Effective local advertising is an elusive animal as we know. The animal that OwnLocal co-founder Jeremy Mims pegs is a cartoon Road Runner -- and its nemesis Coyote's comically unsuccessful attempts to snare it. We've all seen it. And much like Wile E. Coyote,…
At BIA/Kelsey's recent Engage conference, Gatehouse Media's Peter Newton shared a detailed look at how Gatehouse's digital agency wing Propel Marketing is expanding its scope and relevance for its SMB customers. Today, Propel is moving well beyond media into events, finance and…
It may sound obvious but most local media companies don't do it: "Have the local business owner's interests at heart," says Jef Biesman. As VP of Customer Marketing and Acquisition at YP, he has perhaps more perspective than anyone in local…
The oldest millennials are 36. In addition to making me feel old, that means that millennials now wholly occupy the coveted 18 - 34 consumer demographic. Among other things that makes them a core consideration for all marketers. In localized…
Transforming ad sales from legacy media to digital aint easy. This can be seen in the relatively low success rate among media companies that sell both. This was the topic of a panel at the recent BIA/Kelsey ENGAGE (video below).…
A couple weeks ago, at BIA/Kelsey ENGAGE, I made the comment that the local on-demand industry has achieved "peak-Uber," when the company seems inevitable and unbeatable but will be hard-pressed to continue to raise capital at the break-neck pace it…
When John Allan took the helm at Sensis in 2012, he inherited a print-focused, sales-driven directory organization that still rewarded its top sales performers with an annual international reward trip that cost the company millions of dollars, even in years…
Conversational commerce is the rage. And most tech giants are jumping on board, as seen at Microsoft Build, Facebook F8, and Google I/O. We also tackled the topic -- zeroing in on its many local implications -- at BIA/Kelsey ENGAGE (video below). As background, messaging…
Conversational commerce is the rage. And most tech giants are jumping on board, as seen at Microsoft Build, Facebook F8, and Google I/O. We also tackled the topic -- zeroing in on its many local implications -- at BIA/Kelsey ENGAGE (video below). As background, messaging…
In business, odds are stacked against any company when navigating growth, competition, disruption and cultural maintenance. An edge can be gained from being better informed... sort of like the Moneyball approach. But it's much more that, as author and luminary…
Search, social, content marketing and local ad sales... these are just a few of the rapidly evolving topics within the Local Commerce Universe. Where do they all stand and what should you be doing and thinking for each? This is…
Yesterday at BIA/Kelsey's Engage pre-conference Women Leading In Local session sponsored by Advice Local, Nancy Shenker, media strategist and CEO of TheOnSwitch spoke about her new initiative, SheBoom, and offered advice on career development for women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. She…
BIA/Kelsey today released a new report, "PPC: The Evolution of a Keystone Customer Acquisition Tool," which explores how pay-per-click advertising inventory has been transformed by the introduction of machine-learning assisted inventory management tools that minimize cost while improving conversion rates…
Next week at BIA/Kelsey's ENGAGE conference in Austin, Texas, four companies representing different elements of the Local Commerce Universe will present 10-minute sponsored case studies. The following synopsis previews GotU's case study. GotU is a white label digital advertising platform operated by…
The Brand-to-local playbook is constantly changing in a multi-screen and millennial-impacted world. This was one of the prevailing themes at the recent BIA/Kelsey BRANDS. But to reach all of those screens optimally, it's all about informed marketing... which all starts with good…
The Brand-to-local playbook is constantly changing in a multi-screen and millennial-impacted world. This was one of the underlying themes at the recent BIA/Kelsey BRANDS. One of those screens continues to be television. In fact, it's not just one screen: TV itself…
It doesn't get much more "local" than all of the devices that surround us and sit in our pockets. And the continued march of Moore's Law means that more and more items will be connected. This is the promise of the…
Sales transformation is all about people, process and product. That's according to BIA/Kelsey sales transformation guru Stacey Sedbrook. As discussed last week, people is a big one and sometimes requires hard decisions. But product is also critical. "Product is really the issue…
Transforming ad sales from legacy media to digital aint easy. This can be seen in the relatively low success rate among media companies that sell both (i.e. newspaper). Meanwhile the debate rages on: separate or combine digital and traditional ad sales…
The Brand-to-local playbook is constantly changing in a multi-screen and millennial-impacted world. This was one of the underlying themes at the recent BIA/Kelsey BRANDS. But what about the "monday morning" action items to begin to implement right away? Consumer data collection,…
