Marketing Junto | Alternatives To Big Tech

Editorial Note: I've decided to move Marketing Junto back into the fold with Goldstein Media. So it will no longer be hosted at MarketingJunto.com. The archives will live on in the Newsletter Vault here on GoldsteinMedia.com. Please bear with me as I iron out all the kinks. Thanks, Seth -- PS. This issue is coming out a day early, because I'm taking the day off tomorrow for my birthday. 🚀🎂

With Twitter going to Elon Musk, Google taking away Universal Analytics, and Facebook deciding to not go into the podcasting arena, internet users have to wonder, is there a better way.

When society relies on big tech for everything, we're at their mercy when they decide to sunset something.

Recently Google has decided that it wants everyone on it's new GA4 analytics platform. So they gave warning that they are sunsetting Universal Analytics in 2023 and will only be supporting GA4 which is completely different. Site owners and web professionals alike roared in anger over this decision. But it's free and controlled by Google, who is notorious for sunsetting tools that people like and use on a regular basis.

This is why, I've started looking for alternatives to big tech. For Twitter there's Mastodon, for Instagram there's Pixelfed, for Facebook there's plenty of services that I haven't looked into yet. And finally for Google Analytics, as I've highlighted before there are quite a few great alternatives that I'm using right now. The newest is Matomo.Cloud, which is the most full featured and Google Universal Analytics-like.

Matomo can be self-hosted, but I opted to have them host it for me. It's not too expensive either. I'm playing ~$20 USD for it a month. Best part, I'm not the product, since I'm paying for it, my data is my data. The data is hosted in the European Union, and because I can self-host it, it's portable to your own instance if you so choose to go that direction.

So what's the point to this ramble? I'm glad you asked. Now that it's quite clear (and it actually has been for a while, to be honest), that big tech doesn't have its users in mind when it makes changes, it's time to take our data and find alternatives.

What do you think? Hit that reply button and let me know.

Web Finds Of The Week

• Better reporting can improve email performance
  Email isn't going away. If anything it's growing in popularity with marketers. This article highlights how better reporting can lead to better email marketing  and better results. It's a quick read and has some actionable tactics.
• Aggregation is key to the new Martech Map
  An interesting article about how the landscape of marketing technology has changed over the years from being in one single ecosystem to integrating and aggregating across different platforms
• WordPress 6.0 Field Guide
  It's hard to believe we're almost at WordPress 6.0. It seems like it was just yesterday when Matt Mullenweg was announcing Gutenberg the block editor in 5.0.
• Apple, Google, and Microsoft want to kill the password with “Passkey” standard
  Death to all passwords. How great does that sound? Instead Apple, Google, and Microsoft want to use your phone to be the access key. Interesting to say the least.
• Musk’s Twitter deal could face national security probe into foreign investors
  This could get interesting. Here's hoping it doesn't go through. It probably will, though.
• LinkedIn Changes How It Ranks Content
  LinkedIn is putting control back into the hands of the user. Less algorithm with my social media please!
• Meta Expands Ad Formats And Tools For Small Businesses
  Zuckville is trying to lure in more ad dollars to their platforms. Some look interesting, but I'm so over Facebook. If it wasn't part of my job, I wouldn't be there.
• 6 Instagram Story Ideas for Your Next Post
  Instagram Stories are still extremely powerful to reach your audience on the platform. Here are some ideas to help you next story sing.
• How to Identify Content Gaps for Local Businesses
  Doing a content gap analysis for your local business or local business customers is important to see where you can improve your local reach

Podcast Of Note

Todd has this southern charm that is so infectious. Born in raised in Arkansas. He is extremely active in the WordPress and Post Status communities. Todd is a storyteller and his podcast Storyteller Cafe is no different.  Check it out wherever you get your podcasts.

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What do you think of this issue? Don't be shy. Hit reply and let me know!

Until next week (or sooner if something pops up 😄)