NEW YORK (October 8, 2009) - TMP Directional Marketing (TMPDM), the largest local search marketing agency, released its annual local search study, commissioned by comScore, that examines the year-over-year growth of local search and the shifts in consumer behavior and media usage. This study revealed a major movement toward interactive search channels such as Internet search engines, mobile platforms and social media.
According to TMPDM’s study, the search industry overall is expanding rapidly, with the total number of U.S. searches having grown by 31 percent across all media platforms between June 2008 and June 2009 (21.9 billion total searches in June 2009). Internet search engines continue to be a primary source for local business information, although the data remains little changed from 31 percent in 2008. Among the search engines, local search sites increased in usage, from 11 percent in 2008 to 12 percent in 2009. Also, IYP sites gained ground as primary sources of local business information, from 19 percent usage last year to 21 percent this year.
“Each media type plays an important role in the consumer purchase process. Buyers use numerous channels at different times and for different reasons,” said Gregg Stewart, president of TMPDM’s full-service interactive division 15miles. “But the growing demand for local business information across interactive search platforms, especially online and mobile, is creating additional opportunities for national advertisers to reach consumers with more relevance. In order to reach target audiences, marketers must think locally and focus their messages on local marketplaces where consumers shop.”
Holding true to last year’s results, online search is used earlier in the purchase process than offline search. The primary reason survey respondents search online first is to research the best brands to buy and to identify businesses that offer those brands. In fact, four out of 10 consumers, or approximately 39 percent, engage in online research to aid in purchase selection. Only 17 percent of consumers go offline to research.
As in 2008, offline search is performed in the later stages of the consumer purchase process. Forty percent of consumers engage in offline search to get specific business details (for example, hours of operation, addresses and phone numbers) about the places they have selected for follow-up activities and/or making purchases.
In terms of post-search activity, TMPDM’s study found that 83 percent of local search users contacted businesses offline (a six point increase over 2008 results), with 46 percent of consumers making contacts over the phone and 37 percent visiting the businesses in person. Although TMPDM found that in-store purchases decreased across the board since 2007, most likely due to economic factors, half of all local business searchers made purchases.
These findings reveal that online search is a vital channel for marketers seeking to generate local leads and sales, yet offline media still holds practical applications, relevance and value in the consumer purchase process. Based on the ever-fragmenting media landscape, marketers are beginning to see value in adopting a diversified-media approach for their business information to be found by searching consumers.
TMPDM found that consumers continue to fuel emerging trends in local search. With 22 million consumers using the mobile Internet through June 2009, the preferred mode to access local business information remains the mobile browser. In fact, 127 percent more users accessed local content via downloaded applications on mobile devices, compared to June 2008.
With millions of applications accessible to mobile users, consumers can easily search for local business information wherever they go. TMPDM classified the specific business information that consumers seek on their mobile devices, and placed each search into a category to measure the most popular content. Among the various local content categories searched on mobile platforms, more consumers accessed online directories (42 percent), followed by maps (41 percent), restaurant information (37 percent) and movies (30 percent).
While a majority of consumer search behavior has shifted toward the use of interactive resources, print Yellow Pages and other offline directories are still referenced in the consumer purchase process, proving that offline media still has reach and possesses lead-generation benefits. And the high demand for online Yellow Pages information reveals that consumers still use the Yellow Pages, just in different ways. When coupled with IYP, the Yellow Pages are an effective cross-channel source of local business information. In fact, 30 percent of consumers who first use IYP still turn to print directories as additional resources in their searches.
The closer, the better: Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of respondents in 2009 stated that they expect their search results to reveal businesses within 15 miles of their homes or places of work. This statistic is significantly higher compared to 2008 (59 percent) and 2007 (52 percent), proving that consumers expect more relevance in their business searches.
TMPDM’s local search usage study includes data from 4,000 online survey responses, as well as observed online behavior of one million consumers who agreed to have their online searches monitored anonymously.
Coupled with its interactive division 15miles, TMP Directional Marketing is the largest local search marketing agency, offering offline, online and mobile solutions to top national brands. Combining its years of success in Yellow Pages advertising with its interactive search expertise gained as a former unit of Monster Worldwide, TMPDM serves clients in all industries, including more than 100 companies on the Fortune 500 list. Privately held by the Audax Group and senior management, TMPDM is headquartered in New York and has 500 employees and 15 offices in the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit tmpdm.com or 15miles.com. To download TMPDM’s official white paper summarizing the local search study, visit tmpdm.com/ourwork/whitepapers.asp.