Archive for the ‘Local Business’ Category

Motorola just released their annual holiday shopping survey, and it is a gold mine of local shopping data. I won’t summarize the whole report, but here are a few tidbits:

• The #1 cause of customer dissatisfaction was a lack of available coupons.
• More than half of consumers used mobile devices for shopping-related activities while shopping.

One of the charts that interests me most is this one:

It appears that most consumers would like to see more in-store technologies that assist shopping. I can’t say that I’ve ever wished for any of these things myself, but apparently I’m atypical. I am pretty curious about the Holographic Sales Assistant, though. What is that?!? I guess I am supposed to be imagining that I could be waited on by Angelina Jolie, but for some reason what comes to mind is Stella from the classic Star Trek episode I, Mudd (8:10 in to the clip).

Thanks to Greg Sterling for pointing me to this research.

I’ve talked with a few businesses recently whose Google Maps listing is either incorrect or out-of-date. I suspect that this is true of most local businesses. The good news is that this is free and easy to correct. If you are involved in marketing a business, go to Google Maps and search for the business. Find your business in the results, click on the “more info” link next to the listing. On the business listing page, you should see either “Owner verified listing” or “Business owner?” If it says the former, you’ll need to find out who at the company has already claimed your listing. If it says the latter, click on “Business owner?” and you will be stepped through the process of editing and claiming the listing. Here’s Google’s video describing the process:

And if your own a small businesss, Google Maps loves you just as much as Walmart. As long as you can validate an address, you can create a listing in Google’s Local Business Center.

Also keep in mind that what you put in your listing affects whether or not it will be found when people search Google Maps. Use keywords in your description that reflect how people search, and make sure to select all categories that apply to your business. And you can use additional fields to list brands carried, services offered and other search-friendly content. In addition to its success on the web, Google Maps is the most popular local search application on the iPhone and on Android phones. This is going to be an increasingly important way to get your business found.

I saw this great poster hanging in Jamba Juice. I don’t know the artist, Steve Lowtwait, but I love the graphic and the message!