August 4, 2010 72 Comments

Stick a Pin in Local Marketing

Thumbtack.com

I’m just starting to peel back the layers on Thumbtack, but what I’m seeing is pretty interesting. They’re positioning themselves in the rapidly growing local marketing services industry, with a very simple premise of helping people find local services while helping local services market. Now, whatever you think of the business models that Thumbtack.com will come up with, that’s besides the point. Seeing this service shortly after writing about Gannett Local, plus all these other moves like location-based social platforms means that we’re on to a full blown trend. (Side note: realize that most people have never heard of location-based apps, according to my favorite GigaOm writer, Mathew Ingram.)

They’re Not Even HERE Yet

First off, some facts about how small businesses are (not!) using the web:

  • 40% of small businesses don’t have a web site
  • 81% of entrepreneurs still don’t take advantge of social media
  • 47% don’t think that Facebook, Twitter or even LinkedIn are beneficial to their business
  • 84% don’t provide for e-commerce
  • 62% don’t use email marketing

(Source: Citibank survey.)

How To Get Them In

We’re not selling them what they need. We’re talking them to death about what they could do. Want to work with local businesses? Make it dead simple. Make it Thumbtack.com simple. That’s how you’ll sell them.

Want to compete with Thumbtack? Offer services. That’s what Gannett Local will likely do in a handful of months. Beat them both to it. Why not?

Local Marketing Is a HOT Marketplace

It doesn’t have to be small, by the way. It just has to be local. You have some potential here. It’s just up to you to take advantage.

What’s your move?

Photo hosted at Flickr

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  • http://www.socialbrandingblog.com/ Steve Campbell

    This looks like a pretty good service. Nice. I'll be sure to check that out in the near future. Local marketing is just as crucial as marketing to the masses. Thanks for this.

  • http://www.bml-creative.co.uk bmlcreative

    Nice article, Chris. We have a similar trend growing here in the UK where companies are focusing on selling consumers the best local businesses. It is very surprising how many businesses are signing up to be part of this type of marketing promotion, but I think it's basically down to the reasons you've stated above. Most small businesses don't really have a clue about internet marketing in any shape or form, let alone how much it costs (or doesn't). These types of directories are a safe bet as far as most small business owners are concerned, even if the returns they get are modest. Just need to work on convincing them that there are better alternatives ;-)

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  • http://twitter.com/tejones Todd E. Jones

    Thanks for the tip Chris!

  • http://www.danieldecker.net Daniel Decker

    I like how thumbtack home page pulled in local custom info for my area immediately. Show direct relevance. Good stuff.

  • http://nathanhangen.com/blog Nathan Hangen

    It looks interesting, but they'll have to step out beyond a YellowPages.com model if they want to succeed. I agree that local has tons of potential, the issue to date that I've faced (and others I've talked to) is that the businesses either don't get it, or can't afford it.

    What I like about this site is that I see some micro-businesses, like solopreneurs. That's smart.

  • David Siteman Garland

    Chris – There is also an opportunity to market yourself locally online. Meaning if you are a blogger, media source, trusted resource, we have a tendency to focus worldwide. But, there are opportunities for:

    -Local sponsorships/advertisers
    -Local speaking engagements
    -Local events

    ….the list goes on.

    Dominate your home town.

  • http://twitter.com/davidamoore David Moore

    There are likely a zillion of us out here right now working on similar models. Sad part is that many of them will remain in our heads. My idea involves a FREE or low cost business listing to elimnate barriers for very small biz and incorporate more video and profile shows much like David Siteman Garland's “Rise”. Now somehow, someway, I need to execute the idea. I just need a clone of myself to do it all. Help anyone?

  • http://www.53tech.com/ Graham Clarke

    Nice post. Lots of opportunity in local. We're big on pay-for-performance advertising models – daily deals, half-off gift certificates, and group buys. Location + intent is a powerful combo.

  • http://twitter.com/davidamoore David Moore

    I just mentioned in my comment, how a “Rise” type show would be great promoting local biz along with the typical listings. I see many of these making a big splash. Lots of excitement and energy with the newness and novelty. And then they will die. But a “show” will keep the interest and keep visitors coming back. Mix that with some “groupon” type promos and you have a winner. Damn, I ought to do this. :)

  • http://www.abcddesign.com ABC Dragoo

    I think it is to be expected that people are reverting to who and what they know. There are so many options in the market place. The expanse of choice is overwhelming to the consumer.

    There are a lot of 'smoke and mirrors' out there on the internet and the best way to decide how to go forward with making a purchase is to go with someone who you can see, actually meet and talk to.

    Think of it like a rubber band – it can stretch and stretch but at some point, it must retract. People can expand and buy things from people across the world, but in the long run it will be easier for them to put their business with the person who they grew up with, that they have a relationship with.

    ABCD

  • http://www.abcddesign.com ABC Dragoo

    A second thought – I see it in interior design – There is a huge longing for all things 'slow home' related. Buying local, decorating with local art, cooking meals at home, being true to your surroundings… how better to accomplish this than by purchasing goods near where you live?

  • David Siteman Garland

    David – I agree on the show aspect. It creates something bigger. And it is replicable. It is the reason the chat shows do so well: There is always content.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    I'd never heard about “slow home,” but I totally understand the mindset. Makes perfect sense to me.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    That's certainly some of it. I think the relationship side of that, the “after the sizzle” side of that is where local will rule.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    The one opportunity that could be added: networking. http://motorcityconnect.com for instance. : )

  • http://www.53tech.com/ Graham Clarke

    Agreed. First the courtship, then an enduring relationship ;-)

  • http://local-onlinemarketing.com Bryan

    This site makes it easy for businesses to follow a simple prompted plan for marketing.
    I like the diy 123 setup of platform helping local businesses leverage the marketing assets they already have and making it easy for them to do some of their own SEO . the thumbtack profile actually incentivizes each little step by offering “points” for the merchant to complete simple tasks like posting to craigslist, adding pictures, earning testimonials/reviews, answering faq about your business.
    I still havent figured out where they make their money on thumbtack yet, maybe i will get a pitch on the phone or email soon but so far its alot ov instruction and value for free so it seems like a good place to have an outpost for business.

  • http://jasonkeath.com jakrose

    Yelp is winning here. Also Groupon. Imagine if the two of them teamed up.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    WIth all the local stuff, it feels like they're starting from a known good – stealing yellow pages business – and growing past it.

  • David Siteman Garland

    Definitely. Damn forgotten category :)

  • http://www.localna8ion.com/ Julian Seery Gude

    Hey Chris,

    I hope Thumbtack can generate enough listing data to make the service usable nationwide. I read a post about them that says they've got 40K businesses to sign up so far. That's actually pretty great for a young service but when looked at from a national scale it doesn't give them enough to make the service usable. Many have tried this approach and have subsequently given up, only to start buying all the listing data from directory providers. Which of course means users get the same junk you can find anywhere.

    As a local online marketing agency I will certainly start adding all my clients to their product and hopefully the service will make it. Small businesses need as many good free lead sources of traffic as they can find!

    cheers

    Julian

  • http://www.foundersgrp.com Cindy Donaldson

    Chris, Great post. I chair the Economic Development commission of my local city and it is truly a challenge to get people back to the mindset of thinking and buying local. I just returned from a few weeks in Europe where they still understand and practice the art of living, working and shopping within the city/town limits. We have so many options in America that sometimes we forget about what is right next door and how supporting our local economy can truly make the difference in the lives of many. If you aren't aware of the 350 Project – I encourage you to take a look. http://www.the350project.net/home.html Small local business owners cannot compete with marketing budgets of the big boxes but they CAN and should use social media and sites like thumbtack.com to promote their companies and encourage local buying. We surely do at Founders! Good stuff!

  • http://twitter.com/kyleplacy Kyle Lacy

    I think it's great that the local marketplace is booming. The trend is definitely leaning towards location based..everything! This gives the consumer a feeling of relevance and as if their helping their communities (which they are). Nice post as always.

  • http://www.ceointronet.com Sally

    It's no surprise that so many entrepreneurs are not using social networking. In some cases it is generational, in others it is because they are overwhelmed by hundreds of requests for connections (from folks they don't even know), or they don't want to “make mistakes” on a very public platform. I work with CEOs and entrepreneurs in a social media platform (http://www.ceointronet.com). They want controlled access, hand-holding (we have a personal Concierge service), and they want to cut to the chase: do more business. We make that possible. My sense is that CEOs/Entrepreneurs need to find the right platform for themselves. It's their marketing/sales/HR people (and in the case of some really small businesses they are their own marketing/sales/HR departments) who need to lead the way for the business to customer push.

  • http://stuart.calgarybloggers.ca Stuart R. Crawford

    Chris, Thumbtack looks like a great service. Can't access it because it appears to be only US based right now. Have an email into them about when we can see it in Canada. Thanks for your continued leadership.

    Stuart Crawford
    Calgary, Canada
    http://stuart.calgarybloggers.ca

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    They make them here in the US so you can clone them up there. Just add bacon. : )

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    You're not wrong. It need to bounce up another level. But it's a start, and that's all we can do.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

    You might've just pointed out a neat potential: a SUITE of such services. Hmmm. Just figured out an offering to sell via NML.

  • jessicaswanson

    I just can't believe the stats from the Citibank survey! It brings to mind that the small business owners don't even understand that they need local search. So, not only do we need to make it simple for the local small business owner, but make it a simple solution to a problem that they may or may not know exists (a bit of a tougher dilemma). I do agree that there's a HUGE future in local search…and someone is going to make it big jumping on that bandwagon.

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  • http://jasonkeath.com jakrose

    I will take my commission in high fives.

  • http://jasonkeath.com jakrose

    But seriously.

    A local marketing Suite would be useful. I have always thought a small business social media management suite could be huge if done the right way. Especially today when all these services have dashboards (Yelp, Foursquare, Google analytics) and APIs. If you could combine all that data in an easily digested UI, you have something.

  • Stevensack

    Just thinking about local marketing this morning (here in Seattle) and the opportunity for businesses to speak more personally on a local level. For certain companies, isn't it better to speak to true brand advocates (and buyers) than to be distracted by #s of exposures, radio spots, or subscribers? Thanks for the timely post, Chris, and I'm enjoying the Genesis Theme.

  • http://www.thumbtack.com/ Marco Zappacosta

    Thanks for the great write-up, Chris!

    We're really focused on building a marketplace for local services. This is why we haven't populated our listings with data we've purchased or scraped from elsewhere — we want every listing on Thumbtack to be created by that service professional.

    Having a relationship with every business that lists on Thumbtack also lets us create a safe community (http://www.thumbtack.com/safety) and allows users to connect directly through Thumbtack. We offer consumers a way to solicit bids from service professionals without having to give out a phone number and a simple, hosted way to manage everything online.

    Thanks again for checking us out!

  • http://twitter.com/StartupSidekick Jason Sullivan

    Wow, 81% of entrepreneurs are not using social media. Yikes

    As an entrepreneur, social media allows you to communicate with your users directly for Free. How could that not be advantageous to an entrepreneur? Many entrepreneurs are bootstrapping their businesses, and rely on their credit cards to get them through the early stages; social media allows you to build clientele for free. That 81% is a scary stat

    Jason
    http://www.facebook.com/pages/StartupSidekick/1… (follow me on Facebook for more entrepreneurial advice)

  • Kristin @ TNBuyLocal.com

    It's also known as “slow food”. http://slowfoodusa.org/

  • Kristin @ TNBuyLocal.com

    Very timely. The economic development trend from global to local is (finally) catching on here in the states. I have a 'buy local' blog and eNewsletter here in Nashville (http://tnbuylocal.com/). I plan to affiliate with the Business Alliance of Local Living Economies (BALLE) http://www.livingeconomies.org/, turning TN Buy Local into a local business network with 3 goals: connecting consumers to local businesses, connecting local businesses to each other and connecting tourists with local businesses.

    Because of my study/love of social media, I have a propensity for working with local businesses in that capacity. I have been working with a *local* web developer to conceptualize an amazing website (building in that 'suite' idea). I applied for a Pepsi Refresh grant to pay for the website development – my application will be available for voting on September 1. I'd love some support from the social media community!

    I am an entrepreneur with a plan to make Middle TN a more sustainable community. That includes financial sustainability. I am building it debt-free and so social media is THE key component to my marketing plan. Thanks for a great post!

  • http://www.brosix.com/ Brosix

    I looked up my area and there wasn't a lot of services yet. I think this is a great idea though!

  • banksy6

    Great write up Chris. We have a national franchise in the Uk called thebestof which aims to showcase the best local businesses. They are run by local people doing human business on the ground. I'm just starting to help them connect with local business on social media platforms. The possibilities are awesome :)

    Alastair (Exeter likemind)

  • robertbacal

    The thing about these kinds of comments is the presuppositions (the assumptions beneath the words that allow us to make sense of the actual words. You seem to start from the assumption that “they” should be on the web, on facebook, on twiter, etc. I am far from convinced that the majority of businesses will profit from doing many of these things.

    One reason is, as you say, you talk too much, and provide too few properly documented studies. As a company I have sufficient evidence, not just applicable to my business, but also to others to suggest that for the MAJORITY of businesses, there are no profits to be had NOW in social media, and there is little for the near future. I don't share your presuppositions and neither do many veteran folks doing ecommerce.

    There will be exceptions, and those will be repeated ad nauseum, but the invisible failures are HUGE.

  • Suzy@Bella Verde Design

    Thanks for the info, I just signed up for Thumbtack a few months ago but have not delved in to it much. I provide Marketing Consulting and actually like to focus on small businesses, their the ones that lack the basic business and marketing skills to grow and even survive.

    I do believe that anyone can profit from Social Media. It is essentially free branding and you can easily communicate with your clients and spread the word about what you are doing.

    Sure it is not for everyone, neither are 5″ heels or beards. But generally speaking, yes, social media is a powerful tool and many people can profit from it.

  • Tester

    TESTING

  • http://anyhoodles.com Nicole

    Looks like its only in the US at the moment.
    Would love to see it roll out elsewhere (Australia!!)

    Nicole

  • http://www.freview.info/ bryan

    Great post! Social media marketing will truly support and enhance businesses’ overall marketing objectives through the internet. Different strategies and techniques may be used like positioning contents on website pages, promoting banners to generate targeted online traffic, thus attracting crowd into your business! Just be certain that page content would match your intent to yield great profit.

    Keep it up Chris!

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  • http://www.socialjitney.com/ Iphone Application Developer

    Nice stats. Well i think social media can help alot in marketing if people get aware of social media.

  • http://wigleyandassociates.com Griff Wigley

    Marco, I really like what you're doing. Is there a way/incentive for a hyperlocal blogsite to work with Thumbtack, eg, to embed a listing of local services in a sidebar?

  • http://stuart.calgarybloggers.ca Stuart R. Crawford

    Here is the official word for Thumbtack support outside the US

    Hi Stuart,

    Thanks a million for the kind words – we really appreciate it.

    Unfortunately we don't have any immediate plans to extend this to Canada. We're trying to get our product right before we extend this beyond the States. Our website is heavily dependent on location information – and we're not experts on Canada… yet. :-)

    Thanks again, Stuart!

    ~Heather

  • http://vbpoutsourcing.com VBP OutSourcing

    This is a great post. As a small business providing marketing and accounting services we find it is often harder to bring in marketing clients than accounting. Many business owners are overlooking the need for a website or the benefits of social media and email marketing. Your point on local marketing is also a great one, because the centralized focus can provide great returns.

    http://www.blogs.vbpoutsourcing.com

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