Street Fight Daily: Marketing Tech Brings in Big Bucks, Consumers Still Unsure About Mobile Wallets
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
Why Venture Capitalists Are Betting on Marketing Tech Over Ad Tech (Wall Street Journal)
If you’re trying to secure millions of dollars in venture capital, these days it may be better to pitch your business as “marketing tech” rather than “ad tech.” It has become increasingly difficult for advertising technology companies to raise money in recent years, but funding for companies in the closely-related marketing technology sector appears to be as healthy as ever. Mobile Marketing Watch: Consolidation rampant in 2016 marketing tech industry.
On-Demand Services and Apps Becoming Inevitable Tools for Reaching Consumers (Street Fight)
Plenty of companies claim to be the “Uber of” their respective markets, but there is more to making it in this scene than just getting goods to customers fast. And not every company gets it right immediately; there is a steep learning curve for handling the logistics behind on-demand services.
U.S. Internet Users Still Mixed on Using Mobile Wallets (eMarketer)
Roughly half of US internet users don’t plan to use a mobile wallet within the next six months. But, according to an August 2016 report, which looked closer at the sentiments of particular age groups, millennials appeared most likely to deploy an application like Apple Pay, Android Pay or Samsung Pay.
Can Augmented VR Turn Window Shoppers Into Buyers? (Street Fight)
Rick Robinson: The technology is here — if not packaged yet — and ultimately the costs to manufacture will likely fall enough to allow SMBs to participate. But until that day arrives I guess we’ll have to hold up our smartphones or don bulky headsets to experience the future.
Facebook Retools Trending Topics to Reduce Human Involvement in News Selection (AdAge)
Facebook is reducing human involvement in how it displays its Trending Topics after a controversy earlier this year over whether editors working for the social network operator silenced conservative news.
Retailers Are Prioritizing the Wrong Technologies in Their Brick-and-Mortar Stores (Forrester Blogs)
Lily Varon: Focusing on customers and their needs is the key to successful in-store technologies. In the Age of the Customer, retailers must streamline processes and provide their store associates with the right tools they need to win, serve, retain, and delight today’s empowered customers.
Brands Debate Pros and Cons of Reaching Consumers via WhatsApp (Digiday)
Brands will be able to deliver WhatsApp users receipts, shipping updates and urgent messages — for example, information about a delay to their upcoming flight. But while unlocking the “black box” of WhatsApp’s encrypted data is tempting, some caution that brands who make the first step with the platform risk a negative reaction from consumers.
How Connected Cars Are Turning Into Revenue-Generating Machines (TechCrunch)
At some point within the next two to three years, consumers will come to expect car connectivity to be standard, similar to the adoption curve for GPS navigation. As this new era begins, the telecom metric of ARPU will morph into ARPC (average revenue per car).
Warned of a Crash, Silicon Valley Startups Narrow Their Focus (New York Times)
Last year, many tech executives, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs were convinced that a multiyear boom that had propelled young companies to great heights could no longer sustain itself. For all of the hand-wringing, “there just hasn’t been much of a downturn,” said Paul Buchheit, a managing partner at Y Combinator.
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