News and Analysis
Survey: Marketers Toss Out Valuable Location Data
What if seemingly inconsequential data—and location data, in particular—could actually be re-harnessed and used to provide additional revenue-generating opportunities for brands? That’s the concept behind a new report out from the global geolocation data and services provider Digital Element.
Are Holiday Campaigns Launching Too Late in the Season?
Black Friday has historically been seen as the official kickoff to the holiday shopping season, but new research from the data solutions company Lotame and the digital intelligence firm Jumpshot indicates that consumer interest actually peaks almost one month earlier. Retailers that wait until late fall to launch their holiday campaigns could be missing out on sales.
Commentary
SMBs and Self-Service: Are We There Yet?
The question of whether or when SMBs are going to self-provision online marketing has been a topic of intense debate for at least a decade. Signs now point to the emergence of solutions simple enough to make self-service viable within three to five years. Ultimately, rather than a do-it-yourself vs. do-it-for-me dichotomy, we’re likely to see an increasingly stratified local market that looks a lot like a three-cabin airplane seating chart.
The Price of Free Listings
When the Yellow Pages directory came out once a year, if your business’ phone number was printed incorrectly, you were in trouble. It was the same with local business listings on the internet, except that instead of one or two books, there were thousands of websites carrying your bad data. This added up to a serious headache for multi-location brands and a serious opportunity for solutions providers that could bring order to the free business listings chaos. Here’s a look at how listings management has evolved.
Can Facebook Win Local?
Facebook is known universally for its social networking features, but the company has quietly but consistently been rolling out a set of tools to make it the go-to platform for SMBs. From social buy buttons, call functionality, and Pages to messaging and free beacons, Facebook is staking its claim to online, offline, and online-to-offline marketing and commerce for SMBs.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Google’s Plan for Mobile Search, Uber’s “Lead Generation” Defense
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Reinventing Google for a Mobile World (New York Times)… Uber: We’re Not a Taxi Service,“We’re a Lead Generation” App (Business Insider)… Location Is Everything: Talking Mobile Programmatic With Avazu’s Yi Shi (AdMonsters)…
McClatchy Says It’s a ‘Digital’ Company, but More Work Still Remains
There is no doubt that McClatchy is putting an enormous amount of energy and talent into digital — but will it be enough when print is shrinking so rapidly? Street fight spoke to the company’s VP of products, marketing and promotion, Christian Hendricks, about where McClatchy is in its digital evolution
Street Fight Daily: BBC’s Hyperlocal News Push, HotelTonight App Introduces Local Concierge
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… BBC Seeks to Forge Working Links With Hyperlocal News Sites (The Guardian)… Mobile App Company HotelTonight Launching Personal Concierge Feature (Wall Street Journal)… Google Upgrades Mobile Browser Display to Allow Reviews (Blumenthals.com)…
6 Vendors Bringing Hyperlocal Tech to Medical Offices
A changing healthcare landscape is leading many physicians to rethink the way they market their practices, and this is creating new opportunities for hyperlocal vendors. Here are six examples of platforms that use hyperlocal technology to help local medical professionals acquire new patients.
Sponsored Post: Building an Integrated Local Digital Strategy
Merchants like Brendan Madigan, owner of Alpenglow Sports in Tahoe City, Calif., say local listing management is an important component in their larger digital marketing strategies: “So many people want to contact your business … and if you’re late to the party, you’re just shooting yourself in the foot.”
Street Fight’s Big 3
Street Fight Columns
Street Fight Categories
Streets Ahead: Google Chat, and Instagram Reels