The Trending Report
February Edition, by Vanessa Jubis
Mystery travel, data journalism, and DMs, oh my! Here’s our monthly round up of what was trending in digital marketing during the short and sweet month of February.
Social
No Ragrets? Thankfully — unlike — tattoos, Facebook messages are now no longer permanent. For up to 10 minutes after hitting send, users will have the ability to delete a message from a conversation, by tapping the message and selecting “Remove for Everyone”.
In a move that will surprise very few marketers, Facebook is looking to monetize their Watch platform via premium video advertising options for brands. Who’s ‘Watching’? According to TechCrunch, 75 million users are engaging with the platform for at least 20 minutes a day.
Instagram is making it easier to slide into those DMs. It appears that soon, you’ll be able to access your direct messages via Instagram.com, instead of solely via their app. With Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp already available via the web, it’s no big surprise that Instagram’s DMs are headed there too.
In addition to more easily accessible DMs, Instagram is also making it easier for users to be more charitable. The company is introducing a new donation sticker for charities and nonprofits to add to their Stories, to help with their fundraising efforts.
Q1: How do you participate in a #TwitterChat? A1: SocialMediaToday breaks down how these virtual meet-ups work, and how you can join in the #TwitterChat fun!
If you access Twitter via your desktop, be aware some new changes are coming. Expect to see a cleaner layout, night and data saver modes (easier on an insomniac’s eyes) and a bookmarks feature, so you no longer have to favorite a tweet when you really just want to read it later.
LinkedIn is getting in on the live-streaming action. With users 20 times more likely to share video compared to any other type of post, it’s no surprise that live-streaming options are being introduced and emphasized. Users now have the ability to immediately share product announcements, run Q&As and more.
Technology
RIP Google+. For a brief moment, Google+ was the shiny, new ‘It” social media darling, but it’s star power slowly faded over time, and now Google is officially pulling the plug. Google explains “On April 2nd, your Google+ account and any Google+ pages you created will be shut down and we will begin deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts. Photos and videos from Google+ in your Album Archive and your Google+ pages will also be deleted.”
Need a little help communicating with your AirBnB host or hotel concierge? Google Home to the rescue! The company is rolling out an ‘instant translator’ function where Google Assistant acts as the go-between for people speaking two different languages.
In other Google news, they announced that you can now register .dev domains for as low as $20/year, and Chrome will be addressing a new loophole that allows websites to block users browsing via Incognito Mode.
Mail…Kimp? Podcasts have come a long way since Serial helped bring the medium mainstream, and now Spotify is getting in on the fun. The streaming service spent $230 million to acquire Gimlet Media and Anchor, both big companies in the podcasting world.
Reporting and Analytics
Unlike Google, users who searched for Super Bowl commercials on Bing were not served any game day-related ads once again this year.
Looking to harness power of seasonal SEO trends? MintTwist has your nitty-gritty guide.
When it comes to succeeding on Amazon, the devil is in the (product) details. Todd Bowman, senior director of Amazon and eRetail at Merkle gave the audience at SMZ West some expert Amazon advertising tips.
Are your page rankings down, despite all your SEO efforts? You may be experiencing Rank Transition.
Consider using the power of programmatic marketing to send more top funnel leads into your PPC conversion funnels.
Google appears to be testing out ads in Assistant results, likely mirroring the search results page. It still appears to be in the testing phase, but it’s worth watching as the top ad results for popular search terms will likely receive additional high-visibility distribution.
Content Marketing
Micro-influencers, private Facebook groups, UGC, and simple Stories are some of the ways brands are getting more intimate with their fans and consumers in the face of social media distrust.
Did you know Estonians start listening to Christmas music as early as October 26th? Spotify shared this fun tidbit as a piece of data journalism, which can help you create custom content your users want to read, and more importantly, share.
Who are we targeting? Search Engine Journal’s broken down five ways developing your customer personas can help you improve your content marketing.
Marketers often wonder if they should write content for people or for search engines. The long and short of it? “If you write good content for people, Google will reward. The same cannot be said for content that is strictly written for search engines.”
According to a recent study, only about one-third of brands feel they provide customers with a continuous customer journey in their own language, across every digital touchpoint. Not in that third? Here are 6 ways to make your customer journey more continuous.
Travel
With so much content available online, you can get the “been there, done that” feeling before ever arriving at your destination. Enter the growing “mystery travel” trend: travel advisors plan a client’s trip for them while keeping the details a secret, putting the surprise element back in travel.
InterContinental Hotels Group members will soon be adding more Asian-based options to its luxury portfolio, after purchasing the Bangkok-based Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas. Members of the IHG Rewards Program will soon have 16 additional locations where they can earn and redeem points.
Earlier this month, Sephora garnered flack for not honoring an $88 off purchases of $100 promotional code that was mistakenly made public. Perhaps the cosmetics company should have followed in Hong Kong Airlines footsteps. The airline decided to honor their mistake fares ($600 for Business Class fares normally going for $3000+) asking the lucky recipients to share photos of their deal of a lifetime on social media with their hashtags, building goodwill and extra user-generated content.
Over the next two years, at least 14 new companies are looking to enter the cruise market. Look for new (and refurbished) ships from Ritz-Carlton, Virgin, and more.
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Vanessa is a Senior Paid Social Strategist at VERB Interactive — a leader in digital marketing, specializing in solutions for the travel and hospitality industry. Find out more at www.verbinteractive.com.
