Twitter trends are changing – here’s what you need to kno
Keeping up with trends is one of the most difficult things about being a marketer. Love it or hate it, being in touch with your audience is crucial to connecting with them.
Twitter’s just made that a little easier for us with some infographics on some of the current trends from June to July. From social justice issues to camping, here’s what people are interacting with:
- Emoji use is changing. This isn’t one of the obvious ones, but people have been changing their emoji usage as the world situation changes day by day. Instead of 🏠 and 🧻, people are now using 👙 and 🌴.
- Education is getting a boost, and not just online education. Entrance exam topics are trending in addition to online education – we’re seeing lots of marketing out there for online education, so this isn’t too surprising.
- People are ready to get back outdoors. Been planning a camping trip lately? So is everybody else, apparently – RVing interest is up 81%, and camping interest is up 67%.
Other notable increases were surrounding social justice issues and sports. These statistics are more interesting than normal, particularly since we’re in an unpredictable time where user interests change by the day.
We’re just glad we actually have toilet paper again – no more emojis needed.
MOBILE APPS
A new report shows that we’re spending more time on our phones than ever
We’re living in an increasingly mobile-focused world, and in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, optimizing your marketing strategy for mobile has never been more important.
A new study from App Annie highlights the growing trends of app downloads and usage through the years – whether you’re a TikTok marketer or have an app of your own, here are the key statistics:
- In 2019, people spent 3.1 hours a day on apps. This is up from 2.1 hours back in 2015. This is caused in part due to the rise of social media and increasing focus from brands on optimizing mobile strategy.
- It’s still very possible to gain traction with a brand new app. TikTok, anyone? The report shows that last year, 35 new apps made their way into the Top 100 – more than the five years previous.
These statistics might come across as obvious, but they’re important reminders that people are spending more time on their phones – marketing on mobile is becoming a crucial part of a good marketing strategy.
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The surprising stories data tells us
What’s a deal with a Kardashian worth to a company’s share price?
If you’re a subscriber to Chartr’s free newsletter, you’d know.
Chartr is a newsletter like you’ve never seen before, going deeper than the headlines with data-driven insights.
Chartr’s free 5-minute newsletter is jam-packed with stunning visuals and fresh insights into business, technology, entertainment & politics. Past newsletters have explored:
- Should you really buy stocks after a big market crash?
- What’s the next diet craze?
- How Michael Jordan’s NBA record compares with other greats?
- When are Twitter users happiest?
- Who profits from your morning cup of coffee?
Chartr answers these questions with data and charts.
You can listen to people’s opinions on Facebook groups. Or you can truly understand what’s happening in our world with data. Like you do with your campaigns.
SEO
Everything you need to know about Core Web Vitals, Google’s next big ranking factor
Are you ready?
If you’re into SEO, optimizing for new Google algorithm updates is probably more normal than eating breakfast (but please eat breakfast). And by this point, you’ve probably developed an area in your brain just for staying up to date with Google’s constant algorithm changes.
So switch that part of your brain on, because we need it to talk about a major ranking factor coming to Google: Core Web Vitals. This has been the word on the street for a couple of months, but stick around – Cyrus Shepard from Moz broke down exactly what changes you need to make before the update hits.
Most importantly, don’t panic! Despite the fancy name, Google’s next major ranking factor update is a lot simpler than it sounds, and you might not have to make too many changes. But we still thought we’d keep you updated on what Google’s cooking up.
When will it happen? According to Google, sometime in 2021… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What will it influence? Search results, of course. But in addition, after this release, AMP won’t be the criteria to be featured in Top Stories any longer.
Why is it important? This update will be another step in Google’s push to rank websites that are serving accessible, usable content – in other words, the user experience is more important than ever.
The three pillars of Core Web Vitals
Let’s jump into the specifics of Core Web Vitals. Here are the three signals that will be measured.
- Largest contentful paint (LCP): Despite the complex name, this is about your page speed. How fast does your website load?
- Cumulative layout shift (CLS): This is basically Google asking “How visually stable is your website?” Have you ever landed on a page, clicked a button, and at the last second it shifts and you hit something else? Don’t make your users endure that!
- First input delay (FID): How quick are your interactivity features? In other words, when the user clicks on something, how long does your site take to process it and give back a result?
How do I measure if I’m doing well with Core Web Vitals?
Good question.
Google provided the Core Web Vitals report. It will tell you if all the URLs that Google has in its index are good or need improvement. And to investigate more, you’ll want to use the Search Console and Page Speed Insights.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
INSTAGRAM: Last week, people started to report that Instagram was constantly accessing their camera, per iOS 14 privacy features. Instagram has spoken out, saying that it’s a bug and will be fixed shortly.
SOCIAL MEDIA: The big tech meeting in Washington, D.C. that was announced last month has been postponed to Wednesday to pay respects to the late John Lewis.
TWITTER: As we continue to learn more about the recent Twitter hack, it has surfaced that likely more than 1,000 Twitter employees had access to the tools necessary for the hack.
YOUTUBE: It appears that a full-screen option for video descriptions is being tested on Android, possibly in a move to encourage creators to write longer descriptions.
TIKTOK: Zynn, a TikTok lookalike, is back in the app store – it had been missing for the past few months. TikTok really never gets a break, does it?
BRAIN TEASER
POOLSIDE CHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things marketers like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
What would $1B look like if it was a road trip?
You’re about to find out.
We didn’t know the question needed to be answered until we watched Tom Scott’s recent YouTube video, but we’re glad we got the answer.
Tom set out to visualize $1M vs $1B in a road trip. Want to guess how long it took him to hit $1M? Spoiler alert: he hadn’t even left the parking lot yet.
If you’re ready to enjoy some UK scenery, ambient road noise, and an ever-increasing bar of money in the top corner of the screen, buckle up – it’s going to be a long ride.
With the conversion rate of $1 per 0.1093mm of distance traveled (because that’s how thick a $1 bill is), it took Tom more than one hour of driving before the number on the screen finally reached $1BN. Multiply that by 13, and you get what Jeff Bezos added to his net worth in a single day last week.