News and Analysis
Street Fight Daily: Waze Launches Local Ads Program, Kohl’s Doubles Down on Amazon Partnership
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Waze Launches Ad Program to Connect Drivers & Small Businesses… Kohl’s CEO Says Company Is Doubling Down on Its Deal with the Devil… Snapchat Is Building the Same Kind of Data API That Got Facebook in Trouble…
Commentary
Can Mobile Technology Fix What’s Broken in Loyalty Programs?
New mobile and in-store technology allows merchants to utilize relatively low-cost devices, such as an iPhone or an iPad, to take advantage of data-driven programs that do more than simply count down the punches until a customer’s next free sandwich. Here are two ways in which mobile tech has improved loyalty programs for small merchants…
The Outsourcing of Hyperlocal Journalism Is Inevitable
My conviction in the power of collaborative “glocal” journalism has not been swayed by the Journatic debacle. Properly managed, outsourcing some newsroom functions can be incredibly cost-effective and can contribute to the quality of a publication’s editorial content. Badly executed, outsourcing can become a plague that infects a publication’s journalistic integrity.
Facebook and the Latent Local Layer
If Facebook were to really turn its attention to local, it could do some amazing things. Imagine if all of our posts and check-ins related to local restaurants were correlated together in a meaningful way. There’s little doubt Facebook could recommend the new place down the street based on your preferences and those of others similar to you, with a high likelihood of successfully predicting what you will like…
Latest Posts
Case Study: Restaurant Chain Uses Loyalty Data to Improve Customer Experience
If sales of a particular menu item seem slow this month, then Lucas Clarke is curious to know why that is. The director of marketing at MAD Greens, a Colorado-based chain of restaurants that specializes in seasonal salads and sandwiches, Clarke uses the data from his company’s card-linked mobile loyalty program to learn about sales trends in real-time…
Street Fight Daily: Square Partners With Whole Foods, Bitcoin Enters the Store
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.… Square Lands Payments Deal With Whole Foods (Wall Street Journal)… Revel Systems Adds Native Bitcoin Transactions To Its POS Offering (TechCrunch)… Groupon Shares Drop as Executive Plans Departure (Chicago Tribune)…
How Online Reviews and Product Information Are Fundamentally Changing Local Marketing
In a new book, “Absolute Value: What Really Influences Customers in the Age of (Nearly) Perfect Information.” Stanford professor Itamar Simonson and co-author Emanuel Rosen take a look at the impact that access to perfect information has on the way consumers make purchase decisions. The big finding is that more and more, the value of brand, and the type of awareness marketing aimed at keeping the brand top of mind, is quickly eroding…
6 Strategies for SMBs Using Data Visualization Tools
Data digital flowHyperlocal marketing platforms are producing mountains of data for small business owners, but many local merchants aren’t quite sure of what to do with all the information they collect. Here are six strategies for local merchants who are thinking about using data visualization tools for the first time…
Street Fight Daily: Groupon Embraces Self-Serve, PlaceIQ Raises $15M More
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.…Now You Can Finally Launch a Groupon Deal Without Ever Talking to a Human (Recode)…Datalogix Buys Shopper-Marketing Firm Spire to Extend Data and Market Reach (AdAge)…What Does the Yahoo-Yelp Partnership Mean for Foursquare? (Fortune)…
With New API, Delivery.com Connects Content and Commerce
Delivery.com, a New York-based online ordering site, has released a new framework, or API, through which developers can allow users to order from the firm’s network of restaurants — all without leaving the confines of a website, mobile app, gaming system or Google Glass. The API helps to automate the work of a business development team, allowing the company to bring the type of integrations already available on Yelp to the cornucopia of smaller, locally-focused properties…
Are Digital Agencies a Bad Idea for Media?
I’ve gotten a number of calls and emails lately that leave me wondering whether local media’s rush to create freestanding digital agencies is a lemming jump. With big companies like LIN Media, Gannett, Yellow Media, GateHouse, The Dallas Morning News and dozens of others entering the space, it couldn’t possibly be a bad idea. Or could it?
Apple’s Next Trick: Making the Retail POS Disappear
The idea is to enable shoppers to conduct roving transactions throughout retail stores by scanning items with their iPhones, paying on the spot via iTunes then going on their way. No checkout aisles, no gum-snapping shopgirl, no 15 items or less. It creates a world where the mobile device is the POS…
Bitcoin Finding Growth, Stability at the Local Level
The infamous virtual currency is slowly gaining steam in the real world. Acceptance of Bitcoin at brick-and-mortar businesses has climbed steadily since the first exchange was established in early 2009, driven largely by merchants looking for a cheaper alternative to credit and debit card transactions…
5 Marketplaces for Buying, Selling and Sharing With Neighbors
Startups are looking for new ways to reinvigorate the function of traditional newspaper classified listings. Positioned as an alternative to Craigslist, hyperlocal marketplaces that facilitate the buying, selling, and sharing of goods between neighbors are filling an untapped niche and bringing together people in local communities…
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