New data is available from WebVisible and Nielsen Online. Of particular interest to local business owners, consumers are using search engines much more than they were only two years ago.
When considering local Internet advertising spend in the upcoming year, it is clear that an increasing shift to online behavior among consumers must be followed by small business marketers.
In fact, the research shows that if more local business owners mimicked their own online shopping and research behavior in their marketing efforts they would have a much better chance at capturing more local business.
In this survey, half of the respondents said search engines are the FIRST first place they looked when seeking a local business. And of all the different sources, search was by far the most popular:
- 82% Search engines (such as Google or Yahoo!)
- 49% Internet Yellow Pages (such as yellowpages.com or superpages.com)
- 57% Yellow Pages directories
- 53% Local newspapers
- 49% Television
- 38% Direct mail
- 32% White Pages directories
Called "The Great Divide," this study surveyed nearly 4,000 US Internet users. It was conducted jointly by Nielsen Online and WebVisible.
For more information and an interesting viewpoint, check out Business Week’s coverage. Also, the full survey will soon be available on WebVisible’s Web site.
-- Contributed by Jeff Werner
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