News and Analysis

KickCOVID.us Crowdsources Business Safety Data

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KickCOVID.us is one part business directory, one part safety monitor. The hyperlocal mobile website allows consumers to read and rate the relative safety of businesses based on the precautions they are taking around Covid-19.

Look up Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant, for example, and you’ll see that social distancing is being enforced and some masks are being worn, but no temperature checks are taking place. At Matchbox, a restaurant in Ashburn, Virginia, most people are wearing masks and no-contact delivery is currently available.

How Are Brands Preparing for Native Ratings in Apple Maps?

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A foundational element of local marketing strategy could be changing. Rumors began circulating last week that Apple would be giving users the ability to add ratings and photos to local business listings on Apple Maps when iOS 14 releases this fall. That could mean big changes are in store for brand marketers who’ve grown accustomed to monitoring reviews and ratings on a core group of third-party platforms.

Apple’s move into the ratings and review space isn’t totally unexpected, but it’s still causing the local marketing community to question how the update will impact local search and discovery.

Meliá Hotels Uses Local Influencers to Drive Covid-19 Awareness

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Brochures and signage are easy to overlook, but social media influencers are harder to miss. As they work to bring back guests during the Covid-19 pandemic, a number of hotel chains are relying on partnerships with social media influencers to educate guests on the new safety protocols they’ve put in place.

Commentary

Top Lesson for News Sites in SF Innovation Tour: Identify Users and Win Them Over One by One

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Revenue was, naturally, very much on the minds of the 12 publishers, broadcasters, and other news media executives who took part in the Local Media Association’s June 2018 San Francisco Innovation Mission. But Jed Williams, LMA’s chief innovation officer, said the event focused on audience engagement.

Earn an A+ with Back-to-School Email Marketing

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Retailers, have you optimized your email marketing for back-to-school shopping? If not, it’s not too late—there’s still a huge opportunity to capture your share of this year’s lucrative season, with sales predicted to reach nearly $83 billion.

Mobile Coupons Are About to Overtake Paper—Here’s How Retailers Can Capitalize on That

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When participants in CodeBroker’s 2018 Mobile Coupon Consumer Research Report were asked just how quickly they would likely redeem a coupon they received via text message, 25% said they would use it within three days. That number grew to 60% when they were asked if they would use it within a week.

Latest Posts

Openings and New Hires at Weather Company, Mono Solutions, Criteo

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Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. This week’s edition includes moves and new openings at Cint, Samba TV, CWR Digital, Nexstar and Digital Maas.

Street Culture: A Changing Culture of Inclusion and Conversation at Dispatch

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“I think it’s important to have marketing leadership from a cultural standpoint,” the company’s VP of marketing, Corey O’Donnell says. “Marketing isn’t just what you tell the world about your business, it’s also what you tell your employees.”

Street Fight Daily: Starbucks to Test Mobile Order-Only Store, Amazon and Walmart Wage Price War

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Starbucks to Test Mobile Order and Pay-Only Store at Headquarters… Amazon and Walmart Are in an All-Out Price War that Is Terrifying Big Brands… How The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and CNN Approach Platforms…

DoorDash Expands Jack in the Box Partnership, Continues Growth in Competitive Sector

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Just four months after announcing that it would be launching a pilot program with Jack in the Box and delivering late-night orders to customers in San Francisco, DoorDash is expanding the partnership and will offer deliveries from more than 830 locations across 229 cities throughout the U.S.

With Metro D.C. Cool to Community News, One Publisher Pulls Back to Profitable Niches

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Local News Now seemed to be on an expansion trajectory earlier in the decade with two sites in Northern Virginia and two in the District of Columbia. But today the company has just two — and while they’re both profitable, founder Scott Brodbeck isn’t thinking of launching more sites anytime soon.

Street Fight Daily: Pinterest Targets SMB Advertisers, Retale Offers Attribution Guarantee

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Pinterest Targets Small Business Advertisers in Push to Diversify Revenue… Retale Offers In-Store Foot Traffic Guarantee On In-App Inventory… Snapchat’s Pitch to Small Brands and Businesses: Self-Serve Sponsored Geofilters …

How New Location Data Tools Are Making Attribution a Reality

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The future of retail and attribution is evolving quickly and allowing brands for the first time to have a better understanding of how effective their advertising is. While the search for in-store attribution is at the top of the every marketer’s wish list it’s important that all know the strengths and weaknesses of each methodology.

Can Open Source Thinking Create a Sustainable Business Model for Local Journalism?

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Open source software changed the landscape for the entire computing industry. Rather than commoditizing software completely, it actually made software development easier and more productive. I see tremendous parallels in the publishing industry today.

Street Fight Daily: Amazon Expands Into Grocery, Waze and Dunkin’ Donuts Partner on Order-Ahead

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon to Launch Grocery Pickup Stores in Seattle… Dunkin’ Donuts Links Order-Ahead, Loyalty to Waze App… There’s a Disconnect in Connecting Marketing Tech Tools…

Geopath Taps Tech from Citilabs for Audience Location Measurement

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Nonprofit organization Geopath, previously known as the Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurement, has announced it will use software from Citilabs to power an audience location measurement solution for out-of-home advertisers.