A wer)Table of Contents 03 Introduction 04 Key Insights 05 From unprecedented to unpredictable to unstoppable. 07 What wins in 2022? Reputation and customer experience. 12 Consumers and businesses agree convenience is here to stay. 14 Invest digitally to keep great employees happy. 6 a) 2B 6 a Q&A with Van Horn’s Tina Tasche Digital marketing is the future of local business. Customers love local. We're in the business of helping you win locally. MethodologyLearning from an unpredictable 2021 is the key to being unstoppable in 2022. |. 2020, we watched “pardiomic-friendly”sorvices turn into mako-or-break expectations that determined ‘customer loyalty. Now, following an unpredictable 2021, alot more has changed. Many expectations and. protocols have taken on new forms. And in 2022, local businesses wil finally see some of the dust settle and a changed customer emerge. \What have we learned? What has stuck, and what is going to determine your success in 20227 We surveyed 1304 consumers and 923 business respondents across the US, Canada, and Australia to help ‘you understand what you can expect from your customers in coming months and years, how to increase your operational efficiency, and how to retain your employees in the midst of a turbulent marketplace, ‘hos aueys ete conducted ung Srey Mena hen btwn 9237202106 207 a tbs tare el tunis carmes. rages sc eleeesbetre 702182872 Srey ms hed NOM copa and 92 albusKey Insights 01 112022, efficiency will be the name Crees eee ee ete) Coneree eres (nage aaiiers soa eon ee (Wee kre Cee ces Se ee een ed Cee eee en eet er ne ete ae ear 03 LN} ee eed bir ee ee ene eee eee ees Cee ere Businesses need to cater toa Cee cag Cee Re as eee ee Ne eon Creu CPE eee eee ee cee eee eee tueFrom unprecedented to unpredictable to unstoppable. 2020 was unprecedented. Almost 85% of respondents “How optimistic are you about 20227 flocked to businesses offering pandemic-friendly services including curbside pickup, local delivery, and/ ‘or contactless payments, Nearly 60% said pandemic: friendly services led them to patronize a business for the fist time, And 53.3% said that a local business's {allure to offer such services led them to either sack ‘out or purchase from a competitor or discontinue their patronage altogether. 25% While 2021 has been unpredictable, many businesses have adapted quickly, leading nt only to recovery but thriving Ii very or someuttoptiniic According ta local busines respondents thee ira ‘optim about the year ahead, eee Hi very or somont pessimisticIncreased demand: 2021's silver lining. This yar, labor and inventory have been top pains. Changing customer expectations have also rounded ‘out top challenges for 2021 a8 COVID protocols hove continued to create uncertainty and inconvenience. However, there's a potential siver lining. Many businesses report a marked increase in demand, even If thie demand i lificut to meet with fewer employaes ‘and supply chain challenges. Local businesses rank the top 10 challenges of 2021: "1 Staffing and hiring *2 Supply chain and inventory #5 COVID-related restrictions and protocols #4 Managing increased demand *5 Changing customer expectations #6 Revenue predictability #7 Customer communications #8. Online/loval competition #9 Adapting to new technology #10. Managing decreased demandWhat wins in 2022? Reputation and customer experience. 1 202, businesses still compete on reputation. But reputation any gets customers in the door—what keeps them coming back? Experience. And consumers say that when it comes to experience, they look {for ease of doing business second only to price. This preference for convenience is especially apparent when it comes to repeat business and referrals, (Once consumers know it's easy to do business with you, they te hooked. Local businesses report their top three dilferentitors are: Customer experienceHey, thanks for all your help last time! | actually neeq Ease of doing business is top of mind for local consumers. to buy another (product) e receipt! ayroxt youth ve 53.5% 51% 60%Such key changes in priority have been exacerbated by the pandemic—and both businesses and consumers have noticed. But the degree might depend alittle on who you ask. ss of customers who felt their (© expectations had changed say those changes are permanent 46 Have customer expectations changed since the start ofthe pandemic? Businesses sey sereneAccotding to our research, consumers are acti ly looking for businesses that text, Buying online more than before, seeking out contact fee interactions, and heavily favoring digital inquiries over Visiting physical locations or even picking up the phone, 10/ stoners pr eprdng mare money once 0/,eemsimas sty sek siesta pie aeEtc wins in 20227 Reputation and custoner expertence u ‘Compared to before COVIO-18,how has the volume of customer activity through each of the following channels ‘changed for your business? Foot trate: Phone calls Digital naires However, its important to keep in mind that ease of doing business can be a double edged sword. “The standard—and point of comparison—for most consumers has been set by apps and businesses lke Uber and Amazon. in order to meet consumer expectations, local businesses need to aim for this level ‘of convenionce without losing local presence and foeConsumers and businesses agree convenience is here Ao ENA Businesses have moved quicky over the past 18 months to adapt to temporary and permanent changes to customer expectations and an Cee ee While social distancing may be temporary, local busineseos say more Ce eee ets ‘agre2, and also love the addition of contactfre transactions and eee emsConsumers’ top de: ‘es can be met with investment in digital capability. Reuse Cun De aes Digital and mobile communicatio See Eien ad ee PE ee eet Cer ee eed Top 5 changes consumers want to see ‘k around: Expanded pickup and delivery options Digital and mobile communications Offering contact-free transactions Social distancing measures 38% ‘Changes to goods and services offered —— 22%Invest digitally to keep great employees happy. \With staffing and hiring top of mind this year and into Local businesses need to optimize through digital ext, efficiency has become key, Method to prevent ‘means i they want to meet high demand and changed ‘employee burnout and increase retention are major ‘consumer expectations while keeping staff happy. priosties across the board as employee value rises. Alter al, local businesses owners, managers, and ‘teammates believe that they have high-quality trusted In the face of labor shortages, avoiding burnout has become « matter of helping employees work smarter, ot harder, ‘over 80% of local business respondents —— ‘wust their employees to manage customer ‘xperionces to their standards,Among local business respondents with line of sight into investments, nearly 75% report purchasing technology in the past 12 months to help their teams work more efficiently. ‘And this data ent eolated, According to recent research by Twili, 87% of businesses report that digital communications are critically oF very important The top 5 technologies focal businesses report to their survival during the pandemic and will be a ctically or very important to their success going : forward, = Website chat TB Enel rerkstra or ati With al this digital investment, what technologies Email marketing or marketing ‘automation software are businesses actually buying to improve efficiency? In order, the top five spend areas are: website chat GPhone systems ‘marketing automation solutions, phone systems, point of sale, and CRM. A long list of other areas of © Point-of-sale or payment processing investment include accounting software and social media management solutions. 2 Customer relationship management (crm)eye ele Tina Tasche een eee ees Ce een eee id Ce en ena DEO eo oon Peete nen gee? Cee ee ee ee inventory shortages. The chip shortage and production See ned Cr ee eae)What did you do to drive efficiency Pern ated cr \With no end in sight on the chip shortage, we shifted Det eet nee eed Cen ene ane ee CeCe ey Cee enn ae eee FR cece ee buying events to keop a healthy love of used inventory. Peer Ecard Cee ee a Rue ae cae changed in a permanent way? We've always been pretty technology focused, but the See eee ‘complete transactions contactless. Now that customers eee ee end want to keep It We're doing a lot more texting, online Vehicle sales, and even service vehicle pick/up drop offs ee ee Ee eee ee er secure payment method no matter where our customer ones SU oo hee ag Piers ee tea Se ey Se ea et ee eee We've added and trained our staff on multiple new Cee ny eee eee Going into 2022, wo're excited about taking everything Re ee ee year. We might not be able to control what inventory ee ee erg focused on the things we can control.ing Van Horn Auto! You can make Pee Ca It’s been a challenging couple of years for a lot of communities. Coming out of See enc Cee Eet ee eae) ere DO eee Dee ee te Businesses had to evolve and come up with creative ‘ways to keep open and some of those evolutions are here to stay Just look at how curbside pick-up became EO eee eee ee CE ees challenge of evolving and are just as big of champions Cte teesDigital marketing is the future of local business. According to our research, word of mouth—via fiends ‘oF reviews—has unsurprisingly been and continues to be the most effective marketing tactic for local business. However, the pandemic push to digital isn't isolated tehelping local employees do more with less. It ‘also ensures that local customers, now even more ‘accustomed to doing business online, can find and hear {rom local businesses. "New digital marketing methods have become key dliffecontiatorsespecially when it comes to mastering local SEO. And a surprisingly effective entrant to the local business marketing arsenal? Text marketing Poroont of loca businesses that say the following markoting tactics are ‘very effective” or “oxtromely effective Word of mouthReereal ax, ‘SEO /Marketing esx, Digital advertising 50%, Soci media sr ‘Text message marketing Email marketing Events Radiofnewspaper/TV ads 4am Direct mail 20% 41% Sponsorships 258, 24% Outot home advertising 24% 33%WE dicitat mrketing fs the future of local business “Text marketing consistently outperforms some more dated digital channels lke email and also boasts better results than local business mainstays such as direct mail radio, andl out-of-home ads, mesting a new, even, more digital consumer where they are in 2021 malt SMS Marketing ‘Average opon ate 18% 90% ‘Average cick ‘hough ate 1 = ‘And local businesses are catching the vision. Among local business respondents with a line of sight nto digital spending, 40% report spending more on their digital presence during the pandemic compared to ‘hat they were spending before. And it's paying of. 2» When businesses offer calling. emailing, website chat texting. and Facebook Messenger, consumers ‘are mest likely o prefer texting te communicate with them? 409% mass. etPura Vida gets ready to win with text in 2022. Julie Davis stated her medical spa in 2018 and eee eel ee een she set her business up for success by investing in digital marketing and customer experience. And the eter ee ee? Julie knew thet people were on their phones and that texting was typically the most comfortable way for pee eee eet eee ey simple but also created safe space for her patients, “Our patients love it. That’ where people are, they want to text And I think in the med spa space, one Unique thing worth highlighting would be how many Cee ety ee ees Ce ee eee Re ea od ‘appointment’ Because they don't want others to know Coe Pete Coe Ey Cree ey Se ee ees ee en ee ‘ory quickly mushroomed into everybody's preferred method”With her business operating as efficiently as ever, Julie shifted her focus toward Pura Vidas matketing strategy. ee tor) ee ee eee Cee eae Cee eee ee ee eee eee ee eee et ne aed eed Pee ee Ce ee nnd Cee era) Seca Jule shared. “They were prepaying on their account ee cee ne ey Ce ne oe eset rae» Customers love local. Reflecting on the pandemic, we as consumers appreciate the Unprecedented and unpredictable times our favorite local businesses have endured. Seeing our barbers, dentists, mechanics, and the bike shop down the street close, reopen, and deal with new challenges has made many consumers more appreciative and more aware of their day-to-day interactions with local businesses, “The fact has and will continue to remain: doing business locally is an Integral part of everyday life. ‘Tin 10 consumers frequent a local business once a week or more. ‘And consumers love local businesses more than ever. In terms of perception ofthe businesses in their community they give their local businesses 4 out of Sstare.9 of 10 consumers Say they go out of their way to do business locally.WG custoners love locel ‘Consumers also prefer local businesses in ther inboxes ‘over major chain and ecommerce players, They report boing 2% mor likely to opti to local business's SMS ‘marketing lists than major chain or big box businesses ‘and 5% more likely than online or ecommerce businesses, ‘And aven as experience tits toward convenience, our research shows that consumers go out oftheir way to patronize local businesses. ‘Consumers also appreciate the place local businesses have in their community-with their spending habit, 3 In 4 consumers say they're more likely to spend money focal business ifthe business showe eupport of ‘community issues and/or charitable causes. {68% of local business respondents say their business ‘actively supports local charitos or causes. 2s 3in4 conmerte tlt pai eon lel “tim ikaly or very ikaly 0 opt into SMS promotions froma?The advantage of local business is being local. eee ee eg eet? ne a ee eee eee ay OTe eR! ee eee er cates Ce ee ee eT ‘employees. Doing s0 wil ead to quick rewards. But more ee eee Ce nePodium We're in the business of helping you win locally. es WINTER. Cloudi00Methodology Consumer Survey - US, AUS conducted 920/202 978-2021 ‘Anes 1820: 20% | 90-44 25% | 45 60.90% 60" 10% Business Survey - US, AUS, CAN 929 busines responses conducted a an Number of employees at busines 52915-25781 2550 1% 51100 1% 100+ 10% rmanacerent marketing tle ard adminatatve stat — 54% curent Podium customers@ Podium