One of the most misunderstood social networking sites is Yelp! Is it a social network, a location-based check-in game, or a review site? Well, the answer is “Yes” to all three.
Yelp! Is designed to give users the experience of a social network geared at connecting with other users while also leaving reviews of products/services/companies on the site. While Facebook Places, Google Places, Foursquare and many other location-based apps attempt to do the same thing, Yelp! is moving ahead at a pace that deserves attention.
Yelp! released growth statistics last week that indicate they are a marketing channel every brick-and-mortar business should be paying attention to. Here are some quick stats you should consider:
Yelp! currently boasts 41 million visitors monthly
Yelp! has 15 million reviews (at the time the report was released last Thursday) and counting
The growth curve for this site has been exponential over the last 5 years. This means we can continue to expect people to interact with the site, telling people where they’re doing business, and writing reviews
82% of Yelpers are under the age of 50, 36% aged 35-49.
68% are college grads, 21% with graduate education
63% earn $60k+, 35% earn $100k+
With these statistics, it’s hard to imagine why any business would not want to put their best foot forward. You can learn more about how to claim/list your business on Yelp! through a YouTube video they’ve provided.
Oh wait, I almost forgot, you do get stuff for claiming your business. Here’s some of what you can enjoy once you do claim your business:
Statistics on how many people are viewing your business on Yelp!
Ability to promote new offers, events, etc.
Ability to communicate, either publically or privately, with people who’ve reviewed your company. This allows you to address any dissatisfied customers/clients and make the relationship right again.
Increased exposure on traditional search engines
We’re on Yelp. Take a few minutes today and claim your company. Need help? Contact Josh (at NewThoughtMarketing dot com).
Advertising is usually one of the first things businesses cut during a recession and one of the last things they bring back. So it is encouraging to see that overall ad spend was up 8.7% in 3rd quarter 2010. It wasn’t just the Fortune 1,000 driving the growth, either; small businesses are spending more, too.
Social media isn’t for every business. But as more and more people log on to Facebook, tweet out every little thing, and broadcast their location with Foursquare, social media is increasingly becoming an important part of the marketing mix for businesses, large and small.
Here, then, are the latest traffic numbers for the most dominant player, Facebook. We always joke with our clients that Facebook and Twitter might not be for everybody, but with numbers like this, we would be committing “marketing malpractice” if we didn’t at least tell you about it! It’s worth noting that Facebook now has more visits than any other site on the web, including Google.
I finally got rid of my piece-of-crap Palm Pre (sorry, Palm, I really, really tried to like you) and am working it with the Samsung Epic 4G with Sprint. It’s one of the many Android phones out there and can I just say that I feel like I finally got out of that crappy relationship and found the man, er, phone of my dreams. This phone is amazing!
I love, love, love Swype, the nifty little finger-sliding tool that enables me to text almost as fast as I type, with no thumb strain. I’m texting like a teenager! The phone has a slide out keyboard which I never use. I’m still within the window to exchange the phone so I might get the Evo, which has no keyboard (and I assume is lighter).
In the iPhone vs. Android war, I have heard strong arguments on both sides. The iPhone still looks more sleek and sexy to me, but I’ll never switch to AT&T. Yes, I know you can finally get an iPhone on Verizon and if I were with Verizon, I would certainly check it out. But I actually like Sprint and have I mentioned I love my new phone?
If and when Facebook goes public, they must monetize their user base — I find it hard to see how they do that without annoying their base of users away. . . The challenge for FB is that as a free site, there is a dynamic tension between the users and the people who seek to monetize those users.
As marketers, we look at Facebook’s numbers and salivate. This year, Facebook overtook Google as the most trafficked site on the web. Facebook logs more visitors and more time spent per visitor on the site than any other. Most of its users are in the coveted 18-49 demographic. (In fact, less than 9% of its users are teen-agers.)
All of these numbers would be meaningless to marketers, of course, if we can’t find a way to reach and engage with this massive horde of users. The explosion in business Facebook pages is one way for businesses to deepen and solidify their relationships with customers and prospective customers. Big companies get this; so do some smaller ones. We’re seeing more and more of our clients take advantage of this free tool.
And that brings us back to Barry’s point. Perhaps the BEST way for businesses to use Facebook is the FREE way. We can also buy ads and Facebook’s targeting abilities are very, very good. We just ran a campaign for a client across multiple sites and Facebook outperformed them all, including Google. Of course, that’s just one campaign and one client. But we’ve noticed that all our Facebook ad campaigns are performing well.
So from a marketing perspective, Facebook offers us a number of ways to reach your customers effectively and affordably. To Barry’s point, though, they need to continue to offer innovative options that marketers will pay for, if they want to monetize their user base.
Yesterday, we defined positioning and explained why it’s critical for your business. It is probably the most important thing you can do to grow your business. In fact, is the foundation upon which all your marketing and business development efforts are built.
Still unsure? Let me give you some examples. When you think of Volvo, what one word comes to mind? Was it “safety?” Volvo owns that attribute. If Volvo were to come out with a sports car, it would just seem wrong. They’ve figured out that there is enough market share doing safety. They don’t need to do speed.
Now, think about Target vs. Wal-Mart. Where are you going for stylish dorm accessories? Target, right? Who has the lowest prices? Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has tried to roll out designer lines the way Target has, but the impression hasn’t stuck. People have it firmly in their minds that Wal-Mart equals cheap, not necessarily stylish.
All right, let me give you some local examples. The recruiter that specializes in sales management positions in the Southeast. Think that’s too restrictive? Think again. When she’s at a networking function, it is easy for her to explain what she does and easy for the person she just met to remember. Much easier than “general recruiting.” The security company that is the only one in town with nothing but 5-star reviews on Kudzu. (Much stronger to be that specific than to say: “we have great customer service.”)
So before you spend another dollar on a website or a brochure, take some time to figure out who you are. Your marketing dollars will go much farther when you have a focused message.
Not to be a crass marketer, but if you’re a business in Atlanta (or anywhere affected by the weather), you need to be all over Facebook and Twitter today. People are home. They’re bored. They’re checking in with their friends, posting pics of the snow, hilarious videos (have you seen the guy ice skating on the roads downtown?), etc. This is an IDEAL time to remind them of who you are and further develop relationships with your customers. Ask them for ice-themed ideas related to your business. Tell them if you’re open (working from home) or when you plan to be open again.
We watch the number of impressions our client’s Facebook posts get and let me tell you, I have seen HUGE spikes in traffic since yesterday.
If you were to ask me to name the most important thing you can do to grow your business in 2011, I would probably tell you to figure out who you are and who you want to be when you grow up. Sure, I might suggest you develop deeper relationships with your customers through social networking and other tools. But just like it’s difficult to have a romantic relationship without having a strong sense of self, the same is doubly true for business.
We define positioning as the one simple statement that sums up who you are and what makes you unique. It’s important that your differentiator is a meaningful one. I often joke that New Thought Marketing is the only consulting firm in town whose founder is a red-headed, half-Persian female. That’s unique. It’s different. Heck, it might even be memorable. But is it MEANINGFUL? Of course not.
And here’s the kicker: if you don’t define yourself, your competition will define you. The minute one of your competitors claims to be the “fastest,” you are by default, slow. The minute they claim to be first to market with something, you are behind.
Once you have a good handle on who you are, it makes it so much easier to develop strong, effective marketing pieces. We build everything around communicating that differentiator in both words and visuals.
Sometimes, this is difficult. Often, you do the same thing as your competitors, only you’re “better,” or have better people, etc. Dig deeper. If you really do have the best talent, then you must have a great story behind how you’re able to attract and retain such top folks. Maybe your positioning strategy is hidden in that story.
I’ve lived in Cleveland, driven in blizzards, gone to the movies with 16″ of snow outside, and even had to stay the night in a seedy motel once driving from Cleveland to Louisville when the highway iced over. So 5″ of snow should be no problem for me, right?
Trust me. It’s a problem. When you live in the South, northerners are fond of saying, “it’s not the snow that scares me, it’s the other drivers.” But that’s not really true. In all fairness to my Southern brethren, it’s hard to drive on roads that aren’t cleared and we just don’t have the equipment down here that they had back in Ohio. I just heard on the news that Atlanta’s airport only has enough equipment and crew to de-ice 10-12 planes per hour. The busiest airport in the country, with roughly 2400 departures and landings a day, can only de-ice 12 an hour. Nobody’s going anywhere in a hurry.
And then there’s the freezing rain that would be a problem no matter where you live. Our temperatures down here tend to hover right around freezing during snow storms. Go up a few degrees, it’s rain. Drop a few, it freezes. It’s a mess. That is what’s happening today. We have sleet and freezing rain coming down on top of the lovely snow that fell last night. So we’re all working from home, at least until the ice coats the limbs, which will fall and knock out power lines. But let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
We don’t own a snow shovel, nor do our neighbors. No sleds, either (plenty of cardboard boxes we can turn into one) – but it’s hard to go sledding with ice pellets slapping your face anyway. We’ll all stay indoors and post pics of our snow-covered patios on Facebook. And make french toast with all the bread, milk and eggs we stocked up on!
It’s the South, People. We live here, in part, because of the mild winters. We’re not equipped for snow storms. So just sit back, relax, and – er – chill.
IKEA has one of the world’s strongest visual brands. Look how brilliantly they are extending that brand that into their very own cookbook. The recipe photos are deconstructed abstracts images of the recipe’s ingredients. Beautiful. (And come to think of it, about as helpful as the directions are in their products.)
Hey, maybe IKEA should turn the images into a flashcard game where you guess what recipe each picture represents?
We're the brains behind New Thought Marketing, a consulting firm based in Atlanta. When it comes to marketing, we know how to push the envelope and we know when to keep it simple. If you need assistance in strategic thinking, contact us. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy our blog.
