Hyperlocal Start-Ups Say They Can’t Measure Their Engagement. Huh?

Share this:

Independent hyperlocal news sites are busy trying to get their users fully engaged, but they say they can’t measure how well their strategies are working. A new study from J-Lab at American University finds that nearly eight in 10 news sites “could not measure whether their engagement strategies were also converting readers into advertisers, donors, content contributors or volunteers.”

Case Study: Bay Area News Group Uses Wave2 for Self-Serve Ads

Share this:

At the Bay Area News Group, a publisher of small and mid-sized papers around San Francisco, community information manager Elizabeth Naughton says using Wave2 Media’s self-serve platform has given her sales team more “breathing room,” which allows them to spend more time meeting advertisers and making social calls to customers. As a result, Naughton says advertisers have begun running larger ads and BANG has been able to generate more revenue…

Street Fight Daily: Foursquare Redesigns, $15M for Indiegogo

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology...

Foursquare Gets A New Look: Redesign Makes Checking In Stickier And More Social (TechCrunch)…

Kickstarter Competitor Indiegogo Raises $15M (BetaBeat)…

In Scare for Newspapers, Digital Ad Growth Stalls (Reuters)…

#SFSW12: Foursquare’s Luedorf Says Users Still in Focus, Over Revenue

Share this:

Although the company isn’t planning on charging merchants to use its basic dashboard tools—which provide insight into consumer demographics and trends— Luedorf said Foursquare “isn’t closing the door” on the possibility of charging businesses for its yield management system, more commonly known as specials. The self-serve tool gives businesses a way to drive traffic on slow days by introducing specials targeted at customers who check-in within a certain distance of their establishments.

Street Fight Daily: Facebook Mobile Ads, Leaky LinkedIn

Share this:

Facebook Would Like to Sell You a Mobile Ad (All Things D)

LinkedIn’s Leaky Mobile App Has Access to Your Meeting Notes (NYT/Bits Blog)

Foursquare’s Luedorf Says Users Still in Focus, Over Revenue (Street Fight)

Jack Dorsey Backs Away from Twitter (SAI)

Groupon’s Evolution Is Hurting Facebook (But Helping Google) (Forbes)

Launch of Airtime Hobbled by Glitches (WSJ)

Geoloqi CEO: ‘Your Phone Is a Remote Control for Reality’

Share this:

t Street Fight Summit West on Tuesday afternoon Geoloqi co-founder Amber Case described a world in which smartphone users could get their prescriptions filled automatically upon entering their local pharmacies, or be checked-in automatically upon arriving at hotels: “This is about predicting your future experience based on location, using your own data,” Case said…

Topix CEO: To Make Hyperlocal Publishing Profitable ‘Be a Monopoly’

Share this:

Hyperlocal publishing can actually be a profitable endeavor. That was the main takeaway from a fireside chat with Business Insider contributing editor Owen Thomas and Topix CEO Chris Tolles at Street Fight Summit West on Tuesday. “We are profitable. It took a long, long time,” Tolles said. “Keeping costs down was a big part in that.”

Street Fight Study: 33% Search Daily for Local Businesses via Mobile

Share this:

Local search and discovery is quickly becoming one of the most routine and ubiquitous activities for the local consumer, according to a new “Consumer Insights Report” released by Street Fight and YP at Street Fight Summit West today. Nearly 90% of consumers surveyed reported searching for a local business on a PC, tablet, or mobile device within the last week — and over 30% said they do so on a daily basis…

SMB Marketing Platform bzzHive Announces Launch at #SFSW12

Share this:

CEO Dave Walker announced the launch of his company’s beta site at the Street Fight Summit West in San Francisco on Monday. bzzHive, a web start-up that aims to streamline the marketing process for small businesses and their suppliers, helps marketing services suppliers reach and sell to small businesses.

#SFSW12: Next-Gen Loyalty — Mobile Payments vs. Credit Cards

Share this:

Traditional paper punchcards are on their way toward extinction, but leaders from top loyalty companies weren’t in complete agreement over which platforms are best positioned to capitalize on the changing tide during a morning panel discussion at Street Fight Summit West on Tuesday…

JiWire Service Gives Users WiFi Access After Watching Mobile Ads

Share this:

The location-based mobile advertising network announced the launch of a new program called “Mobile Ads for Access” at Street Fight Summit West this morning. The service allows advertisers to provide users with WiFi access after seeing a piece of content…

#SFSW12: Google’s Mangtani Says Quality Drives Redemptions

Share this:

One way that product chief Nitin Mangtani and his team at Google have begun to streamline the merchant acquisition process is by introducing Google Offers Marketplace, which allows companies in the deal space to partner with Google for offer distribution. “We can work together to compliment each other’s skills,” explained Mangtani…

7 Strategies for Creating Effective Mobile Websites

Share this:

Savvy marketers are ramping up their mobile offerings in an effort to generate attention from the 51% of consumers who say they’re more likely to purchase from retailers with mobile-specific sites. There are some basic principles that marketers large and small can follow to ensure their mobile sites generate the greatest ROI possible. Here are seven tips from experts in the mobile marketing industry about what small business owners should keep in mind.

Street Fight Daily: Apple vs. Google, Intuit vs. Square

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology...

Apple and Google Expand Their Battle to Mobile Maps (WSJ)…

Intuit Merges Its Square Competitor GoPayment With QuickBooks Point Of Sale
(TechCrunch)…
Why London’s Police Just Set a Horrifying Precedent on Mobile Privacy (ReadWriteWeb)…

Patch Launches ‘Partners’ Program With Biz Support for Advertisers

Share this:

Small businesses that advertise on Patch can now access exclusive interviews with high-level executives and other relevant content. The beta newsletter featured an interview with AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, and the one debuting today includes thoughts from Vineyard Vines co-founder and CEO Ian Murray detailing how he grew his apparel company. Patch will also launch a Patch Partners website, available to all small businesses, in the near future…

U.S. Gov’t Seizure of Cloud Servers Puts Hyperlocal’s Content at Risk

Share this:

Ohio hyperlocal sports publisher Kyle Goodwin’s videos vaporized in the cloud. The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) seized the servers storing Goodwin’s videos as part of the DOJ’s criminal indictments against MegaUpload.com. Now Goodwin is suing to get his videos back, claiming his hyperlocal sports business depends on the content…

Street Fight Daily: Google and Groupon, AOL and Starboard

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology...

Why Groupon Really Turned Down Google’s $6 Billion Offer (SAI)…

I.S.S. Backs Patch-Critical Shareholders for AOL Board (New York Times/Dealbook)…

Why Square’s Handcrafted Approach to Payments Can Win (GigaOm)…

Can Tech Innovations Bring Revenue for Hyperlocal Publishers?

Share this:

What innovations can help startup news sites earn money? How should hyperlocal publishers decide what technology to use? These are constant questions at the Journalism Accelerator, a website focused on crowdsourcing knowledge to help journalism find new, sustainable financial models. In a recent conversation Street Fight’s David Hirschman and CJR’s Michael Meyer talked with JA about some of these issues…

Smallknot Founder: Crowdfunding Should Be a Local Phenomenon

Share this:

The company, which is currently 3 months into the spring session of Techstars New York incubator program, enables locally-owned small businesses to raise capital from members of their community, and provide returns in kind instead of currency. Street Fight caught up with Smallknot founder Jay Lee recently to discuss the company, the JOBS Act and his move from Wall Street to Main Street…

Case Study: Sotheby’s Uses Mobile iPad App to Attract High-End Buyers

Share this:

Consumers purchasing multi-million dollar properties want to see more than just static photos and written descriptions when researching homes online. According to John Passerini, vice president of interactive marketing at Sotheby’s International Realty, high-end buyers want to understand the “context” of the properties they’re viewing. To satisfy this need, Sotheby’s used LBS-technology to create a “lifestyle overlay” for its mobile iPad app…