News and Analysis
How 5 Retail Brands Are Maximizing the Power of User-Generated Content
Photos and videos that shoppers post on social media convey sentiment about brands, giving fellow consumers—and brands themselves—an uncensored look at how people really feel about their products and services. How brands harness this feedback is evolving, as brand marketers find new ways to glean insights from the unstructured consumer feedback being posted on social media and elsewhere online. Here are five examples of brands that are engaging shoppers across social channels and taking full advantage of the content that customers post on their own online accounts.
New Hires at Kobie, AppNexus, Rewards Network
Every two weeks, our jobs columnist Geoff Michener provides a roundup of the latest hires in the digital marketing and media ecosystems. This week’s edition also includes new hires at Digital Ocean and Acceleration Partners.
Shirking the Tech Giants’ Mobile Wallets, Kroger Unveils One of Its Own
Kroger is flexing on Apple and Google this week, passing on the opportunity to accept Apple Pay or Google Pay at its stores and choosing instead to launch its own mobile wallet that doubles as a loyalty card, WCPO reported in Columbus.
Commentary
How Badly Do Consumers Really Want Grocery Delivery?
Instacart is bumping up against the realities of the economy. There are two countervailing trends that are working against the idea of grocery delivery: frugality, and shopping-as-entertainment.
The Changing Role of Local Search Ranking
As mobile searches outpace desktop-based searches, proximity throws a wrench in the works of traditional rankings.
National-to-Local Marketers’ Top Pain Points Center on Integration
Nearly half of those who responded said they spend 1/3 or more of their digital marketing dollars to support their branch offices, franchises, and distributors — and 40% of them expect that budget mix to increase.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Mobile Wallets Can Guide Search’s ‘Next Moment,’ BuzzFeed Wants to Go Local
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Mobile Wallets, GPS and Beacons: How to Dominate the ‘Next Moment’ of Local Search (Search Engine Land)… BuzzFeed Is Planning to Enter the Local News Game in the U.K. (Nieman Lab)… Grubhub, DoorDash, and Caviar Hit with Worker-Misclassification Complaints (San Francisco Business Times)…
How Local Businesses Can Leverage Content Marketing
Content marketing is on the rise: 69 percent of B2C marketers are creating more content now than they did a year ago, according to the Content Marketing Institute. Using blogs, videos, infographics, and other content to attract the interest of customers can be an effective option for small or local businesses. But time and resource constraints mean local businesses need to approach content marketing in a smart and strategic way.
Better Use of Data Could Dramatically Alter Local Digital Sales
Data is a core principle of digital marketing today, yet when it comes to local, big data has not penetrated very deeply where the sales process is concerned. All of that is about to change with the appearance of multiple companies trying to put data at the center of the way digital marketing is presented and sold to local businesses.
Street Fight Daily: Groupon Will Cut 1,100 Jobs, LivingSocial is Planning a Comeback
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Groupon to Cut 1,100 Jobs, Pull Out of 7 Countries (Chicago Tribune)… The Resurrection of LivingSocial (DCInno)… The Commoditization of Ad Tech — How the Cross-Device Landscape is Going to Get Worse Before It Gets Better (Medium)…
5 Tools for Measuring Social Marketing Results
Social media has become an essential part of the local marketer’s playbook. But with so many platforms and networks to choose from, and so many metrics to measure, it’s challenging for small business owners to know what they’re getting in return for their budgets. Here are six platforms with advanced tools for measuring results on social spending.
Report: Breaking into the Inbox with Successful Pitches to Local Merchants
A new report from Street Fight Insights found that when being pitched a new product or service, local merchants want information on costs, a clear explanation — backed up by case studies — of how the product or service will benefit their business, and all their questions or concerns addressed.
Street Fight Daily: Starbucks Launches Mobile Ordering, a Recap of Google’s Local Search Updates
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Never Wait in Line Again: Starbucks Rolls Out Mobile Ordering Nationwide (Mashable)… The New Google Local Search Display (Search Engine Land)… Postmates Unveils Revamped Platform, Announces 4 Million Deliveries (TechCrunch)…
Europe’s adsquare Unlocks More Data in New ‘Marketplace’ for Hyper-Contextual Advertising
For brands and retailers, it’s evident that the battle to win customers will be fought with data — lots of it. But more data could also be too much of a good thing. A new self-service offering from Berlin-based adsquare aims to help advertisers “navigate the data deluge.”
Did Apple Just Solve Deep Linking?
One of the coolest things to come out Apple’s September product event was 3D Touch, which lets users indicate levels of intent based on how hard they press apps and links. Beyond the gadgetry of 3D Touch, one thing hasn’t been said: This is essentially deep linking, an area that will be a key battleground in local. 3D Touch could preempt the deep linking dilemma by peeking deep within other apps — a lighter and more elegant solution I’m calling “deep previewing.”
Street Fight Daily: Understanding the Decline of Search, Ad Blocking App Creator’s Second Thoughts
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google’s Search Business Might Not Be as Water-Tight as People Think (Business Insider)…The Creator of the iPhone’s Top-Selling Ad Blocker Pulled His App off the Market (AdWeek)… Target Wants to Turn Minneapolis into a Mini-Silicon Valley (Fortune)…
Street Fight’s Big 3
Street Fight Columns
Street Fight Categories
Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem