Most Local Merchants Unfazed by Facebook Controversies, Though Some Signs of Trouble

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By now, consequences of the negative aura surrounding Facebook’s role in customer info abuse, fake news, and Russian political meddling should have started to take hold. Yet over half of local merchants we polled said they would continue to use Facebook as they had previously, and only one in five said they may use it less.

State of Hyperlocal: Attribution Is Top Industry Challenge and R&D Priority

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Companies selling local marketing and technology and services continue to believe that online-to-offline attribution is the toughest challenge facing the industry, and it’s now their top near-term R&D priority. That’s what we’re hearing from a preliminary analysis of our annual State of Hyperlocal survey of Street Fight readers.

Street Fight Launches Third Annual “State of Hyperlocal” Survey

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We’re kicking off our third annual executive survey about the state of the local marketing ecosystem. We welcome readers to share their thoughts on the state of the industry by filling out a short survey on what their companies are prioritizing and what challenges they’re facing. As a thank-you, we’re offering a free report or a discount on Summit tickets.

Case Study: Audiologist Offloads Management of Digital Campaigns

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Audiology First owner Diana Wagner knew that establishing a presence online would be essential to growing her business, but running online marketing campaigns required too much day-to-day involvement for her to be able to handle everything on her own.

Case Study: How a Newborn Photographer Uses CRM for Creative Remarketing

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Heather Read isn’t just the lead photographer at her eponymous business in Chicago, Illinois, she’s also the head marketer, strategist, editor, and customer service representative. Like so many other small business owners, Read finds it difficult to launch the types of aggressive campaigns she needs to keep her business growing.

Podcasting Won’t Replace Local Radio Soon

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As a local advertising medium, podcasting shows promise, but it has a very long way to go. The medium is fresh and growing, and ad inventory is far less cluttered than radio, although a little pricey at $18 to $25 CPM.

Cupcakes

Case Study: Bake Shop Owner Finds Customers in Local Facebook Groups

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What does it mean to run a local business without a local storefront? For Melissa Brogan, owner of The Bug & The Bear Bakeshoppe, it means having to use highly-targeted online marketing strategies to let people know she’s open for business, without getting the marketing benefits that come from having signage on the front of a physical storefront.

Survey: Merchants Gain Social Media Sophistication, Rate it Most Effective Tactic

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Over the past several years, Street Fight has seen these local merchants shift their marketing budgets away from traditional media like newspapers, print Yellow Pages, and local broadcast towards digital marketing and media. That trend continues in a new survey that we conducted earlier this year.

Case Study: Brick-and-Mortar Shop Looks to Compete with Online Sales

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At Nutrishop in San Francisco, Jason Miller is using a digital platform called Pointy to automatically publish his products online and also drive customers into his store. By integrating Pointy’s box with his Lightspeed POS system, Miller has been able to scan products with a scanner and have those products appear on his store’s Pointy page online.

Case Study: East Coast Wings Uses Localized Ads to Fight Against Post-Super Bowl ‘Wing Fatigue’

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Fast-casual dining franchise East Coast Wings + Grill created locally-relevant social media campaigns to target consumers and gauge foot traffic results during last year’s Super Bowl. Now one year later, Director of Marketing Maria Capparelli says East Coast Wings plans to continue delivering locally targeted ads and posts.

Case Study: Restaurant Group Uses Spend Data to Analyze Customer Base

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For Good Food Guys, a restaurant group that owns and operates fast casual restaurant concepts in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, digital marketing platforms helped bring in customers over the holiday season who were already out doing their shopping, while also rewarding those who visit most frequently.

How Should SMBs Respond to Complaints on Social Media?

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The way a merchant responds to complaints on social media will influence not only the perception of the offended customer, but also the perception of any potential customers who view the interaction online. Here are eight strategies that business owners can use when deciding how best to respond to customer complaints on social media.

Case Study: Aerial Entertainment Company Turns Late-Night Web Browsing Into Booking Opportunities

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kayla Dyches has been able to capitalize on her unique line of work to get free press in local publications, but still says the best way to promote her upcoming classes is still with paid online advertising. She runs paid ads on Facebook and Instagram every two to three months to promote her circus arts classes.

Case Study: Portland Retailer Reaches New Customers with At-Home Try-On

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EcoVibe Apparel is working with a hyperlocal startup called Dorrbell and giving local shoppers a way to try on items from the comfort of their homes. Customers go online and choose products they would like to try on, they then schedule a time for them to be dropped off.

6 Click-to-Text Tools for Local Businesses

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Seventy-five percent of millennials prefer to text versus call on their mobile phones, according to a survey by the mobile engagement platform OpenMarket, and 76% prefer to receive texts from businesses because they say texting is more convenient and less disruptive.

Spa Facial

Case Study: Rhode Island Spa Looks to Automate Repetitive Marketing Tasks

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When Alayne White first started using an online booking portal at her eponymous Rhode Island spa, her goal was to get just 10% of clients to book online. Eight years later, she’s inching closer to the 50% threshold, as nearly half of her clients are booking their appointments through desktop and mobile devices.

Case Study: Swedish Salad Chain Boosts Impressions with Local Facebook Pages

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Rather than budgeting for large TV buys, Redfellas is working almost exclusively on using social media for low cost marketing and advertising. Specifically, the Swedish salad and smoothie chain is looking to expand its footprint on Instagram and Facebook with local store pages.

Case Study: Sailing Company Leverages Online Reviews to Maximize Sales

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Online reviews can make or break a business in the tourism industry, which is one of the reasons why Kai Kanani Sailing Charters is pulling out all the stops to drive a higher volume of reviews on third-party websites like Yelp, Facebook, and TripAdvisor..

Case Study: Non-Profit Searches for Cost-Effective Marketing Solutions

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Community support is essential for any local organization, and particularly for non-profits like Keshet Dance Company, which relies on partnerships and sponsorships to fund its socially-driven programming for at-risk youth.

Oilerie

Case Study: Franchisee Sees Better Customer Retention With iPad POS

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Social media plays an integral role in most local merchants’ marketing strategies, but Oilerie’s Lori Hackman says business owners have to do more than just post occasionally on Facebook or Twitter to get people engaged and motivated to come into their stores.