News and Analysis
Direct Mail is Having a Moment. Incorporate it Into Your Mix
Snail mail never really died. It just went back into its shell during the digital advertising boom. During the pandemic, letter-writing and sending cards became popular. Beyond that, however, multi-location brands are seeing that the good old-fashioned postcard or direct mail may have value. In fact, 58% of marketers have more marketing budget allocated to […]
Groceries Have Opportunities to Build Customer Loyalty
Global consumers, feeling cautious in an uncertain economic climate, are going on fewer holidays and eating out less frequently, according to data analysis from Eagle Eye. This SaaS company powers real-time customer loyalty programs and promotions for grocers and retailers in the U.S. and abroad. In a report, “Grocery’s Great Loyalty Opportunity,” the findings suggest […]
Commentary
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.
Latest Posts
What Comes Next For Businesses After Covid-19 Shutdowns?
As states around the country begin to reopen their economies, local businesses are looking anywhere they can for guidance. County health departments are issuing advisories about proper social distancing and sanitation practices, but what about the technology upgrades businesses might need when they reopen after their pandemic shutdowns? How might business contend with changes in optimal inventory levels if shoppers continue to buy in bulk?
Location Weekly: Verve, AppLift, and PubNative Join Forces as Verve Group
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association hosts Tanner Gatlin, the senior live content creator of NFL Media.
The team also covers Spotify and Chiquita Bananas teaming for prizes and playlists, PubNative and Applift joining with Verve to form Verve Group, and Coors Light’s #CouldUseABeer campaign.
The Value of Audience Intelligence Extends Beyond Media—and That’s a Good Thing for Agencies
The trend toward brand in-housing of media operations has been a growing challenge for agencies for more than a decade now. As of this time last year, 91% of brands reported having moved at least a part of their digital marketing operations in-house. Many agencies have had to address the question: How do we stay relevant in an age of direct-to-consumer strategies and increasing automation of media execution?
As we enter the next era of audience intelligence, today’s agencies have a new opportunity to refine their value proposition to clients and reclaim their roles as strategic advisors, all by leveraging the same strengths and tools that once defined their roles as invaluable media partners. Let’s look at how agencies can help brands extend the promise of audience intelligence beyond optimizing their media plans.
How Brick-and-Mortars Move Forward
The coronavirus pandemic has transformed brick-and-mortar business, possibly forever. Peter Paine, former eBay and Walmart executive and now head of retail partnerships in the Americas for Cover Genius, checked in with Street Fight to share the strategies physical businesses large and small should prioritize to prepare for the near- and long-term future.
Heard on the Street, Episode 50: Reinventing Out-of-Home Advertising
When most people hear the term “out-of-home” advertising (OOH), they think of old-school billboards and bus kiosks. Those are still staples of the category, but its growth and innovation are being defined by other approaches at the intersection of physical media and digital targeting.
“People instantaneously think billboards, but it literally can be wrapping a ferry going to a music festival for a brand and throwing a party on said ferry,” said Quan Media Group Founder & CEO Brian Rappaport on the latest episode of Street Fight’s Heard on the Street podcast (listen above). “If you do out-of-home the right way as a brand, you’re going to hit that audience you’re looking to hit. That’s the challenge for me: finding the right fit for so many of the unique brands I work with because really none are the same.”
Contactless Commerce Is Suddenly Mission-Critical in Every Retail Category
The phrase “by any means necessary” is fast becoming retail’s new mantra. The same industry that is typically viewed as cautious and conservative is moving really quickly. More quickly than I have seen in my 35 years in the industry. And where is the industry moving most quickly? Toward something we now call “contactless commerce.”
Shoppers around the world are afraid. They’re guarded, and they are wary of any contact with any strangers. They don’t want you to come near them. In response, retailers in every category are absolutely scrambling to remove human contact from the shopping journey.
Augmented Reality for Ecommerce: the Why and the How
According to Gartner, in 2020 100 million customers will shop in augmented reality, both online and in-store. With these numbers in mind, it’s about time to jump on the AR bandwagon and start reaping the benefits of stellar customer engagement, improved conversion rates, and wider reach.
Playing the Long-Game with Today’s Low CPMs
As companies try to strike the right advertising tone given the global pandemic, it is apparent consumers are getting hit with the same messaging over and over — albeit from completely different brands: ‘Now more than ever’… ‘In these uncertain times’…. ‘The safety and comfort of home’… ‘We’re here to help’… ‘We’ll get through this together’…
It seems the same playbook for how to engage customers during this time leaked to every team. So how can brands break away from the ‘hipster conundrum’ (trying to be genuine and unique while everyone else floods the market with the same message and approach)?
Affiliate Marketing Strategies to Help You Through Covid-19
In the affiliate marketing ecosystem, brands partner with bloggers, influencers, publishers, even other brands to promote their products or services. By only paying for sales, leads, or new customers that their partners deliver, affiliate marketing allows brands to efficiently scale while optimizing their return on ad spend and cost per action (CPA).
Brands with creative and agile affiliate programs are the ones who will have loyal customers and partners long after this global crisis is over. With that in mind, here are some ways brands are adjusting their affiliate marketing strategies in the time of Covid-19.
AI Is Breaking Down Data Silos — Without Breaking Privacy