Join the ClubHaven’t heard of Clubhouse yet? Let us introduce you to what’s shaping up to be social media’s hottest new app. This invitation-based, audio-only platform is a space where more than 2 million weekly active users conglomerate in a range of live chat rooms, each focused on a different topic, idea, occasion, etc.
Clubhouse’s recent boom in popularity (thanks in part to a $100 million Series B funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz) nods to a number of trends that have taken off during the pandemic. The rise in audio (it’s coming for ya, video) plus the shift to virtual events makes the app a natural fit in the current environment. And it fills a void many professionals have missed: networking, a sore spot for digital conferences.
The app brings together celebrities, Silicon Valley tech titans, industry thought leaders, and everyday professionals for lively discussions, debates, and chatter. And it won’t be long before brands start taking advantage. With plans for a creator fund and the possibility of ads on the app, monetization is around the corner. As for now, we suggest marketers keep Clubhouse top-of-mind (maybe even try to score an invite), because your brand may soon want a seat in 2021’s coolest club.
TL;DR: As the popularity of the exclusive, audio-based platform Clubhouse has taken off in recent weeks, marketers need to get familiar with the app.
One-Stop ShopInstagram is back at it with another update — and no, it’s not another homepage redesign or wack algorithm change. It’s a new Professional Dashboard, which serves as a home base for businesses and content creators to access performance analytics, inspirational content, Badges (icons IG users can purchase to show their support for other creators), and IGTV promotions.
With this update, marketers no longer need to turn to third-party analytics tools, manually comb through Instagram pages for inspiration, or get lost in the app searching for one of the platform’s ever-growing collection of business resources. With everything on one page, the IG experience (and your tech stack as a whole) is all the easier to navigate.
By combining several existing tools, the Professional Dashboard serves as a one-stop shop for metrics, mood board inspo, and paid promotional tools. Whenever you’re in a creative rut or just itching to know how your content is performing, the Professional Dashboard is your go-to.
TL;DR: Instagram introduces the Professional Dashboard, providing marketers with immediate access to inspiring content, performance metrics, IGTV promotions, and Badges.
Timeline ➡️ InboxSnappy tweets, meet long-form content. Twitter has acquired Revue, a free service for starting and publishing newsletters, in an attempt to provide its users an outlet for creating content much longer than 280 characters.
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. Not only does the platform have plans to create settings that make it easy for users to subscribe directly on Twitter, it’s working with Revue to create a durable paid model for those looking to monetize their newsletters.
For brands, writers, and other professionals, Twitter’s partnership with Revue offers a new avenue to enter the newsletter space while making the most of existing followers. And if there’s one thing we know about newsletters, it’s that it takes time to build a dedicated audience (shout out to our readers) — so a little headstart never hurts.
TL;DR: Twitter acquired newsletter service Revue to help writers and brands on the platform connect with followers through a new medium.
A Dash of SupportIn other dashboard news, Facebook launched an updated “Account Quality'' interface to help ad account admins keep a tab on the status of suspended ads and rule violations. This revamped dashboard provides an overview of your business manager account (ads, company page, etc) and features some of Facebook’s “Page Quality” tools, like details around recent Community Standards violations, event removals, possible click-bait ads, and other problems that may impact your account performance.
The update also includes more detailed explanations around ad suspensions and policy violations. This is good news for any marketer who knows navigating Facebook ads requires a bit of research, trial and error, and a well thought out strategy. It can be a bit of a precarious landscape for digital marketers (small biz in particular) but you shouldn’t be dissuaded. Be proactive and study up on Facebook’s advertising guidelines, familiarize yourself with the new dashboard, and actively monitor your ad campaigns to make sure you tread the terrain carefully (and successfully).
TL;DR: Facebook launched an updated “Account Quality” dashboard to help ad managers and admins keep track of violations, suspensions, and other account information.
What Lit Us Up
Uptown Funk-y FusilliFew things are worse than undercooked spaghetti. (Actually, yes there is: overcooked). And few things are better than cranking up the tunes while you cook a delicious meal. In its latest marketing stunt, Barilla used the latter to help prevent the former and cooked up the “Playlist Timer” on Spotify.
In an effort to save both your day and your dinner, the “Playlist Timer” is a series of eight playlists timed to correspond with the perfect cooking time for all of the most popular pasta shapes. With catchy titles such as "Boom Bap Fusilli," "Pleasant Melancholy Penne," and "Moody Day Linguine," the playlists offer consumers an entertaining and immersive brand experience. The best part for Barilla? It cost a total of $0 to create the “first pasta timer on Spotify,” which has both charmed customers and resulted in great press.
This fun campaign hits on two major consumer pandemic-related trends. First, a lot more people are channeling their inner Gordon Ramsay by cooking at home. And second, to make living at home while working at home and never leaving said home more bearable, audio streaming is way up. A brand-inspired playlist is a great way to offer quality content to consumers while passively engaging with them throughout their daily activities. Who knows, “Moody Day Linguine'' may even find its way into a few pasta enthusiasts’ 2021 Spotify Wrapped.
TL;DR: More people cooking at home and huge increases in audio streaming — Barilla took both consumer trends into consideration when creating its pasta cook-time playlist on Spotify.
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