SEO

Let’s Go GEOcaching

Pop quiz: If Google is the largest search engine in the world by search volume, what’s the second largest? The answer might surprise you: Giphy. 

As marketers, we’re always encouraged to have some SEO knowledge in our back pockets, even if we aren’t SEO specialists by trade. So why not spend some time learning about GEO (gif engine optimization) too?

The case for GEO

Brad Michelson, U.S. senior marketing manager at social investment network eToro, told Marketing Brew what learning GEO did for his company’s brand reach. 

Step one: In February, eToro launched its eToro U.S. Giphy account and Michelson learned how to optimize keywords for higher Giphy rankings. Every gif he uploads is eToro branded.

Step two: In April, eToro uploaded this Bitcoin gif to Giphy and played the waiting game. 

Step three: By the beginning of November, Michelson noticed the gif had moved to Giphy’s first search result for the “Bitcoin” search query. And by the end of November? The Bitcoin gif went from views in the low tens of thousands to more than 15 million.   

Step four: Michelson now “constantly” sees people using the gif on Twitter in crypto conversations, “all organically. The power for first position for popular keywords is absolutely under-appreciated,” he told Marketing Brew. 

Overall stats: Michelson said eToro has gained more than 65 million views over 133 gifs uploaded since February, “all virtually for free.”

Zoom out

In a recession era when many marketing budgets are far from extravagant, organic strategies like GEO feel more essential than ever. That feels especially true for marketers focused on niche subjects, where Michelson finds GEO particularly effective.

• “There are very specific intentions connected to using gifs as a communication tool, which makes it an ideal channel to build a strategy around,” said Michelson.

Resources: If you’re convinced your marketing toolbox needs a sprinkle of GEO, this SEJ article and this MarketingHub guide seem like great places to start.  

D&I

A New Day in The A

OG Marketing Brew readers know about 600 & Rising, #CommitToChange, and Hold the PRess—diversity and inclusion initiatives that held the spotlight during the marketing industry’s reckoning with the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Today, we’re adding another initiative to that list: The A Pledge.

The deets: “The pledge is an effort to challenge the Atlanta advertising and marketing community to match the diversity of their team to that of Atlanta by 2030,” Tawanda Carlton, an account executive at already-pledged agency Media Frenzy Global, told Marketing Brew. 

Lack of workforce diversity indicates ongoing racial inequality—in both Atlanta and the marketing industry as a whole. 

• Atlanta’s current population = 62% people of color and 38% white.
• The U.S. marketing industry = “86.1% white, 6.1% African American, 5.6% Asian American and 8.9% Hispanic American,” per Bureau of Labor and Statistics data shared by Ad Age.

Big picture: “While our city’s demographics will inevitably shift over time, the point of this pursuit is to acknowledge the disparity in the advertising and marketing industry—and, more importantly, to take real, measurable actions to correct it,” Pledge co-founder Jeff Hilimire told Ad Age. 

ATLiens can take the pledge here.

SPONSORED BY WETRANSFER

Dang-diggity do Humans Have a Proclivity for Nifty Creativity

If history’s anything to go on, moments of change, uncertainty, and unrest inspire people to come up with their most creative ideas.

According to the third annual WeTransfer Ideas Report, the global pandemic is having the same effect.

WeTransfer asked 35,000 of their loyal fans from almost every country how the global pandemic has affected their creativity. The result? An unflinching look at how ideas have been impacted, and the findings might surprise you.

• 40% of creatives say they have more confidence in their ideas this year.
• Creatives are prioritizing friends, family, and time in nature.
• Creatives are winning games of Scrabble against the people in their family for whom they harbor secret resentment at unheard of rates.

(My boss yelled at me to clarify that I, a humble Morning Brew copywriter, made up that last one.)

Explore the findings from the 2020 WeTransfer Ideas Report and see how thousands of people found new ways to connect, create, and challenge their doubt this year.

CMOS

Victoria’s New Secret Weapon

In 2019, former Victoria’s Secret CMO Ed Razek—the male gaze behind the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show—exited the lingerie brand after 1) the dated event’s demise and 2) a series of disparaging public comments about transgender and plus sized models.

Now, over a year later, VS believes it's found the right person to lead a company-saving brand refresh—a woman.

• Last week, VS appointed Martha Pease as CMO. Pease previously held high-level marketing positions at Boston Consulting Group, Lifetime TV, and Neutrogena.

As one 2019 article put it, Victoria’s Secret’s (mostly male) execs last year laid out “a plan for a female-driven turnaround.” Pease’s hiring represents that plan in action.

• According to VS’s men, reconnecting with “customers who’ve increasingly turned to rivals that embrace female empowerment and diverse body types, like Aerie and ThirdLove,” requires a brand “led by her, for her,” per Ad Age.

My takeaway: The same male gaze that built VS ultimately destroyed it, which isn’t surprising post #metoo movement. But it’s somehow less surprising that when top male execs failed the brand, they tasked women like Pease with saving it. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Cleveland’s baseball team is dropping its name in a push to stop using Native American people as mascots.
• Reddit acquired Dubsmash to better compete with TikTok. 
• California proposed new privacy regulations for CCPA regarding opt-out buttons.
• Pinterest is partnering with the NAACP on a new Inclusion Advisory Council.

SPONSORED BY VALIDITY

You’ve got vroom. Let’s get that email marketing machine hummin’, readers. Validity’s guide lays out how you can get all the moving parts of your email marketing program working together like a well-oiled machine. From benchmarking current performance to optimizing performance using security measures and data best practices, this comprehensive tune-up is the first stop in planning 2021 marketing campaigns.

FRENCH PRESS

Marketing tips to make you fancy

Facebook: We all know about the power of video content—so find your guide to Facebook video ads here.

SEO: Curious about 2020’s top keywords? Google just revealed its top searches of 2020.

E-commerce: Growth marketers, check out the three e-commerce KPIs you should track for every campaign.

CMOs: Mark your calendars—Judy CEO Simon Huck and Forbes Communities Director and Chair of the CMO Network Jenny Rooney are our next two CMO Series guests. Add the show to your cal here.

CMO SENTIMENTS

Sign up here for Morning Brew CEO Alex Lieberman’s CMO Series on LinkedIn, in which he chats with the most important marketing leaders in the industry. Then read on for three questions that’ll help you get to know these marketing leaders a little better.

Farryn Weiner, the CEO and founder of Farrynheight, talks building and positioning brands, storytelling, and more in our most recent CMO Series episode. Read on to know more about the human behind the expertise.  

Alex Lieberman: How do you take your coffee?

Farryn Weiner: Black...but will drink any coffee I can find. 

AL: What is the thing you do in the morning to have the most productive day?

FW: Sleep. That’s a really controversial answer also, but I am a late night worker and I always have been. In the early days of my career I used to feel so much pressure, and now for me I know the number one thing that makes me successful and that makes me think [clearly] and have more clarity is sleep. So I will take it in the morning if I can get it every time.

AL: Least favorite marketing or brand word?

FW: Transparency. 

Watch the full interview, and any others you might have missed, here.

ICYMI

Catch up on the top Marketing Brew stories from the last few editions.

• Why Pantone’s Colors of the Year should matter to brand marketers
• How the influencer marketing industry got more profesh in 2020
• Coca-Cola just announced 2021’s biggest agency review