News and Analysis
The Future of Location in Retail: Beyond Ad Targeting
Location data is serving as the conduit to connect consumer-facing marketing initiatives with behind-the-scenes merchandising and logistics. According to a survey by Blis, WBR Insights, and Future Stores, the majority of retail marketers (71%) have some type of location strategy in place, with the primary goal being to drive foot traffic and trigger location-based mobile advertising. That’s not a particular surprise, given how popular the latest location-based marketing tactics have become. More surprising, however, is how common it has become for retailers to use location data for local product and inventory search (60%) and localized online customer service (51%).
Amazon’s Dash Buttons Have Met Their End. Does Their Demise Truly Signal Failure?
Dash buttons were met with detractors right from the get go. Some called out the “hideous” design, while others lambasted Amazon for creating $5 buttons that would inevitably end up in landfills. But at Amazon, the Dash button initiative isn’t considered a failure. Rather, the project was designed to get consumers more comfortable with the “connected home” concept and the idea of shopping through devices other than desktop computers and smartphones.
Commentary
Why Brands Need to Master Prompted Search
When a business launches a new product, or, say, the latest Harry Potter adaptation hits the market, retailers are often challenged to update their location pages in a timely manner to show the availability of the product for consumers who rely on local search to find what they want nearby.
Why Local Marketing Tech Is Strongly Influencing 2016’s Furious M&A Activity
This year, investment in marketing tech is on pace to more than double the investment in ad tech, suggesting just how promising this market is. Because these solutions are in high demand and are built on a recurring and relatively predictable software-as-a-service (SaaS) revenue model, profits have surged.
Apps Continue to Battle, But the Mobile Web May Be Catching Up
With a shift to mobile websites, most mobile marketing dynamics will remain, although implementation for sites versus apps will be more than nuanced. Mobile search is already undergoing shifts, and listings management must take into account the role of the mobile platforms, maps, and, probably, Amazon.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: How Google and Apple Dominate the Web, Self-Driving Lyfts Are Coming
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… The Web Giants Are Raising the Performance Bar on Everyone (ReadWrite)… GM to Launch Self-Driving Lyft Fleet in Austin, Texas (Mashable)… How Local Governments Are Using Technology to Serve Citizens Better (Harvard Business Review)…
Ad Tech, Local Media and the 2016 Political Campaign
In this year’s presidential campaign, news and information consumers can be reached via a wide range of channels, and media buys can be executed in milliseconds. Now that local inventory has joined this channel, political camps have the ability to execute local campaigns on a massive scale.
Turf Talk Redux: Looking for the Future in Companies, People, and Products
I like to be a little out in front of things. Not too far (hyperloops) and not too close (digital couponing). In my writing about local marketing and media (both here at Street Fight, and previously), I’ve generally been most comfortable investigating advancements that attempt to intersect the possible and the inevitable. For instance: the […]
Street Fight Daily: How SMBs Can Win at Local Search, Uber’s New Feature Is a Lot Like Foursquare
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… How Brick-and-Mortar Merchants Can Win in Local Search (Street Fight)… Uber Will Give You Things To Do While You’re On Your Trip (Mashable)… How Oracle Is Helping Retailers Sell More Stuff (Recode)…
How the Rise of Virtual Reality Could Impact Local Marketing
With each passing tech revolution, response time diminishes while opportunity cost grows. Local media companies that were late to the consumer internet or the smartphone revolution already know this pain. With VR and AR, local startups will be more agile to experiment than larger incumbents.
Nashville ‘Indie’ Home Page Media, Now 5 Sites, Expands ‘Where There’s a Need’
Kelly Gilfillan launched her Home Page Media Group in suburban Nashville in 2009 smack in the middle of affluent turf that had been long “owned” by Gannett’s the Tennesseean. Having expanded her model to several nearby communities since then, Gilfillan is on track to hit $1 million revenue by 2017.
Street Fight Daily: Ford Launching Commuter App, the Benefits of Retail Subscription Models
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Ford Plans Commuter App, Ford Car Not Required (USA Today)… How Subscriptions Are Creating Winners and Losers in Retail (Harvard Business Review)… Challenging Uber, Lyft Bets on a Road Wide Enough for Two (New York Times)…
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The Road Ahead: What Autonomous Cars Teach Us About Marketing Automation