
Social media in 2018: Time to grow up or get out
Columnist Mark Traphagen suggests social media mark
It’s always tempting to see the present moment as the peak of chaos and disruption, whether we’re talking about politics or just how those teenagers behave today. The same is true in marketing, because in many ways that profession is always in a state of chaos and disruption. But I don’t think it’s hyperbole to apply “peak chaos and disruption” to social media marketing in the first quarter of 2018. Let’s review just a few of the upheavals we’re experiencing right now in the

YouTube updates gun content policies to ban videos promoting sale or manufacture of firearms, access
YouTube is updating its restrictions on gun-related content, prohibiting videos that aim to sell firearms and firearm accessories via private sales or offer instructions on building a firearm, ammunition, or firearm accessories. It is also restricting videos that show users how to install gun-related accessories or modify firearms. Announced in a post on the YouTube Help Forum, the following policies on content featuring firearms will go into effect next month: The ban on vid

No, we can’t say Facebook CPMs are up because of the News Feed change
Why new data doesn't indic
It’s a frustrating truth: Sometimes a data set just can’t tell the story you want or think you should be hearing. On Thursday, a story in Recode relied on new data to suggest that Facebook’s change to its News Feed to de-emphasize commercial posts in favor of those by individuals may indeed be causing people to spend less time on the social network — just as CEO Mark Zuckerberg had said could happen when he announced the coming rollout on January 11. The canary in the coal mi

Swift shifts in marketing spend aren’t enough to stem the Amazonian tide
Contributor Mike Sands contends that turning customer data into a strategic asset is the key to success in today's environment. After decades of trying to fill their brands’ proverbial leaky buckets — continually flooding them with new customers won through acquisition dollars instead of plugging the holes with retention spend — marketers are finally turning the tide. According to a recent Gartner survey of CMOs, marketing leaders are now allocating two-thirds of their budget

Facebook gives more than 50 publishers access to ‘Breaking News’ label
The site first rolled out its 'Breaking News' indicator in a test run last November that included a small number of local and national publishers. Facebook is making another attempt to fine-tune the way its users consume news articles. Last November, the site gave a small group of local and national publishers the ability to include a “Breaking News” label on their stories. Starting today, Facebook is expanding its “Breaking News” label test run to more than 50 additional pub

The foundation of a good SEM campaign
A strong understanding of the economics of any business unit is absolutely critical to any digital marketing campaign managed against non-brand key performance indicators (KPIs) in a search engine marketing (SEM) campaign. One would think any reasonably large and successful business would have a good handle on their unit economics, and that this knowledge will be shared down the chain of command to the mid and lower levels of the marketing team. But time and time again, I hav

Facebook ends the Explore Feed less than 4 months after its launch…
Facebook discovered people didn&
After an unsuccessful run that lasted less than four months, Facebook has decided to end its Explore Feed. Launched last October, Facebook’s Explore feed was designed as a separate feed for content from publishers and public figures they might be interested in based their own interests. It arrived after news feed algorithm tweaks that prioritized posts from friends and family, while diminishing the organic reach of Pages. Facebook says the separate feed connected to the rocke