News and Analysis
Consumers Demand Personalization, Range of Features from Brand Apps
Consumers demand high and varied functionality from brand apps. About three in five consumers expect promotions and exclusive deals and loyalty programs, and half want to make purchases within the app, a report released this week by digital and mobile development firm WillowTree indicated.
Street Fight Daily: Consumers Want More from Brand Apps, Google Beefs Up on Big Data Analytics
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Consumers Demand Personalization, Range of Features from Brand Apps… Chasing AWS and Azure, Google Acquires Cask Data to Beef Up on Big Data Analytics… In the Pivot to Paid, Publishers Fear the Churn Spiral…
Commentary
Local Search for Events: The Great Missed Opportunity
My jumping off point for this week’s column is a recent post from Greg Sterling, where he observes that despite all the impressive innovation around local search in recent years, no one has launched a truly useful local events service. I have had this feeling for years and wasn’t sure if it was just me. But if Greg doesn’t know about a local events service that truly works, I think it’s fair to say one doesn’t exist. So pay attention, developers and entrepreneurs: local events need a killer app…
How Consumer Messaging Is Going From ‘Push’ to ‘Pull’
The biggest battle coming in the world of marketing is a 180-degree shift in the routing of commerce-related messages. Today, we call them “advertisements,” one-directional messages FROM somebody with something to sell TO somebody who may potentially be a buyer. Tomorrow, the messages will come FROM those wishing to buy TO those with something to sell…
The Local Marketer’s Guide to Facebook
What steps should local marketers take to maximize the value of their Facebook presence? First, marketers should claim location pages and optimize their presence for Graph Search. Second devise a complementary content strategy for corporate brand pages. Local marketers should also consider using Facebook ads to supplement organic pages content…
Latest Posts
When the ‘Popup’ Store Sticks Around
Retailers from art galleries to apparel manufacturers have started to rethink their sprawling storefronts. Instead, companies have turned to smaller, more specialized locations that that can adapt to declining store revenues while addressing some new opportunities in selling to a connected consumer…
A Local Business Network Puts the Community First
The expanding public consciousness around movements for civic sustainability, green tech and social enterprise have spawned a new way of looking a local business communities as ecosystems that should work for the community good. Their unique challenge is coordinating hundreds of local advocates to collectively market and promote each others’ programs and campaigns…
Street Fight Daily: Oracle Eyes Micros, Yelp Adds Messaging
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Oracle Said to Near Deal to Buy Micros Systems (Bloomberg)… Yelp Gives Customers The Ability To Send Messages To Businesses (MarketingLand)… Microsoft Shuttering Bing Ads Express (SearchEngineLand)…
At Tesla, a Peek Into Retail On-Demand
The company has developed a retail and marketing strategy aimed at getting people into one of its three fully electric models regardless of whether they can afford, or even are interested in buying, a luxury car. The model draws on some of the work of the legendary Apple’s Ron Johnsonas well as the emerging phenomenon of on-demand technologies such as Uber….
6 Waitlist Management Tools for Restaurants
Eager to eliminate the organizational challenges and financial liabilities that go along with traditional reservation systems, restaurants are increasingly turning toward digital platforms that allow diners to stay at home, or shop at nearby businesses, until their tables are ready. Here are six platforms that restaurants can use to manage their waitlists…
Street Fight Daily: Delivery Service Raises $44M, Uber Partners With ‘Transformers’
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Investors Pour $44 Million Into Instacart as Google Is Forced to Take Notice (Recode)… Paramount Turns to Uber for ‘Transformers’ Promotion Pick Up (Variety)… In New Jersey, With $2 million From Knight, the Local News Lab Launches to Seek Revenue Models (Nieman Journalism Lab)…
Investing in the Future of Shopping
A few months ago, I predicted in Street Fight that “2014 would be the year that hyperlocal goes indoors,” and “the battle will turn to reaching the shopper walking in the mall and right in front of the shelf.” Simon Venture Group is looking to invest $250,000 to $5 million per company in up to 50 companies over the next 5 years to do precisely that…
6 Innovative Ways to Implement Beacons for Marketing
Brick-and-mortar merchants know they need to step it up to compete against e-commerce retailers, and they know that proximity marketing with indoor positioning technology can be an effective mechanism for driving customer acquisition and retention. Here are six examples of innovative ways that businesses are implementing beacon technology right now…
Street Fight Daily: Priceline Buys OpenTable, Pinterest Expands Place Search
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Priceline Agrees to Buy OpenTable for $2.6 Billion (Wall Street Journal)… With 1 Billion+ Travel Pins, Pinterest Gives Place Search An Upgrade (SearchEngineLand)… Location Sharing Startup Glympse Raises $12M As It Looks For More Device Integration (TechCrunch)…
To Wait or Wait Not: The Changing Dynamics of Eating Out
In New York, a growing number of the city’s most popular eateries have decided to eschew reservations, in yet another example of how local technology is affecting the restaurant industry. Now startup NoWait has developed an app to improve the waitlist experience for both restaurants and diners…
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