A picture is worth a thousand words, especially when that picture seems to have a thousand icons in it. The world of online marketing is fragmenting at a rapid rate and local businesses have no idea what tools to use on what services, let alone how to manage their time, their vendors or ROI.
Imagine being a small business owner who doesn’t read Techcrunch, Mashable or any of the Internet trade rags. And then everyone tells you that you have to understand the below diagram (courtesy of Business Insider):
Social Media Marketing Tools, Platforms, Services and ... Utter Confusion - Business Insider
Oh yeah, and that’s just social media – not search, email, mobile, directory optimization, local PR, deals, etc. Can you imagine how frustrating it is for local businesses to live in a world knowing that you can drive a lot of business over the Internet, but that you have to navigate the above landscape? We can.
If you are a local business:
Find a single partner if you can. You can’t do it alone without a lot of wasted money, people and time. Make sure the partner can address the majority of channels, not just a couple pieces of the pie. And hopefully they can help you navigate this landscape, knowing that you are in good hands – yes All State is a LocalVox client 
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If you are PR company or marketing consultant:
Find a local marketing partner that can help you augment your services so you can be that single partner and own the relationship across all channels. Need help with email, mobile and local directory optimization, SEO, email marketing, etc.? We work with a lot of people in your position very successfully.
In the meantime, good luck and brace yourselves. The velocity of fragmentation is only increasing. Believe it or not, it’s going to get worse.
