News and Analysis
Yelp Revamps its Business Control Center and Releases Other Pandemic-Adaptive Features
The announcement follows massive layoffs at the company as advertising plunged along with SMB revenue in the face of coronavirus-fueled lockdowns. But a recent Brandify survey showed Yelp remains a massive presence in the local digital marketing space: 64% of US consumers are somewhat or very likely to turn to Yelp when searching for restaurants, second only to the leader across verticals, Google.
Yelp’s new features will prove especially helpful for businesses in the months, if not years during which Covid-19 continues to affect everyday habits, but a number of the changes align with digital marketing best practices that will serve Yelp clients well beyond the next 12 months. Below is a rundown.
Street Fight’s May Theme: Local Commerce’s Recovery Playbook
In our own reporting and analysis (and through the words of our contributors) this month, we’ll define the playbook for local re-entry. As business ramps back up, what will best practices be for local staples such as search marketing and reputation management?
We’ve already covered how businesses are digitizing to adapt to the challenges of commerce in a time of social distancing, embracing curbside pickup, social advertising, pop-up distribution centers, online classes, and retail tech. With an even longer-term view, we’ll examine how this period of uncertainty will shape the future of local commerce.
AARP Launches Platform Empowering Neighbors to Assist Each Other during Pandemic
Built by the team at AARP Innovation Labs over the course of just a few weeks, the Community Connections mutual aid aggregation platform gives volunteers and people in need a place to connect. It features a searchable directory of local mutual aid organizations, which are typically informal groups that provide key daily services, such as picking up groceries and delivering medications to people who are at high risk for contracting Covid-19. People can access the platform to find volunteer groups nearby, with links to those groups’ websites and locator maps.
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
Openings and New Hires at OpenTable, Unacast, Foursquare
Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. This week’s edition includes moves and new openings at Weather Company, Dropsource, Brandify and Tronc.
Raise Report: New Funding for FreshDirect, Tout, Home Chef
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 Zenly, Prowler, TapFwd, and Clearpath Robotics.
Street Fight Daily: Facebook’s Virtual Reality Web Browser, Millenials Prefer Text-Delivered News
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… What Brands Should Know About Facebook’s New Virtual Reality Web Browser… Pew Research Shows Young Adults Prefer Text-Delivered News Over Video… Snapchat Parent Working on IPO Valuing Firm at $25 Billion or More…
Lyft’s Melnick: ‘No Magic Bullet’ for Building a Multi-sided Marketplace
Conjuring up up a community of drivers and passengers for a ride-hailing service from scratch is no easy feat. We recently caught up with Lyft’s New York City manager Seth Melnick to talk about the challenges of multi-sided local marketplaces and about what the company is doing to extend its reach in the city.
McClatchy Strategy: Go Big and Small to Create ‘Moments’ With Each Reader
Like other chains of dailies, the company is pouring resources into how to make the long leap from a no-longer-secure print past to an alluring but uncertain digital today and tomorrow. In this recent Q&A McClatchy’s Chris Hendricks and Dan Schaub detail how their company is planning to meet that future.
Street Fight Daily: Samsung Buys Viv, Twitter Aims to Close Buyer Search This Month
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Buying Viv, Samsung Makes Its ‘Me Too’ Virtual Assistant Play… Twitter to Conclude Sale Deliberations This Month… New Health-Food Drive Thru in Arizona Rethinks the QSR Category…
MomentFeed Uses Location Data to Boost ROI on Snapchat Campaigns
MomentFeed is announcing the addition of Snapchat geofilters to its social marketing platform this morning, as the digital marketing firm inches closer to becoming a one stop shop for multi-national brands looking to fully capitalize on social advertising formats.
Local Visionary Awards Finalists Announced
Over 175 entries were received in the Local Visionary Awards, and 35 companies have emerged as finalists, on their way to the awards ceremony, to take place at Street Fight Summit 2016 on Oct. 25th in New York City. The caliber of the entrants across the board was remarked upon by the judges, who delivered close results for the top half of the entrants…
GasBuddy Enhances Targeting Capabilities With Cuebiq Partnership
GasBuddy is upping the ante on consumer targeting and audience insights from its mobile apps, announcing a partnership with location intelligence firm Cuebiq that will give major brand advertisers better ways to reach audiences on their path to purchase.
Street Fight Daily: Salesforce Eyes Twitter, Apple Enters Search Ad Biz
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Twitter is Expected to Field Bids This Week, with Salesforce in the Mix… Local Visionary Awards Finalists Announced… Apple Enters the Search Ad Biz Today — What Marketers Need to Know…
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Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem