News and Analysis
Local Social Network Nextdoor Raises $123 Million
The digital advertising proposition for Nextdoor is obvious—what better way to drive customers into nearby brick-and-mortar stores than to generate buzz on a social platform centered on users’ physical location? Venture capitalists see the value proposition, as Chris Varelas, co-founder and managing partner at Riverwood, proclaimed Nextdoor as the “future of local community and commerce.”
6 Influencer Marketing Platforms for Brands
As some of the most visual social channels, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest have become important tools for brand marketers. These are also the channels most likely to be used by so-called “influencers,” the social media stars who frequently partner with brands to promote products to their online followers. Influencer marketing has become a big business, with 31% of retailers now working with brand advocates to become influencers and 28% using paid celebrity influencers to spread the word about their products and services.
Here are six popular influencer marketing platforms being used by retailers and brands right now.
Retailers Use Visual Channels to Attract Last-Minute Mother’s Day Shoppers
Spending on Mother’s Day is expected to reach $25 billion this year, with consumers flocking to department stores and florists in search of the perfect gifts for Mom. The bulk of that spending will happen in the next few days, as foot traffic data from the location platform GroundTruth reveals that Americans tend to wait until the very last minute to shop for Mother’s Day gifts.
What are retailers around the country doing to prepare for the onslaught of last-minute shoppers? More than ever before, retailers are leaning on visual marketing opportunities to drive last-minute sales.
Commentary
Taking Proximity Tech Beyond Promotional Offers
Once a beacon program is successful with promotions, many retailers think they only need to maintain what they have. But the technology also affords retailers a number of other opportunities to reach and engage with customers beyond simply delivering offers.
Will the ‘Physical Web’ Help Retailers Reduce Annoying Ads?
While still in its infancy, and not yet realized, the physical web will prove to be an asset to franchisees looking to connect, and engage with, potential customers from their surrounding neighborhood – without barraging them with untimely and irrelevant messaging.
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…
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.
Ad Blockers: One Big Distraction from the Real Issue
In a year of overblown topics, the grand prize goes to mobile ad blockers. The backlash is not only disproportionate to real impact but also has fueled the wrong conversation. Instead of fighting ad blockers — or fueling them in the case of biased reports — the ad industry should ask itself how it got in this position to begin with.
Street Fight Daily: Amazon Could Launch Air Delivery Service, Yelp’s Stoppelman Goes After Google
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon in Talks to Launch Its Own Air-Cargo Business (Seattle Times)… Google Has Lost Its Mind, Says Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman (Recode)… Etsy Launches Trendy Local Maker Guides for U.S. Cities (The Next Web)…
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.
For Small Businesses, the Tide Is Turning
With a high percentage of retail consumer spending occurring in the last six weeks of the year, the fourth quarter is a good time to take the temperature of business owners. Recent surveys from Thumbtack and Yelp indicate an overall positive outlook heading into 2016.
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.
Street Fight’s Big 3
Street Fight Columns
Street Fight Categories
Why Restaurant PR Matters for Local Growth