6 Call Monetization Platforms for SMBs
Phone leads may not be glamorous or trendy, but they’re the backbone of local marketing strategy for millions of small businesses in the professional services, travel, auto, and insurance industries. $68 billion is spent annually on localized ads to generate these calls. Here are six call monetization vendors that businesses can work with…
How to Decide If Your Business Should Use Indoor Location Technology
Indoor location technology may not be the right solution for every merchant on the street. The costs and complexities of these systems can sometimes be too much for businesses in certain industries to handle, including smaller merchants who may not see enough foot traffic on a daily basis to benefit from using in-store location tools. Here are five questions that business owners should ask when weighing the decision of whether to start using indoor location technology…
7 Ways to Use Weather Data for Hyperlocal Marketing
Hyperlocal vendors are making it possible for business owners like Stromberg to overlay weather data on top of daily sales figures to make better decisions, but many local merchants are still unsure of how to utilize the insights they glean from this information. Here are seven strategies for local businesses to use weather information to better target their hyperlocal messaging…
Why Data May Kill Content as the Key to Local Relevancy
During a keynote at Street Fight’s Local Data Summit in Denver Tuesday, Carol Davidsen, chief executive at Cir.cl and a former Obama for America staffer, spoke about the way the campaign used data to avoid pricey local news buys, and how those learnings are shaping the way companies in the private market buy media…
Charting Consumer Behavior In the Real World
At Street Fight’s Local Data Summit on Tuesday, LocalSEOGuide proprietor Andrew Shotland started off a morning panel discussion on charting consumer behavior in the real world by asking panelists how close the local data industry is to being able to collect and aggregate the location of consumers, and then sell that information directly to marketers…
How Esri’s Amber Case Plans to Make Technology Invisible
At the Street Fight Local Data Summit in Denver on Tuesday, Esri R&D Director Amber Case spoke about ‘calm technology’ and the future of location data. Case, who sold her startup Geoloqi to Esri in 2012, argued that mobile data should empower people and bring meaning to their lives by making interactions invisible…
5 Self-Serve Deals Platforms for SMBs
Groupon has generated significant press thanks to the recent rollout of its self-serve Deal Builder, which local merchants can use to create limited-time promotions for themselves. However, the daily deals giant is hardly the only vendor offering this type of service to SMBs. For years, a number of hyperlocal vendors have been providing self-service solutions to SMBs…
Case Study: Hospitality Group Replaces Direct Marketing with Hyperlocal Campaigns
As mobile marketing picks up steam and consumers get more comfortable downloading branded apps on their smartphones, Wind Creek Hospitality marketing VP Michael Perhaes is becoming less reliant on direct marketing techniques for customer retention and acquisition. Although Wind Creek’s mobile apps are still new, Perhaes is already seeing response rates that are much higher than those he has achieved through email marketing alone…
6 Ways Merchants Can Encourage Customers to Complete Mobile Transactions
Just 3% of SMBs in the U.S. have websites that can handle mobile transactions, according to a recent survey by hibu and Impact Research. One of the reasons why merchants have been reluctant to adopt the right tools for dealing with mobile transactions is because they don’t understand what’s in it for them. Here are ideas for local merchants who are interested in how they can encourage more customers to complete transactions via mobile…
5 Tools Merchants Can Use to Serve Targeted Promotional Offers on Twitter
Small business owners know that Twitter can be a useful tool for marketing, but many are unsure of where to begin when it comes to serving up paid promotional offers on the popular social channel. With its own unique language and tools, Twitter is a foreign land to many SMBs. For marketers who take the risk, however, the rewards can be great. A number of hyperlocal vendors are stepping in with platforms that bridge the gap for SMBs looking for more strategic ways to target consumers on Twitter…
Case Study: Restaurant Chain Uses Loyalty Data to Improve Customer Experience
If sales of a particular menu item seem slow this month, then Lucas Clarke is curious to know why that is. The director of marketing at MAD Greens, a Colorado-based chain of restaurants that specializes in seasonal salads and sandwiches, Clarke uses the data from his company’s card-linked mobile loyalty program to learn about sales trends in real-time…
6 Strategies for SMBs Using Data Visualization Tools
Data digital flowHyperlocal marketing platforms are producing mountains of data for small business owners, but many local merchants aren’t quite sure of what to do with all the information they collect. Here are six strategies for local merchants who are thinking about using data visualization tools for the first time…
5 Marketplaces for Buying, Selling and Sharing With Neighbors
Startups are looking for new ways to reinvigorate the function of traditional newspaper classified listings. Positioned as an alternative to Craigslist, hyperlocal marketplaces that facilitate the buying, selling, and sharing of goods between neighbors are filling an untapped niche and bringing together people in local communities…
How Merchants Can Create a Comprehensive Strategy for Mobile
Building a mobile-optimized website is certainly a starting point, but it’s far from the last step a local merchant needs to take when developing a comprehensive mobile strategy. Although small business owners tend to be more interested in mobile than outsiders give them credit for, it’s the process of combining those solutions to create a comprehensive strategy that trips many merchants up. Here are six tips for local merchants who are interested in putting together mobile strategies for their businesses…
5 Tools for Creating Targeted Hyperlocal Lead Lists
Rather than hitting up every business on the block, some hyperlocal sales teams are taking a more strategic approach. By using targeted lead lists from business intelligence companies, startups can pinpoint the specific merchants who are most likely to be receptive to their pitches. Here are five business intelligence tools that hyperlocal vendors can use to create targeted lead lists…
6 Strategies to Encourage SMBs to Offer Same-Day Delivery
Small businesses account for 54% of all sales in the U.S., and unlike their big box competitors, many SMBs don’t already have existing shipping networks or points of distribution. Here are six strategies for how same-day delivery vendors can successfully encourage local merchants to become a part of their programs…
5 Hyperlocal Scheduling Platforms for the Healthcare Industry
Hyperlocal vendors are changing the way consumers navigate the healthcare industry, offering tools for finding local providers who are covered by specific insurance plans. Not only do these platforms benefit patients by providing a streamlined way to secure appointments with qualified local physicians, but they also benefit healthcare professionals by filling empty appointment slots and decreasing the percentage of no-show patients…
Case Study: Pizza Chain Uses Customer Data For Targeted Offers
At Patxi’s Pizza, a pizza chain with 12 locations in California and Colorado, marketing manager Jordana Heinke uses the purchasing data she gathers through her company’s mobile loyalty program to send highly-targeted offers to her most frequent customers. “We can immediately see changes happening with volume of interest and redemption if we change a reward,” Heinke says…
7 Strategies For Local Merchants Using Big Data Services
One of the biggest misconceptions about big data is that it’s only relevant for large businesses. In reality, big data services are often just as useful for local merchants on Main Street as they are for global retail chains and CPG brands. Here are seven strategies for local merchants looking to take better advantage of big data services…