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

Technology Has Fundamentally Changed the Customer Search Journey

Source: Think With Google, 2016

More than halfof all searches now occur on mobile devices

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

Across 250+ Location Services

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

Do You Speak Search Engine?

When we think about speaking with a machine or a computer, we think of…

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

Structured Data Feeds Geolocation Technology, Too

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.

Pokémon Go = Foot Traffic

Accurate location data empowers franchises to build brand awareness and engage with local

customers in moments that matter

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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

Where We Started

• Inconsistent Location Data

• Untracked Listing Visits

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

What’s the ROI?Ever get asked this?

“Hold on, let me Google that for you…”

Questions?

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