News and Analysis
5 User-Generated Content Platforms for SMBs
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
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
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
4 Game-Changing Influencer Marketing Trends to Boost Your ROI in 2019
Many brands have decided to establish dedicated budgets for their influencer marketing campaigns. In fact, 79% of brands surveyed by marketing tech firm Relatable indicated they will have a dedicated budget for influencer marketing campaigns in 2019. Brands are catching onto the power of this medium.
Looking to get in on the action? There are four game-changing trends in influencer marketing that will help you boost the ROI of your influencer marketing campaign in 2019.
Location Data Confidence in an Exploding Data Universe
Location intelligence, sourced securely and used in the right way, is an extremely powerful tool to craft precise targeting, predictive modeling, and creative media that drive meaningful marketing moments, massive ROI, and brand growth. Unfortunately, the location intelligence sector has also become a jungle of data fraught with fraudulence and insecurity.
Location intelligence is powerful, but in today’s highly scrutinized world, you have to challenge every resource you engage to ensure confidence in its quality. There are three critical questions you should ask data partners before you engage them.
How Rising Public Concern Around Facebook Privacy Impacts Everyone’s Bottom Line
How do Facebook’s problems affect the rest of us? Good question. At Clever Real Estate, our effectiveness as a real estate technology company depends on our ability to connect with customers online, so we surveyed 1,139 Americans about their feelings regarding online advertising and the internet at large. Some of our findings might surprise you.
Latest Posts
How the End of Network Neutrality Could Affect SMBs and the Public Interest
For many years, the government’s assessment of the public interest was to encourage Web access to all. The current FCC, however, contends that this position is better met by eliminating the net neutrality rules — that SMBs will be able to have a variety of ISP options based on their actual needs with the end of the net neutrality rules.
Street Fight Daily: Uber Hid 2016 Data Breach from Users, Huge Ad Fraud Scheme Uncovered
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Uber Hid a 2016 Data Breach That Affected 57 Million People And Paid Off the Hackers… Fake-Ad Operation Used to Steal from Publishers Is Uncovered… The NYT Is Making All of Its Ads Available Programmatically…
Social Media Gets the Local Spending Growth, Partly by Default
Social media is widely used — and deemed particularly effective — by SMBs. But when you dig deeper, it looks like most local marketers are using social media as substitute for display advertising (and to reach mobile audiences) rather than as a uniquely local or even “social” medium.
Sponsored Content: Optimizing Map Listings to Drive Search Results
In this article, we will take a close look at the role that maps and map listings, such as Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Bing Maps, are playing in the local search ecosystem. We will delve into how the data from those services is driving desktop, mobile, and voice search.
Street Fight Daily: Chatting with SMBs on Messenger Booms, Good News for Brick-and-Mortars
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… 330 Million People Connected with SMBs via Messenger for First Time in 2017… Brick-and-Mortar Chains Put E-Commerce on Defensive for Once… Google Collects Android Users’ Location Data Even When Location Services Are Disabled…
How Voice Assistants Could Transform Local (Part II)
Voice assistants continue to evolve as a medium for local search, as I examined here last month. But what does it mean for local media players and startups? If consumers are increasingly searching with voice, how do you wedge your way into that conversation?
How Facebook Turns ‘Likes’ Into Dollars Right Down to the Local Level
Local news publishers typically know many of their community restaurateurs on a first-name basis, and are regular diners at the establishments. But they can’t offer the precise targeting capability of Facebook, whose services are, in most cases, fully automated — greatly lowering their cost.
Street Fight Daily: Sizmek Shutters Rocket Fuel Brand, Stitch Fix Prepares IPO in Amazon’s Shadow
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Sizmek Shuts Down the Rocket Fuel Brand to Focus on Ad Transparency… Stitch Fix Prepares an IPO in the Shadow of Amazon… Google AMP Update to Discourage Publishers from Using Teaser Pages…
Why Commercial Banks Are Turning to Proximity Technology
That location intelligence firms are able to use foot traffic patterns to predict the financial performance of businesses is nothing new. But a new report released shines a light on the ways commercial banks and investment companies are upping the ante by using location data to get the most out of the market.
How Thanksgiving Day Store Closures Impact Black Friday Sales
Shoppers say they don’t want retailers opening their doors on Thanksgiving Day, but research from Foursquare tells a different story. Analyzing proprietary foot traffic data at major retailers, Foursquare found that stores that open earlier on Thanksgiving Day drive more visits and steal share from their competitors.
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Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem