News and Analysis
Habit-Forming Content: Real Strategies from Brands Turning Videos Into Revenue
As businesses invest in expanding their social media presence, they should be clear about their purpose. Producing and sharing social media video content, even when that content goes viral, isn’t enough to justify their efforts. Businesses that benefit from social media marketing leverage their content to attract views, gain followers, and acquire leads by creating […]
New DoubleVerify Report Should Alarm Advertisers
Online advertising now represents nearly $800 billion in spending in 2025, up from a $374 billion market size in 2020. What else is up this year? A new report from DoubleVerify confirms the increases in fraud, AI bots, and ad blocking. Among the highlights for the North America market, based on a survey of 400 advertising […]
5 MULO (Multi-Location) Trends We Can’t Ignore
We’re more than halfway through the year, and the consumer (and its artificial intelligence equivalents) have spoken! The MULO (multi-location) ecosystem is poised for a significant transformation. MULO comprises restaurants, retail, home and personal services businesses, hospitality, convenience stores, groceries, branded housing complexes, and other companies that have multiple brick-and-mortar locations. Here are some of […]
Commentary
Why MULO Brands Should Consider a Neighborhood-Level Marketing Strategy
Enhanced digital marketing tools are making it easier to connect with local audiences at scale. One of the most effective ways to leverage these tools is through a neighborhood-level marketing strategy, a highly focused approach to targeting specific neighborhoods instead of broader, more generalized areas. Particularly for multi-location businesses, embracing local methods can help engage […]
Know Your Client’s Target Audience
Maximizing the impact of your communications — whether in marketing, public relations, or any other approach used to share a brand story — requires paying close attention to context. Without considering context, brands risk coming across as irrelevant or untrustworthy, even when they have a solid solution to a consumer problem. When context is properly […]
The Future Role of Agencies: Redefining Success with AI, Software, and Automation
The agency landscape is undergoing a seismic shift, driven by the growing reliance on AI, automated software, and modular technology stacks. Traditional models—built on labor-intensive execution and service-heavy financial structures—are rapidly evolving as agencies step into roles that blend technology, strategy, and consulting. This evolution represents an opportunity for agencies to lead with innovation, leveraging […]
Latest Posts
2025 Marketing: Trends That Will Redefine Success
As 2025 begins, rapid advancements in AI and evolving consumer expectations are reshaping marketing. Gartner predicts that 30% of outbound email messages from large organizations will soon be synthetically generated. For marketers, the challenge lies in embracing these changes while keeping the customer at the center. Here are some of the trends I believe will […]
Continuously Adapting as Your Target Audience Evolves
PR professionals establish their clients’ campaigns on proven strategies, but they also adapt those strategies as campaigns unfold to make sure they are performing optimally. One factor that can significantly impact how they adapt strategies is the evolution of the client’s perfect target audience. Identifying the perfect target audience is one of the earliest steps […]
‘Mellow’ From PetFriendly Helps Calm Pet Anxiety
Is there a pet owner who has never come home to a piece of damaged furniture, a shredded shoe, or mangle remote control? Unlikely. PetFriendly believes a little understanding is in order. Pets are like people in that they, too, have emotions, including anxiety. So many stimuli can harsh a pet’s mellow that we don’t […]
MULO Brands With Soul: January Picks
When tragedy strikes, the true MULO (multi-location) brand soul emerges. First, our hearts go out to all the people and businesses devastated by the LA fire. As of this writing, more than 10K homes and businesses have been destroyed. Close to 200K people are currently displaced. The media has been packed with stories of celebrities […]
Will Chicken Flicks Be the New Hallmark Movies?
Chick-fil-A is looking into creating its own streaming media network. Focusing on family-friendly programming, the MULO (multi-location) brand , Chick-fil-A , has been considering building its own proprietary network playlist. After all, that strategy worked for Hallmark, which is known as much for its romance, mystery, and family programming as it is for its greeting […]
MoviePass Wants Cinephiles to ‘Dream Bigger’
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep,” Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest. The line was appropriated in the 1941 film, The Maltese Falcon, whose titular object was much coveted amongst a group of underworld types, including fictional detective Sam Spade, played by Humphrey Bogart. Any […]
Streets Ahead: Tiktok Ban Deadline, Meta Moderation Shift
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses the approaching TikTok ban deadline and the shift in moderation strategy by Meta TikTok’s Fate Hangs in the Balance as Ban Deadline Approaches The News The future of TikTok in the United States hangs in the balance as lawmakers and courts wrestle with a TikTok ban and […]
Night Market and Keen Join Forces to Transform Marketing for Brand Advertisers
At CES 2025, Night Market, the commerce agency affiliate of Horizon Media, and Keen Decision Systems introduced a strategic partnership designed to tackle pressing challenges in modern marketing. This collaboration brings together Night Market’s NEON platform—an AI-powered retail media and storefront optimization solution—and Keen’s adaptive marketing mix modeling software to deliver a unified, next-generation approach […]
Adjusting Tone and Language While Building the Perfect Target Audience
To streamline the pitching process, many public relations professionals will work from a pitch template that gives them a structure they can easily update with the information pertinent to any particular pitch. In addition to cutting down on the time it takes to prepare a pitch, templates also help to ensure important information for the […]
What I Saw in 2024: 10 MULO Trends and Predictions
As a journalist, I’m used to telling the stories that others pitch to me. (BTW…keep sending me your stats and news throughout 2025! You can reach me at [email protected].) Indulge me for a few minutes while I offer my perspectives on the year of MULO (multi-location) brands based on everything I’ve gathered. Here are my predictions […]
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