Gregg Stewart

Company: 15miles

Possessing a successful career spanning more than 20 years in interactive advertising and local search marketing, Stewart has managed local search programs for Fortune 500 companies, including; ADT, Sunrise Senior Living, Culligan Water, GE, Enterprise rent-a-car and Hilton Hotels to name a few. Prior to joining TMP Directional Marketing (TMPDM), Stewart was executive vice president of Wahlstrom Group and president and founder of Wahlstrom Interactive, before becoming senior vice president of channel management and marketing at Fathom Online.

Deeply versed in the industry, Stewart joined TMP Directional Marketing as senior vice president of its eastern region in January 2006, successfully managing the interactive and local search programs. In January 2007, he assumed the role of senior vice president of interactive to develop TMPDM’s integrated media solutions. That involved leading TMPDM’s executive contingents through extensive training to transition from a purely traditional agency to a comprehensive offline and digital media firm the past four years. He was responsible for assembling high-performance teams that researched and developed relevant, cost-effective online and mobile solutions to yield sales-generating results at the local level. Following this successful transition, Stewart was integral in launching the agency’s interactive division 15miles, where he currently serves as president.

15miles Services
15miles is the interactive division of TMP Directional Marketing, which is the largest local search marketing agency. Its online and mobile search solutions, which range from Internet Yellow Pages and online business listings management to social media marketing and search engine optimization, position national brands at the forefront of targeted consumers’ search results for increased lead generation and sales.

What makes 15miles different from other companies in the industry?
Through integrated pinpoint strategies and plans we help our clients reach their consumers where they shop – in local markets. We begin by understanding niche markets, using our proprietary local consumer profiling and behavioral analysis tools and research. Then, we determine the best combination of local online, mobile and search marketing solutions for maximum results within those targeted markets.

The most important questions a consumer should ask before hiring an agency like 15miles?
1)    What tools/resources do you use to plan and manage your campaigns?
2)    What level of service / engagement can we expect from our account team?
3)    How does your firm demonstrate continuous improvement and innovation?
4)    What will be the level of transparency into our overall program approach / results?
5)    Can I have a list of references?

Common Myths in Local Search Marketing
The Silver Bullet – Local Search Marketing is not as simple as adding ip address targeting or geo designated terms into your SEM campaign. As technology advances, consumer media usage is constantly changing.  As a result, marketers must ensure their business information can be found wherever consumers may be searching.  According to our annual proprietary research study with comScore, consumers use multiple sources when looking to make upcoming purchasing decisions including Search Engines, Local Portal sites (Google Maps and Yahoo! Local), Internet Yellow Pages and Social Media properties like Facebook and Yelp.  In fact, the usage of these properties varies greatly dependant on the consumer’s product or service related need and / or their search intent.  As a result, it is critical for marketers to understand the media usage behaviors of their target consumers to ensure an effective media mix.

As a business owner, I can easily control the accuracy of my business listing information online
Online local search sites such as Google Maps, compile their local business listings database from multiple sources including  Web-search results, data submitted directly from local business owners and third-party sources like Yellow Pages directories (online and offline), just to name a few.  As a result, old and/or incorrect information can often make its way into these listings.  Once online it can be hard to correct this information as it is easily spread to multiple sites through web crawlers, partnership alliances etc.  As a business owner it is often hard to track down all of the areas / sites where this data may be appearing.  In addition, each site typically has its own unique way of handling data inaccuracies and/or errors.  In fact, some sites don’t even allow you to correct or even report the inaccuracies of this type of data.   Here is where agencies like 15miles step in to assist business owners / marketers with this complicated and often confusing process.  Through our industry partnerships and accreditations, 15miles is able to update and optimize this data through the use of trusted partner feeds which update this business listing information at the source – top data providers such as InfoUSA and Localeze as well as direct to sites such as Google, Yahoo! And Bing.

Measuring Actions not Outcomes
We see this all too often.  Marketers measuring the success of their Local Search campaigns based solely on the volume of clicks and/or calls that are generated.  As a result these types of campaigns may not fare as well as other campaigns that may generate a lot more actions --- but not necessarily quality leads and sales for the business.  Research has shown that consumers engaged in local search activity are closer to making a buying decision than general searchers.  As a result, actions produced via a local search campaign typically convert at a higher rate than other more generally targeted efforts.  Due to this increased conversion rate marketers can often times justify paying more per action (cost per click and/or call) if the end result is a cost effective cost per sale / customer. 

For example we have a marketer who is currently paying $5 for each general search lead and $10 for leads from his local search campaign.   Based on the conversion rates experienced in each of these campaigns (5% for search and 20% for Local Search) the client is actually getting a better deal with his Local Search campaign.

100 leads in the client’s general search campaign would equate to 5 sales for a cost of $500 or $100 per sale
100 leads in the client’s local search campaign would equate to 20 sales for a cost of $1,000 or $50 per sale

Which would you prefer?

Future outlook of the industry:
Although we have many predictions as to the future of our industry – three  of our top industry projections from earlier this year are as follows:

Small Is the New Big
2010 is the year when all marketers will start taking “local” seriously. Why? Regardless of where or how people are searching (or what they’re searching for), 80 percent of purchases happen within 15 miles of consumers’ homes. Even with the growth of online search, less than 10 percent of all retail sales are completed online. If 2010 follows in the footprints of previous years, then we will continue to see a trend of consumers using the Internet as their go-to resource for researching upcoming purchases. As the focus has shifted to local search, thanks to major search engines like Google, this can no longer be ignored because local results are increasingly making their way to the top of search-results pages. This may be a business’ only chance to get in front of consumers prior to their purchase decisions, so the visibility and accuracy of a business’ local information is everything. Ultimately, this means that marketers may have to start thinking small in order to gain big in 2010.

The Year of Mobile
Mobile advertising will capture a greater share of consumer usage and marketers’ dollars, as the effectiveness of this emerging media skyrockets. The sophistication of smartphones, the availability of high-speed networks and the increased expectations of mobile performance will actually result in the creation of a unique mobile-usage paradigm. The uncoupling of technology from service providers will contribute to using mobile in new ways. No longer using their mobile devices as directory bandages or laptop lites, users will effectively integrate mobile into their daily lives via directories, local applications and more.        

Growth in Social Media
Social media will continue its fast-paced growth in terms of usage. Initial advertiser opportunities will revolve around conversations in social communities, as well as responding to consumer input in the form of ratings and reviews. As media properties such as Yelp and Insider Pages increase their usage share, new advertising models will emerge.

Where do you see 15miles in the next 5 years?
As more and more marketers start to look at Local Search as a critical component to the success of their overall marketing strategy vs. just a tactic – there will be a need for expertise in this area that goes far beyond the localization of a marketer’s website and/or SEM campaign.  As early innovators and thought leaders in the local search space, 15miles is the premier agency that top marketers turn to for expertise in Local Search marketing.  Now and into the future.