Good morning, Marketers, and are you living a digital life?

Most likely, the answer is yes. Maybe not entirely: a lot of brick and mortar stores are open now, and dining in is kind of flickering on and off like a faulty light bulb. But my guess is that, like me, you’re working digitally, and doing a lot of shopping and socializing digitally too.

We’re hearing good things about vaccines, but the digital life isn’t going away. The pandemic accelerated us to a place we were likely going to arrive at anyway. The question for marketers is, how do you speak to people living a digital life? Yes, you can avoid obvious blunders like sending international travel offers when many destinations remain closed to U.S. travelers. But more generally, do you need a different tone of voice? Do you need to understand how people’s priorities have changed? Do you need to understand how fast people’s lives are now changing?Yes to all the above, of course. I just started watching what promises to be a useful video series on this from Publicis Sapient, The Digital Life Index. We need more research, more discussion and more reflection on this topic.

Kim Davis
Editorial Director

 
 
 
Agile
 

When you think of agile, do you think about the sprint? Do you envision the Monday morning scrum, followed by everyone on the team crashing through the week’s assignments to finish up by Friday night? Well, there may be some truth to that, for seasoned agile marketing teams at least. But in the latest in her series of articles on agile marketing, Stacey Ackerman argues that teams newer to agile should build on a solid foundation of predictability.

“Say that the team delivers 100 % of their committed work 80%of the time,” Ackerman writes. “This is the metric we want to strive for in agile marketing, because if the team hits their goal every time, they may not be taking on enough of a challenge. However, if they’re not getting done what they said they would do less than 80% of the time, trust is broken.”

Predictable agile marketing teams:

  1. Self-select their work;
  2. Makes a commitment about completing it; and
  3. Minimize interruptions.

Read more here.

 

Webinar: Predicting the Unpredictable – The 2021 Marketer’s Guide to Retention, Loyalty and Lifetime Value

If this year has taught us anything it’s that predicting customer behavior is not easy. In 2021, we predict marketers will focus both on growing revenue from within their customer base and meeting unprecedented customer expectations to build loyalty and increase lifetime value. Join our expert panel as they discuss 2021 predictions, why marketers are shifting their focus from new acquisition to customer loyalty, and the exciting role Customer Data Platforms can play.

Signup Today! »

 
Social Short
 

Twitter enables frequency capping for all campaign types

Advertisers can now control the number of times ads are shown to users with campaign frequency caps. The feature is available in ad group details for Reach, Engagement, Video Views, and Pre-Roll Views objectives by default.

Why we care. Frequency capping will allow advertisers to tailor their ad exposures based on their campaign goals. Twitter says its testing shows better performance for driving upper-funnel metrics like ad recall and brand awareness when weekly exposures are relatively light — impact tapers after the first two impressions per week — and higher frequency as users move down the funnel.

 

Expert-led search marketing training kicks off TOMORROW

Join 1,000+ search marketers online this week, Dec. 8-9, for SMX: Actionable tactics, community networking, forward-thinking keynotes, and more — just $249!

Secure your spot »

 

Why you need a Roku channel and how to make it successful

Sponsored by Allroll

With 40 million active accounts on the Roku connected-TV platform, there is no longer a question of whether content creators should set up their own channels. The question is how to do it in the most efficient way. This growing audience, the effectiveness of this content distribution method and the simplicity of doing business with Roku are the main drivers that attract content distributors to the platform — and advertisers follow.

In this comprehensive guide, we explore the content creation options as well as various strategies you can use to build an audience. Whether you’re just starting a channel or looking to ramp up an existing one, you’ll find actionable information to drive your success.

Find out more »

 
Google
 

Where Google is placing its bets in 2021

Google is the world’s fourth most valuable brand according to Interbrand’s recently released Best Global Brands 2020 report. And even though Google reported its first-ever ad revenue drop because of COVID-19, the company’s business has rebounded sharply. What can we expect from Mountain View in 2021?

Firstly, watch Google defend its ad revenue through investment in new online ad features, and encouraging the adoption of Google Home voice devices. Secondly, Google will balance entering new global markets, while continuing to support local businesses (it rolled out changes fast to help them stay open this year). Thirdly, Google will focus on improving its reputation on privacy and purpose.

Also, expect Google to push harder into healthcare and education, two fields which are looking for digital support during the pandemic. For more detail on these predictions, check out this article by Adam Dorfman, Director of Product at Reputation.

Read more here.

 
Events
 

USO uses audience segmentation to plan its holiday virtual events

As the sacrifices of those who paid the ultimate price are recognized on this Pearl Harbor Day, the USO continues to show why it has become a leader in hosting virtual events by using audience segmentation to please all demographics with the announcement of its USO Holiday Programming. 

The USO has a variety of audiences to satisfy, from military personnel aged 18 to well over 50, to military spouses and their children located all across the globe. The USO is in the middle of their Holiday Military Virtual Programming (MVP) Series through December 11 that features a wide variety of stars including WWE’s Mike “The Miz,” TV star Kristin Cavallari, musician Jessie James Decker and a holiday favorite, “A Christmas Story” star Peter Billingsley. 

“We know a lot of military people can’t go home for the holidays, or their family can’t travel to see them, so we have to try to make it up with programming that touches all audiences,” said USO Senior Vice President of Operations, Programs and Entertainment Christopher Plamp. 

To further meet audience demand, the USO has started hosting events on Switch. For the annual USO MVP Holiday Special, made famous by Bob Hope which will be broadcast on the USO’s Facebook and YouTube platforms, will star sports legends Rob Gronkowski and Terry Bradshaw as well as Broadway star Idina Menzel, more recently famous for her popular GEICO commercial. 

Read how the USO became veterans in hosting virtual events. 

Why we care. Not only is the USO doing work for a good cause, but they are providing an easy and accessible template of how to program virtual events to meet a wide range of audiences.

 
 
 
Quote of the day
 

“Marketing technology superpowers great marketing…or just sends out more trash (if the marketing is bad).” Sara McNamara, Solution Architect, Slack.