News and Analysis
Street Fight Daily: Facebook Releases Slew of Local Features, Here Challenges Google Maps
TODAY IN LOCAL & DIGITAL MARKETING… Facebook Announces Slew of Changes to Boost Local Businesses… Here Attacks Google Maps with New Freemium Website Plan… Alexa Users Are Reportedly Not Buying Anything with Their Voice…
5 Things to Know About Amazon’s Fast-Growing Ad Biz
Search “Amazon advertising,” and the first webpage you’ll find comes from the e-commerce giant itself. The pitch? In a phrase: “Reach millions of customers who find, discover, and buy at Amazon.” It doesn’t get much more compelling than that. Here are five things you need to know about the most legitimate challenge to Google and Facebook’s digital ad dominance.
Street Culture: SproutLoud’s Reinvention Requires Collaboration
Channel marketing automation company SproutLoud had a circular problem: the turnover was bad, which was bad for employee morale, which was causing more turnover. The company’s internal culture was deteriorating—a point at which many startups have struggled to reset their environments, and a point at which SproutLoud’s leadership team took responsibility.
Commentary
Why In-Store Messaging Needs Offline Measurement
Offline, in-store environments historically have had limited tools for measuring impact of any marketing effectiveness, reach, or exposure. But mobile location technologies with geofence capability measure shopper behavior and produce actionable data sets, opening new opportunities to quantify messaging impact. Measurement is not only possible, but actionable…
Location, Relevancy, and the Search for Personalization
Marketers today have access to an unprecedented amount of data about consumers and their environment that go well beyond location, ranging from their demographics and shopping behavior to the time of day and weather. However, local marketers continue to fail to leverage this throve of new data to create and deliver relevant, quality and personalized ads to consumers. And it’s a big missed opportunity…
As Google Updates Places, Could Some Merchants Find Their Listings Deleted?
Local SEO consultants and service providers offer businesses the peace of mind that comes with knowing someone is watching the forums and industry news in order to act on policy changes and new developments quickly. Given the complexity of local SEO and the fast pace of change, it’s unreasonable to place the onus for listing management solely on the small business owner…
Latest Posts
VIDEO: No Solicitors Please! How to Sell Services to SMBs
During a panel at Street Fight Summit, GoDaddy’s Rene Reinsberg, Facebook’s SMB director Jonathan Czaja, and Vendasta’s CEO Brendan Kind discussed strategies and tactics to cut through the clutter and build trust with small business customers…
VIDEO: Ebay’s Ramadge Says Winning Trust is Key to Winning in Local
During a keynote at Street Fight Summit in New York City last week, David Ramadge, head of venture outreach at eBay, offered a fascinating look at the shift in digital economy from global networks to connected “village economies…
Street Fight Daily: Facebook Redesigns Places, Local News Searching for Answers
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook Takes a Big Step Toward Competing in Local Search (Local Search Insider)… Is There Hope for Local News? (Atlantic)… Groupon Kicks Off First Analyst Day Amid Pivot to E-Commerce Site (AdAge)…
StockUp Presents the Latest Take on the Local Inventory Dilemma
The three month-old startup has spent a year in stealth building a community around an app that allows users to scan barcodes and add product and pricing information manually to its database. Andy Ellwood, a former Gowalla and Waze executive who joined as chief revenue officer in January, says the company now has information about over half a million products in its database…
The Local Service Layer: How National-to-Local Succeeds
In developing a national-to-local strategy, brands need to consider these two key resources: people and data. Employees, affiliates and other local evangelists offer an immense resource for promoting a brand to local consumers. At the same time, a deluge of local information is now available to allow brands to tailor messaging programmatically. In the first of a series sponsored by Surefire Social, we delve into the emergence of a way to harness data and empower agents on the ground…
5 Tips for the Aspiring Hyperlocal Publisher
Although the business — and consumption — of journalism continues to evolve, its health certainly seems much more robust than it was five years ago. This is particularly true at a hyperlocal level. Yet at the same time some constants remain. In particular, issues around funding — and sustainability — continue to remain one of the sector’s biggest challenges…
Street Fight Daily: Revel Raises $100M, Groupon Splits App
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…Revel Lands A Whopping $100m To Put Another Nail In Cash Registers’ Coffins (VentureBeat)… Groupon, Too, Turns to Multiple Apps (New York Times)… Small Business Lending Platform On Deck Files For IPO Valued At Up To $150 Million (Fox Business)…
The Clever Solution Behind Path’s Place Messaging Service
In late September, the company added a feature to its messaging app called Places that allows users to text local businesses with questions, and, often within minutes, receive an answer. The experience is simple and habitual for both merchant and consumer, yet the infrastructure inside is a patchwork blend of technology and people that demonstrates a remarkable empathy for the realities of the market today…
5 Hyperlocal Platforms With Acquisition-Based Pricing
Local merchants are looking for immediate results with their hyperlocal marketing programs, and most aren’t willing to pay up front for the online clicks of a customer who may or may not actually show up. As vendors search for better ways to serve the small business market, the focus is shifting away from website clicks, and toward customer acquisition…
Street Fight Daily: Uber’s Billion Dollar Round, Local’s ‘Moral Imperative’
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Uber Said in Early Talks to Raise Another $1 Billion (Recode)… The ‘Moral Imperative’ Behind Small Business Marketing (Screenwerk)… YC Alum Fivestars Sees Explosive Growth In La, Fights For The Loyalty Of Consumers And Local Merchants (Pando)…
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Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem