News and Analysis

5 User-Generated Content Platforms for SMBs

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As Google expands the local search experience to encompass more aspects of the customer journey, user-generated content is coming into play as one of the most important ranking factors for small and mid-size businesses.

Brands Rethink Return Policies to Build Customer Loyalty

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If generous return policies aren’t sustainable from a financial perspective, and restrictive return policies lead to high rates of customer churn, what’s the solution?

Merchants React to New Data Theft Concerns

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As more digital marketing and customer management solutions come online, security breaches are happening with increasing frequency. The threat is becoming a real issue for merchants, who are now faced with growing concerns among consumers and tightened privacy restrictions from government controllers.

Commentary

LBMA Vidcast: Sam’s Club and Instacart Partner on Alcohol Delivery

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On this week’s Location-Based Marketing Association podcast: Brands form “Voice Coalition”, CherryPicks navigation + translation app, Paytronix + FriendShip loyalty, Signify’s new LiFi, Coca-Cola Italy drives recycling, Sam’s Club + Instacart for alcohol delivery.  Special – new white paper from Digital Element.

12 Years After the iPhone, Marketers Need to Lean Into Digital Wellness

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Once upon a time, “getting a Starbucks coupon as you walk by a Starbucks” was the Holy Grail example of the potential power of mobile marketing. With the iPhone turning 12 years old this week, it’s a great time to observe how drastically more sophisticated digital relationships between consumers and brands have gotten thanks to the supercomputers in our pockets.

Mobile is now about building a customer journey and taking patrons to the next level rather than a single, location-based transaction. You hear it a lot: the customer journey reigns supreme, but there’s a good reason for “customer journey” becoming like the Greek chorus in marketing. Consumers are inundated with messages from brands, so marketers need to be judicious about how, when, where, and why they reach out to customers.

What’s a Cloud Kitchen? Amazon’s Next Move to Revolutionize a Major Shopping Sector

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Jeff Bezos likes to say, “Your margin is my opportunity.” Like with Whole Foods and grocery, Amazon moves into new verticals and applies its logistics-first approach to carve out margins, then undercut competitors. It is even getting into shipping, in a move to own its delivery infrastructure.

The next local conquest could be restaurants. For Amazon, it’s not just about serving food, but doing so in a way that aligns with its forte: delivering things to your home. The biggest clues and synergies lie in its established delivery and logistics playbook as well as its recent $575 million investment in Deliveroo.

Enter the cloud kitchen.

Latest Posts

How Augmented Reality Will Change Local SEO

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Ultimately, local SEO is all about engagement, and AR helps brands engage customers. Incorporating AR also shows that your brand is not just up on trends but actually ahead of the curve.

Street Fight Daily: Publishers’ Facebook Traffic Keeps Falling, Walmart’s E-Commerce Growth Flags

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… As Promised, Facebook Traffic to Publishers Declines Again… Walmart Tumbles As Flagging Online Growth Jolts Investors… Google Chrome Blocks Irksome Ads. That’s Good, Right?…

Raise Report: Unacast, Attentive, Adikteev Score Fresh Funding

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Every two weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes funding for 8th Wall, Front, Asana, and Lumi.

Openings and New Hires at SOCi, Foursquare, BrandMuscle

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Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest openings and new hires in this dynamic industry. This week’s edition includes moves and new openings at Interbrand, Visto, and MediaCom.

SMB Index: Local Stocks See Modest Gains in January

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The SCP SMB Index started off 2018 with a modest gain of 2%, outpaced by other major indices. Square led the month’s gainers, up 35.3% in the month of January after dropping 11.6% in the previous month. LendingClub led the list of losers, down 11.4% during the month.

LBMA Podcast: GroundTruth, SOCi, Uber, Walmart

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This Week in Location Based Marketing is a weekly video podcast from the Location Based Marketing Association with Asif Khan, Rob Woodbridge & Aubriana Lopez. On the show: Walmart acquires Spatialand, Indola, Quebec City Magic Festival, and Coke.

Street Fight Daily: AMP Sends Pubs More Traffic, New York Times Launches Ad Analytics Team

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Is Replacing Facebook’s Traffic to Publishers… New York Times Adapts Data Science Tools for Advertisers… Why Your Grocery Store Wants to Be Like a Startup…

Toward a Better Definition of AI in Internet Communications

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Under broad scrutiny, AI stands for “that thing we do with computer data manipulation that is somehow more complicated than layering algorithms on to data structures. But neither do we agree that the current state of AI represents actual computer or machine learning.

From DNAinfo’s Ashes, Three News Vets Are Launching Their Phoenix in Chicago

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The site’s non-billionaire founders aim to succeed with a radically different revenue strategy from their DNAinfo alma mater — their plan for domination does not include advertising. In this Q & A, director of strategy Jen Sabella tells how she and her partners are mapping a new way to make local news work.

Street Fight Daily: How to Spark Engagement on Instagram, DNAinfo Vets Launch New Pub

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… The Guardian’s Instagram Strategy is Winning New Readers… Ad Agencies Expect to Stand By Facebook As It Loses Younger Users… Snap Finally Gives Influencers Data on Their Followers’ Engagement…