News and Analysis
Macaroni Kid Leverages Local Influencers to Connect Brands to Consumers
“Our secret sauce is our ability to connect brands with consumers on a local level, via authentic local influencers,” says Macaroni Kid co-founder Eric Cohen. “Other media outlets can plug into an algorithm to target an audience. We have local moms telling other local moms the scoop as they hand out samples.”
Commentary
Why Broadcasters Need to Embrace Digital Hyperlocal
There are lots of hyperlocal marketing opportunities are being missed daily by traditional broadcast media. This isn’t because stations don’t want the revenue — it’s because they are so understaffed and under-funded, it’s simply difficult to devote resources to learning new technologies. But this may be exactly the right time to start investing their (very small) resources to upgrade mobile apps and improve online capabilities to tap hyperlocal dollars…
What Reviews Sites Need to Do to Prepare for Facebook’s Graph Search
It’s well known that reviews, ratings, and recommendations are a major factor in driving consumer decisions. Sourcing friends or people you know to provide advice holds even more weight when it comes to personalization and has an added benefit of trust. This is what makes the concept of Facebook’s new Graph Search so powerful…
Efficiently Selling to SMBs: Finding Paths of Less Resistance
We’re entering a more fertile environment for what I’ll call the SMB advertising “Trojan Horse.” Local companies start by targeting SMBs’ CRM systems, payroll, back office management, reputation management and payment processing. From there, local advertising can be unveiled as a “one-stop-shop” upsell…
Latest Posts
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…
LBMA Podcast: Mobile News at Apple’s WWDC, Thinknear’s Location Score
Top stories of the week include Brian Eno’s new acid trip, Hoxton Analytics profiles based on the shoes you wear, Prexter’s location-based app marketplace, AT&T tracks overseas customers, Floow2 Uber-fies farm equipment, Coca-Cola brings college students together, Yext raises $50M, Uber raises $1.2B and Verizon’s Run…
Street Fight Daily: Mobile Soars in Q1, Nokia’s Shopping Spree Continues
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Nearly $12B In Q1 Ad Revs, Mobile Likely Above 20 Percent (MarketingLand)… Nokia’s Here Buys Medio Systems To Push More Personalised Location Services (TechCrunch)… GoDaddy Financial Metrics Flatter Ahead of IPO (Financial Times)…
Attention and Timing Are the New ‘Clicks,’ Chartbeat Says
The analytics firm digs deep into how users behave at their computer, smartphone, and tablet. Then it flows the data points (including visitor frequency, top pages, referrers, and traffic sources) to the client’s dashboard, where editors, in real time, can see how their users are behaving and take steps to increase traffic and engagement…
Case Study: Mountain Shop Finds Balance Between Paid and Unpaid Promotions
Soon after taking over control of the 34-year-old mountain shop Alpenglow Sports, in Tahoe City, California, Brendan Madigan got to work crafting a strategic marketing plan that included both online and offline initiatives and relied heavily on social media for generating awareness among customers in his target demographics…
Street Fight Daily: Google Simplifies SMB Tools, Handbook Raises $30M
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Streamlines Its Tools for Small Businesses (New York Times)… On-Demand Home Services Startup Handybook Raises $30M From Steve Case’s Revolution Growth (TechCrunch)… CBS to Sell CBS Outdoor Stake, Paving Way for Expansion at Outdoor Company (AdAge)…
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