News and Analysis
2021 Ranking Factors Report Underscores Importance of Google Profiles and Reviews
Three of the most notable trends — the ever-increasing importance of native Google My Business (now Google Business Profile) factors and, in particular, of reviews, as well as the diminished impact of citation building — are reinforced this year, with Google profile optimization accounting for 36% of local ranking, up from 33% last year, and reviews inching up from 16% to 17%, while citations continue at 7%, down significantly in importance compared to their prominent role in earlier years.
Business Messaging Best Practices: A Conversation with Meta
Messaging is one of the core ways customers interact with local brick-and-mortar businesses. Yet this key part of the customer experience often leads to frustration, and automation, which is supposed to boost convenience, sometimes leaves customers feeling underserved.
Heap Raises $110M to Fund the Future of Digital Analytics
Heap, a startup that helps businesses build better digital experiences by surfacing hidden friction and opportunities in the customer journey, has closed on a $110 million Series D round. That brings the company’s valuation to $960 million and solidifies Heap as one of this year’s heavy-hitters among digital analytics platforms for product builders, growth marketers, and analytics teams.
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
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.
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.”
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