Is de-influencing the new trend within influencer marketing?
Once upon a time, social media influencers were the kings and queens of the online world, adored by millions of followers who hung on their every word. But now, a new trend has emerged on TikTok, and it's putting the power back in the hands of the people. The de-influencing movement has taken over the app, with users sharing their honest opinions on everything from skincare to gaming equipment. It's a refreshing change from the endless stream of sponsored posts and paid promotions that have come to dominate our social media feeds. But what does this trend mean for the future of influencer marketing? Let's take a closer look.Read more
Marketing essentials from November
So, for the last time this year, we are going to go over the most important news from the world of marketing. Don’t be sad - we will be back at the beginning of January to take a closer look at what happened at the end of 2021. Now, let us see what are the most interesting news and articles for November:
#1: Facebook (or Meta?) brought back the support for black business on Black Friday
The social network announced that it is going to support the black-owned businesses by featuring a show on them in their Facebook Shop tab. The #BuyBlack was also featured on Instagram as live shopping series. This is the second year that Facebook/Meta is doing this to support these businesses.
#2: The digital strategy of Nissan after showroom closings
We find this case study by “Think with Google” really interesting. It follows the evolution of the digital strategy of the automobile brand and its partners - iWebMa Analytical Marketing agency. How their offline strategy was turned into a digital masterpiece? Read the story below.
#3: Special from Think with Google on holiday travel
Another great piece from the blog of Google is directed to marketers in the tourism industry. It takes into account how travelers make their plans and choices with Covid-19 still around and how this affects holiday travel. And most importantly - how can marketers be prepared.
#4: Brands and the metaverse - where are the early adopters coming from?
Digiday came out with a great in-depth article about the metaverse industry and what marketers can do to bring benefits to their clients. The most suitable places? Gaming platforms. Find out how and why by reading the full story here.
#5: Google My Business changes name and adds new features
We write about Google a lot in this overview, but there is some news ahead. Google My Business now is named Google Business Profile. The change is not just in the name - there will be more features for profile management in Google Maps and the search engine. Everything new about this can be found in the article of Search Engine Land.
#6: Holiday Campaign Planning Guide issued for publishers on TikTok
Here is a way to get prepared for the holidays! The social network TikTok came out with a special guide that will help creators to prepare their campaigns for the holiday season. The guide focuses on user trends, customer behavior, and more useful insights. Read about it here.
#7: Does fun increase sales? Entrepreneur.com dives into the subject
For our final piece, we have selected a great article on entrepreneur.com that provides an overview on what is the best type of storytelling used in marketing to drive sales. Positive messages and a sense of humor help a lot.
Marketing essentials from October
As you remember, at the beginning of October we published our first article about the top stories in the world of marketing for the last 30 days. It is November already, so here comes the most important news from the previous month - the marketing essentials you need to know about.
#1: Microsoft and Yandex to join forces for a new initiative
Yes, there are search engines besides Google. Microsoft’s Bing and Yandex (famous in Russia) introduced a new initiative in October called IndexNow. The main goal is to allow any search engine to be included. For website owners, the new protocol (IndexNow) allows instant indexing of their websites and pages. For now, only the founding members are participating, however, an open invitation remains for all that want to join this new open protocol.
#2: Digiday.com outlined that creators with mid-level reach on Tik-Tok may be the best for brands
You may not like it, but Tik-Tok is here to stay and more brands are turning to this social network. The media about marketing Digiday.com digs into the subject to suggest those creators that have a huge number of followers may not be the best fit for brands looking for partnerships. A survey, that the website cites claims that brands that work with creators that have around 550 000 followers and those with around 11 million followers give the best results.
#3: The Metaverse will generate 10 000 new jobs in the EU
With the internet going crazy with memes on the Facebook name change to Meta, one of the big news from October was that the creation of the Metaverse will be the reason for 10 000 job openings in the EU alone. As Facebook announced it: “Today, we’re announcing a plan to create 10,000 new high-skilled jobs within the European Union (EU) over the next five years. This investment is a vote of confidence in the strength of the European tech industry and the potential of European tech talent.”.
#4: BigTech companies will be required to deliver data from political ads
Once in a while comes a time when the European Commission takes action in direction of the so-called BigTech - Facebook, Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. The latest step in this direction may force Facebook and Google to provide data on political ads and how they target and affect internet users. The goal is to have information about political ads that have not been disclosed by leaders and political parties. More on this matter is yet to be announced by the end of November.
#5: No more LinkedIn in China
Some time ago Microsoft bought LinkedIn with huge plans for the social network. While results can be discussed as controversial, the tech company has decided to shut down the social network for China. This decision comes with the explanation that LinkedIn can’t comply with the requirements of the Chinese state. And with that, the only major social media from the “West” is closing down in the biggest Asian country.
#6: Bye-bye IGTV! Or maybe not?
If you have an Instagram account then you know what IGTV is. Instagram announced they are rebranding it to “Instagram TV”. Now videos in your main feed can be up to an hour-long. The other video section of the social network called Reels (the answer to Tik-Tok) is the video feature being put into the spotlight. Will longer videos see the light of day on Instagram? We are going to find out.
#7: The big outage of Facebook media platforms
It was a major story at the beginning of October but you probably barely remember by now. Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsUp all went down for almost six hours. Mark Zuckerberg lost several billion dollars. In an official statement, it was said that there was a “faulty configuration change” that denied the access of 3,5 billion users. There was some conspiracy going around that it is related to hacking or that it has something to do with the Facebook whistle-blower that came forward around the same time.
Before we part ways, we want to share something related to the latest news on our list. The top 35 memes related to the Facebook shutdown that Bored Panda brought together. Have some fun with them and enjoy your day!
For more interesting news, tips, and guidelines for the marketing world read our blog and follow us on social media.
Marketing essentials from the last 30 days
Hello there! Welcome to the first “Marketing essentials” article we will be doing on our blog. Every 30 days we will go over the most interesting stories and news that happened in the marketing industry worldwide. Here are our top picks for the previous few weeks:
#1: Nike won commercial Emmy with an outstanding ad
With the video ad “You can’t stop us”, the sports giant Nike won the Outstanding Commercial at the 73rd Annual Emmys. The commercial consists of over 35 split-screen moments that merge the action of athletes from different sports. A truly deserved award, we have to say!
#2 Google made a survey among 7000 Europeans about ads and privacy
The tech giant launched a survey that aimed to see if there was going to be a conflict in ad performance with privacy settings in place. There were no issues with engagement and people’s privacy in the cases where marketers made their campaigns meaningful, memorable, and manageable. In that way, people are comfortable with ads and privacy - if you give them added value, they will consent to share their data, they must remember doing it and give them control to make changes if they change their minds.
#3 Facebook and Ray-Ban join efforts to introduce the first smart glasses
Ray-Ban Stories came to life in September. They are the first generation smart glasses that were introduced to the market. The product is born from the collaboration with Facebook. With Ray-Ban Stories you can take photos and record videos, participate in calls and play music. Not bad, at all, we have to say.
#4 Burger King presents: a burger = video game controller
Well, it looks like they did it. For Gamer’s Day, the global fast-food chain showed the world an interesting thing - burger-joystick. It was made from the signature burger Whooper. The best part? It works!
#5 Disney will support creators from TikTok and Instagram
We are still a little mad at Disney for some of the Star Wars movies, but we have to give to them - they are good at marketing. The company announced that its Disney Creators Lab will work with content creators from the social media TikTok and Instagram as well. Disney will provide courses and training for the creators to boost their skills. Of course, we are speaking of creators that admire the company and post about it a lot.
#6 Daniel Craig and a beer = Heineken Ad
The good thing about working with successful and well-known faces is that they are also recognizable in their roles. A few weeks ago a new ad for Heineken came out with the name “Worth the wait” - a slight wink to the postponed premiere of the last Bond movie. And the ad is very simple, yet brilliant - the actor Daniel Craig pours a beer and takes a little sip. And that’s all. Still, it works - bring us the beer!
#7 LinkedIn now has “dark mode”
There is something new that came out in mid-September on LinkedIn for mobile and desktop users. The social network introduced the “dark mode” option that is better for our eyes when the light is low. This affects the color and visibility of posts and ads.
#8 Facebook = The big tobacco of social media?
A very interesting article came out on Bloomberg Businessweek about the controversy of Facebook and its executives claiming the social network to be safe while investing in ways to keep teenagers on it, hiding the potentially bad side of side effects it can have on them. The article compares the social media giant to the Big Tobacco industry in the USA years ago that had a similar scenario.
Those are the most interesting marketing news for the last 30 days. If you like the article, please feel free to share it on social media. For more useful information about how you can get the best for your business and improve your marketing strategy, check our blog and follow us on Facebook.