Our recently released whitepaper, "The Guide to Digital Presence Management," explores the extreme fragmentation of today's local search ecosystem, with business listing and mapping data scattered across a seemingly infinite number of digital sources. This causes major problems for both businesses, who are struggling to control all of this information, and the consumers searching for them, as they frequently encounter incorrect or outdated information online resulting in a negative customer experience.
To prove just how prevalent this issue really is, Yext conducted a survey of 100 digital marketing professionals aimed at evaluating their personal experiences encountering incorrect location information, as well as their own approach to managing their businesses' digital presence strategy. The results clearly show that this fragmentation is a rampant issue that is deeply affecting the local search industry.
95% of respondents reported having found incorrect information about a business that they were searching for online, with 62% reporting that this had happened "many times."
Finding an effective solution to fixing missing, outdated, or incorrect information has been been incredibly challenging for marketers. Businesses often employ an array of disjointed solutions to try and achieve consistency, a strategy that presents obvious problems. Out of 100 survey respondents, a third reported using "4 or more" services to manage their local digital presence.
Compounding this challenge is the fact that most of the time marketers are managing the local digital presence for multiple locations. Solutions that are effective for a few locations quickly become unmanageable and impractical at scale, as the needs of a 3-location business are very different from one with 3000. 55% of respondents reported that they were managing the local digital presence for more than 5 locations, with 25% managing more than 20 locations.
Yext's survey results demonstrate just how frequently consumer searches are ending in incorrect or outdated information, and the (somewhat ironically) disjointed approach marketers are taking to try and achieve consistency. In order to stand a chance against this ever-increasing fragmentation of data, marketers need to take a unified approach to their digital presence management. A single, integrated platform with automation for key, repeatable functions minimizes human error and allows a marketer to be more nimble, more efficient, and more effective.
For more information and detailed survey results, download the full whitepaper here.
