Archive for the ‘Social Marketing’ Category

LinkedIn Posts Record Full-Year Revenue Result, Continues To See Strong Growth in Active Sessions – Social Media Today

LinkedIn has seen another quarter of 'record engagement' while it's also surpassed $10 billion in annual revenue for the first time, according to the latest data from parent company Microsoft.

As you can see here, LinkedIn continues to see both active sessions and in-app engagement numbers rise, while its revenue performance is increasing in line with that actiivity:

As per Microsoft::

"LinkedIn revenue increased 46% (up 42% in constant currency) driven by Marketing Solutions growth of 97% (up 91% in constant currency)"

With more people turning to the platform as the US economy looks to get back on track, with the vaccine roll out opening up more areas, that's seen more brands seeking to connect with decision-makers via LinkedIn's ad tools, boosting Marketing Solutions performance, while it's also benefited from the shift to online events in place of physical meet-ups.

LinkedIn has also been making a more concerted effort to connect with relevant brands, and showcase its reach capacity, which is clearly paying off, based on these numbers.

Additionally, LinkedIn has also surpassed another significant milestone, with platform revenue now exceeding $10 billion for the first time in the fiscal year, up 27%.

As per Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella:

Our results show that when we execute well and meet customers needs in differentiated ways in large and growing markets, we generate growth, as weve seen in our commercial cloud and in new franchises weve built, including gaming, security, and LinkedIn, all of which surpassed $10 billion in annual revenue over the past three years.

Overall, Microsoft revenue increased by 21% year-on-year for the quarter, rising to $46.2 billion, while Microsoft's full fiscal year revenue was $168.1 billion, up 18%, underlining the ongoing strength of the tech giant.

With more businesses becoming more reliant on digital connectivity, especially during the pandemic, all of the major tech players have benefited, and Microsoft's various divisions are generating strong results, with LinkedIn now becoming a key contributor to that growth.

Which wasn't always the case. Back in 2016, when Microsoft acquired LinkedIn for $26.2 billion, the professional social network was on track to generate $3.7 billion for the full year. At that time, LinkedIn had around 430 million members, which it's now increased to 774 million, while it's continued to report 'record levels of engagement' virtually every quarter since the Microsoft merger.

That's helped boost overall ad exposure, while the platform has also developed a range of new ad tools, particularly in terms of video content (according to LinkedIn, itsusers are 20x more likelyto share a video on the platform than any other type of post), which has increased brand opportunities to use the platform to connect with relevant audiences.

Ideally, of course, LinkedIn would provide more specific data on active user accounts, as 'members'is not representative of the amount of people that are logging in and scrolling through the app each day. But still, the data available does suggest that LinkedIn is on the right track in terms of improving user engagement and boosting membership, which may be worth considering in your process.

You can check out LinkedIn's full Q3 2021 performance update here.

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LinkedIn Posts Record Full-Year Revenue Result, Continues To See Strong Growth in Active Sessions - Social Media Today

Blenders Eyewear Moves Forward With Its International Expansion Strategy – The Ritz Herald

Blenders Eyewear, part of Safilo Group a worldwide leader in the design, manufacturing, and distribution of eyewear takes a further step in its growth and development projects to fuel international expansion outside the US. Following the go-live of the brands e-commerce platform in Canada and Australia in the first quarter of 2021, Blenders will now enter the United Kingdom and Ireland, targeting Europes largest e-commerce audiences.

Blenders Eyewears products are inspired by the California active lifestyle, particularly appealing to a broad range of consumers with a focus on Millennials and Generation Z. Shoppers across both regions will now have full access to Blenders popular styles, which have been growing rapidly in the US market in recent years.

Blenders Eyewear represents a big part of our commitment to a 360 digital transformation, which consists of three fundamental components: the launch of the latest technologies in B2B and CRM fields, the strengthening of our digital and social marketing capabilities and the D2C channel, declared Angelo Trocchia, Safilo Group Chief Executive Officer. Since its acquisition, Blenders has been a key pillar accelerating the growth of the D2C channel. The expansion into new markets is in line with our initial strategy and the speed at which we are doing it is exceeding our initial expectations. We are confident it will allow us to see the brands strong business development at a global level.

Its time for us to formally introduce our brand to the European market, said CEO and Founder of Blenders Eyewear Chase Fisher. The consumer is fashion-forward, which is an ideal match for our bold, high quality looks which guarantee an instant cool factor. Our digitally native business model allows us to introduce our brand fast to new markets and we are on a mission to build a thriving global community that inspires people to live life in forward motion.

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Blenders Eyewear Moves Forward With Its International Expansion Strategy - The Ritz Herald

French luxury footwear brand unveils the worlds first of its kind, customizable luxury sneaker – FashionUnited UK

One sneaker, 100 looks

DANIEL ESSA, the French luxury footwear brand, has announced the global launch of itsSS22 collection of customizable luxury sneakers, Nous.

The new collection, Nous, comes as an innovative response to the global state of thefashion industry. Following a challenging and unprecedented year, Founder and CreativeDirector, Daniel Essa, created the first of its kind luxury sneaker in the world that offerslongevity and versatility for shoppers and a risk-free choice for retailers. Drawing from his inspiration of the of the 20 th century leading German artist, Imi Knoebel, Essa designed a trend-proof sneaker that is that offers endless possibilities with its innovative design featuring handcrafted leather straps.

The first of their kind Nous sneakers are available in two colors Alabaster and Onyx.However, each pair features 8 hand painted leather straps that can be easily changed withthe additional strap packs available in a variety of basic and fun colors. In addition, thebrand is launching an exclusive line of straps made of Swarovski Crystals. The Nous sneakers feature unprecedented luxury details. From the form, that is 40% lighter than any luxury sneaker on the market to the hidden back stitching techniques used to connect both side panels in a minimal and seamless way.

Commenting on the launch, Daniel Essa, said: Our new Nous concept is all about us andour daily footwear needs. This sneaker is trend-proof, making it your safe ticket for everyseason, year on year. We are giving the customer a canva to paint in their own way andshow their unique style. This collection reflects the brands vision to connect with customers on a personal level. We are offering more than just a sneaker. Were offering an experience that allows customers to instantly personalize their sneakers and transform the shoes for any occasion.

For the very first time, we have created a truly timeless sneaker. A design that is minimal,comfortable, and light. A design that allows customers to express their individuality andtheir style with its customisable genuine leather straps. He added.

The campaign, that was shot in Madrid by Photographer Edwin Cano, highlights diversity thebrand continues to influence and the possibilities that the new collection offers. The launch of the collection kicked off in the Middle East in partnership with Level Shoes, the luxury footwear concept store developed by Chalhoub Group.

DANIEL ESSA is a French luxury footwear brand founded by Syrian designer and Creative Director, Daniel Essa, in Paris in 2017. Handmade in the worlds most prestigious ateliers in Italy, the brand challenges traditional shoemaking craftsmanship with a minimalistic yet complex approach to create effortless French style embedded with fine Italian craftsmanship. The DANIEL ESSA brand aims to create a purpose driven ethical business model, combining profitable growth with positive contribution to the planet, society and community.

Daniel Essa, award winning designer and creative director of his namesake brand, haslaunched.

Read more about DANIEL ESSA on the brandpage: fashionunited.com/companies/daniel-essa

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French luxury footwear brand unveils the worlds first of its kind, customizable luxury sneaker - FashionUnited UK

In growth marketing, creative is the critical X factor – TechCrunch

Jonathan MartinezContributor

As we move toward a privacy-centric, less targeted future of growth marketing, the biggest lever will become creative on paid social channels such as the Facebooks of the world. The loss of attribution from our good friend iOS 14.5 has accelerated this trend, but channels have increasingly placed efforts toward automating their ad platforms.

Due to this, I believe that every growth marketing engine should have a proper creative testing framework in place be it a seed-stage startup or a behemoth like Google.

After three years at Postmates, consulting for various startups, and most recently at Uber, Ive seen the landscape of marketing change in a multitude of ways. However, what were seeing now is being orchestrated by factors out of our control, causing a dawn of shifts unlike anything Ive seen. Creative has subsequently risen to become the most powerful lever in a paid social account.

If youre looking to leverage the power of creative and succeed with paid social marketing, youre thinking right. What you need is a creative testing framework: A structured and consistent way to test new creative assets.

Heres a breakdown of the pieces a creative testing framework needs to be successful:

Testing creative should be a constant and iterative process that follows a defined testing schedule. A goal and structure can be as simple as testing five new creative assets per week. Inversely, it can be as complex as testing 60 new assets consisting of multiple themes and copy variations.

For a lower spending account, the creative testing should be leaner due to limited event signal and vice versa with a higher spending account. The most important aspect is that the testing continues to move the needle as you search for your next champion asset.

4 themes x 3 variants per theme x 5 copy variations = 60 assets. Image Credits: Jonathan Martinez

After setting a testing schedule, define the core themes of your business and vertical rather than testing a plethora of random ideas. This applies to the creative asset as well as the copy and what the key value props are to your product or service. As you start to analyze the creative data, youll find it easier to decide what to double down on or cut from testing with this structure. Think of this as a wireframe that you either expand or trim throughout testing sprints.

For a fitness app like MyFitnessPal, it can be structured as follows:

Its vital to make sure you have a channel-specific approach, as each one will differ in creative best practices along with testing capabilities. What works on Facebook may not work on Snapchat or the numerous other paid social channels. Dont be discouraged if creative between channels perform differently, although I do recommend parity testing. If you already have the creative asset for one channel, it doesnt hurt to resize and format for the remaining channels.

Equally important to the creative is proper event selection and a statistically significant threshold to abide by throughout all testing. When selecting an event to use for creative testing, its not always possible to use your north-star metric depending on how high your CACs are. For example, if youre selling a high-ticket item and the CACs are in the hundreds, it would take an enormous amount of spend to reach stat-sig on each creative asset. Instead, pick an event thats more upper funnel and a strong indicator of a users likelihood of converting.

Using a more upper-funnel event leads to faster learnings (blue line). Image Credits: Jonathan Martinez

Its important to select a percentage that stays consistent across all creative testing when deciding on which statistically significant percentage to use. As a rule of thumb, I like to use a certainty of 80%+, because it allows for enough confirmation along with the ability to make quicker decisions. A great (and free) online calculator is Neil Patels A/B Testing Significance Calculator.

Youre scrolling through a social feed, a sleek gold pendant catches your eye, but all the messaging has is the brand name and product specifications. It hooked your attention, but what did it do to reel you in? Think about it: What are you doing to not only hook, but reel people in with creative the make or break it factor in paid social growth marketing?

Creative testing is only getting tougher for mobile campaigns as iOS 14.5 obfuscates user data, but that doesnt equal impossible and simply means we need to get craftier. There are a variety of hacks that can be implemented to help gain clear insight on how creative is performing some may not last forever and others may be timeless.

Amid all the privacy restrictions, we still have access to a huge population of users on Android that we should take advantage of. Instead of running all creative tests on iOS, Android can be used as a clear way to gather insights, as privacy restrictions havent rolled out on those devices yet. The data gathered from Android tests can then be taken directionally and applied to iOS campaigns. Its only a matter of time until Android data is also at the mercy of data restrictions, so use this workaround to inform iOS campaigns now.

If running Android campaigns isnt a viable option, another quick and easy solution is to throw up a website lead form to gauge the conversion rate from creative asset to a completed form. The user experience will certainly not be nearly as amazing as evergreen, but this can be used to gain insight for a short period of time (and small percentage of budget).

When crafting the lead form, think of questions that are both qualifying and would indicate someone completing your north-star event on the evergreen experience. After running people through the lead form, communications can be sent to convert them so ad dollars are being put to good use.

The testing efforts for creative asset types should differ widely by account stage and can be broken down into three Is: imitation, iteration, innovation.

The type of creative testing should vary over time. Image Credits: Jonathan Martinez

The earlier an account stage, the more your creative direction should rely on whats proven to work by other advertisers. These other advertisers have spent thousands proving performance with their assets, and you can gain strong insight from them. As time passes, you can slightly slow derivation from other advertisers while focusing on iterating on the best performers. If I had to place a percentage, 80% of the effort should be on imitation early on. Iteration will naturally gain steam as winners are deemed, and innovation will be the final, heavy-lagging prong.

This isnt to say that innovation cant be attempted early on if there are great ideas, but generally, a more mature company can afford to spend heaps to validate their innovative ideas. Whether you have an in-house design team or are working with freelancers, itll also be much easier to spin up 50 variations than it will be to think of and design 50 different innovative assets. Imitating and iterating will make your early testing exponentially more efficient.

Brainstorming and trying to imagine the most beautiful, eye-catching, hook-inducing creative doesnt always happen within seconds, let alone minutes or hours. This is where utilizing competitor insights comes into play.

The most abundant resource is the Facebook Ads Library, because it contains all the creative assets every advertiser is using across the platform. It always surprises me how few actually know of this free and powerful tool.

When browsing through competitors or best-in-class advertisers in this library, a sign of a great performing creative is how long an advertiser has been running specific assets. How does one find that? The date of when an advertiser started running their creative is stamped conveniently on each asset this is beyond powerful. I can spend hours scanning through creative assets, and each advertiser provides even more intel and inspiration.

Creative should be at the top of the list as you think of where to place efforts on your paid social growth marketing. We must have a hacky mindset as data becomes more obscure, but with that mindset comes separating the winners from the losers. The types of strategies put in motion will vary over time, but what wont vary is the importance on strong creative, the make it or break it factor to success.

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In growth marketing, creative is the critical X factor - TechCrunch

Outlook on the Digital Marketing Software Global Market to 2026 – Rise in Social Media Marketing and Mobile Marketing Presents Opportunities -…

DUBLIN, July 23, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Global Digital Marketing Software Market (2021-2026) Solution, Type, Service, Organization Size, Industry Vertical, Deployment, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of COVID-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Digital Marketing Software Market is estimated to be USD 68.7 Bn in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 150 Bn by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 16.9%.

Key factors, such as the growing need for increasing sales efficiency and optimizing marketing campaigns have led to be a driving factor for the growth of the digital marketing software market. Moreover, the growing demand for marketing analytics followed by the increasing demand for automation of routine activities is further supporting the growth of the market.

However, factors such as lack of skilled labor in handling the market software and security concerns are likely to restrain the market growth of the digital marketing software market. Moreover, technological advancement with the deployment of cloud-based deployments and growing market demand for social media marketing is further likely to create opportunities for the market.

The Global Digital Marketing Software Market is segmented further based on Solution, Type, Service, Organization Size, Industry Vertical, Deployment, and Geography.

Recent Developments

1. Adobe has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Workfront, the leading work management platform for marketers, for USD 1.5 billion. 9th November 2020

2. Salesforce has planned to acquire Slack Technologies, Inc., an innovative enterprise communications platform. This acquisition shall enable Slack to integrate with Salesforce cloud and bring about changes in the enterprise software platform. 1st December 2020

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes a Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.

Story continues

Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Digital Marketing Software Market.

The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 force model and the Ansoff Matrix. The impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report.

The report also contains the competitive analysis using Competitive Quadrant, the analyst's proprietary competitive positioning tool.

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Need for increasing sales efficiency and optimizing marketing campaigns

Growing demand for marketing analytics

Increasing demand for automating routine marketing activities to reduce cost

Restraints

Opportunities

Challenges

Companies Mentioned

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/2plaxo

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210723005328/en/

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Outlook on the Digital Marketing Software Global Market to 2026 - Rise in Social Media Marketing and Mobile Marketing Presents Opportunities -...