News and Analysis
Report: Higher Income Adults Drive Podcasting Growth
What makes podcast listeners so loyal to the brands that advertise on their favorite shows, and how does that sense of loyalty translate to real world sales? Those were just a few of the questions asked by the customer experience platform DISQO in its new report, released last week. As the podcast landscape evolves, brands and […]
Vericast Launches Contextual Advertising Solution
The marketing technology firm Vericast is changing its approach to contextual advertising by launching a privacy-centric solution meant to help brands reach relevant consumers in the moments when they’re most likely to be receptive. The proprietary solution bolsters Vericast’s in-house targeting capabilities. It matches ads to the content from consumers’ view or search, and it’s […]
Fire Sale: How Multi-Location Businesses Should Handle Downturns and Fails
This year alone, more than 2,000 retail locations have closed. The major casualties include Party City, Jenny Craig, and Bed Bath & Beyond. Some multi-location restaurants are also slimming down, shuttering locations in markets that aren’t performing well. That doesn’t necessarily mean the beginning of the end for the brands. They may simply reduce expenses to […]
Commentary
How Will Retail Redefine Itself in the ’20s?
This post is the latest in our “Disrupting Retail” series. It’s our editorial focus for the month of February, and you can see the rest of the series here. One positive phenomenon of the Covid era has been accelerated digital transformation in traditional sectors. This could be a blessing in disguise, as sectors like retail could […]
Latest Posts
How the E-Commerce Wave Is Helping SMBs Increase Revenue
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Marketers, Don’t Stress About Zero-Click Search Just Yet
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?
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.
Heard on the Street, Episode 55: Location Intelligence’s New Normal
Location intelligence is expanding beyond its well-known uses for advertising (ad targeting, attribution, etc.), supporting enterprises in a number of other ways. That includes supply chain management as well as decisions about where to open another store location.
All of the above applications of location intelligence are fueling UberMedia, our latest guest on Street Fight’s Heard on the Street podcast. UberMedia CEO Gladys Kong says that this expansion of location data’s utility was already underway but has accelerated in the Covid era.
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