SOCIAL MEDIA
TikTok overtakes YouTube in watch time
Apparently, when it comes to video, short beats long.
According to an App Annie analysis, TikTok has surpassed YouTube in terms of Android watch time in the US and the UK.
- As of June 2021, TikTok users in the US watched an average of 24 hours of video per month. In comparison, US YouTube users, on the other hand, watched “just” 22 hours and 40 minutes.
- TikTok users in the UK watched an average of 26 hours of content per month. On YouTube, that figure dropped to 16 hours.
Limitations: This report only looked at Android users. We haven’t seen the iOS data yet, but we expect it to be similar.
Go where the attention is: If you’ve been wondering why every major social media platform is trying to imitate TikTok, here’s your answer: attention. This study backs this up with hard numbers.
Pick your battles carefully: Although TikTok has more watch time than YouTube, YouTube has three times the number of viewers. Furthermore, if you do Shorts, YouTube appears to be very generous with organic reach.
Our advice: Consider all of these factors before deciding on which social network to focus on.
ADVERTISING
Microsoft has some cool new ad formats
If you can’t beat Google on reach, beat them on creativity. That appears to be Microsoft’s motto lately.
The company has launched two new ad formats for its Audience Network:
- Video ads: Using Bing search intent data and LinkedIn profile data on video assets, Microsoft will do its best to show videos to the right people.
- Vertical-based product ads: The goal is to showcase your products in a native environment. These ads will be available only in the US and the UK. You’ll need to contact your account manager to get started.
There’s more: Microsoft also announced an improved appeals process for product ads, the ability to include disclaimers in ads, third-party integrations with Universal Event Tracking, and budget insertion orders. That was quite a mouthful.
Don’t underestimate the Ad Network: MSN, Bing, Microsoft News, Outlook.com, and CBS Sports are all part of Microsoft’s Ad Network.
What we’re saying is that it’s extensive; take advantage of it.
SPONSORED BY SAILTHRU
This is how online sales get an offline element
If we learned anything in the last year, it is that people like to buy online, and love to pick up in store.
For instance, Target’s curbside pickup orders increased 734% over last year’s Q2.
BOPIS and curbside pick-up are gaining traction not only for Target: Consumers are “clicking and collecting” 78% more than they were pre-pandemic.
And 31% of consumers used BOPIS or curbside pickup this year.
They find you online. Then you meet in real life to close the deal.
Kinda like Tinder. But without broken hearts.
Should your business get involved? If you like to grow your sales, then yes.
Do you want to know how to do that? And implement it in your marketing?
Sailthru and Liveclicker analyzed Target, Best Buy, and The Home Depot to understand how to make click-and-collect work for you.
They identified the four types of customers to know when implementing a BOPIS strategy and how to craft your message when engaging with each of them.
Learn how a premium BOPIS strategy can help your online sales.
SEO
10 SEO Scams to be aware of
SEO scams are as old as search engine optimization itself.
And Jeff Ferguson from Search Engine Journal listed 10 of the most frequent SEO scams.
Don’t say we didn’t alert you:
1) DA-based link building or guest posting: Obtaining links from a high DA (Domain Authority) website to increase the DA of your domain.
Why shouldn’t you do it? According to Google’s John Muller and Gary Illyes, the search engine doesn’t use domain authority as a ranking signal.
In addition, domain authority is not automatically transferred when you get a link from a high DA website. Google ranks web pages, not websites. Hence, if the posting page itself has no authority, the high-DA website won’t pass any to it.
2) Link bait-and-switch: Basically, during link building outreach the link requestor is informed that the existing link to a competitor website was purchased and can be switched for a fee.
Why you shouldn’t do it: Google is smart and ignores paid links. Moreover, if it catches you doing it too much, they can de-index your website. (Trust us, you don’t want that kind of a problem.)
3) Guaranteed rankings: An agency reaches out and offers you guaranteed rankings.
Why you shouldn’t do it: The agency will do some work on your website. But the guaranteed rankings will be for keywords that have zero value.
Translation: You’ll end up ranking for useless keywords that bring in no traffic.
4) The “Google Partner” con: The SEO agency claims to be a Google partner.
Why it’s a scam: Google does have a certification program for Google Analytics and Google Ads. However, there is no partner program for SEO.
5) “Want Proof? I Rank Number One for X”: During the outreach phase, the agency will point you to a specific keyword they rank for to prove they know what they’re doing.
Why it’s a scam: Usually, the keyword they point to is so specific that a minimum amount of work is required to rank for it.
Many times, it’s for a “local” keyword that doesn’t automatically trigger a set of local results.
We hope you have never fallen for any of these shady tactics. And to avoid it happening in the future, here’s the whole list.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
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SOCIAL MEDIA: People are increasingly spending money while using social media apps. The primary reason: live streaming.
E-COMMERCE: Here’s your next big acquisition channel if you sell food: Instacart.
ADVERTISING: This is a cool, free tool that displays the top-performing ads by industry.
BUSINESS: We’re always on the lookout for the next big social network. This has the potential to compete with Pinterest.
SOCIAL MEDIA: More governments across the world are demanding that social networks shouldn’t be able to ban anyone they want. The Brazilian government is the most recent addition to his list.
TWITTER: The social network is testing “edge to edge tweets”. Essentially, photos, videos and GIFs span the width of the timeline (edge to edge), so your posts take more estate.
*This is a sponsored post.
BRAIN TEASER
If you have me, you want to share me. If you share me, you haven’t got me. What am I?
You can find the solution here.
POOLSIDE CHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things marketers like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
This bank took $1 from each customer to help the needy (it didn’t go well)
Cue the riots and pitchforks.
Imagine you’re looking over your bank statement and notice a $1 charge.
What’s going on? It could be a charge for something you bought online. It could also be a new bank fee. Or simply, it could be your bank playing Robin Hood and donating money to those in need.
The latter actually happened with a bank in Pittsburgh, where several customers noticed this strange charge on their statement.
The reactions: Not what the bank expected. Apparently, the bank wasn’t very transparent about the charge and many customers were caught off guard. The result: long queues, angry patrons, and insurmountable questions.
In the end, the bank terminated this program and refunded the money.
The road to hell is paved with [unannounced] good intentions, and this bank definitely felt the heat from the flames.