News and Analysis
6 Customer Data Platforms for Brands
Customer data platforms dominated the conversation at the MarTech Conference in California earlier this month, as marketers shared how they’ve been able to pull data from multiple sources, combine that data into single customer profiles, and then make that data available to other marketing systems.
With so much hype surrounding customer data platforms right now, we decided to dig into the market and learn about some of the hottest players in the space. Here’s what we found.
Voice-Readiness Study Indicates Vast Majority of Businesses Fail Basic Listings Test
It only takes listing correct and comprehensive information on Google, Yelp, and Bing for a brand or small business to earn 90% on location management solution Uberall’s voice search readiness test. Yet only 4% of the businesses in the company’s latest study, which examined the voice preparedness of 75,000 listings, had correct info on all three of those major directories.
Government Regulation Is Marketers’ Most Common Concern About Data-Driven Initiatives
Changing political headwinds and increased media attention on data collection and privacy are apparently rattling marketers, who named government regulation as an obstacle to data-driven campaigns more than any other single factor. That’s per a survey of U.S. marketers by Winterberry Group and the Interactive Advertising Bureau, eMarketer reported.
Commentary
The New Proximity: A Second Phase in Mobile Brings Here and Now to Life
The first phase of mobile software relied on us to express a desire and thereby to enable a service. Our actions initiated services that capitalized on the phone’s ability to maximize proximity. Now we’re entering a second phase where, for many of us, connectivity and location awareness will be active for longer stretches of our days.
Mihm & Blumenthal: How Google’s Monetization Shift Will Impact Local Search
In this new feature, local marketing gurus David Mihm and Mike Blumenthal kick around some of the biggest ideas affecting the local search ecosystem and the broader industry. This edition looks at the latest changes from Google and how local marketers should react.
Could the ‘Smart Home’ Be the Next Big Opportunity in Local?
We can now make a taxi, a pizza, or a plumber appear with nothing more than clicking a button or speaking a phrase. And convenience-hungry consumers not only want more, they’re expecting it. Smart home technology is now on deck to deliver on that expectation.
Latest Posts
Targeting Consumers on the Holiday Purchase Path Means Reducing Friction
Around the holidays, consumers tend to spend a lot more time on multiple devices, altering standard shopping habits and behaviors. This means brands and businesses need to ensure they are accurately and competitively represented in search, social, and mobile channels, and that social engagement and advertising efforts are properly targeted to the right consumers at the right times.
Webinar Recap: Marketing and Customer Engagement Tactics for the Holiday Season
Black Friday is a week away. Is there anything brands and merchants can do before then to make their local marketing stand out amid the holiday crush? Yesterday’s Street Fight webinar, “Real-Time Location-Based Marketing Strategies for the Holidays,” in conjunction with Brandify, indicated there’s still time to implement some practical tactics that can make a difference.
Street Fight Daily: Square’s IPO Pricing Lower Than Anticipated, Google Brings App Content into Search
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… For Its IPO, Square Scales Back Valuation by $3 Billion (New York Times)… Google Just Scored a Huge Win for Its Mobile Search (Business Insider)… Starboard Urges Yahoo to Drop Alibaba Spinoff Plan (Wall Street Journal)…
StructuredWeb’s Nissan: We’re Just Starting to See the Complexity Curve Going Up
Long sales cycles, smaller target audiences, higher transaction values — all these characteristics separate B2B from B2C marketing. “There’s a level of precision that you need to have in the B2B space, because otherwise you can spend a lot of money without seeing any results,” said StructuredWeb president and CEO Daniel Nissan.
All Politics Is Data for 2016 and Beyond
The saying used to be that “all politics is local.” A more appropriate term for the 2016 election cycle might be “all politics is data.” In fact, with their emphasis on audience and local targeting and their growing adoption of programmatic buying, political campaigns have begun to increasingly resemble marketing campaigns.
Street Fight Daily: Google Brings Back Google+, Angie’s List Says No to Acquisition (Again)
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Four Reasons Why Google Is Bringing Google Plus Back to Life (Recode)… Angie’s List Turns Down IAC’s Second Offer to Buy It — This Time for $512 Million (Business Insider)… Lyft Executive Says on Track to Hit $1 Billion in Gross Revenue (New York Times)…
The Challenge for ‘Indie’ News Sites: Monetizing Highly Engaged Audiences
When they met at their recent Chicago convention, independent community publishers and editors talked a lot about what might be called “reve-news.” On everybody’s mind at the Local Independent Online Newspaper (LION) Publishers’ annual meeting was how to monetize news. Even weddings and obituaries can contribute to local news publishers’ bottom line.
5 Tools for Display Ad Creation and Distribution
Programmatic-driven ad spend is expected to reach $14.2 billion worldwide this year. However, research by AppNexus indicates 97 percent of programmatic campaigns still lack targeted creative for individual audience segments. To satisfy this need, more hyperlocal vendors now are creating tools that businesses can use to generate targeted ad content without hiring their own in-house teams. Here are five tools for display ad creation and distribution.
Street Fight Daily: Google Gets Mobile Support from Facebook, Apple Maps Adds Foursquare Data
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Gets Surprise Ally in Mobile-App Search Push: Facebook (Wall Street Journal)… Foursquare Joins Apple Maps Data Sources as Company Builds Out Ecosystem (Search Engine Land)… Uber Is Creating a Ride-Sharing Mesh Network with Its New ‘Destinations’ Feature (The Next Web)…
Retail, Restaurants, and Roofers: Where Does On-Demand Work (and Not)?
A year into the on-demand revolution, the question persists: Where’s it going next? So far, it’s gone into nearly every local vertical, but there are still areas with the right conditions for on-demand models to take root, some of which remain underdeveloped. These include higher-end professional services like lawyers and doctors, project-based work like design and writing, and, of course, SMBs, especially when it comes to local marketing and advertising.
Street Fight’s Big 3
Street Fight Columns
Street Fight Categories
Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem