News and Analysis

What Search Behavior During Covid-19 Means for Healthcare Marketers

The headlines are everywhere. Open any newspaper, and you’ll see story after story about coronavirus and its impact on American society. But new data on consumer search behavior shows Covid-19 isn’t the only healthcare topic on people’s minds right now.

In an analysis of consumer search trends during the coronavirus pandemic, a team from the healthcare provider scheduling and search platform Kyruus found that search terms seemingly unrelated to Covid-19, such as “diabetes,” “cancer,” and “depression,” continue to rank more highly than those associated with the virus.

As Agencies Feel the Squeeze, Covid-19 Reshapes the Martech Industry

One in four small businesses has temporarily shut down, and 43% believe they have fewer than six months until permanent closure is unavoidable. With the small business community in panic mode, budgets for digital marketing have been slashed, and agencies are feeling the pinch.

“Everyone has been in panic mode, and rightly so. Businesses are worried about who might have to be furloughed [or] laid off, getting their PPP loans, what kind of regulations do they need to comply with, [and] what their contingency plans are for keeping any amount of revenue coming in,” says Simon Schwartz, founder of Locasaur. “Businesses are not interested in being pitched new marketing tech.”

5 Retail Tech Solutions Keeping Shoppers Safe During Covid-19

Beacons, sensors, security cameras, and touchless payment solutions are all being used in ways they haven’t been before. Technology vendors are even changing up their offerings, or in some cases pivoting altogether, to better serve the retail market during this ongoing pandemic.

Here are five examples of technology providers offering innovative solutions for enhanced social distancing and improved shopper safety during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Commentary

With Data and Local Guides, Google Maps Stays Ahead of the Rest

Justin O’Beirne marvels that, with the AOI initiative, Google has figured out how to “create data out of data,” meaning that AOIs are a mashup of 3D modeling and data extraction from images. Looked at more broadly, this is not the only example where Google has built features on top of features within the Maps universe.

Are Emerging Markets the Way to Grow Your Local Marketing Business?

The intersection of today’s global economic environment and emerging technological advances present a unique window of opportunity for local marketing businesses to successfully become first-movers in emerging markets if they are willing to be strategic.

Are All-In-One Marketing Suites Really the Best Solution for SMBs?

SMBs are starting to turn to third-party platforms to build highly specialized, best-of-breed martech stacks. By weaving carefully-selected tools together, SMBs can construct an enterprise-level toolbelt that’s affordable, top-of-the-line and easy to integrate.

Latest Posts

5 Tools for Buying Local Ads in National Publications

By placing localized ads in national publications, smaller businesses and national chains with physical locations can cut down on wasted spending and ensure their ads are only being seen by consumers in the markets they serve. At the same time, these businesses are getting access to high-quality publications for a tiny fraction of the typical cost.

Burbio Creates Smarter Community Calendars for Local Events

Calendar and event sites in surburban towns have a “massive pain point,” according to hyperlocal entrepreneurs Dennis and Julie Roche. Their company, Burbio, tailors calendar information for consumers so that they can more easily keep up with everything that’s going on in their communities.

Street Fight Daily: Salesforce Launches Retail Platform, 55% of Online Shoppers Start on Amazon

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Salesforce Announces Cloud-Based Retail Platform for In-Store, Online (MediaPost) As part of the Customer Success Platform, retail brands on the Salesforce Commerce Cloud can transform how they connect with their customers at every step in the journey: from discovery, engagement, and transaction to […]

Verve CEO: Eliminating Uncertainty in Location Data Is ‘Critical’ for Mobile

Street Fight recently caught up Nada Stirratt to talk about how brands are coming to understand location as a part of their mix, why high-quality location data is so vital for marketers, and where the “white space” is in local tech.

Pingup and EatStreet Set the Table for Simple Digital Food Ordering

Ordering dinner is getting a little bit easier. Two powerhouses in the chain that links that Chicken Phad Thai to the plate on your table are partnering to simplify the process of actually getting it there. EatStreet, the digital ordering service with more than 15,000 restaurants in over 250 cities in its quiver and transactional tech developer Pingup (connecting scores of […]

Street Fight Daily: Amazon Eats Up Warehouse Brand Market, Figures on AMP’s Progress

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Prime May Be Cannibalizing Traditional Warehouse Brands’ Customer Pool… Need for Speed: Google Shares Its Progress on AMP… How Millenial Journalists Are Unraveling Local News for their Peers…

State of Hyperlocal: Early Returns From Street Fight’s Annual Survey

The early results of our annual survey indicate that suppliers of local marketing and commerce technology and services see their customers continue to increase spending on social media and mobile marketing — and their own investments are following the money.

Is Apple’s Encroachment on Local Finally Ready for Prime Time?

“I see [Apple’s] messaging platform as the third leg of mobile (joining the web and apps) that we need in place for the transition to non-traditional interfaces like voice,” Mike Blumenthal tells David Mihm. “Apple is building out a stable of ‘body’ computers with the Watch and now the AirPods that can provide an interface to the web.”

Street Fight Daily: Google Ups In-Store Attribution Efforts, Twitter Considers Takeover

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Brings Store Visits to Google Display Network, Debuts Cross-Device Retargeting… Twitter is Said to Be Discussing a Possible Takeover… The Biggest Problem with Snapchat’s Geofilter Product

Openings and New Hires at Momentfeed, Bango, Valpak

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 Fit Small Business, Factual and Freckle IoT