Curated Guide to Research
MediaPost's comprehensive guide to current research in the marketplace.
Search results for "content marketing"
- Google reportedly paid $2.7 billion to bring back an AI genius as it and competitors continue to build out services built on AI.
- Demand for marketing content grew by one and a half times this year, but marketing teams were only able to meet that demand 55% of the time.
- Suspicions may be warranted because of the possible negative consequences of AI on a brand's reputation.
- Gartner data released Thursday shows the top barriers to the adoption of generative AI in marketing are varied. Unforeseen security threats, and integrations with existing technology follow.
- A study released last week found that Black creators on TikTok, YouTube and Twitter drew higher online followings than their non-Black peers.
- Nearly 18% of local media buyers say they anticipate cutting back on legacy TV, followed by newspapers with 17%, magazine media buying at 15% and radio at 14%.
- Since it launched in 2016, DIY brand 5-minute Crafts has consistently been a top channel on YouTube and Facebook. But with the rise of short-form video and the growing importance of long-form CTV distribution, the brand found itself having to evolve its video formats in opposite directions. theSoul Publishing's Senior Director of Content Partnership, Michael Boccacino, shares how the company is adapting both the content and the business models for its key video franchises into the Omni-Media world.
- Media companies are told that their future audience is, well, everywhere. Content needs to flow into everything from 2D forever scrolls to Metaverses, CTV episodes to TikTok/YT/IG "shorts," game worlds to gas station pumps. IGN Entertainment's VP, Publisher, John Davison, explains how one of the largest, and oldest, digital entertainment sources is rebuilding both their programming and monetization strategy around fluid audience media behaviors. How can publishers future-proof a foundation that adapts to the next TikTok, the next rideshare media network, the next ultraverse?
- More than half of marketing decision-makers said social media content is valuable, though there are differences in individual industries.
- Interactive email is rated the most effective channel in driving engagement, Ascend2 reports.
- Sometimes bigger is not better, especially when making smarter use of social amplification. For its Tiny Desk Contest, a small cadre of content creators was recruited to drive views and engagement for the NPR Music project on behalf of a major corporate sponsor. NPR's VP of Sponsorship Marketing, Lamar Johnson, explores the ROI for this use of content creators vs. paid amplification and the tactics for sponsor integration and amplification that helped the program perform far beyond projections.
- Professional sports players may get a break during the off-season, but for the Arizona Cardinals' marketing team, this is the time to engage fans on a different level and aim them toward season ticket products. Arizona Cardinals' Email Marketing Analyst, Angie Weyman, explains how the brand is using hyper-segmentation routines to isolate season holders from ticket buyers and non-buyers in order to tailor messaging for these different relationships with the team brand. Their use of dynamic content insertion and careful measurement is giving them a fuller picture of these different fan sets and what it takes to engage them whether players are on or off the field.
- Incentivizing customers to engage and become brand loyalists is the holy grail of contemporary marketing. Player Loyalty CRM Manager, Liz Bowles Button of North Carolina Education Lottery, shared how they solved the first-party data challenge by appealing to their customers' love of chance with a gamified program. Likewise, she shares the winning strategies for keeping players engaged beyond the transient ticket purchase.
- As the 90-year-old Krystal restaurant brand looked to appeal to younger demos, the marketing team focused on college towns and some of their strongest influencers - star athletes. Executing on this smart plan took more than posing Quarterbacks with store owners. Krystal Restaurants' Director of Marketing, Kaitlin Stoehr, shares what the company learned about crafting local campaigns around recruiting this special class of social influencers, creating authentic live engagements, and then amplifying this content effectively in the community.
- The marketing of catering and event services within the new digital and delivery ecosystems offers brands unexpected challenges and opportunities. How do you allocate across convenience and celebratory segments, target the right new and old customers, and convert those third party acquisitions into first party loyalists? Trish shares lessons learned as she adds celebratory marketing to Earl's portfolio of casual brands via third party apps, a dedicated loyalty program, and beyond.
- Retail Media Networks (RMNs) have added new inventory, targeting, sales and measurement opportunities...and headaches, to the digital ad market. Kim, who manages media buying for Mindshare CPG clients, maps the terrain. How are the RMNs from Walmart, Target, Kroger, etc. plugging into existing infrastructures, offering new and difference metrics of success, creating new challenges for marketing teams?
- As one of the world's leading brand licensors, Meredith has had commerce in its DNA for decades. Online, the company has learned from its innovations across every emerging e-comm opportunity. From shoppable video to inspiration-to-shopping cart deep integrations with retailers like Walmart, GM of Commerce Content Chloe Reznikov walks us through how these next-gen e-comm models bring publishers way beyond the affiliate link.
- While Gen Z spends more time on social media than ever before (51% on IG weekly, 48% on TikTok, 37% on Snapchat) and less (15%) watching cable weekly or more, marketers need to rethink their video ad dollars. Meanwhile, Millennials are still more likely to say they've watched a TV series (69%) and movies (70%) in the last week than social media videos (58%). At MediaPost's TV & Video Insider Summit, media agency Good Apple's VP, Media, Hyun Lee-Mill, shares their recent tests that identified the most effective ways to balance social media video and CTV spend. How do we optimize across the current menu of video options?
- Well-researched content improves the likelihood that a purchasing manager will take a sales call from a vendor.
- The acceleration of streaming this past year has made video even more critical to a brand's growth strategy. Lexmark's director of marketing operations, Mike Dattilo, shares how he's successfully targeting SMB users to expand their audience and increase brand awareness and conversions through performance video.
- More than half of marketers said their audiences tend to engage more with UGC than branded content.
- Visible Wireless, a retail brand of Verizon, doubled down on social channels to find and cultivate communities that wanted an alternative telecom model. And in turn those communities have informed everything about how the brand grew - from product development even to media planning. Visible's digital marketing lead, Sarah Baker, shows us what a grass roots media strategy looks like?
- Although commercial and public service broadcasters' content spend remained below 2019 levels, SVODs upped their spend by 20% vs. 2020 and 50% versus 2019.
- What do you do if your company is being described as "stodgy" by Millennials? How do you attract a younger audience without alienating your Gen X and successful Boomer clients? That's what Windermere Real Estate was facing. With a nearly 50 year legacy and flashy brands like Zillow and Redfin invading their space, Windermere needed to step up their game. Easier said than done when your budget is limited, and you're up against VC-backed and publicly traded companies with plenty of money to spend. So they needed to get creative and find a space where they could stand out. That space was Spotify. The music platform, a favorite among Millennials, gave Windermere the space to create their own branded station with home-themed playlists that could appeal to all generations. Spotify also provided branded QR codes to directly engage consumers with Windermere's station in an off-line environment, i.e. OOH, business cards and TV ads. Since launching their branded station, Windermere has earned more than 100K monthly active users and seen an 18% increase in direct traffic to their website. Spotify now plays an integral role in Windermere's media strategy.
- GoodRx launched GoodRx Health on Thursday to provide research-based answers to vital health questions.
- Thanks to White Castle's QSR roots, social media has long been a significant part of their grocery division's marketing mix. CMO Lynn Blashford talks strategy, and how not only the channel, but the content, plays a crucial role in expanding audience reach to younger consumers. She also shares how embracing the fight against social injustice opened doors for the family-owned brand.
- Among the top 22 market-share holders in skincare, 17 are publishers or informational websites -- capturing 62.34% of available search traffic.
- In this week's analysis of Bombora's Company Surge data, "real-time personalization," "brand voice," and "content personalization" were among the top five trending topics among the MediaPost 500.
- Every click is a hurdle, not an invitation for users. And every form to fill is a mountain for them to climb. EIS veteran Chester Bullock explains how reducing that friction has increased email's effectiveness in driving qualified leads and at the same time leveraging customer brand loyalty.
- When Policygenius streamlined its manual insurance matchmaking process and redesigned its email program, the brand needed to maintain its roots in human connection while providing expertise to guide customers through the insurance shopping process. Sometimes it's the little things, it turns out, that keep messaging personal, not just personalized.
