Franchises Find Success with Location Data and Mobile Apps
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Tim Miller, CFE VP, Enterprise Sales @timamiller
Mike AndersonManager, SEO
Brad HotchkissSupervisor, Digital Performance
76%of people who use location
search on mobile phones visit a business within a day
Source: Think With Google, 2016
We Also Know That…
Location Search Denotes Extreme Purchase Intent
28%of those searches
result in a purchase
(or conversion)
Source: Think With Google, 2016
Accurate location data is key to driving foot traffic. Mobile consumers expect accurate information wherever and whenever they’re searching.
Source: Google, 2014
50%of consumers who
aren’t sure where to eat don’t search until
within an hour of going
63%Critical details about local
stores (hours, phone number, etc.)
74%Item is in stock at a
nearby store
59%Map showing which stores carry the item
searched
With many stakeholders involved in franchisee success, location data can be particularly complex to manage
100+ Attributes
Name
Sublocality
Categories
City
StateAddress 1
Display Address
Logo
Emails
Website
Main Phone
Mobile PhoneSpecial Offer
Fax
Year Established
Twitter Handle
Facebook Page
BiosEvents
Menu
Products
Brands
Closed Flag
Special
Offer URL
Latitude
Longitude
Address Visible
(service areas)
Address 2Postal
Code
Country Payment
Methods
Website
Display URL
Specialties
Keywords
Languages
Associations
Attribution
Logo
Alternate
Phone
Additional
Hours
TextToll-free
NumberBusiness
Hours
Holiday
Hours
Photos
Description
YouTube
Video URLs
Franchises Need To Reach Their Local Consumers
Source: eMarketer, 2016
40%of franchise professionals believe having optimized information in
search helps bring in new business
76%of franchise professionals use SEO
as part of their digital
marketing tactics
Franchises Need To Reach Their Local Consumers
Source: High Visibility, 2016
63%of franchise professionals say their
biggest marketing challenge is generating quality leads
29%of franchise professionals say
their biggest marketing challenge is converting leads into customers
What is a Search Engine?
1. Searcher(Human)
2. Search Engine(Machine, mostly)
3. Source(Human, mostly)
Potentialanswers
Link to the Selected Answer
But Really…
• Content• Blogs• Ad copy• Featured articles• Webpages• Product write-ups• Menu blurbs• Services Lists
Mostly unstructured..
YUCK!
Tombstone
• Movie?
• City?
• Headstone?
• Prospectus?
• Pizza?
• Comic Book?
The Googoo Baby is very confused!!!
“Speaking” of Voice Search
Q: “Alexa, What is a Tombstone?”A: “A headstone or gravestone placed over a grave.”
Q: “Alexa, Is Tombstone a movie?”A: “No, a gravestone is not a film.”
Q: “Alexa, is there a movie called Tombstone?”A: “Yes, there is a film called Tombstone.”
Q: “Alexa, can you order me a Tombstone pizza?”A: “I didn’t see that in your past orders, so I added a Tombstone pizza to your shopping list.”
Mary Meeker’s 2016 Internet Trends Report
Vocal & Local
• 1 in 5 android searches on mobile apps in the USA are voice searches
• Google voice search queries are up 35x since 2008 and up 7x since 2010
• 65% of smartphone owners now use voice assistants, up from 30% in 2013
KPCB Internet Trends Report, 2016
Franchise businesses must understand the relevance and power of location, leverage technology and structured data to drive local customers through
their front doors
Snapchat Needs Precise Location Data
Location is one of the best ways
Snapchat has found to monetize
KFC tested Snapchat Geofilters in the UK
• 200K+ views
• Reached 9M people
• Drove 23% lift in visitation with 7 days of seeing the Geofilter
Snapchat Geofilters provide a new opportunity for brand engagement and can amplify one visit into
numerous brand impressions.
Accurate location data empowers franchises to build brand awareness and engage with local
customers in moments that matter
About Us
Mike Anderson Manager, Search Engine Optimization
Brad Hotchkiss Supervisor, Digital Performance
About Choice Hotels
• 11 brands in the economy, mid-scale and upscale segments
• 5,250+ Domestic Franchised Hotels
• 1,150+ International Franchised Hotels
Goals
Increase Revenue to
Direct Channels
Hotel Info Accuracy
Tracking
Franchise Engagement
Scalable Listing
Management
Challenges
Managing at Scale• Dozens of publishers
• Thousands of updates
• Time commitment to audit local listings
Obtaining Franchisee Buy-In• Claiming
• URL selection
• Corporate ownership
Solutions
Choice Hotels needed to automate local listing management for non-Google publishers, as well as provide franchisee-level support for its local listings
Solutions
Franchisee Approach
• Claim all listings that do not already exist
• Merge existing listings into corporate account
• Provide materials to franchisees detailing the advantages of corporate ownership Cost reduction Time management elimination Applying data consistency & industry
best practices
Successes
Before• Little to no corporate management • Poor data, limited publisher relationships• Minimal franchisee management
After• Scalable listing distribution• Accurate & trackable hotel data• Increased search engine rankings, revenue, bookings• Franchisee peace of mind