News and Analysis
Local Search Association Crowns the Best Solutions in Local
At its annual conference in Dana Point, CA, this week, the Local Search Association recognized the best solutions in location-based search and advertising with its annual Ad-to-Action awards. Award winners, who competed in a field of over 80 entries and were selected by judges representing companies such as Google, Amazon, and Walmart, included Brandify, PlaceIQ, and Vendasta.
7 Delivery Trends You Should Know in 2019
Greater customer expectations and technological advancements are driving big changes in delivery. What’s more, the delivery experience has emerged as a differentiating factor for customers when choosing one retailer over another. eCommerce retailers that operate solely online and omnichannel retailers that offer a physical and digital presence are both beginning to expand their delivery options to meet customer demand. Here are seven trends that will define retail delivery during 2019.
Commentary
Street Fight Launches 2nd Annual ‘State of Hyperlocal’ Executive Survey
In last year’s State of Hyperlocal report, over half of our survey respondents said they were investing in mobile. Respondents also deemed their own company’s brand awareness as their biggest challenge, even more than proving ROI to customers. What investments will make sense in 2017? With your help, we’ll find out, and present the results at our upcoming Street Fight Summit NYC next month…
As Google Pushes for Users to Stay on Its Platform, What Are the Effects for Local Search
“Obviously Google still controls a fair bit of the searcher’s pre-purchase mindshare, and they obviously want to retain that role,” writes Mike Blumenthal. “They are also fighting like crazy to be relevant in a world where 50% (and growing) of users’ total digital media time is spent in Apps.”
Making Sense of the Mobile Marketing Spending Disparity
Consumers’ relationships with media and mobile devices have changed. Advertising needs to change as well. The responsibility is with advertisers and their agencies and service providers to demand the granularity and specificity that you can only achieve with the targeted data you get from mobile advertising.
Latest Posts
10 Top Location-Based Marketing Campaigns of 2015
Beacons emerged two years ago but only seemed to come into their own in 2015. Despite hurdles to overcome in terms of consumer acceptance, marketers don’t lack impressive numbers for engagement and store visitation, particularly when combined with more commonplace techniques such as geofencing and targeted mobile ads. We asked our friends at GeoMarketing to look back at 10 campaigns that pioneered in the space in the past year.
Street Fight Daily: Foursquare Raising a “Down Round,” Google and Ford Partner for Driverless Cars
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Foursquare Raising Round to Capitalize on Data Business (TechCrunch)… Google Is Partnering with Ford to Build Self-Driving Cars (Business Insider)… With 100,000 Sellers Connected, Square’s App Marketplace Builds a Bridge (TechCrunch)…
ReachLocal Retrenches to Focus on Markets with ‘Potential for Positive, Sustainable Economics’
Local digital marketing firm ReachLocal has been engaged in a lengthy turnaround effort. It announced last week that it was exiting direct sales in the U.K. and focusing on markets with “potential for positive, sustainable economics.” The announcement indicates ReachLocal is still focused on cutting things that aren’t working rather than regaining growth momentum.
LBMA Podcast: Absolut Bottles Become Media Platforms, Swedish Bakery Sends Real Treats in Exchange for Web Cookies
On the show: Pernod Ricard turns Absolut bottles into IoT play; Swedish bakery Pågen sends real treats in exchange for web cookies; Google provides $1 million grant to Wayfindr in London; Irisys launches Gazelle 2; Jane Goodall launches Tapestry of Hope map. Plus, news from PlaceIQ and IRI; Walmart; Sears; Dwolla and Seamless; and GameStop.
Openings and New Hires at Citymaps, Indochino, and Urgent.ly
Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. In this week’s column, Citymaps brings on ex-Nokia HERE CEO as executive chairman, made-to-measure menswear company Indochino appoints a new CEO, and Urgent.ly beefs up with a strategic sales hire.
Street Fight Daily: Yelp and OpenTable End Partnership, Google’s Plans For Accelerated Mobile Pages
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Yelp, OpenTable Part Ways amid Heightened Competition (Reuters)… Inside Google’s Plan to Speed Up the Mobile Web (Poynter)… DoorDash Partners with b8ta for On-Demand Tech Gadget Delivery (TechCrunch)…
Is the Humble Phone Call Actually the Killer App for Local Businesses?
It turns out reports of voice calling’s death are greatly exaggerated. Despite an explosion in data usage and mobile messaging, voice calling — facilitated by search and virtual assistants — remains a popular activity among mobile users. A lot of those calls are going to local businesses, where they are more likely to convert to revenue than web forms or emails.
Why TV Remains the Heartbeat of Local Connection