News and Analysis
Keep an Eye on C-Stores (Both on and Off the Road!)
As we’ve previously covered, the traditional C-stores (convenience store) used to be that corner deli where you could pick up snacks, soft drinks, or smokes or the stop along the highway where you gassed up, took a hygiene break and grabbed something sugary to tide you over on the road. Consumers are starting to head […]
BrightLocal Report : How Consumers Find Local Businesses
When business owners and marketers need to ensure their business information is correct and consistent for thousands of locations, they might do well to first consult the BrightLocal Local Business Discovery and Trust Report 2023 for guidance. To Sammy Paget, Content Marketing Manager at BrightLocal, trust is at the heart of a high level of […]
Measuring the Return on SEO: ROSS and the Future of Organic Search
There’s an irony at the heart of organic search. For users, searching is one of the most natural, rapid, and reliable digital experiences one can have. You ask questions and expect the best answers in return—instantly. For users, a search could not be simpler. For brands, however, it’s been a little more complicated. Historically, it’s […]
Commentary
5 Reasons Direct-to-Consumer Marketers Should Invest in CTV and OTT
There’s never been a better time to make the move to CTV/OTT. Regardless of the path you choose, as audiences increasingly turn their attention to streaming media, DTC brands can’t afford to get left behind. Allocating some budget for CTV/OTT in the coming year is a smart investment that will put your brand ahead of the competition and in front of active, engaged audiences.
Latest Posts
LBMA: Heineken Tackles Supply Chain Crisis
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers Hyatt rolling out room keys via Apple Wallet, the New York Mets launching facial ticketing at Citi Field, Foodtown Supermarkets completing a successful pilot with Allegiance Retail Services, and Heineken getting into the Christmas spirit to solve supply chain woes.
The Influence of Local Guides on Google Reviews: Part 2
Figuring out what type of Local Guides are leaving reviews, and what kind of reviews they are leaving, matters for a few reasons. First, Local Guides are responsible for writing more reviews of local businesses than any other group on the internet. Second, Local Guides write reviews under circumstances that make them different from ordinary consumers: They are self-selected volunteers who get rewarded, albeit in a non-monetary fashion, for their contributions. Fairly or not, they are often thought of as biased and their contributions as less valuable, merely “written for points.” Third, the true characteristics of Local Guides are not well known, because they have not yet been subject to this type of study.
What I Learned from 50 Examples of the New Local SERP
After conducting more than 50 “local intent” searches, I’ve found that not all of them return the new “mega map,” nor is the new layout as consistent as it at first appeared it would be. The range of searches I tried includes generic keyword searches for brick-and-mortar stores, such as the example above, as well as searches for local service providers, chain stores, products, and more. I tried covering a broad base of searches covering a range of categories. I made sure all of my searches would be interpreted as local by appending “san francisco” to each query.
Catch-(20)22: Where Do Mobile Apps Go from Here?
The privacy solution is sitting right in front of marketers’ faces. Shifting data analysis onto the mobile device of each user is the path out of this impossible situation. Not only does it solve the privacy issue, it also makes it possible to enrich previously available data with much richer datasets, some of which are available immediately upon download.
The Road Ahead: What Autonomous Cars Teach Us About Marketing Automation