3 Things We Learned at BIA Kelsey's ILM West
A couple of weeks ago we attended ILM West in Southern California. We also presented the latest version of our marketing analytics and call tracking solution, LogMyCalls. We met a lot of great people, and kudos to BIA/Kelsey for yet another incredible event. The wonderful thing about a large gathering of local marketers is that you can really get a pulse on the entire industry. You can--both anecdotally and with data--ascertain where local marketing is headed. Here are the top 3 things we learned at ILM West:
1) Mobile is hear to stay, and local marketers are preparing to fully embrace it. SMBs and local marketers are jumping into mobile with both feet. Mobile integrations via click-to-call and other features, were the talk of the conference. SMBs themselves are creating mobile websites and mobile landing pages. Local marketing firms are now, increasingly, providing a plethora of mobile options for their clients. They're also integrating call tracking and other solutions to effectively track metrics from these mobile campaigns. There was a real sense that mobile may be the silver bullet in the offerings of local marketing firms. It generates calls, actions and revenue at never-before seen rates.
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2) SMBs need to get their act together. Turns out that less than 20% of SMBs are effectively leveraging free online directories, Google+, and other free (and essential) online marketing tactics. WTH (What The Heck)
3) Calls are king. The biggest buzz at the conference was certainly about the increase in call-based metrics. Local marketers of all shapes and sizes are realizing that calls are the single most valuable lead a business can get. BIA/Kelsey's data shows that 64% of businesses rate inbound calls as their best leads. They are better than website leads or form fill-outs. Our own data shows that inbound callers are 15 to 20 times more likely to become a customer than an inbound web lead. If you want to explode revenue in the local marketing world, you need to figure out how to generate more phone calls.
At LogMyCalls we're excited to be involved in each of these three local marketing trends. Marketers and SMBs are using our numbers to track calls generated from mobile campaigns. As SMBs figure out where to list their businesses, we want them to list using local numbers that we provide. And, most critically, we are at the cutting edge of call analytics and call-based metrics.
LogMyCalls isn't going anywhere. We're revolutionizing the call analytics and call tracking world.
by McKay Allen, Content Manager
