Race for the suburbs

Tony Wallace of Local Locksmiths. Photo / Doug Sherring

Businesses have more choice in online listings from this month, as directory companies move to capitalise on the trend of going "hyperlocal".

Yellow Pages and New Zealand Post subsidiary Localist have launched local directories in the past fortnight.

Steve Shearman, chief technical officer at digital marketing firm Touchpoint, said more localised content was needed.

Research by TNS Conversa found 60 per cent of Kiwis preferred to shop locally and 83 per cent wanted to support their community.

This hyperlocal movement was related to smartphones and having the internet in your pocket, Shearman said.

"Having access to online directories has opened us up to places we visit when we're out and about."

In the past, small businesses with a limited advertising budget were restricted to dropping leaflets in the immediate area or sticking up a sign.

"It was hit-and-miss and often caught you at the wrong time. Now when you're out you want to know then and there. You're in control and can find a business straight away."

Yellow Local launched on May 18 with 205 suburb sites across the Auckland region. Localist will launch next week and cover 29 areas. Each Yellow site covers nine categories, including community, events, shopping, health, school, sport and things to do.

Digital director Peter Crowe hoped the site would become a kind of community portal, with local notices - a garage sale or missing dog - events and reviews. To give a local flavour, billboards and advertising have been built around real characters, such as Grey Lynn's laughing yoga dancers, he said.

An enormous amount of information existed on the internet about schools, transport, councils and parks but many people didn't know it was available.

"To help simplify things we've packaged it so it is relevant to the individual in the community.

"It's the chicken and egg scenario. The community will engage and the site will evolve over time."

All Auckland businesses would get a free basic listing on Yellow Local, which could also be found on Finda, 018, Yahoo and Google Maps.

Depending on the type of advertising package bought, small businesses could also gain an online presence through social media links. "We can build a Facebook page, create a template, include their logo and show them how to make regular updates. We give them a kick-start and hand over the reins," Crowe said.

Localist launched the first of five local books in the eastern suburbs this week and its website is expected to launch in the coming days with 29 "super suburbs" within Auckland.

Marketing manager Sheryl Nichols said the website would be a directory, community newspaper and social media site in one. The key difference with Yellow Local was that Localist had fresh editorial content every day, Nichols said.

Former Net Guide editor Nigel Horrocks is head of editorial content. He has a team of four producers and eight freelance contributors.

Localist listings would be optimised for Google and, if customers wanted, connected to Facebook and Twitter.

A trial version had been tested by 100 people in the past fortnight.

Shearman said in the case of Yellow and New Zealand Post, their paper-based business models had been succeeded by digital production.

Yellow's main threat was from Google, which had focused on local directories, and New Zealand Post was coping with a reduction in physical mail.

"Both are trying to get a critical mass faster than the other but a bigger wave is coming," Shearman said. "In the next five years more people will have smartphones than those who don't. Eventually someone will crack the model but history has shown it's often not incumbents who win."

Yellow had the advantage of having an online business with a sales team who were known by the community, Shearman said.

Long reach of local focus

Auckland locksmith Tony Wallace says feedback from his customers shows most prefer to use a local.

He spends $5000 a year on advertising his firm, Local Locksmiths, mostly through Yellow Pages ads. He also advertises in his local Pohutukawa Coast newspaper, on websites No Cowboys and Finder - and now with Localist for the first time.

He has picked up five jobs since appearing in Localist's East Auckland print directory, which went to homes a week ago. "I've always advertised in the Yellow Pages east and south directories but never in the big one, it's too expensive," he said.

He has paid $800 for a six-month, half-page ad in the Localist print edition, which gives him a free online listing automatically.

"Yellow Pages came back and said, 'Have we got an offer for you'. They gave me the same-sized ad in both books [east and south] in full colour, with a gold-plated listing on the website."

Yellow Pages cut $380 off the total price, which amounted to about $3120 for a year.