News and Analysis

Survey: What Marketers Want from Location Data

Marketers surveyed showed an especially keen interest in understanding how they can integrate location data with other kinds of information. Asked how they deploy location data, 27% said it’s a “key component of a broader strategy to map the customer journey online and offline.” Twenty-six percent, the second-largest segment, said they were interested in learning how to marshal location data in conjunction with other data to achieve more advanced goals than their current practices allow.

Charting the Rise of Conversational AI

Conversational AI is a broad term used to describe technologies that automate conversations and personalize customer experiences. With the right systems in place, brands are able to understand, process, and actually respond to voice inputs in a natural way. While voice assistants, chatbots, and messaging services like WhatsApp, Kik, and Facebook Messenger can all be harnessed in a conversational AI strategy, virtual assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri are the most popular tools adopted by brand marketers today.

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.

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

6 DIY Tools Merchants Can Use to Make Video Ads

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’

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’

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.