News and Analysis

Despite AI Advances, Consumers Crave Human Interactions

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Using the latest artificial intelligence technology, brands are finding new ways to streamline and automate the customer experience. But a new report shows that type of streamlined experience might be the exact opposite of what consumers actually want when they interact with their favorite brands.

Street Fight Daily: Mobile to Surpass Traditional Media Combined; Brands: Be Wise About AI Use for Customer Engagement

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TODAY IN LOCAL & DIGITAL MARKETING AND MEDIA… Mobile Ad Spending to Surpass All Traditional Media Combined by 2020… Despite AI Advances, Consumers Crave Human Interactions… Google Assistant, Search Add Best Buy and Nike as Shopping Partners…

AUDIENCEX Launches Fund to Accelerate MarTech Innovation, Capture Mid-Market Brands’ Attention

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AUDIENCEX announced today that it’s launching a new fund to accelerate innovation in the marketing technology space and encourage mid-market advertisers to try out the latest solutions. The advertising technology and marketing firm is committing $5 million to the fund, with $50,000 in free media and services going to each participant between now and the end of the year.

Commentary

Why Mobile Could Make or Break Your Back-to-School Campaign

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The school year is right around the corner, which means that back-to-school shopping is already in full swing. Aside from the holidays, back-to-school is the second-largest selling season, so if retailers are not participating, they’re missing out. To be successful this school year, you need to know what trends are affecting how consumers are finding […]

Facebook’s Ad Platform for SMBs Has Come a Long Way, But Still Has Room to Grow

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More and more local businesses are turning to Facebook to launch hyperlocal ad campaigns. And for good reason — the company has greatly enhanced its SMB ad offerings in the past year. As a relatively young ad medium, though, Facebook hasn’t really mastered the game yet.

INFOGRAPHIC: The Complex SMB Marketing Ecosystem

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As the head of digital strategy for a broadcaster operating local TV stations, I’ve been challenged to clearly understand the digital marketing space from an SMB perspective. So I’ve developed a chart, both to enhance my understanding and to assist SMBs in identifying potential suppliers.

Latest Posts

Is Yelp’s Slowing Growth a Function of Mobile’s Adolescence?

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The apparent slowdown in Yelp’s growth does not necessarily reflect the value of the company to consumers or advertisers. Instead, it exposes the growing pains of the mobile ecosystem.

Report: Local Merchants Embrace Digital, but Need Plenty of Help

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In the connected local economy, digital techniques will be the primary means of navigation for the customer journey everyone talks about. At the same time, physical-world commerce infrastructure is about to be seriously outdated. The 2015 Local Merchant Report, a survey of 500+ SMBs and VSBs, helps suppliers better understand merchants’ usage of and attitudes toward digital marketing and e-commerce…

Washington Post’s Gazette Community Sites Were Stuck in a Print Past

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I was shocked to hear last week that Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post was closing its Gazette community news sites in suburban Maryland. But if I had been paying closer attention to the fast demographic and lifestyle changes in those suburbs, it might have seemed a little more obvious.

Street Fight Daily: Court Deals a Blow to Uber’s Biz Model, Airbnb Seeks $1 Billion

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… So, About that Uber Ruling (TechCrunch)… Airbnb Is Said to Seek $1 Billion More in Financing (New York Times)… Square’s Restaurant Delivery App Caviar Rolls Out Fastbite Service in New York (Venture Beat)…

Small Biz and Big Tech: How to Connect Local Merchants With Today’s Ad Technology

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You can’t love what you don’t understand and the same holds true at every level of strategy – from local to global. We already know geo-targeted advertising campaigns equal success; it’s only a matter of jumping the hurdle of understanding before local businesses know it too…

MULO & Meta & An Amazing Speaker Line-up! StreetFight

#SFSW15 VIDEO: 3 Companies That Are Rethinking Brick-and-Mortar Business

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The web is not a just a place for offline business to wrangle consumers anymore. Increasingly, technology is changing the way we actually build businesses in the real world. Representatives from a trio of companies that are revolutionizing the way their industries do business in the physical marketplace came together at Street Fight Summit West earlier this month to share their success stories.

Street Fight Daily: Snapchat Capitalizes on Local, Uber Nabs Ex-Google Maps Chief

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Snapchat Turns Geofilter Digital Stickers Into Revenue Source (LA Times)… Uber’s Ambitions Grow as It Hires Google’s Former Mapping Boss (Skift)… Starbucks Mobile Ordering Expands To 21 More States, Now Live In Over 4,000 Stores (TechCrunch)…

5 Ad Tools for Targeting Consumers Based on Offline Behavior

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Offline behavioral data is becoming easier for businesses to track and manage thanks to a growing number of advertising marketplaces. Here are five examples of tools that brands can use to target consumers based on their offline behaviors or activities…

#SFSW15 VIDEO: Here’s What Google Looks for in a Small Business Channel Partner

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At Street Fight Summit West earlier this month, Google business development executive Jon Sofield broke down the search giant’s strategy for identifying small business technology partners and maximizing the impact of co-op market development funds…

Street Fight Daily: Uber’s $50B Question, Ford Tests Showroom Beacons

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Gannett shuts down Atlanta’s BLiNQ Media (Atlanta Business Chronicle)… Ford to Use Beacons to Beckon Buyers (Wards Auto)… The $50 Billion Question: Can Uber Deliver? (Wall Street Journal)…