickly and without much effort on the company’s side. However if someone is dissatisfied with the company or the product that information could spread like wild fire as well. 

As a general rule people tend to trust peer information more than what’s coming through direct company channels as they view it as more genuine and unbiased. Before the rise of the local search sites one would have to call up friends/family to get an opinion on what restaurant to choose for that all important date… now all you need to do is go on Yelp!

With over 12 million monthly UVs (based on date from compete.com) Yelp.com is an undisputed leader among local review/search sites. As most companies in that space it is fairly young with a little over 4 years of operating experience under their belt; but considering that traffic to the site grew 2x over the past 12 months they are well on their way and show no signs of slowing down. As seen from the graph below, despite being the “new kid on the block”, Yelp has already started to edge out incumbents like YellowPages and SuperPages. Further on, none of the pure review sites (e.g. UrbanSpoon, Zagat etc.) come anywhere near Yelp’s traffic, number of reviews or site management effectiveness.

Monthly Unique Visitor Traffic to local review/local search sites Feb.2010-Dec.2010

One unique quality about local search sites in general (and Yelp in particular) is the combination of local reviews and social networking functionality which creates an online community but on a local rather than global level. The reputation system is created for both, businesses and Yelp users containing information such as number of “stars” (for businesses), most popular/respected reviews (for users). Users are motivated to continue contributing due to effective peer feedback mechanisms, placement of popular reviews on the business sites/newsletters etc. Moreover having your business reviewed and listed on local review/search site provides an additional online outlet for people to be exposed to the brand and/or business (whether through direct, search or even ad referrals)

The heavy focus on “local”, as well as the ever-expanding influence (people are starting to use Yelp and other local search websites to find doctors, lawyers, mechanics etc) makes it essential for businesses (especially those operating on a more local level) to pay close attention to the channel.

So what should businesses do to effectively engage with Yelp (and other local search sites)? I do not claim to an expert but here are a couple of thoughts/ideas:

-> Make sure you are on Yelp! (NSS, I know…)

Besides being the fastest growing and one of the most respected Yelp also seems to know their way around SEO (search engine optimization). Yelp results consistently come up as top-5 natural search results, which is helped in part by their “simple word” URL structure

Yelp search results for "Athan's Bakery": map with exact location  

-> Keep tabs on your reviews

Needless to say why this is important… Knowing firsthand what customers think of the business, what they like/dislike is immensely valuable. The mantra “listen to your customers” has never been easier to achieve since for the most part local review site members are very open and honest about their reviews as they view local review/search sites as an unbiased and informal environment to share their experiences

-> When Yelp! throws you lemons…

No matter how good your business is some people would be dissatisfied. Maybe they had a bad day, maybe you had a bad day or maybe this just wasn’t a good fit. It happens. The key is to take this set back and turn it into an opportunity. Honestly and prompt response to comments (especially negative ones) is an excellent opportunity to show commitment and dedication to business and customer service

My favorite nail salon owner Michelle's answer to a negative review: prompt, apologetic, courteous  

-> Use the “power of the coupon”

       Everybody likes a good deal. Putting special promotions on Yelp and other local search sites would

       help provide an additional incentive to choose your business over someone else’s… (now, of course, having a rating that’s over 2 stars might be more important in this specific case)

Amelia's Kitchen review leave a lot to be desired but the 15% the total bill may give patrons a reason to give it another shot

-> Use “sponsored searchers”

The upside? Sponsored searches appear at the very top of the search results list so this is often the first place shoppers are tempted to click (this is pretty much like being the first person in a very long queue).  The downside? This costs money.

Notice how the top (i.e. Sponsored) result is highlighted but barely so... most people won't even realize they clicked on a sponsored search result

-> Use the power of their brand

Official Yelp sticker: to get one the business has to maintain at least a 3.5 star rating

Week1o: Here’s to going viral!

I think it’s safe to say that whether or not companies should be incorporating social media into their advertising plan is no longer in question. Over the past five years social networking has grown from a niche taken primarily by college and high school students and select computer geeks to a formidable web of sites, applications and services that connects a good chunk of the world’s population <I still can’t get over the fact that my mom is now on Facebook and she even figured out how to “like” my status updates>. So it’s pretty obvious that whether they like it or not if companies want to stay in touch with their consumers they better tune into the social media.

So once the “if” is settled the next obvious question becomes “how”; and that’s where possibilities are vast, if not endless. Most companies now have a Facebook page (some better maintained than others); companies like Starbucks, Adidas and Coca-Cola are good example of how to do it right. However even the best fan page is not worth much without the traffic, so what can companies do to get consumers to visit and more importantly “like” them?

Viral videos (and by “viral” for my purposes here I mean the “home-made”, amateur-style ones that are not distributed through traditional ad channels like TV) have proven to be among the most creative, cheap and effective ways to promote the brand and drive traffic to company’s website and Facebook fan page. What makes is so effective is that video is among easiest types of content to consume and when done right, a video going “viral” can bring thousands of new visitors to company’s page through all kinds of social media channels (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter to name a few). Now of course creating a viral video is not easy, there is no magic formula, there’s no bullet-proof way to predict what will resonate with consumers and the amount of money spend doesn’t seem to be directly correlated with the ultimate number of views a video will receive. However, looking at some of the most successful over the past few months a couple of common trends begin to emerge:

1)      Strength in numbers: featuring a large number of people in the video will get you notice. Online and off.

Despite having a fairly corporate and not particularly “cool” image Verizon created a few fairly successful videos featuring the “Can You Hear Me Now” guy and the “network”. The cool thing about those videos is that not only did Verizon get all the views online but the attention they got from all the people in the park (and their friends, and their friend’s friends) is a nice windfall of brand exposure

2)       Make ‘em laugh (and ideally say “holy sh#t” as well).

One of the most successful viral videos of all time the “Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment” killed several birds with one stone. First it made people talk about the brand without realizing that they are talking about the brand (“hey dude, have you seen that awesome video of the fountain some two crazy guys made from Coke and Mentos”). Second it generated a slew of copycat videos of people trying to do other crazy things with Coke and Mentos so not only did it increase brand exposure it also directly helped drive sales!

   

3)      Just dance! (or sing, or both)

Most people like dancing and having fun and singing and when all of that is done is the most unexpected and mundane places you are bound to get noticed. What’s great about those videos is that nowhere does it say that this is a T-Mobile sponsored event, so the people in the video probably have no idea that this will ultimately be turned into a branded video, which adds an additional layer of coolness, authenticity and good old fun