News and Analysis

With Walmart+, Retailer Combines Digital Subscription Service and Physical Stores

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Regardless of which retailer comes out on top, there’s no doubt that many will see Walmart’s decision to launch a digital-first membership program as a turning point in brick-and-mortar retail and a concession on Walmart’s part that e-commerce is the way of the future, displacing rather than complementing old-school retail.

Marcel Hollerbach contends that Walmart’s decision to launch a membership program points to just how well positioned retailers with physical locations are in the current climate, with the ability to quickly facilitate things like in-store returns and same-day deliveries of items that take much longer to ship by mail.

5 Localized Ad Platforms for SMBs

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Localized ad platforms could also see an increase in use in the coming months among SMBs that want to cut down on unnecessary costs. Many of the localized ad platforms aimed at the SMB market take a self-serve approach, allowing business owners to adjust their budgets and adapt their strategies as conditions evolve.

Here are five localized ad platforms that are focused on helping merchants get back on their feet.

CCPA Enforcement Begins. Are Companies Ready?

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The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) generated plenty of headlines when it went into effect on January 1st. We covered tools for compliance, the law’s long-term effects, as well as its pitfalls and promise here at Street Fight. But a six-month grace period before enforcement coupled with the arrival of coronavirus shifted the attention of the location data world partially away from the nation’s first major privacy law.

That enforcement grace period ended this week, and with it, a new era in consumer privacy began.

Commentary

Facebook Apocalypse? What to Monitor

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Will Facebook’s usefulness as a local marketing platform be seriously weakened as a result of its recent privacy scandal and new measures to protect user data? Street Fight recommends monitoring the following to evaluate how serious the damage is.

Google As Website? The Recent Explosion in Knowledge Panel Features and Interactivity

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“Presentation layer doesn’t sufficiently describe Google’s ambitions. They want to be the transaction layer of the Internet—at least in local,” David Mihm tells Mike Blumenthal in their latest biweekly column.

State of Hyperlocal: Report Shows Buyer and Seller Alignment, Attribution Focus

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Both SMBs and multi-location brands listed social media as the top marketing strategy on which they were increasing spending. The majority of both groups said they were maintaining or increasing spending on all of the six digital marketing types we asked about.

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Alexa Enables Voice-Ordered Meals, Boston Globe’s Digital Revamp

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Prime Members Can Now Voice-Order Meals Through Alexa-Enabled Devices… Boston Globe Undergoes Major Overhaul to Compete in Digital Age… Lyft More Than Doubles Fourth Quarter Ridership Year Over Year…

Pingup Extends Reach With New Bing Integration

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Consumers searching for local businesses on Bing will now be able to seamlessly schedule appointments, book services, and place restaurant orders online via Pingup’s local services transaction platform.

5 Ways Brands Are Using Voice-Controlled Systems for Consumer Marketing

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For brand marketers, voice-based personal assistants represent a major opportunity in a largely-untapped space. Consumers are forming intimate relationships with these new technologies, providing major brands with the opportunity to interact with and learn about consumers in a way that hasn’t been possible before.

Street Fight Daily: Brands Cash in on Mobile Search Ads, Amazon Aims to Put Alexa Everywhere

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Brands See Big YoY Jumps In Revenue on Mobile Search Ads During 2016 Holidays… At CES 2017, Amazon Revs Alexa Everywhere Strategy… Marketing Automation is Powerful, But It Can Limit Internal Visibility for Brands…

Sponsored Post: 5 Digital Marketing Trends for the New Year

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If 2016 was any indication of the fast-paced world of digital marketing, 2017 is sure to be another wild ride. To help businesses of all sizes keep up with the constantly changing technology, Vivial has put together our top five digital marketing trends and predictions for the new year.

inMarket Launches Ambient Intelligence Platform for Brands

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Beacon proximity and location intelligence company inMarket announced this morning that it’s launching an ambient intelligence platform designed to change the way brands engage with consumers inside entertainment venues across the U.S.

Is There an SMB Analytics Market? And If So, What Should It Measure?

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“I’m not convinced small businesses without a full-time in-house marketer really care about analytics,” David Mihm tells Mike Blumenthal in their bi-weekly chat. “They certainly don’t have the time or expertise to dive in each week and change their marketing or customer service behavior based on what a dashboard is telling them.”

Street Fight Daily: Retail Brands Deploy AI, Google Teams with Fiat Chrysler on Connected Car Tech

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… 5 Brands Infusing Retail with Artificial Intelligence… Google Teams with Fiat Chrysler to Turn Android Into Top Platform for Connected Cars… Wendy’s Taps Spotify Branded Moments to Catch You When You’re Hungry…

New AIs Offer Surprisingly Traditional Results for Local

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At least for now, Alexa and Google are thinking of AI-powered local search in the traditional sense of providing the user with a range of relevant options — even when organic search is trending toward the single best answer.

Inform Your Multichannel Customer Experience Strategy

Can Chat Apps Help Local Papers ‘Talk’ Their Way Out of Distress?

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Messaging apps would be the ideal medium for U.S. dailies to capture committed readers in the emerging era of the “New Localism.” The big advantage of chat apps is that publishers can send questions and other “push” notifications to subscribers that promote high levels of engagement.