The Importance of Local Listings

THE of IMPORTANCE LOCAL LISTINGS Website: www.smartbizmarketing.wordpress.com www.dvxmarketing.com Local listing sites like Yelp, Google Places and Yahoo Local have changed the way people find goods and services by combining the usefulness of the phone-book, the convenience of the internet, and the "trust-factor" of word-of-mouth marketing with consumer reviews from people who have used the business. This is a significant shift in how people find places to spend their money, and small businesses can benefit a great deal if they take control and maximize their presence on these sites. These compiled stats about online consumers show the measurable importance of an effective local listing marketing effort. Key Take Away: Local listings are the new frontier in word-of-mouth marketing. People have always trusted more in the recommendations of 7.10 Online Consumers trust opinions of unknown others, and this statistic shows how that these users on review sites like yelp, yahoo local, and google places. sites are trusted sources out of for online consumers. Consumers asked if they use online customer reviews to determine whether a local business is a good business: Yes 67% 67% of Consumers have consulted online reviews of local businesses to determine whether or not that business is a "good" business. No 33% Do Consumers trust online customer reviews as much as personal recommendations? Precentate of Consumers Who Consult Online Reviews by Age 68% 70% 60% 31% 19% 40% 32% 30% 24% Yes No 26% 16-34 24% Yes, if I believed it was authentic 35-54 26% Yes, if there are multiple reviews Younger Consumers consult review sites much more frequently than older users. This is key information for anybody marketing to people under 55 years old. 55+ 19% Yes for some types of businesses 31% No 69% of local consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. THE Smartbiz MARKETING DVXMARKETING BLOG Created by @darrenjdeverux BOLD CREATIVE STRATEGIES