News and Analysis
More Brands Are Scaling Digital Channels for Customer Engagement — Here’s Why
Communicating with brands on social media has become the norm for consumers. Surveys show that roughly half of all consumers who engage with brands on social media are reaching out about customer care concerns, and more than 65% of social media users across all platforms expect brands to respond, regardless of whether the initial outreach was via private messages or public posts.
Those expectations have only heightened over the past six months, and many brands have had to pivot their customer support and engagement priorities on the fly.
Earnings Season Teases Retail’s Next Normal
Earnings results that rolled out from retail giants over the past week further demonstrate what our next normal will look like. Specifically, Walmart and Target both hit record numbers. This is partly a function of Covid-era circumstances, but it is also due to each retailer’s active e-commerce momentum.
The earnings validate consumer acclimation to digitally infused local shopping. What’s more, other retailers and down-market businesses will look to replicate this success. This can all therefore be viewed as a leading indicator for retail’s next normal.
More Americans Are Using Delivery. The Change Is Here to Stay
Delivery has perhaps been the industry most clearly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. When physically going to brick-and-mortar stores became a life-or-death exercise, delivery, which had already grown under the rise of e-commerce, became an even more essential part of how local commerce functions.
Khaled Naim, co-founder and CEO of delivery software company Onfleet, touched on how delivery has changed in the past months, how long those changes will persist, and what technologies are fueling the widespread increase in deliveries.
Commentary
LBMA Podcast: Alexa, Urgent.ly, Uber
This Week in Location Based Marketing is a weekly video podcast from the Location Based Marketing Association with Asif Khan & Aubriana Lopez. On the show this week: Digital Locations + Ampsy, Fullscreen Digital, Puig, Kedy AR, Diageo goes Alexa.
Denver and Other Communities Get the News Providers They Deserve
Communities, from activist citizens on up to major civic and other nonprofit institutions, will have to step forward to prevent local news organizations from being gutted by owners without roots in the communities those organizations service.
Facebook Apocalypse? What to Monitor
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.
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Predictions 2017: Attribution Is Next
Sponsored Content: The companies who prove that their media is better at driving in-store visits will reap the benefits. Measurement will not come from the vendor itself but rather from third-party measurement firms decoupled both from the buying and selling of advertising and from the platforms on which the media runs.
Street Fight Daily: Here Brings Location Insights to China, Brick-and-Mortar Holiday Strategy
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Mapping Service Here Looks to Bring Location Insights, Mapping Service to China … A Brick-and-Mortar Advantage: Capitalizing on Returns to Make More Sales… Automation Gives Advertising a Moral Struggle: Is Online Reach Worth the Hurt?…
Despite Stumble in Raleigh, Will The Agenda Be Part of ‘New Localism’?
“I’m learning that the success we have in Charlotte isn’t scaleable to other distinct geographies,” said founder Ted Williams. “I’ve become convinced that the key to financial success for an organization like ours is providing a high degree of advertiser customization and customer service. “
Why Hasn’t a Killer App Emerged for Finding Local Events?
The local events space is still waiting on its ubiquitous app. There’s Yelp for restaurants. And Uber/Lyft for getting to and from. But there’s not yet a go-to for the crux of the night – the thing you do when you’re out on the town.
Street Fight Daily: Email Still Digital Marketing King, How to Make Data Actionable
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Email Outperforms Social Media, Paid Search for ROI… Marketers Have Data, But They Don’t Know How to Make It Actionable… Retailers Make 11th-Hour Push to Lure Last-Minute Shoppers…
Street Culture: At Ibotta Good Ideas ‘Come From Anywhere’
“It’s been a challenge as we grow with how to disseminate information,” the company’s HR vice-president Alison Meadows told Street Fight. “We’ve been conscious about getting the next level of leaders below the senior leaders involved in decisions, because they’re going to have to roll them out.”
How Cisco’s Meraki Became the Largest Vendor of Bluetooth Beacon Gateways
While Meraki’s routers have long had the ability to broadcast iBeacon packets, in October they released a software upgrade which enables API access to these radios, activating a major new feature. Now customers can use their Wi-Fi access points to monitor beacons from third party vendors.
Street Fight Daily: Inside Food Delivery Economics, Tricky Ad Equation for Snap and Instagram
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Inside the Brutal Economics of Food Delivery… Snapchat and Instagram’s Young Audiences Rarely Notice Ads on Platform… Facebook Kills Off Exact Location Sharing in Nearby Friends, Adds ‘Wave’…
5 Platforms For Making Tailored Recommendations Across Digital Channels
Getting the right product in front of the right consumer at the right time is the holy grail for both online and offline retailers, and it’s being made easier by new tailored recommendation platforms that use natural language interactions to assist shoppers across multiple digital channels.
How Arrivalist Is Using Location Data to Measure Exposure to Travel Ads
In the past, destination marketers relied on active input from visitors who shared comments on what made them book a trip to a particular place. The ability to anonymously track devices, however, has opened the door to new ways to get real data on travel.
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AI Won’t Fix Advertising – It May Scale Its Chaotic Nature