News and Analysis

Retailers Hoping for Record Cyber Monday to Follow Friday Windfall

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US retailers set all-time records on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, wracking up $11.6 billion in online sales. Adobe predicts that Cyber Monday will also set a fresh record of $9.4 billion, pushing the Thanksgiving weekend total to nearly $30 billion.

The increasing importance of online sales has forced traditional retailers to compete with e-commerce natives like Amazon not only by offering their own robust set of deals but also by investing in delivery infrastructure and reducing friction for consumers ordering online. 

Spa Facial

The Beauty Industry is Prepping for Small Business Saturday – Here’s How

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Small Business Saturday is one of the most important events of the year for local beauty and wellness providers. Spas and salons rely on sales of gift cards and beauty products to sustain their businesses during leaner times.

Developed by American Express in the depths of the recession in 2010, Small Business Saturday is placed in the middle of two of the biggest shopping events of the year, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. While proportionally fewer sales happen on Small Business Saturday than Black Friday or Cyber Monday, consumer awareness around the annual event is growing.

The Risks and Outsize Rewards of Political Branding

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In a time of unprecedented political partisanship, the risks and rewards of corporate political messaging are amplified. Viral marketing strategies including Nike’s partnership with racial justice activist and football star Colin Kaepernick, Gillette’s toxic masculinity ad, and Chick-fil-A’s anti-LGBTQ stances rally political sympathizers to a brand’s side and alienate ideological foes.

Street Fight checked in with Jen Capstraw, director of strategic insights and evangelism at growth marketing company Iterable, to get a sense of how significant the benefits and drawbacks of political branding are, which ideological direction political ads are predominantly taking, and how strong the evidence is for the efficacy of partisan messaging.

Commentary

iPhoneX, AR & Local: How Do All the Pieces Fit?

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There are lots of ways that augmented reality (AR) is a natural fit for local commerce. But questions remain: How will AR will materialize in local? How long it will take? And how do these factors signal local startups and media companies where to place their chips?

How Social Media Disasters Can Tarnish Brands

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Gaffes by businesses, celebrities, and politicians on Twitter and Facebook have been with us since the advent of social media, but recent events have highlighted two very serious consequences for brands that may not have been clear previously.

Local Marketing Tricks and Treats for Halloween 2017

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Last year some 171 million Americans spent an astounding $8.3 billion for Halloween, shattering past records. And it’s entirely likely that spending will smash last year’s total. If you’re a CPG marketer, you’ll want to get in on the action.

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Brands See Success with Kik Chatbots, Facebook Demotes Clickbait

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Kik Users Have Now Sent Branded Chatbots Nearly 2 Billion Messages… On Track to Bring in $850,000 This Year, Charlotte Agenda Says Its Model Works… Jet.com Has Been Trying to Beat Amazon at the Wrong Game,,,

Bloom Geolocation Puts Users Where News Is — And Can Guide Them to Nearby Advertisers

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The plugin “empowers the user to pinpoint where they are and then the stories are brought to them. It’s like Pokémon Go for journalism,” says founder Stephen Jefferson. “Users can now walk around to different locations and see what events, what news or crime stories have been reported around them.”

New Report Identifies Enterprise Customer Types & Needs

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In our latest analysis, we discovered that the integration needs of enterprise marketers reveal some clear correlations in terms of attitude, behavior and installed technologies. For example, the companies that found local store sites to be most effective were also doing well with local print, and planned to increase their social, mobile, and digital display advertising.

DevHub Launches ‘TXT a Restaurant,’ Enabling More Interaction With Consumers

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The website-building platform can manage hundreds of local sites for a single agency or brand. This week, the company is launching DevHub Labs and is announcing the group’s first experiment, “TXT a Restaurant” — which will allow local businesses to try out a new digital tool: click-to-text, a new way to connect with consumers who may be hesitant to use the more traditional click-to-call.

Street Fight Daily: Wal-Mart May Buy Jet.com, MasterCard Teams Up with PlaceIQ

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Looking at Amazon, Wal-Mart in Talks to Buy Web Retailer Jet.com… New Report Identifies Enterprise Customer Types and Needs… MasterCard Hooks Up With PlaceIQ for Location-Based Insights…

Why Local Businesses Should Treat Their Store Locator Like a Shopping Cart

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For businesses that operate multiple store fronts, store locators are critical revenue-generating assets. But too often, the locators are treated like a forgotten tool sitting on the shelf, collecting dust and rust. Instead, they need to make the discovery process and conversion to offline visits as easy and personal as Amazon does.

6 DIY Tools Merchants Can Use to Make Video Ads

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The opportunities for businesses that take advantage of video advertising are immense. Pre-roll video ads can familiarize audiences with lesser-known brands, and spots that coincide with PPC campaigns have been shown to increase ad recall and lift brand awareness.

Street Fight Daily: Google Expands AMP, Instagram Debuts ‘Stories’

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Lyft Hit a Record of 14 Million Rides Last Month… Google Expands AMP in Search Results as Retailers Join Push for Faster Mobile Web… Instagram Takes a Page From Snapchat, and Takes Aim At It, Too…

Chef’d CEO: Meal Kits Will ‘Dominate Grocery-Style Shopping Over Time’

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Few verticals have been as significantly disrupted by hyperlocal technological innovation as the food industry, and meal-kit delivery is becoming a big part of that. We caught up with Chef’d CEO Kyle Ransford to discuss the technologies underpinning the disruption of grocery retail.

Case Study: Swedish Salad Chain Boosts Impressions with Local Facebook Pages

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Rather than budgeting for large TV buys, Redfellas is working almost exclusively on using social media for low cost marketing and advertising. Specifically, the Swedish salad and smoothie chain is looking to expand its footprint on Instagram and Facebook with local store pages.