News and Analysis

What SXSW Foot Traffic Data Means for Location & Event Marketers

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Simpli.fi’s analysis shows the role that timing plays in creating effective mobile marketing campaigns. It could also help marketers uncover hidden opportunities to reach targeted groups of consumers at next year’s SXSW event. 

Street Fight Daily: Brands Have Work to Do on Mobile, CPMs on the Rise

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Consumers Still Widely Dissatisfied with Mobile Shopping Experiences… Study of Digital Ad Prices Finds CPMs on a Steady Rise… Facebook Denies It Collects SMS and Call Data Without Permission…

Raise Report: Pilot, Airtable, AdStage Secure New Funding

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Every two or three weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes funding for RapidAPI, Chargebee, Made.com, and TheSkimm.

Commentary

With an Inherently Local Ad Base, Publishers Can Take the Mobile Lead

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Local businesses already recognize the need to follow the eyeballs from traditional media to mobile, but they are looking for partners to facilitate the move. Publishers are that partner. They already have the relationships with local advertisers. They already are a trusted guide, their publications a reliable channel, and they’ve already bought into the value of mobile…

Why Don Draper Would Hate Hyperlocal

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Many brands are still stuck in the days of Don Draper, failing to see that the potential for a lasting bond is even greater with hyperlocal (and delivers better ROI). Campaigns on services like LevelUp, LivingSocial or Tackable have more resonance precisely because they are tied to where you are. They tap into your good feelings around, say, your favorite pizza place, a connection that doesn’t require the same kind of shaping by big media or advertising mavens.

Unpacking the Twisted Thinking of Small Business Self-Service Online

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Feeling “in control” is the most central need with merchant behavior. How can they feel in control of how they drive results with technology; how do they know if they are out-performing competition; and how do they know if customers are satisfied?

Latest Posts

Is Newspapers’ Falling Knife Finally Starting to Rise?

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Wall Street thinks the long-term decline of newspaper revenues may be near bottom as print losses are close to being outweighed by consumer and digital revenue increases. With Warren Buffet and Jeff Bezos buying into the industry as a long-term play, the broader financial markets are following suit. The newspaper industry is getting some of its most positive signs in years…

5 Revenue Diversification Strategies for Hyperlocal Publications

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Revenue diversification is a hot topic within the hyperlocal community, as publishers seek out new ways to generate income without sacrificing the quality of the products they provide. Some publishers are gaining audience share by partnering with other local media, some are focusing on mobile ad strategies, and others are competing for grants as non-profit organizations. What they all have in common is an interest in finding new ways to expand beyond traditional banner ads…

Street Fight Daily: YP Buys Sense Networks, Taskrabbit Delivers Cold Medicine

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.YP, a Mobile Search Firm, Buys Sense Networks (New York Times)… Walgreens Taps TaskRabbit to Deliver Cold Medicine to Shut-Ins (Mashable)… Facebook WiFi Comes to Some Netgear Routers, Allowing Small Businesses to Offer Free WiFi access (The Next Web)…

Why HouseCall Thinks Taxi Apps Are Just The Tip Of The Iceberg

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Last year, four engineers from Qualcomm, who were responsible for the company’s location sensor product Gimbal, left the company to start HouseCall, a system that helps users find and book local providers who service home-related projects like plumbing or audio/visual installation. The company has built a similar marketplace model as Seamless in the food delivery sector, providing enterprise software for free to merchants and then selling leads generated by its consumer product…

5 Platforms For Location Data Analysis

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Location data analysis platforms track the spatial behavior of consumers based on previous ad exposures. Although competing platforms work slightly differently from one another, each with its own features and limitations, the overall effect is that marketers can finally determine whether mobile ad exposures are actually luring customers inside their physical stores. Here are five examples of platforms that marketers can use for location data analysis…

Street Fight Daily: Cox Buys Back Stake In AutoTrader, LivingSocial Sells Groupon Stock

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.Cox to Buy Back Stake in AutoTrader (Wall Street Journal)… LivingSocial Selling its Groupon Stock (Chicago Tribune)… No Mention of Patch in AOL Chief Executive’s End-of-Year Memo (Romenesko)…

How Community News Sites Can Get the Most Out of Facebook

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To get specific about how publishers can maximize their presence on the biggest social media platform, I went to Jake Batsell, who is writing a forthcoming book on audience engagement. Here’s what he told me, based on more than a hundred interviews and visits to many old and new media community news operations…

Openings and New Hires at Whitepages, Advance Digital, LocalBlox & Topix

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Every two weeks, Search Influence’s Kelly Benish — who knows practically everyone in hyperlocal — covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. In this week’s edition, new hires and jobs at AT&T, VendAsta, LinkedIn, AOL, and more…

LBMA Podcast: 10,000 Predictions for 2014

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In this week’s episode, hosts Rob Woodbridge and Asif Khan take a look back at their 2013 predictions and forecast what is to come in 2014 including the companies we feel will flare and falter…

Street Fight Daily: Groupon’s Big Acquisition Closes, Shopify Revamps iOS App

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.Groupon Finalizes $260 Million Deal for Ticket Monster, LivingSocial’s Korean Business (Recode)… Uber Driver Hits, Kills Six-year-old Girl. Is “Not our Problem” Still an Appropriate Response? (Pando)… Shopify Revamps Its iOS App With A Focus On Payments And Store Management (TechCrunch)…