Street Fight Happenings
Street Fight’s January Theme: Turning the Page
During the past few years of that stretch, we’ve segmented our monthly coverage into themes, as you may have noticed. Flowing from last month’s theme of “Leaving 2020” — a retrospective analysis — what better way to ring in a new year than to focus on what’s to come in the next year?
Street Fight’s December Theme: Leaving 2020
What will the “next normal” look like in the post-Covid era of local commerce? Will things go back to the old normal or be a hybrid reality that cherry-picks components and new perspectives from the past nine months? Will e-commerce dip back down to pre-Covid levels or keep surging?
We’ll be answering these questions and others throughout the month, along with 2021 predictions (’tis the season) for our theme, Leaving 2020.
Street Fight’s November Theme: Google’s World
Google’s World is shorthand for the fully fleshed-out concept: “It’s Google’s world… we’re all just living in it.” The main thrust is that Google’s search dominance gives it enormous control in impacting the fate of businesses everywhere who rely on search for traffic and customer acquisition.
Google’s ongoing updates to the search algorithm, ranking factors, and SERPs continue to have ripple effects on marketers everywhere. It’s becoming more challenging to follow the moving target of SEO effectiveness. This game has its own set of rules when it comes to local search.
Theme of the Month: Turning the Page
Reflections on 2020 in Local: Innovation by Necessity
From a big-picture perspective, innovative tech providers are recognizing that SMBs don’t need all the bells and whistles that may come with an enterprise solution. They need tech that solves critical everyday problems that are common across the local landscape.
Can Immersive Marketing Boost Local Businesses?
One of the emerging technologies driving innovation amid Covid is AR. For example, its ability to add real-life interactivity to e-commerce gained traction in 2020. This could extend to a post-Covid world of “touchless” retail for in-aisle virtual product interaction.
Brands Must Balance Local Engagement with Scale
Alex Nocifera sees plenty of reasons to be optimistic. As the founder and CEO of Field Day, a local marketing startup, Nocifera believes that marketers in 2021 will be tasked with deciding when and how to diversify their budgets back to a balanced blend of online and offline spending.
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Reflections on 2020 in Local: Innovation by Necessity
From a big-picture perspective, innovative tech providers are recognizing that SMBs don’t need all the bells and whistles that may come with an enterprise solution. They need tech that solves critical everyday problems that are common across the local landscape.
Can Immersive Marketing Boost Local Businesses?
One of the emerging technologies driving innovation amid Covid is AR. For example, its ability to add real-life interactivity to e-commerce gained traction in 2020. This could extend to a post-Covid world of “touchless” retail for in-aisle virtual product interaction.
3 Ways Local Content Drives Customer Connections
Social distancing is here for the long haul, but consumers are still craving social connection. Brands can fill in the gaps by maximizing their digital presence on the key search and social platforms, such as Facebook, Google My Business, and Yelp, where consumers are spending increased time online.
Brands Must Balance Local Engagement with Scale
Alex Nocifera sees plenty of reasons to be optimistic. As the founder and CEO of Field Day, a local marketing startup, Nocifera believes that marketers in 2021 will be tasked with deciding when and how to diversify their budgets back to a balanced blend of online and offline spending.
Post-Third-Party Cookie Advertising and Experiences
Companies will still need to provide an equivalent user experience to the unknown visitors or risk driving them away. They will need to find incentives to drive authentication and opt-ins; additionally, they will need to create a brand experience that is broadly accessible in lieu of today’s personalized approaches that rely on third-party data insights.
Yelp Lets Users Fact-Check Local Business Covid Safety
Despite the vaccine rollout and improving economic sentiment, a majority of consumers remain concerned about engaging with local businesses in many places across the US. Yelp is now allowing businesses to provide more information about health and safety practices to customers in hopes of fueling a quicker recovery.
How Privacy Will Upend Advertising in 2021
Of course, if mobile numbers are adopted as a universal ID, Apple, Google, and Facebook won’t get their way. They will not go down quickly and will likely continue to bury email IDs as a viable solution. We’ll see the entire industry disrupted as each of the powerhouses marches forward with their plans to own the future of privacy, ensuring they monetize the very thing they are touting to protect.
3 Changes in CTV That Will Endure in 2021
While this year has seen so much change in TV, I expect even more next year, especially given that there is so much uncertainty related to Covid-19. With that in mind, here are three CTV predictions for 2021 and the ways they stand to impact the industry.
Recent Ad Fraud Schemes and How to Fight Them
Each year, marketers set out to solve ad fraud, but the systemic struggle is a long-term fight with no instant fix. To that end, I checked in with Paul Roberts, CEO of audience marketplace Kubient, to assess the state of ad fraud and how providers can keep it at bay this year.
Online Customer Service is the New Storefront
The face of retail is fundamentally different today than it was last January. Fewer shoppers entering brick-and-mortar stores and interacting with sales associates in person means retailers have had to rethink how they handle customer service. Retailers are now looking at ways to equip service teams to fill that new void.
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Reflections on 2020 in Local: Innovation by Necessity