News and Analysis
How the Rise of Unbranded Search Upends Restaurant, Retail, and Grocery Strategy
Fueled by the growth of mobile and set to rocket even further north in coming years thanks to voice, unbranded searches like “burgers near me” or “Thai food” are growing as fast as 113% year over year, according to a fresh study by multi-location marketing firm MomentFeed. Unbranded search grew about 30% from 2016 to ’17 and 56% the following year before doubling pace in 2018-19, suggesting the slope of this trend’s adoption could get even steeper in coming years.
Valentine’s Day Boosts Entertainment, Food, and Social Apps
The data shows that Valentine’s Day marks a major uptick in app usage across verticals. Compared to an average February day last year, on Valentine’s Day, entertainment app usage was up 24%, food and drink apps 20%, and social 16%. Consumers also spent an unusual amount of time on transport (7%) and gaming (6%) apps.
Voice Tech Could Transform Loyalty Programs. Here’s How
Within the hospitality industry, a growing number of hotels are using voice technology to improve personalization with experiences like virtual concierges. Virtual concierges use voice technology to personalize a guest’s stay by offering experiences based on past behavior. For example, virtual concierges can adjust thermostats or place room service orders based on a traveler’s previous preferences. When hotels and other hospitality brands take action based on the insights gathered about guests through their loyalty programs, they improve the overall guest experience.
But brands in a number of industries are exploring loyalty use cases for voice.
Commentary
Where Will VR Fit Into Local Advertising? Part II
It’s important to step back and look at the reality of consumer adoption of VR. The technology is pretty nascent and future-looking — but to what degree? That question can partly be answered by original data on consumer VR behavior and sentiments.
Sophistication, Efficiency, Control: Unlocking the Future of Programmatic Direct for App Publishers and Advertisers
As it splits the difference between real-time bidding and totally manual ad-buy systems, programmatic direct allows publishers and advertisers to create specific agreements around how the process will work. It guarantees protected inventory and premium placements without requiring much in the way of hands-on operation.
iPhoneX, AR & Local: How Do All the Pieces Fit?
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?
Latest Posts
Chef’d CEO: Meal Kits Will ‘Dominate Grocery-Style Shopping Over Time’
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
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.
Street Fight Daily: Attribution Tech’s Star Is Rising, Mall Operator Enlists Local Startups
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… What Yext’s Snapchat Integration Means for Brick-and-Mortar Biz… Attribution is Becoming More of a Priority for Marketers… Giant Mall Company Enlists 10 Tech Startups to Drive Brick-and-Mortar Business…
Survey: Demand for Multichannel Programmatic Is Promising
Nearly one-third of the respondents in Street Fight’s survey who also said that local media and content was important for their marketing were thinking about such cross-channel programmatic. Interest appeared highest for marketers who found local TV effective, but also played strongly with radio and print fans.
7 Retention Marketing Platforms for SMBs
As small and mid-size businesses move away from the once-ubiquitous daily deals platforms, they’re now funneling a great portion of their budgets toward retention marketing solutions. Here are eight examples digital platforms, each taking a unique approach to customer retention.
Street Fight Daily: Uber and Didi Close $35B Deal, Most Businesses Still Lack Mobile Strategy
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Uber Sells China Operations to Didi After Losing Billions… Even as Mobile Gobbles Up Web Traffic, 80% of Businesses Lack Long-Term Mobile Strategies… Excited about Google’s New Map Ads? You Should Be!…
Openings and New Hires at Zenreach, Rocketspace, TruMeasure
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 SweetIQ, AdviceLocal, and more.
Raise Report: New Funding for Kiip, Sprinklr, Shipt
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 Civil Maps, Brandcast, Peek.com, and Density.
LBMA Podcast: Snapchat, Life 360, McDonald’s, Google Nearby
Welcome to This Week in Location Based Marketing, a weekly video podcast from the Location Based Marketing Association with Asif Khan and Aubriana Lopez. On the show: Uber + Digital Globe, Placed, Samsung LANdry, Snorelax Alarm Clock, Vivid VR Cinema.
Street Fight Daily: Amazon Posts Record-Shattering Q2, Whole Foods Enters Meal-Kit Delivery
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Beats Expectations with $857 Million in Profits Driven by AWS, Prime… America’s Meal-Kit Craze Attracts a Big New Competitor… GrubHub Announces More Investments Following Strong Q2…
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Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem