Understand the ‘local consumer,’ and you’ll understand how to serve SMBs

This sponsored post is produced by Street Fight.

It’s fair to say we’re entering hyperlocal marketing 2.0. After a much-hyped explosion, the daily deal industry is now in the process of consolidating; smaller players are falling off while the bigger players are looking beyond the deal to create customer loyalty and 360-degree merchant marketing. Meanwhile, LBS “check-in” pioneer Foursquare is looking for ways to monetize by becoming an engine of local discovery. Hyperlocal publishers are still selling banner ads, but they’re also looking to new revenue streams to expand their reach.

One thing that unites the way that these companies are evolving is that they are all becoming more and more focused on the local consumer — and on helping small businesses understand how they can reach the right person, in the right place, at the right time, with the right message.

Who are today’s “local consumers?” What are the unique characteristics of their habits, and how can they be best engaged on digital platforms? They are a new demographic born out of an explosion of new technologies that provide new ways to discover local options for food, apparel, hobbies, events and more; they are wired, focused on their immediate surroundings in the present moment, and expecting discounts and loyalty features to boot. New research on this group will debut at Street Fight Summit West.

Tech and media startups are getting closer and closer to unlocking the secret to delivering better targeting and stronger marketer-consumer relationships than traditional media. But they have a ways to go.

At Street Fight Summit West, which is taking place on June 5 in San Francisco, the research and other insights into the motivations and characteristics of local consumers will be front and center. In conjunction with Dr. Phil Hendrix of immr, we’ll debut original data about local consumer habits, with a special call-out on local search. VentureBeat readers can attend the event for 20% off (which go up on May 22) using the discount code VENTUREBEAT20.

As well, Google’s Nitin Mangtani will talk about the way the search giant is combining offers and location to create a way for merchants to target, market and retain local consumers. Street Fight’s Alex Salkever will grill Foursquare’s business development chief Holger Luedorf about the company’s plans for monetization. Cir.ca founding editor David Cohn will take a deep dive into the evolution of digital media and look at how banner advertising will combine with other elements to ultimately create a sustainable business model for hyperlocal news.

Cloudera’s Omer Trajman, Locu’s Rene Reisenberg and PlaceIQ’s Duncan McCall will look at how big local data is transforming the way that consumers can be targeted with relevant content and offers. Additional topics throughout the day will keep a sharp eye on this demographic, including mobile targeting, 360-degree marketing, hyperlocal content, customer-loyalty programs, and more.

Architect Partners will also present data on M&A activity taking place in hyperlocal tech — which has seen a 63% uptick in deals year over year.