Top 5 Reasons To Attend SMX Local & Mobile

Pundits have been touting the promise of local and mobile search for years, but it seems like hype often outweighed substance—until now. This year, we’re seeing the convergence of a number of key factors that resoundingly demonstrate that the local and mobile space is emerging as a serious opportunity for savvy search marketers.

Conference co-chair Greg Sterling and I designed SMX Local & Mobile to focus on these cutting edge topics, and to bring together some of the sharpest minds at the forefront of opening up these new frontiers to search marketers. You’ll find sessions and speakers at this conference that you won’t find anywhere else, at SMX or elsewhere. Thinking of attending the show? Here are five compelling reasons to register today:

The local market is huge. The internet influenced an estimated $500 billion in offline sales last year. The crucial holiday selling season is just around the corner and the economy is shaky at best. That makes investing in effective local and mobile search marketing practices and tactics a must for any organization that relies on in-store purchasing.

Mobile is finally exploding. With the advent of the iPhone and Windows-based smart phones, and the increasing availability of mobile broadband access, usage of mobile search is becoming a significant category on its own. Mobile users are an increasingly demanding lot, wanting the instant gratification that only search can provide. In fact, research has shown that iPhone users in particular are heavy users of search—and with the release of the second generation iPhone this month this trend will only accelerate.

Local & mobile technologies are different. Many search marketers make the mistake of thinking that it’s easy to get into local and mobile search by simply modifying an existing web search campaign. Nothing could be farther from the truth. SMX Local & Mobile features sessions that dive deep into the crucial differences, from cracking the code of algorithms to exploring the unique opportunities with “mapvertising” and other ad formats that can give you a competitive edge in these rapidly unfolding new areas of opportunity for search marketers.

There’s serious money to be made. Recognize the potential, but aren’t sure how to get started, or how to manage the risk of launching a local or mobile search campaign? Several sessions feature search marketers who are already running successful campaigns, who will share their insights and best practices for hitting the ground running with a local and mobile search marketing effort.

Keynotes from two industry visionaries. In addition to tons of practical information, tactics, and techniques shared in the general sessions and networking events, the keynote addresses at SMX Local & Mobile will spotlight the “big picture,” offering roadmaps for the coming explosive growth of the space. Frazier Miller, General Manager, Yahoo Local, and Gur Kimchi, Principal Architect for Virtual Earth at Microsoft, will discuss the strategy and direction that two of the major players will be taking as they build out this new online ecosystem, making it more accessible for local and vertically-focused businesses to reach countless new customers.

Want more reasons to attend? Check out the wide range of topics on the full agenda for SMX Local & Mobile, and then register today. Don’t wait—space is limited, and this is the only show this year that focuses exclusively on the cutting edge strategies and tactics required to run a successful local and mobile search marketing campaign. We’re so confident you’ll be satisfied with SMX Local & Mobile, we guarantee it. So don’t wait: register today!