Local Advertisers Navigate Looming Surge in Political Ad Pricing

Local Advertisers Navigate Looming Surge in Political Ads Pricing

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As the global economy braces itself for the possibility of a recession, some sectors are standing out with surprising resilience. Driven largely by the anticipation of enormous spending on political ads in the coming year, local advertising in the U.S. is expected to increase by 8.6%. That puts anticipated revenue across all media in the […]

Report: More Than 70% of Franchisees Use a Digital Agency

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Franchisees (and their co-op spending) represent an important segment of the local digital marketing ecosystem, and a new report reveals that these businesses are starting to accelerate their adoption of digital media and platforms, and are increasingly working with digital agencies.

Why Selling to Partners and Resellers Is Never a Straight Path

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Media companies are constantly bombarded by digital product and ad tech platform companies vying for consideration. Getting the attention of reseller and partner decision makers requires a clear understanding of their business challenges.

Openings and New Hires at Gannett, Vendasta, Instacart, Microsoft & HTC

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Every two weeks, Kelly Benish — who knows practically everyone in hyperlocal — covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. In this week’s edition, new jobs and hires at SocialCentiv, PageLaunch, Comporium and Thrive Analytics.

Where Does Local Search Fit in a World of Apps?

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Where is Google’s place in a world where the browser is no longer the front door? On the desktop, trillions of web pages compel an index and a friendly entry point. But an app-heavy mobile environment — already siloed into neat little buckets — doesn’t beg for a core search engine…

Is there a Local Marketing Play for Snapchat?

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Given its engagement levels, quality, and potential audience scale, Snapchat isn’t just competing with Facebook and other native ad platforms — it’s competing with television. And for that reason, its local play will be large national advertisers that increasingly localize campaigns…

Street Fight Daily: Twitter Invests in Beacons, Nokia Expands Maps Sale

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Twitter Takes a Look at Beacons, Invests in Marketing Startup Swirl (Recode)… Nokia Targeting Apple, Alibaba and Amazon in Maps-Unit Sale (Bloomberg)… BIA/Kelsey: Mobile Will Grab 11.5% Share Of Local Rev By 2019 (NetNewsCheck)…

Conference Notebook: Brands Refining Their Local Approach

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Multi-location brands that want to connect with local consumers have long been faced with a major conundrum of how much local marketing to trust to their local outlets. At BIA/Kelsey’s National event in Dallas last week, a number of brands and vendors weighed in on how their strategies are evolving…

Street Fight Daily: Amazon Launches Home Services, Angie’s List Freezes Indiana Expansion

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Launches Home Services To Sell Everything From An Oil Change To Piano Lessons (Verge)… Angie’s List Freezes $40 Million Indiana Expansion, Citing Anti-gay Law (Mashable)… Ten Red Flags On The GoDaddy IPO (Pando)…

#LDS15: Taking Programmatic Advertising Into the Real World

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“Programmatic [advertising] is getting more complex in the ecosphere,” Andrew Beckman, CEO of Location3 Media said. “When you’re able to have the right messaging across all channels, and [the consumer] is moving around with their phone or searching from their desktop, I believe you’ll be able to attract that consumer into your store or purchase something within a specific local area.”

Study: Franchises Spend ‘Nearly Half’ of Marketing Budgets on Digital

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Franchises, equipped with the resources of a large brand but the flexibility of a small business, could help provide a critical stepping stone for vendors looking to reach SMBs. New data shows they are substantially more digitally advanced than their independent counterparts…

Street Fight Daily: Google’s New Call Unit, Main Street Hub Raises $20M

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…Pay-Per-Call: Google Introduces “Call-Only” AdWords Units (Local Search Insider)… Main Street Hub Lands $20M To Bring Social Media Marketing To Small Business (TechCrunch)… Digital First — What Then? (Medium)…

Hyperlocal Execs’ 2015 Predictions (Part One): Moz, Foursquare, Placed

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As we have for the past three years, Street Fight recently asked a number of hyperlocal luminaries to weigh in with their predictions for where local is headed in 2015. We’ll be running their responses in two installments, today and tomorrow…

Five Lessons Google Learned About Selling to Small Businesses

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For Google, the shift to mobile presents an opportunity to learn from mistakes made during the desktop internet boom. James Croom, head of marketing for the project, has spent five years in the company’s small business team. He said Monday that the company’s new Google My Business project builds on some learnings from the company’s Get Your Business Online effort launched in 2009 to drive business across the world to build websites…

Report: Online and Digital Ads to Reach 25% of Local Media Revenues in 2015

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Total local media revenues are expected to reach $139.3 billion next year, up from $137 billion this year, for a 1.6% growth rate, with digital and online advertising surpassing the one-quarter mark for the first time, according to BIA/Kelsey’s 2015 U.S. Local Media Forecast. “Mobile and social are growing faster than imagined,” said Mark Fratrik, the company’s chief economist…

Street Fight Daily: Baidu Bets on Local, Court Says Yelp Doesn’t Extort

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technologyBaidu Boosts Location-based Platform With New Services, $10M Investment (Reuters)… Yelp Escapes Extortion Lawsuit Unscathed, Except For Its Reputation (Engadget)… Airbnb Under Fire for ‘Secret’ Plan to Release Users’ information (New York Post)…

Report: Mobile Will Account for Half of Social Advertising Revenue by 2017

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Mobile is poised to account for a majority of spending on social media advertising in the U.S. by 2017, eclipsing spending on desktop a year later, according to report from BIA/Kelsey released this morning. The research firm estimates that spending on social advertising in the U.S. will nearly triple over the next five years, swelling from $5.1 billion last year to $15 billion by 2018. In 2017, the firms expects that marketers will spend $6.7 billion — or half of all social media advertising revenues — on mobile ad formats.

Facebook’s Path to Dominating Mobile (Local TBD)

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Facebook Audience Network will apply Facebook’s audience targeting to third party apps, such as those using Facebook Connect for log-in authentication. The beauty of such an off-site network is that it uses Facebook’s data and positioning to continue milking demand for mobile ads, without killing the cow…

Report: Local Media Ad Revs Will Climb to $158.6B By 2018

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Local media ad revenues are set to increase 19% by 2018, according to new figures released by BIA/Kelsey, climbing from $133.2 billion in 2013 to $158.6 billion in 2018. The compound annual growth rate of 3.6% represents faster growth than previously expected, strengthened by political and Olympic advertising. Meanwhile, local digital media is set to continue its increase in market share, increasing from $31.7 billion (23 percent) in 2014 to $52.7 billion (33.2 percent) in 2018…

Recent Studies Show Mobile’s Broadening Reach

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The reports underline what we might call the inherently local nature of mobile search. Whether you are in a store contemplating a high-ticket purchase or downtown hoping to discover a new restaurant, the phone in your hand is your portal to timely and actionable information as well as marketing incentives that are increasingly likely to gain your attention…