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In the News

Hot Off the Press

• Google Search Results Updated with ‘Full Coverage’ for News
  • Google Search is gaining the Full Coverage feature for breaking news results which provides more context about stories from multiple sources. Full Coverage was first introduced in Google News in 2018. Google promised a wider rollout to regular search results in 2019, but that never materialized. Now, two years later than expected, Full Coverage is finally available in search results.

• How Are Marketers Actually Solving for Identity in a Cookieless World?
  • Identity resolution was a major challenge for marketers even before they were confronted with the phase-out of third-party cookies and mobile ad IDs. Take away third-party cookies, and it can make an already-difficult situation seem impossible. But brands are discovering a way forward. Marketers are on a new quest for identity; it’s just a matter of unlocking their first-party data’s potential.
• FLoC is coming — Here’s what we know so far
  • Google has positioned its third-party cookie replacement squarely between advertisers and users, and both sides are worried. Earlier this month, Google announced that it would not build or use alternate identifiers to track users for advertising purposes. Instead, the company reiterated that its ads will be driven by one of its Privacy Sandbox initiatives, called Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC).

• Post Engagement Rates Remain Far Higher on Instagram Than Facebook or Twitter
  • Brand posts on Instagram had an average engagement rate in 2020 that was more than 4x higher than Facebook’s. This is according to recent findings from Socialinsider, which also analyzed social media engagement benchmarks across industries. Based on data from more than 22 million posts from upwards of 56K business pages on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, this latest benchmark study finds that Instagram remains the platform with the highest engagement rate by some margin. In 2020, Instagram’s average post engagement rate grew slightly, from 1.09% to 1.16%.

• YouTube Analytics adds ‘new’ and ‘returning viewer’ metrics
  • The Analytics tool in YouTube Studio is adding new and returning viewer metrics to help creators better “understand different trends in your audience over time.” Available on the desktop web, the Analytics > Audience page is getting a “Returning” tab to join “Unique viewers” and “Subscribers.”

• The People Problem of Content Strategy
  • Part of the role of a cross-functional content marketing group is to provide both a forum and an incubator for new and innovative new platforms. But simply brainstorming, while fun and often very productive, often leads to a list of great ideas that end up abandoned for a host of reasons. Additionally, because of the cross-functional nature of your teams, these meetings can end up in a list of siloed “to-do’s” that simply get relegated to the teams because they are most likely to “own them”. Then, you know, life gets in the way – and at the next team meeting, that task hasn’t been completed because of any of a million reasons.  Or, worse, the task’s purpose start to get modified based on the agenda of that particular department.

• Clubhouse Promises Its Accelerator Participants Either Brand Deals or $5K per Month
  • Amid growing competition from Twitter Spaces and other newcomers, popular social audio startup Clubhouse is making a move aimed at seeding its network with more high-quality content: It’s launching an accelerator program. During its weekly town hall event on Sunday, the company detailed its plans for its inaugural accelerator called “Clubhouse Creator First,” which will initially help around 20 creators get their shows off the ground.

• Social Media Reminds Us of the Year That Wasn’t
  • Technology is designed to conjure up warm, fond memories. But the anniversary of lockdown has brought on a period of mourning. Timehop, the random photos our iPhone surfaces, our memories on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat all served to remind us where were and who we were with the day before lockdown. They reminded us of the things we miss, the people we lost, and all the places we would rather be. Nostalgia can be a tricky thing.

• Brands on Social Media
  • With all the recent hype on Clubhouse, there is both urgency to seize the opportunity and a lack of clarity on what the opportunity actually is. Already valued at $1 billion, Clubhouse is the first social media company to break out since TikTok. The app lets people gather in audio chatrooms to discuss different topics. It’s still invitation-only but is already gaining a lot of attention from marketers who want to tap into the hoopla somehow.

Creativity

Out of the Box

• Creative Brief Tips & Tricks for More Successful Content Projects
  • Content marketing projects need a creative brief to support collaboration and ensure a successful campaign. We have seen this a million times. Speed is often our worst enemy. Proceeding without a creative brief puts us at risk of losing focus, misunderstanding our target audience, or chasing the wrong metrics. Moreover, skipping the client brief makes miscommunication and inconsistency likely. Learn how to create and implement one.

• Creativity, Bananas and Moldy Whoppers
  • Creativity is a concept that invites all kinds of silly interpretations. In advertising and marketing, creativity contains boundaries that are not required in fine art — e., creativity must serve commercial purposes. This does not make it any easier. In fact, it may make it harder. You can’t just tape a banana to a wall and call it art. Being creative in advertising is essential if you expect big results. But ad creativity needs to be connected to the real world. In the real world, consumers buy things because they believe they will make them feel good. That’s pretty much the only reason they buy things.

• Anything You Can Do… Again; How Brands Are Prepping for SXSW: Tuesday’s First Things First
  • Anything Gatorade has done, it can do better (or at least again) in a new ad that revives the classic theme of its 90s ads starring Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm. This time, it’s Usain Bolt and Abby Wambach facing off at a variety of sports and physical activities—though the original stars make a cameo too. Watch now.

• The 50 Most Inspiring People and Companies, According to Industry Creatives
  • Get ready to hit “follow” for some creative inspiration. Talent platform Working Not Working, which earlier this year was acquired by Fiverr, has unveiled a list of the 50 people and companies cited by creatives as their biggest muses. Don’t worry. We’ll make the list next year!

Tricks of the Trade

Tips and Tricks

• Making Highly Watchable Videos: A 4-Step System to More Eyeballs
  • Tired of low views on your videos? Wondering how to create videos people share? Read this article to learn how to induce people to watch and share your video with their friends and followers on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms.

• The Top Instagram Updates You Need to Know: March 2021
  • Keep informed with this rundown of Instagram’s latest updates. From Instagram Rooms to policy updates, the company is constantly implementing changes that apply to marketers and creators. But if you don’t know about them, you can’t make the most of them. Stay ahead of Instagram trends and give your marketing that extra edge. Here are the new Instagram updates for March 2021.

• 10 Truths About Marketing After the Pandemic
  • It’s safe to say that 2020 was a year like no other and that 2021 will certainly not revert back to the old normal. So, as marketers think about building brands during this year and beyond, what should we take away from the pandemic? What can we do to help companies grow faster? And how is marketing being redefined in the age of Covid-19? Asking and answering these questions is critical to marketing success in the months and years ahead.

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