News and Analysis

5 Big Takeaways from Black Friday 2018

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As Cyber Monday gets underway, another Black Friday looms behind us. Below are the highlights of brick-and-mortar retail’s big day as we prepare for the windfall expected from its digital counterpart.

5 Hot Retail Strategies in Play This Thanksgiving Weekend

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Top retailers aren’t leaving anything up to chance. In one of the biggest pushes we’ve seen in years, retailers around the country are embracing interactive technology and social channels in a play to capture a greater share of consumer holiday spending. Read on to learn about five innovative strategies.

Grocers Use AI, Voice Tech to Manage ‘Black Wednesday’ Crowds

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Beyond managing the Black Wednesday chaos with extra staffers and longer hours, a growing number of supermarkets are using technology to improve the shopping experience and turn rushed shoppers in loyal customers who will return again once the holidays are through.

Commentary

How the Rise of ‘Mobility as a Service’ Will Impact Local Marketing

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Autonomous vehicles will put pressure on all kinds of players. The pressure will be felt not only by car manufacturers but all kinds of other industries including auto dealers, insurance companies and transit systems…

How Top Marketers Are Curating the In-Store Mobile Experience

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With consumer behavior in place, and solutions making technology like beacons as simple as a media buy, mobile proximity is poised to become the fasting growing piece of mobile advertising in 2016. The brands that have tested and learned early on are in great position to scale up and reach their audiences this year.

In 2016, the Local Economy Is No Longer Local

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Yes, we still shop at local stores, but the Walmart in the nearby shopping plaza isn’t the only competitor the local store needs to keep an eye on. Increasingly, it’s a host of online vendors and the growing crop of on-demand startups that have become an indelible feature of the local business landscape — both enablers and usurpers of their merchant partners.

Latest Posts

What Local Marketers Can Learn From the Trials of Google Plus

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With Google’s recent announcement that Google Plus will be decoupled from YouTube and other services, industry watchers are predicting that this may be the beginning of the end for the social network. Here are a few lessons a local marketer might learn from the social network’s challenges.

Case Study: Restaurant Group Integrates Data for Targeted Customer Marketing

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Fig & Olive’s guest management system has been set up to match reservations to POS data, which allows marketer Matthew Joseph to track the dining habits and visit frequency of guests. This information is then used to run automated marketing campaigns.

Street Fight Daily: An Inside Look at Amazon, Can Facebook Finally Conquer E-Commerce?

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace (New York Times)… Facebook’s Last Push Into E-Commerce was a Disaster, but It’s Gearing Up to Try Again (Business Insider)… Location Inaccuracy is a Bigger Problem Than Fraud (AdExchanger)…

Openings and New Hires at 4Info, Matchcraft, Foursquare and Yieldbot

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Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. In this week’s column, Triangle Business Journal gets a new president, Verve Mobile staffs up, and the Daily Voice hires a new publisher.

LBMA Podcast: Forbes Partners With Tinder, Proxbook’s Thomas Walle Jensen

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On the show: Peaceful walking by Walkonomics; Blind French hikers trek 80km without a guide; AwareCar helps you avoid parking tickets; Embarcadero Technologies launches BeaconFence.

Street Fight Daily: Uber Will Return Your Online Purchases, Samsung Preps for Mobile Payment Launch

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… How Uber Is Fixing Online Shopping’s Most Annoying Problem (Refinery29)… Samsung Pay to Launch September 28 in U.S. But Will Businesses Accept It? (Recode)… Stores Suffer From a Shift of Behavior in Buyers (New York Times)…

Study: Local Advertisers Are Leaving Behind $14 Billion in Co-op Marketing Every Year

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According to the report from Netsertive and Borrell Associates, 38 percent of local businesses cited “too much paperwork” as the greatest barrier to co-op marketing, and another 38 percent cited “too many rules.”

Why Local News Sponsorships Are More Relevant than Ever

How the Local Media Consortium Is Leveraging Its Relationship With Google for Higher CPMs

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The Local Media Consortium is working to turn “digital dimes” back into the dollars. To see how the group is progressing, we recently spoke with Tobias Bennett, LMC’s “programmatic advertising champion.”

Street Fight Daily: Macy’s and Alibaba Join Forces, Amazon Changes Retail Ad Terms

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Alibaba Lands Macy’s as the First U.S. Department Store For Its Online Portal (Fortune)… Amazon Changes Terms for Retailers Advertising on Its Site (AdAge)… Layoffs Hit Groupon’s Restaurant Software Unit as Breadcrumb Founder Leaves (Recode)…