Does the road ahead look clear or is that just snow blindness from last weekend’s blizzard? This week we read about Facebook’s entry into live streaming, strategic shifts at Quartz, and new ways to target sports and gaming enthusiasts.
FACEBOOK JUMPS IN & PERISCOPE BETTER WATCH OUT
Facebook enters the live stream business: “The social network today announced it has expanded Live Video access beyond celebrities, verified users and journalists to any U.S. user with an iPhone.”
#streaming #facebook #social #video
INTENT TARGETING BEATS DEMO TARGETING, SAYS GOOGLE
Of course, they’re saying this because it boosts their ad model. But here are the facts Google lays out in their argument for intent targeting:
- Only 31% of searchers for video games online are men aged 18-34. So if you want video game users and buyers and use only demographic targeting to find them, you’re missing 69% of the target audience
- 45% of mobile searches for home improvement were made by women. So if you only targeted men for your home improvement book, you’d miss 45% of the market.
#intent #demographics #targeting
YOUTUBE A GREAT SOURCE FOR GAMERS
Another Google article (so, take it with a grain of salt), but YouTube is undeniably a great way to reach gamers, and the gamer audience is a good way to find entertainment enthusiasts for fantasy, science fiction, action-oriented YA, and thrillers. Some takeaways:
- 40% of YouTube Gamers say they bought something because of a video they saw online
- Of all the places to watch video online, YouTube remains the #1 site for gamer video
- 88% of YouTube gamers give product recommendationos in Media & Entertainment category (a category that includes books, although it’s presumably far, far outshadowed by games and movies)
FACEBOOK TARGETING EXPANDS BEYOND APPS
Facebook is taking its mobile network beyond the in-app ads it’s run so far–now including mobile display and native content. This makes sense:
“As popular as apps are, mobile Web browsing isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. According to a comScore report last year, digital media consumption in mobile Web browsers increased 53 percent from 2013 to 2015. Between 35 percent and 40 percent of traffic to news sites comes from mobile devices, with 93 percent of mobile audiences coming from the mobile Web.”
WE INTERRUPT THIS AD-RELATED READING TO PRESENT AN AUTHOR’S POV
Chuck Wendig has some things to share with you if you’re thinking of publishing your book. Two that related to marketing:
“Said it before, will scream it again and again at the asylum walls until my spit-forth soaks the padding — social media will sell tens or hundreds of books, but not thousands. Social media is good for getting the word out! Social media is good for earnestly talking about your book. Social media is not a good long-term sales channel.”
and:
“The more money spent on your book means the more money gets spent on your book. This is both sensible and weird. Sensible because investments must be protected, and sometimes you protect an investment by adding money to it. Weird because, hey, why does Coca-Cola advertise? Do they need it? Is there anybody in the world who doesn’t know that Coke exists? But even Coca-Cola must remind the world of its presence (and if I recall, Coke’s sales are down, too).”
#marketing #social #advertising
HOW TO ADVERTISE TO THE SUPER BOWL AUDIENCE WITHOUT A MILLION BUCKS
In their effort to get advertisers thinking of YouTube as a viable, affordable alternative to Super Bowl advertising, Google makes good points about ways to advertise to this audience if you don’t have five million to blow on thirty seconds of air: find content the demo likes, advertise earlier at key moments (the draft, opening day, crucial regular season games, etc), and don’t forget that this game is relevant to other categories than sports, including tail-gate worthy food, music, video games and more.
Here’s a link to key moments in the course of the season.
QUARTZ SHINES, SHIFTS, GROWS
From a Nieman Lab interview with Quartz publisher Jay Lauf:
- 42% of revenue from mobile
- Despite the strength in mobile, the introduction of mobile ad blockers haven’t presented a problem (this makes sense given the nature of the site and the style of ads)
- After famously launching as a site only, Quartz is now introducing an app. They’re doing this primarily because they want in on the app notification game
Quartz remains a great platform for reaching smart, tech-savvy, business-oriented readers. They’re a smart choice for a business or cultural trend book.