By Jeanne Hurlbert, PhD

There’s a hot new tool that offers HUGE opportunity to ramp up your marketing results, by linking social media with surveys.

Today, we’re going to fill you in on the new tool and show you EXACTLY how you can capitalize on it.

Pay close attention because this kind of geographic targeting promises to be the next big thing.

Here’s the scoop:  a small (1%) group of Twitter users now has access to a new service, Local Trends.  It’s a new twist on local search that lets you measure trending topics in a geographic area.

With this tool, you can do 2 very important things.  First, you can target your own area (appears you can change it when you travel).  So if you market locally, this gives you a huge opportunity, because you can

• stay on top of hot topics in the local market and keep your brand in the conversation,
• follow up on these topics in your surveys, to get more systematic information, and
• use these topics in your marketing messages and offers.

The second function of Local Trends is where it really gets cool for those of us who market nationally or nternationally.  Local Trends lets you click on a list of cities and countries to find out what the trending topics are there.  Right now, the list is small, but you it will grow.

Once this list does grow, this gives you a HUGE opportunity to really increase your conversions.

We’ve told you for a while that segmenting your list and personalizing your offers could skyrocket your conversions but this can put it on steroids.

Here’s an example:  Let’s say you’re getting a lot of prospects and customers in Vancouver, BC.  With Local Trends, you could find out about issues, hot spots, trends, controversies—all sorts of things going on in Vancouver so that, when you send messages, offers, or invitations to your customers there, you can connect with them in a much more personal way.

How do you do that—how do you KNOW if a lot of prospects and customers come from Vancouver?  Use surveys.

Use super-short surveys of your prospects and put a customer profile survey in place, as we’ve been teaching you, and include location information in the data you collect.

As your database grows, look for cities, regions, areas where you have “clusters” of customers.

Where those segments are big enough, create a list segment.

Use Local Trends to periodically see what’s going on in that area, so you can use those trends in your messages to that segment.

It’s just as simple as that.  Location-based targeting, like Local Trends and Foursquare, is just the beginning, so stay tuned for updates and get ready to ride the next big wave.

By Jeanne Hurlbert

So here’s the deal: Mike Koenigs, my partner in MySurveyExpert, hails from Minnesota.

I’ve lived in Louisiana for 22 years.

On Sunday, the New Orleans Saints face off (no, Mike, it’s not hockey) against the Minnesota Vikings.

So either way, ONE MySurveyExpert partner will be happy!

Actually, Mike’s not a huge football fan; he prefers boxing.

But it’s a cool competition, anyway.

Down here in “Who Dat” land, the excitement has reached a fever pitch.

So we’ll be watching to see what happens. . .I’ll figure out some appropriate homage to send to Mike, should the unthinkable happen!

As you know, we’ve been working on something to give you the information you need to comply with the FTC ruling.

Mike and Jeanne teamed up with a top-notch attorney, Denise Gosnell, to show you

• how to comply with the new ruling,
• how to get the proof you need to keep converting prospects and keep customers buying over and over,
• get the tools you need to do both.

We’ve put together an AWESOME new interview for you, in which Mike interviews Denise and Jeanne.  It’s packed FULL of information to help make sure you get the help you need.

To see it, just go here.

And let us know what you think!