News and Analysis

Can a Pandemic Inflect Local Commerce Tech?

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Could forced adoption of alternative shopping methods like curbside pickup lead to user acclimation? Will millions of shoppers get exposed to the merits of these streamlined options and like what they see? Will new habits be born that sustain throughout normal times?

If so, these technologies — along with virtual-office enablement — could benefit from this period as a blessing in disguise for exposing their value propositions. But who stands to benefit most? We’ve identified five local commerce tech areas to which this could apply.

Cannabis CBD

Cannabis Businesses Are Running More Geofenced Campaigns. Here’s Why

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While geofenced campaigns and foot traffic attribution are old hat for mainstream brands, they represent a new frontier for cannabis businesses.

Despite widespread legalization in many states, the cannabis industry has been shut out from many of the most effective marketing and advertising strategies. In some cases, those restrictions come in the form of strict state and federal laws. In other cases, it’s simply due to a lack of ad tech platforms willing to accept their campaigns.

But times are changing, and new doors are opening up to businesses in the cannabis industry.

Ridesharing Inches Forward as Industry Looks for New Path

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Years of rising demand for ridesharing services came to a full stop this spring, as coronavirus spread and communities across the globe were put under lockdown. Now, as ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft begin inching their way forward toward a new normal, they’re looking at how to adapt to the completely new environment in which they find themselves.

Commentary

Four Years After GateHouse, Brad Dennison Has Become a Local News Rover

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There’s a new nameplate in hyperlocal news publishing, and just about everything about it is boldly different, including the name—Rover. This combination digital daily and print monthly was launched in suburban Nashville last week. In this Q&A, Tom Grubisich talks with one of Rover’s architects, Brad Dennison.

Selling to Multi-Location Brands: Streaming Video Is On the Rise

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Suppliers of local marketing technology and services should move streaming video up on their priorities lists and help their brand customers apply it effectively.

Your Voice-First Future is Here

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Digital giants are forging a path to every consumer, looking to win a home automation arms race. You, too, should be considering how to connect in new ways with your customers because voice and speech recognition are ready for prime time.

Latest Posts

Local Media Consortium Signing 6 Revenue Partners, Adding More TV Stations

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The organization is making major strategic changes – and more are on the way — as it seeks to strengthen the revenue power of its members, who represent a big chunk of the embattled digital local news industry.

Street Fight Daily: Google Builds Cloud-Based Measurement Service, Uber Nabs Google Search Exec

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google is Building a Cloud-Based Measurement Service for Advertisers… Uber Hires Google’s Former Head of Search, Stoking a Rivalry… Retailers Turn to Silicon Valley to Lure Customers…

6 Tools Brands Are Using to Stop Ads From Appearing on ‘Fake News’ Sites

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Fake news isn’t just a problem for consumers. It’s a problem that brand advertisers are facing, as well, as they struggle to ensure their display ads aren’t showing up alongside inflammatory online content. Here are six examples of tools that major brands are using right now to keep their ads off of disreputable sites.

Street Culture: inMarket Retains a ‘Startup Mentality’ as It Scales Up

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“Startup culture doesn’t just mean a stocked kitchen with burritos in the freezer and tons of snacks in the kitchen, or jeans in the office,” says the company’s communications VP Dave Heinzinger. “It means everyone has the ability, from the CEO on down, to roll up their sleeves and really go to work on whatever needs to be done.”

Street Fight Daily: SMBs to Ramp Up Digital Marketing, Snap Adds Ad Targeting Based on Third-Party Data

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Mobile Driving Marketing Spend Among SMBs… Snapchat to Enable Offline Purchase Ad Targeting… Marketing-Mix Modeling: A Road of Missed Opportunities for Brands…

Is It Time to Redefine ‘Local’ Marketing?

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We’ve reached a pivot point where local market nuances and differences can create definable opportunity. I am not saying that the age of the big box retail or e-commerce portal are over, but if a brand does a better job at leveraging local marketing it can create a competitive advantage and differentiation point.

SeeClickFix Grows Its Base to Over One Million Problem-Flagging Citizens

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SeeClickFix has used 21st-century technology to fix 2,666,448 issues (and still counting) in municipalities and other jurisdictions around the country. In this Q & A, CEO Ben Berkowitz talks about how the company he founded eight years ago has forged partnerships with 300 governments and other entities.

Street Fight Daily: Twitter Drops Buy Button, Google Privileges Its Own Products in Ads

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Twitter Unclicks Buy Button, Signaling Unclear Future for Social Commerce… Google Uses Its Search Engine to Hawk Its Products… Snapchat is Now Pitching Brands on Sequential Video Ads…

Post in the Machine: How Blockast is Taking a Shot at Local News Collection

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The local news automation camp keeps graduating hopefuls. One of these is a four-year-old startup spawned from the mind of a former Microsoft-Amazon engineer who faced a very common problem: “how do I find out what’s happening outside my home right now?”

Near CEO: Bad Data Remains a Big Challenge for Location Platforms

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Near enables brands and businesses to “visualize, engage and analyze audience data including their location and behavior for data-driven decisions.” Street Fight recently caught up with Near’s founder and CEO, Anil Mathews, to talk about location intelligence in 2017 and what types of new use cases we may soon see.