News and Analysis

Policy Guardrails Mitigate Cyber Monday Security Risks

With so many aspects of this year’s holiday shopping experience outside retailers’ control—shipping delays, supply chain issues, and labor shortages, to name just a few—retailers are shifting their focus and using enhanced data security policies in their mobile apps and websites to improve the shopping experience for customers.

Google’s Latest Privacy Play Has Big Implications for the Open Web

The Local Customer Journey is Omnichannel

A robust online presence is table stakes for even “local” businesses, as the local customer journey is thoroughly integrated into online search and selling. The Uberall study also suggests local businesses should capitalize on the greater trust and emotional connection they command with customers in an era when a product from Amazon is two clicks away.

Snap Doubles Down on Immersive Ads

Snap has been doubling down on AR — mostly seen through updates to its Lens Studio AR development platform and the evolving formats it offers to brand marketers. This recently culminated in two new programs to further stimulate AR marketing: Snap’s AR Lab and its Arcadia creative studio.

Commentary

How to Use Facebook’s Simplified Campaign Structure to Your Advantage

It’s a brave new advertising world. The algorithms are taking over, whether human advertising managers like it or not. Our best bet is to understand how the algorithms work and to give them the freedom, the data, the budgets, and the creative assets they need for optimal performance.  The Facebook algorithm will take away budget lever from humans when Campaign Budget Optimization becomes mandatory in September 2019.

LBMA Vidcast: Amazon’s StyleSnap, Coca Cola’s Summer Wrist Bands

On this week’s Location-Based Marketing Association podcast: Wrangler Jeans + Old Town Road, The North Face + Spotify, SingleCut Beersmiths plays trivia, Amazon’s StyleSnap, Coca-Cola’s summer wrist bands, ProYo + InMarket. Special: 2019 LBMA Global Location Trends Report.

Fostering Brand-Customer Relationships in the Age of Social Checkout and Chatbots

Currently, 74% of consumers visit the social media pages of brands to inspire future purchases. And as evidenced by the popularity of Instagram Checkout, sales tools like Apple Business Chat, and new ad products like Google‘s Shoppable Ads, the industry is rapidly moving towards commerce that removes the friction between inspiration and an actual purchase.

But when the path to purchase is shortened, so is the opportunity for brand and customer to interact, which is probably what attracted your customers in the first place. Especially in the world of social media, brand persona is an enduring element that differentiates your brand and creates fans out of customers.

The good news is, you don’t have to sacrifice brand voice for a social commerce strategy. In fact, with the right tools, you can enhance it.

Latest Posts

ThriveHive Balances Software and Human Support to Power SMB Marketing

“So many people on the software side just want to solve everything with software, and on the agency side, there’s too much of a bias toward people. We think the right combination is in between,” said Steve Gottlieb, senior director of demand generation at ThriveHive.

Street Fight Daily: Amazon Go Opens to Public, Advertisers See Video Pivot in News Feed Change

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Go, High-Tech Grocery Store Sans Cashiers, Opens to the Public… As Facebook Changes Its Feed, Advertisers See Video Ambitions… Google’s Emphasis on Webpage Speed Will Hit CNN, WSJ, Other Top Sites…

Openings and New Hires at GroundTruth, Attune, Cardlytics

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 VaynerMedia, dataPlor and Foursquare.

Raise Report: Usermind, Red Points, True Fit Score New Funding

Every two weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition also includes funding for Closetbox, CircleCI, Apartment List, and Grove Collaborative.

LBMA Podcast: Red Roof Inns, Ford, Postmates, WeChat

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: Waivecare, Amazon’s new patent, Bosch & Continental invests in HERE. Juniper Research on QR Codes

Street Fight Daily: Faltering Snap Courts Publishers, WhatsApp Rolls Out App for Small Biz

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… As Facebook Retreats from Publishers, Snap Goes on the Offensive… WhatsApp Launches a Separate App for Small Businesses… Mobile Phones Driving Search Ad Growth…

Nucleus Marketing’s Mission for 2018: Make Media Buyers Believe in News

CEO Seth Rogin spoke with Street Fight about how the company combats fraud in web advertising, brings personalization to marketing and tries to convert young media buyers into buying space on premium news sites.

Sponsored: How Location Intelligence and Software-as-a-Service Will Take Over in 2018

Location data and technology companies thrived in 2017 and are looking to expand on their success this year. Probably the best indication that location intelligence is here to stay and growing are the better regulations and user-friendly initiatives that are being adopted by different players in the ecosystem.

Street Fight Daily: Amazon Names HQ2 Finalists, User-Generated Content Boosts Sales

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Chooses 20 Finalists for Second Headquarters… User-Generated Content Attracts Shoppers… IPG: It’s Not Just About Providing Value — It’s About Proving Value…

Lots of Facebook News — But Little Progress in Local

Instead of integrating multi-media news consumption with entertainment, community conversations, events calendars, advertising, and a buyers and sellers marketplace, Facebook is isolating them as components. While this is consistent with its separate apps approach, it likely won’t result in as much audience cross-fertilization as it should. Nor does it feel at all local advertiser-friendly.