Remember the Big Guys in Local

Writing by Brick Marketing on Tuesday, 24 of June , 2008 at 11:19 am

Mike Blumenthal created a very insightful post regarding the Local IYP market share values. In the article he poses his ultimate question almost immediately:

Does the IYP/online business directory market share matter or has the battle already been decided? Has this category been relegated to just another niche search area where money can be made but market dominance is not possible?

Mike drills down on his comparison and discussion of the dominance of the Local Search stakeholders with some impressive number crunching that is worth taking a look.

So this brings us back to the crux of the problem, and the decision that businesses must make when considering their local advertising strategy. There are so many markets available for Local, but if the top 2 stakeholders control 70% percent of it, is it worth it to concentrate all of your advertising budget on a piece of the remaining 30% share? This is especially important if your strategy is focused so narrowly that it ignores the components needed to be at the top if its game in the larger local markets, such as Google and Yahoo.

While companies ranking the top Local markets seem to make impressive lists, it doesn’t really matter if your Local Market choice comes in third if that third piece of the pie is only a crumb.

While a growing niche market is turning to sites like Yelp! For Local reviews and recommendations, simply promoting your business on sites like this will not push you to the top of the common Google or Yahoo searches.

Again the wisest choice for your Local Advertising strategy is to look into your specific market and make the choices that are going to serve you best. While it may seem focused to drive your advertising budget towards one or two specific Local advertising markets, loosing sight of the ‘Big Guys’ will not be to your advantage.

Category: Brick Marketing, Local Online Advertising

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