News and Analysis

Retailers Find New Marketing Opportunities with Wearables

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A recent announcement that Amazon, Apple, Google, and the Zigbee Alliance are working on an open-source network standard is likely to lead to even more investment in connected devices among retailers. The open-source network that the group is working to develop is supposed to make life easier for IoT hardware vendors and software developers, but it also serves a secondary purpose of assuring retailers investing in connected technology that their budgets aren’t being wasted. With a common IoT communication and control standard, smart devices will be even more reliable and seamless to use in the coming years.

“Open source will bring businesses more agility and enable them to process data quickly while simultaneously producing valuable insights,” says Heikki Nousiainen, chief technology officer at Aiven, a firm that develops managed cloud service hosting for software infrastructure services.

Blending Online and In-Store: The Boom of BOPIS

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BOPIS — buy online, pick up in store — has become a fixture among cutting-edge retailers over the past several years. But this holiday season has made 2019 the breakthrough year for BOPIS. There’s rising demand among consumers for this handy shopping option. And retailers, seeing how the tactic benefits them as well, are stepping up to meet that demand.

Centro Teams with CannaVu to Bring Geo-Targeting to Cannabis and Normalize the Sector

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Centro develops enterprise-class software for digital advertising organizations. CannaVu operates an ad exchange for cannabis and CBD marketers. Together, these two companies are working to change the way cannabis brands advertise online and break down the barriers that have slowed industry growth.

Commentary

Facebook Local: The Launch We’ve All Been Waiting For?

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Last week’s rebranding of its Events app as Facebook Local could be Facebook’s long-awaited foray into serious competition with the Googles and Yelps of the world for market share in local search. Meanwhile, another Facebook local product, Marketplace, has proved to be a sleeping giant.

Google Local Service Ads: Ready for Primetime

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“While I do think this is about a new revenue stream in new categories and cleaning up spammy industries the rebranding might just also be an effort (unusual for Google) brand clarity around their Google Home product,” Mike Blumenthal tells David Mihm in their bi-weekly column..

Why DNAinfo’s Shuttering Isn’t a Reflection on the Hyperlocal Digital Opportunity

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The shuttering of these sites was a failure of a business, not a failure of opportunity. The opportunity is there. A multi-billion dollar opportunity. It just needs the right model and good execution to grasp it.

Latest Posts

Why Data Attributes Power the Long Tail of Local Search

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The mandate for brands is simple: manage data attributes as a crucial element of your location marketing strategy. But it’s not enough to create attributes. You need to constantly monitor the ever-changing nature of your business and your customers and be ready to act on your attributes as needed.

5 Predictive Ordering Platforms for Restaurants

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One area where restaurant owners struggle is inventory management — that is, predicting how many diners will show up at a given time and how much food they’ll consume. But many restaurant owners don’t realize that a number of hyperlocal platforms are already offering solutions to help with this issue.

Street Fight Daily: Google Updates Analytics App, Ad Buyers Talk Digital Platforms

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Updates Analytics App, Providing Insights in Five Minutes… What Ad Buyers Think About Facebook, Twitter, and Everything In Between… To Run a Killer Loyalty Program, Retailers Need to Think Big…

Street Culture: Rebuilt After Layoffs, Extole Keeps Culture at the Fore

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“When you have a transition where there’s a new CEO and the company is basically in crisis, it seems like, ‘Oh, this is a perfect time for values,’” said Extole’s Matt Roche. “But it’s unbelievably hard to implement new core values when everyone’s afraid.”

xAd Foot Traffic Data Reveals QSR Trends, Maps Audience Segmentation Opportunities

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At a high level, the report, based on 37 million visits xAd observed on its platform from April 1 to June 30, gives us the inside track on which brands have been the most successful in driving foot traffic to their premises — and which brands have a way to go.

LBMA Podcast: TripAdvisor Buys CityMaps, Google SMB, Placed.

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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: Yik Yak, Cintas, Drawbridge + WeatherAlpha, Wayfair going VR, Hey Area, Shelfbucks + Great Northern Instore, and Retale.

Street Fight Daily: Reassessing Ride-Sharing’s Hold on Consumers, Facebook’s Publishing Disruption

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Reassessing Ride-Sharing’s Relationship with Consumers… Facebook, Header Bidding, and the Fight for Control of the Publisher Ecosystem… These 11 Brands Are Already Using Instagram’s Latest Feature…

Should Publishers Panic Over Facebook’s 98 Ad-Targeting Data Points?

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Businesses are rushing to Facebook with their advertising – that’s reality. But another reality is that an international survey of users found that local news was their favorite among eight categories of news.

For Local Companies Focused on Specific Verticals, a Sharp Focus Can Be Key for Growth

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Bloated technology platforms designed to serve the entire SMB market have slowly been replaced with more targeted vertical plays, but industry veterans still caution that every vertical requires a unique approach.

Street Fight Daily: How Instacart Is Changing Grocery, Beacon Use on the Rise

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Instacart’s App Has Changed Grocery Stores for Good… Proximity Tech, Beacon Usage on the Rise Among Marketers… Should Citations Define the Success of SMBs’ Local SEO Strategies?…