News and Analysis
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.
5 Ways Retail Brands Are Embracing the Metaverse
As retail brands jump into the test-and-learn phase, the concept of what it means to be involved in the metaverse is already evolving. Here’s how top retail brands are embracing the metaverse as they look for new opportunities for marketing growth and innovation.
Commentary
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.
AR Impacts Local Commerce, Disrupting Home Services and Retail
AR is emerging at a time when the physical retail world is undergoing significant transformation. Things like Amazon Go stores and the counteractive “retail as a service” movement have raised awareness and hunger for retail evolution. So AR’s retail shopping use cases fall on fertile soil.
But retail is just one way that AR intersects with local commerce. AR comes into play in another key local commerce category: home services. Innovators like Streem are bringing remote assistance to traditional service calls (think: busted pipe).
Latest Posts
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.
Should Local Businesses Ask for Reviews?
Reputation management services should focus on helping businesses understand what consumers are saying and engage with reviewers by responding. Unbiased review content is a true goldmine for the brand who works with a reputation company to glean deep insights about consumer sentiment offered by consumers themselves for free.
Street Fight Daily: Lyft Expands Service for Businesses, Marketers React to Facebook’s Latest
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Lyft Concierge, a Ride-Booking Service for Businesses, Expands… The Ad Community Reacts to Facebook’s Latest Tweak of the News Feed… To Woo Amazon, Cities Tackle Everything from Traffic to Housing…
Two Big Facebook Moves in the First Two Weeks of 2018
“It will be interesting to watch how much SMBs’ costs go up with Facebook to achieve the same level of engagement that they have been enjoying,” Mike Blumenthal tells David Mihm in their biweekly column. “As Google expands their many local offerings, this might just play into their hands by forcing businesses back to Google My Business.”
How MoviePass Is Using Subscriber Data for Retail Partner Integrations
Having now reached 1.5 million paying subscribers, with 500,000 of those coming in just the last 30 days, MoviePass is keeping a sharp focus on the data it’s able to collect from moviegoers. The company expects that data to become an important asset to retail partners and the movie industry at large in the coming months and years.
Street Fight Daily: Salesforce Rolls Out Retail Tech, Brands Push Boundaries with User Data
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Salesforce Debuts Retail Platform Enhancements… Where is the Line Between Creepy and Creative in Data-Driven Advertising?… How Twitter Could Make a Big Comeback in 2018…
SMB Index: Local Stocks Move Higher in December
The SCP SMB Index closed 2017 gaining a modest 1.2%, outpaced by other major indices we track. The SCP SMB Index gained 1.2% in December. The S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones all experienced gains during the month of 2.3%, 1.8% and 3.7%, respectively.
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