Secrets of Effective A/B Testing and Local Marketing

In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, photo retailers and imaging businesses face unique challenges competing against large national chains while working with finite marketing budgets. The Dead Pixels Society podcast recently featured Max DesMarais, Director of Strategy at Vital Design, who shared valuable insights on how small businesses in the photo industry can effectively market themselves in this competitive environment.

One of the most significant shifts DesMarais identified is how dramatically the digital marketing landscape has changed, particularly regarding organic search visibility. "We're noticing that pay-to-play is becoming actually more important than ever," DesMarais explained. "You're losing organic ability to show up for queries." With Google's AI overviews and expanded ad space, fewer users are clicking on organic results than they were just 24 months ago. Where 70% of searchers might have clicked organic listings previously, that number has dropped to 30-50% today. This fundamental shift means businesses need to recalibrate their marketing strategies accordingly.

Despite these challenges, DesMarais emphasized that local photo retailers have distinct advantages over national companies. Google's local customization provides significant opportunities for small businesses to appear in search results based on proximity. "There's still a lot of opportunity for the same reason - local-based organizations can win and even beat out national-level organizations by creating really high-quality niche campaigns," Damaris noted. He stressed the importance of optimizing Google Business Profiles with accurate information, regular updates, and plenty of imagery.