If the world of internet marketing was a high school – and let’s face it, it kind of is – Siri would the hot new transfer student that gives the local mean girls a run for their money at the popularity game.  You see, she and her (future) personal assistant friends are set to shift the way you search and discover the internet and therefore, the way businesses market themselves there.

“But with Google’s stranglehold on search and everyone clamoring over themselves to make sure their sites are optimized to the hilt, how is this possible,” you ask?

Well, Google is still the current prom queen of SEO, and it will be a vital web marketing tactic for the foreseeable future.  However, we would assert that Google’s hold on the only slightly less desirable “homecoming crown” of local search/recommendation is very much in jeopardy as Siri is and others will likely begin to bypass search altogether in favor of social sites like Urbanspoon, Foursquare and Yelp to create recommendations.

It’s one of many advertised features of the Siri app but likely not the first one users will rely on.  Still once they become accustomed to Siri handling the mundane tasks of their lives like reminders and text message transcription, they’ll begin to trust for Siri for recommendations on the best hotels, restaurants or the hottest new boutiques in town.  And, currently, Google can only give you the best optimized sites, not the best businesses.

So now, you have to consider a few new tactics to make sure your internet marketing is able to cross those clique boundaries and be the kid who can eat with anyone in the lunchroom.  Here’s how:

Make variety the spice of your life.  With Siri ignoring Google and focusing on your location data and sites like Yelp to make recommendations, businesses need to become (more) active on the social ratings and community sites to ensure Siri even notices you. Word is, Yelp recommendations are integrated into Siri so if you’re not there, you should be.

Imagine a world with less PPC.  Since she’ll be bypassing search, Pay-per Click ads (PPC) will be irrelevant to Siri.  Yet, like traditional SEO, PPC won’t go the way of the dodo for quite some time as not everyone (gasp) has or even likes the iPhone.

Think check-ins and don’t check-out.  If you’re not an ecommerce site and you need traffic through your door, you need to spend time getting yourself known and regularly recommended on apps and sites like Foursquare, Facebook Places and Gowalla.  The more popular you are there, the more Siri will take notice and include you in her recommendations.

Be more social than ever.  Having a Facebook page and lots of helpful tips on Foursquare are great.  But if Siri is only looking at Yelp or Urbanspoon, you are no better off than a business with no social media presence at all.

Feeling overwhelmed yet?  That’s where we come in.  Technetium has been helping clients optimize their sites for nearly a decade and we also help brands create and grow their presence in social media.  With both of these skills sets under one roof, we are able to craft a truly integrated digital marketing plan that helps you be the kid that can travel between the lunchroom cliques and still have everyone like you.  So when is your lunch period?