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

New Street Fight Report: Selling to Local Merchants

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Street Fight’s latest report on local merchants is a companion piece to our annual survey of local small and medium-sized businesses, that focuses on vendor strategies for selling local marketing services and up-selling add-ons or suites of offerings.

Using Social Media for Enterprise Local Marketing: Comparing Twitter and Facebook Marketers

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Surveys suggest social media is pretty influential for shoppers, particularly young ones, although they gravitate to Instagram and Snapchat. Big brands are taking heed. Although packaged goods giant P&G said it was paring back its most highly-targeted Facebook ads, it recently confirmed that it was maintaining its overall Facebook spending.

The Place of Newspapers in the Local Marketing Ecosystem

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“Digitally speaking, NextDoor is encroaching on a space that local papers really should own.” David Mihm tells Mike Blumenthal. “It’s basically a glorified forum that in my view would be every bit as successful, if not more so, if hosted by a truly local entity.”

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Google Launches Retail Ad Update, Pokémon Go to Host Local Ads

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Courts Retail and Hotel Marketers with New Features… Ads for Specific Locations Are Coming to Pokémon Go… Why Location Isn’t Enough for Mobile Advertising…

6 Ways That Local Merchants Are Using Pokémon Go to Drive Business

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With interest in the augmented reality game reaching a fever pitch this week, savvy local merchants and national retailers are using social media and targeted rewards to lure in Pokémon Go players and turn them into paying customers. Here are six examples of ways that merchants are doing that right now.

Foursquare President: ‘Huge’ Industry Developing Around Location Intelligence

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As the company maps consumers’ digital actions to where they are and what they do in the real-world, it is looking to become the “Nielsen of the real-world.” Street Fight recently spoke with Foursquare president Steven Rosenblatt about the explosion of location data, and why there is a big opportunity in connecting the dots between ads and store visits.

7 Platforms National Brands Can Use to Run Local Campaigns

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The biggest challenge for national marketers targeting local markets has traditionally been scale, but new hyperlocal solutions are making it easier for major brands to reach hundreds, or even thousands, of markets with individualized campaigns that can be generated with the click of a button.

Street Fight Daily: Pokémon Go and Local Commerce, Millennials and Retail

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Foursquare President: ‘Huge’ Industry Developing Around Location Intelligence… Pokémon Go Gets Consumers Back to the Mall, But Will They Shop?… Lyft and GM Expand Express Drive Driver Rental Program…

Thanx CEO: Loyalty Programs Using Data to Better Identify ROI

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“You don’t want to spend money to collect data if it doesn’t change your revenue, and you want your revenue to deliver value,” says Thanx CEO Zach Goldstein. “A negative ROI on your marketing would say, ‘I should stop doing that,’ and a positive ROI should say, ‘I should do more of that.'”

Street Fight Kicks Off 2nd Annual Local Visionary Awards

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Have you got the goods to take home a belt? For five-plus years, we have tracked the evolution of local, from the trendy daily deals then to the trendy chatbots today. Local is continuously inventing and innovating, and for the second year in a row, we’re honoring the best of these developments with our Local Visionary Awards.

Case Study: Coffeehouse Chain Adds Convenience With On-Demand Delivery

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In addition to increasing sales with added take-out and mobile ordering options, supervisor William Lee is also hoping that on-demand delivery will help to organically bolster Tom N Toms’s presence on social media and mobile channels.

Street Fight Daily: News Sharing Remains Low-Tech, DoorDash CEO’s Crowded Sector

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Pew: Most News Sharing Remains Low-Tech, Offline… DoorDash CEO: Food Delivery Winner Will Be Best Service, Not Biggest Brand… The Athletic Brings Subscription-Based Local Sports Coverage to a City Near You…

Street Culture: Seattle Food Startup Delivers Culture to Chef Partners

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When building trust and loyalty with both customers and employees, the company mission is a backbone often referred back to for consistency and clarity. Food ordering/delivery startups Lish’s three company values are the focus on the customer, quality, and variety, says CEO Aakhil Fardeen.