The utility of loyalty programs is stronger than ever, as they help businesses connect, engage, drive traffic, refer friends, purchase and track customer actions. But efforts to determine loyalty aren't made easier with all the noise in the system. Usage…
Five years into its existence, Groupon is grappling with the reality that it must evolve beyond simply fire-hosing leads at local merchants and begin helping merchants manage those leads and turn more of them into long-term, profitable customers. In…
Retargeting is now available for local marketing campaigns after having been primarily used by national marketers. The practice, which inserts ads that had previously been viewed on other sites, has become increasingly important for online marketing. But it hasn't been…
Groupon's transformation from a daily deals company to a multi-channel shopping promotions and e-commerce portal continue with its launch today of Freebies, a new program that groups together online coupons, promo codes. sales, giveaways and samples. More than 5,500 brands…
As the 2013 holiday shopping season gets underway, BIA/Kelsey's Consumer Commerce Monitor (CCM) survey offers insights into how local shoppers in the U.S. are likely to find, engage and transact with local-serving businesses. Showcasing insights from the survey, our webinar…
Merchants sometimes like to control their own promotions to their own list of customers, rather than waiting in line for Groupon or other deals publishers to do it for them. Yelp, for instance, is one company that has had success…
One way that big data is being applied at the local level is via Card Linked Offers that track consumer spending and target offers and promotions based on that behavior. Banks, credit card companies and payment processors have been especially…
First Data's Senior VP Dom Morea provided a set of important insights into the next generation of marketing services to small and medium businesses (SMBs) at BIA/Kelsey's 2013 SMB Digital Marketing conference, saying these may be more about "commerce" than…
Top insights into franchise marketing were provided today at SMB Digital Marketing, courtesy of Hunter Rose, owner of three Ben & Jerry's Scoop Stores, and longtime local executive and consultant Robyn Rose. Hunter Rose, a former Gartner analyst, is also…
We've always had "marketing" as a unique silo for SMBs. Now, a number of companies are looking at a bigger, more integrated picture that includes marketing and operations. It is Quikbook meet Amex meet Groupon. The idea is once you…
Groupon has been pushing hard to upgrade its merchant base from one-time partners to permanent clients with monthly sales goals. The latest initiative? A “Partner Network” for publishers willing to highlight Groupon deals in return for a piece of the…
Can coupons be reimagined to spur more consumer engagement? That’s what DataSphere is working on. The Seattle-based company sells and hosts marketing solutions to more than 20,000 SMBs under local TV and newspaper brands owned by Gannett, Belo, Raycom, Meredith…
Apple finally made some moves into the local mapping wars last week with the purchase of Locationary, which helps find business locations, and HopStop, which provides transit maps and travel suggestions. We'll go out on a limb and predict that…
The transition from one-off daily deals to an 'always on' loyalty/rewards platform that keeps merchants in the fold has been a Holy Grail of sorts for the deals companies. This was the case for Groupon Rewards, which launched in May…
The daily deals business isn't dead, but it isn't growing either. At this point, they aren't the anchor for SMB digital solutions that had been hoped. The question is whether more sustainable loyalty and rewards programs - many putting their…
You want vision? LevelUp CEO Seth Priebatsch says his loyalty/transaction marketing company will emerge as a partner for SMBs -- think authentication; orders and refunds; and analytics -- in the same way that Facebook Connect is a partner for media…
As traditional local media players begin to lose some of their prominence, the search for alternative local sales channels has become increasingly important. The channel currently being explored: payment processors, which normally focus on selling Point of Sales systems. Processors…
The SMB payment space has been getting mighty crowded since Square’s 2010 launch. Major merchant acquirers such as PayPal, Groupon, Intuit, VeriFone, Heartland Payment, Swipely, Merchant Warehouse and Total Merchant Services have joined Square in the battle for small spending…
Big Data means a lot of things to people. The analytics certainly help. But is it really helping promote new sales and services? That’s the challenge, as companies seek to add coupons and consumer info directly to the payment card…
We like the idea of using corporations as a distribution base for media and services. In the 1990s, The Family Education Network built a great newsletter business distributed in corporate lobbies. The concept's been widely extended with the addition of…
