Yahoo! Partnership Will Help You Get More Local Customers

Since December, we've been rolling out new online marketing services that are a direct result of what you, as a business owner, have been asking for. Our latest product allows our more than 525,000 members exclusive access to Yahoo! Local online advertising.

Here's a portion of the release:

YAHOO! PARTNERS WITH MERCHANTCIRCLE TO HELP
LOCAL BUSINESSES GET MORE CUSTOMERS

Partnership Comes on the Heels of MerchantCircle Surpassing 500,000 Members with More than 5,000 Paying Customers

Los Altos, CA July 2, 2008 – MerchantCircle, the largest online network of local business owners in the nation, today announces a partnership with Yahoo! that allows MerchantCircle members exclusive access to Yahoo! Local online marketing services. As a Yahoo! ‘Local Ambassador’, MerchantCircle will..... CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

We're excited to be offering you an ever-growing list of options that will help you find new customers in your local town or all over the world. Thanks for participating in our surveys that help us meet your advertising budget and needs. Since revamping our suite of marketing services, members participating in our paying products have grown from 500 at the end of December to more than 5300 today.

We hope to continue to meet your needs.

Sincerely,
Kevin L.
MerchantCircle Community Relations

Investing in Local Listings: Time + Money = Traffic

A lot has been written about the importance of reviews in driving local traffic (here and here) and user engagement (here). At MerchantCircle, we encourage our members not only to ask their customers to write reviews but to create all kinds of fresh content to drive consumer traffic. As part of this effort, we set out to understand the relationship between content creation and pageviews.

Our analysis of MerchantCircle listings with varying degrees of content reveals:



The “Free” pageview numbers represent the relative average pageviews during January for our free members (i.e., those who aren’t buying our SEM products). The “Starter” pageview numbers represent the relative average January pageviews for our members who’ve purchased our entry-level “StarterCircle” package for $29/month.

Here are the relative pageview stats in chart form:


It’s amazing to see the value both groups derive when they take the time to create content on their listing. And for those who take advantage of every opportunity to create content, (i.e., those who have created all content types including newsletters and network ads) the rewards are huge! Interesting to note that each content type added drives incremental pageviews versus “No activity”. But, the real benefits come when merchants create multiple types of content on their listing.

We here at MerchantCircle have long believed that getting traction online requires a real investment of either time or money. Our data suggests that for those merchants who invest both time (to create fresh content) and money (in advertising dollars), the rewards are significant.

Darren Waddell
Sr. Director of Marketing
MerchantCircle

The First Family .... Not!

Well, we just got back from a productive week in LA for the Kelsey Conference. While it was exhausting, it was one of the more productive conferences we've been to. Five of our team members headed to the conference, which is the most we've ever sent, to explore new partnerships that will help you reach more customers. In the past, we've worked tirelessly in the partnerships we've formed, and we continue to seek out new venues, whether it be through online ads, video, or the telephone. Take a look at the picture below. We're like one happy family!!! You'll have to forgive my use of the word 'not,' (taken from the 80s) - we're really a nice dysfunctional family (kidding). Especially that loser affectionately cradling the antique chair.

We made a very big announcement at the conference, the first being our partnership with Citysearch, a leading online local guide. You can read what the press is saying about the partnership, which will bring more local viewers to your MerchantCircle listing!

• ClickZ - Citysearch and MerchantCircle to Share Ad Opportunities and Content
• MediaPost - MerchantCircle Bulks Up, Scales Out with Citysearch
• The New York Times - Citysearch Partners with MerchantCircle
• Search Engine Watch - Citysearch Looks to MerchantCircle to Complete Picture
• Kelsey Group - 'Local' E-Commerce: Ready for Prime Time?

Be sure to check out all the changes on MerchantCircle as we roll out a lot of exciting new products through our partnerships with WebVisible and Citysearch.

Sincerely,

Kevin L.

Community Relations