News and Analysis

Olo Deal Helps Restaurants Access Traffic From Google’s Platforms

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Ninety percent of consumers research restaurants online before dining—more than any other business type—and the vast majority of those web searches start on Google. The search giant plays an important role in the success of restaurant marketing online, making it a desirable partner for any digital platform serving the restaurant industry.

Partnering with Google often means increased search traffic and a strengthened position within the restaurant vertical, which helps to explain the enthusiasm coming from Olo’s recent announcement that it will be working with Google to allow its restaurant partners to receive orders directly from Google Search, Maps, and Google Assistant.

6 Scheduling Platforms for Fitness Studios

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One of the most exciting verticals right now is the fitness space, where the number of boutique gyms and studios is on the rise. Scheduling software has become an absolute necessity for fitness studios, giving clients a way to quickly book classes, pay for memberships, and even check in from their smartphones.

Here are six scheduling platforms serving the fitness vertical.

Direct-to-Consumer Brands Are Winning at Personalized Messaging. Here’s Why

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According to new research conducted by Braze, a company that specializes in growth marketing automation, direct-to-consumer brands beat non-direct-to-consumer brands with 58.6% higher messaging open rates across channels.

One reason for the higher open rates is because direct-to-consumer brands show greater willingness to use automation and iteration to personalize messages and speak to customers at a point in the journey when it makes sense for them.

Commentary

Understanding Facebook’s Place as a Small Business Marketing Vehicle

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“While [Facebook is] not yet anywhere near Google’s ability to generate leads, I have, over the past 6 months, started to see them surpassing Yelp in driving local key performance indicators on the pre-sale side,” Mike Blumenthal tells David Mihm.

‘Deep Audience’: Reach, the Location-Rich Media-Mix, and the Whole Marketing Picture

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TV and other legacy platforms are evolving to become more precise. These forces reflect brands’ desire to reach the people they’ve identified as most amenable to their products, and they reflect the desire to do so with messaging that is deeply relevant to consumers’ lifestyles and interests.

Retailers Need to Use Tech to Work Smarter, Not Harder

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To have any chance for long term survival, retailers and brands need to bring more technology to bear in operating their businesses, enabling them to work smarter, not harder. Here are some strategic ways big retailers can use technology.

Latest Posts

#SFSW16: Loyalty is Back, and It’s Big, But It’s Not Cutting-Edge

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“The premise of our business is that in the past you walk into your local business and everybody knows who you are. It is a very familial relational space,” Ho said. “Our goal is to help these business owners treat every single [customer] as a unique individual. Not long from now it’s either going to be like Minority Report or like Cheers. We want it to be like Cheers.”…

#SFSW16: YP’s Biggest Competitor? SMBs’ ‘Guy’

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Fragmentation is changing the local marketing industry, with smaller sellers encroaching on a space that was once reserved for large national agencies. At Street Fight Summit West, YP CEO David Krantz said the influx of competition is making it tougher to sell bigger advertising services.

#SFSW16: Yelp Announces New CPC Program

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Ten new partners in one week, a “Twitter firehose for local analytics,” and an appearance at Street Fight Summit West 2016. The new programs are helping to further Yelp’s mission to make the local marketing ecosystem less daunting for merchants…

Survey: Some National-to-Local Marketers Still Need Convincing on Digital Effectiveness

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Street Fight surveyed over 200 managers and decision makers at big companies in retail, financial services, and other industries. We asked them about spending patterns, perceived effectiveness, pain points, etc., around their local marketing and advertising efforts.

#SFSW16: Why the ‘Gig Economy’ Is Not the Future of Work

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In a morning keynote at Street Fight Summit West in San Francisco on Tuesday, Thumbtack CEO Marco Zappacosta discussed the challenges facing skilled professionals and long-term trends within the service sector.

5 Tools for Capturing Customers from Competitors

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Merchants can use multiple tactics to turn a competitor’s customers into their own, from timely advertisements and relevant mobile messaging to targeted social media coupons. Here are five examples of platforms businesses can use to poach customers from their competitors,

Street Fight Daily: Google AMP Yields Mixed Reviews, Voice Search Far From Mass Adoption

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Publishers Give Mixed Reviews So Far to Google AMP… Voice Search Remains Far From Mass Adoption…

Yelp Extends Online Booking Capabilities With New Platform Partners

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Yelp took another step in its expansion into the online booking arena this morning, with the announcement that it would be adding five new platform partners to its roster: Whittl, TicketNetwork, delivery.com for laundry, Peek and foodjunky.

Pingup Partners with Yahoo to Expand Online Booking for Local Services

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Pingup, which describes itself as a “transaction platform for local services,” announced a new partnership with Yahoo this morning. The move expands Pingup’s publisher network, allowing users searching for local services on Yahoo to book an appointment on-demand through the Pingup platform.

Deliv CEO: ‘We’re Selling the Picks and Shovels’ for Brick-and-Mortar Gold Rush

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Deliv CEO and Founder Daphne Carmeli — who will be a speaker at Street Fight Summit West tomorrow in San Francisco — caught up with us recently to talk about what sets today’s delivery startups apart from their fallen predecessors.