{"id":2275,"date":"2015-03-17T15:57:19","date_gmt":"2015-03-17T23:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thinkapps.com\/blog\/?p=2275"},"modified":"2015-03-17T15:57:19","modified_gmt":"2015-03-17T23:57:19","slug":"localeur-local-recommendations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinkapps.com\/blog\/launch\/localeur-local-recommendations\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Years After Launch, Could Localeur Kill Yelp and Foursquare?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A local business without online recommendations is at a major disadvantage. But getting the right reviewers<\/em> is just as important as getting the right reviews<\/em>.<\/p>\n

One of the tenants of Millennial spending is that we do the research<\/a>. Whether it\u2019s an in-the-moment Yelp search of a new coffee shop\u00a0or a more in-depth search for feedback on a TV we\u2019re wanting to buy, we want to know what\u2019s good before we invest the time and money.<\/p>\n

Localeur<\/a> cofounders Joah Spearman<\/a> and Chase White<\/a> not only identified with this idea, but more specifically, they wanted more quality recommendations when they were away from home.<\/p>\n

In 2012, Spearman and White were working together at Bazaarvoice<\/a> \u2014 a hot Austin software startup that rates good reviews for enterprise \u2014 when White went on a trip that ultimately inspired Localeur.<\/p>\n

He was visiting Park City, Utah and wanted some suggestions of places to go on his trip. But not just top-rated Yelp suggestions. He and Spearman realized that what they were really wanting were honest, quality recommendations from people who actually live in these cities.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell, Spearman told me that their mission with Localeur is to make travel local.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(For more startup insight, check out the full Startup Stories series<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

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The Idea<\/h2>\n

Localeur is a website and app where you can go to read the recommendation roundups of hand-picked Localeurs in 12 cities. These people are not only locals but have actually visited the places that they\u2019re talking about, from the best bars for happy hour to the best places to get guacamole.<\/p>\n

If you live in a tourist-heavy city, you know that there\u2019s a big difference between where the tourists go to hang out and where the locals go. While he was in Park City, White wanted to go where the locals go. He and Spearman talked about this idea for months, sharing their travel experiences and discovering what review sites were missing.<\/p>\n

Spearman said, “I remember [White] saying the words ‘experience local,’ and we realized that that was really the crux of what this business could be.”<\/p>\n

They launched Localeur as a web platform in March 2013 at South by Southwest<\/a> (SXSW) \u2014 in fact they had their third annual SXSW\u00a0party<\/a> just yesterday.<\/p>\n

It was an ideal time\/place not only because of all of the innovation being shown throughout the music\/film\/tech\u00a0conference, but also because Austin is their city and they were able to show the thousands of visitors how to experience their Texas town beyond what you\u2019ll find on 6th Street. People loved it.<\/p>\n

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A Minimal\u00a0Launch<\/h2>\n

Once Spearman and White solidified their plans for Localeur in early 2013, Spearman started calling his friends around the country to see if he could gain some financial interest. Six out of the first dozen\u00a0people he called invested\u00a0<\/span>and that was the money that they needed to launch.<\/p>\n

For the past couple years, they\u2019ve run Localeur as lean as possible<\/a>. Spearman said,<\/p>\n

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“We’re not like a lot of NY or SF startups where you go out [and] raise … $2 million and you can start something. We, at no point, had more than two or three months of runway.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

With this model, Spearman said they were constantly having to prove<\/a> that they could make their business work to be able to raise more funds. Of course, timing was key too.<\/p>\n

They launched small with Austin as\u00a0their flagship city and 15-20 Localeurs racking in recommendations of must-see, must-eat, must-visit places. They used the momentum\u00a0of SXSW to raise more money<\/a> and expand to more cities one-by-one.<\/p>\n

Spearman said they expanded\u00a0in phases. After they proved that the site worked in Austin, they went to Houston. Atfer they proved it could work in two cities, they moved it outside of Texas to San Francisco, New York and LA. Now they\u2019re in 12 cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle, D.C., Miami, Denver, and Dallas.<\/p>\n

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Web vs. Mobile<\/h2>\n

Any must-have tech resource pretty much has to be an app these days or at least a very mobile-friendly site. But when Localeur launched in 2013, they were\u00a0web only\u00a0with an iOS app release a full year later.<\/p>\n

Why? \u201cWe launched as web first just because that was the easiest way for us to get to market,” Spearman explained.<\/p>\n

After they had significant proof that this was a resource people were willing to use regularly, then building the app became a priority. He said, “We know that [the app] is not where we want it to be ultimately as a product, but it’s been good enough at this stage to get us quite a bit of favorable press from the Today Show<\/em> … and all these other publications.”<\/p>\n

He said that, even though they still want to make a lot of progress with the app, it\u2019s really popular in the App Store<\/a> (Android<\/a> coming soon), and it\u2019s a real testament to how powerful their content is. Last year, 40% of their users were mobile,\u00a0whereas this year it\u2019s 70%. But launching web first<\/a> actually taught them some lessons they wouldn\u2019t have learned if they had started on mobile.<\/p>\n

Travelers do different things on web and mobile.<\/h3>\n

Spearman said they realized that travelers on mobile are often looking for an in-the-moment recommendation, while travelers on the web are more often in the inspiration stage of their travel plans.<\/p>\n

People share more on the web.<\/h3>\n

They observed that, on the web, locals are more open to the idea of telling people about their favorite spots;\u00a0there\u2019s less of a fear about losing their hangout spot to other\u00a0locals.<\/p>\n

Spearman said that Millennials especially have that initial hang up about divulging their favorite place to the masses. But on the web, he said, \u201cThere was distance between informing people about places and actually going [to them].\u201d<\/p>\n

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Keeping It Local<\/h2>\n

While Localeur was initially built for the travel\u00a0use case, the\u00a0founders are\u00a0finding more and more that it\u2019s not only a resource that\u2019s fueled<\/em> by locals, but an ideal resource for locals to use<\/em> as well. In fact, Spearman said,<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe’re actually growing much more quickly by targeting locals than we are by targeting travelers.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Whether the user is a traveler or a local, Localeur\u2019s mission and success is built on an expectation of reliability and credibility.<\/p>\n

By not only picking a select group of Localeurs per city, but also putting a face and byline to their recommendations, the anonymity seen on\u00a0other review services is gone. Not to mention, Localeur ensures that these people are in fact locals.<\/p>\n

Spearman said, \u201cThere’s a sense of immediacy and credibility that comes with the people who get to walk those streets and see those businesses everyday.” Localeur is just like asking a friend who lives in a city what you should do while you\u2019re visiting.<\/p>\n

In fact, he had a friend who messaged him about the best venues for SXSW, and Spearman sent him a link to a list he\u2019d compiled for Localeur. It\u2019s taking away that extra step and eliminating any skepticism you might have about untrusted online reviews.<\/p>\n

He said that people are getting comfortable with the idea that Localeur can even replace services like Yelp and Foursquare.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Perfecting an Evolving Model<\/h2>\n

“A lot of people have gotten this business model wrong,” Spearman said.<\/p>\n

While a lot of people still use Yelp, we\u2019ve all heard horror stories<\/a> about businesses hitting some major pitfalls on account of paid or just false reviews. He added,<\/p>\n

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“Yelp is a big, successful company, but I think fundamentally one of the things that they’ve done wrong is they really inherently haven’t brought the value to the local businesses in the way that they can prove their value constantly. I think there’s a huge kind of anti-Yelp movement as a result of that.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A lot of what\u2019s making business models like Foursquare and Yelp become stale is that they\u2019re not tapping into the needs of modern travelers and locals.<\/p>\n

One part of it, Spearman said, is \u201c\u2026 with business models like Uber’s and Airbnb’s \u2026 people are really, really focused on trying to have access to the best information as quickly as possible. And what that does is give you an additional comfort level when you’re traveling.”<\/p>\n

In addition to immediacy, comfort is the second need of the modern traveler. Spearman said that in the \u201880s and \u201890s, \u201c[Travelers] were okay with feeling like tourists because it was a way for them to take a break from their daily lives.” But now, you\u2019re seeing less people exclusively hitting up tourist attractions and instead getting a real feel of what it\u2019s like to live in a place.<\/p>\n

Spearman added, “I think now … our generation kind of likes the lifestyle that we have, so when we got to New York or Portland or London or some other city, we’re not trying to just take a break from life necessarily, we’re just tying to maybe take a break from work and then go and experience a new city. So we still want to have that comfort of feeling like [we\u2019re at home].\u201d<\/p>\n

The real value in getting advice from locals is that you can choose the kind of place you want to grab coffee in the morning and\u00a0to go to happy hour at night, and you’re not just searching the best places for tourists.<\/p>\n

For Localeur, it\u2019s about making sure that you really feel comfortable and familiar wherever you go.<\/p>\n

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What Makes a Localeur?<\/h2>\n

After hand-picking the Localeurs in Austin, Spearman said that now their existing Localeurs invite new people to the community<\/a> as they launch in new cities. They currently have about 250 contributors across their 12 cities making recommendations for over 300,000 users.<\/p>\n

As the site has gained credibility, Spearman said, \u201cNow there’s a lot more value in what it means to contribute to Localeur.” But certain\u00a0Localeurs get compensated in more than authority.<\/p>\n

To support their select Localeurs as well as continuing to support local businesses, Spearman said they pay contributors under $100 for a recommendation.<\/p>\n

“The idea is that we’ve been giving them just enough compensation to justify returning to these businesses even more frequently than they already do,” he explained. Basically, it\u2019s enough to sustain your brunch habit while keeping people informed about the places where you’re eating or the things you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

Keeping Localeurs out and about in the community is pivotal, especially when creating something as substantial as their SXSW guide. Spearman said that, unlike a writer who flies down from New York to write an article about the best BBQ\u00a0in Austin for SXSW, the Austin Localeurs have been there all year trying new places and keeping tabs on the old to ensure that users are getting the full dish on what\u2019s good.<\/p>\n

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A Wider Net for Locals<\/h2>\n

Other than the fact that you have to be a local to recommend a place on Localeur, a big factor\u00a0that set them apart is that you had to be selected. This exclusivity gave them a specific edge and kept the quality top notch while they were setting the tone for their initial launch cities.<\/p>\n

But as they continue to grow, they\u2019re expanding the platform<\/a> to be more open to more locals.<\/p>\n

They had an idea for CrowdRecs<\/a> in which locals can go in and add a place or vote a place up or down. They can\u2019t create entire posts like Localeurs, but it\u2019s getting more locals involved in a crowdsourced way and people have really liked it so far.<\/p>\n

In fact, Localeur has seen a 4,000% increase in social sharing since they started CrowdRecs. It\u2019s more than just the self-centered need to put in your own two cents;\u00a0Spearman said that it gives you a sense of altruism by helping the community.<\/p>\n

He added, “Our idea about curation has opened up a little bit.” People already have high expectations for the platform and now they can contribute to it, but you still have to be a local.<\/p>\n

They regulate this with a Facebook login so they can verify your city. And to make sure people don\u2019t get upvote happy on their favorite haunt, you can only vote on a place once.<\/p>\n

Right now, Localeurs leave recommendations through a CMS that\u00a0gets edited by the Localeur team and then published. In the future, Spearman said they\u2019ll be rolling out a system specifically for CrowdRecs across web and mobile.<\/p>\n

Growing from this new feature, Spearman said he sees potential for a more hybrid model in which they’ll be looking for influencers and figuring out unique ways to engage and reward them through partnerships with airlines, hotels, restaurants,\u00a0etc.<\/p>\n

A Fleeting Partnership<\/h2>\n

Six weeks after they launched, Localeur was contacted by Google to work in some capacity with their Field Trip app. Spearman said they ignored the request for a while because they were unsure about Google\u2019s intentions.<\/p>\n

Eventually Spearman said they agreed to a short-term partnership to feature some of their Localeur recommendations on the Field Trip app. But at the earliest point possible, they ended it.<\/p>\n

He said that after acquiring Zagat and Frommer\u2019s with little success, it\u2019s clear that Google doesn\u2019t know yet what their travel strategy is going to be. He added,<\/p>\n

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“It was a smattering of a lot of content, but not a lot of the focus and utility, so it ended up not being a good entry point for someone to find out about Localeur. We’d rather them find out directly from us.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Still, Spearman said it was a great short-term partnership for them, and if imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, then Localeur should be tickled pink.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoogle is copying us,\u201d he said. And with a quick scroll through Google\u2019s Local Guides<\/a> program, it seems that he\u2019s probably not too far off. He\u2019s seen other updated features and designs<\/a>\u00a0across travel brands that seem to take inspiration from Localeur. \u201c[It\u2019s] evidence that the market is catching up to us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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What’s Next<\/h2>\n

For the last two years, the entire Localeur team has been just Spearman, White and a team of freelancers. But as the market is catching up to them and they continue to roll out new cities and features like CrowdRecs, they found that it was about time to hire their own team.<\/p>\n

As of this month, they now have four employees and they\u2019re on their way to building all of the product and content that they’ve planned for. They’re going to launch New Orleans and Portland this year and will\u00a0start to think international starting in 2016.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve also raised investments from Facebook executives who Spearman said are really confident and passionate about the mission of Localeur. Spearman is convinced\u00a0that \u201cauthenticity and credibility\u201d will continue to set them above their competition.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re at South by Southwest, look out for Localeur and definitely be sure to reference their exclusive SXSW guide<\/a> for all of the best eats, drinks and venues in Austin, as told by locals.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned with Localeur\u00a0via Twitter<\/a> and download the app for free on iOS<\/a>.\u00a0If you\u2019re on Android, you can expect to see an app for your device coming this year.<\/p>\n

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