ICYMI: 4 Fresh Digital Marketing Stories That Sparked Our Attention

We’re less than three months into the new year and the digital marketing news cycle hasn’t let up off the gas pedal. There’s a lot to keep track of: emerging social media apps, updates affecting ad strategies, new content on your social standbys, and the latest twists and turns in the intricate art of SEO. How can you keep up?

We have you covered. From platform updates to SEO hacks, we’ve recapped some of the latest top stories from Tier One’s weekly newsletter, The Spark, to catch you up. 

Can You Hear Me Now?

Move over TikTok – Clubhouse is social media’s hottest new star with 2 million weekly active users discussing everything from celebrities to the latest tech trends and more. As the popularity of the exclusive, audio-based Clubhouse takes off, marketers need to get familiar with the app (and audio).

But Clubhouse will have to fight to keep its crown, as two new competitors have already thrown their hats in the social audio ring: 

• Fireside: Founded by billionaire investor Mark Cuban, this forthcoming app differentiates itself with real-time audio recording and the ability for creators to broadcast, monetize, and analyze content. 
• Spaces: Twitter’s new audio feature Spaces is supported by its recent acquisition of Breaker, a podcast listening app built with social engagement in mind. It also has the advantage of being open to Apple and Android users, unlike Clubhouse, which is iOS-only.

Noteworthy News from Twitter

Along with social audio, the growing revival of newsletters is another trend digital marketers should keep their eyes on. To get in on the game, Twitter has acquired Revue, a free service for starting and publishing newsletters. Through the acquisition, Twitter hopes it can help both individual writers and businesses connect with their audiences and grow newsletter readership in a new way.

In other Twitter news, the always-free site announced a paid “Super Follow” option to let accounts charge for exclusive tweets content. Tweets, Fleets, and newsletters are just some of the assets that can be used to create unique content followers want to pay for. For brands, this could mean connecting with your most engaged, active, and loyal consumers, allowing you to reward them with exclusive offers, interviews, or behind the scenes looks.

How these changes will affect the advertising landscape on the platform is TBD, but a move toward not-always-free Twitter could certainly change social media marketing as we know it.

Social Media Sanctuary

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube recently added new brand safety measures to give businesses greater peace of mind when advertising. 

Facebook is testing topic exclusions to give brands control over where their ads are and, more importantly, aren’t shown. The new feature will allow marketers to ensure ads aren’t placed alongside articles on controversial and off-brand topics.

YouTube has gone even further, becoming the first digital platform to receive brand safety accreditation from the Media Rating Council. The accreditation signifies YouTube’s brand safety measures are at least 99% effective in preventing ads from appearing near inappropriate content. 

While Twitter is still chasing the coveted approval of the Media Rating Council, the platform recently earned the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) Brand Safety Certified Seal. TAG sets global brand safety standards meant to minimize the risk of ad misplacement. We expect to see more tools from Instagram, Reddit, TikTok, and others soon — because these stamps of approval are not something they’ll want to be caught without. 

Solving the Mystery of SEO

Finally, two recent updates from Google gave marketers a peek behind the ever-mysterious SEO curtain.

The first mystery: Does having the same content repeated in more than one place on your site mean your pages will be shot to the depths of SERP oblivion? Nope. Google revealed when the search engine recognizes duplicate content on several pages, it will serve up just one of those pages in search results, aiming to pick the one that’s most relevant to a user’s query. 

The second mystery: How will the exploding sensation of TikTok, Reels and other shortform video content play into new SEO? Google began testing a new search feature that provides these videos their own dedicated carousel at the top of SERPs in the Google app. If TikToks and Reels become a valuable SEO consideration, the need to create relevant, informative, and entertaining video content will only grow.

Feeling good about catching up on this digital marketing news?  There’s more where that came from. Tier One’s newsletter The Spark delivers a weekly update of news, tips, tricks, and trends digital marketers need to know. 

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