News and Analysis
96% of Companies Say They’re Losing Subscribers for Fixable Reasons
Ninety-three percent of companies that rely on subscribers say retaining existing customers is as or more important than acquiring them, and 96% say they are losing subscribers for reasons they should be able to ameliorate. That makes pooling industry resources and determining means of improvement urgent, and that is the precise subject of a new report by Brightback, a customer retention software firm.
Survey: What Marketers Want from Location Data
Marketers surveyed showed an especially keen interest in understanding how they can integrate location data with other kinds of information. Asked how they deploy location data, 27% said it’s a “key component of a broader strategy to map the customer journey online and offline.” Twenty-six percent, the second-largest segment, said they were interested in learning how to marshal location data in conjunction with other data to achieve more advanced goals than their current practices allow.
Charting the Rise of Conversational AI
Conversational AI is a broad term used to describe technologies that automate conversations and personalize customer experiences. With the right systems in place, brands are able to understand, process, and actually respond to voice inputs in a natural way. While voice assistants, chatbots, and messaging services like WhatsApp, Kik, and Facebook Messenger can all be harnessed in a conversational AI strategy, virtual assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri are the most popular tools adopted by brand marketers today.
Commentary
Lots of Facebook News — But Little Progress in Local
Instead of integrating multi-media news consumption with entertainment, community conversations, events calendars, advertising, and a buyers and sellers marketplace, Facebook is isolating them as components. While this is consistent with its separate apps approach, it likely won’t result in as much audience cross-fertilization as it should. Nor does it feel at all local advertiser-friendly.
Should Local Businesses Ask for Reviews?
Reputation management services should focus on helping businesses understand what consumers are saying and engage with reviewers by responding. Unbiased review content is a true goldmine for the brand who works with a reputation company to glean deep insights about consumer sentiment offered by consumers themselves for free.
Two Big Facebook Moves in the First Two Weeks of 2018
“It will be interesting to watch how much SMBs’ costs go up with Facebook to achieve the same level of engagement that they have been enjoying,” Mike Blumenthal tells David Mihm in their biweekly column. “As Google expands their many local offerings, this might just play into their hands by forcing businesses back to Google My Business.”
Latest Posts
Why Local Marketing Tech Is Strongly Influencing 2016’s Furious M&A Activity
This year, investment in marketing tech is on pace to more than double the investment in ad tech, suggesting just how promising this market is. Because these solutions are in high demand and are built on a recurring and relatively predictable software-as-a-service (SaaS) revenue model, profits have surged.
Apps Continue to Battle, But the Mobile Web May Be Catching Up
With a shift to mobile websites, most mobile marketing dynamics will remain, although implementation for sites versus apps will be more than nuanced. Mobile search is already undergoing shifts, and listings management must take into account the role of the mobile platforms, maps, and, probably, Amazon.
How Car Marketers Get Customers
Consumers are becoming savvier in the ways they research and purchase new cars, favoring online research over conversations with real world salespeople. So car marketer are using SEO, pay-per-click, third-party directories, and call tracking software to bring in leads. (Sponsored by CallRail)
Street Fight Daily: Bloomingdale’s Capitalizes on Snapchat Geofilters, Amazon Video Threatens Retailers
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Snapchat Geofilters Help Bloomingdale’s Connect with Next Generation of Shoppers… Amazon’s Video Steaming Service is a Threat to Retailers, Not Netflix… Google Looking at How to Measure Brand Awareness for Search…
Vistaprint Launches Platform to Connect Online and Offline Marketing
Vistaprint is expanding beyond its roots as a provider of custom printed products today, with a new suite of digital marketing tools for “micro” business owners. The company’s redesigned website building platform will include tools for social media marketing, local listings, email marketing, and business email, along with design services.
Can Google Shift Its Revenue Model From Advertising to Products?
“Google rolling out integrated hardware and software is a big change,” Mike Blumenthal says to David Mihm. “They have tried their hand at manufacturing many times and failed, but this feels more strategic. Clearly their AI assistant effort is central and it seems that AI is table stakes for the coming battles.”
DAC Group’s Fritz: ‘Consolidation Has Already Started’ in Local Tech
“The biggest opportunity [will materialize] as we start to see technology platforms look at areas outside of their sweet spot,” says the company’s VP of business development. “We’ve heard rumblings around technology companies looking to purchase more agency solutions, as well as vice versa: agencies looking to acquire for tech.”
Street Fight Daily: Consumers Slow to Embrace E-Grocery, Location-Based Marketing Drives Foot Traffic
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… One Local Market — Packaged Food and Household Goods — Resistant to E-Commerce… Location-Based Marketing Boosts Store Visits… Gordon Borrell on Why Facebook is Killing It in Local Advertising…
LBMA Podcast: Waze’s Brands, EatStreet/PingUp, and McDonald’s.
This Week in Location Based Marketing is a weekly video podcast from the Location Based Marketing Association with Asif Khan and Aubriana Lopez. On the show: Skedaddle, Netclearance, Marriott’s #Mgravityroom, Under Armour, Sears + Uber, Google Trips, Sito Mobile + Blue Bite, and Verizon buys Sensity.
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Why TV Remains the Heartbeat of Local Connection