Ace The Digital Space Living Through The Pandemic 

• To adapt our marketing during COVID-19, the way we do business and marketing is changing including the digital space which is now evolving faster with new updates.
• 41% marketers intend to make use of the momentum to maintain or increase their presence in the media.
• Stay updated with the digital universe. 

Simply Social

• Facebook pulls back on the Campaign Budget Optimization mandate, giving relief to the advertisers on their spends.
• Twitter published a list of 20 tweet prompts to help brands come up with new content ideas and leverage on the growing conversations.
• WhatsApp partnered with the WHO to create 21 ‘Together at Home’ stickers helping brands integrate the new stay-at-home lifestyle in their communication.

Generous Google

• Google has waived off its Ad Manager fees for the next five months for publishers, making publishing the content more feasible.
• Google's Shopping tool opens up to free product listings helping retailers showcase their products to millions of people.
• Google launches Beyond Corp Remote Access to enable users to securely access their company’s internal web apps remotely, without the use of a VPN.

Crack The Communication For COVID-19

• Reckitt Benckiser launched the 'Disinfect to Protect' campaign to educate people on the need for keeping surfaces clean and disinfected.
• ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund is urging people to do digital investments under the ‘Kuch Smart Karo SIP Start Karo’ campaign.
• Snapdeal partnered with Hungama Play to offer a video streaming service with a diverse library of short videos, TV shows and movies in multiple languages.

Strike conversations; get closer

• Your audience is more available than ever to interact with you. Get closer, add value, don’t get out of sight. 
• Be sensitive, empathize, talk more but don’t sell. 
• The launch of various updates and features have made marketing in the digital space easier. It’s time to leverage it.  Download the PDF version

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought along a substantial amount of restructuring and rethinking of marketing strategies. Let us evaluate how the form of digital media has taken new shapes in the post-covid world and how brands can leverage digital media platforms to fulfil marketing objectives and goals -   Media Trends

• Google Ad Scripts are a great way to control all your Google Ads data using javascript. Scripts can be used to automate common procedures as well as interact with external data. Scripts can even be used to create charts that plot click and conversion percentages in relation to the type of device, days, and hours of the day. This form of analytics is particularly useful keeping in mind the boost in organic search on search engines.
• Just like Google, even Amazon ads can even be utilized smartly to drive sales activities on online platforms. For example, the e-commerce platform recently announced the availability of product targeting via Sellar Central on Sponsored Display with greater capabilities to reach shoppers browsing similar or complementary product types or categories
• A report curated by KPMG goes on to estimate that traditional ad-spend pressures will persist, even if investment in marketing reduces as a result of the pandemic. However, this investment will be fruitful as a result of the evolved habits which has lead to a prominent role of digital media in the post-covid world. While most parts of the world are quarantined, we must not forget that the internet and all the digital channels we can use to access it are thriving in these times.

Where’s All The Traffic?

• SEO is an integral part of any digital marketing strategy and that definitely holds true even now in the evolved state of digital platforms. Adopting proactive rather than reactive SEO practices is a smart move. Doing this will help you understand evolved consumer behaviour and habits which will, in turn, allow you to churn out relevant and engaging content. Relatable and engaging content is the backbone behind any digital marketing strategy - pandemic or no pandemic.
• Google has brought in a fresh wave of helpful features which are aimed to augment the value of search engines amid the pandemic. These features include a ‘Help and Information Box’, a COVID-19 alert sidebar, along with an informative statistics panel. In a stressing period like this, it is imperative that information is available to help keep everyone safe.
• As Google has transitioned to a new search console, the search engine has thrown light on relevant data that could be helpful in forming SEO strategies. If users refer to the performance report found in the Search Console dashboard, one can zero in on an array of different insights such as query’s click, impression, and average search ranking data.

Stay Home, Stay Trending  In order to keep users engaged and intrigued on social media, many brands have come up with quirky campaigns and contests to run on social media. Some of these include - 

• Stay Home of The Whopper - It goes without saying that dine-in food joints were among those hit the worst when the virus broke out. In the initial phases, most individuals were even apprehensive in terms of getting food delivered to their homes. In a bid to curb these worries, but still, promote safety, fast food giants Burger King launched the Stay Home of The Whopper campaign in order to encourage individuals to stay safe at home and order food instead of stepping out.

• #HDFCBankSafetyGrid - This was a campaign devised by HDFC bank to reinforce the role of social distancing in curbing the effects of the virus. The bank did this by utilizing the outer grid of HDFC Bank’s logo that stands for ‘Trust’. The bank made physical markers on the ground to ensure that individuals follow the prescribed “social” distance by WHO while queuing up at a store.

• #HumSabHomeMakers - The lockdown has been a stressful time for many without the support of domestic staff and help, with many of us being accustomed to their services. Godrej’s campaign film encourages people to help at home and divide the load of maintaining a home. It also features its employees and captures a beautiful change via multiple slice of life shots to depict ‘life during lockdown’. Touching, emotional, and emphatic communication leaves a lasting impact on audiences particularly with the widespread sense of anxiety and grief around us.

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What’s new in social

• Snapchat’s AR Donation lenses: In partnership with the United Nations (UN) Foundation’s Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund, Snapchat has launched new AR lenses on the app that are directing Snapchatters to the donation page for the Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund by WHO.
• Facebook’s new app for couples: TUNED, Facebook’s new iOS-only app encourages couples to create an intimate social network between just each other. Through the app, couples can share their mood, exchange music, and create a digital scrapbook.
• YouTube is reportedly working on TikTok competitor called Shorts: Shorts will allow people to upload brief videos into a feed inside the mobile app, much like TikTok, and take advantage of licensed music that YouTube Music has in its catalogue.

  Ads: new changes that make a difference

• Facebook has rolled out a new Experiments section in the Ads Manager that combines results of multiple types of ad campaign tests and allows marketers to A/B test campaigns and measure conversion and brand lift in one place.
• Twitter has removed a privacy feature that allowed all users to stop sharing some private information with advertisers. For most users, that information will now be shared by default and can’t be turned off.
• Google’s updated Inappropriate Content policy disallows content that “…potentially capitalizes on or lacks reasonable sensitivity towards a natural disaster, conflict, death, public health emergency, or other tragic event.”

  Significant digital campaigns

• Sending out a strong message on social distancing, Pizza Hut has altered its logo to Pizza Home, urging people to take social distancing seriously. The new logo is released across the brand’s social media handles.
• To strengthen the fight against COVID-19, Mumbai Police’s campaign #MainBhiMumbaiPolice is asking Mumbaikars to consider themselves an extension of the force by taking on the task of self-policing, thus ensuring that their family members stay inside their homes.
• Under its consumer outreach campaign, itel has launched its new campaign #TogetherWeHelp. The campaign focuses on engaging the audience through games, challenges, interactive activities while they are at home during the lockdown period.

  Agency pitches are evolving

• As remote working becomes the new norm, agencies are adjusting the way they pitch, relying on building human connections from the comfort of home via the computer screen.
• Agencies are finding new opportunities to help clients during the crisis: Marketers are pivoting business toward consulting for some clients instead of just creating marketing campaigns.
• Many are simplifying their pitch decks: To make pitch decks less complicated, agencies are making more concise decks and getting rid of the fluff to get to the point.

  Free courses by brands for upskilling

• To help people deal with the COVID-19 lockdowns, brands are going out of their way to enable their customers during these trying times.
• LinkedIn is now offering six free online courses that can provide mental health and mindfulness guidance for those working to adjust to their new work/life balance. How about starting with the course on Balancing Work & Life?
• Nikon India Pvt. Ltd will be introducing free online photography classes until the end of April. Each class will be conducted by a professional photographer to offer in-depth photography knowledge to help users capture stunning photos and videos.

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Trends evolve so fast that it can be hard to keep up, so we've created this ultimate list of 6 digital marketing trends that will help you stay ahead in the market! Here's what happened this week in digital. LinkedIn launches Spotify playlist

• LinkedIn has recently launched a new playlist to soundtrack the professional development of people in different areas.
• The inspirational playlists have been divided into different topics, for instance, Women at Work, Never Give Up, and Refine and Focus.
• These tracks on Spotify encourage employees and young individuals to keep moving forward in their career pursuits.

"More Together" campaign by Facebook

• "More Together" is a consumer-driven marketing campaign for the Facebook App, which exhibits how people from all walks of life can do more together by making use of their connections on Facebook.
• India is the first country in the Asia Pacific region where such a high decibel campaign has been rolled out.
• The first TVC was themed around Holi, and it displays how young people across the globe are sharing the festive spirit and using the power of their online connections built on the Facebook app.

All-new social updates

• Facebook 'Horizon'- Facebook is now moving into the beta testing phase for the New "Horizon" VR social platform which is a cartoonish VR world where users will be able to establish and connect virtually.
• Reddit's new "Trending Takeover" ad units- These will last up to 24 hours and as per Reddit, its Trending Takeover units have seen 2X above-average CTRs.
• "Lens Web Builder" on Snapchat- A simplified AR lens option that enables businesses to build custom lenses based on pre-made templates and/or Snap's library of 3D objects.

A new removal tool within Google Search Console The tool is responsible for three things:

• Temporarily hides URLs from showing in Google search.
• Shows you which content is not in Google because it is "outdated content".
• Shows the URLs that were filtered by Google SafeSearch adult filter.

Youtube user watching habits for a better video strategy

• Younger generations are more likely to seek out short-form content while older generations prefer watching long-form content.
• Authenticity and accuracy are considered more important than production quality.
• More value is placed on content that relates to personal interests and passions.

Consumer behaviors and trends

• Consumers are moving from eco-status to eco-shame. They will seek out products, services, and experiences that help them alleviate rising eco-shame.
• Smart brands are inclined towards helping those who are exhausted by the pressure of modern life. Get ready for a future in which the mental wellbeing of your employees is just as important as your supply chain.
• Virtual influencers are moving into the main-stream thus, brands are allowing them to inhabit digital channels.

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Breaking down the emerging trends of the week as we start a new month. Twitter & LinkedIn Launching Stories

• LinkedIn has been testing LinkedIn stories internally, they will be rolling out the beta version to the users in the coming months. This format will be coming to the users first then it will be rolled out to business profiles.
• Twitter announced a new sharing format called ‘Fleets’.Fleets will be rolled out in Brazil for IOS and Android users for beta testing.

Snapchat to bring the Olympics to mobile generation

• Snapchat is going for gold with its Olympics coverage which will include curated Stories, behind-the-scenes footage, Snaps from athletes and much more.
• This would be Snapchat’s third partnership with NBC Olympics, following on collaborations for the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
• For younger generations who may not be willing to catch the Olympics on television, Snapchat is offering a viable, and fun alternative way to watch the action.

Marketing Predictions To Look Out For

• Big-Data: It's hard to optimise your digital marketing efforts without using insights and analytics. Data-driven marketing is inevitable to make decisions involving less risk and an enviable increase in revenue.
• Realistic Storytelling: Digital marketing is perceived as unrealistic and it needs to be changed. The audience wants to see rawness and, therefore, marketers have to provide it.
• Pansexual Marketing: Have more gender-neutral approach. Extend your TG & move away from the risk of offending a person by depicting them in a stereotypical gender role.

home renovation brands entering the digital age

• Block Renovation: Offers tech-enabled solutions necessary when renovating bathrooms and kitchens and advertises primarily on social media.
• Remodelmate And Sweeten: Use machine learning to match customers' renovation projects with the right general contractors (GC).
• Havenly: Launched an advertising campaign called “Design & Chill” with Bobby Berk (2.5+ M followers on Instagram) explaining the service Havenly provides in a series of funny commercial spots.

Tesco #SkinTonePlasters marketing campaign

• To better represent the diverse range of ethnicities in this country, Tesco has created its own brand plasters which are available in shades like gentle, medium and dark.
• From deep discounts delivered by email on birthdays to print campaigns delivered directly to the door, customization is key in the new world of marketing.
• The wellness Director of Tesco, Nicola Robinson mentioned, " As one of many largest retailers within the UK, we perceive that we have a duty to make sure our merchandise mirror the range of our clients and colleagues.”

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Don't let the glut of data blind you. Identify and choose wisely where you want to invest your time and money. Here are the latest digital updates from this week. Up your digital game 1. Use Proximity Beacons: Users can receive marketing messages on their devices tied to their geo-location. 2. Derive Practical Value From Data: Don’t let the gulf in the volume of data confuse you. Systematically generate the value of data by implementing practical data recombination and workflow activities. 3. Integrate Conversational Commerce & Chatbots: Chatbots enable the brands to fill the gaps within your business coverage and provide a ‘24X7 available’ face to your organization. SaaS preferred over single-vendor stack 1. As a new generation of SaaS vendors evolved, IT lost most of its control over software choices. 2. With freemium models and low-cost subscriptions, employees and teams could now buy the best suited tools for the job instead of buying software from a single shop. 3. This change worked best for enterprise start-ups. This proves that a well-executed idea can beat an incumbent with a similar product when you put users first. Keep a check on competitors & up your organic game 1. Google It: Search for your competitor’s URL with “site:” in front of it. Click on the ‘Tools’ button once the search appears. You can select the time period and check the frequency of your competitor’s posts on their website. 2. Back-up with backlinks: Under backlink column press ‘View All’ and approach the websites linked to your competitor. Ask them to replace the content with your expanded and updated version. 3. WordPress Sitemap: Check if your competitor’s website is on WordPress, using Yoast plugin. Yoast has the same URL structure for every sitemap which can help you quickly uncover pages and categories a site uses. TikTok steals the spotlight at NBA all-star game 1. TikTok star Jalaiah Harmon showed her ‘Renegade’ dance moves to the world during a break in Sunday night's game. 2. Harmon stole the spotlight at the star-studded night and made everyone swing with her. This makes neglecting the followership of social influencers impossible. 3. The event should be seen as a great example of how modern-age influencers are overpowering the influence of traditional celebrities. Brands caught up in Love 1. The Man Company’s #ForAllKindsOfLove video campaign highlights the various insecurities men experience and emphasizes that each one of them deserves to be loved. 2. Edelweiss Tokyo Life Insurance takes the topicality beyond love with its #ZindagiUnlimited campaign, motivating the audience to give their hearts (read: organs), quite literally, to the ones who need them the most. 3. Parle-G asked Tinder India to set it up on a date and Tinder India matched it with Chaayos. Cross-brand banters like this are highly popular among millenials. Download the PDF version

1. Reply to Instagram stories with GIFs - Now with the minor update, brands can use this feature to run GIF based engagement activities.
2. Snapchat launches Bitmoji TV - Users can now customize and watch episodes of their bitmoji characters undertaking various adventures. The first season of Bitmoji TV has ten episodes that users can find in the Bitmoji TV section within the app.
3. Conversation thread on Twitter gets a makeover - The new layout of the conversation thread makes it easier to find the conversation of the users that you are following.

1. AR in e-commerce has turned out to become an advantageous feature for all online shoppers. The most prominent AR feature has been the virtual make-up tool, implemented by Pinterest.
2. Augmented Reality spending is estimated to rise to $60 billion by 2020. Around 40% of the customers agreed to pay a higher price for products that they get to try through AR.
3. 63% of the customers have mentioned that they will prefer shopping from the sites that have AR features.

1. Keyword stuffing refers to the practice of overusing keywords which tends to damage SEO ranking. Keywords should make up less than 2% of your text.
2. Fix uncompressed Javascript and CSS by removing unnecessary lines, white space and comments from source code.
3. Crawl depth measures the number of clicks that a user takes to reach from their home page to the respective page.

1. Marks and Spencer is launching its first-ever standalone TV ad for its product category of "denim".
2. The campaign coincides with Valentine's Day and thus, puts out the message around falling in love with denim.
3. Print, billboards, and social media will be used to spread the word and also 97% of M&S customers will be retargeted.

1. Muted colour palette - Taking a step back from bold colours and moving towards desaturated colours like black, white and other complementary shades.
2. Minimalist landing pages - This helps with better load times and compatibility with mobile devices. Google rewards pages which check both of these boxes with better spots in search rankings.
3. Three-dimensional still life elements - Representing objects in a 3D space - real or created.
4. This concept creates a highly engaging canvas and representation for product placements.

Breaking down the essential emerging trends of the week as we step into a new month, with new digital strategies and content plans to look forward to. Here's what happened this week #InDigital New feature updates: 1) Google Dataset Search- This tool is useful for all those who require in-depth and quality information to support their research. 2) Employee notification option on LinkedIn - This option is for company page admins to let the employees know about business updates and prompt them to re-share the content. 3) LinkedIn brings Elevate and its company pages together - LinkedIn Elevate’s core functionality will be available in pages by December 2020. New AR try-on feature on Pinterest: 1) Pinterest is all set to launch its new AR feature for users to try on lipstick shades, and see which one looks the best on them. 2) The platform will have a "try it" button which will directly open a reverse facing camera, for the audience to choose the colour shade from the slider. 3) As per the users choice of shades, Pinterest will then show relevant product pins for purchase. Valuable insights 1) Value-based marketing - Around 50% of millennials expect brands to take up their stand on existing social issues and thus, show involvement and concern. 2) Come back of brand awareness - Branded keywords have double conversion rates as compared to non-banded terms. 3) Personalisation to humanisation - 53% of business leaders agreed that they were ready to pay more for personalised recommendations and services as opposed to generic. UI/UX Design trends: 1) Typographic overlap - To help retain lines that stand out. 2) Spotlight on key elements - Empty space so that multiple elements do not fight for attention. 3) Low-key gradients - Visual elements that are subtle and simple with a diluted colour scheme are set to rise in 2020. Important platform queries addressed by Instagram: 1) The type of page we access (business or personal accounts) does not have an impact on the ranking of posts which is why there is no favouritism to the content shared by business accounts. 2) Comments, reshares, likes and views are the most crucial engagement metrics for feed ranking. 3) Instagram feed ranking does not recommend videos or photos. Every individual has a customised feed, which is why the content type is based on the conditioned behaviour of the user on the platform. "Change is a Team Sport" campaign by Adidas: 1) The short film highlights the brand's Superstar shoe and its legacy. 2) Adidas celebrates 50 years of the iconic sneaker by showcasing creators from varied professions, and generations who come together wearing Superstar sneakers, and display teamwork as the driving factor to bring about change in the world. 3) The film is directed and starred by Johan Hill who released a cryptic Instagram post that announces his partnership with the brand. Download the PDF version 

Extend your digital success by staying on top of all the significant trends that can make a difference in your next strategy. Regardless of which platform you use, it is crucial to target your audience with updated measures and strategies. Here's the digital week in a review.

Voice technology, 5G and niche communities

1. Voice technology for conversational AI is all set to evolve and take up the digital space.
2. 5G is expected to bring advancement in the world of entertainment, which will set forth a ground for brands and users to engage more.
3. Dirty Lemon, Glossier and Taco Bell are ranked as the three most significant online communities by Zyper, a peer-to-peer marketing platform.

Trends in SEO

1. Zero click searches are gaining prominence in 2020, which is why featured snippets are expected to rise.
2. E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) score will continue to matter when it comes to SEO ranking.
3. Use schema markup to highlight the elements on your site with various ‘tags’, thus telling search engines what these elements are.

Snapchat's deal with NBC

1. The deal with Snapchat will provide NBC an access to younger audience, while Snapchat will get a chance to entertain its audience with exclusive content.
2. The 2020 Olympics partnerships includes 4 Snapchat programmes which are originally produced by NBC.
3. Two of the shows will be showcased in real time, while NBC plans to produce more than 70 episodes for Snapchat.

Authenticity over ideal deception of self through Instagram filters

1. The AR improvements have resulted in a reduction of likes because people are more inclined towards authentic content.
2. Adding filters on Instagram stories has also shown a negative impact on an individual's confidence.
3. Instagram is expected to roll out a filter to block the posting of highly edited images.

Tiktok overtakes Facebook

1. Tiktok and its Chinese alternative Douyin gathered 740 million downloads last year and now becomes the second most downloaded app after Whatsapp.
2. Short video content came in the trend because of Tik Tok.
3. The only restrictions faced by this platform is monetization challenges and resistance shown by US lawmakers over privacy and security issues.

Emoji reactions for DMs on Twitter

1. A user can now share a simple emoji response to any message within a thread on Twitter.
2. To add a reaction, one needs to double tap on the message and pick an emoji from the pop-up. The feature also has an undo option via which the message can be deleted.
3. This feature will help Twitter increase the engagement level and make the conversations interactive.

Methods to work on B2B campaigns

1. This year B2B strategies should have more user-generated content because it has more influence on the buying decision of the consumers than email campaigns and search engines results.
2. Industry influencer marketers are more likely to increase returns than traditional forms of marketing.
3. 71% of the consumers are interested to be a part of loyalty programs that offer discounts or free products.

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It’s honestly quite impressive how far marketing automation has progressed in the last decade. It seems like only yesterday that digital avenues entered and severely disrupted the marketing scene. Now, not only are all the digital channels being actively utilized by the majority of brands that are adopting new-age marketing trends, but these efforts are also being automated quite extensively. There was a time when resources were hired for the sole purpose of sending emails, posting social media updates, and following up through other channels. Now, all these tasks can be accomplished by a single entity that utilizes marketing automation tools to schedule and automate all of these actions. With the dawn of a new year, marketing automation is only bound to improve with a whole host of new and improved processes that will permeate this particular vertical of marketing. Here are some of the major marketing automation trends that should be adopted by marketers. 1.  Advanced applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Artificial intelligence has always been at the forefront of marketing automation, and 2020 is no different. Social media tracking and lead nurturing will reach new heights in the coming year as this technology continues to reach new heights. On top of these developments, AI technology is also becoming more accessible to masses, which implies that a higher proportion of brands will have the option to utilize AI technology to improve their marketing efforts. AI is also rising in the Programmatic advertising space. It helps marketers in buying ads efficiently and targeting the audience in a more specific way. Hence, the overall cost is reduced leading to higher ROI. 2. Personalized content offerings Content marketing has turned into one of the most effective and prevalent marketing strategies of the 21st century. Brands all over the world are utilizing this strategy by nailing down appropriate content distribution channels that will help them target the proper audience. Keeping this in mind, marketing automation can help companies identify customers who are interested in or have purchased a particular product or service. By doing so, relevant content can be provided to these consumers basis their buying behavior to improve conversion rates and hence sales. 3. Predictive lead scoring Leads are a dime-a-dozen in the marketing world, which makes it essential to nail down a particular system that can help brands differentiate the legitimate leads from the fancy ones. There are many metrics that’ll help a person identify this scoring system, and the latest innovations in marketing automation will aid these companies in analyzing all the different factors such as consumer behavior, target demographics, and social media interactions – to name a few. Lead scoring will help in qualifying the leads throughout the sales funnel i.e if it’s an MQL or a SQL and hence, the right marketing or sales actions can be taken on those leads basis the scores defined. This laser-sharp marketing will help businesses to target leads in the most efficient manner. 4. Prominence of chatbots We’ve already talked about the importance that Artificial Intelligence will hold in 2019, and the best way to illustrate this is by talking about one such application of this technology that has taken over the marketing world by storm – chatbots. Smart chatbot usage has increased interactivity by leaps and bounds, as seen in the fact that over 60% of users who were pinged by a chatbot on Facebook Messenger have replied back! It’s a great statistic that goes to show that chatbots are here to stay. 5. Cross-channel marketing becoming the norm In a nutshell, cross-channel marketing refers to the integration of different forms of marketing and making their respective teams work together, as opposed to working in a silo. This is imperative for content marketing to succeed, since – as discussed before – the term itself is incredibly varied and covers various elements such as social media marketing, mobile marketing, email marketing, and everything else along the same lines. To make sure that all these forms of marketing work together in harmony in 2020, it’s important to ensure that cross-channel marketing takes precedence. 2020 is poised to bring about many new and improved trends in the realm of marketing automation. The trends discussed above are just skimming the waters when one talks about the sheer possibilities enabled by marketing automation, which will play a dominant role in augmenting marketing strategies and ROI  across all industries and markets.