One Last Round of 2012 Predictions: Deals, Photo-Sharing, and Google Killers
In the coming year, the big names in mobile local usage (i.e. Yelp, Foursquare) will start to monetize their apps for the first time; U.S. mobile ad revenues will grow 50 percent over 2011, reaching $1.6 billion in 2012; and better targeting and personalization will replace deep discounts as the user “hook” for deals companies…
How Groupon Will Expand in 2012
As Groupon matures, its path will doubtless expand beyond its core product. Perhaps that’s why I have such a hard time keeping a straight face when people say that Groupon’s model for daily deals is fundamentally broken. It’s not. If anything, their second act has the potential to be even bigger than their first…
Hyperlocal in 2012: More Consolidation and Scale, Less ‘Free’
What it comes down to is that hyperlocal companies like Foursquare and Groupon, despite their “hyperlocal” raison d’etre, need scale to bring an effective proposition to merchants and big brands. Scale helps, even if that just means a larger audience within a metro area or even a single neighborhood…
Doubling Down on SinglePlatform
Your average small business owner has a limited marketing budget and precious little time to spend on their online presence — those that do have the resources want to see short term, tangible returns on their investment. SinglePlatform, a one-stop shop for restaurants to build a digital presence, may have an inside track on finessing this elusive small business relationship…
What Works in One Local Market Won’t Necessarily Work in Another
I’ve learned, sometimes through epic failures, what works in Tracy (a suburb of Sacramento, Calif.) won’t work in Tampa. However, I’ve also learned, through epic victories, that when you harness the power of 200+ communities for a common goal great things can happen. Here are a few bits of wisdom I’ve picked up along the way.
Hyperpublic: Structuring Place Data, Redefining Hyperlocal’s Scope
What might we see spring forth from the ether when local data is properly structured? It’s easy to imagine various applications of search — i.e. “Show me all wine bars that serve croquettes.” Similarly, one can imagine that this type of data would be immensely valuable to advertisers who want to target, for example, everybody who drinks beer and is in walking distance of an establishment…
Why Hyperlocal Marketing Will Best Gamification
Hyperlocal marketing strategy and gamification both strive to accomplish the same purposes: attract new customers and drive increased customer-visit frequency. And yet one of these won’t be fueling marketing efforts just a couple years from now. In my mind, it’s hyperlocal that wins, while gamification, as defined and promoted today, disappears.
How to Market to Local Moms
As publishers of websites for suburban moms and advocates for the main street merchants trying to woo them, we spend a lot of time thinking about what matters to the maternally minded. Since women are responsible for 85% of household purchases, reaching the “Chief Household Operator” is a key objective for most local merchants. While these tips are squarely directed at local business owners, many apply to hyperlocal news and blogs as well…
Public Radio Gears Up for Hyperlocal News Innovation
Federal, private and individual donors are all supporting myriad local and hyperlocal reporting experiments based at radio stations. The results of these initiatives have been mixed. Better and more replicable models are needed for cross-platform storytelling, participatory reporting that brings in a broader range of perspectives, and narrative forms that more closely reflect the shifting media consumption and sharing habits of younger users…
Indy Sites, Trusted Vanguards of Local Referral
There is a system in which people discover businesses that they love. It existed way before there was an Internet, and it’s also the foundation of local advertising. Patrons don’t want to go to sources they don’t trust, though — they want an honest and sincere referral because if an authority loves a place, they are more likely to love it too…
Understanding the Location-Based Engagement Stack
The “SoLoMo Manifesto” looks at how brands can use these new technologies and services to learn more about their customers at the local, regional, and global level than was ever possible before…