News and Analysis
‘A Buyer’s Market’: Why OOH Is in Demand During the Pandemic
During a time when many other types of advertising have faltered, out-of-home (OOH) advertising is having a moment. Despite a nationwide pandemic, OOH activations are on the rise. Political spending on OOH media is up 75% compared to the same period in 2018, and direct-to-consumer brands are seeing increases in both aided and unaided brand awareness.
What’s driving the push? According to Quan CEO Brian Rappaport, there’s been a distinct change in consumer traffic patterns since the pandemic began. Brands that are capitalizing on those changes are reaching targeted groups of consumers at “firesale” prices.
Local Businesses Face Negative Reviews Due to Coronavirus Safety Requirements
Google has taken several important measures to assist businesses during the pandemic, but none so far can prevent customers angry about coronavirus-related restrictions from lashing out at businesses attempting to follow public health best practices or the letter of the local law. “The review space has never been harder than right now,” wrote GatherUp co-founder and reputation management expert Mike Blumenthal.
But there are also possible strategies for survival.
With Walmart+, Retailer Combines Digital Subscription Service and Physical Stores
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.
Commentary
Will AMP Become a Web Standard for the World of Commerce?
“If Google succeeds at improving AMP with Wordpress and AMP for HTML, it will still be two to three years before SMB adoption has significant impact given how slowly the SMB moves on this front,” Mike Blumenthal tells David Mihm in their biweekly column.
LBMA Podcast: Zara, Caliburger, Cab Digital Media & Telestra
This Week in Location Based Marketing is a weekly video podcast from the Location Based Marketing Association with Asif Khan, Rob Woodbridge & Aubriana Lopez. On the show: Zara deploys robots, Cab Digital Media + Telestra, Caliburger goes with facial recognition.
How Facebook’s Big Changes Impact One Local Publisher — Some Surprising Conclusions
“It looks as if Facebook’s changes are only going to help New Canaanite’s visibility in the news feeds of our Facebook followers and their networks,” Michael Dinan, the site’s founder, told our columnist Tom Grubisich.
Latest Posts
Raise Report: New Funding for xAd, Glint, Periscope Data
Every two weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes funding for Womply, Musement, TrendKite, and Job Today.
5 Ways to Use Social Media to Drive More In-Store Sales This Holiday Season
’Tis the season for brick-and-mortar businesses to figure out their digital marketing strategies for the holidays, if they haven’t already. With holiday sales coming up next week, here are some ways that businesses can use social media marketing to get more foot traffic into their stores.
Is Black Friday’s Importance Waning for Brick-and-Mortar Retailers?
As consumers do more of their holiday shopping online, brick-and-mortar retailers are working harder than ever to capitalize on evolving foot traffic patterns. Data scientists at Foursquare analyzed foot traffic trails from U.S. users to try and predict what next weekend’s sales numbers might look like.
Unacast, JUICE Mobile Partner to Provide Proximity Data at Scale
JUICE Mobile will license Unacast’s beacon and proximity data for advertisers to use in attribution and retargeting campaigns. The partnership is one of the first that allows advertisers to use beacon and proximity data at scale in retargeting and attribution.
Street Fight Daily: Snap Files for IPO, Belly CEO Steps Down
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Intel is Investing $250 Million in Self-Driving Cars… Snapchat Files for One of the Biggest Tech IPOs in Years… Simpli.Fi Extends Mobile Geo-Fencing Solution With Event Targeting Feature…
Why Social Media Is a Battleground for Prompted Search
In a world of omnichannel search, a business’s social media spaces are places where consumers can find what brands have to offer at a local level. As consumers search across a larger palette of devices and channels such as social, a brand needs to view its social spaces as battlegrounds for prompted search.
How Physical Retailers Can Improve Conversion Rates on Black Friday
Sales forecasts for this upcoming holiday season haven’t been as optimistic as many hoped, but there are some highlights that retailers shouldn’t ignore. Here are seven strategies that retailers can use to increase conversion rates on Black Friday and throughout the holiday season.



















































Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem