Commentary
Why Loyalty Programs Are Broken — And How to Fix Them
The customer loyalty vertical is red-hot. Startups from Silicon Valley to Chicago are working hard to innovate in this area, and, in so doing, are revolutionizing the way brick-and-mortar businesses do business. But startups need to look beyond the simple punch-card model and expand their loyalty products to include features that will effectively influence customer behavior…
The Five Fundamentals of Deals Success for Local Media Companies
Many local media companies have not structured their daily deals programs appropriately or put the necessary resources behind them. While there is no silver bullet to guaranteed deals success, we have used our experience working with more than 400 local media companies to develop a model that breaks down the five most important factors to creating a successful deals program…
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What Obama’s 2012 Election Can Tell Us About Using Data to Build Communities
The campaign’s technology team, comprised mostly of political newcomers, used data analytics to rethink the way television ads were bought, and where its army of volunteers were sent. One of the big breakthroughs, says Carol Davidsen, was in using data to navigate the twisted world of local television, finding audiences in unsuspecting — and often far less expensive — places…
6 Strategies to Encourage SMBs to Offer Same-Day Delivery
Small businesses account for 54% of all sales in the U.S., and unlike their big box competitors, many SMBs don’t already have existing shipping networks or points of distribution. Here are six strategies for how same-day delivery vendors can successfully encourage local merchants to become a part of their programs…
Street Fight Daily: Apple Preps Mobile Payments, Starbucks Readies Order Ahead
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.… Apple Pushes Deeper Into Mobile Payments (Wall Street Journal)… Starbucks is Getting Ready to Let You Order Coffee Before You Get to the Store (Quartz)… Care.com, The ‘Amazon Of Caregiving Services’ Popped 43% On Its IPO Day (Business Insider)…
How Patch’s New Owners Can Reverse Its Fortunes
Patch doesn’t have to wind up in the “bone yard.” I believe the hyperlocal network recently unloaded by Aol can, within five years, be a seriously profitable venture. It will happen if the company’s new owners, Hale Global, go all out for engagement-worthy community journalism that’s responsibly budgeted. And it will happen if they adopt a revenue strategy that’s responsive to fast-evolving trends in ad spending…
Street Fight Daily: Stripe’s Big Round, Rabois Resigns From Yelp’s Board
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.… Stripe Bolsters its Mobile Payments Cred With $80M Funding Round (GigaOm)… Icahn Says He Is Prepared for eBay Proxy Fight (Wall Street Journal)… Keith Rabois Resigns From Yelp’s Board (Recode)…
Why Ecommerce Companies Are Eyeing Brick-and-Mortar Retail
Over the past year, a string of ecommerce firms have invested in brick-and-mortar locations in an attempt to cash in on local markets that still account for over 90% of retail spending in the U.S. Manish Chandra, the founder the online fashion marketplace Poshmark, says physical locations will play an important part in ecommerce strategies moving forward…
5 Hyperlocal Scheduling Platforms for the Healthcare Industry
Hyperlocal vendors are changing the way consumers navigate the healthcare industry, offering tools for finding local providers who are covered by specific insurance plans. Not only do these platforms benefit patients by providing a streamlined way to secure appointments with qualified local physicians, but they also benefit healthcare professionals by filling empty appointment slots and decreasing the percentage of no-show patients…
Street Fight Daily: Icahn Calls For PayPal Split, Groupon Boosts Hotel Product
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.… Could Square be Collateral Damage in Carl Icahn’s War on Ebay? (Quartz)… Groupon Adds 20,000 Properties To Its Hotel Feature (Skift)… Tokyo Launches Cab-Calling Mobile App (Wall Street Journal)…
Let’s Simplify and Strengthen Business Listing Verification
Verification is a great idea in theory and, once you navigate the tangled process, it even works well for most business owners in practice. However, there is very little consistency across publishers as to how the process should work or what the result should be, and there is plenty of evidence that the supposed lockdown of business data via owner verification doesn’t always operate as it should…
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