Digital Intelligence Report
April 2020
I spend a great deal of time investigating and reading about digital marketing, so it is very easy right now to skip anything infected with COVID-19. It's a pandemic that affects us all, but because every brand we've ever experienced has sent an email to me or posted on social media with their own angle on how they are helping to deal with it, I've become blind to the topic.

But there are real issues in digital marketing related to the quarantine:

  • Budgets shifting. Purchasing habits and inventory balancing may be changing. Don't sell what you don't have and don't sell what your audience may not be buying right now. Some experts see the shift for search alone as high as 14.8 percent for the first half of 2020. Other media will be even higher.
  • Tone-deaf messaging. Something as substantial as this can't be ignored in your messaging or you may appear thoughtless.
  • Advancements slowing. Nothing quickens the pace of digital transformation than getting the experts together. Marketing events are tabled, so its up to the martech sales teams to lead ... and they all sound the same after awhile. Given the economic issues, shorter contracts should also be the norm.
  • Opportunities arising:. As others pull back due to reality or fear, new opportunities appear. Inventory previously sold out can open up (like tons more YouTube inventory). Check with your partners.

There are other notable places where we should all kick it into gear right now, but most aren't situationally dependent. We can always step up on planning, analytics, content, optimizations, etc.

By the way, sending the image above to you via 5G will not give your computer the virus ... I'm pretty sure.
CONTENT MARKETING: Just when executives and audiences were becoming satisfied with the amount of content available on key topics (sarcasm), the AI-infused content delivery engines will exponentially increase the need for more. MORE ... Longer articles containing easy-to-consume content (like lists) are more likely to perform well and be shared. MORE ... Most people focus on the content aspect and forget about marketing. There are ways to sell and inform. MORE ... When you put your plan together, you should research your audience, refine your approach and reflect on all of it. MORE ... Organic social and posting it to your low-traffic site isn't a distribution strategy. MORE ... A good checklist: Planning, Writing, Optimizing, Sharing, Promoting. MORE ... Only 25 percent of brands believe their content strategy is effective. MORE ... Know your audience and know why they care about you and you can survive when a specific revenue well dries up. MORE ... Content marketing is best at supporting brand awareness, education and building trust. MORE

SOCIAL MEDIA: The competitive narrative on Facebook ads is that the costs are rising significantly. Actually, as spend and conversion percentages have risen significantly, cpms on Facebook and Instagram are quite a bit lower. MORE ... Here are some of the most basic traffic-supportive social media tactics to consider. MORE ... And more basic execution considerations for a newbie. MORE ... No one likes a person who enters a party and talks only about themselves and their own interests. Same goes for social. MORE ... There is a ton of social wisdom out there, but how about some from our kids! MORE

AUDIO: Podcast adoption in agriculture is quite a bit below these numbers but it is a good level set on current digital audio use. MORE ... I use WitLingo for The Rooster Cast, but another option for casting to smart speakers comes from WeCast. MORE ... There are more than 900,000 podcasts and 30 million episodes. MORE
ANALYTICS: The average Google display ad ctr right now is 0.46% with the average Google search number coming in at 5.9%. MORE ... Still feel a little gimpy when people talk about Google Analytics data? Here's a nice basic primer for you. MORE

MARKETING TECHNOLOGY: When deciding on your platforms, you can't separate the conversation between cost tools and revenue tools. They all have to work together to make you stronger. MORE

DIGITAL MEDIA: Marketing plans are changing on the consumer side. I'm hearing about more moves than cancellations on the ag front. But the impact of COVID-19 will be strong on the marketing economy. MORE

VIDEO: The digital audience wants more quality brand videos. MORE

SEARCH: Long-tail keywords can be so easy that they are forgotten. But, if you get these right, there is an obvious boost because conversions will be substantially higher. MORE ... Removing pages from Google via noindex does not necessarily boost other pages on your site. MORE
EMAIL: Emojis and background images have no bearing on your email delivery. However, the number of e-mails you are sending per batch will land you in spam in some instances. MORE ... Improve your next email or set of emails by including this code. MORE

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: There are tools and frameworks available to help visualize and take action with your data. Not a shock that Google, Microsoft and Amazon have tools on the list. MORE ... We can love AI all we want, but consumers don't get it and aren't sure about it. MORE

DATA: The end of cookies will not thwart those with good first-party data. MORE ... Zero-party data is information overtly shared by a user, often to help with personalization. MORE ... Semcasting offers an engagement score to allow users to target those most engaged in specific media. MORE

PRIVACY: Add CCPA to COVID-19 and you get a serious mess for people trying to make a living as publishing freelancers. That aspect of CCPA will likely change shortly. MORE ... So you think you are up to speed on the latest requirements? Check yourself with this checklist. MORE
For more details on any of the topics covered here, contact Rooster’s Chief Digital Officer James Arnold:
Cell: (913) 291-6996
Microcast/Podcast: The Rooster Cast
The goal of the Rooster Strategic Solutions Digital Intelligence Report is to provide intelligence around the digital product landscape. What is coming next. How to use what you already have. Who might be doing it right.