Duane Forrester, Yext Buckle up—these are the fast-moving consumer behavior trends and shake ups you can’t afford to ignore.

1. The Race For Brand Survival
Conductor C3

2. F O U R M A J O R T R E N D S

3. 2
3
4
Your brand is everywhere.
F O U R M A J O R T R E N D S
D R I V E N B Y P L A T F O R M C H A N G E
1

4. 20162015 201820142012201020082006200420022000199819961994 20172013201120092007200520032001199919971995
More customer interaction points
than ever with new consumer services
Print
1440
CONNECTED CARS
SOCIAL
MOBILE WEB
GPS
SEARCH
EMAIL
WEBSITE
ECOMMERCE
CRM
CONNECTED HOME
CHAT
VOICE
MOBILE APPS
MOBILE MAPS
MOBILE FIRST
AR / VR

5. A new channel for customer engagement
First-Party Web Traffic
73% of high-intent traffic
is going to new services
Search, Maps, Directories, Voice, Chat
Study of 20,107 business locations conducted by Yext in February 2017. “High-intent traffic” is defined as traffic with local intent.

6. M O R E E N T I T I E S

7. P E O P L EC O M P A N Y
3+
E V E N T S

8. Your brand is everywhere.1
3
4
Your website is upside-down.
F O U R M A J O R T R E N D S
D R I V E N B Y P L A T F O R M C H A N G E
2

9. HOMEPAGE
Consumers used to go straight to a brand’s homepage.
ORGANIC SOCIAL SEARCH PAID LISTINGS
Careers About Us Products News Locations Login Events
Job
2
Job
1
Job
3
Item
2
Item
1
Item
3
Evt
2
Evt
1
Evt
3
Loc
2
Loc
1
Loc
3
APPLY FOR
A JOB PURCHASE
ONLINE
ORDER AN
UBER
RSVP FOR AN
EVENT
Start on homepage
Select a category
Take action
Select an item

10. Search and intelligent services are diverting your customers from
your homepage to Knowledge Pages
ORGANIC SOCIAL SEARCH PAID LISTINGS
HOMEPAGE
Careers About Us Products News Locations Login Events
Job
2
Job
1
Job
3
Item
2
Item
1
Item
3
Evt
2
Evt
1
Evt
3
Loc
2
Loc
1
Loc
3
ORDER AN
UBER
PURCHASE
ONLINE
APPLY FOR
A JOB RSVP FOR AN
EVENT
Take action
Most customers
never visit the
homepage.
event location
upcoming event
job locations
open jobs
avail. at items avail.
Start on &
move between
entity pages

11. Search, Maps, Directories, Voice, Chat
Consumers aren’t just taking different paths into your website—
they’re directly taking action at these touchpoints.
PHONE CALLS APPOINTMENTS
& RESERVATIONS
ORDERS
& TRANSACTIONS
DRIVING
DIRECTIONS
GET
INFORMATION
CHAT
CONVERSATIONS

12. TOTALBRANDINTERACTIONS
TIME
WEBSITE TRAFFIC
OTHER BRAND TOUCHPOINTS
T O T A L B R A N D I N T E R A C T I O N S
C O U N T F O R M O R E T H A N Y O U R W E B S I T E
C L I C K S A L O N E

13. SEO’s reality
Mobile Friendly
Secure
Structured Data
The Usual Technical SEO
Link Footprint
Brand Digital Footprint
Reviews and ratings
Content
UX
Questions & Answers
Direct Injection v. Crawling

14. Your website is upside-down.
Your brand is everywhere.1
2
4
The customer journey starts with a question.
F O U R M A J O R T R E N D S
D R I V E N B Y P L A T F O R M C H A N G E
3

15. PICK UP
IN STORE
The Customer Journey starts with a Question
best outdoor
Bluetooth speakers_
What kind of bass and
treble is best for
outdoor speakers?
“Where’s the nearest Best
Buy that’s open now?”
“Who carries Bose
Bluetooth speakers?”
REVIEWS
SEARCH ENGINES
VIDEOS
BLOGS
SEARCH ENGINES
EXPERT WEBSITES
PRODUCT PAGES
FAQ
VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
BRAND WEBSITE
DISTRIBUTOR WEBSITE

16. offers certain compliments
istrainedin
supports
specializes in
studiedat
cansell
provides
hosts
Structure your data for conversation.
● “Who is the best financial
advisor for estate planning?”
● “I’m looking for a wealth
manager who speaks
Mandarin.”
● “What time does the tax prep
class start?”
● “What is the max contribution
on a 401k?.”
● “Find me a financial advisor
that is based out of Portland,
Maine.”
● “What is the address of the
Smith Financial Advisory
Team?”
Specialization Product Service
Financial
Advisor
Client
Life Event
University Branch Event
educateson
worksat
offers
servicesfor

17. We’re being trained to search differently
What is the best Chicago pizza?

18. From Keywords to Questions
gas station Where’s the nearest gas station?
cardiologist Who’s the best cardiologist for children?
insurance Who sells the best car insurance?
cheeseburger Where’s the best cheeseburger in Detroit?

19. What is intent?
Where can I get gluten-free ramen right now?_
Who’s the best cardiologist for children?_
financial advisors that speak Russian_
buy Tesla Model 3 in Dallas_
When was Facebook founded?_
getting married_
How many calories are in a Big Mac?_
Does Paragon Sports carry Nike sneakers?_
● I want to know
● I want to go
● I want to do
● I want to buy

20. How many calories are in a Big Mac?_
Which financial advisors at Morgan Stanley
speak Russian?_
Who’s the CEO of Macy’s?_
Does Paragon Sports carry Nike sneakers?_
Which dermatologists in my city take Cigna
insurance?_
Which restaurant has the best gluten-free
breakfast?
When was Facebook founded?_
Where can I buy a Tesla Model 3 in Dallas?_
Where can I get ramen right now?_
Understanding your Customers’ Questions is Key to Capitalizing on their Intent
Items
Bought
Survey
Reviews
Links
Clicked
Search
Location
Pages
Visited
Google
Q&A

21. AGE
EDUCATION
RACE
INCOME
Sound
Quality
Waterproof
Environment
Price
Power Color
Speaker
Q&A
D E M O G R A P H I C v s . I N T E N T M A R K E T I N G

22. Your website is upside-down.
The customer journey starts with a question.
Your brand is everywhere.1
2
3
F O U R M A J O R T R E N D S
D R I V E N B Y P L A T F O R M C H A N G E
The world is having a conversation.4

23. ‘80s / ‘90s: PCs ‘90s / ‘00s: Internet ‘00s / ‘10s: Mobile, Cloud NOW: Conversation & AI

24. S E A R C H M E S S A G I N G A P P S V O I C E A S S I S T A N T S
C O N V E R S A T I O N I S D R I V I N G C O N S U M E R I N T E R A C T I O N W I T H A . I .
P O W E R E D B Y N A T U R A L L A N G U A G E P R O C E S S I N G
Synonyms, Intent, Actions
C H A T B O T S

25. USER INTERFACE (UI)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
KNOWLEDGE GRAPH
Anatomy of the new consumer service

26. Think Voice is a Fad?
“The blue links are disappearing. Keywords are
disappearing. Keyboards are disappearing. What will be
left?”
https://advertise.bing
ads.microsoft.com/en
-us/insights/2019-
voice-report

27. https://advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/en-us/insights/2019-voice-report

28. Will you be ready?
https://advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/en-us/insights/2019-voice-report

31. Customer can Chat with Businesses on the
Biggest Platforms in the World
“25% of customer service and support
operations will integrate with chatbot
technology by 2020.”
— Gartner
“Organizations who have integrated with
chatbots today reported an average of 70%
fewer call and/or email inquiries.”
— Forrester

33. Reviews

34. Gartner/CEB Global, 2016
52%of the time customers switch brands it is
related to customer experience

35. 1.Relevance
2.Distance
3.Prominence
Google My Business, 2016

36. What’s the best Chinese restaurant?_
“Here are three top-rated Chinese
restaurants near you:
Xi’an Famous Foods, 23 East 23rd Street
Cafe China, 13 East 37th Street
Shu Han Ju, 465 6th Avenue.”
V O I C E R E S U L TW E B R E S U L T C H A T R E S U L T
D I S T A N C E
R E L E V A N C E
P R O M I N E N C E

37. The path to becoming a customer-centric brand
Listen to your
customers
Engage your unhappy
customers
Ask for feedback

38. F O U R M A J O R T R E N D S H A P P E N I N G T O D A Y
M A N A G E Y O U R
B R A N D D A T A
Your website is upside-down.
The customer journey starts with a question.
Your brand is everywhere.
The world is having a conversation.
1
2
3
4

39. T H A N K Y O U !