Welcome to the first installment of One Twelfth’s ‘This Week in Digital Marketing’!
With this being the week of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, sales numbers are rolling in from the biggest shopping weekend of the year. Even more important, however, are the trends being indicated by the numbers.
Let’s just say that if you’re not investing in improving your digital store, you better start now. Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2017 won’t be as kind to retailers who don’t offer the same deals online as they do in stores.
Throw in some major acquisitions, including CNN’s attempt to connect with milennials, and you have a full week of digital marketing insights to digest.
1. 5 Marketing Trends to Watch for in 2017
Key Takeaways
Live Platforms: “New live streaming platforms, better content, faster connection speeds, and bigger data plans, will lower the barriers for adoption.”
Augmented Reality Apps: “We expect to see brands continuing to experiment with AR in different ways…Get ready for more direct use of AR within apps, both immersive experiences and tangentially related ones.”
Chatbots: “Facebook has invested in the burgeoning bot industry, rolling out tools for businesses and developers to build bots on its messaging platform. So far, the social media giant has unleashed a 30,000-strong bot army…”
Immersive Video: “Shoppable films, 360 videos, GoPro, and Snapchat have all broke ground in the immersive viewing experience with huge success. However, “distribution of these video types is limited to a few platforms.”
Improved Viewability: “It’s time for brands to move away from media-based outcomes, such as views or clicks, and shift towards tangible business objectives such as sign-ups, downloads, and purchases.”
2. Here’s How much Engagement Holiday Retailers Are Getting in Social Media So Far
Key Takeaways
Standout holiday retailers so far include Nordstrom, Lowe’s and Old Navy, with each excelling in terms of engagement, conversation and amplification. Fry’s Electronics leads in terms of most activity, with 64 posts from November 1st through Cyber Monday.
Origamic Logic, the entity behind the study, tracks Facebook, Instagram and YouTube posts.
Nordstrom utilized a simple strategy going into Black Friday by posting glossy product photos and concise copy. Lowe’s used Facebook Live to unveil its Black Friday deals to build some hype, earning 1.4 million views since its November 2nd debut.
Old Navy employed Amy Schumer to market its Back-to-School and Black Friday sales. However, if Bud Light’s much maligned campaign featuring Schumer and Seth Rogen proved anything, the attention could be for all the wrong reasons.
3. Why Did CNN Acquire a Social Media Video Startup?
Key Takeaways
“CNN aims to attract the milennial audience of Berne and plans to integrate Berne’s technology in the new company and develop mobile video capabilities for CNN’s portfolio of digital properties. Additionally, the media network plans to hire dozens of producers, builders, designers and content creators for the new venture.
The primary purpose of this deal seems to be to bring authenticity to the news and media environment and draw in a younger audience that has largely been untapped by the cable news network.”
4. Oracle Simplifies B2B Digital Marketing with Revamped Lead Generation Tools
Key Takeaways
“New capabilities give marketers the power to align sales and marketing by making approved marketing content more easy to find, track and share, the company claims…Oracle is empowering marketers to quickly create and share compelling content across their organization and reduce the number of steps required to identify and pursue new leads.”
5. Cyber Monday Sales Hit a New All-Time Record in 2016
Key Takeaways
“It’s official: Cyber Monday 2016 was the biggest day in the history of U.S. e-commerce. Consumers spent $3.45 billion online on Monday, according to Adobe Digital Insights, easily blowing past initial estimates…”
“Adobe’s principal analyst, Tamara Gaffney, noted that Black Friday’s online sales were only $110 million below those of Cyber Monday, and said Black Friday next year could become the top online shopping day.”
6. 6 Charts Showing How Social Media Influencers Work with Brands
Key Takeaways
In terms of importance, the most important platforms…
- Personal blog
How do you measure your influence/success…
- Traffic
- Shares of your posts to social channels
- Re-engagement from brand for additional assignments
Biggest mistakes brands make working with you…
- Not enough compensation
- Overly restrictive content guidelines
- Not providing adequate time
How do brands typically want to reach your audience?
- Sponsored content
- Product reviews
- Ambassadorships
7. Clarkson and Co. Launch New Motoring Social Media Network
Key Takeaways
“With the modest aim ‘to shape the next generation of digital media’ DriveTribe is described by Hammond as the equivalent of Twitch for gamers or TripAdvisor for travelers, and by Clarkson as like ‘YouPorn, only with cars’. In short, it’s designed to be a hub for every kind of motoring-related content.”
8. Cendyn Buys Guestfolio to Expand its Hotel Digital Marketing Solutions
Key Takeaways
“The acquisition of Whistler, British Columbia-headquartered Guestfolio will enable Cendyn to offer a more comprehensive feature set on the hotel-marketing side of the business as Guestfolio is stronger in the boutique hotel segment, says Tim Sullivan, Cendyn’s chief sales and marketing officer.”
9. Twitter Releases New Christmas Shopping Data for UK Users [INFOGRAPHIC]
Key Takeaways
“82% of 18 to 24 year old Twitter users in the UK start shopping for Christmas before December.”
“2 in 5 UK Twitter users say the platform helps them learn about new products and brands.”
10. Accenture Acquires Karmarama to Expand Digital Marketing Services
Key Takeaways
“The acquisition is part of Accenture’s strategy to expand the company’s digital marketing presence globally.”
Accenture’s acquisition is just another example of brands making the pivot to focusing primarily on the digital aspect of marketing and advertising. They’ve already “been growing in the digital marketing sector through acquisitions” with acquisitions of agencies in Brazil, Sweden, Japan, Hong Kong and the United States.
