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Latest insights – August 2024
In this August edition of our Digital Insights Bulletin, we bring you the latest trends, insights, and updates crucial for navigating the digital landscape. Our spotlight this month is on Meta’s replacement of CrowdTangle with a less effective tool and how this poses challenges for misinformation tracking. Dig in!
Meta just closed a vital online research tool. It’s bad news for the fight against misinformation.
Meta has shut down CrowdTangle, a tool used for tracking and analysing viral misinformation, replacing it with a new tool called the Content Library. The Content Library, while claiming to offer similar functionalities, has been criticised for its reduced capabilities and lack of access for journalists. This change comes at a time when misinformation is expected to rise, particularly with the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Critics argue that Meta’s shift reflects a broader move away from news and transparency, potentially limiting the ability to check and address online misinformation effectively.
What this means for brands:
For brands and news publications, Meta’s decision to replace CrowdTangle with the Content Library means reduced ability to track and analyse misinformation and trends on social media. The Content Library’s limitations, including restricted data access and analysis tools, could hinder their efforts to monitor online content, assess brand impact, and effectively combat misinformation. This shift could impact their overall strategy for managing their online presence and responding to false information.
Expertise feature
Our brand marketing mission is to create transformative outcomes for brands.
Our method is to harness the power of insights and creativity to develop a magnetic idea that creates positive momentum in the marketplace, delivered across channels, mediums and audiences. In today’s marketplace, ideas matter more than ever – ideas that audiences see as their own, which can be authentically expressed through a brand. The goal of brand marketing has been to recognise these opportunities and create a collaborative endeavor with the customer. Only when a brand taps into these opportunities do we see the kind of engagement that can create positive momentum in the marketplace and truly be transformative to the three areas most important to brands: launching products and services; repositioning themselves to create opportunity; and growing/expanding their positions of leadership.
Meta Announces Improved Ad Attribution and Targeting Processes
Meta is updating its ad measurement and attribution approach to better connect ads with conversions and optimise campaign performance. New features include “Conversion Value Rules” for targeting high-value audiences, an opt-in setting to focus on incremental conversions, and integration with external CRM data for improved targeting. These updates aim to enhance ad effectiveness and automation, potentially leading to better results for advertisers.
What this means for brands:
For brands, Meta’s updates mean enhanced ad targeting and performance. Brands can prioritise high-value audiences, better measure incremental conversions, and integrate CRM data for more precise optimisation. These improvements aim to boost ad effectiveness and efficiency, potentially leading to better returns on ad spend.
Four tips for increasing conversions along the buyer’s journey.
Marketers are facing new challenges as consumers become savvier and more resistant to traditional tactics. To adapt, brands should focus on building genuine relationships by being transparent, asking questions to engage users, offering valuable content, and exploring unique non-digital approaches. By evolving beyond outdated methods and focusing on these strategies, marketers can enhance engagement and drive better results.
What this means for brands:
Brands must evolve to stay relevant by embracing transparency, engaging consumers through questions, offering real value, and exploring unique, non-digital activation tactics that are synchronised with digital marketing efforts. This approach helps build genuine relationships, foster loyalty, and improve conversions, ultimately driving better results and standing out in a crowded marketplace.
YouTube Tests Merging Shorts and Long-Form Video into a Single Feed
YouTube is experimenting with showing longer videos within the Shorts feed to leverage its high engagement. Despite seeming contradictory, this move aims to boost overall viewership by blending formats. This could lead to mixed user experiences and potential confusion for creators, but it may enhance content discovery and engagement.
What this means for brands:
Brands should adapt to YouTube’s new strategy by optimising both short and long-form content for the Shorts feed. This means creating engaging shorter videos while ensuring longer videos are tailored to fit seamlessly within the feed. By doing so, brands can increase visibility and reach, leveraging YouTube’s broader video promotion to enhance engagement and discoverability.
Image credits: Daily Maverick
Spotlight: How Daily Maverick’s YouTube Storytelling Inspired Change
Daily Maverick leveraged YouTube to visually narrate the harsh realities of homelessness, as detailed in their article “Cold Reality: Many of Us Are Closer to Living on the Street Than We Think.” The video discusses the precarious nature of middle-class stability – emphasising that the gap between having a home and becoming homeless is narrower than many people think. It features journalist, Tamsin Metelerkamp’s exploration of homelessness in Cape Town, including interviews with affected individuals like Inus Gouws, who faced significant hardships after losing his job and experiencing a violent attack. The story highlights the complexities of homelessness, including misconceptions and the challenges faced by those living on the streets.
What this means for brands:
By combining personal testimonies with investigative reporting, Daily Maverick humanised the issue and engaged viewers emotionally. Brands can learn from this approach by using storytelling to address social issues authentically, fostering empathy, and connecting more deeply with their audience.
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