News and Analysis
6 Touchless Payments Apps for Small Businesses
The latest wave of touchless payment solutions are designed for small merchants dealing with the fallout from the pandemic. Contactless payments went from being “nice to have” to a being an essential service for retailers in 2020, as consumers around the world discovered that they really didn’t want to touch cash or POS hardware while they were making purchases at local stores.
Digital Advertising’s 2-Sided Transparency Problem
There’s another side to digital advertising’s transparency problem: Companies don’t even know what they know about consumers. Just as consumers use dozens of apps, businesses use hundreds of applications. Most, if not all, of them collect data on employees and customers. But sifting through that data, figuring out what is necessary, and determining whether it is privacy-compliant is a Sisyphean task.
How Should Retailers Navigate the Post-Covid Landscape?
While the return of nearly unrestricted in-person shopping heralds brighter days for brands and retailers, it is also a challenge. Consumers have gotten used to digital shopping as e-commerce soared amid the pandemic. How will retailers provide that same frictionless experience to meet elevated customer expectations in-store? Amy Vale, CMO at cash-back app Dosh, weighs in.
Commentary
LBMA Podcast: Walmart’s Toy Lab, 7-Eleven & WeChat, Anything’s Big Funding Round
On this week’s LBMA show: Anything raises $42.5M, Baidu invests in Xinchao Media, Mobike + Louis Vuitton, Tencent goes all in with HERE maps, Walmart’s toy lab, 7-Eleven Canada rolls out WeChat + Alipay.
LMA in Big Push to Strengthen Local Journalism and Build Better Communities
The Local Media Association is working to build a Business Model Accelerator that will chart sustainable revenue paths for local media and, in turn, enhance the vital role that they must play in their communities. In this Q&A, LMA Chief Innovation Officer Jed Williams sketches out this far-ranging quest to give local news a central place in community and ensure the industry will be around for the long run.
CCPA: California’s version of GDPR?
The U.S. recently joined countries taking action on data privacy with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which was signed by Governor Jerry Brown on June 28, 2018. The CCPA will protect the rights of California consumers and encourage stronger privacy online and greater transparency overall.
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Facebook’s Self-Serve Ad Creative Can’t Be SMBs’ Only Choice
By removing some of the barriers to ad spend for small businesses, Facebook is trying to become a one-stop shop for their ad dollars. SMBs are likely aware of the problem, but they shouldn’t be willing to rely on Facebook exclusively for their marketing and advertising needs.
Case Study: Ski Resort Uses Triggered Campaigns to Convert Passholders
At Mission Ridge Ski Area in Wenatchee, Washington, director of marketing Tony Hickok is in the midst of launching and scaling a learn-to-ski program called Freedom Pass, and he’s using an automated marketing platform to target the right skiers and snowboarders at the right time.
Street Fight Daily: GroundTruth CEO Out, Marketers Struggle With Location Data
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… GroundTruth CEO Resigns Amid Investigation One Month After xAd Rebranding… Marketers Face Challenges in Working with Location Data… Google Redesigns News Feed to Personalize Search in Mobile App…
Podcasting Won’t Replace Local Radio Soon
As a local advertising medium, podcasting shows promise, but it has a very long way to go. The medium is fresh and growing, and ad inventory is far less cluttered than radio, although a little pricey at $18 to $25 CPM.
Snap Debuts Self-Serve Platform for Brand Ad Campaigns
Brands now can take graphics assets they use elsewhere and put them into a template to create new ads. Instead of developing content just to appear on Snap, the new tools let marketers leverage video and images they have at hand.
Street Fight Daily: Amazon Enters Meal-Kit Biz, How Facebook Shares Campaign Data
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Begins Selling Meal Kits… Facebook Shares More Audience Data Via Carefully Controlled ‘Clean Rooms’… Google Publicly Launches Hire, a Job Applicant Management Tool for SMBs…
Google’s Product Bid for DIY Wallet Share
“Google has been on a tear this past month in the DIY realm,” notes Mike Blumenthal in his bi-monthly conversation with David Mihm. “Three major product rollouts in a 30-day span; Websites, Posts and now SMS messaging. And Google only needs uptake on one of them to get a chance to sell Adwords Express.”
Three Lessons from the Dex Media/YP Merger
For Dex Media and YP to become DexYP, they had to teach one another three lessons that every business in the local space should know: the primacy of distribution, the fallacy of stagnation, and the inevitability of market consolidation.
Street Fight Daily: Snap’s Location Partnerships Yield Fruit, Paid Search Outperforms Social
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Snapchat’s Foursquare and Factual Partnerships Double Geofilter Usage… Paid Search Advertising Still Outranks Social in Performance… Amazon Might Launch Its Own Messaging App That Would Allow Users to Order Food…
Job Changes at DexYP, Pinterest, Cuebiq, and Vendasta
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 Mono Solutions, Groupon and HomeStars .
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AI Won’t Fix Advertising – It May Scale Its Chaotic Nature