When your business has a complicated distribution network, leveraging social media networks can get confusing. Understanding how businesses use social media for marketing and when to publish content through your dealer network’s social media channels versus the corporate or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) channels, is a challenge many organizations face. We are here to break it down for you to help you develop the strongest strategy for success across social media channels.
Audiences for dealers and OEMs on social media
First up, understanding who likely follows each level of the organization on social media is important. Dealers are more likely to be — or should be — trying to reach their local customers who have a personal relationships with the brand and/or dealer. Bonus points for potentially capturing some competitive customers who live locally. OEMs are more likely to be reaching a national or international audience that includes current customers, competitive customers/employees, industry media and other industry influencers. These audiences likely have overlap, but not total overlap, as some may only follow one channel over the other.
Tone for dealers and OEMs on social media
It is important to follow a consistent tone and voice across marketing platforms to create a consistent user experience. Social media can be one of the most informal of marketing touch points, but should still feel in line with other touch points. However, the tone for dealers is likely different than the tone from OEMs due to their audience and stature. Social media posts from dealers can feel more organic, real-time and not highly produced, whereas posts from OEMs can be more branded and polished.
What dealers should post to social media
- Parts and service – Promote and share updates about parts availability, preventive maintenance, repair and other related services that are specific to your dealership or location.
- Sales and financing offers – Share information about sales and financing offers that are organized either by your dealership or at the corporate level. This content is best suited to dealer channels, versus corporate channels, as dealers will be able to speak directly to what equipment is available and/or any specific adjustments made. In addition, the followers at the dealer level are more likely to be in a sales mindset beyond just research or awareness.
- Used equipment – Keep it as relevant and local as possible with information on what used equipment is on the lot or coming in soon.
- Dealer engagement – Introduce followers to employees, address local or regional topics such as local events or specific seasonal maintenance tips, and other localized engagement to continue building a relationship between the dealership and their customers.
What OEMs should post to social media
- Brand awareness and loyalty – The corporate channels on social media can serve to build long-term relationships with prospective and current customers while also supporting during the research stage of a purchasing journey. Building that loyalty over time through social media content will reinforce when they are ready to make a purchase.
- Thought leadership – How-tos, preventive maintenance tips, industry trends and the like can be shared by the corporate brand as they are applicable across multiple locations and geographies.
- Brand engagement – Engagement and interactivity is still important for OEMs, although it is less focused on building a direct relationship with the customer as dealer engagement. Creating content that allows the user to interact and comment, sparking conversation in the comments between followers, can be extremely valuable.
- Influencers – Leveraging influencers to further the reach of a brand can be done at the corporate level to gain maximum exposure. Building and maintaining relationships with influencers, including industry media, over time can be executed on the OEM’s account.
What both can and should post
- Features and benefits – The main attraction — the equipment or product itself —should be promoted from both the OEM and the dealers’ social media channels.
- Testimonials – Reviews and testimonials from customers can also be shared on both social media channels, although dealers can localize these by sharing quotes from their direct customers, whereas the corporate channel can create testimonials that feature storytelling and could even include mention and promotion of the dealer involved.
- Equipment/product demonstrations – Showcasing the equipment or product with an equipment walkaround, a product demonstration or other format is relevant and interesting to both the dealer and OEM’s followers.
- Product launches – When a big splash is needed, don’t shy away from using all available channels. The corporate channel can focus on building awareness for the product, whereas the dealer channel can incorporate specifics such as how to demo locally or when it will be available on their lot.
- Job opportunities – There is a need to recruit and maintain talent at all levels of an organization, so including job opportunities is acceptable. The opportunities should be relevant to the channel (e.g. the dealer posts about their maintenance tech jobs, not about the OEM’s engineering opening).
- Events – When attending a tradeshow or other event, promote in advance and then share updates with followers during the event. Posting from OEMs should stick to the larger national or international shows, and leave the regional shows up to the dealer to promote.
Recap
Dealers should publish posts that are specific to their local audience and what they can specifically offer, such as equipment on their lot or parts and service. Corporate or OEM accounts should publish posts that help drive awareness, engagement and overall education and support for their audience. At the end of the day, the best results will happen when the OEM and their dealer network are in sync across marketing materials, including social media posts. Having a clear and consistent message that is reaching a relevant audience will help drive results for your business. Have additional questions? Contact our social media experts!
Google introducing consent mode for advertisers
Balancing user privacy and effective targeting can be difficult for any advertiser. To help, Google has announced a new consent mode to create a balance between the two. The setting will help advertisers respect a user’s choice to not be cookied when visiting a site while still tracking conversions and analytics in a way that respects that choice. The rollout will begin in Europe to comply with GDPR regulations but is expected to roll out worldwide as more countries enact privacy laws.
Discover more on Google’s new content mode.
Facebook introduces plan to stop election interference
As we approach the November election, Facebook has been receiving more pressure than ever to do its part in stopping the spread of disinformation and election interference. Its latest pledge is to ban new political ads starting the week before the election. They have also pledged to squash any candidates’ claims of victory before results are verified. Plus, Facebook is offering some users money to turn off Facebook and Instagram in the weeks leads up to the election as part of a research project of the effects on voting.
Read more about Facebook’s ban of political ads.
Quote Tweets grow in importance
Twitter’s quote feature has become more popular than ever. Twitter announced it will now report on the number of quote tweets — the number of times someone shared that tweet with additional comments to their own feed. This will appear on the tweet itself next to likes and replies. So, the next time you’re about to send out a tweet, think about whether it would be quote-worthy!
Are your tweets quote-worthy?
Chess has a digital renaissance
Twitch.tv is one of the few winners of the pandemic streaming services, growing 60% year-over-year since early spring (alongside Zoom, which quadrupled its earnings). While the service has always been popular among video gamers, American chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura saw an opportunity to give chess a boost in popularity using the service. Nakamura recently partnered with popular Twitch streamers to play chess and 150,000 people tuned in to the tournament. We’re not sure if it was his entertaining personality, the $50,000 prize or the game itself that kept people engaged, but the surge in interest was surprising. This is a platform to continue to watch as there are sure to be more unique applications and opportunities to capture this massive worldwide audience.
See how steaming services are being changed with a game of chess.
We’re here to keep you up to date on the always-evolving digital world. Check out the digital news you might have missed last month.
TikTok must cut ties to Chinese ownership
Mergers and acquisitions of big-name tech and social media companies are never exactly smooth, seamless transitions. But for TikTok’s latest saga, the U.S. government has taken the usual scrutiny and backroom dealings and turned it up to 11.
President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have been playing up alleged security issues with the app and its Chinese owners ByteDance for weeks. Recently, it reached a boiling point. Aboard Air Force One, Trump announced to reporters that the TikTok ban was imminent. Creators on the app scrambled, while analysts pondered whether it would even be legally feasible. A subsequent executive order gives potential buyers Microsoft (and Twitter, according to rumors) less than two months to close the deal. Until then, we’ll keep Tok’ing.
Facebook launches TikTok rival app, Reels
While all the TikTok uncertainty floats around, Facebook has taken the opportunity to launch its competitor to TikTok, Reels. It’s built directly into Instagram, which some are saying makes the app even more cluttered. TikTok replied to the cloned product on Twitter:
well… this looks familiar https://t.co/V8GyRSXkPu
— TikTok (@tiktok_us) August 6, 2020
Congress questions digital leaders again
It had been a while since Congress has gotten the Big Four (Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google) CEOs in the room – and while this time they weren’t physically in the room, it was a chance for marketers to get an insight into the tech giants that impact so much of what we do digitally these days.
And while the U.S. government started asking more questions, the Australian government took another look at Google and Facebook’s role in siphoning money away from news publishers. These companies could now have to pay news organizations some cash.
The pandemic’s impact on digital advertising is becoming more clear, following Google’s Q2 advertising revenue report. Google’s ad platform saw a slight dip in revenue last quarter as marketers held back on spending. But don’t worry – they’ll be just alright, with that 8% decline in the quarter, that earnings report still gets to boast nearly $30 billion in revenue.
The Lessing-Flynn team is here to keep you in-the-loop date on the latest marketing and digital news. Read all the latest Digital Download articles here.
#BlackLivesMatter as viewed through corporate emails
As protests erupted around the country following the death of George Floyd, many brands embraced the Black Lives Matter movement and took a stand for equality and inclusion. Really Good Emails (one of our favorite sources for email inspiration) has compiled a selection of inclusion emails to highlight how various brands, from rank-and-review app Yelp to cosmetics brand Lush, are committing to the cause.
View the full email collection here.
TikTok gets in hot water with censorship complaints
It seems TikTok can’t escape the struggles faced by old dogs Facebook and Twitter. At the height of protests opposing police brutality, TikTok experienced what it called a “technical glitch” that made it appear as though videos uploaded under the #BlackLivesMatter and #GeorgeFloyd hashtags received zero views. Although the company fixed the error, hundreds of creators already noticed and called them out. TikTok has pledged to do better, but for their core audience of Gen Z and Millennials, transparency will be needed for continued growth.
Read TikTok’s response.
Google emphasizes page experience
In a rare move, Google has provided a warning in advance about a change they will be making to their algorithm. Starting in 2021, they will begin factoring in page experience to who tops the search results page. The change will account for things such as page load time, a site’s responsiveness and the overall user experience (i.e. things aren’t broken) when determining who gets the coveted No. 1 spot. This gives your web team plenty of time to make the necessary changes so your rankings aren’t dinged in the new year. (P.S. LF can run a quick report to see how your website ranks for these today!)
Get ready for the change.
Facebook and Pinterest make moves for in-app shopping
As online shopping continues to surge with limited in-person contact at retail locations, Facebook and Pinterest made moves to encourage more sales within their platforms. Facebook’s new shops will be digital storefronts hosted entirely on Facebook (no website needed), while Pinterest will capitalize on the photos people pin to suggest in-stock items that are similar to pinned images.
Take a look at Facebook and Pinterest’s new shopping options.
Reminder: Update your passwords
Lastly, we’ll close out with a friendly reminder to change your passwords. A recent study found that only 1/3 of people changed their passwords after being notified of a data breach affecting them. The dataset was rather low for this study, but it speaks to a truth about consumer habits and the annoyance we share for passwords. For marketing professionals who often have passwords to systems that manage customer data, keeping your account secure is vital for the safety of your brand.
Dig into the study data here.
We’re here to keep you up to date on the always-evolving digital world. Check out the digital news you might have missed last month.
In the business world, writing for social media can be intimidating — you’re one misspelled word or badly timed phrase away from being fed to the lions (or tigers if you work for Carole Baskin).
That’s why it’s no big surprise to us when brands choose to use the same word-for-word social media post copy across every platform. It’s easy and fast, and hey — at least you’re getting posts up, right? But, you know who does care? Your followers. In fact, they’re bored to death of it, and to be honest, they deserve more.
If you’re one of these social media offenders (don’t worry, you’re not alone), we’re here to give you guidelines on content strategy for four top-used social platforms.
Writing for social media on Facebook
Fast fact: Facebook’s average daily active users reached 1.66 billion at the end of 2019.
User description: In the U.S., 75% of women and 63% of men use Facebook; teens prefer YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat.
Content style: Quotes, Q&As, tips, memes, trends
Facebook post tips:
- Make posts fun and positive. Positivity = higher engagement rates.
- Keep it casual in tone. Facebook content isn’t meant to be too stuffy. Try adding a question to drive engagement or an emoji to grab attention. 😉
- Always include images or a video. Facebook users love visuals.
- Be sure to tag accounts correctly (Facebook is a little tricky). For example, @ symbols don’t automatically tag accounts on Facebook like they do on Twitter and Instagram. You’ll need to manually tag any account you want to mention within your post.
- Keep copy short — go for the click through. Generally, people don’t visit Facebook to consume long-form text. Most experts suggest keeping your character count to a 40-80 range with a link to click through to your website to view more.
- Leave hashtags out — Twitter and Instagram are hashtag royalty, not Facebook.
- Test for the most optimal posting time. Some audiences are morning birds, while some are night owls.
- Don’t over post. Start with three posts per week and increase or decrease from there.
Are you a fan of Lessing-Flynn on Facebook? It’s about time you were.
Writing for social media on Twitter
Fast fact: Around 7 in 10 adult Twitter users in the U.S. get their news on Twitter.
User description: This audience is generally younger, but Twitter also attracts older users for timely news content.
Content style: News, culturally inclusive content
Social post tips:
- Get your profile verified if you can as it adds credibility.
- Remember that news-style content and tips will perform much better than promotional content.
- Tweets should be 140-240 characters.
- It’s ok to be clever and add personality, but don’t try to use “hip” catchphrases that don’t align with your brand voice.
- Make sure you research a trending hashtag before using it to avoid any embarrassing confusion.
- Add 1-2 relevant hashtags — anything more looks spammy.
- If you’re just starting an account, Tweet early and often. You won’t know the best time to reach your audience until you experiment.
- Don’t be afraid to engage with followers. Answer questions, retweet relevant content and add mentions when you can. Your audience will appreciate the extra attention.
You bet we Tweet! Check out Lessing-Flynn’s Twitter page.
Writing for social media on Instagram
Fast fact: In 2019, 37% of adults reported using Instagram.
User description: Instagram is a favorite social network for many — not just teens and millennials.
Content style: Visual storytelling, influencers
Social post tips:
- There are currently no clickable link options for posts, so make sure you have a URL within your profile for followers to go to for more information.
- Hashtags are important on Instagram. We recommend using up to 10 relevant hashtags, anything more will look spammy. Research popular hashtags using tools such as Hashtagify.
- Add hashtags to the end of posts or post them immediately into the first comment instead to keep things tidy.
- Encourage engagement by offering promotions, tagging friends, posting polls, asking questions — and of course responding to any comments.
- Don’t skip the “Stories” option, but don’t double post to your stories and your regular feed. Try creating a teaser story to alert followers you’ve posted something new!
Our office shenanigans and fun stuff is captured on LF’s Instagram.
Writing for social media on LinkedIn
Fast fact: Over 146 million workers in the U.S. have LinkedIn profiles.
User description: The LinkedIn audience is comprised of networking professionals, so the tone should be professional.
Content style: Brand awareness, articles, networking
Social post tips:
- Keep post copy professional yet conversational in tone.
- Share blog articles, news stories that mention your brand, job openings within your company and industry-related content from reliable resources.
- Highlight your company culture and values with images and stories of volunteerism, lunch and learns, in-house promotions and new hires.
- Tag employees with their professional profiles when you’re celebrating accomplishments.
- Ask thought-provoking questions about industry trends to start a conversation.
- Share completed product or service case studies.
Visit Lessing-Flynn’s LinkedIn for more blogs, case studies and insights.
Choosing a social media platform
Haven’t started a new social media channel yet? Or looking to refresh your brand’s content strategy for social media on existing pages? Pick the social media platform that best fits your target audience. This will help determine content, format and tone. Here are some factors to consider when defining your target audience and choosing which social media platform to use:
- Demographics, such as age, gender, income and location
- Where these groups hang out online
- The pain points and problems they face
- Types of non-branded content they consume
Feeling stuck on where to start? We highly recommend Sprout’s 2020 Social Media Demographics blog to help you decide where you should focus your efforts.
Ag equipment dealers and home-based Pampered Chef consultants could not be more different on paper, but their common goal of achieving more sales makes them kindred marketing spirits. As allies of the agriculture equipment industry, we’re here to tell you there are several valuable insights and social media tactics that equipment dealers could implement to boost brand awareness — and profits — based on Pampered Chef’s success.
P.S. Never heard of Pampered Chef? Jump to the bottom of this article for get a quick snapshot of their business model.
4 Ideas Ag Equipment Dealers Can Steal
As a Pampered Chef party participant and a marketer, I quickly noticed there were several methods agriculture equipment marketers could benefit from. The kitchen company’s focus on strong relationships, social media and content planning and consistency, provides an approach worth looking at.
1. Leverage social media to build potential sales relationships.
This is not a new tactic, but a lot of channel marketers tend to discount the power a good social media presence can provide as a sales tool. According to the shopper-first retailing report by Salesforce and Publicis. Sapient, 87% of shoppers begin product searches online before they even visit a brick and mortar store or make a purchase.
Pampered Chef consultants are taught to create social media pages to boost their personal sales, and your dealership should do the same. Local customers can and will follow along for news, promotions and announcements, but there’s a caveat. Local agriculture equipment marketers must keep content current and provide relative images of interest. There are other lead generating opportunities as well — check out this article: “Rev up your digital marketing with these 3 lead generation strategies.”
I suggest starting with one platform, like a Facebook Page, to test the waters — then expanding from there.
2. Define a pre-planned content calendar.
We hear the same concern from many ag equipment dealers that we work with every day: Social media takes too much time. While it’s true it can, but if you pre-plan your content or “posts” you’d be surprised how hands-off it can be.
One Pampered Chef consultant I observed, used a rinse-and-repeat social media blueprint with evergreen content for all of their online streaming parties. This consultant had 60 pre-written posts that deployed via a social media scheduler tool (e.g., Hootsuite, Sprout, Sendible, etc.). The quantity was certainly too much, especially for agriculture equipment marketers, but the idea of scheduling and consistency were on point.
Dealers can start small with 1-3 social media posts per week, per channel (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and scale from there. Pre-schedule everything using a scheduler tool and then monitor your accounts for questions/comments daily to ensure you are addressing questions when needed.
3. Social media content shouldn’t always be about the next sale.
After I signed up to host an online Pampered Chef party, the consultant was sending 8-10 pre-scheduled posts per day, checking in nightly to engage and answer questions. Her posts were overwhelming and excessive, but the thing she got right was making sure her topics and posts were constantly changing and it wasn’t all self-serving topics.
She would include engagement style posts asking party-goers questions, how-to-style product videos or provide recipes she liked to use. Engagement is key, and something agriculture equipment marketers need to focus on. Plus, the mixture of topics, style, and use of images, articles and videos really kept things interesting.
Don’t simply discuss your own products or features. Post photos or videos of customers with their newly purchased equipment, ask your followers what they think about timely agriculture industry trends or share newsworthy articles or information that impact their operation. Customers want to hear about your deals and products for sure, but being constantly “sold to” can get old.
4. Ag equipment dealers should be consistent (not annoying) online.
One pattern you may have already picked up on, is excess. While my Pampered Chef consultant did a great job of keeping her network engaged, she also smothered us to death with content. Sending 10 posts a day is insane — do not do that.
In the social media world, moderation is just as important as consistency. Give your followers a chance to miss you without bombarding their feeds. I would strongly advise just a few posts per week to start.
Posts should be spread out and sent at varied times. Using a pre-schedule tool will make this much easier to track and many times these tools (see point 2) will suggest the optimum post times based on your followers’ preferences.
For eager agriculture equipment marketers and their customers, a great social media strategy is truly a win-win. Getting started is the hardest part! If you are overwhelmed or have questions, reach out to the team at Lessing-Flynn to develop a strong, consistent and impactful social media plan to grow your audience.
What is Pampered Chef?
Pampered Chef is often thought of as the cooking tool brand of suburbia. If you’ve never heard of it—ask the cook of the household. The company is a direct seller of kitchen tools and employs a 40,000+ salesforce of Independent consultants that sell their products. Just like Tupperware and Mary Kay, the company is a love-em-or-hate-em multi-level marketing company.
They’ve nailed down a successful, basic selling formula:
- Secure a party host who invites a number of friends to their home.
- The consultant performs a cooking demo using Pampered Chef products.
- Everyone eats the free food made before their eyes and orders items from the catalog.
Next stop, this Digital Download. Here’s the latest from the digital news sphere, handpicked just for you.
It’s time to have “the talk” with your kids
Lucky for you, this might be a little easier than that other talk. With the majority of kids using the internet at home and school, and that happening at an increasingly early age, parents are contending with talking to their kids about cybersecurity.
>>> Get some tips on the tricky conversation from Quartz.
Podcast ads get personal
Spotify has taken the leap into podcasts, and is trying to set themselves apart from other podcast networks. Starting this year, Spotify’s original shows will not feature one-size-fits-all ads that are embedded in the actual podcast file, but rather ads targeted to listeners programmatically based on Spotify’s slew of data.
>>> Hear the details from TechCrunch.
Twitter lets you limit conversation
You can expect the chatter to die down on Twitter later this year. They have announced they are testing new reply options that let tweet creators limit who can respond to individual tweets. The options will include global (meaning anyone with Twitter), group (only those you follow and mention), panel (only those you mention) and statement (no one). The move is expected to help runaway Twitter replies that can get filled with bots and threats, but could also stifle genuine conversation and limit virality of a tweet.
>>> See what else Twitter is planning to roll out this year from The Verge.
SponCon gone wrong for Facebook
A glowing article about Facebook’s efforts to safeguard political speech appears on Teen Vogue, but didn’t last long. The article originally appeared without a designation as sponsored content, then added it, then removed it, and then removed the article entirely. Facebook maintains that it was editorial content, and Teen Vogue keeps waffling on the decision. As paid and editorial content continues to converge, this may not be the last time we see something like this pop up.
>>> The New York Times investigates what happens here.
The latest viral Instagram filter
Do you know which Disney character you are? If you’ve played with the viral Instagram Story filter, you know you’re a total Flounder or Ursula. These user-generated filters are all fun, but show some serious promise for brands to create their own to engage fans.
>>> Find out how to get the filter here, from Newsweek.
It’s the app known for sparking a congressional inquiry regarding national security or more importantly for “exposing” Panera Bread’s mac and cheese. As irritating or odd as you may find TikTok, brands should give it a chance. The time is now to pull your best TikTok marketing ideas together and form a plan, before dismissing the app as a fading trend.
Created in 2017, TikTok is a video-sharing app and social platform that allows users to share videos up-to-a minute long. The format has been around for a few years; the app is an offspring of musical.ly but often emulates the humor of Vine. And in the last year, it has exploded in popularity.
Some would say that it’s the next big platform for advertisers to watch, but we disagree. Brands should actively jump in and join. Here’s how to do just that and some great brands that are already doing it right.
TikTok for Marketers
Why get on the bandwagon? Because the best TikTok marketing ideas are still waiting to be discovered. Here’s what you should know:
1. How Popular Is TikTok?
TikTok boasts over 500 million downloads from the Google Play Store and sits above YouTube in the Apple App Store charts. Additionally, 1-in-8 U.S. adults have already joined the platform.
2. TikTok is like Vine, but it can last.
In many ways, TikTok is the next Vine, Twitter’s former-yet-infamous 6-second video platform. The platform demonstrates similarities in terms of its ability to create cultural moments and memes, as well as continues to shift the dynamic of how young people communicate online. Unlike Vine, it will most likely not feel like a flash in the pan. This means there’s a better likelihood your TikTok marketing ideas will have better staying power.
3. TikTok Demographics.
Like most social networks, especially in their early stages, TikTok’s demographics skew toward the younger crowd. It’s estimated that around 50% of users are under the age of 34. Building brand awareness in this demographic right now is a huge opportunity.
If your brand is going after this demographic for the first time, jumping on the TikTok platform now may increase awareness within your customer targets. Less competition means future customers will be aware of (and talking about!) your brand in the long term.
4. TikTok Ads Aren’t Pervasive (yet…)
Because TikTok is still relatively shiny and new, users aren’t being bombarded by ads and branded content yet like they are on Facebook-owned platforms. Native TikTok content can be legitimately entertaining and also influence consumer behavior. Advertising inventory is available, and TikTok has been actively coming up with new ways to get ads in front of their users, but the best way to get started with the platform is just to start posting.
Clever TikTok Marketing Ideas
So, what brands are already on TikTok performing well? The best TikTok marketing ideas, methods and execution we’re currently tracking are coming from a brand you may not expect — a legacy newspaper.
The Washington Post posts every day and has amassed 300,000 followers and nearly 16 million likes on their posts.
@washingtonpostGasp!!!!!! #newsroom #eviltwin #somosWaPo #telenovela♬ original sound – washingtonpost
@washingtonpostThe news tried really hard to write wesleylowery #newspaper♬ Illumin – jvantheman
And of course, even the beloved burrito chain, Chipotle, has done well on the app, too. Their account has surpassed 250k followers.
@chipotleSmh #foryou #foryoupage #college101 #chipotle♬ Fire Burning – Sean Kingston
@chipotleDaily affirmations #peptalk #fyp #chipotle♬ original sound – rhysy_w
Why do Chipotle & The Washington Post have a large TikTok following?
Next stop, this Digital Download. Here’s the latest from the digital news sphere, handpicked just for you.
What the heck is BERT?
Not the Sesame Street character, that’s for sure. In the past, computers have struggled to understand language — until natural language processing came along, which encompasses named entity recognition, sentiment, Q&A functions, etc. Tools like BERT work to incorporate them all. Google started to roll out BERT on Oct. 21, 2019, for English searches, but the tool will incorporate all languages eventually. While you can’t optimize content for BERT, natural language processing is important to understand, especially if you want to succeed in the search industry.
Break down the ins and outs of BERT with Moz’s Britney Muller.
Banner ad turns 25
Happy belated birthday to the banner ad, who celebrated its 25th birthday on Oct. 27. Regardless of how you feel about this type of digital ad, you should know it’s not planning to go anywhere anytime soon. Banner ads are becoming more sophisticated by the minute, especially on mobile, including video, sound and even augmented reality. CEO of Fang Marketing Jeff Ferguson says the average person sees around 1,700 banner ads a month but that the right strategy can cut through the clutter. Maybe they do deserve a spot in your next digital campaign. Yay or nay?
>>> Help yourself to even more history of the banner ad and check out where it’s going.
The Krispy Kreme resale scheme
Not all heroes wear capes. Some simply drive 500 miles round-trip to bring the goodness of Krispy Kreme donuts to the Twin Cities for seven months straight. That’s certainly Jason Gonzalez’s story, who went viral a couple of weeks ago for this very task. The Twin Cities haven’t had an operating Krispy Kreme store since 2008, so Gonzales saw an opportunity to ward off his student debt, driving to Clive, Iowa, to buy and then reselling the donuts back in St. Paul, Minnesota. The donut chain initially shut down Gonzalez’s operation, citing quality control issues, but he has since been named an independent operator, equipped with his very own company van. Sounds like this marketing scheme worked out.
>>> Satisfy your craving with the rest of this story.
Snapchat rolls out long-form option for video ads
Brands around the world, rejoice. Snapchat is increasing the duration of the platform’s video ads beyond the current six-second limit. The new format will mimic aspects of YouTube’s TrueView ads, maintaining the six-second unskippable period and continuing to play for up-to-three minutes total with the option to skip anytime. With this option, brands will be able to utilize more of their already existing video ads and easily drop them into the app while Snapchat will see more ad revenue dollars. Win-win.
>>> Read more about the rationale behind Snapchat’s decision.
Experts optimistic about the future of digital
Think positive! That’s what the experts are doing when it comes to the future of digital life. According to a recent Pew Research Center study, 72% believe digital will “change for the better” in the next 50 years. Among these changes, respondents hope to see innovations that lead to longer lifespans, tailored use per user and reduction of inequality. It’s worth noting, though, that most all experts agreed that the end of privacy is looming as well. What do you think? Leave us a comment detailing your outlook on digital life.
>>> Read into more expert observations and insights to decide for yourself.
That’s all for now, but never fear. Sign up for our newsletter to get more digital news until our next Digital Download.
Get your dose of digital news with this month’s Digital Download — just what the doctor ordered.
How prone are you to digital privacy issues?
You may need to brush up on your digital knowledge basics. According to the Pew Research Center, many U.S. adults struggle with certain cybersecurity and privacy issues. But not everyone is in the dark. Two-thirds of U.S. adults are aware of phishing scams and the role of cookies in one’s browser — not the edible kind, unfortunately.
>>See where you stack up against the complete survey results.
Instagram removes likes to promote self-love
Where do you stand on Instagram removing visible likes? If you’re a brand or agency, you may have some concerns. Influencer marketing brought in big dollars in 2018 — we’re talking in the billions. And most of that money was allotted based on an expected number of likes per post. Non-influencers, however, have publicly praised the app for its attempts to preserve the mental health of its users. As 2020 inches closer, it may be time to brainstorm new ways to gauge the effectiveness of influencer marketing.
>>Find out what digital success looks like without likes.
The Americans With Disabilities Act has a new precedent
The Supreme Court revisited the Americans With Disabilities Act this month, allowing blind people to rightfully sue retailers if they find websites to not be accessible by American Disability Association standards. The initial lawsuit was filed against Domino’s Pizza three years ago after a customer, who was blind, complained that they were unable to order a pizza because Domino’s website lacked the necessary software.
>>Read up on the court’s proceedings and the relevant legislation.
New targeting tools make for merry marketing
Tis the season to be a digital marketer. Google announced that they will be implementing two new features to Google Search to help narrow target audiences. For starters, affinity audiences — audiences that have shown a particular interest in a certain topic — will be able to be layered on top of keywords, a relevant tool for year-round. And just in time for the holidays, Google will roll out seasonal event segments, which will help target consumer who have already begun researching for upcoming holidays.
>>Navigate your holiday marketing strategy’s next steps with help.
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Goodbye, Google Average Position. Hello, new metrics!
Google will get rid of the average position metric soon, which has been a stalwart of ad reporting since Google Ads was Google AdWords. They’ll replace it with several new metrics that will tell you how frequently your ads rank absolute top (meaning you are ranked no. 1). They’ll also tell you when you rank top (meaning you’re ranked in the top 3 before organic results). This is the biggest change Google has made to their metrics in years — a move to help align with the shifting state of search engine marketing.
>> Navigate the new metrics here.
Brands navigate 9/11 remembrance
When it comes to posting on 9/11, more and more brands are choosing to stay silent. There have been plenty of cringe-worthy remembrance posts, but going about business as usual can backfire as well. Those posts can be met with accusations that you aren’t honoring those lost. As the first major event of the social media era, it’s been interesting to watch media managers navigate how to (and if they should) post on 9/11. We hope your feeds were respectful this year and absent of the Ledo’s Pizza blip.
>> See what experts say about posting on 9/11 here.
Facebook ditches Discover
Last year, Facebook moved brand messages to their own Discover tab in the Messenger app. But this month, they’ve decided to kill the effort off. Facebook says the decision to get rid of Discover was made in order to make it more seamless for people to communicate with businesses in Messenger. For companies that aren’t using Facebook’s Messenger tools, this might be the time to start — users are spending a larger portion of their time in Messenger rather than in Newsfeed.
>> Dive into Facebook’s decision here.
Instagram influencer’s ghostwriter tells all
The influencer bubble may have burst in light of the Caroline Calloway story. The floundering Instagramer’s former friend published a tell-all essay on her experiences as Calloway’s ghostwriter and business partner. The pair frequently purchased followers to boost engagement numbers and appear more influential and failed to fulfill multiple agreements for events and a book deal. As influencer marketing takes off, it’s important to keep stories like this in mind — fame doesn’t always equal dependability.
>> Catch up on the Caroline Calloway story here.
“Dumbed down” Alexa has users voicing concerns — literally
Amazon has released a new Alexa Answers program. The program allows crowdsourcing for questions Alexa doesn’t have an answer for. This program has been in beta for almost a year but will now be available for the masses — meaning literally anyone can contribute answers. There are some concerns that this will result in a dumbing down of Alexa since the answers provided may not necessarily be accurate or well-researched. How will you be able to tell who answered your question? Alexa will add “according to an Amazon customer” to the end of her answer if crowdsourcing was used. As voice search continues to evolve, this move will certainly be watched by other smart device manufacturers.
>> Get answers to your Alexa Answers queries here.
The Social Media Club of Des Moines recently recognized Lessing-Flynn with four awards for work the company completed for three different client-partners at the sixth annual Hashie Awards on Aug. 22, 2019. Judged by a panel of six social media marketing experts from across the United States, the Hashies recognize businesses, organizations and marketing firms that have demonstrated excellence in social media marketing.
Lessing-Flynn received awards for the following:
Gold Hashie Award (First Place):
• Bank Iowa — Best Use of Snapchat
• Equipment Technologies — Best Use of Instagram
• National Pork Board — Best Overall Social Media Presence
Silver Hashie Award (Second Place):
• Bank Iowa — Social Media Campaign of the Year
“Social media is an important part of any marketing strategy. We’re proud of the work we’ve done with our clients in this area, and we’re always excited to see our efforts make an impact on their business,” said Tom Flynn, Lessing-Flynn president.
The 2019 Hashie Awards received 110 entries for 20 different social media categories that recognized social media marketing excellence among both businesses and nonprofit organizations.