ICYMI: The 6 Recent Digital Marketing Headlines You Need to Know

Feeling bogged down in a barrage of digital marketing news and social media updates? We’re here to help.

We've pulled together the top stories in social media, SEO, and content and digital marketing from Tier One’s weekly newsletter, The Spark, to help you stay in-the-know. 

Hubspot and Talkwalker released their Social Media Trends 2021 report — and it’s chock-full of data-driven forecasts on topics from coronavirus content to memetic messaging. With next year’s digital strategy on the horizon, these insights will arm you for whatever 2021 holds. 

Our top takeaway? Traditional social media won’t cut it anymore. Look to new strategies and platforms to reach your audience in new, more personal ways.

Facebook’s Feature Presentation: A Voting Experiment

Taking a page out of Reddit’s playbook, Facebook has started to test a new up and downvoting system for comments that lets users weigh in on whether they think comments are valuable to the group (or not). The feature could prove controversial due to its potential influence on increasing divisiveness, but the voting could also increase engagement and provide valuable insights into user sentiment — a handy tool for brands.

UX Update: Google Will Judge a Book by Its Cover

The race to the top of the search engine results page (SERP) is one all too familiar for marketers. Now, you’ll have one more thing to consider for SEO: user experience.

In Google’s latest algorithm update (going live in May 2021), the platform will add page experience to its SERP ranking factors as part of its Core Web Vitals metrics, which are now viewable in Google Search Console. For marketers, this means mobile-friendliness, browsing safety, and UX design will play an influential role in how your pages stack up on Google.

Just Out of the Oven: Google and Facebook Offer Cookie Alternatives

As marketers face a cookie-free future, tech giants Google and Facebook have looked into their crystal balls for a clearer picture of that outlook.

Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative replaced one-to-one cookie targeting with cohort targeting to study the habits of similar user groups and found the switch improved audience targeting by 350%.

Facebook countered with its own cookie alternative, Conversions API. The browser-free tool connects marketers and their servers directly to a Facebook server and offers a simpler solution for its own pixel-heavy Facebook advertisers.

Shopping Sparked: Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Want You to Shop With Them

With brick and mortar shopping out of the question for the time being, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are hoping to be your digital replacement. 

As part of its recent redesign, Instagram brought eCommerce front and center with the addition of a Shop tab on the app’s main menu. TikTok partnered with Shopify to allow merchants to create and run e-commerce campaigns directly geared toward its highly engaged community. (On the horizon: in-app shopping features.) YouTube jumped into shopping, with plans to allow users to purchase the products they see straight from the video.

Advances in Analytics: Google Introduces Trend Monitoring and Automatic Alerts

Data analytics has never been more important or easier to utilize thanks to Google Analytics’ latest update with new trend monitoring tools and automatic alerts. Powered by machine learning, the system notifies users to any significant changes in data so marketers can better anticipate customer needs. The updates also allow users to more effectively use Google Analytics data to reach more refined audiences through Google Ads. 

Now that you’re caught up on the latest, stay up-to-date on the digital marketing landscape by subscribing to our weekly newsletter The Spark.