In this blog we take a look at Angie's List; their market
penetration, the advice history from Pegasus Ventures and finally valuing an Angie's List advertisement for the
local small business owner.
Market Penetration
In the first quarter of 2016
Angie's
List, a publicly traded company,
reported 3.3 million paying subscribers, an increase
of 7% over the same quarter last year.
And Angie's List announced something great; the company
now offers free memberships nationwide for
it's new Green Subscription; potentially giving millions
more access to the more than 10 million Angie's List reviews
while unleashing a potential to obtain millions more reviews
from the new subscribers.
"This is a transformative moment for the new Angie's
List as we welcome more consumers into our community
so they can experience the industry-leading value and unique
services that we provide," said Angie's List President
and CEO
Scott Durchslag at a
launch event in New York. "Now with our new offerings,
the 10-12 million visitors coming to our site each month
looking for help with their home will be able to more easily
find the best local service providers."
"We completed our technology platform migration ahead
of schedule, have quietly had our reviews paywall down,
moved our existing members into the new tiers and have been
signing up new members. This enabled us to assess organic
demand and to scale the new platform more gradually, ramping
up to our integrated marketing launch..."
"I am impressed with how enthusiastically consumers are embracing our new offering, and delighted with the strong growth in new memberships and engagement we are seeing. Since dropping the reviews paywall, a number of key member metrics are re-accelerating. In the most recent week, new member sign-ups increased nearly fourfold compared to a year ago and, among those members, unique visits more than doubled. In that same period, unique members searching have more than doubled and the number of service provider profile views from those members more than doubled. Although these are early days, the data is very encouraging." he added.
Webmaster Advice from the past- what's changed?
Over the last decade Pegasus Ventures advised clients
to stay away from Angie's List. Yes, this unique player
carved out it's own space with a fantastic idea, but who
pays for this information? How deep into any community did
Angie's List reach? Look at the
Better Business Bureau, providing the entire
country with reviews at no cost. Even a non-BBB member gets
rated after coming to the attention of the Better Business
Bureau. Yet, the BBB fails to provide solid, consistent
information on many businesses, especially newer small businesses.
The service offered by the BBB, frankly, also lacks widespread
recognition for their business reviews. To Pegasus Ventures investing with Angie's List seemed hopeless for
those looking to get back their investment times 10.
(If one figures advertising is 10% of income) Even
with over 3 million paying members how many consumers in
a specific town needing a specific business pay for membership
with Angie's List?
The BBB proves valuable to some, like Pegasus Ventures customer
Chem Brite Pressure Washing and Painting.
The BBB works for
Chem Brite because of long membership,
superior service, a link to
Chem Brite Pressure Washing and Painting
review on the BBB website and
Chem Brite puts the information out
in local advertising ensuring potential customers click
to see the A plus rating. Without a potential lead paying,
even the best Angie's List review remains invisible.
BUT IT'S FREE FOR SUBSCRIBERS NOW....Does that
change the advice?
Yes.
Angie's List powerhouse advertising over the years earns
huge name recognition over more than a decade. Angie made
us aware of her company on television, radio, the web and
beyond. Angie's List now leverages name recognition
with a free subscription option and Pegasus Ventures believes Angie will pick up millions more subscribers and
millions more reviews. In other words welcome to a new ground
floor for Angie's List.
Angie's List- Value advertising smart!
So, absolutely try Angie's List! Consider what percent
of income goes into advertising. As a guide, if 5% of income
goes to advertising than every dollar invested must return
$20. Survey local competitors listed on Angie's List, read
their reviews, maybe even give them a call to ask the Angie's
List response they get.
Still, beware. Give an Angie's List ad time. Limit your
purchase. Measure results, but keep your eye on the long
term don't expect instant results. Promote good reviews
on social media, your website and let customers how to review
your business on Angie's List.
Be smart. Working with sales people at Angie's List?
Buy value not vanity and not the highest priced option.
Making Angie's List work also means integrating with other
local advertising, and as mentioned earlier, with social
media and your website. Be bold, yet cautious and above
all put aside time to measure results regularly; or delegate
this to one of your people to report back regularly both
on progressing integration and metrics Angie's List makes
available.
Published by:
Pegasus Ventures Copyright holder: Pegasus Ventures on
