News and Analysis

As Agencies Feel the Squeeze, Covid-19 Reshapes the Martech Industry

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One in four small businesses has temporarily shut down, and 43% believe they have fewer than six months until permanent closure is unavoidable. With the small business community in panic mode, budgets for digital marketing have been slashed, and agencies are feeling the pinch.

“Everyone has been in panic mode, and rightly so. Businesses are worried about who might have to be furloughed [or] laid off, getting their PPP loans, what kind of regulations do they need to comply with, [and] what their contingency plans are for keeping any amount of revenue coming in,” says Simon Schwartz, founder of Locasaur. “Businesses are not interested in being pitched new marketing tech.”

5 Retail Tech Solutions Keeping Shoppers Safe During Covid-19

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Beacons, sensors, security cameras, and touchless payment solutions are all being used in ways they haven’t been before. Technology vendors are even changing up their offerings, or in some cases pivoting altogether, to better serve the retail market during this ongoing pandemic.

Here are five examples of technology providers offering innovative solutions for enhanced social distancing and improved shopper safety during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Curbside Pickup Moves Into Primetime, But Retailers Struggle With Implementation

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Petsmart and Kohl’s have it. So do Best Buy, GameStop, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and dozens of other national retailers. With social distancing orders in place across most of the country, curbside pickup is becoming an increasingly popular checkout option for retailers. Integrating curbside technology into existing ecommerce fulfillment programs hasn’t been without its challenges, though, especially given how hastily many of these programs have been rolled out.

Commentary

How Augmented Reality Will Change Local SEO

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Ultimately, local SEO is all about engagement, and AR helps brands engage customers. Incorporating AR also shows that your brand is not just up on trends but actually ahead of the curve.

Toward a Better Definition of AI in Internet Communications

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Under broad scrutiny, AI stands for “that thing we do with computer data manipulation that is somehow more complicated than layering algorithms on to data structures. But neither do we agree that the current state of AI represents actual computer or machine learning.

How Marketers Must Prepare for the Voice-Connected Consumer

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As digital media surpasses traditional, marketers must prepare for the changes that will result from connected devices becoming a common source of customer experience. Local search will be of paramount importance as consumers turn to their voice devices, and eventually their connected cars and appliances

Latest Posts

Reimagining the Mobile Banner: In-App Ad Innovation Spares Brands from Google’s Interstitial Pinch

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The future of our work is about designing smarter ways to reach users, so we need to focus on ways to drive engagement, not distraction. And that means finding subtle things that trigger the meaningful interactions. This isn’t 1999; we’re not building banners for last century’s desktop.

So, as January 10 approaches, let’s look at some creative models from the app side of the table

At Hearst Newspapers, a New Digital Strategy to End ‘Flying Blind’

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Just how far local newspapers have to go to plant their flag commandingly in the fiercely competitive world of digital is summed up in a revealing story told by Robertson (Rob) Barrett, the new digital chief at Hearst Newspapers, who says that editors just don’t have information about the interests of the people in their market.

Street Fight Daily: Uber Redesigns App to Facilitate Location-Sharing, Yext Launches Developer Platform

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Uber Redesigns App to Streamline Ride Ordering, Facilitate Location-Sharing… Yext Launches a Developer Platform for Its Location Database Technology… Facebook Shares Sink as Company Announces Ad Revenue Growth Likely to Slow…

5 Ways Brands Are Using Wearables to Create Unique Marketing Moments

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More than 250 million wearables are predicted to be in use by 2018. This presents an incredible opportunity for marketers looking to reach consumers not just based on their locations, but also based on their activity levels and personal interests. Here are five strategies that brand marketers are using.

Report: In-Store Shoppers Disengage From Social Apps

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Retailers and brands are pouring billions of dollars into social strategies designed to influence the way shoppers interact with merchandise inside physical stores, but a new study by inMarket indicates that marketers focused too sharply on social media apps may be missing the mark.

Street Fight Daily: Instagram Adds Tags for Shopping, Twitter Boosts Chatbot Game for Brands

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Instagram Tests Product Tagging Feature to See If It Can Drive Purchases… Twitter Offers Brands Customer Service Chatbots to Use in Direct Messages… IBM Acquires Dialogue-Based Shopper Platform…

Why Local Search Is Even More Important in the Age of Ad Blocking

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With so many people blocking traditional advertising, a growing proportion of internet users cannot be reached through “classic” search engine marketing. That’s why in the context of ad blocking, SEO is still king.

Street Fight Daily: Postmates Secures Funding Amid Stiff Competition, Gannett Abandons Tronc Bid

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Postmates Navigates Tough Funding Terrain for Delivery as It Competes with Amazon and Uber… Uber Drivers Are More Likely to Cancel on Men with ‘Black-Sounding’ Names.. As The Verge Turns Five, Its Redesign Embodies Distribution Age Dynamics…

How Should SMBs Respond to Complaints on Social Media?

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The way a merchant responds to complaints on social media will influence not only the perception of the offended customer, but also the perception of any potential customers who view the interaction online. Here are eight strategies that business owners can use when deciding how best to respond to customer complaints on social media.

Street Fight Daily: Mobile and International Feed Facebook Revenue, Mixed Reviews on AMP

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Mobile, International Dollars Drive Facebook to Projected $33 Billion in Ad Revenue Next Year… Google AMP Gets Mixed Reviews from Publishers… To Aid Attribution, LeadsRx Launches One Tracking Pixel to Rule Them All…