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COMING AT YOU THE WEEK OF 5.3.22

This week’s most important Marketing News
 

A STUDY FINDS THAT ECHO SPEAKER CONVERSATIONS ARE USED TO TARGET ADS

Researchers from four US universities published a paper titled, Your Echos are Heard: Tracking, Profiling, and Ad Targeting in the Amazon Smart Speaker Ecosystem. They found that Amazon has collected data from people’s Echo speaker interactions. Then, Amazon has used the data to “serve targeted ads on-platform (Echo devices) as well as off-platform (web).”

That’s considered a breach of privacy. The paper was published just over a week ago, so I’m curious if more people will start talking about this soon.


LINKEDIN INTRODUCED THEIR VERSION OF A ‘LINK IN BIO’ FEATURE

If you’re in Creator Mode, then you can now add a link and customize the link’s anchor text. It lives at the top of your profile.


PERFORMANCE MAX CAMPAIGNS HAVE NEW FEATURES

Of these new features, the new customer acquisition goal is the big deal. The goal “will allow you to either bid more for new customers compared to existing customers, or to focus your optimizations on new customers only while maintaining your cost efficiency.”


YOUTUBE IS TESTING ADS ON THEIR SHORTS FEATURE

YouTube’s TikTok-like reel of short-from videos are getting a chance to show ads. We’ll see how it goes.


INSTAGRAM IS TESTING THEIR VERSION OF PINNED POSTS

This feature would allow us to pin grid posts, if things go well in the test.

GOOGLE’S BUSINESS PROFILE MANAGER PSYCHED SOME OF US OUT THIS WEEK

Google has discontinued their Business Profile Manager page for people with only one profile or business. They have to use it through Google Search or Google Maps. But, those who manage multiple profiles do still get to use the manager page, and yet even they were blocked from it this week. But that was done in error and should be back to normal now.

GOOGLE’S SEARCH CONSOLE URL PARAMETER TOOL AND GOOGLE ADWORDS API ARE GONE

Google says the parameter tool has been discontinued because they don’t need us to tell them which URLs to ignore because their crawlers (bots) can do that on their own now. The Adwords API has been replaced by the Google Ads API.

RESOURCES

Gartner Peer Insights – This is a great resource for my B2B people. Gartner collects and vets reviews on services and products in the tech space.I love how they organize reviews by likes and dislikes. There’s so much this site can help marketers with.

1️⃣ At a basic level, you can identify competitors

2️⃣ Then, you can find out what customers love the most about your company and product. Then, use that in your messaging!

3️⃣ Plus, find out what people dislike about your competitors’ products. Then, use that in your messaging!


Seven Dawns – This newsletter shares seven marketing insights each week to help you sharpen the saw.

 

WHY PEOPLE VALUE NFTS

 

For years, Erin Narloch had the unconventional job of tracking down shoes and other paraphernalia in order to visually share Reebok’s brand history. In my opinion, this background makes her uniquely qualified for her current role, Head of NFTs, at Enwoven. Enwoven is a pretty fascinating tech startup that helps companies save their history and tell their story.

Let’s hear what Erin had to say about branding and NFTs.

STORYTELLING IS THE HEART OF WHAT MARKETERS DO. 

Many companies are using NFTs to tell their stories. MAC Cosmetics is currently working with the ​​Keith Haring foundation to drop an NFT program for AIDS awareness. Other companies are using NFTs to curate their brands’ histories.

Erin said, “The best storytelling allows all of us to enter in the story and see ourselves reflected. Tap into some of the greatest human desires. NFT and Web 3, they provide an opportunity to play that part.”

WHAT MAKES AN NFT VALUABLE?

Most of us have wondered what gives NFTs their value, and you can peruse this Elements of Value pyramid (which we’ve shared before) to spot why people might buy NFTs.

Hint: most are in the emotional tier.

Erin also pointed out that you can attach more than badge value or nostalgia to NFTs. Your NFTs can:

  • Give the owner a discount
  • Provide access to pre-sales
  • Be a ticket to your Creator Community

Remember: whatever access you’re trying to provide, it’s important to factor in scarcity to create the uniqueness associated with NFTs.

HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU KNOW BEFORE LAUNCHING NFTS?

It’s hard to dip your toes into new things like NFTs, but you don’t have to be an expert. Erin said, “No one’s the expert on everything. And the term expert is relative to the audience you’re with. I like to surround myself with people I can call upon to chime in on different topics. They hold credibility, and you as an individual then gain more credibility by looking outside of yourself.”

Reach out to individuals who are experts through Linkedin and have an informal interview to see what method they are using within the field of NFTs.

 

INTERESTING STUFF

📸 A flying camera. You can buy it from Snap (Snapchat’s parent company) for $230. It’s like a drone that only flies pre-programmed paths.


🎨 A virtual comic-book exhibit. Learn about the history of comics through a clever virtual exhibition.


🎬 How to pick which movie to watch. The site lets you search whichever streaming platforms you’d like and filter by categories like genre, year released, maturity level, etc. I have found it seriously helpful, although I’m oddly satisfied by watching trailers for hours.

👑 Why TikTok is taking over our world but Vine tanked. I have wondered this, and the article gives some good theories.


🤞 Elon says, “Next I’m buying Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in.” Jokes…probably…

LET’S GET VISUAL

Google is the new homepage