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
Survey: Many Opportunities to Connect Local Media With National-to-Local Marketers
National brands and retailers remain wedded to traditional media and marketing for their local branches, franchises, and resellers. However, they are increasing their spending on digital channels, and over half of them feel it’s important to associate their campaigns with local media and content.
Pokémon Go and Local: Why Now?
The lesson from the phenomenon isn’t for local tech companies to try and build the next Pokémon Go — but rather to build a similarly justifiable value exchange for sharing location. Advertisers and ad networks should likewise work with apps that have that higher likelihood of user opt-in.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Yahoo to Discuss Selling Internet Business, Google’s New Pinterest-Like Feature
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Yahoo Board to Weigh Sale of Internet Business (Wall Street Journal)… Google Turns Image Search into Pinterest with New ‘Collections’ Feature (TechCrunch)… Uber Teams with Enterprise to Let Drivers Rent Cars for Ride-Sharing (Denver Business Journal)…
Case Study: Restaurant Increases Visit Frequency with Mobile Ordering Option
Cold-calling techniques have a notoriously low success rate for hyperlocal vendors trying to onboard new merchants, but it was an unsolicited drop-in that led to The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen’s successful three-year relationship with ChowNow, an online ordering system and marketing platform for restaurants.
Local News Media on Ad Blockers: ‘We’re Not Hemorrhaging Revenue’
Ad blocking on mobile has been in the spotlight since Apple launched its iOS 9 operating system in September. “The loss from ad blockers appears to be more of an opportunity loss for publishers than an actual revenue loss,” said Thomas Sly, E. W. Scripps Co. vp of digital revenue and chair of the Local Media Consortium committee established to respond to the ad-blocking threat.
Street Fight Daily: Social Networks Struggle with Ecommerce, Nextdoor’s ‘Neighborhood Favorites’
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Social Networks Face Obstacles in Road to Ecommerce Domination (Gigaom)… Nextdoor’s ‘Neighborhood Favorites’ Gets Closer to a Business Model (Local Onliner)… Millennials’ Growing Distrust of Plastic Cards Paves Way for Digital Payments (Marketing Land)…
Holiday Weekend a Big Win for Mobile
If U.S. consumers proved reluctant to spend their Thanksgiving holiday in stores, they demonstrated few qualms about shopping online. Digital commerce was up significantly from 2014 levels. The momentum continued into Black Friday, which also saw brick-and-mortar spending reach its highest totals since 2012. The biggest winner over the holiday weekend was mobile: Its share of website traffic and online sales reached record highs.
LBMA Podcast: Western Union and WeChat Partner for Money Transfers, Carvana to Sell Cars in Vending Machines
On the show: Western Union partners with WeChat for money transfers; Carvana to sell cars through vending machines; Millennial Media working with Rentrak to match TV ad viewing with mobile; RedBox offers free movie rentals for “America’s Movie Night;” National Geographic launches “Find Your Park, Love Your Park.” Plus, news from SenionLab; Gravy + ROIchecker; RoamingAround; Google + Virgin America; and Oxfam America + xAd.
Street Fight Daily: Mobile Payment Transactions to Reach $27B by 2016, How to Sell on Social Media
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… U.S. Proximity Mobile Payment Transactions to Reach $8.71 Billion in 2015 (eMarketer)… The New Wave of Selling on Mobile and Social (TechCrunch)… Amazon Books Should Be the Future of Brick-and-Mortar Retail Chains (Gigaom)…
4 Ways You Can Use Google’s Search Analytics Report
Life has not been easy for SEO specialists and webmasters the past few years. Despite Google’s obvious good intentions, the updates it has rolled out, starting with Panda and continuing through to the more recent “mobilegeddon,” have made optimization more difficult for digital marketers. Google’s Search Analytics Report (SAR) is an important step in mending this relationship. Here are four tips to help you get the most out of the new SAR.
Holiday Shopping Data Roundup: $39 Billion to Be Spent Locally This Year
The holiday season isn’t just a big time of year for retail spending; it’s also a big time of year for retail spending data. The stats indicate one common trend: Purchasing is going to be more omnichannel than ever. Here’s a rundown on some key data points for this holiday shopping season.
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