Social Media
Twitter Provides Examples of Positive Brand Communications Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
What do communicate with your customers and clients amid the overwhelming news influx of the coronavirus pandemic? That’s what many social media and content professionals are now considering as they grapple with the new reality of social distancing and self-quarantine lockdowns, while also contending with revenue declines and significant business changes as a result. In some ways, you want to communicate that your business cares, and is doing all it can to assist, but in others, you also need to consider the longer-term viability of your workplace, and how you can keep revenue flowing despite the conditions. It’s a lot to take in, but if you’re looking at social media communications specifically, Twitter has gathered together a listing of brands that are communicating in effective, positive and responsible ways amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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Facebook Creates $100 Million Grant Program to Assist Small Businesses Dealing with COVID-19 Impact
The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging and troubling in many ways, and the reality is that it’s only going to get worse. With a vaccine still months away, and the virus still spreading into new regions, the likelihood is that we’ll be dealing with this for months, which will have a major impact on many sectors and businesses. To help ease this burden, at least for some organizations, Facebook has this week announced a new $100 million grants program to assist 30,000 SMBs, in 30 nations, supporting the communities in which Facebook and its teams operate. As explained by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg: “Small businesses are the heartbeat of our communities, and many of the people who run these businesses are heavily affected by the crisis – especially as more and more people sensibly stay home. The longer the crisis goes on, the greater the risk to small businesses and to the livelihoods of their owners and employees. That’s why today I’m announcing that Facebook is investing $100 million to help 30,000 small businesses in over 30 countries where our employees live and work.”
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Marketing
Amazon Could Win Big in the Post-Coronavirus Retail Economy
Pundits are already speculating about the post-coronavirus culture and economy. Among the lasting, potential changes are more diversified supply chains, the mainstreaming of online education, more companies embracing work from home, stricter hygiene rules for restaurants and hotels (that survive) and other public places. And beyond all that, a great deal more online shopping. The physical world is giving way to the virtual world for perhaps the foreseeable future. Yet online shopping cannot entirely pick up the slack from offline stores. Grocery deliveries from stores like Whole Foods are subject to incomplete inventory and uneven delivery. Amazon has run out of some popular items and household staples (e.g., toilet paper – although you may find it on the site, it’s not available when you check out). E-commerce sales are up across many categories, in some cases by triple digits, though sales are down in others (i.e., travel). And although complete data aren’t yet available, Amazon is likely the primary beneficiary of much of the online buying frenzy. As evidence, the company said this week that it would be hiring 100,000 full and part-time employees in its fulfillment centers and delivery network “to meet the surge in demand from people relying on Amazon’s service during this stressful time.”
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Virtual Event Platforms Scramble to Meet Demand as Coronavirus Knocks Out Conferences: What to Do
Extreme measures being put into place by local and federal governments banning mass gatherings to slow the spread of COVID-19 are drastically impacting our industry. Marketing conferences scheduled to take place within the next several weeks are being canceled, postponed or going digital-only. The direct economic loss from canceled marketing conferences and business activities has surpassed $1 billion and continues to climb, according to data intelligence company PredictHQ. As marketers, we can’t bring every aspect of our business — including our events — to a complete halt, which is why companies are flocking to virtual event platforms to deliver content to attendees. But with the surge of complex requests coming in, how are these martech companies managing the increased demand?
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Daily Minute Master Series – March 31, 2020.
/by Samantha ShapiroSocial Media
YouTube Ad Revenues, Creative Output May Grow During Coronavirus
As digital media buyers and strategists navigate the unknown in the coming months, one possible platform winner may be emerging: YouTube. Two CEOs of large YouTube properties have noted a perceptible drop in CPM costs in the past week, in one case up to 15%. CPM cost stands for “cost per 1,000 ad impressions,” a standardized metric to assess media cost.) There has been ongoing concern that a drop in CPMs would be the natural consequence of advertisers pulling back ad dollars until the situation is more under control and consumer confidence is restored. However, there is speculation something positive is actually causing it: a drastic increase in user consumption, providing more ad revenue than there typically is.
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Facebook Updates ‘Download Your Data’ Tool With More Insight Into How it Uses Your Information
Facebook is adding some new sections to its ‘Download Your Data’ (Instagram) and ‘Download Your Information’ (Facebook) tools in order to provide more transparency over the information it collects on your activities, and how it uses them to show you more relevant ads and content as a result. As explained by Facebook: “Over the last decade we’ve been working to extend the functionality of our self-service data access tools to help people access data in meaningful ways. Today’s step is part of these efforts. There have also been growing efforts by many policymakers and regulators to enhance people’s rights around access to their data. These laws include the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, which was implemented in 2018 and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which took effect earlier this year.”Essentially, Facebook is adding these new sections to ensure full adherence to the CCPA, providing access to more complete insight into the various ways in which its platforms track and store user information – and what that information is, specifically, for your profile.
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Marketing
Google: Marketing a Business ‘Temporarily Closed’ Doesn’t Impact Rankings
Google’s Danny Sullivan confirms that marking a Google My Business listing as temporarily closed will not harm rankings or visibility. As businesses shut their doors to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, Google introduced a “temporarily closed” indicator in Google My Business. Initially there was concern about this indicator negatively impacting search rankings. A concerned business owner reached out to Sullivan suggesting Google should introduce a solution that wouldn’t lead to reduced visibility in search. That’s important as some businesses are still operating online even though their physical location in closed.
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Google Search Console Update: More Control Over Data & Email Notifications
Google has updated Search Console with features that give site owners more control over their account preferences. Site owners now have the option to chose whether performance data for their Search Console property appears in search results. Also, Google has expanded Search Console’s email preferences with more choice over which types of emails to receive.
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Daily Minute Master Series – March 30, 2020.
/by Samantha ShapiroSocial Media
Pinterest Launches Verified Merchant Program for Brands That Deliver High Quality Customer Service
Back in February, as part of its Q4 19 update, Pinterest noted that it was working on its own profile verification program, in order to provide extra assurance to Pinners in regards to trusted businesses which had met the platform’s standards on customer service and process. Now, with demand for eCommerce rising, and Pinterest seeing significant increases in traffic, the platform has announced the launch of its ‘Verified Merchants’ program, which will see a blue checkmark added to brand profiles that meet Pinterest’s quality and transparency requirements. As explained by Pinterest: “We’ve launched the Verified Merchant Program with retailers who’ve met our qualifications for high quality customer service experiences through manual review. Verified Merchants will display a special blue checkmark on their profiles, and become eligible for increased distribution within high-intent shopping experiences and metrics like conversion reporting.”
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Facebook Focusing on Live Streaming as Usage Spikes During COVID-19 Lockdowns
Facebook is abruptly shifting the focus of product development toward live streaming as COVID-19 lockdowns lead to increased demand. Fidji Simo, head of the Facebook app, told Bloomberg over the weekend that Facebook Live is “exploding” right now. “This is a really unique moment. [Facebook has had to] adjust really quickly and really reshape our roadmap.” The number of US users watching live video on Facebook has increased 50% since January, Bloomberg reports. This is due, in no small part, to the fact that people around the world are stuck at home in a collective effort to prevent coronavirus from spreading. Facebook is responding to the increased usage by accelerating the development of new features for Facebook Live.
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Marketing
Search Marketers Are Volunteering Services, Support to Help Small Businesses Get Through COVID-19
“Small businesses often get squeezed and forgotten about, but are hugely important for the economy,” said Chris Green, head of marketing innovation at Footprint Digital, “and at a human level, knowing what to do at a time like this is tough.” With the coronavirus outbreak shifting consumer behavior and severely impacting the day-to-day operations of businesses across the world, some digital marketers are going beyond their traditional roles and offerings to extend free, no-commitment services to businesses impacted by the pandemic.
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Google Search Console Adds Performance Report and Email Preferences
Google announced this morning on Twitter that it has launched a couple of new features in Google Search Console including a new way to choose whether to show performance data for your property directly in search results. Google also now lets you choose which types of emails you want to get. Google said you can now choose to show performance data for your property directly in the search results. You know, that is when you do a search in Google and Google shows that box at the top from Google Search Console. One of the bigger pet peeves some SEOs have with Google Search Console is getting too many emails from Google and seeing this box pop up for all their clients in Google search results. Now you can control these notifications.
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Daily Minute Master Series – March 27, 2020.
/by Samantha ShapiroSocial Media
TikTok Launches Celebrity-Hosted, Daily Live-Streams to Entertain Users Amid COVID-19 Lockdowns
TikTok has this week launched a new entertainment and information initiative to help lighten the mood amid the COVID-19 lockdowns, while also giving users a chance to ask questions of experts and engage with celebrities on the platform. Called #HappyAtHome, the initiative will see well-known musicians, actors, comedians and more share a series of live-streams on the platform at 5pm, every day of next week. As explained by TikTok: “We’ve partnered with a wide range of amazing celebrities and creators to launch something special: #HappyAtHome: LIVE!, a week of nightly programming that kicks off today at 5:00 PM PDT and will run each evening through Friday. The goal is simple: share in a bit of levity, provide some comfort, and embrace the responsibility we all have to do the right thing by staying inside and stopping the spread. There’s a lot we can’t do right now, but this is one small way we can all help each other during these trying times.”
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Instagram’s Testing a New Option to Promote the Sale of Gift Cards via Your Business Profile
This is interesting. According to a new discovery by reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong, Instagram is working on a new ‘Links’ option within its business profile settings that would enable brands to add a new quick link, via a profile button or sticker, to guide visitors to purchase gift cards or make donations. This could be a way for impacted SMBs to lessen their losses. For example, a local bookstore that’s going to lose money due to loss of foot traffic could offer a 5% discount on gift cards, then call on their local community for assistance, along with an added benefit. Kids play centers, movie theaters – there’s a wide range of businesses that have lost all of their revenue flow right now. Maybe, this is another way for the community to band together to support them, despite them being shut down at present.
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Marketing
Businesses Should Limit, Not Disable, Their Sites During Temporary Closures, Google Says
Businesses are continuing to feel the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, with some forced to temporarily shut down. To help business owners preserve their visibility in Google search, Google has published recommendations on how to properly limit your site’s functionality if you need to pause operations. Avoid disabling your whole site. Disabling your site, even for just a few days, can have a significant effect on your visibility in search, Google reiterated. You still want people to be able to find your business and learn about your products or services in the event you’re just closed temporarily. A full site takedown will make ramping back up more difficult as your site will need to be reindexed. It can also result in Search Console verification failure and a loss of reporting data.
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SEO After COVID-19: 8 Opportunities to Start Working on Now
The world is currently in a state of confusion, panic, bewilderment, and uncertainty. With the situation changing by the hour, it can leave you feeling lost and wondering what is going to come next. But, we are a strong group, and we will get through this. It might not look the same once the new normal is here but companies that are able to weather this downturn and strategically plan will come out much stronger and will be poised for quicker recovery. To start thinking about strategic planning post-COVID-19, here are some current opportunities that you can start working on now for improved SEO.
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Daily Minute Master Series – March 26, 2020.
/by Samantha ShapiroSocial Media
Social Platforms Cut Streaming Quality as ‘Social Distancing’ Wages On
Internet traffic is up, CPMs are down, and media platforms are pivoting to adapt to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Media giants across the globe are hurriedly making adjustments to keep their platforms stable and functioning during the massive surge in traffic. As a result, major platforms in the EU – Facebook, Netflix, Disney+, among others – are reducing video bitrates or defaulting to lower qualities to make way for the influx. The push to downgrade streaming quality has been primarily focused in Europe with regulatory mandates to reduce network strain. But the U.S. might not be far behind – and advertisers will likely feel the impact. While it’s still uncertain when – or if – there will be broadband restrictions in the U.S., it’s likely that video streaming platforms will still make adjustments to offset traffic loads. Brands in the U.S. currently delivering high-quality, high-budget video campaigns will want to pay close attention to ad performance over the next several weeks. In the meantime, use the downtime to build a “worst-case scenario” strategy in case your video ad performance starts dropping due to buffering issues. If this happens, prepare to test alternative non-video creatives and potentially pause campaigns in the short-term.
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Why Facebook Ads are Critical for Your Business During COVID-19
There is no other way to say it, it’s a scary time to be a marketer and/or business owner right now. With all the uncertainty around how long the COVID-19 pandemic is set to impact virtually every aspect of how we live, it’s hard to decide what’s best for business when it comes to marketing. Should you stop your marketing and advertising initiatives in the midst of the crisis? And if you continue to advertise at this time, how will your message be received by consumers who are also stressed about their own situation? In the end, each business and marketer needs to make the best decision for their own unique circumstance in order to ensure their business survives. However, if you are able to continue marketing, even in a scaled-back capacity, it is likely to be beneficial, and could end up being the thing that keeps you afloat through the difficult weeks and months ahead.
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Marketing
How B2B Companies Can Be Proactive About Managing Paid Media During COVID-19
B2B sales cycles tend to be longer, so making drastic changes to your paid media strategy could have lasting effects. While you may be reducing budgets overall, it’s important to keep feeding the upper funnel so that your brand remains top of mind when demand bounces back. Think about ways that you can repurpose existing content to fit the times, e.g. promoting a whitepaper with a lead gen form or turning a summit into a virtual event. Consider using sponsorship dollars that you recoup from canceled in-person events to produce a video content series, upgrade your webinar content, and more to connect with people remotely. Above all, maintain empathy for your users and their changing needs and challenges, and focus on the data, not fear or anxiety, to make the right decisions for your business. Staying strategic in this time means making quick adjustments as news cycles and performance reports dictate, so make sure you’re monitoring the macro landscape and your company’s internal and competitive reports aggressively to set your course with confidence.
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The New Contextual Ad Targeting Works, Study Says
What’s old is new again. Contextual advertising has come back on marketers’ radar as data privacy regulations (GDPR and CCPA) and browser crackdowns on cookies greatly limit how data and tracking can be used for targeting digital advertising. A new study aims to demonstrate how far contextual advertising has evolved in the age of machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) as an effective ad targeting method. The study was designed by GumGum, a contextual advertising company that uses computer vision and NLP to analyze the text, images and videos that appear on a web page (yes, it has skin in this game) and conducted by neuroanalytics company SPARK Neuro. Researchers used biometric sensors to monitor the participants’ brain activity, gauge their emotions and reactions, evaluate attention, and measure their skin response to stimuli as they were asked to read six articles on different topics. The small test involved 60 participants from the U.S., U.K. and Japan. Each article had three ads that had relevance to the article ranging from high to low. An article about soccer had ads for soccer apparel, beverages and electronics, for example. The placement of the most relevant ad varied across the articles. The researchers then conducted in-person interviews with the participants.
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Daily Minute Master Series – March 25, 2020.
/by Samantha ShapiroSocial Media
Facebook is Working to Keep its Systems Operating, Seeing Lower Ad Spend Amid COVID-19 Lockdowns
With billions of people on virtual lockdown in their homes, it’ll come as no surprise that Facebook is seeing a massive increase in activity within its apps. But even so, the actual numbers are significant – according to Facebook, over the last few weeks, it’s seen: Total messaging increases of more than 50%, across both WhatsApp and Messenger, an increase of 70% in Messenger group video calls, and more than double the regular demand for video calls in WhatsApp and overall U.S. traffic from Facebook to other websites has increased by more than 50% week-on-week. On one hand, this is positive news for The Social Network, boosting its all-important engagement stats. But Facebook has also noted that the increased traffic has put increased strain on its network, and that it’s now working hard to keep its systems running amidst unprecedented demand.
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YouTube Will Switch to Standard Definition by Default in All Regions to Lessen Network Load
After lowering the video quality of its streams across Europe last week, in response to concerns that local networks could become overloaded with video traffic, YouTube has this week confirmed that it will do the same in all regions, with YouTube videos to load in standard definition by default for at least the next month. As explained by Bloomberg: “Over the coming days, viewers will at first see YouTube videos in standard definition. Users will still be able to watch in high definition if they want, but will have to choose to do so.” It seems like a relatively minor imposition – especially given that HD will still be an option for those that want it. And it could play an important role in keeping people connected, at a time where everyone who’s able to work from home is doing so. Given the circumstances, maintaining connection is critical. Sure, you might miss the specific detail of the crowd in that basketball highlights video you’re watching, but that seems like a small price to pay in order to maintain optimal operation for everyone else.
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Marketing
Summer Olympics Postponed Further Shakes 2020 Ad Spending Expectations
Sporting events were supposed to be a key driver of advertising spend growth this year. Instead, the coronavirus crisis has led to widespread cancellations, the latest being Tuesday’s announcement that the 2020 Summer Olympics will not take place as planned in June. The question is whether these ad dollars will be redistributed elsewhere or simply vanish. Last week, eMarketer lowered its projections for global media spend this year by nearly 3%. That revision assumed that the Summer Olympics would still take place as planned in June. WARC had earlier advised that the cancellation or postponement of UEFA Euro 2020 soccer tournament and the Olympics and Paralympics would affect traditional media most heavily (NBCUniversal had sold a record $1.25 billion in national advertising around the Olympics by early March, according to Ad Age.), but “will also impact online publishers and BVOD platforms.”
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Winners and Losers: How COVID-19 is Affecting Search Behavior
Looking at Google Trends, we can see the dramatic surges in search volume around representative search terms in the grocery, bulk and online productivity categories that saw huge growth swings. Social distancing measures have forced many to prepare food at home, and both Merkle’s figures and the Google Trends data for the keyword “groceries” reflect that. The Trends data shows an annual high for the week ending on March 21 — an increase of 446% compared to the same period in 2019. Related keywords, such as “online groceries” and “grocery delivery” also saw similar growth. Perhaps out of fear or simply to prepare for long-term self-quarantining, big-box retailers, such as Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club are also being searched significantly more than they were in March 2019. Costco’s search interest is up 82%, which is just 5% lower than its peak interest during Black Friday 2019.
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Daily Minute Master Series – March 24, 2020.
/by Samantha ShapiroSocial Media
Instagram Launches ‘Stay Home’ Sticker and Story to Encourage Social Distancing Amid COVID-19 Outbreak
This week, Instagram has launched a new ‘Stay Home’ sticker for Instagram Stories in order to encourage people to stay inside amid the evolving COVID-19 outbreak. As per Instagram: “Today we’re launching a new “Stay Home” sticker that you can find in Stories. If you use the sticker, your photo or video will be added to a shared Instagram story where people can see how you’re staying home and staying safe.” All the discussion around ‘flattening the curve’ doesn’t appear to have caught on, and as such, it’s good to see Instagram at least trying to underline this key message, and encourage participation – which, hopefully, will get more people to stay home and limit the spread of the virus.
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Twitter Provides More Tweet Copy Tips Via It’s ‘Good Copy, Bad Copy’ Program
Reduce hashtags to de-clutter tweets – Wadlington interestingly recommends, once again, that brands should consider scaling back their use of hashtags, as too many can clutter your messaging, and reduce the potential of someone clicking on your focus link. This may be one of the biggest revelations of the ‘Good Copy, Bad Copy’ series thus far – the common advice is that you should look to include two hashtags per tweet in order to maximize reach. But as Wadlington has noted previously, if you want users to take action by clicking on a specific link in your tweet, adding other things for them to click on within your copy, like extra hashtags, can lessen that focus, and reduce your click-through rate. This may also be reflective of evolving usage trends, where hashtags don’t drive discovery the way that they once did – and definitely, there’s a lot of logic to narrowing your focus, and driving your audience towards a single action, as opposed to providing extra distractions.
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Marketing
4 Marketing Lessons From Retailers Who Are Mastering The Consumer Experience
I don’t need to go into detail on how fierce competition is for digital marketers in the retail space. They are constantly determining how to outmaneuver other retailers and better engage shoppers. Simply spending more to box out competitors is not the long-term answer – nor is it viable for most retail businesses. The solution is to simultaneously invest in more personalized marketing approaches as well as the customer experience. That’s because investing in the customer experience cycles back into propelling the effectiveness of your marketing and advertising efforts. A renewed focus on the customer experience is what will define successful retailers moving forward. Here’s a look at four retailers excelling in key areas of the customer experience, and the marketing lessons to learn from each of their approaches.
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Reducing Digital Marketing Due To COVID-19? Read this First
Last week, I shared real performance data for 10 different websites in 10 different industries that are seeing impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. While some businesses servicing “essential needs” are flourishing, most are seeing performance drops of -20% or worse from just two weeks ago.With a sudden and unexpected loss in revenue, many businesses are being forced into conversations on how they can trim budgets and maximize efficiency. But what does this mean for various digital marketing investments? I reached out to multiple industry professionals to get their advice on how to maximize results in this time of uncertainty.
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Daily Minute Master Series – March 23, 2020.
/by Samantha ShapiroSocial Media
YouTube Reduces Streaming Quality to Reduce Network Load, Adds New COVID-19 Info Panel
This comes as little surprise, given that WhatsApp is developing the same thing, but this week, Instagram has confirmed that it’s also working on a new disappearing messages option within its Direct tools. Spotted by reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong, the new option, at least at this stage, would see all of your messages disappear from the chat window after you’d read them and navigated to another section of the app. In this iteration, there doesn’t appear to be any time limit controls within Insta’s auto-delete settings, but that’s probably the next stage, because as noted, Facebook-owned WhatsApp is also looking to add the same functionality, though with added control elements for your disappearing communications. In response, the European Union this week called on both Netflix and YouTube to reduce their system demands on European web networks by limiting the capacity for users to stream in HD, which both companies will comply with from this week.
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Facebook Makes Desktop Refresh Available to All Users
This is only for the desktop version – Facebook still doesn’t have a ‘dark mode’ option in the mobile app, though that option is getting closer to launch. If you’re keen to get a taste of what it will eventually look like, the desktop version will have to suffice, at least for the time being. As noted, the new desktop layout should be available to everyone shortly, though Facebook did note in a statement to TechCrunch that: “Starting today, the majority of people on Facebook will have access to the new desktop design” So maybe not everyone just yet. If you’re not seeing the option in your settings menu, hold tight, it’ll be available to you shortly.
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Marketing
Google’s Right-Sidebar Featured Snippets are No More
For those who used to own right-sidebar featured snippets, your URL now only appears once on the first results page instead of twice. Now that the feature is part of the main results column, other organic listings appear further down on the page. Whether you own the featured snippet or another result on a page that has a deduplicated featured snippet, you should monitor your Google Search Console and Analytics reports to see how much of an impact this has on your traffic and click-through rates.
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Yelp Launches Efforts to Help Local Businesses Impacted by COVID-19
Yelp launched a number of efforts aimed at helping local businesses that have been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. According to Yelp’s data, US consumer interest for restaurants has dropped by 54% over the past week. Nightlife businesses have been hit even harder with drop in consumer interest of 69%. This is, of course, a result of the forced closure of non-essential businesses and the social distancing measures encouraged by the World Health Organization. In an announcement, Yelp says it’s committed to helping businesses during these uncertain times.
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Daily Minute Master Series – March 20, 2020.
/by Samantha ShapiroSocial Media
Instagram’s Working on a Disappearing Messages Option
This comes as little surprise, given that WhatsApp is developing the same thing, but this week, Instagram has confirmed that it’s also working on a new disappearing messages option within its Direct tools. Spotted by reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong, the new option, at least at this stage, would see all of your messages disappear from the chat window after you’d read them and navigated to another section of the app. In this iteration, there doesn’t appear to be any time limit controls within Insta’s auto-delete settings, but that’s probably the next stage, because as noted, Facebook-owned WhatsApp is also looking to add the same functionality, though with added control elements for your disappearing communications.
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Facebook Puts COVID-19 Information on Top of Users’ News Feeds
Facebook is placing a coronavirus information center on top of all users’ news feeds with articles from vetted sources. This is being done to help ensure users are staying informed with the latest news from trusted authorities. “Today we’re announcing the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information Center, featured at the top of News Feed, to provide a central place for people to get the latest news and information as well as resources and tips to stay healthy and support their family and community.” Facebook’s new coronavirus information center displays real-time updates from national health authorities and global organizations such as the World Health Organization.Articles and videos with helpful tips about preventing the spread of COVID-19 will also be featured in the information center.
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Marketing
How to Use Imagery to Achieve Success in Google Discover
Google Discover has been visible on the homepage of Search since September 2018. It’s also available in the Google App, on Android and when you swipe right on the home screen of some devices. Reporting of Discover traffic only became available within the Google Search Console 6 months after launch. Making the traffic source still feel in its infancy. I’m a consultant and get to work on some pretty exciting projects from time-to-time. Many of which have a component that involves strategizing around Google Discover. For some clients I work with, the sheer volume of Discover vs. Web Search traffic is startling. It’s not unheard of (dependent on the industry) to have 80% of traffic being Discover with only 20% being from Web Search. We’ve also learned that there is a connection between Core Updates and Discover. The algorithm which powers Search proving to have more similarities than what was once thought. For this reason, Google has said not to rely on Discover as a traffic source. Your content could be consistently getting added to the feed, then it could go away overnight…
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COVID-19 Checklist for Businesses: How to Manage Your Online Presence and Keep Customers Updated in a Time of Crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic means that pretty much nothing is business as usual. Customers are concerned about how businesses are adapting to the situation — wondering if you’re open, have product available, if those products are safe, etc. There are several steps you should be taking now to ensure your customers can get answers when they’re searching online. For local businesses, often it’s a directory listing, not your website if you have one, that’s the first thing your customers will see in Search. Be sure to update your Google My Business listings to highlight how your business operations have changed during this time. “Businesses need to work on modifying their store hours on their key profiles (like GMB [Google My Business] and Yelp) as well as their messaging regarding what they’re doing about COVID-19 via Posts or descriptions in their GMB profile,” Dan Leibson, VP of search for Local SEO Guide, told Search Engine Land.
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Daily Minute Master Series – March 19, 2020.
/by Samantha ShapiroSocial Media
Twitter Provides Examples of Positive Brand Communications Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
What do communicate with your customers and clients amid the overwhelming news influx of the coronavirus pandemic? That’s what many social media and content professionals are now considering as they grapple with the new reality of social distancing and self-quarantine lockdowns, while also contending with revenue declines and significant business changes as a result. In some ways, you want to communicate that your business cares, and is doing all it can to assist, but in others, you also need to consider the longer-term viability of your workplace, and how you can keep revenue flowing despite the conditions. It’s a lot to take in, but if you’re looking at social media communications specifically, Twitter has gathered together a listing of brands that are communicating in effective, positive and responsible ways amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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Facebook Creates $100 Million Grant Program to Assist Small Businesses Dealing with COVID-19 Impact
The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging and troubling in many ways, and the reality is that it’s only going to get worse. With a vaccine still months away, and the virus still spreading into new regions, the likelihood is that we’ll be dealing with this for months, which will have a major impact on many sectors and businesses. To help ease this burden, at least for some organizations, Facebook has this week announced a new $100 million grants program to assist 30,000 SMBs, in 30 nations, supporting the communities in which Facebook and its teams operate. As explained by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg: “Small businesses are the heartbeat of our communities, and many of the people who run these businesses are heavily affected by the crisis – especially as more and more people sensibly stay home. The longer the crisis goes on, the greater the risk to small businesses and to the livelihoods of their owners and employees. That’s why today I’m announcing that Facebook is investing $100 million to help 30,000 small businesses in over 30 countries where our employees live and work.”
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Marketing
Amazon Could Win Big in the Post-Coronavirus Retail Economy
Pundits are already speculating about the post-coronavirus culture and economy. Among the lasting, potential changes are more diversified supply chains, the mainstreaming of online education, more companies embracing work from home, stricter hygiene rules for restaurants and hotels (that survive) and other public places. And beyond all that, a great deal more online shopping. The physical world is giving way to the virtual world for perhaps the foreseeable future. Yet online shopping cannot entirely pick up the slack from offline stores. Grocery deliveries from stores like Whole Foods are subject to incomplete inventory and uneven delivery. Amazon has run out of some popular items and household staples (e.g., toilet paper – although you may find it on the site, it’s not available when you check out). E-commerce sales are up across many categories, in some cases by triple digits, though sales are down in others (i.e., travel). And although complete data aren’t yet available, Amazon is likely the primary beneficiary of much of the online buying frenzy. As evidence, the company said this week that it would be hiring 100,000 full and part-time employees in its fulfillment centers and delivery network “to meet the surge in demand from people relying on Amazon’s service during this stressful time.”
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Virtual Event Platforms Scramble to Meet Demand as Coronavirus Knocks Out Conferences: What to Do
Extreme measures being put into place by local and federal governments banning mass gatherings to slow the spread of COVID-19 are drastically impacting our industry. Marketing conferences scheduled to take place within the next several weeks are being canceled, postponed or going digital-only. The direct economic loss from canceled marketing conferences and business activities has surpassed $1 billion and continues to climb, according to data intelligence company PredictHQ. As marketers, we can’t bring every aspect of our business — including our events — to a complete halt, which is why companies are flocking to virtual event platforms to deliver content to attendees. But with the surge of complex requests coming in, how are these martech companies managing the increased demand?
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Daily Minute Master Series – March 18, 2020.
/by Samantha ShapiroSocial Media
Twitter Now Enables Users to Invite Guests to Live-Stream Ahead of Time
In these times of physical distancing, social platforms are likely to become an even more important element of our day-to-day lives, and tools which enable us to interact in real-time, simulating social elements as best as possible, will also come to the fore. We’ve already seen Zoom take off as a virtual hangout tool, and other platforms are working to expand their live-streaming capacity and provide more ways to connect. And now, Twitter has updated its real-time video connection feature, adding a new option to add audio guests into your Twitter live-streams before you actually begin your broadcast.
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Instagram Launches First Stage of IGTV Monetization, With In-Stream Ads Coming to Selected Channels
After its coming IGTV monetization tools were spotted in testinglast month, Instagram has now confirmed that it’s reaching out to a group of selected creators in order to invite them to participate in the initial testing of in-stream ads on their IGTV videos. As reported by Bloomberg: “Instagram started reaching out to its top video creators last Friday, asking them to partner on ad tests. Those in the program will receive a 55% share of all advertising in IGTV, the same rate as YouTube, according to people familiar with the matter. The company will start testing the ads this spring.”
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Marketing
Amazon Removes Ability for FBA Shipments to Non-Essential Goods
Amazon announced today that it is restricting inbound shipments for FBA to medical supplies and household staples. “We are seeing increased online shopping and as a result, some products such as household staples and medical supplies are out of stock. With this in mind, we are temporarily prioritizing household staples, medical supplies and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so that we can more quickly receive, restock, and ship these products to customers. For products other than these, we have temporarily disabled shipment creation. We are taking a similar approach with retail vendors.This will be in effect today through April 5, 2020, and we will let you know once we resume regular operations. Shipments created before today will be received at fulfillment centers.Amazon Seller Support Help”
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Coronavirus Outbreak Coronavirus Impact on Google Ads and Affiliate Sales
Amazon has cut spending on Google Ads to virtually nothing. Current events are the large reason why. Covid-19 buying trends show deep changes that may impact Google Ads, affiliate earnings and publisher advertising earnings. Knowing what is happening may help you get through this stormy moment. According to a report by digital marketing solutions provider tinuiti, Amazon has been gradually reducing their Google Ads spend since the end of January and as of March 11, Amazon has almost turned off it’s advertising altogether.
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