News and Analysis
These 5 Retailers Are Investing In Virtual Try-On Tech
Virtual try-on is becoming a key differentiator for e-commerce brands, and an opportunity for traditional retailers to bring the in-store try-on experience into the comfort of their customers’ homes. When Parfums Christian Dior launched its virtual try-on solution at Viva Tech 2023 earlier this month, the company joined a growing list of luxury brands leveraging […]
In-House vs. Outsourced Marketing: Pros & Cons for Multi-Location Businesses
When it comes to marketing for multi-location businesses, a constant debate is whether or not to outsource your marketing or run it in-house. Since both come with a cost, deciding which marketing route is best can’t be determined by a simple coin toss or guessing game. You want to know for sure that you’re maximizing […]
Whose Job Is It to Explain Why Consumers Should Consent to Share Data?
Everybody is talking about user consent and privacy. Days after Swedish regulators fined Spotify more than $5 million for violating the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and failing to inform consumers how their data was being used, and months after Meta saw an even greater fine of $414 million for forcing its users […]
Commentary
LBMA: Amazon Opens a Hair Salon
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers Amazon opening a hair salon in London with magic mirrors and AR, Japan’s Mitsubishi and Unerry partnering on a smart city project in Jakarta, CVS rolling out digital audio messaging with In-Store Audio Network, and Gentle Monster creating experiential retail with robots and donkeys.
Private Ad Marketplaces Pave the Way for Post-Cookie Advertising
Private marketplace ad programs (PMPs) are becoming more and more popular with advertisers. In 2020, eMarketer announced that programmatic ad spending on private marketplaces will exceed open exchanges for the foreseeable future. Let that sink in for a minute — the exchanges that have long underpinned the way we way buy digital media are no longer the most popular tactic for media buyers.
The Era of Zero-Click Consumer Engagement Is Here
Location marketing has now had its testing moment, a moment that Google and its contemporary alternatives have been priming themselves for, whether knowingly or not, for quite some time. The era of zero-click consumer engagement has arrived; if that had been apparent to local SEOs prior to this year, it’s now clear to consumers and everyone else concerned with the business of local commerce.
Latest Posts
SMBs Face Long Road to Recovery in 2021
Sixty-eight percent of SMBs say they are still experiencing a negative impact from the pandemic, and the percentage of business owners experiencing “significant” impact jumped 7% to 50% from June to November.
Businesses that thought the crisis was heading in the right direction back in October are feeling differently today as they see holiday sales figures begin to roll out, and they’re scrambling to find tools, strategies, and other lifelines to help them get by.
NextNav Releases a Plug-in for Vertical Positioning
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers NextNav releasing a developer plug-in for vertical positioning, PointMe developing a solution for “point and click” in the physical world, Pointr & Comfy partnering to make workspaces safer to return to after COVID, and SKODA adding location-based services to their vehicles.
Retail Scams During the Holiday Season
Online retail was hot in 2019 and likely to be even more so in 2020. That’s good news for retailers, of course. Unfortunately, it comes along with some potentially bad news: These high traffic numbers motivate retail scammers to take advantage of the situation, and retailers may potentially be caught unawares.
Do Targeted Digital Ads and Privacy Mix?
Concerns about privacy are pervasive in predictions about digital advertising in 2021. The demise of third-party cookies, the passage of a more stringent California state privacy law, and the specter of future legislation in other states or at the national level are driving the topic’s popularity.
I checked in with Philip Smolin, Chief Strategy Officer at ad platform Amobee, to get his take on if and how advertisers can adapt to rising privacy standards while maintaining sustainable business models.
Developing an FAQ with Google Q&A
The major downfall and benefit of Google Q&A is that anyone can ask a question, and anyone can answer. For businesses, brand representation comes into question, and they’re challenged with not only answering questions themselves, but also monitoring the responses left by others on the web.
Despite the challenges, when managed at scale, Q&A is an excellent forum to bring customers and businesses together and improve engagement with your brand.
Why More Brands Are Asking for Local Search Data
Google search ad traffic has dropped across all devices, with mobile taking the biggest hit. Mobile traffic has been down an average of 24% since the pandemic began in February. Brands have been adjusting their digital strategies to account for the shift, including changing up their search ads with enhanced location targeting and more relevant keywords.
But achieving that high level of optimization requires a type of local search data that isn’t easily accessible through Google alone. That’s created a hole in the marketplace that the intelligence platform Adthena is looking to fill.
Discounts Drove Black Friday Foot Traffic
To see how clothing retailers fared, we took a look at foot traffic to the top 10 in the U.S. We did a straight comparison on foot traffic between Black Friday weekend last year and this year (11/28/19 – 12/2/19 and 11/26/20 – 11/30/20).
Across all 10 retailers, store visits dropped an average of 42%. Who fared best? Who took the biggest hit? We queried our proprietary geofencing marketing database. Here’s what we found.
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