Today in Digital Marketing - Stop. Blocking. Complainers.

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is Thursday, January 9th, 2020. Today is Panamanian Martyrs Day. I'm Todd Maffin from EngageQ Digital. Today, are you one of the 40% of brands who block people who complain about you on Twitter? You probably need a marketing strategy for smart speakers now. Instagram opens up verification. And why are 20% of conversions apparently not being reported from iOS devices? Here's what you missed today in Digital Marketing.

Starting point is 00:00:31 As the podcasting industry matures, so does the podcast ad market. And charging full steam ahead is Spotify, who yesterday announced a new advertiser dashboard that will show impressions, frequency, reach, and audience demographic information for ads running on their platform. They've also added streaming ad insertion recently, which is a little anti-podcast. Podcasts used to be based on an RSS feed, and apps would just watch those feeds and then download whatever came into them. But Spotify's, let's call it, let's just stream it live approach has some advantages, notably knowing how people interact with the podcast, where they pause it, what they skip

Starting point is 00:01:11 through, what they play back, all data that you really can't get with the download distribution model. But something nobody's really talking about is that this streaming model could also prevent people from skipping ads. Or perhaps we'll see skip after six seconds, like on YouTube. Again, not something that's possible with the way podcasts are mostly handled today. Does your brand's marketing strategy include a way to reach people on smart speakers in the home? Maybe it's time to add that in. A new study has found that one in four American adults owns a smart speaker. That number again, one in four. It estimates now 157 million of these devices in homes across just the U.S.

Starting point is 00:01:58 Amazon said last month was a, quote, record holiday season for Amazon devices and Alexa, and sold millions more Amazon devices compared to last year. For its part, Google didn't release their numbers, but, quoting Marketing Land, overall increased sales appear to be validated in extrapolated ownership data from NPR and Edison Research in their latest Smart Audio report. By the way, if you're one of those Alexa people, you can add this very podcast to your daily briefing. Just look for Today in Digital Marketing in the Skill Store. Social media has given everyone access to a giant bullhorn,

Starting point is 00:02:37 and some people love using it, especially when they feel they've been slighted by a brand. A new study of more than 1,000 consumers has revealed some interesting insights into why and how people complain about companies like yours. Among the key findings, quoting Social Media Today, people most often turn to Facebook when complaining about companies, followed by Twitter and Reddit in number three position. That actually surprised me. Compared to Facebook, Twitter users have a higher likelihood of receiving same-day responses from a customer service representative or business owner.

Starting point is 00:03:12 And two in five respondents who vented negatively about a brand online were eventually blocked by the company on social media. Two out of five. That one stunned me. At our agency, we handle engagement and moderation for large brands, everything from airlines to hotel chains to shopping malls. I don't think we've ever once blocked someone on Twitter. Not once. That said, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

Starting point is 00:03:42 Many digital marketers and brand managers like you sometimes find themselves at a loss of how to handle it when someone leaves a terrible review or just drops a really negative comment on your social channels. Here at EngageQ, we developed a five-step methodology for that. We call it SWARM. And if you'd like to listen to a deep dive into that methodology, along with the right way to phrase things and how to convert those negative Nancys into brand advocates, you will find that deep dive right now on the premium feed. Look for the link in the description of this episode or go to todayindigital.com and click premium episodes. So you know on Google when someone searches for your brand, you might just show up not

Starting point is 00:04:22 just in the organic listings, but also in one of those boxes on the right-hand side? It looks like Bing is trying to get in on that as well. They launched Bing Pages this morning, which will apparently not only let you show up in a box like Google, but also give you a place to manage your brand listing on places like Bing and Outlook. Sort of, I guess, like Google My Business is right now. I say apparently because it's only in beta right now, and it's pretty bare bones. You fill out a form, giving it your brand Twitter and Instagram and Facebook URLs, and then you get a thanks, we'll get back to you. Still worth doing, of course, if you manage a brand, and you will find the URL to submit your form

Starting point is 00:05:01 in this episode's description. Looks like Instagram has quietly opened up verification requests in their app. You've seen verified accounts before. That's the blue checkmark that confirms the person or brand holding that account is the actual person or brand and not someone pretending to be. Until now, Instagram really didn't have any kind of process for requesting that checkmark.

Starting point is 00:05:23 They just had a webpage that said, yeah, you know, we'll hand them out as we see fit. But now, there's a process. And it's pretty simple. Here's how to do it. Go to your Instagram app, select Settings, then Account, then Request Verification. It seems to be set up to verify people mostly, though not brands, since it wants a photo of your government-issued ID, like the other channels want for that. And, of course, remember, just because you ask for the checkmark doesn't mean you get it. All the platforms still really only verify the big brands or genuinely influential people. Small humblebrag here, I am verified on Facebook and Twitter. I've applied for the Instagram checkmark as well now. I will let you know if I get it because, hey, if I can get it, anybody can. Also, to be honest, there's no

Starting point is 00:06:10 real world benefit to the blue checkmark. The only thing that changed for me now is I get about a dozen Twitter DMs a week from very nice Indian men asking me how they can get verified too. All right, here comes the lightning round. TikTok this morning said it will remove videos that are intended to mislead community members about elections or civic processes. Facebook says it'll work harder to remove fake reviews and clamp down on fake review sellers. This after the British trade regulator wrapped their knuckles. MailChimp says it has more than 60% share of the entire global email industry now. 60, 6-0, that's 12 million customers. Closest competitor comes in with less than a 10% share. Lululemon has named a former Nike executive to a role they called Chief Brand Officer.

Starting point is 00:07:01 Isn't that just marketing? Call me crazy. Facebook has announced that Traffic Source Insights is now being rolled out within Creator Studio. Andrew Foxwell says he's been hearing unofficial rumblings about iOS tracking and Facebook data reporting being lost. Quoting his tweet, it started happening to most in late October or early November. Many advertisers are still seeing 20% of conversions not being reported in Ads Manager. You can jump in on his thread on Twitter if you're seeing the same thing. HubSpot has added revenue attribution reporting,

Starting point is 00:07:35 A-B testing, partitioning, and account-based marketing tools to its platform. And Pinterest has released its January Trends Report, popular on the site this month. Everything VSCO from makeup to tattoos. If you don't know VSCO, just Google V-S-C-O girl. Also sweaters and jackets for pets, financial wellness, and gender neutral nurseries. By the way, some of you were asking if I stream my video game play the answer is yeah, sometimes. You can find me

Starting point is 00:08:06 on Mixer if you want. My username is HappyRadioGuy. I will warn you now, statistically speaking, 82% of my gameplay is me yelling at Genjis who dash across the map and then expect me to leave our whole team to top them up on heels.

Starting point is 00:08:22 Also, profanity. Lots of profanity. If you value a daily digital marketing news show, please take a moment to review this podcast. You'll find instructions at ratethispodcast.com slash today. And if your brand could use some help with your social media content, engagement, or digital marketing, check out our agency at engageq.com. Follow me on social, links to my channels and our agency are in this episode's description. I'm Todd Maffin, see you tomorrow.

Today in Digital Marketing - Stop. Blocking. Complainers.

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