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

Customer Feedback: Authenticity as the Final Frontier

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Coherent feedback cuts the distance between a company and its audience. But all that is compromised when paid reviews and rigged ratings enter the scene. Authenticity therefore remains the final frontier for marketing and client-oriented strategies.

How Not to Respond to Reviews: 10 Common Pitfalls

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Contrary to the popular saying, all publicity isn’t good publicity. It’s quite possible to go about review response in a way that does more harm than good. Listed below are 10 common practices that won’t do your business any favors and are arguably worse than no response at all.

LBMA Podcast: Gimbal & Drawbridge, Brightcodes, Wirecard & Garmin

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On this week’s Location-Based Marketing association podcast: Phunware + Kontakt.io, Dstillery teams up with Captivate, Gimbal buys Drawbridge, Brightcodes, Wirecard + Garmin, Ericsson Emodo, Sao Paulo’s Yellow Line, Circle K goes Coke, Locomizer patent.

Latest Posts

How Does Google Determine the Authority of Local Entities?

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“Each of these sites that Google trusts might calculate authority in a different way, but if Google can verify the relationship to the local entity, they can apply that authority to the ranking of the local listing,” writes Mike Blumenthal to David Mihm.

6 Ways Merchants Can Prepare For the Rise in Voice Search

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Forty-two percent of U.S. consumers already say they’ve used voice assistants in the last three months, and industry forecasters are predicting that 20% of all user interactions with smartphones will take place through these assistants within the next three years. Here are six ways that local businesses can start preparing.

Street Fight Daily: Retailers Emphasize Mobile Web Over Apps, Verizon and Yahoo Close Revised Deal

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… The Mobile Web is Quietly Killing Off Retail Apps… Why Verizon Decided to Still Buy Yahoo After Big Data Breaches… ‘More Options and Misunderstandings’: Media Buying on Snapchat Confuses Advertisers…

Openings and New Hires at Lyft, DAC Group and Placed

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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 Navads, Brandify and Foursquare.

Street Culture: Sitter.me Puts Company Culture of Trust and Respect First

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“The culture starts at the top and stays with the top and there is nothing more important than leading by example in that respect,” says CEO Kristen Stiles. Her company, Sitter.me, connects parents with local babysitters.

Street Fight Daily: Google Home Enables Retail Purchases, IBM and Visa Partner for IoT Payments

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Home Can Now Buy You Stuff from Over 50 U.S. Retailers… Visa, IBM Team for Consumer Payments through IoT Devices… Facebook Isn’t Going After LinkedIn, It’s Chasing a Much Bigger Jobs Market…

How 30A’s Multiple Revenue Streams Elevate the Local Site to New Heights

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Founder and CEO Mike Ragsdale explains why diversification is such an important element of 30A’s fast growth into what is now a multimillion-dollar operation. He also explains how community news sites that don’t have a tropical beachfront to boast about can create their own unique, revenue-generating brands.

Street Fight Daily: Yahoo and Verizon Near Cheaper Deal, Facebook Adds Job Postings for Brands

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Yahoo and Verizon Are Said to Be Near a Cheaper Deal… Facebook Swipes at LinkedIn by Letting Brands Post Job Openings on Pages… Snap Sets Valuation at $19.5 to $22.5 Billion as IPO Approaches…

Where Home Phones Meet Voice-Assisted Search

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Similar to the shift from desktop to mobile, local marketers need to consider how the shift to voice-activated devices will impact their strategy. The smart home hub offers a new device on which consumers will interact with local businesses.

As E-Commerce Looks for a Local Edge, In-Person Return Services Expand

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This morning e-commerce fashion marketplace Tradesy is announcing an extended partnership with Happy Returns, a consumer returns startup that offers in-person returns for online retailers. Tradesy found that customers overwhelmingly preferred to return their online purchases in-person rather than by mail.