News and Analysis

6 Marketing Automation Solutions for Cannabis Businesses

The cannabis vertical is filled with dispensaries, laboratories, growers, manufacturers, and on-demand delivery services. More broadly speaking, the industry is comprised of plant-touching businesses (growers, processors, dispensaries) and ancillary businesses (delivery apps, payment processors, technology solutions). What businesses in both of these categories rely on is marketing to attract and retain customers, which helps to explain why the number of marketing automation solutions for cannabis businesses is growing so quickly.

Here are six examples of marketing automation platforms aimed at the cannabis industry.

To Meet Consumer Demands, Automotive Marketing Goes Vertical

While customer feedback is coming in from every direction, the automotive industry has done a better job of funneling reviews into vertical-specific platforms than some other industries. Large auto retailers like AutoNation are making major data stack investments, while others are working to improve their online ratings and reviews by engaging more frequently on sites like Facebook and Yelp as well as on automotive-specific platforms like Cars.com and Edmunds.

Jump of 0.1 in Five-Star Review Averages Can Make the Difference on Conversion

When customers are looking for a quick fix and do not intimately know the shops around them, star-rating averages are crucial. A new report by location-based marketing firm Uberall indicates they are so influential in consumer decision-making processes that a mere 0.1-point jump in a store’s average rating can increase its conversion rate by 25%.

Commentary

Report: Social Media Continues to Be a Top Marketing Tactic for Local Merchants

The fourth edition of Street Fight’s Local Merchant Report shows a continued movement to social media as a preferred marketing tactic among local merchants. They deem it their most effective tactic, so they’re increasing their spending. Analysis of the survey suggests that would-be marketing suppliers can help them integrate social with their own site and email campaigns, as well as assisting them with reputation management and reviews.

Location Data for Brands: ‘Alternative Facts’ No Longer

As the proximity industry grows, it’s important for brands investing in location and proximity to understand the differences between the various data points and technologies on the market. These differentiators can greatly affect how the proximity and location data is applied towards a brand’s marketing goals.

Made for Each Other: Wallets, Loyalty, and Mobile Payments

It’s fair to say the local marketing industry has been a little disappointed by the adoption of mobile payments. The combination of a sluggish hardware upgrade cycle and consumer reluctance appears discouraging. But there are catalysts on the near horizon.

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Jet.com Pilots Grocery Delivery, OpenTable Battles New Competitors

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Jet.com is Piloting Grocery Delivery (But it May Take 2 Days to Arrive)… Reserve, Other Startups Fight OpenTable for a Seat… Uber Recognizes New York Drivers Group, Short of a Union…

Will an ‘Internet of People’ Threaten the On-Demand Heavies and Give Power to SMBs?

Fermat wants to allow customers and small businesses (or people offering services) to talk directly to one another and pay for services using the likes of Bitcoin. As founder Luis Molina says: “Fermat aims to replace the ‘Sharing Economy,’ where powerful intermediaries extract significant value and information from every exchange.”

5 Platforms to Quickly Sell Overstocked Items

When brick-and-mortar businesses have a surplus of inventory, they have a few options. For local merchants, deal-posting sites that use hyperlocal technology to target nearby consumers in real-time are becoming a popular solution.

Sponsored Post: How a Digital Agency is Key to SMB Marketing Success

Sometimes local marketing moves to the back burner. The marketing industry moves quickly, and it’s often difficult to keep up with the shifts in consumer behavior, spending, technology, and effectiveness. Fifty-three percent of marketers admit that their primary challenge is the lack of resources and bandwidth needed to stay on top of localization strategies…

Street Fight Daily: Uber Taking Bids for Its Cloud Business, Google Launches Local News Tag

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Launches Local Source Tag to Help You See More Local News… Amazon to Launch a Blue Apron-Like Recipe Delivery Service This Fall… Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Might Be Going to War Over Uber’s Cloud Business…

The Real Problem With Duplicate Data

Duplicate information — or information that is exactly like something else — isn’t the problem. The problem is publishing inconsistent data (or publishing two different listings) that are referencing the same location.

Case Study: Coffee Chain Tracks Service Levels with Mobile Messaging Tools

For Philz Coffee, a “third-wave” coffee chain with a focus on drip coffee, customer service has become a differentiating factor. For more than three years, Philz has been working with hyperlocal vendor OwnerListens to collect valuable feedback from customers.

Spring Brand Battle: Jackson Hewitt vs. Liberty Tax

Spring’s Brand Battle was the closest one yet with a spread of just four points overall. Local advertising and SEO strategies called the winner this month, and the losing contender would have had a better chance of overtaking its competition with more focus in those areas. Find out whether Jackson Hewitt or Liberty Tax Service earned a better return on local advertising effort!

Street Fight Daily: Groupon Sells Off Breadcrumb to Upserve, Google My Business API Updated

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Groupon Just Sold its Restaurant Software Business to Upserve… Google Updates the Google My Business API to Version 3.0… Uber and Lyft Threaten to Leave Austin After Prop 1 Loss…

Raise Report: New Funding for Via, Drivy, Home Chef

Every two weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes new cash infusions for Bnbsitter, Passport and Trov.