News and Analysis
BOOM: “Bruschetta and Bocce Near Me?” Eatertainment is Surging
Can you possibly eat cornbread without a rousing game of cornhole? Or what’s a game of mini-golf without a Moscow Mule? Combine a dining experience with one or many games — physical or digital — and that defines “eatertainment,” a category that’s been growing steadily over the past decade (but paused during the pandemic). But […]
Flashtalking Social Ads Manager Includes Social Media Activation
Omnichannel advertising platform Mediaocean has deepened its relationship with Google, striking a unique deal as it relates to the former’s Flashtalking Social Ads Manager (in the past known as Scope by 4C). For the first time, brand marketers who access the Flashtalking Social Ads Manager, an independent tech platform, will be able to activate against […]
BOOM: Multi-Location (MULO) “Needles” Businesses: Part 2
We’ve already established that people will overcome a childhood fear of needles (or at least cope with it) if they see an upside benefit — like vitamin therapy. The other reason people will allow themselves to be poked with a sharp metal object (in addition to vaccinations and blood tests) is beautification. Multi-location (MULO) aesthetics businesses […]
Commentary
The Deprecation of Cookies Leads to a New Probabilistic Playbook
The upshot is that deterministic approaches via walled gardens will still have importance, but they will simply become a strategy play as opposed to a catch-all approach for digital marketing. It’s apparent that any brands buying or relying on deterministic audiences need to augment their solutions to ensure they meet their ongoing campaign goals.
Latest Posts
Why Marketers Must Invest in Localized Media Strategies
We’re seeing uneven recoveries in both localized Covid-19 outbreaks and economies across the nation. This unpredictability, coupled with new essential needs, supply chain disruptions, and business realities (stores closing, competition rising), have rendered previously effective marketing tactics virtually irrelevant. A ground-up, local approach can help brands and marketers solve for all these new challenges by reducing waste and delivering on those essentials that consumers need during these atypical times.
The World Outside is Frightful—Drive Holiday Sales with Social Media Instead
The challenges of driving holiday sales in 2020 do not signify the end of retail, as many sensationalized headlines would have you believe. This e-commerce-focused season is, however, a siren call to local retailers who have yet to take social media marketing seriously.
In the absence of typical frantic holiday shopping foot traffic, social media is a necessary part of holiday marking to effectively reach consumers who opt to stay inside.
What First-Party Data Can and Can’t Do For Agencies
Make no mistake, first-party data will play a critical role in the future of marketing, as it always has. But agencies as trusted advisors, and the industry overall, need to be realistic about what first-party data can and can’t do for clients, especially in the face of a global pandemic that has upended everything we thought we knew about consumer behavior.
Managing a Remote Team: 3 Tips From a Cool Manager
Striving to be a cool manager in the workplace is one thing, but managing a remote team in a global pandemic presents a whole new set of challenges that none of us had ever experienced before. Your team may face distractions when working from home, technical difficulties with video calls, a poor internet connection, among other unusual challenges.
When confronted with these issues, it can be hard to hold your team accountable and maintain positive relationships in the same ways you did previously. But as a manager, it’s your time to step up to the challenge, reassess your leadership strategy, and keep your cool while navigating the new normal.
Has Covid Killed the Single-Day Sale?
Limited-time offers and one-day sales are a mainstay of the holiday shopping season. But this year is unlike any other, and retailers are taking a different approach.
With Covid-19 restrictions limiting the number of customers who can be inside a store at any given time, retailers are looking at extending the shopping season to accommodate socially distant crowds.
Brands Are Struggling with Customer Loyalty in 2020. Here’s Why
The pandemic has sparked changes in consumer behavior. Some changes are predictable, like people stocking up on toilet paper when lockdown orders first went into effect.
But other changes occurring over the past seven months have been more slight and easier to miss. Now, with the holiday shopping season getting into full swing, brands are discovering that these minor shifts in consumer behavior have the potential to wreak havoc on their seasonal marketing strategies.
Location Weekly: Realworld Launches Adfindr for Local Ads
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers Merrell using voice and location to highlight nearby trails, Burger King’s Scary Places, Foursquare’s Marsbot for AirPods, Realworld launching Adfindr, and a new case study from Oriient on indoor positioning.
3 Reasons Why Marketers Should Care About False App Reviews
Most apps live on Apple’s App Store — home to nearly two million apps and access to 100 million iPhone users. Once a brand joins these ranks, there’s one goal: Drive positive ratings that entice more users to download and try the app. High ratings are critical for app visibility, as a higher rating has a strong correlation to trial, and Apple ranks those with more positive ratings and reviews higher than apps with negative ones.
But this ratings system can be manipulated to create false app ratings and skew scores, and that’s a bigger problem for marketers than they may realize.
Accelerated Digital Transformation Levels Playing Field for Local Businesses
As local businesses and SMBs adjust to their new realities, digital transformation initiatives have surged — namely in the form of pivoting to e-commerce selling and delivery models. Why? It’s no secret that online sales have taken the lead across the business landscape during Covid-19, and that is likely to continue.
How Consumer Behavior Toward Auto Ads Changed During Covid-19
As one of the largest spenders on digital advertising in the U.S., the automotive industry is a bellwether. Prior to the pandemic, the automotive industry had consistent double-digit growth in digital ad spending. That growth was forecast to continue through the end of 2020 — then, in March, everything changed.
Street Fight’s Big 3
Street Fight Columns
Street Fight Categories
How Agencies Can Protect Multi-Location Brands from AI Visibility Gaps