What is deep linking and why is it critical to the future of the mobile app economy? What’s up with Pinterest and Instagram’s new “buy” buttons?  And what’s the economic forecast for the on-demand economy?

These are a few topics we tackled over the last week, aggregated into the Local Media Watch newsletter. Click the image below to read the full issue.

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Subscribe to LMW (free) to get it in your inbox during its regular Thursday circulation.

The post LMW, Issue 25: App Cross-Functionality is the Future of Mobile appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Google has been launching lots of products to carry its search dominance into a mobile world. Given that 4 out of 5 mobile minutes happen in-app, this sidesteps the very place where its dominance has been established: the browser. We recently had the chance to talk to Google about its vision (video below).

This ties in with things we’ve examined recently such as deep linking and push notifications. Google Now is also a key product the company is building for app-based local discovery and commerce. Many of these products were advanced and clarified during last week’s I/O conference.

Google’s Brendon Kraham is close to all of this, as the guy in charge of “building and developing Google’s next $1 Billion+ ad businesses.” That’s is obviously a big task and Kraham is examining lots of ways to extend Google’s capabilities, data and search dominance into this new mobile-oriented world.

In addition to the above products, this involves carrying forward Google’s legacy of innovation in performance-based local ads. In mobile, that translates to offline attribution, a la Estimated Total Conversions. This is just one way Google is planting its flag in the next decade’s ad equation.

“It’s still early, but I can see the future that is coming and even now we have the proxy metrics of ‘did somebody go into a store’,” Kraham told us, “and actually closing the loop with third party data partners for a store transaction. It just takes a bit more heavy lifting to get those insights.”

The video of his presentation and fireside chat is embedded below.

The post What Does the Next Era of Local Search Look Like? (Video) appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

The Local On-Demand Economy (LODE) will be all about transactions. The ease of transaction between buyer and seller will need to match the lowered-barriers and “immediacy” of the on-demand service and experience itself. Otherwise, LODE’s promise won’t be fulfilled. It’s all about the money.

Fortunately, lowered barriers is exactly the trend we’re seeing in payments, starting years ago with Paypal and extending to today with things like P2P transactions (Square Cash) and enterprise/ecommerce (Stripe). There’s also payment giants like MasterCard innovating for a LODE-centric world.

We held a webcast last week to discuss where this is all going. Led by BIA/Kelsey analyst Mitch Ratcliffe, the conversation included MasterCard and Flint Mobile. They both had lots to say about payments’ importance at the center of the LODE equation — not just the why, but also the how.

See the full webinar replay embedded below.

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Flint will be speaking at BIA/Kelsey NOW: Rise of the Local On-Demand Economy next Friday in San Francisco. Register here (Inside tip: Save $100 by using the discount code “MB100″).

The post Payment Systems Will Be the Backbone of the On-Demand Economy (Video) appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Button, the New York-based developer of mobile deep-linking integration tools for use in local on-demand services, announced the launch of Uber integration into third-party applications. Foursquare used the tools to add a button to its location-based social sharing application to add the ability to book an Uber ride.

When Foursquare members search for a location, Button’s tool passes location and contextual information, such as the name of a restaurant in addition to the address, to Uber. The data is used to generate a location- and customer-specific Uber car ordering button which is placed in the user’s Foursquare interface. It simplifies the user experience substantially and, BIA/Kelsey believes, represents how previously isolated applications on a mobile device can be combined to create new marketing opportunities. Uber, for example, will be providing Foursquare customers a special code for a discount on their ride. Although terms were not disclosed, the Button tool also provides Foursquare an opportunity to monetize its searches for transportation-related services.

“Within mobile, consumers are largely intolerant of ads and other elements that detract from a consumer’s journey,” Button co-founder and CEO Michael Jaconi told us. “You’re seeing an emergence [of] ‘buttons’ from all the titans of industry — seeking to match intent with its fulfillment — and many of these use cases must happen across app borders. That simplicity, that design, and the value that these app connections create is what we’ve set out build at Button.”

Mobile apps are typically “sandboxed” within the mobile operating system, preventing them from sharing any data with other apps. This adds complexity to the customer’s simplest tasks when moving between app screens. For example, iOS assigns completely separate protocols to each app running on an iPhone and all communication to and from the app must be routed through the app protocol. Button essentially scripts exchanges of data between apps, using either the local device’s internal connections or acting as an Internet intermediary between the device and multiple services to deliver integration in the user interface.

“Using Button simplified the process of integrating Uber into Foursquare. With a few lines of code we were able to create a seamless experience when requesting an Uber built directly into our app, saving us time and effort,” said Foursquare SVP of product management Noah Weiss in a release.

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Button cofounder Chris Maddern will be speaking at BIA/Kelsey NOW: Rise of the Local On-Demand Economy next week in San Francisco. Join us and save $100 by using the discount code “MR100″ when registering.

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Retail SMBs are more poised than their counterparts in other verticals to adopt sophisticated digital advertising and marketing. This is clearly shown by BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor ™ (Wave 18) survey of small businesses.

Retail SMBs are already highly oriented to digital media, with plans to spend 43 percent of their total ad budget on digital media in the next 12 months*. They rank social media marketing, SEM/SEO and email marketing as their top priorities for advertising and promotion in the next 12 months*.

There are multiple signals in the LCM data that we think point to big expansion into digital by Retail SMBs:

— They’re experienced in maintaining customer lists, with 71 percent having maintained a customer list for over a year. With 61 percent of their customer lists  in digital form, they’re well positioned to move into marketing automation services like CRM (where they’re still at a low utilization level of 21 percent).

— They’re big users of ecommerce, with 90 percent reporting ecommerce sales.

— They’re highly satisfied with the mobile advertising they’ve done so far, reporting high ROIs — although usage of mobile advertising and marketing is still modest.

— They’re big on customer loyalty programs, which are used by 43 percent of SMB retailers. Since only 30 percent of these programs have been digitized, we believe this too represents another growth opportunity.

— They’ve registered an interest in many advertising and marketing services, particularly ecommerce services, online satisfaction surveys, email marketing, and online leads management.

In sum, we believe local retailers will be upping their digital game on multiple fronts in the near term. Since they’re such a staple of their communities, this shift will reinforce the broad and rapid digitization of daily life.

*The 12 month period following the Local Commerce Monitor Wave 18 survey, conduced in Q3, 2014.

These were a few of the top-level findings of the latest cut of LCM 18, focusing on SMBs in the Retail vertical. Clients of BIA/Kelsey can access this report through our client portal. The report is also available for purchase, and more information on the LCM survey is here.

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What’s the state of the art in local ad attribution? Are “shopper” publications dead? And what does Mary Meeker have to say about the on-demand economy? These are a few topics we tackled over the last week, aggregated into the Local Media Watch newsletter. Click the image below to read the full issue.

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Subscribe to LMW (free) to get it in your inbox during its regular Thursday circulation.

The post LMW Issue 24: Local is All About Attribution appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Ad attribution is one of the most challenging analytic problems in marketing today. Who saw which ads, and what purchases resulted? It’s a sticky challenge, especially in an increasingly multi-screen world. As a result, many advertisers use simplified models for attributing customer response. For example, the last click model attributes conversions to the last message a consumer saw.

But smartphone penetration and the age of big data are coming together to create an environment where deeper ad attribution is attainable. This includes the traditionally elusive area of offline ad attribution — connecting the dots between digital engagement and real world (read: local) conversions. The mobile device now provides that link (see our white paper on this topic).

The discussion surfaced again at ad:tech last week. Microsoft data scientist Lin Huang outlined the company’s keyword assist model wherein “the data drives the attribution.” In other words, there’s no pre-existing template about how attribution is assigned. Instead, Bing data (not to be confused with Big Data) determines what search terms naturally cluster together, and what activities they drive.

If a Hyatt property in Hawaii runs a display campaign, impressions resulting from a search cluster could include terms like “Hawaii vacation” or “Hawaii trips.” The attribution weighing of those terms can be measured against a subsequent search for “scuba Hawaii” that directly resulted in a click to book at the Hyatt property. So the earlier — and sometimes more influential — search can get its due credit.

Google and several others have their own flavors of full-funnel attribution. Lin Huang believes the Microsoft’s keyword assist model is “beyond parity” with Google’s latest approach, but of course his inherent bias should be noted. And his examples are mostly around e-commerce transactions, which are of course notable. But offline attribution is where it gets interesting… and very local.

This is important for any advertiser targeting local markets, given that offline is where 93 percent of U.S. commerce happens. Connecting the dots between digital and analog worlds will be the holy grail of local advertising (cue: John Wannamaker quote). And mobile is the key to unlocking that famously illusive challenge, given that it physically goes to the store with you.

So what do these offline attribution models look like? Many extrapolate by creating ad-exposed control groups and measure geographic sales lifts among those groups. There are also ways to measure ad effectiveness by linking social identity to purchase method (see Facebook/Datalogix partnership). Mobile payments will ultimately clarify the path to purchase, but we’re still very early there.

As with most new technologies, initial adoption for all of the above will be with national and brand advertisers. SMBs will adopt through agencies, media companies, and other intermediaries. We expect that SMBs with the greatest economic incentive will move first to sophisticated attribution. Think: high-consideration / high-value purchases like legal, financial, medical and automotive.

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Steve Marshall contributed original reporting and insights to this post

The post Local Advertising: It's all About Full-Funnel Attribution appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

High unemployment has created a steady supply of service providers to fill the ranks of LODE’s workforce. Millennials in addition to being avid consumers of LODE services, also possess work habits that are conducive to the flexibility that LODE service providers enjoy. These factors will further accelerate as LODE services move up market to higher-end professions, such as professional, creative and technical fields… The characteristic flexible hours that several LODE services offer could be form-fitted for a generation that doesn’t want to be told when to come to work.

Specifically, Meeker presented data showing that Millennials now constitute 44 percent of the on-demand (“1099 economy) workforce. This was just one part of her robust presentation (see all 197 slides here).

This has a great deal to do with the attributes millennials seek in a shifting definition of “work.” They value flexibility greater than salary, and many of them see themselves in jobs that have the flexible hours that are characteristic of LODE employment (i.e. Uber driver).

This means a few different things, all of which are supportive of continued LODE growth. Given that Millennials are increasingly taking over the ranks of the adult working public, their affinity for LODE jobs is supportive of the ongoing health of the sector’s supply side.

But it’s also supportive of demand. We’ve argued that LODE is tailor made for millennials as consumers. Bringing it all together, Millennials’ escalating presence on both supply and demand sides of the LODE equation indicates a growing and balanced marketplace.

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This post, along with ongoing LODE coverage, builds up to BIA/Kelsey NOW, a one-day conference taking place June 12 in San Francisco. We hope to see you there. 

The post Mary Meeker: 44 Percent of On-Demand Workers are Millennials appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Though “mopocalypse’s” impact didn’t live up to its hype, mobile website optimization remains critical. That’s particularly true for multi-location businesses that compete in several different markets at once. It’s all about getting data cleansed and organized.

That plays out in lots of ways, which we examined with Placeable during a session at BIA/Kelsey NATIONAL. The company has a good perspective as it works directly with lots of brands to get their location data and localized marketing strategies in order.

You can see my interview with the company embedded below, as well as chapter links that take you to each of the five “tips” we went over for optimizing multi-location campaigns. Stay tuned for lots more conference video footage.

Video chapter links

Multi-location marketing: who’s doing it best
Tip #1: Create landing pages for every location
Tip #2: Ways to make sure landing pages are complete and accurate
Tip #3: Make sure offers and promotions are refreshed often
Tip #4: Include comprehensive reviews and sources
Tip #5: Mobile landing pages: how to navigate mopocalypse
Conclusions & takeaways

The post Conference Video: Five Tips for Localized Mobile Marketing appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

One of the many attributes of the local on-demand economy (LODE), is it’s potential to flip local advertising models we’ve known for more than a century. It will do this in some cases by replacing marketing with a commerce engine; or as we’re calling it, the “logistical last-mile” to the consumer.

This all results from a more direct linking of buyer and seller — and the systems in place to achieve that marketplace transparency in a more compressed way. With Uber, for example, instead of searching, viewing listings, reviews, calling… you simply press a button and a car shows up.

So the key to many LODE apps we’re seeing is to match buyer and seller more quickly and reliably than local search. That involves lots of performance and location tracking. Beyond technology chops, it’s all about building balanced two-sided marketplaces, and network effect.

A related excerpt from our LODE white paper is below. Consider it a primer for the discussion we’ll have on stage at BIA/Kelsey NOW. Let me know if you’d like to participate (mbolandATbiakelsey.com) and stay tuned for lots more coverage.

Flipping the Model

LODE’s departure from local search has important ramifications for marketers. Stepping back, consumer behavior has evolved from print directory lookups to search engines and even social networks to find items or services that fulfill specific needs with varying degrees of urgency.

These models have progressed towards more of a user pull and less of an advertiser push. The trend has also moved towards more targeted advertiser placement, to establish positioning in front of consumers at strategic times and places of explicit commercial intent.

In a print directory context, this means physical positioning — through size, color and heading priority — to capture that coveted phone call at a time of consumer need. For search engines, it means formulating the right keywords and ad groups to likewise capture high-intent clicks.

With search came certain efficiencies in reaching high-intent consumers in a more cost-efficient way than traditional media. LODE continues down that evolutionary path by aggregating real time consumer demand in a given service category, allowing nearby providers to respond accordingly.

So instead of a consumer search for a business — requiring a previously devised marketing plan where a message is placed in front of that user — LODE flips the model. User demand is captured and revealed for service providers to react in real time to a marketplace now made transparent.

“There’s no advertising in these apps, it’s purely a grossed-up transactional value,” Comcast Ventures Partner Michael Yang told BIA/Kelsey. “Local isn’t reviews anymore, it’s on demand… The business model is consumer pay, and the merchant is being aggregated into a network.”

Put another way, the need for advance advertising to stay competitive is eliminated in some cases. Service providers thriving with LODE don’t need to market themselves proactively to generate demand. They’re now given an operational tool to capture demand reactively.

This is analogous to the Just in Time manufacturing principle. A Japanese innovation popularized in the U.S. by Harley Davidson, and more recently by Tesla, inventory is produced much closer to its sale. This improves cash flows and reduces capital requirements for cost of goods sold.

In LODE services, capital requirements for customer acquisition are likewise reduced. Demand generation at the app level creates marketplace transparency to deploy inventory — for example, a service provider’s finite set of appointment slots — exactly where it’s needed in real time.

“What we’re seeing is yield optimization,” MyNeighbor CEO Brendan Benzing told BIA/Kelsey. “Uber in early days had a brick business which was town cars, but it was all the time in between rides that was the mortar. That’s the value that technology is finally extracting due to mobility.”

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