News and Analysis
What Can Brick-and-Mortar Grocers Learn from Online-Only Competitors?
To learn more about what supermarkets should be doing to meet rising consumer expectations, and what brick-and-mortar stores can learn from their online-only counterparts, we caught up with Pradeep Elankumaran, CEO of Farmstead, a pure-play digital grocer that brings local groceries to doorsteps.
Commentary
Forget DIY, DIWM, and DIFM: ‘Do Nothing’ is the Best Approach to Capturing the SMB Market
The future of SMB marketing solutions isn’t do-it-yourself, do-it-for-me, or even do-it-with-me. Rather, it lies in a new go-to-market model called “do nothing” that combines context, content, software, and automation into solutions that are low-cost, have next to no barriers to entry, and require little in the way of learning or doing from customers.
DEBATE: The Marketing of SMB Marketing Solutions
Speculation over the best model for providing and marketing SMB solutions — do-it-yourself (DIY), do-it-for-me (DIFM), or the middle-ground option, do-it-with-me (DIFM) — has been swirling for years. Columns from two Street Fight contributors indicate that while technology is part of the current problem, it’s undoubtedly part of the solution as well.
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.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Auto Makers Move to Buy Nokia Mapping, Yahoo’s Q2 Struggles
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Audi, BMW, and Daimler Near Deal to Buy Nokia Mapping Service (Wall Street Journal)… Yahoo Posts Loss, Despite Rise in Its Display Ad Business (New York Times)… Amazon Expands Home Services to 15 Cities in Pursuit of Growth (Bloomberg)…
Local Publishers: Take Back Control of Your Brand
The announcement of the Digital News Initiative partnership with Google is yet another step backwards for publishers. If they would just consider how they operated their own platforms before the 1990’s they will realize that Google, Facebook and other current tech platforms owe them nothing.
Street Fight Daily: Jet.com’s Plans to Dethrone Amazon, Instagram’s New Web Search
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Jet.com Will Launch With Amazon Prices Front and Center (Recode)… Instagram Brings Search To The Web (TechCrunch)… Online Takeout Orders Could Overtake Phone Orders in Five Years or Less (Mashable)…
Charlotte Agenda Carves Out Role as Brand Builder, Market Developer
In April, online city guide Charlotte Agenda arrived onto a shifting Charlotte, N.C. digital scene. The site’s eclectic mix of five-to-ten quick-read, mobile-friendly stories and a distinctive conversational style of commentary is standing out among local media players eager to reach a young audience, but will it prove sustainable?
Street Fight Daily: Yahoo Files for Alibaba Spinoff, Google Scoops Up Homejoy Staff
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Yahoo Files for Alibaba Spinoff, Though Tax Issues Linger (New York Times)… Google Is Getting Into the Home Services Market With Hire of Homejoy Staff (The Next Web)… TripAdvisor Taking on Airbnb? (Travel Trends)…
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