One movement led by Facebook in the smartphone era is the rise of specialized "unbundled" standalone apps. In the highly siloed app environment, “do one thing and do it well,” the thinking goes. I’m not fully convinced of this philosophy,…
The trend of print directory ad dollars shifting to digital continues, according to findings from BIA/Kelsey's Local Commerce Monitor (LCM 18) upcoming look at SMBs who use directories for advertising and promotion. In LCM Wave 18, "net decreasers" -- those planning…
What does the next era of mobile local search look like? What's the outcome for local delivery joining the equation for on-demand services? And what are the takeaways from BIA/Kelsey's fresh SMB research? These are a few topics we tackled…
Dave Ashton, founder of SnapCar, a French on-demand transportation company, has posted his "Case Against Full-Time Employees." The piece is receiving tremendous amounts of attention on LinkedIn today, nearly a quarter million views as of this writing. Ashton's is a…
The art of aggregating and deploying local service providers is defining the local on-demand economy (LODE). We unpacked this during a panel discussion at BIA/Kelsey NOW (video below). Like many two-sided marketplaces, LODE is fundamentally driven by supply and demand.…
Cheap deliveries will drive impulse buys and new revenues: or at least, that's the hope of a number of new local commerce players. Uber and Sidecar -- high profile on demand leaders -- have seized on the strategic value of delivery (along…
A question has loomed over media and tech worlds lately: What happens to search when the browser is no longer the front door? As engagement migrates to mobile, users' front door is predominantly apps instead of the search-centric web. This is…
In the six years that BIA/Kelsey has tracked social media as an advertising/marketing medium for SMBs, it's developed from an experiment (blogs, email, and reviews) to a tsunami. Last year, social media achieved a "double first" -- It was the top media used…
We like vertical specialization for local marketing, and have long admired the approach of G5, the Bend, Ore- based local marketing firm that started with a focus on self-storage unit owners in 2005, and later added senior housing, multi-unit property…
How quickly are advertisers adopting location targeting? What's local's stake in programmatic? And what's the impact of Google's latest tweaks local search results? These are a few topics we tackled this week, aggregated into the Local Media Watch newsletter. Click…
Acquiring very small businesses at a low cost of acquisition and then locking them into a suite of services that they rely on to run their businesses (thus driving higher lifetime value) is a huge opportunity that is also incredibly difficult to…
Moving past "phase 1" of the call analytics discussions (the why), it's now all about tactical and actionable discussions (the how). We tackled that in a recent webcast by diving into fresh BIA/Kelsey call volume forecast data, and some real case…
It's well known by now that mobile has overtaken desktop as the primary mode for online searches. Home services has a tendency to lag broader online trends and this is no exception. However consumers are expected to soon use mobile for…
A new era of big data analysis and automation has been heralded in by the rise of programmatic advertising. But what is the actual impact on local? That’s the subject of BIA/Kelsey’s new insight paper: Defining the Local Stake in…
How are consumer behavior, consumption and expectations driving the movement known as the local on-demand economy (LODE)? It's a key question, especially for increasingly buying-empowered millennials, which we unpacked at BIA/Kelsey NOW (video below). The on-demand economy, like many two-sided…
Location targeting has reached mass adoption among U.S. advertisers, but lack of attribution metrics still holds some back. These were the top takeaways from a report recently released by xAd about U.S. advertiser sentiment towards mobile. The "money stat" is perhaps…
What will be Google's fate in on-demand home services? What does Nokia's $3B sale of Here mean for local? And what do SMB advertisers really want? These are a few topics we tackled this week, aggregated into the Local Media…
As we enter what we're calling phase II of local the on-demand economy (LODE), the environment will be defined by vertical expansion, M&A activity, and a fair share of flameouts. We're already seeing the latter, with companies like HomeJoy and GoodEggs.…
Any company that sells to small businesses knows that demographics can be a stronger indicator of preference than vertical category. We recently met with the leadership team at Home Advisor to ask about the trends they are adapting to in the SMB…
Following vertical drill downs into the buying habits of pizzarias and pharmacies, the team at Buzzboard recently took a look at optometrists. The biggest takeaway: Chain optometrists have a healthy digital presence while independent stores fall behind. This goes especially…
