The state of influencer marketing

As the latest release of  “The State of Influencer Marketing in Fashion, Luxury & Cosmetics” report prepared by LaunchMetrics stated, nearly 80% of brands in fashion work with influencers, out of which 46 percent prefer to work with micro-influencers (10k-100k followers), 34% - with macro-influencers (100k-500k followers), and only 9%  and 11% opted for mega-influencers (500k-1.5m followers) and celebrities (>1.5m followers) respectively. 

The most important factor to select the right influencer is the quality of the content and engagement rate. For 15% of the brands, the influencer’s niche matters the most. The number of followers is the decisive factor only for 8% of brands.

The leading scenario of attracting an influencer is usually a product launch, since influencing marketing is effective primarily in creating brand awareness and loyalty. Successful campaigns also boost sales. Other scenarios may include event collaborations and content promotion.

The key indicators for the campaign effectiveness are social media engagement, web traffic, and impact on sales.

How to create content for your brand?

About 88 percent of customers research brands online before the purchase, so content marketing has become more and more important for the brand’s success. Creating high-quality content is hard, so here are a few tips on how to strategically plan content for your brand.

First, start with an in-depth post on the questions that are relevant in the brand’s industry. What’s the skin care routine? How to sustainably source materials & labor for the dress? What are the latest trends in applying AI? This blog post can be broken down in 5-10 separate smaller blogs and shared in the newsletter and social media over a month. Plan posting in apps like “Preview”.

Second, create or buy relevant visuals: pictures or graphics. There are a ton of web resources with templates to create infographics. Also iPhone, good light and editing apps like “Snapseed” and “VSCO” are usually enough to create high-quality pictures for Instagram.

Third, share the process of creating content in Instagram stories to build promotional pressure.

Lastly, interact with subscribers through Q&A or live streaming discussing the blog’s topic to better engage customers in building the brand's identity. 

Public Collections on Instagram?

Recently, it has been found out that Instagram may be working on a new feature similar to the core idea of Pinterest – allowing users to curate posts into public collections and to share with their followers. Currently, the social media behemoth allows its users to save posts into collections/folders for private view. Yet, “making it public for everyone” may be a big move for marketers/brands to utilize on. Two ideas are illustrated as below:

1. More Value-added Content

Cross-selling with other brands can never be this easier before. Public collections provide opportunities for brands to create more targeted offering for audience who’s already looking for certain information (and would love to skip the endless scroll of your beautifully curated Instagram feeds). Showcasing how the products are used under different scenarios can be organized in a more systematic way. A smart move to catch the “long-tail” of diverse aesthetics.

2. Word of Mouth to Its Finest

Public collections may open up doors to the user generated content (UGC) in ways different from hashtags. Imagine that brands can save up UGC, make them public, and accumulate organic content endorsed by its most powerful marketing agents – loyal fans’ word of mouth. The essence of social media is achieved.

I know it’s too early to say how the feature will actually function, still it’s thrilling to see how each newly introduced feature impact the competitive landscape on IG.

Corporate Censorship or a Public Service - Kudos to Pintrest

Pintrest recent announced that it will stop returning search results on the topic of vaccines. This is an interesting move in several senses for any social media network.

This could be derided as an act of censorship motivated by the political leanings of a Silicon Valley based tech company. Why should Pintrest get to pick and chose what it shows to the public? If they block search results for vaccines, what's to stop them from blocking other search terms and controlling the spread of information to suit a certain philosophy or world view.

Or, this could be heralded as an act of public service, a Silicon Valley technology company finally taking concrete steps towards stopping the peddling of harmful miss-information. Pintrest may be seen as the paragon in a new age of social media civic responsibility, catalyzing other companies to take action to stop the proliferation of harmful miss-information that can negative impact our society.

It's an intense debate, but one that should be surfaced more regulatory. It's not new that social media companies (Google included) can manipulate our emotions and understanding of the world around us by controlling the type of content we see. Conversely, a totally open system without responsible checks and processes can cause significant harm, under the cloak of free speech and expression.

Despite Pintrest's commendable effort at choosing to control the conversation on its platform (and beyond) on the miss-information of whether or not vaccinations are effective or harmful, it's still an uncomfortable thing to reconcile that a big technology company - motivated as all companies are by profit - gets to pick and choose what information we see or don't see.


It's clear - at least for this viewer - that social media needs to be regulated and that the control of information - and the public consciousness in many ways - should not be left to the whims and sentiments of big Silicon Valley corporations, despite whether or not some of their actions may align with public interests.

It's time for the United States government to consider and then build the necessary regulatory and policy frameworks to ensure technology companies don't become the puppet masters of the 21st century.

Amazon Advertising Market Share Climbing and How It Works

According to research firm eMarkerter, Amazon is projected to claim 8.8 percent of U.S. digital and spending in 2019, up from 6.8 percent in 2018, and could reach 10 percent market share by 2020. While Facebook might know what customers like and Google might know what they want, Amazon knows what they actually buy. This appeals to marketers because it reduces a lot of the guesswork they have to do. 

Other retailers and e-commerce platforms are also eyeing this opportunity to generate additional revenue. Grocery giant Walmart has a small advertising business but has hired executives from NBC Universal and CBS to help boost the business. Kroger has a new marketing unit that places web ads for brands like Unilever and General Mills and aims to generate $400 million in additional profit by 2020. Target's in-house media network has attracted hundreds of clients. 

As a dominant e-commerce platform, Amazon has become increasingly important for brands and marketers. Generally, there are three different dashboards to advertise on Amazon: 

- Seller Central (for third-party sellers)

- Advertising Console 

- Amazon DSP (run by Amazon Media Group) 

Marketers/brands can choose to launch sponsored product campaigns,  brand ad campaigns, or product display ads. Details please see this article: https://searchengineland.com/amazon-advertising-attribution-heres-how-it-works-310936

Sources:

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon-has-a-big-advertising-business-walmart-wants-one-too/

https://adage.com/article/digital/amazon-makes-quick-work-ad-industry-10-billion-year/316468/

See ads only when you pause (Hulu)

In the second quarter of 2019 Hulu plans to introduce new type of their ads called "pause ads". Taking into account that around 40% of users were willing to pay extra for ad-free environment, it is definitely worth it to spend time on new advertising ideas that  might create less uncomfortable experience for viewers. This initiative seems to be extremely exciting according to the vice president of product at Xandr Media, AT&T’s advertising division Matt Van Houten.

“We know you’re going to capture 100% viewability 

when they pause and unpause.” 

Matt Van Houten 

Even though this activity seems plausible for its creators, users have multiple concerns.

"Wait. I often hit Pause, so I can have silence without missing something in order to take a call, have a conversation, or something else." 

Adrienne G.

Summing up comments and multiple reviews, several main issues anticipated by viewers were revealed. They are:

• this type of an ad being added to their ad-free subscriptions;

• in order to eliminate this ad users will have to pay more;

• advertising will be too loud, but quite often people pause for a phone talk or to help a child. Even though it is possible to mute, it presupposes extra time and effort;

• necessity to finish watching 1, 2, or 3 ads before being able to resume.

Fortunately, according to one of the latest articles, final decision was based on user testing and all of the above-mentioned points of view were taken into account. Hulu decided not to play video ads that are usually disturbing and accompanied by loud audio, but to show static branded images. People will never be happy with watching ads, so even in this strategy they found a downside. It is related to inability o pause video in order to be able to study in detail something related to a movie. 

However, we need to think not only about customers experience, but also about efficiency. I strongly doubt the statement about 100% viewability, since while taking break people tend either go away from their computers or be concentrated on another task. While ad just interrupt a video and user cannot have control over its length, it is a higher probability that he or she will watch it till the end. 

Even tough this move might be questionable, it can lead to a necessary experience and generate more efficient solution in the future.

DM for B2B Companies (1)

When I think about digital marketing, the first examples that come to mind are all B2C examples. I think about how I was just looking for Nike running shoes and then get Nike running shoe ads on my next 15 social media sessions. While B2C companies/brands rely heavily on digital marketing to reach their potential consumers, B2B companies also need to think about a clear digital marketing strategy as well. B2B companies usually generate initial sales through founder networks and referrals. Despite this, a strong digital presence is important in order to be viewed as legitimate in the eyes of potential customers. I have begun doing some research on digital marketing for B2B companies and plan to use a couple of the subsequent blog posts to crystallize my thoughts.

Live Video Now A Critical Element of Digital Marketing Mix

One area of digital marketing that is likely to explode in 2019 and beyond is the use of live video on social media and other platforms by a whole range of different brands.

With “canned” video already having become such a staple of many marketing campaigns, intelligent and creative use of live can offer an extra dimension and authenticity that can really drive consumer engagement and differentiate the brand.

Indeed, some statistics illustrate how the use of live video by marketing campaigns has been steadily growing and could soon take off.

According to Facebook, daily watch time for Facebook Live broadcasts quadrupled over the course of 2018  and one in five videos on Facebook are now live videos.

However, the challenge for many brands will be how to integrate live video organically into their social media strategy, and their overall digital marketing plan. It must be done in a way that is consistent with the brand’s vibe and overall positioning. Otherwise, there is a risk that its use can come off as, at best, a tick box exercise, or, at worst, inauthentic.

The kinds of things that work well on live video include: behind-the-scenes looks at company headquarters, conferences and events, product demonstrations, Q&As, interviews, and webinars. By creating such live events the brand is offering more personal touchpoints between itself and consumers and allow real-time dialogue and interactions.

Most importantly, live video is a free service. Even when not physically together, consumers and brands can easily share important moments and experiences together.

Ferrari on the outside, Fiero on the inside

Most consumers look at companies with lofty expectations and presumptions of how well oiled they are on the inside.  The expectation is that everything works well and that even at companies like Facebook, Apple, Netfilx and Google (FANG), who are the Emperors of the digital and technology world are seamless in their inner workings - especially when it comes to data.

The truth is, many companies  - even the FANGs of the world who have enormous amounts of data on their customer, don't use the data they have effectively.  A recent article in AdWeek brings to light this industry secret of how poorly connected companies are in their internal use of customer data.

The article mostly focuses on the challenges marketing professionals face in this environment and give the example of an email campaign that appears to be successful based on open and click rates, but at the service side of the equation - the company is seeing high levels of returns because the campaign was misleading and the product was not as perceived; yet the marketer continues to utilize the campaign because the metrics they have to appear to show success with the key point being that if the company shared data and truly captured insights, the marketer would realize the campaign had issues and would stop the campaign instead of repeating it.

The lack of internal infrastructure - tools, governance, defined roles and responsibilities, data visualization and interactions between company divisions to discuss insights are a few elements that makeup they picture of success in democratizing data within a company.  But for now, until companies get there, to the average consumer they will appear to be a Ferrari on the outside, but a Fiero on the inside.

Cheers!

Calculating ROI on B2B Advertising Campaigns

So you've launched your B2B Advertising campaigns using one of the vendors listed in the Forrester New Wave ABM Platforms paper. Based on this technology, employees of your current and prospective accounts will be presented with display advertisements as they browse the web. As described in The Shift to Intent Based Advertising blog post, employees that are displaying intent signals through their Internet browsing behavior will be presented these advertisements in order to maximize the chances that you are reaching the correct in-market audience. These advertisements can even be personalized based upon the characteristics of the company being advertised to. For example, a Financial Services industry prospect could receive a message and call to action catered to their industry further enticing them to click through, or at the very least remember your brand for the future. That is all well and good, but how do you know if the campaigns are actually performing?

With the Demandbase Campaign Reporting dashboard, you can see a snapshot of the accounts you have advertised to and track their progress through the funnel (per screenshot 1 below). This includes whether or not the account received your Ad, visited your website, engaged with your site's content and ultimately resulted in opportunities. The opportunity and closed / won deal data is automatically calculated when you enable the connection between the Demandbase Platform and your CRM. The platform also allows you to see a view of campaign performance by account including number of users identified, users reached, impressions, clicks and cost (second screenshot below). As an added bonus, through Demandbase's monitoring of more than 150 billion intent signals you can view the top keywords being researched by your target accounts (third screenshot). These are invaluable insights that can help you optimize your paid search and search engine optimization tactics.

How does Demandbase Advertising compare to other channels such as Google Display Network and LinkedIn? The fourth screenshot below illustrates the results from a 2018 test campaign wherein the number of Total Clicks and Target Account Clicks were measured. The Total Clicks metric measures any clicks on the advertisement while the Target Account Click metric measures only those attributed to clicks from your target accounts. The results illustrate that the Demandbase Platform is able to deliver both precision and scale, whereas Google delivers only on scale and LinkedIn delivers only on precision. To learn more about the Demandbase Platform and its Targeting Solution, check out the following link: https://www.demandbase.com/solutions/targeting/

• Demandbase Campaign Reporting Dashboard Screenshots

How brands can benefit from Instagram stories

Social media and especially became one of the most efficient channels for e-commerce brands to drive sales. For millennials and generation Z content is everything. And Instagram is one of the best platforms to tell the brand’s story.

Stories can be shared from one user to another, brands can use poll and question stickers to get real-time customer feedback or broadcast interviews with founders or brand’s events. And most importantly brands can easily link out and create shoppable pictures or 15-second videos. Though stories disappear in 24 hours, an engaging campaign can be saved and curated in the highlight.

The story format is also well positioned to create native ads that are organic and relatable to millennials and generation Z. The format allows making the content more authentic by taking away the pressure of creating a perfect grid. Stories can also be easily taken over by influencers who are associated with the brand’s values.

Lastly, stories don’t cost a lot to create – all you need is creative ideas, understanding of different features and a few editing apps if ever.

Do you remember Vine? Here's why they're a memory of the past

Vine. Once a popular video sharing application with a 6 second time limit and looping capabilities, now a memory of the past. The app was effective in its infancy, so much so that it provided a platform for users that would later become pop music icons, singers Shawn Mendez and Cardi B. Many influencers and famous youtubers also got their start at Vine, such as Logan Paul and Lele Pons. The app was said to have an audience of 200 Million people. Impressive indeed. This was also the time when "pretty people" became better known around the world, and consequently brought them an influx of subscribers to their social media platforms, such as Snapchat and Instagram. It seemed that people enjoyed the challenge of a 6-second limit less than the creators thought, however, and once IG provided the same video sharing capability, with a 60-second limit, that was the beginning of the end for good ol' Vine.

Admittedly, it wasn't just that social media monsters quickly grabbed onto Vine's idea and made it their own x 10, reports claim that the leadership of vine was not effective and often clashed in big picture goals: "A couple of things plagued Vine, and it all stems from the same thing, which is a lack of unity and leadership on vision," said Ankur Thakkar, who was Vine's head of editorial." (Theverge, 2016). Personally, I was surprised to hear this since I remember watching videos of people going to Vine gatherings, events that resembled a celebrity meet-up, where thousands of kids and enfatuated teenage girls paid big bucks to meet their vine idols, standing in long lines for the chance of a quick picture. Vine was a force to be reckoned with and, in short, perhaps their biggest downfall was a failure to swiftly adapt; it's CEO remarked "we didn't move fast enough to differentiate."

Are American Social Media Companies Too Reliant on Ad Revenue?

Americans are seeing more ads than ever on a daily basis and there are signs that consumers may be getting feed up with the constant bombardment. Data privacy concerns are at an all-time high and ad-blocker services are now more popular than ever. As Ryan Hodge, CEO of Hootsuite suggests, this could portend trouble for social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter whose revenues are fully dependent on ad placement receiving 98% and 85% of their revenues from ads respectively.

It is not hard to imagine a future where American social media firms become more reliable on a freemium model as they mature and focus less on growth. This model could offer users a chance to pay for a premium ad-free user experience, similar to what has been tried by YouTube Premium. Other possible monetization approaches include value-added VIP perks, increased on-site transactions or paid membership to belong to certain groups.

If social media companies augment their revenue streams and decrease their reliance on ad revenues in the future, this will pose trouble for the bourgeoning digital media industry.

Live Streaming Provides a Healthy Outlet for Money

A new study estimates that revenue-earning American Twitch streamers grew to nearly 9,800 in 2017 (a 59 percent increase from 2016) and made an estimated $87.1 million (representing a 30 percent YOY increase). Surprised by how inane sitting around and having people watch you play video games can being in millions? Me too. 

Twitch is one of the fastest-growing platforms for American content creators. With regards to the year over year growth in number of creators themselves, Twitch falls juuuuust behind Instagram and YouTube, and ranks second behind Instagram in YOY revenue growth for those creators.

The nuanced relationship between the streamer and his audience is where the jackpot lie. The similarity of that with our relationship to famous celebrities and artists and athletes is what makes it reasonable, and the fact that the viewer is even closer to the action makes it even more compelling. These streamers spend hours online talking, chatting, playing with and interacting with live viewers who are privy to their personality, likes, dislikes and inside life. 

This openness allows for digital marketers like you and me to use them as subtler influencers who can truly make a mark upon their audience. Gone are the days where you have to write script for an advertisement or pay to place a static display ad on a website that everyone is likely to ignore. Have the streamer talk about the brand/product/service or occasionally have them use it in casual activities and the implications of having thousands of viewers watching and being persuaded means that there are possibilities akin to the Rick and Morty McDonalds Szechuan Sauce fiasco.

How do we think about security in digital marketing?

As our world becomes increasingly digital it almost seems superfluous to say the word "digital". It's implied in many ways and at this point, isn't digital marketing simply the way to market?

We're heading in that direction, and as we do, security and privacy should be at the forefront of all of our minds. The power of digital is the information and analytics we now have at our disposal. But that certainly comes at a cost - the cost of the exposure of our personal information. This includes our habits, our search history, our browsing patterns, and our personally identifiable information. Is it worth it to expose that to see an advertisement that's actually relevant to you? Is it an outdated point of view to think you can even control the exposure of your personal information?

Maybe the best way forward is to consider your information as not really belonging to you anymore and to use that to your advantage for the best possible advertisement experience there is. The digital marketing companies will find a way to exploit this information so now is the time to lean in.

Using Crowdfunding for Market Research

In a recent article on MarketingWeek, they talked about how big companies like Coca-Cola, Lego and Gillette were using crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter to better predict consumer demand for innovative products and to gain valuable feedback on consumer needs. Using Gillette as an example, the company recently used IndieGoGo to supposedly raise funds for a new razor with a warming bar. While the razor had been in development for over two years, the company used the platform as a barometer for consumer demand, as well as an advertising vehicle to drive awareness and excitement.

While this method is unconventional, I personally think that using crowdsourcing platforms for product innovation is actually a brilliant mechanism for companies to test the waters before going into full production of new goods or services. I think it is a cheap and innovative way for companies to gain the gut check they need to proceed, and it allows consumers a chance to participate in the process as potential stakeholders in the product.

Marketing Automation at Toyota

According to MarketingWeek, Toyota has put a plan in place to bring marketing automation in-house in order to improve its efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The marketing automation project will allow the company to not only know what type of message to send each individual on a personal basis, but when to send it as well. Quoted in the article, the Marketing Director at Toyota states that:

 “When we develop now, a campaign has hundreds of assets which are very much targeted depending on the channels. In a very simplistic way the primary intention with this campaign is to go broad on TV but eventually to narrow over the life cycle and go into more personalized channels and platforms."

While companies continue to spend a lot of money on traditional advertising such as TV and out of home, marketing automation enables companies to be more targeted and personalized in the digital space. I think it's particularly interesting that Toyota is bringing the marketing automation in-house given that a lot of companies who use those types of tools leverage external expertise in order to execute with more precision.

Limiting screen time and how it will affect digital marketing

As a father of two little ones, I often think about how much time we should allow my oldest to play with the ipad.  While we don't like doing it often times it's one of us on two kids and when we are trying to get one ready we need something to keep the other child busy.  I'm not sure how our parents do it but Peppa Pig does the trick in our house.  What started as a band aid to hold my oldest daughter over for a few minutes started to turn into a habit. 

I have thought about pulling the plug on the ipad completely, but at this point I don't have a backup plan.  At the same time I want them to be technologically saavy as their parents certainly aren't. 

It is interesting to see how the things my daughter clicks on when she is in youtube suddenly follow my around on the ipad when I go to use it.  After a few lectures in Digital Marketing it now makes sense to my what is actually going on behind the scenes. 

Amazon increasing digital marketing

Amazon will be taking market share in 2019 from Google and Facebook. eMarketer projects that Amazon will see its U.S. ad business grow by more than 50 percent this year while its market share increases to 8.8 percent. Amazon has quietly built a HUGE advertising arm that generates revenue by charging companies to promote their products on Amazon properties like on their eCommerce site and app. This is very interesting and threatening to the likes of Google as many consumers go directly to Amazon search bar instead of google first when looking for products.

DM in a B2B World

When thinking about the effectiveness of digital marketing, I began to wonder how impactful the field is in the business to business world.  For companies with lots of potential customers and a service that has a low marginal cost, such as SAAS companies, digital marketing seems to have a large value add. But I question how effective it is for a business like mine that is focused on a small subgroup of clients. Our business does not need thousands of clients, but instead a handful of very strong clients that use our resources extensively. Therefore, using digital marketing might not be very effective. On the other hand, while conversion rates will be low, the reward per conversion could be extremely high.

Pinterest blocks search results on vaccination – attempt to curb misinformation influencing popular search algorithms

A 2017, Pew Research found that about 67 percent of adults in the U.S. get at least some of their news from social media and the number of young people looking to online video as a news source is rapidly growing. As more people use search and social media to gather critical information impacting their daily lives, the pressure on such companies to take responsibility for information being shared has also grown. This has led to some popular platforms taking drastic steps to control information that can be accessed.

One such recent example is Pinterest banning all results for searches related to vaccination. Social media companies are drawing criticism for not doing more to prevent the spread of misinformation about vaccines. According to a Wall Street Journal report Pinterest described the search ban—which the company hasn’t previously publicly discussed but which went into effect late last year—as a temporary but necessary measure until it can develop better strategies to sift through what it calls “polluted” content. The company made a similar decision last year to block searches for dubious cancer therapies. The aggressive move by Pinterest marks another change in the way large tech companies are trying to handle the responsibility of monitoring the flow of information.

This brings up an interesting debate on how much censorship, if any, should such popular platforms implement and what could be the potential lateral impact on businesses that depend on such platforms for marketing. In this case, if such a ban was expanded beyond Pinterest, and say Facebook or Google decided to ban vaccination related content, a person genuinely looking for information on vaccines may not be able to find accurate information. More over medical companies trying to market legitimate products and procedures might need to change their strategies. Search keywords will need to be re-evaluated if a certain term / phrase if completely banned. This may lead to perfectly sensible and helpful content being blocked and limit the marketing reach of companies using these terms.

Pinterest’s solution to this issue may seem absurd but it’s probably first of many such instances. As pressure on technology companies to be liable for content they host increases, censorship will also rise. This will pose a unique challenge to companies that may have products that could be categorized as ‘controversial’. These companies may need to develop unique digital marketing strategies to navigate around such content bans.

Digital Marketing: Gen Z vs. Millennials

Digital Marketing: Gen Z vs. Millennials

Digital Marketers are thinking more and more about to market to the next generation. While millennials are often accused of having short attention spans - Gen Z'ers aren't much better. What makes this generation so incredibly interesting is the fact that they see no difference between friends they met online via a social media platform vs. friends they met in real life. A distinction most millennials would make.

So how do marketers cater to this next crop of digital natives? One thing is clear. Companies don't have time to impress with Gen Z. They are able to mull through distractions, cut to the chase and get to what they want...and fast. This is the next major generation expected to disrupt retail. Therefore, the visual experience is very important to this generation. They see what they want, they get it. This generation is hyper-connected and prefers not to just spend time hanging out (like millennials), but spending time doing a productive activity. All of these generational attributes need to be at the forefront of marketers minds as the marketing landscape for the next generation is upon us.

Digital Marketing Opportunities Are Endless

Digital Marketing Opportunities are Endless

Forbes says there are five digital marketing trends to look out for in 2019:

1. Continued Influencer Growth
2. Integration of AI in Customer Service & Experience
3. Telling Your (Instagram) Story
4. Data Going into Privacy Mode
5. Living Live

What is most interesting about these trends is that younger millennials and Gen Zers seem to be leading the crusade. With Instagram influencers now able to link directly to product  by inserting "swipe-up" options - online shopping just go a lot easier.

Winner take all Marketing at Netflix

Netflix is on a warpath to disrupt the film and movie industry as we know it, yet some of the marketing decisions made by the company can become a new norm for other digital platforms and film studios to spend their marketing budgets. 
First off, the amount of original content created by Netflix (and subsidized by shareholders while the company barely makes any money) stood at staggering $10 billion in 2018 and over 700 original shows and films were created/aired last year. The marketing budget is expected to grow more than 50% to $2 billion annually. Yet the company, similar to movie studios, is betting on the movie and TV shows ahead of time. The debut of "Stranger Things" was preceded by $50 million advertising blitzing campaign on Facebook and Netflix estimated to spend close to $25 million for "Roma" Oscar campaign. While other shows barely get any coverage and most of them never show up on users Netflix front page or get any meaningful coverage.
While Netflix has found many creative ways to spend its marketing dollars, it so far shunned promoting its own content before the start of its shows, whereas HBO and Amazon Prime run those commercials before the start of their shows.
Netflix has to walk a careful line with producers since the marketing department with a few in charge might alienate many of those content creators who are not getting any coverage yet usually Netflix demands quick turnaround for their shows and films. Amazon Prime, Hulu, and other streaming services can steal away this "disgruntled" talent if Netflix continues to bet in a big way on a few horses.

How to identify suitable social media influencers, like, manually?

Recently I have been working on developing social media/marketing strategy for a NYC-based high-end luxury brand in the Japan market. Instagram influencers of course play a big part in our tactics during different marketing funnels, and I got interested in how we can find the right influencers in a foreign market in the most sensible way, without the help from a social media agency. Here's what I got so far:

1. Buzzsumo
- Type in keyword and select languages, relevant content with social media shares/engagement will pop out. Will give you a sense of what kinds of topics your keywords are generally relate to
- You can research by content on the web or by influencers on social media! Also, a bunch of filters are available if you sign up for the free trial version

2. Do it the Hard Way
- Identify brands' core values and relevant keywords
- Choose a few keywords combinations
- List possible influencers by number of followers, relevance, authenticity, frequency, reach etc.
- Compare against one another and the goals

3. Instagram Recommendations
- Create a new account
- Start by following a few relevant KOLs
- Instagram will recommend you similar accounts which are usually worth exploring

Will keep updating if I find other approaches worth sharing. 

Facebook's Messaging App Integration

Facebook has recently confirmed it will integrate its existing messaging services, including Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct Message and What's App into one cross-platform interface. The new combination is scheduled to be released late this year or early next year. So far, news reported that each app's functionalities will not be discarded, and the integration may allow previously standalone features to be shared cross-platforms.

Implications for Marketers

1. Growing Opportunities for Chatbots
I have always wondered why chatbots automation is not a thing on Instagram... Granted Facebook enables this function on Instagram DM, it will save marketers so much work by reaching customers and satisfying their needs in a timelier manner. A conversational chat window shall unleash creative ways to interact and engage audiences. General frequent Q&A can be continuously updated with Artificial Intelligence, and chat window can also be utilized as an intimate channel to provide customized information to individuals.

2. Subtlety of Content and Frequency
Can the new integration be used sort of as a email newsletter to its users? Sending promotion info and PR announcements? I tried to imagine the scenario and found it complicated. Being bombarded by brands' DM every day probably infuriates most. How about a different DM folder specifically for official brand accounts? That seems adding inconvenience to users by creating another decluttering task in our daily grinds. How about allowing users to choose whether to subscribe to instantaneous (promotion) news and relevant content? I think it could be an approach to identify your most valuable & influential followers/customers.

When Voice Marketing Gets Big

Given the rise of using voice commands such as Alexa and Siri, it will be interesting to see how marketers attempt to monetize the voice function from a marketing perspective. It will be a difficult task - much more difficult that adding marketing into video such as youtube.com ads. People are willing to watch a 5 second ad before getting to the video they want, but when it comes to voice, are people going to be willing to listen to a 5 second ad that will play throughout the house every time you ask a voice commanded device to perform a function. For instance, if I knew Alexa would play me an add on the lightbulbs every time I asked her to turn off the lights, I would just use the switch. So how marketers add in advertising to voice commanded items will be very interesting. 

How Can Traditional Marketers Catch the Wave on Tiktok?

Introduction to Tiktok

Tiktok, the short-form video app, allowed the Beijing-based ByteDance to dethrone Uber from the long-held title of the world’s most valuable start-up last November. Users on TikTok can film, edit, share and play short videos, or as the company claims, “share their passion and creative expression through videos.” The app boasted a global monthly active user of 500 million across 150 countries as of last November. It also surpassed Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and SnapChat in monthly installations for the first-time last September.

User Profile

So, who exactly are the users? According to iResearch, users are split into 52.41% males and 47.59% females. The dominant age group is 25 – 30 y/o with nearly 30% of users, while the second falls into the under 24 y/o group with 26%. We can roughly separate the users into three clusters based on their behaviors and needs – the professional content generators, the general content generators and the browsers. The professional content generators, including brands' official accounts and high-profile distinguished users, release well-made videos for creating traffic to other media, monetizing and marketing purposes etc. The general content generators are self-explanatory. Browsers interact with the former two to kill time or gain social satisfaction. So far, the app sounds very much like a combination of Snapchat, Youtube, and IGTV. Millennials and Gen Z prefer visuals than text. Short-time format is gratifying to teens, who are usually considered with short attention span.

Opportunities for Marketers

Common ways for monetization on Tiktok include ad placement / endorsement with influencers, e-commerce, virtual gifts for online streaming, traffic diversion to external sites etc. One thing worth noticing is that up until now it seems Tiktok has only become a handy monetization platform for small to medium brands. Appealing and creative original content helps previously unknown brands / products to spread and achieve success exponentially. As for traditional well-established brands in retails, beauty, luxury, F&B and more, proper ways to utilize the “short-video” platform entail close examinations and subtlety. Short time span is designed to entertain and resonate with users immediately. Short time span disables long marketing messages and limits expression of tone & manners of a brand by nature. With that being said, I think Tiktok will be better served as an awareness- and engagement- enhancement tool for mature brands to attract eyeballs from the younger generations. Overall, marketing is very much switching from insight-led to tech-led in this case.