In the week that Apple neared a $1trn valuation, Kim Kardashian-West met President Trump, and Heathrow got the go-ahead for its third runway, what was the biggest news in the digital marketing world? Let’s take a look at some of the latest stories.
CMOs and CFOs are Seeing Eye-to-Eye On Marketing Budgets
According to new research by Wipro Digital, CMOs and CFOs are now agreeing on digital marketing budgets more than ever before.
Despite this, the survey also found that 36 per cent of CFOs thought click through rates and impressions are ‘vanity metrics’, whereas 22 per cent said marketing teams did not measure concrete outcomes. CMOs on the other hand said that there was a lack of available functionality (47 per cent) and that it is difficult to find common metrics as not all vendors are able to measure in the same way.
There Are More Touchpoints And Channels In The Customer Journey Than Ever Before
A new report into the state of customer journeys from Kitewheel has found that brands are extending personalisation across every single touchpoint and there has been tremendous growth in ad tech and IoT interactions – 204 per cent and 141 per cent respectively between 2014 and 2017.
‘Ad tech’ refers to data management platforms, paid social, websites, ad targeting, ad group suppression, and real-time personalised ads.
Furthermore, they found that advertisers are measuring less in areas that don’t translate directly into conversions and therefore there has been a 58 per cent drop in social media interactions during the same period. However, mobile app interactions are up 50 per cent, showing this is a key priority for brands.
Instagram Is Considering Introducing Long-Form Video
The Wall Street Journal has reported this week that Instagram is considering long-form video. Current Instagram videos are limited to one minute, unless a live stream, but new plans could see hour-long videos made with publishers and other creators.
Instagram has declined to comment on the rumour.
UK Data Regulator Says Online Political Advertising To Be Reformed
Elizabeth Denham, head of the Information Commissioner’s Office (Britain’s chief data regulator), has said that a soon to be released report “will change the behaviour and compliance of all actors in the political campaigning space” after the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
She said:
“We have seen that the behavioural advertising ecosystem has been applied across political campaigning to influence how we may vote. I am deeply concerned about the fact that this has happened without due legal or ethical considerations of the impacts on our democratic system.”
This would mean social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter would have increased responsibility for what features on their platforms. As Denham said:
“Online platforms can no longer say that they are merely a platform for content. […] They must take responsibility for the material hosted on their sites in future.”
For more news updates, guides and opinion pieces, take a look at a few more of our articles.