News and Analysis

Savvy Retailers Are Turning Returns Into Revenue — Here’s How

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Returns are inherently expensive due to shipping and restocking fees, but some retailers are finding ways around those issues. In the process, they’re coming up with new strategies for building revenue streams from customer returns.

Google Is Using AI to Improve Business Listings — Here’s How

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Google said it would be using artificial intelligence and machine learning to build a self-updating Maps product that predicts when business hours are likely to be wrong and updates listings automatically using AI-generated predictions.

New Hires at Publica, January Digital, Vibrant Media

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The monthly Street Fight new hires roundup features movers and shakers in adtech, martech, e-commerce, localized marketing, location intelligence, and more. This month’s roundup features new hires at CTV ad platform Publica, digital analytics company January Digital, and contextual marketing firm Vibrant Media.

Commentary

LBMA Presents Location Weekly: Bandit’s Mobile Ordering and AR Visualization at the NYT

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In this week’s episode, Asif and Aubriana discuss the New York Times’ location-based air pollution AR visualization, Bandit taking them to mobile order ahead only for coffee, Dentsu Aegis Network India launching hyperlocal insights tools for OOH, Mood Media combining divisions to create Technomedia, Chick-fil-A wanting people to spend time together this holiday season, and the Salvation Army unveiling donations via Apple Pay & Google Pay.

5 Tips for Growing Affiliate Programs Through Social Channels

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According to a recent study by the Performance Marketing Association (PMA), the affiliate marketing channel is expected to grow to over $6 billion by 2020. A Mediakix study found that US influencer marketing spend on Instagram alone is expected to grow $2.3 billion by 2020. The PMA study also indicated that content, bloggers, and social media accounted for 40% of ad spend by affiliate type in 2018, and that number is surely going up. All of these numbers support the idea that influencers and social media bring an incredible monetization opportunity to affiliate marketing.

Let’s look at five ways that brands active in the partner and affiliate channels can benefit from leveraging social media, and ultimately drive more revenue. 

Follow the Money: Will Wearables Inflect in 2020?

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Apple is far ahead with Watch and Airpods, which may have sold 3 million units since Black Friday. Google meanwhile acquired Fitbit to buttress its wearables play. Amazon and Microsoft launched wearables lines in the past quarter, and smaller players like Bose and Snap are planting seeds for a wearables future.

There’s an underlying driver for this activity that goes back to the perennial analyst exercise of “following the money.” This is all about extrapolating product roadmaps based on tech giants’ motivations. This is often to future-proof their core businesses or diversify revenue in the face of maturing products.

Latest Posts

Prime Day Powers Industry-Wide Boost in Mobile App Downloads for Retailers

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Amazon’s mid-July Prime Day powered not only sales at local businesses and direct purchases on Amazon’s rival retailer sites but also spikes in mobile app downloads for those retailers, according to data released today by mobile app marketing company Liftoff.

After Downgrading Publishers, Facebook Explores New Ways to Boost Them

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We all remember the seemingly apocalyptic early 2018 announcement that Facebook would downgrade publishers in favor of foregrounding posts from users’ family and friends. Less discussed are the various changes Facebook has made since that announcement to give publishers on its platform a fighting chance.

Stronger Bklyner Helps Keep ‘News Desert’ at Bay in NYC’s Biggest Borough

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In this Q&A, Liena Zagare tells how Bklyner came back from the abyss this year and why, after flipping her business model to rely on her readers for revenue, she’s confident the digital pure-play she founded and edits will stay strong and help maintain Brooklyn as a news oasis.

With SimpleOrder Acquisition, Upserve Digs Into Back-House Operations

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In a year that’s been marked by consolidation across the hyperlocal marketing space, Upserve’s recent acquisition of SimpleOrder should come as no surprise. It mirrors another hyperlocal acquisition announced just this week: full-suite marketing company Cheetah Digital’s purchase of loyalty specialist Stellar Loyalty.

Street Fight Daily: Facebook Updates Ad Measurement Practices, Mobile Audiences Skyrocket

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TODAY IN LOCAL & DIGITAL MARKETING… Facebook Updates Its Ad Measurement Arsenal With New and Revised Video Metrics… Mobile Audiences Soar as Advertisers Struggle to Keep Up… With SimpleOrder Acquisition, Upserve Digs Into Back-House Operations…

If We Only Opened Facebook’s App for ‘Time Well Spent,’ Would We Use It Much At All?

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If Facebook’s advertisers’ most coveted users are opening its app mainly to scroll through News Feed while waiting for lattés or click on the stray cat video, and if the company truly wants time spent on its app to be “time well spent,” does its core mission even have a viable future?

SendtoNews Aims to Guarantee Brand Safety for Advertisers

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Publishers like Facebook and YouTube often cause consternation for advertisers over brand safety. Content delivery and advertising company SendtoNews promises to change that state of affairs with its service. “We’re completely brand safe,” said CEO Matthew Watson.

Location Targeting is Nothing Without the Facts to Back it Up

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Doing location targeting right is no simple matter, and common claims about it require further scrutiny. Accuracy of a location through parcel targeting, a rapid refresh audience strategy, and reaching the right people at scale through IP and cross-device targeting will make a major difference in location-based campaign outcomes.

Street Fight Daily: Fact Checking Some Location Targeting Claims, Amazon Go Officially Has Competition

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TODAY IN LOCAL & DIGITAL MARKETING… Location Targeting is Nothing Without the Facts to Back it Up… Standard Cognition Is First Amazon Go Rival to Unveil Deal with Stores… SendtoNews Aims to Guarantee Brand Safety for Advertisers…

The Enduring Benefits of Mobile Apps for Brands

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Thanks to a variety of factors including speed, user experience,  personalized messaging, reliable security, and fully customizable content, native apps increase your customers’ connection with your brand, driving more engagement and conversion than a mobile web product ever would.