Local Marketing, Inc. Moves its Headquarters to a New Location in Buckhead

The Atlanta interactive marketing agency has a new space in the One Buckhead Plaza building

ATLANTA, GA (May 31, 2012) – Local Marketing, Inc., a full-service local marketing, creative and IT firm based in Atlanta, recently relocated to One Buckhead Plaza in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta. The new, larger office, located on Peachtree Road, is now fully operational.

Local Marketing, Inc. made the decision to move from its previous Midtown office in order to better accommodate its growing staff and number of local clients.

“After three years in our Midtown office on West Peachtree Street, we were ready to move into a larger space, with a greater number of offices and bigger cubicles for the staff,” said VP of Marketing Michele Fontanelli Arnett.

The One Buckhead Plaza building is located on Peachtree Road. In addition to the main office building, the plaza is also home to exclusive Buckhead retail shops, restaurants and the St. Regis Hotel.

“The Buckhead office is a great opportunity for us. We look forward to generating new opportunities and establishing additional business relationships in the area,” said Founder Puneet Mehta.

The address for the new Local Marketing, Inc. office is:

One Buckhead Plaza

3060 Peachtree Road, NW

Suite 200

Atlanta, GA 30305

(404) 917-2100

About Local Marketing, Inc.

Local Marketing, Inc. and its sister company, Meta Media, Inc., specialize in non-traditional, ROI-based marketing strategies, including site design, development, marketing, analytics, reporting and optimization. Local Marketing, Inc. provides customized solutions for companies who want to specifically target local markets. Our philosophy of ongoing refinement means we never stop improving and optimizing our clients’ campaigns. With our knowledge, experience and industry relationships, we are your multi-channel experts and a one-stop shop for effective online strategies with clear ROI. Read more about the company’s efforts online at www.localmarketinginc.com.

Local Marketing, Inc. Earns 2012 AiMA Award Nomination for Most Effective Local Georgia Campaign

Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association Recognizes Local Marketing, Inc.

for its Work with an Atlanta Plastic Surgeon 

ATLANTA, GA (May 1, 2012) – Local Marketing, Inc., a full-service marketing, creative and IT firm based in Atlanta, announced today it is a finalist in the 2012 Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AiMA) Awards.

Local Marketing, Inc. received the AiMA nomination in the category of Most Effective Local Campaign in Georgia for its website design and local online marketing work on behalf of the Abramson Facial Plastic Surgery & Rejuvenation Center.  Strategies for plastic surgery practice included updating the brand, redesigning the website with new content, information architecture and graphics, and marketing the site online via search engine optimization tactics and paid search marketing. 

All marketing efforts were targeted around a more affluent audience with an average household income of $150K+. Although females aged 35-55 are the primary target demographic, Abramson Facial Plastic Surgery & Rejuvenation Center also wanted to reach out to men who may be interested in cosmetic procedures as well.

“We have seen some amazing results for Dr. Abramson, so to get this nomination as a formal recognition of our efforts is very exciting,” said Local Marketing, Inc. Vice President of Marketing, Michele Fontanelli Arnett. “The team worked hard to put the right website and marketing programs in place to secure new patients for the practice, and in such a competitive industry as plastic surgery, we have been overwhelmed with the strong reaction to our online ads, content and website creative.

In order to qualify as a finalist, Local Marketing, Inc. submitted a detailed outline of the company’s goals: to help increase both awareness and new patients for the Abramson Facial Plastic Surgery & Rejuvenation Center online. In addition, Local Marketing, Inc. summarized the overall strategy and results, and outlined any challenges the team faced putting the campaigns live.

“One of the most immediate returns on investment came via the website’s contact form. Plastic surgery is such a personal, intimate choice that more people felt comfortable filling out their contact information online. The site got few contact requests via the Internet prior to the website redesign; afterward, results were up 200%,” Fontanelli Arnett added.

AiMA analyzed Local Marketing, Inc.’s effectiveness by conducting a comparison of success metrics to both industry benchmarks and specific campaign objectives. Winners for the 2012 AiMA Awards will be announced at the ceremony on May 10, 2012, held this year at Opera.

“As a growing Georgia-based company, we are thrilled with the AiMA award nomination in the local category. The Abramson Facial Plastic Surgery & Rejuvenation Center is just one client out of many who has seen good results from our interactive marketing strategies,” said Local Marketing, Inc. CEO and Founder Puneet Mehta. “Our goal is always to deliver custom strategies that deliver a positive ROI for our clients.”

ABOUT LOCAL MARKETING, INC.

Local Marketing, Inc. specializes in non-traditional, ROI-based marketing strategies, including site design, development, marketing, analytics, reporting and optimization. Local Marketing, Inc. provides customized solutions for companies who want to specifically target local markets. Our philosophy of ongoing refinement means we never start improving and optimizing our clients’ campaigns. With our knowledge, experience and industry relationships, we are your multi-channel experts and a one-stop shop for effective online strategies with clear ROI. Read more about the company’s efforts online at www.localmarketinginc.com.

YouTube Takes Video Advertising to the Next Level

YouTube, a Google subsidiary, has officially launched Google AdWords for video. Back in September 2011, Google began testing the beta version with select advertisers, like UndercoverTourist.com and Rokenbok Toy Company. Now this self-service and pay-per-view video ad platform is available to the general public. The new platform promises to not only bring on larger TV buyers, but will give small to medium sized businesses the ability to promote content to a global audience similar to TV.

Types of Video Ads

Google’s four AdWords ad format are categorized under the “TrueView” umbrella which includes: in-view, in-search, in-slate, and in-display. TrueView ads are priced using a cost-per-view model, similar to that of the search ad cost-per-click. A business only pays when someone chooses to view the ad.

Where Do the Ads Run?

In-stream ads run before, during or after a YouTube partner video. After five seconds, the viewer can continue to watch the ad or chose to skip it. In-search ads run alongside Promoted Video search results and suggestions. In-slate ads play before YouTube partner videos that are longer than 10 minutes. Viewers can choose from one of three ads to view, or watch commercial breaks during the video. And finally, in-display ads run throughout the Google Display Network, which has  tens of thousands of websites that reach 98% of users online.

When Do You Pay?

Before a TrueView in-stream ad is charged, a user must watch at least 30 seconds of the video ad or watch it in its entirely –whichever comes first. Since the other three formats use the cost-per-click model, these ads do not have to be viewed in their entirety to be charged.

Tracking Results

Video ads make it easy to measure the effectiveness of a campaign. You can see how many viewers watched the entire video, visited the website, watched more brand videos and subscribed to your brand’s Youtube channel.

New AdWords Tools Improve Location Targeting

Geo-targeting is easier than ever thanks to several AdWords upgrades. Google recently introduced two new location-targeting capabilities and enhanced the existing Advanced Location Targeting feature. By allowing you to target by zip code, you can now create a single ad for multiple locations while achieving higher conversion rates.

AdWords Location

This new feature allows you to target more than 30,000 US zip codes with the ability to add up to 1,000 postal codes at a time to search ad campaigns. With AdWords Location, you can more precisely determine which ad to show and when, based on origin and regardless of search intent. You now have more control over how you target locally while consumers receive higher quality ads. 


Previously, Google displayed ads based on a combination of search intent and city/metro targeting. At times, AdWords was not serving the ads that advertisers wanted. AdWords Location works to resolve this issue. It's also especially useful for advertising in the travel sector. For example, if someone in Atlanta is searching for flights to Seattle, you can still target Atlanta residents and display your ads. 

Location Insertion

Location insertion, the second new feature, automatically inserts unique location information into your ads. This tool is perfect for large companies with multiple stores around the country, because it allows consumers to find the location near them. One of the launch users, Uncle Bob’s Self Storage, a self storage company with 400 locations, saw their conversions increase by at least 300%, proving that location insertion can make all the difference.  

Enhanced Advanced Location Targeting

Google also added four enhancements to its existing Advanced Location Targeting feature. These include:

·         Rewording the platform to make it easier to understand

·         Displaying ads to consumers in a geographic location regardless of search subject

·         More control over location targeting on the display network

·         Changes to exclusion methods

Geographic Reports

The new tools also provide more specific geographic reports, allowing you to understand how ads are performing on a zip code by zip code basis.

Google Search Gets a Makeover

No, Google’s classic keyword-search system isn’t going away, but within the next few months users will benefit from an upgrade. In order to provide more relevant results, Google plans to incorporate a new technology known as “semantic search”, which will allow the search engine to interpret the actual meaning of words.

Top Google search executive Amit Singhal explained in a recent The Wall Street Journal interview that the search engine will better match queries with the company’s database of hundreds of millions of “entities” (people, place and things). This is because semantic search has the ability to associate different words with one another, such as a company (Google) with its founders (Larry Page and Sergey Bring).

How will this new search engine system work? Say you search for “Lake Tahoe”. You will soon see key “attributes” that the search engine picks up about the lake, such as its location, altitude, average temperature of salt content. If you were to search for “Lake Tahoe” today, you’d find only links to the visitor bureau website, its Wikipedia page, and a link to a relevant map. Ask Google a more complex question such as, “What are the 10 largest lakes in California?”, and it may provide the answer instead of just a list of links.

Google is blending semantic-search technology with its current system to better evaluate the information on websites. This will help to determine which sites it will show in the search results. Rather than looking only for keywords, Google spiders will indentify information about specific entities referenced on a webpage.

The new search engine function may inspire millions of website owners to change the markup language, making it easier for Google to locate their sites under the new system. One Google insider told The Wall Street Journal that the shift to semantic search could directly impact the search results for 10% to 20% of all queries, or tens of billions per month.

Google search ads, which appear next to search results, may also be affected. If the search engine better understands the intent behind a query, Google may be able to serve up more relevant ads. And as Google’s “entity” database grows, there will be more pages on which marketers can place ads.

Be on the lookout for a bigger and better Google this summer!

Holiday Dinner

December has been a busy month for our company. We've welcomed new clients and expanded to our offices in Miami and North Carolina. However, we can still make time for fun!

This year we held our Holiday Dinner at Serpas.  The staff was great and the food was excellent.  They even created a personalized menu created in our honor:

Per company tradition, everyone participated in a white elephant gift exchange during appetizers.  There were a lot of great gifts including chocolate covered Oreos, season one of "The Big Bang Theory" and wine.

The mark of a great Holiday Dinner is delicious food and a lot of laughter.  It was definitely a success. Michele was able to get some great shots of our hardworking team.

Puneet and Ronell

Wood, Amy and Cindi

Chris E., Chris F. and Puneet

Cindi, Doug and Ryoko

We all wish you and yours a happy holiday season.  Stay tuned for more updates in 2012!

CamiCakes for all!

Here at Meta Media, Inc., we LOVE cupcakes. This has been proven time and time again based on the short amount of time between cupcake arrival and a completely empty box.

Atlanta is a wonderful city for many reasons, but the fact that it has tons of local bakeries to chose cupcakes from is a definite highlight! Michele, our VP of Marketing & E-Commerce, brought in a dozen of delicious cupcakes from CamiCakes.

Rest assured, they were devoured in a matter of minutes.

Meta Media Halloween Party

This posting is a little late. However, it's because we've had a lot of exciting things happening here at Meta Media, including several new projects and welcoming our new talented designer, Ryoko!

The Halloween Party was a great success! There was a Halloween Trivia Challenge, games, endless amounts of food and of course great conversation. Amy dominated Halloween Trivia, earning herself new ipod speakers.

Doug displayed the most Halloween spirit and won the costume contest for his superb portrayal of a "Jersey Shore" character.

Stay tuned for more blog updates.

New Report Indicates SEO is the Best Way to Generate Leads

According to the 2011 State of Digital Marketing Report by Webmarketing123, search engine optimization is the first source marketers utilize to create new business leads.

SEO tactics ranked higher than PPC and Social Media.

Review the Search Engine Land infographic for more details.

We at Meta Media, Inc. understand the value in creating SEO enriched websites, but also provide our clients with PPC campaigns and social media. Using SEO, PPC and social media enhances a client's overall Internet presence, which is an important step in reaching a broader audience and differentiating one's business from competitors.

Has Marketing Gone Too Pink?

During the month of October, pink products dominate store shelves. The popularity of Breast Cancer Awareness month has resulted in various industries supporting the cause with their products, everything from dressed up tubs of lunchmeat to special edition eyelash curlers.

The plethora of products has activists questioning the integrity of these marketing campaigns. How many companies are really contributing to the cause? How many are just marketing an easily recognizable cause for profit?

This ongoing debate raises excellent questions for those in the marketing industry. Supporting cancer awareness is trendy and with every trend there’s a risk for consumer backlash. Although some companies may be using pink as a marketing ploy to increase profits, if the demand decreases as a result, it could negatively impact the genuine campaigns, thus losing support for the cause.

http://www.newser.com/article/d9qabtko1/some-women-question-pinkwashing-is-breast-cancer-awareness-more-marketing-than-health.html

We're Hiring!!

Meta Media, Inc. is looking for an experienced Project Manager to join its growing team. The Project Manager will be responsible for overseeing a segment of the agency's marketing, website design and website development accounts. The Project Manager will meet with the team regularly, create timelines, and ensure that projects meet a client’s goals and are delivered on time. Agency experience preferred!

The Project Manager will also work with clients on strategy as well as execution of crucial deliverables. The Project Manager should preferably have e-commerce, web, and/or online marketing experience, with the ability to efficiently manage and implement multiple, simultaneous projects for our clients – on time and on budget.

Client projects may include:

- Website redesign

- Landing pages and micro-site development for local clients

- Usability/ site updates and enhancements

- Admin tool development

- Website coding, development and other web-based IT projects

- SEO copywriting and linking, including directory and map listings

- Paid search implementation and management on Google, Yahoo/Bing and other second-tier search engines

Requirements for the Project Manager position include:

- Relationship building both internally and with new/ existing customers.

- Direct experience with an agency or e-commerce company as a Project Manager, or Marketing Manager

- Ability to review and make decisions based on Web analytics programs like Google Analytics or CoreMetrics

- Understanding of usability, information architecture, and the web user experience

- Demonstrated ability to manage both technical and non-technical details for all types of web projects

Other information:

- The position is full-time

- Competitive salary based upon experience

ABOUT OUR COMPANY

Meta Media, Inc. is a growing, fast-paced interactive marketing agency that caters to companies that want to effectively market their products and/or services on a local and/or national level. As a one-stop shop for all our clients’ needs, Meta Media, Inc. provides a comprehensive suite of strategic services, including website design/ creative/ usability, e-commerce platform development, custom IT solutions and ROI-based marketing strategies such as e-mail, paid search, social media and SEO.

Meta Media, Inc. stands out from other agencies in the space due to our customized, ROI-focused solutions and high level of personalized customer service for each client. In addition, we track all campaigns down to the last dollar, and engage in a multi-tier process that includes ongoing refinement and optimization. You can read more about Meta Media, Inc. online at www.metamediainc.com or check out our blog: http://metamediainc.blogspot.com.

If interested, please send resume and cover letter to info@metamediainc.com with "Project Manager Position" in the subject line.

Testing Website Usability

A good website design is not only visually stimulating, but it must also have functionality. Potential customers can be intimidated by overly complicated sites, and become frustrated when they are unable to find what they want, whether it be information or a product.

Testing usability is a vital part of all of Meta Media, Inc.'s website design or redesign projects. We test and retest every aspect of a site to ensure a great overall user experience for all of our client's websites.

Mashable.com recently posted an interesting read providing an in-depth exploration of this topic. The article emphasizes the importance of assessing a website from the user's perspective, not just a marketing/business angle. Check out their article: "22 Essential Tools for Testing Your Website’s Usability."

Cupcakes on a Casual Friday!

At the end of the day, we all manage to get through the conference calls, email updates and deadlines, but what's more important is we still like working with each other!

Meta Media, Inc. truly is a special place to work. Finding a reason to celebrate isn't that hard around here; birthdays, new accounts and Fridays are always great reasons.

Friday is usually everyone's favorite day because we can dress casually, but last week we had an additional surprise. Michele, our VP of Marketing & E-Commerce treated everyone to delicious cupcakes from Piece of Cake!

Cupcake break! Here's a picture of Michele and our Creative Web Designer extraordinaire, Doug.

Here we have our enthusiastic Content Writer and budding starlet, Amy.

Key members of our sales staff Dallas and Ronell take some time to discuss their favorite cupcake flavors.

Lastly, we have our Content Writer/Administrative Assistant, Cindi. She didn't want to miss out on the fun!

Keep checking for more updates. Next on the agenda is the Meta Media, Inc. Halloween Party!

Upcoming Facebook Changes

As some facebook users are still reluctantly adjusting to the recent changes made affecting their news feed, even more changes are on the way. Facebook has plans to expand the popular “Like” feature by adding additional “Read,” “Listened” and “Watched” buttons.

From a marketing and advertising perspective, these new features will allow facebook to provide more detailed data to companies.

Will these upcoming changes encourage society’s current facebook addiction by increasing activity and involvement, or will these changes create a massive negative backlash? With every change comes a risk of alienation, but the new information could help a lot of companies with more detailed targeted ads.

http://www.newser.com/story/129003/new-facebook-buttons-coming-watched-read-listened.html

Daily Deal Site Craze is Winding Down

Groupon, Living Social and other daily deal site competitors have been experiencing significant drops in popularity and revenue recently. Facebook decided to end its version of daily deals, just after four months of testing.

Daily deal sites managed to overcome the stigma of coupons, but it seems their novelty is wearing off. From a marketing perspective, which deal sites are still worth recommending to clients, and for how long?

Groupon is hoping to move in a new direction with Groupon Now, a real-time mobile application that allows users to search for deals near them. Real-time deal apps might be enough to captivate consumers, but based on recent data customers are definitely looking for the next stage.

http://mashable.com/2011/08/30/one-too-many-daily-deals/?WT.mc_id=obinsite

MySpace Takes a New Marketing Direction

Remember MySpace? The MySpace brand conjures images of sparkly graphics, goofy page designs and top ten friend lists. For years, people have been switching over to use facebook and Twitter for social media, and Google+ has recently gained popularity as well.

The old MySpace is outdated, but their new marketing executives are attempting to revive the site with a new music marketing strategy. Entertainer Justin Timberlake is serving as a creative director, and partnerships have been formed with iTunes, Spotify and Vevo.

Re-branding a well known name like MySpace can be difficult because not only does a company have to compete with its competitors, but it has to compete with its former archaic self.

Do you think music-focused marketing is enough to save MySpace?

Revamped MySpace Will Have iTunes, Spotify and Vevo in Its Crosshairs

Online Social Shopping Trends

Recent data found while studying the behavior and habits of online shoppers revealed three important trends, according to ecommerce-guide.com

Trend #1: Online Shoppers Research Products before Purchasing

Most online shoppers begin their shopping experience by conducting research through a search engine, like Google. This is why search engine optimization (SEO) is so important for ecommerce sites and online retailers

Trend #2: Other Customer Reviews and Social Media Comments Matter

A good or bad review can influence whether an online shopper makes a purchase. Shoppers also look into products and companies that have a lot of facebook “likes.”

Trend #3: Consumers Are Using Mobile Phones In-Stores

The recent study revealed that more customers are scanning barcodes and comparing in-store prices to those found on Amazon.com. Customers are also taking advantage of coupons found on their phones.

Overall, the latest data reveals how crucial it is for businesses to stay connected with consumers and have a strong online presence.

3 Consumer Shopping Trends Online Retailers Need to Know

Meta Media, Inc. Welcomes Cars.IAAI.com as a New Client

ATLANTA, GA (August 10, 2011) – Meta Media, Inc., a full-service firm specializing in marketing, website design and development, e-commerce and usability techniques, welcomes Cars.IAAI.com as its latest client. Cars.IAAI, the vehicle purchasing and auctioning division of Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc., has hired Meta Media, Inc. to design and implement a natural search engine optimization strategy.

“We are very excited to work with Cars.IAAI.com,” said Michele Fontanelli Arnett, VP of Marketing and E-Commerce at Meta Media, Inc. “The strategic leaders of this website are seeking to increase business and build brand awareness on a national level, and we plan to execute our proven marketing strategies to help them achieve their goals.”

Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc. is a large national company, with over 150 locations throughout the United States focused on purchasing and auctioning vehicles. Cars.IAAI.com pays cash for all vehicle makes and annually models and auctions more than one million vehicles.

Meta Media, Inc. plans to utilize a variety of search engine optimization techniques designed to provide additional exposure for Cars.IAAI.com, with the ultimate goals of increasing both brand awareness and sales. The main strategy will focus on content, tags, linking and other targeted SEO tactics, which will be implemented and maintained by the Meta Media, Inc. account team.

About Meta Media, Inc.

Meta Media, Inc. is a full-service firm, with expertise in traditional and non-traditional, ROI-based marketing strategies, including website design, usability, front and back-end development, marketing, analytics and tracking, reporting, testing and optimization. In addition to Cars.IAAI.com, the company’s clients include Dr. Comfort, Aaron’s, The ENT Institute, Pope & Howard, P.C. Law Firm and many others. You can read more about the company online at http://www.metamediainc.com.

Social Scoring Systems

An emerging online trend in social media that professionals in the marketing field should keep an eye on is social scoring systems. Currently, the website with the most buzz is Klout, which is a social media metrics analytics company.

According to their website klout.com, the assigned “Klout Score” is the measurement of your overall online influence. The scores range from 1 to 100 with higher scores representing a wider and stronger sphere of influence.

Although Klout is currently the most newsworthy site, there are other up-and-coming social scoring systems, including:

• Tweetlevel and Bloglevel, both from the Edelman PR firm, measure your influence in Twitter and the blogosphere, respectively.
• PeerIndex scores you based on your influence on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Quora, as well as blogs and other URLs you add.
• Tweet Grader from HubSpot ranks you according to how influential you are on Twitter.

Social media metrics analysis could potentially be a great tool for marketers, as it measures social interactions and who is influencing who.

5 Things Small Businesses Should Know about Klout

IBM Unveils New Cloud-Based Analytics System for Online Marketers

The latest press release from IBM announced a new web analytics system to assist marketers with online campaigns, entitled the Coremetrics Digital Marketing Optimization Suite.

The new IBM software is supposed to act as a single source of information for marketers providing customer profiles, web analytics and digital marketing execution. According to IBM some highlights of their latest marketing tool are:

- Enables marketers to perform advanced segmentation and automate marketing execution based on multichannel data, including off-line data sources
- Delivers real-time product recommendations for all online channels, including social, mobile, email, and display ads
- Provides A/B testing capabilities to help search engine marketers compare pairs of search terms to determine the most cost-effective terms and associated ads
- Incorporates best practice key performance indicators and corresponding industry-specific benchmarks
- Supports deep analysis into how customers interact with a brand over time and when each marketing program is the most effective.

Only time will tell if the Coremetrics Digital Marketing Optimization Suite by IBM will be able to compete with other programs that marketers are already utilizing, such as Google Analytics.

IBM Press Release