LocalBizBits Local Search Marketing Information and Resources
Now for the exciting conclusion of my interview with Paul O’Brien of Zvents.
Q. The Zvents website also mentions that one can add Zvents to their website – can you explain this?
A. Certainly. One could consider using the Media Platform though that is really the right solution for major publishers. Smaller websites and blogs can add everything from the Zvents Map (http://www.fieldguide.tv), an experience we’ve just discussed in regard to the facebook app, to a calendar customized to promote related content (http://www.museumofglass.org/programs-and-events/calendar/)
Q. Do you have any success stories you can share or example of how a small business website used Zvents to promote themselves?
A. Small business examples aren’t as prominent in my mind as there are so many. Zvents gets thousands of user submitted events every day, most of those commercial in nature for everything from real estate to apple picking. How about a variety?
–The Mall at Partridge Creek in Detroit is showing up on the first page of Google results through our partner The Detroit News and we’re delivering thousands of pvs promoting things to do at the mall.
–Large retailers such as NikeTown take advantage of promotion of their weekly run club; in LA our partner Daily Breeze prominently promotes the store and events.
–A small business that comes to mind has to be Patina Boutique who experienced a tremendous amount of traffic through our network, in particular with our partner Squeeze OC in Orange County. Their small business remains prominently promoted through search engines after a trunk show they held on October 18th.
Business can easily not only benefit from our network but the unique content the “event” adds to the web experience. Search Engines, like Google and Yahoo, favor the promotions Zvents supports as their alternative is a search results page with one redundant business listing after another. Of course, having those business listings in search is important for customers that want to find your business but Zvents increases your reach to customers who are interested in what you have to offer, those who may not know who you are to search for you.
Q. When using local events to promote themselves, should a small business only add own events or add unrelated local events as a service to visitors?
A. Our search engines uses its algorithm to cross promote events. Not similar events but other events that user would likely enjoy. For example, from a page about a cooking class, we don’t simply promote other cooking classes but take into account the type of business hosting the class, aggregate behavior of other users, popularity of nearby events, and context to promote wine tastings, dining events, or live jazz.
That’s a roundabout way of saying that yes, small business should absolutely take a moment to add other events; small business owners go into business with passion for their line of work so the events they use to draw folks in-store are likely a reflection of things they like to do. Adding other events they like will only increase the likelihood that someone seeing that event will be introduced to their event.
Q. Any concluding thoughts?
A. Though Zvents has more listings, because of our open crawl of the internet, than anything else on the web, finding everything takes time. If we’ve already indexed your business and events, be sure to enhance the listing with images, tags, and reviews (request ownership to optimize the description. We have yet to come across it, add it directly and start drawing customers through the door immediately.
Thanks Paul for your time and insight. Right now, close to 200 local media sites powered by Zvents search. If you would like more information about Zvents, head over to their web site. Their help/faq section is very very good.
And thanks to you Larry for the opportunity to share with you how Zvents is reinventing local search. I missed the opportunity to share but, I spent a few years right around the corner from you in Savannah. Looking forward to catching up again with much more news to share!
I had a chance to see the presentation from Ethan Stock at Kelsey this month in Los Angeles – the service itself is very impressive. Zvents.com is a company that has taken the local event space to the next step – in my opinion. I think the outstanding question is whether the revenue model behind the business is sustainable.