News and Analysis
Local Search Association Announces New President, Bill Dinan
The Local Search Association, which brings together over 300 companies intent on connecting enterprises and small businesses alike with consumers, announced on Wednesday morning Bill Dinan as its new president. The announcement follows the retirement of its previous president Neg Norton, who held the role for 15 years.
Walmart Mulls a Run at the Digital Ad Business
With reports percolating about Amazon’s increasingly clear emergence as a third party to Google and Facebook’s dominance of the digital ad market, the e-commerce behemoth’s old-school counterpart is reportedly taking a look at the action itself.
Marin Q4 Advertising Report Shows eCommerce Ads Skyrocketing, Instagram and Search Growth Strong
Digital marketing software firm Marin Software has released its Q4 advertising report, which points to major trends in social, search, and e-commerce. Instagram is taking on an increasingly central role in Facebook’s main business, e-commerce ads are booming YOY, and search remains fundamental to digital advertising, the report shows.
Commentary
Inside Facebook’s Push to Make Pages the Dominant Mobile Tool for SMBs
Sheryl Sandberg says SMB advertising remains one of Facebook’s “biggest opportunities,” and the company plans to use its Pages product to help corner that market. Street Fight spoke recently with top Facebook execs about driving value for SMBs.
Lesson From Yodle’s Acquisition: Scaling SMB Performance Marketing Isn’t So Easy
While the acquisition is likely welcome news for Yodle’s backers and Web.com’s shareholders, the resounding message for SMB performance marketing vendors is one of caution. The real problem facing large performance marketing vendors like Yodle is that of customer retention.
The Physical Web: How a New Type of Beacon Is Disrupting Proximity Marketing
The newer Eddystone-URL is truly disruptive. This web approach, also called the Physical Web, follows the unstoppable trend toward lessening friction, and will ultimately be the dominant beacon technology. Marketers should be aware of this trend.
Latest Posts
Swipely CEO: We Want to Provide the Operating Platform That Restaurants Run On
“If you’re not going to fundamentally improve the guest experience, then there’s really no motivation for either the consumer to change the way that they’re buying in the restaurant or for the merchant to replace the operating practices they have,” said Swipely CEO Angus Davis about mobile payments.
Street Culture: YP Hits ‘Refresh’ Button on Employee Connections
Changing a deep-seated corporate culture takes time. Just ask YP, where renewed internal communications, education and community-building efforts have paid off in a big way.
Street Fight Daily: Google Will Test Grocery Delivery, How Facebook’s Pages Update Affects SMBs
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Becomes a Rival to Amazon to Deliver Your Fresh Fruits and Veggies (Mashable)… Facebook Update Means More Shopping Pages Are on the Way (Recode)… Amazon Launches a Food Delivery Service Via Prime Now, Starting in Seattle (TechCrunch)…
The Not-So-Low-Hanging Fruit: Why the Local Market Remains Elusive
“The great challenge of winning the local market boils down to balancing sufficient reach and scale with specificity,” writes Noah Elkin, who is joining Street Fight today as managing editor. “It turns out thinking globally and acting locally isn’t always easy — as a consumer or a marketer.”
M&A Report: A Long, Hard Look at Loyalty Programs
Loyalty encompasses more than just promotions and punchcards. Tech companies that connect the data dots and create meaningful, accurate consumer personas that explain why we as consumers are loyal to a brand (not a promotion) should be able to parlay that information into new revenue per customer.
Case Study: Bay Area Café Opts for Full-Service Social Management
Keeping on top of the endless stream of reviews posted on Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, and TripAdvisor each day can be time-consuming for a busy small business owner. Responding to negative reviews can be emotionally draining, as well, so Brian Wilson decided to take another route.
Street Fight Daily: Uber’s Big E-commerce Push, Amazon’s Restaurants Division Hires Staff
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Report: Uber to Begin E-commerce Deliveries Soon (The Next Web)… Amazon Hiring Staff for New Restaurant Division in Seattle, New York (Recode)… Once-Troubled Hyperlocal News Brand Patch Expands to Austin; Here’s the How and Why (Austin Business Journal)…
How Local Marketers Can Harness the Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly finding its way into more and more aspects of our lives — and that’s good news for local marketers. This evolving market is expected to grow to $1.7 trillion by 2020.
Raise Report: Grand Rounds, iZettle, Yummly Secure Fresh Funding
Every two weeks we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. In this edition, new investments include new funding for Narvar, Pronto, Zirx and Databox.
LBMA Podcast: WeChat Partners With Uniqlo, Square Teams Up With Apple
On the show: Kagulu tells everyone the value of your car; Verizon makes dumb cars a little smarter; and Shazam your vodka. Plus industry news about United Airlines, Macy’s Blue Bite and the Gap.
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