Commentary
What Will It Take to Bring All Businesses Online?
Many small businesses are claiming their Google and Bing listings, interacting with reviewers on Yelp, and using social sites like Facebook and Twitter. Inside the local bubble, it might seem as though the importance of these activities has been long established. Surely only a business stuck in the stone age would ignore the statistics we all know and love about searches with local intent, the explosion of mobile, and the critical need to be well represented in Google search results. How, then, are we to take a report showing that 52% of SMBs still don’t have a website?
Joe Trippi: Local TV’s Biennial Political Cash Bonanza Is Going to Fall Off a Cliff
In an recent interview, the presidential campaign guru told Street Fight that while it would be business as usual for broadcasters next year, 2016 would likely see the beginning of the end of TV’s dominance in political advertising: “There’s a growing number of people who get it,” he said, “that there’s a better way to deliver a more targeted and relevant message without having to buy all that broadcast reach. It’s going to come. … It’s just a matter of time and innovation.”
What’s Apple’s Mapping Shopping Spree Really About?
Moreso than the features, Apple’s post-Mapgate acquisitions are all about what’s behind the scenes in this age of big data. This goes back to what a lot of people don’t realize about Apple Maps: it’s is actually a pretty slick mapping tool. But what it has in dazzle, it lacks data; things like place listings, navigation and public transit…
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LBMA Podcast: Google’s Local Ads, 7Eleven Rolls Out Belly
On the show: Sprooki rolls out beacons in Singapore malls; Philipp Schmitt’s location-based light painting project; Runkeeper partners with KIIP; PitneyBowes’ location start-up incubator in India; QR codes to help Alzheimer sufferers from getting lost. Special guest is Peter Cahill, founder of Life Line Response…
Street Fight Daily: xAd Raises $50 Million, iWatch to Include Payments
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Location Is Everything, As Mobile Ad Startup xAd Raises $50M Led By IVP (TechCrunch)… Apple Watch to Allow Mobile Payments (Wall Street Journal)… Interpublic Invests in Mobile Measurement Company Placed (MediaPost)…
Booker Eyes New Markets, More Capital
Sixteen months ago, Bain Capital’s venture wing made a $27 million bet on Booker. Now, the company says its gearing up to raise another big round in order help propel it into a number of new appointment and class-based verticals and hold off a bevy of increasingly well-capitalized competitors…
7 Ways Loyalty Programs Can Increase Social Media Exposure
More than one-in-three small businesses now has a loyalty program in place, but that doesn’t mean that local merchants are always taking full advantage of the benefits that these hyperlocal marketing platforms can provide. Here are seven ways that businesses can use existing digital loyalty programs to help increase reach on social networks…
Street Fight Daily: Comcast Reviving Everyblock, DeliveryHero Raises $350M
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Comcast Bets on Hyperlocal by Reviving EveryBlock (Washington Post)… Delivery Hero, Hungry For Growth, Orders Up Another $350M In Funding (TechCrunch)… Nokia Plans to Unfurl New Mobile Map App (Wall Street Journal)…
YP Hooks Up With Goodzer to Add Services Data to Search
YP has announced a new partnership with Goodzer that will populate the company’s local search product with information about service provider offerings from the startup. It’s the latest in a series of moves by the yellow pages carve-out to rejuvenate its local search product and draw users away from Yelp and Google, as pressure continues to mount on the listings model…
As IPOs Near, Tech Takes Another Crack at Small Business
A handful of upcoming IPOs will add fuel to an already-competitive small business marketing and technology industry. But the fundamental question is how these companies slow an already rapid rate of commoditization, and “build a moat” around their businesses to hold back the next wave of startups looking to grab market share in their wake…
Street Fight Daily: Baidu Bets on Local, Court Says Yelp Doesn’t Extort
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Baidu Boosts Location-based Platform With New Services, $10M Investment (Reuters)… Yelp Escapes Extortion Lawsuit Unscathed, Except For Its Reputation (Engadget)… Airbnb Under Fire for ‘Secret’ Plan to Release Users’ information (New York Post)…
6 Strategies for Creating an Effective Email Newsletter
Crafting the perfect email newsletter is both an art and a science, however there are simple things that business owners can do to ensure that the digital messages they send out aren’t being overlooked or discarded. Here are six strategies that small business owners should utilize when putting together their email marketing campaigns…
How a Pivot and Rebrand Set Aussie Company Local Measure Back on Course
Nine months ago, the Australian-based Roamz ditched its consumer business, rebranding as Local Measure to focus on a social analytics product for brands. Within five weeks of its launch, the startup signed up more than 200 companies, including Australian airline Qantas. Street Fight caught up with Local Measure VP Americas Ian Michael Farkas to talk about the company’s new direction and the company’s plan to aggressively expand across the U.S…
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