Marketing in the Digital Age: News Round-Up (week ending Mar 29, 2019)

Checkout on Instagram, Facebook Ban on White Nationalism, and E-Commerce reports on Google Analytics in this week’s Marketing in the Digital Age.

Facebook Announces Ban on White Nationalism

Summary: In the wake of the New Zealand mosque shooting (the shooter broadcast the crimes on Facebook Live), Facebook announced it will put a ban on rhetoric touting (“praise, support and representation”) for white nationalism and separatism. If a person searches for terms associated with white supremacy, they will be redirected to resources on helping people leave behind hate groups.

Opinion: I assume the issues of First Amendment rights will come up with the block of free speech and something I struggled with, even though I vehemently oppose the content like this. What I see as the difference with this, hate speech can exist but it doesn’t mean a company has to provide the platform to distribute it. People are granted access to free speech, not distribution.

Introducing Checkout on Instagram

Summary: Instagram announced launch of a beta test where you can buy products directly on Instagram without leaving the app. “When you tap to view a product from a brand’s shopping post, you’ll see a “Checkout on Instagram” button on the product page. Tap it to select from various options such as size or color, then you’ll proceed to payment without leaving Instagram. You’ll only need to enter your name, email, billing information and shipping address the first time you check out.”

Opinion: Impulse shopping at its finest!

Google Analytics Ecommerce Report: Standard vs Enhanced

Summary: “Although the Enhanced Ecommerce reports offer more information, setting them up requires more work. Only make that extra effort if you don’t have another tool that helps you analyze your customer journey and sales funnels and how they generate revenue. And if you’re just getting started with Google Analytics Ecommerce reports, the Standard option is a great choice.”

Opinion: Having clients who struggle with the investment (time and money), this article outlines the benefits of enhanced over standard ecommerce reports on Google Analytics.

Marketing in the Digital Age: News Round-Up (week ending Mar 22, 2019)

Calling on B2B businesses, LinkedIn launches new targeting options; Google eCommerce Guide; and Google My Business tweaks to bring in more foot traffic in this week’s Marketing in the Digital Age.

LinkedIn Adds Targeting Options

Summary: LinkedIn announced it will add lookalike audiences (using traits of your ideal member to find similar audiences on LinkedIn), audience templates (for those who don’t quite know their target market, this will help you search for them using key criteria), and search data (using data from parent company Microsoft via Bing to use complement interest targeting).

Opinion: About time! For B2B companies, advertising options can be limiting in the sense that they don’t always reach their key audience easily. These key targeting options will allow those options to expand while also increasing revenue for LinkedIn.

Google eCommerce Guide

Summary: Google released an eCommerce guide to help business quickly see all tools at their disposal to promote with them.

Opinion: Quick guides like this one are helpful, though it would be great to include a little more detail for businesses that may not be versed in the space.

Google Business Tweaks for Foot Traffic

Summary:

1. Answer Google Q&A quickly: these could be leads

2. Post about your proximity to nearby major attractions: example, hungry after your walk in the park, head over to XYZ Cafe!

3. Turn your Profile into storefronts. “See What’s In Store Inventory (SWIS)” is being touted as the next big thing in local marketing.

4. Make your profile pic a selfie hotspot: if you have an area where people can stop and take pics in front of, do it. Make a mural, post a phrase, whatever will get those clicks.

5. Putting time on your side: make sure you’re open when your customer wants you

Opinion: If you’re a storefront or business looking for walk-in traffic, these tweaks are easy with a good return. Now that Google has shut down Google+, Google My Business is becoming an important SEO tool for SEO ranking.

Marketing in the Digital Age: News Round-Up (week ending Mar 15, 2019)

First Party Auctions (sounds more fun than it is)- Google changes its ad bidding strategies, Twitter “Stories”, and free access to Google’s Marketing Live Event streaming for the first time ever.

Google Switches to First Party Auctions for Ad Buys

Summary: Google is switching to a highest price wins the bid to place ads across their Ad network. Previously, they employed a second-price model, in which that advertiser would only pay a penny more than the runner-up bid. As a buyer, in theory, you could bid an astronomically high amount and only a penny more than the person who bid second lower than you. Now, you pay what you bid. Although seemingly straightforward, it leaves a lot of questions on the optimal bid amount.

Opinion: This is like the equivalent of Instagram being down for a day for Google Ad buyers. Buyers (including yours truly) will have to adjust pricing to get it to an optimal rate. Bid shading (which is like a compromise for first party auctions) sets a fair price by the vendor (and also seems a little like a fox guarding the henhouse).

Twitter Developing “Stories”

Summary: Twitter has released its own version of Facebook/IG Stories. When you swipe left on your Twitter feed, you’ll be taken to a camera to capture content. There aren’t additional stickers or filters yet, but they are likely to come.

Opinion: I feel like all socials are going to look the same in about 2 years. What is going to be the differentiator? These platforms did once have separate strengths (like Twitter for live events, Instagram for visuals, etc.), and these are strengths that should be developed over convergence.

Google Streaming Marketing Event

Summary: Google announced it will stream its Google Marketing Live Event for the first time ever. As explained by Google "Did you know that searches for "best” have increased by 80% in the last two years? For example, in recent third-party research, we saw that some people spend over 50 days searching for the “best chocolate” before making a decision.

Google Marketing Live is happening on May 14th - register now to discover how to take action on new consumer insights like these and learn about the latest digital marketing products from Google. For the first time, we'll also be live streaming 8+ hours of additional content from the event. Engage directly with product managers through live Q&A, learn new best practices, and get an inside look at how our latest products are developed."

Opinion: Sign-up! Courtesy of the best blog ever. ;)

5 Tips for Effective YouTube Marketing

5 Tips for Effective YouTube Marketing in 2019

1. Use keywords and Call-to-Actions:

   • Like its parent, Google, YouTube is a search engine for videos. As so, in order to be found, tag with relevant keywords related to your video/brand. If you’re a yogurt company with a video about your product, tag with relevant keywords like “yogurt”, “yogurt cake”, “yogurt instant pot”, “milk”, “dairy” etc. There are various keyword tools online to help you with this, like KeywordTool.

   • Include a call-to-action (CTA) like subscribe for more videos, visit our website (www.) to learn more, etc. You can also include links to your website, social media, and key relevant links in your “About” section.

2. Set a Style and Tone for your Channel

   • With good brand planning, it’s important to set a style and tone for your channel. Ideally, this would be done before you start posting content. If you’ve already started, make an effort to concentrate on a centralized tone going forward. Some questions that can help you with that:

     • Who is our audience? What are our target demographics?

     • How do we want to open and close our YouTube videos?

     • What should our CTA/CTAs be?

     • What tone do we want to convey to our videos? Hip and friendly? Sleek and professional?

     • What types of videos do we want to make? Tutorials, Q&As, traditional advertisements?

     • Do we want to incorporate comedy into our videos?

     • Who will be creating our video content? Do we want to hire an agency or professional videographer?

3. Keep Corporate and Consumer content separate:

   • Generally, it’s better to keep corporate intent and consumer content separate for your followers. Investors may be looking for one type of content while fans of the brand may be looking for videos about the brand.

   • However, I do think there is an art to this that can encompass both that takes into account your brand’s style and tone.

4. Use various video types

   • It helps to use various forms of videos to post instead of the same style over and over again. For instance, you can mix it up with Q&A, office highlights, top 10 lists, unboxing videos (big with kids now), guests, etc.

5. Don’t Aim to go Viral

   • First and foremost, make good content that is relevant for your brand. Setting out to “go viral” sometimes misses what’s actually best for your consumers and brand itself.

Article source: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/5-tips-for-effective-youtube-marketing-in-2019/546708/. With comments from Sipra Thakur.

Marketing in the Digital Age: News Round-Up (week ending Dec 14,2018)

See you in January 2019 for more Marketing in the Digital Age!

Google+ to Shut Down Earlier

Summary: After a breach in data where developers inadvertently had access to profile information not marked public for nearly a week, Google is accelerating the end date of Google+ from Aug to April 2019.

Opinion: To the few people who still use G+ (basically, Google employees), you’ll still survive.

Offensive Content on YouTube

Summary: YouTube has increased its efforts to remove offensive content from its hub quicker. using a combination of AI and human reviewers. From July-Sept 2018, YouTube removed 7.8m videos with 81% of those being detected by machines. Of those 81%, 74.5% never received one view. During that time, they also removed 224 comments for violating their policies. Because of that, comments went up by 11%

Opinion: The efforts to remove this offensive content actually increased comments, likely because of the resulting quality and validity of content. Humanity, it is a thing!

Facebook’s 3 Things Marketers Need to Know About AR/VR

Summary: One, AR is already adding to everyday life. On mobile, its dominant device use, people use it scan and translate text and chase imaginary figures around their neighborhood. Two, VR will help people defy distance. VR can transform people to new worlds and even be used to help overcome phobias in a safe space. Three, AR and VR are poised to transform the path to purchase. With the rise of online shopping, people still do want to try on things or see how they look in an environment. AR/VR will allow for that missing piece of integration.

Opinion: As a marketer having worked on AR/VR, this is an exciting integration of technology into our everyday lives. It opens up new opportunities and mediums through which to explore how bets to communicate with customers, and, I think, allow for more personalized communications by being able to allow customers to use the technology in a way that best suits their needs.

Marketing in the Digital Age: News Round-Up (week ending Nov 30, 2018)

Google and Facebook launching new products in this week’s Marketing in the Digital Age.

YouTube Launches Stories

Summary: YouTube launched a Stories features for select prominent influencers. Much like Snapchat and Instagram Stories, which will allow them to post temporary video content. Unlike Snapchat and Instagram, though, these Stories will live for 7 days.

Opinion: Given the success of Snapchat (at a point in time) and Instagram Stories, it makes sense for Google to get in this game. For most brands, Stories should become an element of marketing in the coming year if it isn’t already.

Small Thanks, Google

Summary: Google created a program, Small Thanks, to enable businesses to create digital posters to post for their business based on reviews or offers.

Opinion: This could have been useful for the soon to be defunct Google+ in making it easy for users to post content about their business easily. Regardless, it is now an easy way for businesses, particularly small businesses, to promote their business online through these generated pieces of content from Google free of charge. And Google benefits from the added engagement.

Facebook Tests Live Video Mode for Sellers

Summary: In a discreet rollout, sellers can sign up for a waitlist for “Facebook Live Video Mode,” which enables Pages to showcase products in their stream. Viewers can then send in screenshots of products they would like to buy and a transaction is made via inbox.

Opinion: I think this may make more sense once it’s rolled out. Reading the description, it seems like an unnecessary step to have to take a screenshot to purchase a product. I would prefer a number or description to be able to tell the retailer what I want instead. The exploration into added e-commerce functionalities is also a good way to have people stay on Facebook longer.

Marketing in the Digital Age: News Round-Up (week ending 11.16.18)

The headlines are particularly self-explanatory in this week’s edition of Marketing in the Digital Age.

Instagram Adds Shopping Features

Summary: Instagram unveiled three new shopping features ahead of the holiday season.

1. After tapping a product tag in a Story or on a post in their feed, a user can tap the save icon button which will prompt a “Save to shopping collection” option.

2. Branded videos can include a a hopping icon which will feature products and prices of items in the video.

3. A shop tab will be added for business profiles, which will also users to browse products from the retailers.

Opinion: If I were Instagram, I would go a step further and setup an affiliate sales program to take a small fee from sales originating from the platform to expand revenue. This would require making the links clickable. As a retailer, I would welcome this since it’s a new avenue from which to directly sell via clickable links (another method of paid media).

Netflix Testing Cheaper, Mobile Only Plans

Summary: Netflix is testing out cheaper mobile only plans in order to test out expansion into Asia. The first test is in Malaysia at about $4/month.

Opinion: If a company wants to expand into Asia, mobile plans are the right target given its penetration rate over smart tv’s and laptops. It also allows the company to enter at a more favorable price point in countries where salaries are lower.

Facebook Fundraisers Raised Over a Billion Dollars

Summary: Facebook announced it helped raise over a billion dollars for charities through its fundraising and donate tools. They have over a million non-profits registered in 19 countries that can receive donations directly through Facebook and over 20 million people have donated or started a fundraiser.

Opinion: I thought I would end this week’s edition on the positive that can also come from social media and community giving.

Marketing in the Digital Age: News Round-Up (week ending Nov 9, 2018)

Chat bots to the rescue.

Chatbots Working for you This Holiday Season

Summary: With the holiday season fast approaching, many brands are using chat bots to help with consumer questions. Brands love them because it streamlines efforts from their customer service department for FAQ’s. Consumers love them because the bots are often in places they already are, like Messenger, and can provide advice like gift recommendations.

Opinion: First, where has the year gone?! Second, bots are a great tool in this type of scenario to complement a robust customer service strategy.

#wcwSTEM

Summary: MTV, Facebook, and AdCouncil launched a series of videos on IGTV (Instagram TV) featuring 5 inspirational female STEM role models. The series began this week and will continue every Wednesday for the remainder of the episodes.

Opinion: #wca- woman crush always! This is a great series aimed at encouraging girls to pursue interests and careers in the STEM field.

How to Set Your 2019 Social Media Advertising Budget

Summary: First and foremost, define what your goals are in the space. Is it more traffic, more engagement, more website views? Once you have a handle on this, determine what to project. For example, for more community building, gather your cost per follower (amount spent/amount gained) to get a rough estimate of your acquisition costs. If you want to increase by 25%, do the budgeting math accordingly. For increased engagement, visit previous engagements to see what it will cost you to keep on that path. Website views, use cost-per-click x target visits.

Opinion: This is a good start to break down a good chunk of tools you need to accurately forecast for 2019. You also want to take into account any campaigns that are being built out for your brand alongside any other one-off pushes that may be needed.