News and Analysis

Adobe Survey: 53% of SMBs Plan to Revamp Websites in 2023

Adobe Survey: 53% of SMBs Plan to Revamp Websites in 2023

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Digital marketing can provide small businesses with access to desirable buyers, and potentially level the playing field with larger competitors — but it comes at a price.  The average small business spends 8% of its total revenue on marketing, which means that for every $100 in revenue the business brings in, $8 goes right back […]

Brick & Mortar vs Flesh & Blood: An Interview with Ryan Serhant

Brick & Mortar vs Flesh & Blood: An Interview with Ryan Serhant

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Even if you’ve never seen “Million Dollar Listing,” you should know who Ryan Serhant is, especially if you’re involved with a multi-location brand. Serhant is the high-energy and visionary media personality successfully breaking almost every real estate marketing and sales rule. Serhant launched his brokerage company (called SERHANT, of course) in 2020. The company now […]

4 Ways Brand Marketers Should Harness ChatGPT — Or Risk Being Left Behind

4 Ways Brand Marketers Should Harness ChatGPT — Or Risk Being Left Behind

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Generative AI has taken the world of marketing, advertising, and technology by storm. In industries where speed and accuracy are essential, brand marketers are finding creative ways to use tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard to interact with consumers in conversational dialogue and personalize messaging at scale.  According to a recent survey by Chief […]

Commentary

The New Content King: Short-form Audio

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With so many hours in the day, people are getting screened out. That’s why audio is coming back with a vengeance.

The Case for Internet Tracking

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What does Apple’s IDFA change really mean for consumers? It will undermine personalization, make it harder for SMBs to compete, and upend free services.

Snap Acquires StreetCred, IsWhere Partners with Huawei

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In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers Snap acquiring StreetCred, Refinery Lab bringing Mobilosoft to the U.S., Hypertrack announcing a location-based software suite for the gig market, and IsWhere partnering with HUAWEI cloud.

Latest Posts

Consumers’ Number-One Holiday Shopping Incentive

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Don’t think about the price tag. Think about how you’re going to deliver the merchandise.

That is what is on consumers’ minds as they think about upcoming holiday shopping, according to a survey of 17,000 US consumers by shopping rewards app company Shopkick. Last year, consumers’ number-one incentive was low prices. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, 54% said their number-one priority is free shipping.

How the E-Commerce Wave Is Helping SMBs Increase Revenue

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For many of the small businesses that have stayed afloat so far, e-commerce has become the new focus. A quarter of brick-and-mortar retail businesses surveyed in June said they’ve already added an e-commerce channel to their operations this year. Retail SMBs either want a piece of the growing pie that is e-commerce sales in 2020, or they’ve realized they won’t survive without an online sales component.

Whatever the motivation, the uptick in e-commerce sales has set the stage for SMBs to start boosting their revenue. And to complement the current market conditions, the rise of no-code tools is making online retail success more accessible than ever to SMBs. These solutions are proving to be the surfboard that helps small businesses successfully ride that e-commerce wave.

Why You Should Be Using Video Marketing To Connect with Local Audiences

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One report from Cisco found that by 2022, internet videos will make up over 82% of all consumer online traffic. Even though the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down video production and demand somewhat, it still remains a perfectly viable marketing channel. 

People are simply more likely to watch a video than read a blog. By looking at key pillars of online video production as well as what’s worked for other companies, you, too, can develop a stellar strategy. 

Consumer Sentiment Is Shifting Quickly. Here’s How Businesses Are Keeping Up

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The same mobile chat-based technologies that brands like Jagermeister and Snapchat have used to access focus groups on demand are now being used to help small to mid-size businesses access the same research capabilities. Using mobile chat-based applications, SMBs can generate authentic consumer insights in real-time, which makes it easier to foster community engagement during a time when businesses are struggling to reach their customers.

7 Order-Ahead Platforms for QSRs

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According to a report by Dragontail Systems, 53% of people say they prefer carry-out and delivery during the pandemic. To keep pace with that demand, restaurants are investing more heavily in technology platforms that enhance end-to-end kitchen operations.

Here are seven platforms that restaurants can use to manage online orders and streamline their takeout operations during Covid-19.

Leveraging Cannabis Consumer Data is the Key to Mainstream Acceptance

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Thanks to the industry’s meteoric growth and coronavirus-era essential status in many states, cannabis consumers have emerged as one of the most coveted marketing segments, driving even more engagement in data collection and presentation. A rising tide lifts all boats – and data is a powerful tide that can help raise the industry to mainstream acceptance.

Data may be the ticket to legalization, too, if leveraged in a way that considers how this lucrative information can be used by mainstream companies. As cannabis data begins to resemble data from other industries, it is our responsibility as industry leaders to collectively leverage this data and allow legal cannabis to flourish and emerge as a truly established industry.

Location Weekly: Burberry and Tencent Partner for World’s First Social Media-Infused Store

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In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers Burberry teaming with Tencent for the world’s first social store, Voxel51 helping to keep stores healthy, Popeyes helping people to “autocorrect” their dinner plans, Foodpanda using traffic and weather data in a DOOH programmatic campaign, and Tapad and Reveal Mobile partnering to launch new audience and attribution capabilities for ad buyers.

Tracing, Tracking, and Trust: Why Tech Is on the Sidelines in Contact Tracing

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Mainly, multiple instances of data breaches committed by governments, corporations, platforms, and even data warehouses have eroded the trust citizens have when forking over sensitive and personal information. The resistance only increases as a result of Americans’ strong resistance to being told what to do, which manifested in widespread protests against mandatory quarantine restrictions in several states.    

How can this resistance be overcome? Companies and government organizations asking for personal information must build trust from the very beginning. High rates of consent require clear information to users about exactly what data citizens will share and how this data will be used and protected.

Google’s Latest Privacy Play Has Big Implications for the Open Web

Marketers, Don’t Stress About Zero-Click Search Just Yet

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Did you know that over 50% of Google searches performed do not result in a click? Did you know that Google is continuing to expand the number of queries to which they are applying zero-click SERP features?

Did you know that it’s not something that you should be too worried about yet? 

“Wait… But it’s taking away search opportunities from my website!” 

That depends on how you are defining search opportunities, so let’s jump to it. 

Who Benefits from the Surging Interest in Contactless Payments?

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More than half (51%) of Americans are now using some form of contactless payment. Consumers are most likely to use contactless cards for buying essentials at grocery stores and pharmacies, where 50% of consumers say they worry about the cleanliness of signature touchpads.

Consumers in the U.S. have historically been slower to adopt contactless payments, and that’s something that is tied to a lack of merchant adoption, says Rob Fagnani, vice president of strategy at Formation.ai.