Local advertising is a rapidly evolving market for startups, traditional media and local businesses. Offline Media CEO David Shaner breaks down the top 5 trends that matter in 2016.

1. Top 5 Trends in Local Advertising
March 30th, 2016
David Shaner, CEO
Offline Media, Inc.

2. #1: MOBILE IS KING

3. The mobile phone has become a
remote control for life.
The average consumer checks
their phone ~150x/day.(1)

4. ~7 years after the first iPhone, smartphones pass TVs as the
most viewed devices in America.(2)
A species-wide attention shift.
MOBILE REACHED AN INFLECTION POINT IN 2014...

5. This year, mobile ad spending will pass desktop.(3)
Projections as
recent as 2013 predicted this wouldn’t happen until 2019.(4)
...AND AD SPEND IS SPRINTING TO CATCH UP

6. Mobile has doubled aggressive predictions.
Trends that should take 10 years will take 5.

7. 8 of the last 10 local businesses I’ve spoken
to are “cutting back significantly” on
traditional media & shifting to digital/mobile.

8. #2: PRINT CONTINUES TO SAG

9. Millennials read, they just read differently.
Apparently, so does Gen X.

10. Millennials rapidly abandoning print: 50+% decline over ~10 yrs.
Surprisingly, this 50+% decline extends up to 45-54 bracket.(5)
THE SHIFT AWAY FROM PRINT HAS NOT SLOWED...

11. Spending in print is out of balance with consumer attention.
Mobile ad growth will be fueled by the shift away from print.(6)
...AND DOLLARS ARE SHIFTING STRAIGHT TO MOBILE
~25B+
Opportunity
in USA

12. The attention shift to digital came largely at
the expense of print.

13. Over the next 5 years, look for advertisers to
pull roughly 15 billion out of print and
redeploy straight to mobile.

14. #3: CONSUMERS USING MOBILE
FOR LOCAL DISCOVERY

15. “In the digital age, Internet listings and directories
initially gave way to general-purpose search
engines such as Google and Bing. But with
increasing smartphone adoption, local search is
changing once again.”
—IDC “Unleashing Local Search” (7)

16. +240%
Reported year-over-year growth rate in Google searches with the
term “near me” in the query.(8)
CONSUMERS + SMARTPHONES + LOCAL DATA = HUGE AD OPPORTUNITY

17. 64% Start local
purchasing journey
elsewhere
~2/3 of local purchasing decisions don’t begin w/ a search engine.
Non-search leaders include topic-specific sites/apps.(7)
MULTIPLE STARTING POINTS = DISTRIBUTED AD STRATEGY/REVENUE OPP.
36% Start local
purchasing journey
with search engine
- 15% topic-specific site/app
- 7% customer reviews
- 7% online directories
...etc.
-e.g. Google, Yahoo, Bing

18. Consumers increasingly turn to their phones
to make local purchasing decisions...

19. ...but search engines are far from the only
base that local advertisers need to cover.

20. Topic-specific websites/apps and online
directories together drive nearly as much
local traffic as search engines. Advertisers
must cover all the relevant bases.

21. #4: THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMY

22. “For [millennials], happiness isn’t as focused
on possessions or career status. Living a
meaningful, happy life is about creating,
sharing and capturing memories earned
through experiences that span the spectrum
of life’s opportunities.”
—Harris: Millennials Fueling the Experience Economy(10)

23. Millennials have the wheel of the modern economy, and they are
spending with brands that create memorable experiences.
SOCIAL WEB + FOMO = INCREASED DEMAND FOR EXPERIENCES
Spending on experiences
& events increased 70%
since 1987.(9)
Millennial spending = 1.3
trillion/yr = #1 driver of
modern economy.(9)
8 in 10 millennials would
rather spend $$ on an
experience than a thing.(9)

24. The Experience Economy is the lens that will
help local advertisers and marketers
understand the millennial consumer.

25. Local (and national) advertisers have a
window of opportunity to create meaningful,
unique experiences that attract the attention,
loyalty and future spending of millennials.

26. #5: ATTRIBUTION IS HERE

27. “The promise of measuring [in-store]
attribution across any advertising medium is
within reach...the Bluetooth beacon becomes
the next cookie, or more appropriately, the
real-life equivalent of a digital tracking pixel.”
—Reveal Mobile(10)

28. Active iBeacons
in the US, 2013
0
Active iBeacons
in the US, 2018(11)
4.5M
>50% of major US retailers using in-store iBeacons. Why? Online
to offline (O2O) tracking = holy grail of local advertising.
INTERNET OF THINGS WILL (EVENTUALLY) ENABLE ATTRIBUTION

29. As local advertisers begin tying ad performance
to in-store visits, local ad spending will
consolidate around channels that can deliver
results and loyalty. The effects on under-
performing channels will be Darwinian.

30. CLOSING THOUGHTS

31. We are at the dawn of a new era in local advertising—
an era dominated by mobile.

32. As consumers continue to move away from
print, advertisers must quickly adapt or be
dominated by faster-moving, digital-savvy
competitors.

33. Consumers are starting their local purchasing
decisions on their phones through search,
topic-specific sites/apps and online
directories.

34. Savvy local advertisers have an
unprecedented opportunity to reach
consumers at the moment of decision to drive
conversions and track ROI.

35. Thank you for your time.
Please email me directly at david@offlinemedia.net
with any questions or feedback.
David Shaner, CEO
Offline Media, Inc.

36. Sources & additional reading
(1) http://www.kpcb.com/blog/2013-internet-trends
(2) http://flurrymobile.tumblr.com/post/115194107130/mobile-to-television-we-interrupt-this-
broadcast#.VHUO_lfF8hw
(3) http://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthof/2015/03/25/mobile-ad-revenues-will-blow-past-
desktop-ad-spend-by-early-next-year/#3fda557c5f12
(4) http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Will-Desktop-Ad-Spending-Peak/1009959
(5) http://www.journalism.org/media-indicators/newspaper-readership-by-age/
(6) http://www.kpcb.com/blog/2015-internet-trends
(7) http://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IDC.YP-Unleashing-Local-Search-Final-
12.18.15.pdf
(8) https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/5-ways-consumers-connect-stores-mobile-shopping.
html
(9) https://eventbrite-s3.s3.amazonaws.com/marketing/Millennials_Research/Gen_PR_Final.pdf
(10) http://www.revealmobile.com/blog/2016/2/29/beacons-bring-attribution-within-reach
(11) http://www.businessinsider.com/beacons-are-the-most-important-new-retail-tech-2014-7