After a two-month hiatus, This Week in Digital is back.
The numbers behind the #IceBucketChallenge, the value of inbound marketing, Amazon loves Twitch, Uber hates Lyft, Facebook cracks down on click-bait, Twitter opens the analysis floodgates, Hyperlapse speeds up Instagram's video, companies are still trying to figure out ROI, your brand may not own its Facebook likes, native advertising developments, a slew of ebooks for Content Marketing World and more, it's This Week in Digital.
A roundup of relevant links affecting our industry.
Each week, I compose a newsletter that includes a series of links about current events and trends in the worlds of technology, social media, mobile, digital communications and marketing in order to keep leaders up to date on changes, newsworthy items and content that might be useful in their jobs.
If you have additional links, sources or ideas that might be helpful, I'd encourage you to add some via a comment below. And if you’re on Flipboard, you can get these links by subscribing to the This Week in Digital Magazine.
Industry
- The #IceBucketChallenge has taken the world by storm over the past few weeks. Here's a nice analysis from Jeremiah Owyang, along with a deck on the cold hard facts. (Web Strategy)
- Inbound marketing company Hubspot filed an S-1 in preparation for their IPO. And Tom Webster initiated an intellectual exercise on evaluating where the inbound marketing industry is with regard to maturity. (VentureBeat and Convince and Convert)
- Amazon is buying video site Twitch for $970 million in an effort to slow down Netflix and YouTube. (WSJ)
- We all know how hard it is to reach millennials. But what about Generation Z? (Mashable)
- Marketing and technology are on a collision course. So what's it going to take for the CMO and CIO to work together? (McKinsey)
- Emotional triggers for the Internet this week: Uber allegedly has a playbook for sabotaging Lyft and Hello Kitty isn't really a cat after all - she's a human. (The Verge and The Wire)
Platforms
- Facebook went on the offensive against click-bait and image-based posts. The algorithm will show fewer of the "you'll never guess what happens next" posts in response to user frustration. And they are recommending that brands refrain from posting an image with a link to a story; instead they recommend sharing a link directly and allowing the image to get automatically pulled in through the link. (Facebook Newsroom)
- Consistent and high reach can be difficult to attain on Facebook. It turns out that your industry matters. Take a look at this analysis and discussion to determine where you fit on the scale and this companion piece on chasing the alpha that is reach. ({Grow} and BrandSavant)
- Twitter analytics are now available to everyone at analytics.twitter.com. (TechCrunch)
- The company is comfortable with many users not tweeting, seeing it as a news gathering and dissemination platform. (AllTwitter)
- Instagram released the new Hyperlapse app, allowing users to create simple time-lapse videos with image stabilization. (Wired)
- Here's an early collection of 25 of the most amazing Hyperlapse videos so far. (The Verge)
- Google has ended authorship for search results. (MarketingLand)
- Ditto Labs has partnered with Tumblr to identify how brands are perceived based on image analysis. (Mashable) [Disclosure: Ditto is a SHIFT client.]
Measurement/Metrics/Big Data
- In When Big Data Is Dumb, Michael Allenson finds that when it comes to customer experiences that leave customers feeling like they are just a number, few industries can top automotive dealerships and retail banks. The challenge: how to make customers feel valued. (CMO.com)
- The #1 reason that PR gets no respect? Stupid metrics. It's time to put ad value equivalency (AVE) to bed and speak the language that senior management speaks. (Paine Publishing)
- And here's an opportunity: half of corporate executives still haven't figured out how to effectively measure social media's ROI. (eMarketer)
Legal/HR
- Do you really need a social media policy? (SHIFT Communications)
- If you do, here's a lawyer's perspective on creating a social media policy. (CMO.com)
- Here's a fascinating subject to debate: does a company own its Facebook likes? A recent ruling indicates that likes belong to the users, not the brands. But the precedent is far from established and this cautionary tale is well worth reading. (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Content Marketing
- Marketing needs to make room for communications in brand publishing and newsrooms. You don't send a copyrighter to do a journalist's job. (Contently)
- Want to understand native advertising better? Here's a comprehensive infographic to sum it up. (The Content Strategist)
- GE thinks of itself as a diversified media company. (the Media Briefing)
- Speaking of native advertising, re/code has kicked off its new sponsored content look. (re/code)
- And if you haven't yet seen it, take a look at this gem from John Oliver as he skewers the native advertising business, and in particular how it intersects with news. (Last Week Tonight)
Essential Reading/Watching/Listening
- The Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) is just as important as ever. And here are four tips on how to gain a competitive advantage on that moment when consumers make a purchase decision. (Think with Google)
- The latest global social media report takes a look at the 6 Cs of global social media. (We Are Social)
- Conversation
- Culture
- Content Neutrality
- Country Needs
- Cellphones
- Communities
- In preparation for Content Marketing World (September 8-11, 2014), a quartet of ebooks has been published: Building a Content Marketing Strategy, Building an Audience Development Strategy for Content Marketing, A Visual Content Marketing Strategy and Showing Real ROI for Content Marketing. (Slideshare)
Bonus
If you're at all interested in attending Content Marketing World, there's still time to register. Click here to learn more about one of the largest gatherings of marketing professionals in the world and sign up. [Disclosure: the following are affiliate links.]
Or if you can't make it, then perhaps the Content Marketing Institute Online Training and Certification program will work for you. There are more than 18 hours of online education that help you build a strong foundation for your content marketing efforts in seven key areas: Planning, Audience, Story, Channels, Process, Conversation and Measurement. And additional classes are on the way.
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Image credit: JD Hancock (Flickr)
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