Couponing in the Digital Age 
From NielsenWire

   Coupons are already well-established as a promotional vehicle in the U.S., with coupon-clipping Americans comprising 86 percent of households and driving 89 percent of all-outlet dollar sales, according to data compiled by Nielsen.
   But that doesn't mean manufacturers and retailers shouldn't be looking for ways to make it simpler for households to receive and redeem coupons. Writing in the December issue of Nielsen's "Consumer Insight" online newsletter, Todd Hale, svp, consumer and shopper insights, Nielsen, outlines what today's coupon shopper can expect as new technologies revolutionize couponing methods and media:

1. Reduced reliance on paper-based feature and coupon circulation. A race for dominance is taking place with computer-based Internet applications, mobile phones, credit and frequent shopper cards and in-store applications. Global positioning systems (GPS), radio frequency identity tags (RFID), eye movement tracking cameras and similar devices will enable location- and interest-specific promotional offers to be delivered at actionable sites.

2. Electronic or store entrance coupon delivery. Instead of tagging consumers as they leave the store post-purchase, next generation systems will deliver coupons via mobile phones, Internet or in-store devices when shoppers enter the retail location or are in the mood and in the aisle, ready to buy.

3. Smart appliances provide in-store shopping assistance. What's for dinner tonight? Visit the produce or meat department and allow your personal chef avatar to generate some electronic menu suggestions and automatically create a shopping list with aisle and item locator cues.

4. Stores offering engagement and entertainment opportunities. Look for personal shopper holograms to guide you through the store or shelf talkers activated by your cell phone to offer special discounts. Walmart has pledged to invest $10 million and two years of testing to determine the optimal placement of in-store screens and special shopper programming.

5. One-to-one personalized promotions. Stores will become increasingly interactive and consumer-specific, marrying data from multiple sources to deliver an involving shopping experience that reflects individual interests and buying preferences. Social networks based on shopping proclivities will be formed to build demand and drive sales.

6. Integrated strategic promotional planning. Shopper marketing comes of age, dominating the retail landscape, displacing product-centric marketing planning. Technology enables a holistic planning approach that puts the consumer front and center while "benefitting the brand, the consumer, the shopper and the retailer." Source: Brandweek.com

Holiday shoppers continue to shift to online purchases - Competitive pricing important factor
   Nielsen Online, a service of the Nielsen Company announced that consumers will continue to shift their gift buying online this holiday season, citing convenience, time saving and price among the primary reasons for shopping on the Web. With the current economic downturn, there is an increased focus on price this year, with 53 percent of consumers citing price as a reason to buy online, compared with 46 percent last year. Interestingly, though, consumers continue to trump convenience more than price as the primary value of the channel, with 76 percent of consumers citing the ability to shop 24 hours a day and 74 percent citing time saving for why they shop online (see Table 1).
   These results are from a Nielsen Online pre-holiday survey intended to gauge online consumers’ holiday shopping plans for 2008. The online survey

2008 2Q E-Commerce $34.6B

   The Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce that the estimate of U.S. retail e-commerce sales for the second quarter of 2008, adjusted for seasonal variation, but not for price changes, was $34.6 billion, an increase of 2.9 percent (±1.0%) from the first quarter of 2008.
   Total retail sales for the second quarter of 2008 were estimated at $1,034.8 billion, an increase of 0.9 percent (±0.3%) from the first quarter of 2008. The second quarter 2008 e-commerce estimate increased 9.5 percent (±1.2%) from the second quarter of 2007 while total retail sales increased 2.5 percent (±0.5%) in the same period. E-commerce sales in the second quarter of 2008 accounted for 3.3 percent of total sales.
   On a not adjusted basis, the estimate of U.S. retail e-commerce sales for the second quarter of 2008 totaled $32.5 billion, an increase of 0.5 percent (±1.0%)* from the first quarter of 2008. The second quarter 2008 e-commerce estimate increased 8.9 percent (±1.2%) from the second quarter of 2007 while total retail sales increased 2.3 (±0.5%) in the same period. E-commerce sales in the second quarter of 2008 accounted for 3.1 percent of total sales. Source: US Census Bureau

Winning the Local Search Battle by Gregg Stewart. 

   The local search marketplace continues to grow rapidly. Local is growing at a faster percentage rate than general search. Additionally, changes in search patterns show that consumers are becoming better and smarter searchers, moving from simple one- and two-keyword searches to more specific four- and five-keyword searches. The progression also shows important insights related to higher conversion rates for local search. The good news: consumers signal a higher purchase interest based on the number of keywords contained in their search query. In many cases, these compound search queries include explicit geographic local search terms.
   In short, the more specific a consumer is in the search query, the higher propensity to purchase. The consumer is shifting from "what to buy" category searches (e.g. plumbing, drain cleaning) to "where to buy" phrases (e.g. draining cleaning in Austin, Texas).
   So with all of these search-empowered customers, let's take a look at the publisher side to see who's leading the local search charge.

Publishers and Local Search
   On the local search front, we continue to see forward momentum from Google powered by the Google Maps product. Year-to-date traffic is up 21 percent, based largely on Web site and mobile usage increases. Google's Local Business Referrals program, announced last year, seems to be in a state of pause as it gains momentum.
   A spokesperson from Google stated, "As more and more people use the Internet to search for local goods and services, it is increasingly important for locally-based businesses to establish a visible online presence through free local listings. To help with this (Local Business Referrals) effort, Google is contracting with individuals in U.S. cities to visit businesses in their area to collect information including location, hours of operation, and digital photos. This program will help people find local information using Google and Google Maps and help businesses take advantage of the Internet even if they don't have a Web site or online store. This is currently a pilot program intended to help local businesses in the U.S."
   Interestingly, when I visited Google's Local Business Referrals Web page and tried to sign up for the program, I received notification that "response to the program has been so positive that we (Google) have enough representatives for our current needs."
   In a slightly different tactic, Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL continue to leverage their distribution arrangements with Internet yellow pages (IYP) partners to yield local search volume.
   Of the stand-alone IYP providers, recent usage figures from comScore show that competition for usage on the IYP side of local search continues to heat up. For the first time in many years, Idearc's Superpages.com has fallen from the number one position, knocked off the hill by AT&T's Yellowpages.com. This can be attributed to recent shifts and additional distribution partners. It should be noted that the top two IYP networks (Superpages.com and Yellowpages.com) rely heavily (approaching 50 percent) on distribution partners for overall local search traffic.
   For advertisers, it's important to understand these distribution partnerships, as they can greatly affect lead flow volume and conversion metrics of IYP campaigns. In terms of capturing local content, traditional yellow pages publishers have a huge advantage based on their historic large local sales teams that are "feet on the street" that visit local merchants to pitch their advertising products.
   The battle for local search dominance is being fought on many fronts: consumer usage, advertiser content, and access to local sales forces. The potential payoffs are considerable based on the fast rate of growth from this segment and because the vast majority of local businesses have yet to test the waters of online advertising and, more specifically, local search.

What Local search is not 
   Let's start with what is not local search. If your agency or internal marketing director state: "yeah don't worry, we have local covered; we broad matched all your keywords, so we pick up anyone searching with geographic/local terms," it's time to get worried. That's sort of like saying "we have every local market covered because we advertise on the Super Bowl ... all local consumers watch the Super Bowl." Well, if you have an unlimited budget and truly believe that your target market is every consumer in every geography, read no further. This article won't help you. Local search marketing allows for a tactical targeting strategy that helps advertisers increase the relevance of their users' Web experience, and unlocks lower cost conversions than national targeting allows. For example: In addition to match types, you'll want to understand how to leverage the local targeting capabilities available on some of the engines. Targeting tactics, such as explicit keyword selection (keyword + geography name) and implicit keyword terms combined with IP targeting, are important to your program.

Building a Presence and Relationship within Each Specific Community
   SEMsknow the benefits of embedding the "searched term" in the keyword specific creative message as a way of reinforcing to the consumer that they're a relevant choice, thereby increasing ad click-throughs. Local takes this tactic to a whole new level -- consumers want to know you're part of the community.

Local Content Pages
   If you employ local content pages for each of your office/branch/locations, don't simply create cookie cutter pages with duplicated material along with a local name, address, and telephone. This approach will rank poorly in search engines, create a poor user experience, and could trip a search engine's duplicate content filter.
   Instead, personalize the local content pages. Say how long you've conducted business in the marketplace; identify your branch manager by name; share what types of local market guarantees you can make (e.g., service calls within 24 hours); explain special offerings; post the hours of the location, etc.
   This is hard work, but the results are worth the labor. I've seen creative marketers who involve their field organizations in the collection of this local customized information. Not only did their local field organization better understand what is listed about their location on the Web, but they were better prepared to handle the incoming leads. Better lead handling and local field office goodwill, what could be nicer?
   So now that we have good local-specific content, how do we process the leads? Research shows that a high percentage of local search traffic converts offline, so provide both online form handling and a local telephone number to enable consumers to respond in the manner which they prefer. One further best practice: use a local number versus an 800 number if possible.
   Finally, I know I sound like a broken record, but as consumers interact with online advertising to shape local purchase decisions, it's vital to track all forms of ad response, both online and offline. Without these measures, marketers can't clearly understand your local search performance and substantiate the amount of effort that is required to customize your user experience by locality.
Local search is hard work, but as keyword and advertisement costs continue to rise, marketers need to increase the conversion of their efforts. Marketers that employ a highly customized localized approach to keyword match types and content will enjoy lower cost-per-sale and a better user experience.