Driving Traffic to Franchisees With Locator Technology

December 2008 Franchising World

Understand the consumer-buying process and how to “get found” where users search.

By Vickie McGee

Search. Find. Buy.
Consumer behaviors have forever changed. Are you marketing at your customer or are you making your brand available using the medium of your consumers’ choice? The lines between offline and online marketing are blurring. Today’s successful marketers master the use of both online and offline stimulus (print ads, radio and TV) to drive online search behavior which in turn comes full circle to drive offline purchases.

Franchisees need to understand the answers to these questions to turn online traffic into foot traffic inside their local franchises. What tools are consumers using to initiate the search for local franchisees? What are they looking for? And how do they expect to buy? Let’s start by defining the search, find, buy paradigm.

Search
What tools are consumers using to initiate the search for local franchisees?
The economy may be slowing, but search activity and spending keeps growing. The increase in spending is a direct result of shifting marketing dollars from traditional offline tactics because search provides for better “local” targeting, as well as better tracking on your return on investment. According to Nielsen, there are now over one billion local searches performed every month. About 80 percent of these online searchers research online and purchase offline within a 10- to 20-mile radius.

Long gone are the days of searching through a printed Yellow Pages phone book. The preferred method of search these days is the Internet, with mobile coming second when consumers are out and about:

Web
   • Major search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN)
   • Local search engines (Google Maps, Yahoo Local, MSN Live)
   • Internet Yellow Pages (Citysearch, Superpages, Yellow Pages)
Web site
   • Corporate Web sites
   • Mobile Web sites
   • Local Web sites
Mobile Devices
   • Cell phones
   • Smart phones
   • GPS
   • In-Car navigation
   • Portable navigation

The Web
Most people think of major search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN when they think of searches, but there are multiple ways to get found. Consumers can start their searches on a major search engine and end up on a local search engine like Google Maps, Yahoo Local, or even a Yellow Page directory site like YellowPages.com , Superpages, or Citysearch. Some consumers actually prefer using a directory or browse type of search, clicking on categories, versus typing something in. For example, they might click on “Restaurant” and then on Mexican versus typing in Mexican restaurant. Regardless, you need to make sure your local franchise is submitted to major search engines, local search engines and Internet Yellow Pages. This may need to come out of your local advertising budget.

The Web site
Locator functionality is one of the top decisionmaking tools consumers use when visiting a corporate Web site. Franchise listing results are usually displayed on a map showing the user where each franchise location is in relation to where they are. The user should also be able to get driving directions without leaving your Web site. This     should come out of the corporate franchisor’s budget.

Mobile Devices
Mobile screens are the latest tool for marketers seeking to win over customers (the third screen versus PC or TV). In fact, there are now more mobile phones then there are PCs. According to GfK Group’s 3Q08 research, which is one of the largest market research companies, there are now over 267 million mobile phones in the United States, with more than 78 million people using mobile Web and over 160 million people using SMS text messaging. That makes the adoption rate for mobile search around 89 percent. Even global positioning systems are becoming standard in most mid- to highend cars and 10 percent of U.S. households own portable navigation devices, according to GPS World. It’s important to make sure that all of your listings are accurate, complete and consistent.

Find
What are they looking for? Consumers are looking for franchise location specifics such as phone numbers, addresses and driving directions. Examples include: If they want to have a dinner party at a restaurant they may be searching for information about banquet rooms. If on a road trip, they may want to know if there’s RV parking. If stopping for coffee they may want WiFi. Or if they want to purchase an item, they may want to know the credit cards accepted, if it’s in stock and the hours of operation.
   • Services
   • Products
   • Locations
   • Maps
   • Directions
   • Local specific details
   –– Menus
   –– Facility amenities; banquet rooms, RV parking and WiFi
   –– Coupons/Special offers
   –– Events
   –– Hours
   –– Credit cards accepted
   –– Videos/TV commercials
   –– Inventory/In-Stock

Buy
How do they prefer to buy? As mentioned earlier, about 80 percent of people search online and purchase offline, but your franchise should be able to handle the 20 percent that want to purchase online if your products/services can support it.
   • Local
   • Online

Types of Searches
Major Search Engines
There are three distinct areas on a search engine results page: paid, local and organic. It’s very important to show up in at least one of them if not all three. Let me explain them in more detail and how to “get found” in the results.

Paid or sponsored listings: By now most of you have heard of search engine marketing or SEM. It refers to the paid search or sponsored listings that show up on the top and right side of the search   results. Most of the ads are pay-per-click or pay-per-acquisition. The top search engines that businesses setup campaigns for are Google, Yahoo!, MSN and ASK. Most likely your corporate franchisor has a national campaign, but you can use your local budget for geo-targeted campaigns.

Local Listings
When referring to search engine results, this is the section that shows up associated with a map when a local qualifier is used.

Organic or Natural Listings
These usually show up after the paid and local listings, but it depends on the keywords searched. If someone searches on your brand then you will most likely show up, but if they use a local qualifier then you may not.

For businesses with multiple locations it’s important to have local landing pages to drive this online search traffic to. If a consumer searched for a local location, they won’t want to be directed to your corporate Web site home page. They will want location specifics. These landing pages can be used for paid search, local submission and organic searches. Reporting should be set-up to track where your traffic is coming from (what     search engine and what area of the page) and call tracking to evaluate ROI.

Two Types of Web Researchers
First understand that in a search-driven world there are two types of user searches: consumers who are looking for your brand and consumers who are looking for your types of services. For consumers, it’s all about being in control and having multiple choices.
   • Consumers looking for your brand
If they are looking for your brand then they will most likely look for you on your corporate Web site (via Web or mobile). But the trend is going toward consumers entering in your brand name and a “local qualifier” like city or ZIP code directly into a major search engine to find the nearest location. Worst case would be it doesn’t show up at all. The second worse case is that it shows up, but takes them to your corporate Web site home page, meaning they have to do the search all over again. That’s not very user friendly.
   • Consumers looking for your types of services
If they are looking for your type of services (like a restaurant, office supply, grocery store, sporting goods) then they will most likely start their search on a major search engine or Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) site. The trend is going toward consumers entering in a “generic service” and a “local qualifier” such as city or ZIP code directly into a major search engine to find products and services. For example, a search might include: casual dining chicago il, or bar and grill chicago il. Worst case would be that you don’t show up at all, but your competitors do.

In either case, you would want to appear above the other third-party listings so that you have more control over the user experience with your brand.

Corporate Web site
According to Deloitte LLP, store sales preceded by visits to retail Web sites   account for about 20 percent of sales. The percentage of total sales driven directly or indirectly by the Web is expected to grow to about 50 percent over the next few years. eMarketer, a newsletter that follows market and research trends, estimated that in-store sales influenced by online research last year totaled $471 billion.

Today, every franchise has a corporate Web site. Therefore you need to be aware of all of the different ways to increase your own franchise’s foot traffic from the corporate Web site.

It’s important that users can quickly and easily find your locations and the specific details of each. Interactive maps and driving directions (preferably without the user having to leave your Web site) is a must-have these days. With Web 2.0 capabilities it’s the user experience that counts. Content such as store hours, menus or flyers, credit cards accepted, brands carried and reviews can help consumers with their searches and items such as coupons or local events can add call to action. You can also engage them with registration for enewsletters or club discounts. Sending via phone/e-mail is a good way to track   location traffic, as well as driving directions. Remember that locator functionality is the top decision-making tool consumers use when visiting a retailer’s Web site. A customer who uses a locator is most likely going to walk into your local business.

Regardless of which franchise you have, your corporate Web site needs to be search engine optimization-friendly for the search engines to crawl and find the data to have the links show up in the organic listings.

Mobile Devices
The mobile Web has reached a “critical mass” of users this year, according to a report by analysts Nielsen Mobile. The United States is the most tech-savvy nation with nearly 40 million Americans–16 percent of all U.S. mobile users–using their handsets to browse on the move. Growth like this means the mobile Web is now a viable option for big business, the authors said. The firm also found that 82 percent of iPhone owners access the mobile Internet, “making them five times as likely to do   so as the average mobile consumer.“ So, how well does your Web site show up on a mobile browser? It’s important to assess how well your Web site shows up on a mobile device. Slight modifications are most likely needed to optimize the site for mobile screens.

It’s only logical that users will want to send the location details from the Web to their phone (1-way SMS). And marketing campaigns can use 2-way SMS to get users to “opt-in” during special promotions and or get location details.

Consumers like to be able to find locations in various ways including 800 Interactive Voice Response, which allows them to dial an 800 number and type in the ZIP code to get location details. Mobile directories allow consumers to search by category (similar to the Yellow Pages sites). And GPS navigational devices can be searched by location, as well as category.

Reporting and Tracking
Understanding where the traffic comes from (search engine, Internet Yellow Pages, corporate Web site or mobile device.) and what factors influence conversion rates (driving directions, coupons, events, send to phone/mail) requires detailed reporting. In this economy, where budgets are tight, it’s important that franchisees track their ROI. Not all locator-technology vendors offer tracking, so be sure to investigate before signing a contract.

Are you getting found? In this economy, your success depends upon it. Remember today’s consumer likes to research online, wants choice and wants to control the buying process. It doesn’t matter if you’re Popeye’s or the local sandwich shop, every business must understand who they are and what need they fulfill. Getting found locally isn’t rocket science, but it’s an ever increasing skill-set required for marketers in today’s search-driven world.

Vickie McGee is vice president of marketing and business development at Where 2 Get It, Inc. She can be reached at 714- 660-4857 or vmcgee@where2getit.com .