News and Analysis
Smaller Brands Are Struggling with Social Commerce. Here’s Why
Social commerce is expected to grow 3x as fast as traditional e-commerce, according to a report by Accenture, to reach $1.2 trillion by 2025, but that doesn’t mean savvy marketers from smaller brands can’t find their own points of entry. By thinking outside the box and looking beyond Instagram and TikTok for attention, some midsize brands are finding opportunities to shine.
In Crowded Space, Brands Rethink Approach to CTV
Research from eMarketer shows that advertisers spent $10.3 billion on connected TV programmatic display ads in 2021, an 82% increase from the year prior. But what they got in return is anyone’s guess. For all the advancements in digital marketing, CTV advertising still remains an opaque space where advertisers know little about the shows or other ads their spots are running against. This can lead to wasted budgets, ad frequency issues, and even fraud.
Commentary
Adapting to New iOS13 and Android Q Location Sharing Permission Changes: What to Expect
This month, both Apple and Google released significant updates to their operating systems (OS) that will have a big impact on the way location data is shared and collected. It is just one of many ways the tech industry is trying to self-regulate and protect consumers’ information in the absence of federal-level privacy regulations.
These new location-sharing permission changes impact an app’s ability to gather the necessary data they need to build location-based app features, and while it’s too early to understand the significance of the impact, these changes give a clear indication of how the tech industry must evolve to be more transparent with consumers and provide clearer, opt-in consent through any data exchange.
Adapting and adjusting to these changes first and foremost require a high-level understanding of what specifically these updates include, and how they impact the interaction between an app and its users.
Retail as a Service: Amazon Tips its Hand
Amazon has a knack for moving into new vertical segments and then applying its logistical mastery and economies of scale to carve out margins and undercut incumbents. Then, it doubles down by scaling things up to its signature high-volume/low-margin approach. As Jeff Bezos ruthlessly admits, “Your margin is my opportunity.”
The latest place for this to unfold is retail. No, we’re not talking about Whole Foods, though that’s part it (more on that in a bit). We’re talking about Amazon’s transformation of the in-store experience — upending and streamlining logistics just like it’s done in shipping and cloud computing.
Here are some predictions for how Amazon’s disruption of retail via licensing of its Go technology will upend the industry.
Turning a Unique Vanity Phone Number into Many
Just over half of Americans now use their personal mobile phone numbers as their only phone numbers. A majority of Americans also no longer have landline phones in their homes, and that’s convenient because anyone, anywhere in the world, can now reach you with just that one number. But the opposite is true in the business world, where brands can leverage new technologies to create multiple vanity numbers in order to engage their customers across local, regional, and national marketing campaigns.
That statistic I cited above isn’t just an interesting bit of trivia. It highlights how the phone, an ancient communications medium compared to social media platforms, chatbots, messaging apps, and email, remains important to a brand’s marketing efforts.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Marketers Look for Data Beyond Duopoly, GDPR Spawns a Need for Innovation
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Concerns Grow Over Facebook, Google Duopoly as Marketers Prioritize Data Transparency… GDPR Panic May Spur Innovation in Data and AI… Native Mobile Video Ads 15 to 20 Seconds Long Show Highest Rates of Engagement…
Ericsson Emodo Launches Carrier-Verified Audience Solution
In a bid to address quality concerns currently looming over the mobile advertising industry, Ericsson Emodo is launching a product that uses carrier data at scale to pre-verify mobile audiences and inventory, and then makes those audience segments available through any major demand-side platform.
#SFSNYC: Moving Beyond Basic Location-Based Advertising Without Getting Creepy
In regard to guidelines pertaining to the ethical use of location data, Mark Risis, head of global data partnerships at IBM Watson, offered the following maxim: “Don’t do creepy stuff.” Risis as well as panelists from Zocdoc and Waze addressed the topic of location-based marketing and ethics in a panel at Street Fight Summit Wednesday.
#SFSNYC: UPS, TripAdvisor, and HappyOrNot Break Down Divergent Approaches to Customer Feedback
Consumer feedback and brands have a complex and sometimes contentious relationship. Three panelists from companies with starkly different relationships to both their customers and the customer feedback process provided their angles on the issue at Street Fight Summit in New York Wednesday.
#SFSNYC: GroundTruth Turns On-the-Ground Data Into IRL Transactions
When consumers visit physical stores, the likelihood that they will complete a purchase shoots up, especially in comparison to the likelihood they will make a purchase after visiting a digital site. “Visits lead to sales,” was the message of Hongzhe Sun of GroundTruth, one of the sponsors of Street Fight Summit in New York Wednesday.
#SFSNYC: May AI Help You? The Marketing Opportunities in Intelligent Search
Artificial intelligence is the future of search engines. Increasingly conversational, intelligent, and visual, search engines are adapting to become the centerpiece of consumer engagement, as well as a virtually new tool for marketers. Purna Virji, senior manager for global engagement at Microsoft/Bing, broke down the AI revolution in search at Street Fight Summit Wednesday.
#SFSNYC: Investors on Billion-Dollar Opportunities in Local and Where to Find Them
Long before startups become the “next big thing” the masses talk about, investors have an opportunity to use their wallets to weigh in on the prospects for those emerging companies. At Street Fight Summit Wednesday in New York, investors pointed to voice, VR and AR, and influencers as some hot topics in local investing right now.
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