A search marketing blog for advertising agency, in-house & PR professionals
About dennisyu: Dennis Yu is CEO of BlitzLocal.com, an online agency specializing in local lead gen via integrating Facebook advertising with social media marketing, pay-per-click advertising, directory listings, web analytics, and call tracking. Clients include Quiznos, Equifax, Maggianos, Famous Daves, and other national retail and franchised outlets. Dennis is a 14 year veteran of online marketing via Yahoo! and American Airlines. He has spoken at SMX West, SMX Singapore, SMX Sydney, Affiliate Convention, the American Marketing Association, and other venues. He and his teammates also provide pro bono Google Adwords management to select non-profits, including March of Dimes, Grameen Foundation, International Rescue Committee, and others. In his free time, Dennis Yu writes a personal blog and is an avid golfer. His company specializes in local lead gen for clients as small as the local restaurant at $10 per month for search engine visibility all the way up to large national chains with thousands of stores. BlitzLocal is actively looking for analysts that want to join the team to help stay at home moms, students, and others become Internet marketing experts in their own neighborhoods to drive measurable ROI for clients in the form of calls and confirmed appointments. Web Page: http://www.blitzlocal.com/
But before you scroll down to find out how, I want to tell you that you can fly Southwest for FREE. Yes—Southwest is giving away free tickets in a promo that expires tonight! Or so the ad on the right would seem. It’s got the Southwest Airlines logo and is worded such that you’d think that Southwest is running this Facebook contest.
credit: zenobia_joy
In yesterday’s post, guest blogger and CEO of BlitzLocal.com, Dennis Yu, tackled some important concepts of the local ad firm- specifically the fact that it is sure to kick the bucket in 2010 if industry professionals don’t take proactive steps as soon as possible. Part two of this story will address changes the future has in store for local ad agency fiscal models and a closer look at the crucial dynamics of this evolution.
How will the financial model of local adapt over time?
Firms can take a 50% margin until the market gets smart. Consider the current VC-funded, growth-oriented approach of a pretend composite company… we’ll call it SuperLocal, Inc. Read the rest of this entry »
Borrell Research released a report on the Economics of Search Marketing for firms catering to local—ReachLocal, Yodle, MarchEx, WebVisible, and others. Companies in this space churn up to 90% of their clients every 6 months, meaning that they lose clients as fast as they can gain them. The Kelsey Group confirmed this trend last year, citing the inability of these companies to deliver leads.
Clients will stay on a few months in good faith, giving the lead gen’ company time to make the phone ring. At a certain point, pleas to allow the system more time to “optimize” and concessions not to leave break down, leading to more churn. Read the rest of this entry »
