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Social video shares are king, making video one of the most powerful marketing tools in your arsenal

In case you’re not yet convinced how dominant video is on the internet landscape, here’s some compelling data. According to 2017 Cisco projections, online videos will comprise more than 80% of all consumer internet traffic by 2021. The internet has officially become a watching, rather than reading, medium. The implication: to stay on the forefront of this video binging, you need to become a strategic producer of videos for your brand. You also need to post them where your prospects’ gaze and attention will increasingly be focused: social TV apps. [si_guide_block id="23343" title="Download our Individual Member Resource – Video and YouTube marketing guide" description="Our guide shows you how to review the full opportunities from video marketing whether you are a company looking to integrate video marketing more into your campaigns or a…

Google's new auction model for ads, Facebook tightening up Live rules, YouTube introduces new ad format, LinkedIn adding and updating job search tools and Twitter's anti-vax warning

There are a number of platform changes that you need to know about this week, including Google's update on what its first-price auction model will look like for Google Ads Manager and its publisher exchange. Facebook has changed its rules around Live following the issues it experienced during and after the Christchurch terrorist attacks. Aiming to be stricter and reduce the spread of harmful content, the platform has tightened up its regulations. YouTube is making it easier for brands to advertise via its home feed by introducing ads that use images rather than videos. LinkedIn has also made some great changes to help make it easier for those using the platform to job search or recruit. Finally, Twitter has introduced a new result for anyone searching for anti-vax-related…

UK government setting stricter social media rules for children, Twitter addressing abusive content, UK marketing budgets increased at the start of year, Ryanair offers ad space on boarding passes and Amazon fake reviews giving search boost

There has been some interesting news this week, including the fact that the UK government is suggesting banning the 'like' button on social media for children in a bid to stop companies collecting their data. This is part of 16 new standards it is currently consulting on. Twitter is finally seeking to tackle abusive content head-on with changes to the platform meaning users have a bit more control. The UK has seen a rise in marketing budgets, with greater spend being reported in the first quarter of the year. This follows on from stagnant spend in the final quarter of last year. In an interesting move, Irish airline Ryanair is offering advertisers the chance to bid on space…

Creativity and resourcefulness may be the best weapons you can use when it comes to lead generation

Lead generation is a crucial marketing activity as it signals the start of what could be a fruitful relationship with future customers. Unfortunately, leads don’t fall on your lap that easily. Not only are you dealing with competition that will try to be first on your prospects’ radar, but you also need to cater to the changing buying behavior and needs of consumers. Faced with these challenges, your creativity and resourcefulness may be the best weapons you can use. This is where infographics come in handy. Infographics have an artistic appeal to content consumers as they are rich in visuals that pique your target market’s interest in learning more about your brand and its unique value offer.

Infographics as blog posts

To generate leads with infographics, you can post them…

Google's latest EU regulator fine, Facebook removing millions of videos showing New Zealand terrorist attack, NZ advertisers pulling Google and Facebook following shooting, Instagram's in-app checkout launches in the US and LinkedIn's new advertising features

Read more about some of the biggest and most important stories in the marketing and advertising industries with our latest news roundup. This week, we look at Google's latest fine from the European Commission, the backlash following videos of the shooting in New Zealand being uploaded to Facebook and other platforms, Instagram's latest shopping feature and how LinkedIn is aiming to make life easier for advertisers on the platform.

Google hit by €1.49 billion AdSense fine

Google has been fined €1.5 billion by European regulators for blocking other online search advertisers. The European Commission (EC) accused Google of stopping the placement of rival’s ads in certain spots, effectively breaking EU…

What exactly are shoppable posts and how to get your product into the "explore" section?

Instagram has transformed from your ordinary social network into a powerful marketing tool within a couple of years. Every day business owners are coming up with new and creative ways to reach their target audience and boost sales while maintaining the entertaining tone of the platform. With 800 million active users during 2017, according to CNBC, Instagram is becoming one of the most popular social networks in the world. Such an inflow of users creates an incredibly attractive pool of potential customers for those savvy businesses that know how to wrap their head around innovation. [si_guide_block id="35932" title="Smarter Instagram marketing guide" description="Our guide to smarter Instagram marketing will help you create an integrated social media marketing strategy that will increase engagement to boost leads and sales."/] In response to brands actively promoting their image and products on the…

Facebook's latest outage affects billions, Google removed billions of ads in 2018, advertisers concerned over Brexit uncertainty, WHO calls for stricter junk food digital ad regulations, UK government seeks digital competition review and Facebook removes fake account network

This week saw Facebook's family apps get into trouble, leaving billions of people across the world unable to access accounts or upload content. Google has announced that it removed billions of "bad ads" in 2018, although figures were down on 2017. Advertisers have shared concerns about the possible effects of Brexit in the wake of continued uncertainty. WHO is seeking to protect children's health after its report found that more junk food advertising is now taking place online following the introduction of stricter regulations across traditional media. An independent review has led to the UK government to call on the CMA to look at competition in digital media. Finally, Facebook has removed a network of around 100 fake…

Social listening can help improve your sales by boosting the awareness, interest, engagement and action stages

The sales funnel is the Holy Grail of marketing metaphors. For anyone who wants to have a successful business, a convenient scheme describing how to make people buy your product or service is extremely appealing. Social media typically fits at the top of a classical sales funnel - it is supposed to bring strangers into your sales funnel, with other strategies kicking in afterward. However, with the development of social media and the introduction of new tools, sales funnels have changed and evolved. [si_guide_block id="82119" title="Download our Free Resource –10 common social media marketing mistakes" description="Avoid the pitfalls that limit engagement with your target audience. Take a look at 10 common mistakes businesses make on social media to avoid them."/] Nowadays there are multiple ways to view sales funnels: as a reverse funnel,…

Key social media trends for 2019 that every marketer needs to keep an eye out for and include in their digital marketing strategy, based on predictions from leading industry experts

Social media is ever-changing. Be it new platforms, different consumption habits or varied forms of communication, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp etc. are always coming up with innovative features or affordances that add different dimensions to the platforms. These changes not only help users engage in a number of different ways with their favourite brands online but also give marketers a chance to captivate their audiences through an array of tools and tactics. [si_guide_block id="49146" title="Download our Premium Resource – Digital media options cheatsheet" description="Our Digital media cheat sheet is aimed at helping Smart Insights premium members to keep track of the free and paid media options so that they're not missing out on any of the latest…

Facebook's new smart speaker, LinkedIn's re-built Pages, Twitter cracking down on "suspicious" follows, $100 billion worth of digital ad spend and the UK increasing festive ad spending in 2018

Social media platforms have made some interesting announcements over the next month. From re-building a part of the platform from the ground up to help improve engagement to launching smart speakers. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are all in our weekly news roundup once again. We're also exploring the success of digital ad spend so far this year, showing that traditional forms of advertising are taking a back seat to social media and video. Of course, we can't get away from taking a look at Christmas advertising, especially with the John Lewis advert being released this week. It seems that Christmas ad spending in the UK is getting a boost as the high street hopes to increase footfall. Find out more by reading five of the…