March 26, 2020

SOCi Releases Listings Management Offering to Expand Its Full Suite of Localized Marketing Solutions

More than 20 top multi-location brands have signed on as early adopters

Originally published on Business Wire on March 26, 2020.

SAN DIEGO–MARCH 23, 2020– SOCi, the leading platform for “next-level” multi-location marketers, further expands its full suite of localized marketing services with the addition of a new business listings management capability. As localized brand presence becomes essential to a multi-location brands’ digital visibility, and as the leading platforms like Google My Business continue to factor in content found on not just their own properties but also others like Facebook and Yelp, ensuring local business data is accurate and complete on these sites is of the utmost importance. In fact, SOCi’s second-annual Localized Marketing Benchmark Report (LMBR) – produced in partnership with Localogy (formerly known as the local search organization) – again proved a direct correlation between localized digital marketing performance and revenue. The top 10 LMBR leaders continue to outgrow their peers in annual revenue by a factor of 3X. “Local listings management is a critical component of a sound localized marketing strategy that should also include local social, reviews and reputation management. But many multi-location companies still struggle with scaling the process of ensuring their business’s listings are correct and consistent across these highly engaged sites,” said Afif Khoury, SOCi’s Chief Executive Officer. “Listings are a crucial way to improve reputation, increase brand visibility, and improve your online presence, as well as boost local SEO. Now, thanks to SOCi’s centralized platform, it’s easier than ever for a multi-location brand to manage its entire local digital presence in one place.” With SOCi’s new offering, customers now have a simple way to update and sync their listings, delete or suppress any duplicate listings, and view the status of the listings across all locations. This central listings command center provides marketers the ability to more easily track and analyze metrics (looking at an array of data points from impressions and clicks to photos and search queries) and also approve or reject profile suggestions. Added Khoury: “We’ve seen almost 200 percent growth in the past two years for mobile searches using the terms ‘open’, ‘now’, and ‘near me.’ Ensuring our clients and other multi-location marketers can maintain the most accurate information within their own listings – all in a centralized location – can make a significant impact on a company’s ability to retain and grow local market presence.” Since the launch of this offering at the end of 2019, more than 20 top multi-location brands have signed on, including Anytime Fitness, owned by parent company Self Esteem Brands – who appointed SOCi its global platform of record for localized social marketing in December. These Listings early adopters, according to the LMBR, represent some of the fastest-growing industries thanks to their adoption of localized marketing best practices. Today, SOCi is also making it easier for businesses to see and respond to one of the most underutilized outlets for localized marketing in Google Q&A. Launched toward the end of 2017, Google Q&A integrates directly into search results, enabling people to see and respond to frequently asked questions. Additional findings from SOCi’s LMBR showed that about 90% of companies had a complete Google My Business profile, but 96% of questions are left unanswered. Of those answered, only seven percent come directly from the business owner. Given the average multi-location business has roughly 2.5 questions posted per location, many companies have a significant opportunity to improve on their response time and increase consumer-brand trust. To learn more information about Listings, and SOCi’s entire suite of localized marketing solutions for multi-location marketers, visit www.soci.ai.