Will Mobile Search Dethrone Google?

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Why would Google’s market leadership be vulnerable to mobile search incursion? Innovation in search can occur at the user experience level, the core indexing and ranking algorithms, and the business model and ecosystem that supports search. Each of these faces potential mobile disruption.

Where Do My Friends Fit Into My Local Search?

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The social graph alone won’t be a silver bullet for local. It’s just not big enough. And its value to local is overstated. My friends are great for party pics and snappy news feed dialogue — they don’t yet excel at plumber reviews.

Why Mobile Could Make or Break Your Back-to-School Campaign

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The school year is right around the corner, which means that back-to-school shopping is already in full swing. Aside from the holidays, back-to-school is the second-largest selling season, so if retailers are not participating, they’re missing out. To be successful this school year, you need to know what trends are affecting how consumers are finding […]

Facebook’s Ad Platform for SMBs Has Come a Long Way, But Still Has Room to Grow

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More and more local businesses are turning to Facebook to launch hyperlocal ad campaigns. And for good reason — the company has greatly enhanced its SMB ad offerings in the past year. As a relatively young ad medium, though, Facebook hasn’t really mastered the game yet.

INFOGRAPHIC: The Complex SMB Marketing Ecosystem

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As the head of digital strategy for a broadcaster operating local TV stations, I’ve been challenged to clearly understand the digital marketing space from an SMB perspective. So I’ve developed a chart, both to enhance my understanding and to assist SMBs in identifying potential suppliers.

Why Social Recommendations Are Vital for Local Online Marketplaces

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There can be little disagreement that building a word-of-mouth platform is difficult. But if social recommendations are the gold standard, why should we expect users to pick solutions that provide the convenience of scheduling and booking but lack the trust of word-of-mouth?

Geofencing at Events: How to Reach Potential Customers Live and On-Site

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Businesses have been taking a closer look at the potential for geofencing and proximity marketing for trade shows, events, and festivals. The technology offers some rich opportunities for interactive messages, and can ensure that promotions are especially relevant.

A New Political Campaign Methodology Connects Supporters With Localized Social Media

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It’s self-evident that campaigns should be promoted at local levels, where word-of-mouth buzz can truly happen within neighborhoods. As the 2016 national election approaches, campaigns have the opportunity to harness local social more directly than ever before.

Why Online Marketplaces Will Continue to Beat Word-of-Mouth Platforms in the Battle for Local Business

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People seek the opinions of their friends. They care what they think, and they trust them to make recommendations on everything from a good meal to a good mechanic. It’s word of mouth marketing — the most prized of its kind since the Stone Age. And its staying power undeniably supports the rationale for a […]

What Local Marketers Can Learn From the Trials of Google Plus

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With Google’s recent announcement that Google Plus will be decoupled from YouTube and other services, industry watchers are predicting that this may be the beginning of the end for the social network. Here are a few lessons a local marketer might learn from the social network’s challenges.

How SMBs Can Respond to the ‘Uber Effect’

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If the past 15 years have taught us anything, it’s the resilience of brick-and-mortar businesses. Effective enterprises sense and respond to change by incorporating new technology and business models while relying on their distinct advantages, such as face-to-face service and distinctive ambience.

INFOGRAPHIC: A Quick, Deep Dive Into Local Optometrists

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Local optometrists in the U.S. number some 33,000 businesses and generate an estimated $15B in annual sales at an average of $450k per year. The industry is growing at 5% annually, but it’s under considerable pressure from the likes of Amazon and Warby Parker.

What Do the Death of Flash and the Rise of HTML5 Mean for SMB Advertisers?

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HTML5 allows marketers to do more with online display ads than they were able to do before. They can add functionality and interactivity, filling their ads with content and creating something akin to a mini-website delivered across the web.

The Future of Retail: ‘In-Store Mode’ and In-Aisle Payments

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Wouldn’t it stand to reason that higher receptivity to promotional messaging comes when consumers are truly in buying mode. And wouldn’t the probability of that mode be greatest when someone is in-store, as opposed to browsing Instagram on their couch?

Why the Contractor-Employee Conundrum Isn’t a Fatal Liability for the On-Demand Economy

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The recent California Labor Commission ruling, classifying one Uber driver as an employee has led to a lot of chatter about cracks in the business model underlying the “on-demand economy.”

So How Do We Define a ‘Small Business’ Anyway?

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Small businesses pack a big punch when it comes to the economy. A working definition that most people and corporations can agree on would aid market interpretations, statistical analyses, and, of course, make it simpler for advertisers to reach the right audience.

Study Finds Consumer Search Preferences Depend Heavily on Type of Business

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A few categories like restaurants, physicians, and beauty salons consistently capture the greatest volume of searches, stretching out into a long tail of lower-volume searches for occasional needs like roofing, chiropractors, and house cleaning.

On-Demand Services: Lessons Learned From the Rise and Fall of Homejoy

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The news that on-demand home cleaning service Homejoy is shutting down at the end of the month wasn’t a big surprise. Here are a few key lessons that stick out in thinking about the company’s trajectory.

Local Publishers: Take Back Control of Your Brand

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The announcement of the Digital News Initiative partnership with Google is yet another step backwards for publishers. If they would just consider how they operated their own platforms before the 1990’s they will realize that Google, Facebook and other current tech platforms owe them nothing.

Local Tech Businesses Diversify to Serve a Wider Range of SMB Needs — But Do They Really Know Their Customers?

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In the rush to diversify their offerings, single-product local tech companies either move horizontally (reaching out to all the markets that could remotely utilize their product) or, more often, vertically (seeking to cater to all the nuanced needs of a niche market).