Beating All Odds Through Digital

The COVID-19 has left all brands confused and worried regarding marketing activities with the lockdown in place. Going digital is a great way to stay connected with your audience at this time, not only to market your offerings and drive online traffic but also to engage with your audience on a human level by offering them quirky, lighthearted, and emotionally engaging content. Let’s have a look at some of the unique trends of the week we observed revolving around digital - Digital ‘Mauke Pe Chauka’

• The film industry is undoubtedly one of the severely impacted entertainment industries amid the pandemic. Cinemas have been shut and will continue to be so for an indefinite period of time, which just spells bad news. However, with the growing relevance of OTT streaming platforms, digital may just be the way to go for the film industry. Direct to home releases could be the norm going forward with the OTT platforms serving as the new giants of entertainment.
• SEO - Search Engine Optimization - is a critical component of any digital marketing strategy. In a period where target audiences are spending more and more time on their devices, their usage of search engines is bound to increase as well. Brands must strive to adopt new-age SEO practices in order to ensure visibility. You could start with updating your schema & add monitoring of search demand & social media mentions while planning for SEO.

Learning On LinkedIn  With extra time to reskill and upskill one’s capabilities, the popularity of online certifications and courses has shot up amid the lockdown. One of the popular learning platforms facilitating this process is LinkedIn Learning. Here are some key points and trends observed recently - 

• Upskilling activities have been adopted across different verticals and departments of organizations, with course material available for nearly every subject or domain. It is estimated that sales, purchase, operations, health-care services, and administrative employees had the most significant interest in these LinkedIn Learning courses.
• What’s intriguing is that the inclination towards online learning is not limited to the corporate world. It was observed that government employees, as well as students pursuing their higher education, witnessed sharp increases of 85% and 67% respectively.
• With new working norms in place, courses like ‘Time Management: WFH’ were among the most popular learning modules on a global scale. This shows that individuals are keen to adapt to the ‘new normal’ and are looking at ways to strike the ideal work-life balance.

Ready, Strategize, Go

• Strategize - The post-COVID-19 scenario is going to lead to changed consumer behaviour, different spending habits, and new laws of demand & supply. Redesigning thinking and strategies at user-centric level keeping the new normal in mind will be critical. The pandemic has brought about the need for brands to connect with their audiences on a more human and personal level. Helping individuals identify with brands with stellar storytelling and humanising content is a great way to engage them positively.

• Reach The At-Home Audience - With a strict lockdown in place - people have more time on their hands to browse digital platforms. Social media platforms are obvious beneficiaries, however, even OTT & gaming platforms have seen huge spikes in activity.

• Campaigns - Now is the perfect time to run engaging and fun campaigns to keep your target audience in the loop. Business activity may be declining across a plethora of industries but now is the time to build and maintain relationships way beyond commercial transactions through social media campaigns.

• Adapt Where Needed - There are new technological innovations springing up nearly every day which can be used to drive your marketing strategies or campaigns. For example, interaction with consumers through Whatsapp Business API accounts or even website/application chatbots are a great way to curb worries and questions of your users.

Lets Talk Tik-Tok

• Platforms like Instagram and Youtube have been the popular domains encouraging influencer marketing, however, until very recently, there was a new player in the market - Tiktok. The rise and popularity of Tik-Tok as a content creation, as well as a content consumption platform in India, has been well-documented. India is the biggest driver of TikTok installs, generating a staggering 611 million downloads - a massive 30.3% of the total downloads across the globe.
• With such a large audience, brands must look at it as opportunity to interact with users on the platform through influencers or even create their own unique content to grab attention.
• Collaborating with specialists in the field is a great way to kickstart a brand journey on TikTok as this guarantees stellar co-created content which can be cross-shared on both the creator’s account as well as the brand’s account.

TikTok Insider Here are some more key figures and facts highlighting the role played by TikTok as an entertainment platform nowadays - 

• 38 minutes - the average time a user spends on TikTok on mobile
• 350 Billion average monthly video views
• Nearly 44% of the users are in the age group of 18-24 year
• Around 11% of the users are in the age group of 35-44 year
• Almost 10% of the users are in the age group of 25-34 year
• 1 of every 3 users is likely to participate in a #Hashtag challenge

ARM Worldwide Co-Founder, Honey Singh, also threw some light on the popularity of TikTok here Digital platforms are so widespread and popular now, it is imperative to stay up-to-date with new developments and innovations elevating their uses and see how you reach business goals and objectives. Now is the time to embrace digital as the essential cog of your marketing activities, if you hadn’t already!

Rule The Digital Realm

Companies across the globe are slowly coming to terms with the volatile business environment that we are surrounded with due to COVID-19 pandemic. Some companies have temporarily frozen their operations, and some have decided to implement a digital-driven working system, and how you approach it should be a primary focus in these worrying times ahead- in case it is not already.

We do not know for how long this shall last, but you need to understand that the internet is the only place that is not quarantined for quarantined customers, and sooner the brands realise this the better, you also need to explore the realms of it. If you are in a business that requires you to go out and meet potential customers face-to-face, adapting may mean exploring web or social media platforms.

Now that we are talking about digital transformation, there is an upside to COVID-19, which is the consumer behaviour change. People from the age bracket of 35 to 44, increased their internet consumption by 11% whereas for millennials it went by 5-7% and some of the prominent platforms being Facebook (+18%), Instagram (+20%), and Whatsapp (+17%) have all witnessed rises in the number of sessions per week per user as per the research done by Nielsen Report on COVID-19’s impact on the changing landscape in media.

Keeping the aforementioned in mind the brands should really start targeting these platforms and being said that, and they should also make sure that you spend your budget wisely in order to attain the positive ROI and take advantage of the lower acquisition costs due to less competition. And, the content that you plan on posting make sure that it is ‘infotaining’- contextually informative, relevant and entertaining. Last but not least, don’t forget to target outranking shares, it is a portfolio bid strategy which will help your ads outrank ads from other domains.

Evolving trends for emails

• Witness a lift of 5-10% in the open rate by disseminating messages on Mondays.

To a lot of people, the general consensus is that you should avoid sending emails on Mondays. Why? That is because people are bummed out about the end of the weekend, and they march into work flooded with emails that they have collected over the past few days. And what is the first thing they do? Delete those messages. And, that is your time to shine. Hence, you witness the lift of 5-10% in the open rate.

• Emails with up to 300 words get a CTR of 2.5% now, so plan the message accordingly.

To begin with, the open rate is the percentage of people who open your email, and the click-through rate is the percentage of people who click the link that is present in your email. And, out of the two, the click-through rate is the most important metric for lead generation. Hence, to make it a success, it should have up to 300 words, and you can even include audio, video, image. 

• Subtle urgency words like free, WFH jobs/career, now perform better and increase the open rate for B2B (28%) and B2C (32%) messages.

Pre-pandemic words like urgent, alert, hurry, serious and other buzzwords worked well. However, post-pandemic, words like WFH, jobs/career, and you/your are the go-to words to create a stir for B2B, whereas for B2C, the top subtle urgency words are free, mom, % off, you/your, delivery, WFH, and just for – in that order.

Tricks for clicks

• Research for new keywords is essential now as Google released a new core algorithm update.

This has become such a trend due to the uncertainty that has been caused after the rollout of each update. Google is known for rolling out hundreds of core algorithms each passing year followed by search engines announcing a few that have a far-reaching impact on the SERP.

• Encourage clicks with relevant value propositions but don’t use anxiety or fear around the pandemic to sell.

Content is king, and it will continue to be in the future as well. Publish content that is catered to your target audience and is also relevant. But refrain from using the feeling of anxiety or fear to sell your product/idea/service. People are already feeling cynical about things; brands making them realise the same sentiment is unnecessary.

• Judge the negative keywords right. You may set COVID-19 related terms as negative, but 78% of people don’t mind general ads near coronavirus content.

The advertising industry is no stranger to the concept of disruption and turmoil. They have successfully overcome economic pressures, political tensions and even natural disasters, but most of these episodes are short-lived. Coronavirus is another battle that the industry is currently facing, and keeping the stats in mind brands should play around it a bit and see where it takes them.

The show must go on

• Eva Longoria recently shot a L’Oreal ad herself at home on her iPhone, making it more relatable to the audience than ever.

Since the onset of the pandemic along with self-isolation, demand for at-home hair colour has also peaked, heavily driven by an expansion of eCommerce transactions bringing back the users into the at-home hair colour category. 

L’oreal Paris saw the opportunity and grabbed it. They unveiled their debut commercial which was created at home, directed and starring by L’Oréal Paris spokesperson Eva Longoria, with support from McCann Paris and New York. The message behind the ad was to prove that staying at home is no barrier to bring out the best in your hair.

• Honda releases the first car commercial that is written, directed, edited and to be watched at home.

An array of companies have been promoting awareness regarding social distancing, work from home or just simply staying at home. Some carmakers have even changed their logos temporarily to support this. However, Honda took it to the other level by coming up with a commercial in which they are trying to emphasise on the significance of staying at home during this pandemic. The Honda UAE hired an advertising agency and shot the commercial with a scale model of the Honda Civic sedan. The commercial was shot entirely indoors.

• Porta takes a hilarious turn on the increase in birth rates during global emergencies with its #StayAtHomeBabies campaign.

One thing that we all have learnt from the past curfews is that when couples are forced to stay at home for longer periods of time, the number of births peak roughly nine months later. Keeping that in mind, German furniture retailer, Porta, used this statistic and created a cheeky film with an equally cheeky offer: Buy a bed now, and with the #StayAtHomeBabies campaign, you can get a free crib nine months later.

Lead through the crisis

by Ritesh Singh, Co-Founder & MD, #ARM Worldwide

• Observe the effect of the crisis on the economy & analyse the new-age macro norms
• Orientation of organisational activities to minimise the impact of the current changes.
• Decisions should be tested and their flaws, if any, identified.
• Act upon your decisions to see the output and feasibility of your planning.
• The Loop will help you evaluate your observation, orientation, decisions and actions.

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Unifying Digitally The Social Factor

• Entertain your audience with gaming formats as Twitter reports 89% spike in conversations around games on the platform.
• Convert your video-chats into podcasts with Spotify’s Anchor. Use this for interviews, conversations with co-hosts and for creating branded podcasts.
• To make trade easier for the grocery stores and MSMEs, Facebook partnered with JIO to launch Whatsapp shop.

Go With Google

• In an attempt to make the source URL more noticeable, Google is testing showing the URL, in black, under the clickable title of the snippet.
• Google has improved the edit pane, added shared budgets and optimisation scores in Ads Editor enabling brands to enhance effectiveness of ad performance.
• Businesses can now add their phone numbers now in Google Ads via new ‘call ad’ snippet & engage with potential customers & generate more leads.

The Brand Connect

• ‘Neki Nahi Rukegi’ Ad by Surf Excel pays tribute to frontline coronavirus warriors, highlighting the fact that nothing can stop a person from doing good deeds.
• Adidas looks forward to the world’s return to exercising outdoors with its ‘Ready For Sport’ campaign.
• Durex showed people that only love would get you to see through the lockdown via a content series.

Fighting Together

• Serving 15000 doctors & 200 Hospital, Amazfit & #WorkForDoctors campaign from #ARM Worldwide garnered over 6M views.
• We launched two digital films requesting people to ‘not just work from home but work for doctors’ backed by 24*7 support team.
• The campaign moved beyond social media and received support from IndiaPost making the supplies easily accessible to the doctors.

Humanize Customer Engagement

• Embrace a life cycle mindset. Learn when customers are likely to engage, what experiences appeal to them and approach them accordingly.
• Set clear expectations with your customers. Utilise modern messaging to communicate what to expect and where things stand in the moment.
• Don't stress on your campaigns in terms of channel alone, instead foreground what you’re trying to communicate. Download the PDF version

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.