SOCIAL MEDIA

Be there or be (LinkedIn’s) square

Virtual events had a moment in 2020. While their 15 minutes of fame might be coming to a close, they aren’t exactly going anywhere, since hybrid events are expected to be the next big thing. Want your lanyard and mediocre coffee in a freezing conference room? Great. Prefer to stay in sweatpants and watch from home? That works, too.

LinkedIn, for its part, is helping marketers get the word out about whatever events they’re cooking up. This week, it rolled out tools that make it easier to plug events + learn more about who’s attending:

• Its new Event Ad format highlights details like “date, time, and how to join.” Plus, it lets users see if a mutual connection has expressed interest in attending. 
• Rishi Jobanputra, senior director, product management at LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, told Marketing Brew that these ads also provide event-specific metrics that its other ad formats do not. “Marketers can see exactly how many members clicked on or saw an ad and then registered for an event, so they know how effective their campaign spend was at driving event registrations​,” he explained. 
• Jobanputra said 60 brands created campaigns using this tool during its beta phase. During testing, he claims Event Ads reduced cost per registration by an average of 40%, compared to LinkedIn’s Single Image Ad format. 

+1: LinkedIn has also released an Event Analytics tool that pulls together insights related to reach, engagement, and makeup of attendees so marketers can “more easily and effectively plan for future events.”

According to Jobanputra, 21 million LinkedIn members attended virtual events on the platform last year, while its livestreams increased more than 400% from September 2019–September 2020.

So profesh

In recent months, the Microsoft-owned company has been trying to position itself as the home for B2B advertising. A campaign it released in March told marketers that its platform, teeming with job updates and career advice, isn’t a place where cat videos and vacation pics regularly show up. 

“Reaching your target audience when they’re in a ready-to-do-business mindset is particularly crucial on social media,” it said at the time. 

Big picture: The latest updates come roughly a month after LinkedIn said its ad revenue was up 60% year over year, surpassing $3 billion.—MS

STUDIES

The “age of cynicism”

A year after brands decided to wade into politics in response to last summer’s social unrest, consumers are still left wanting. What, exactly, is TBD. According to a report conducted by global agency Havas Media Group, which surveyed 395,000 people globally, we’ve entered the “age of cynicism,” and brand trust is at an all-time low.

Some insights:

• Only 36% of respondents feel satisfied with companies' actions to “make the world a better place.”
• 71% aren't convinced brands will deliver on their promises + only 34% think they’re transparent about their commitments and promises.
• 75% of brands could disappear overnight and most people wouldn't care (yikes).

Yes, those were a lot of bullet points, but a key takeaway: Less than half of brands, 47% to be exact, are seen as trustworthy. 

Of course, it’s fair to ask why consumers might be cynical and distrustful. Could it be because brands give them a reason to be? For instance, earlier this month, the Financial Times pointed to a study conducted by consulting firm Creative Investment Research that found that although American companies have pledged $50 billion on racial equity since last summer, only $250 million has actually been spent.

Zoom out: “Standing for something” as a brand doesn’t have to start and end with a vapid social strategy. It can be good for the bottom line. According to the survey, more than half of consumers are willing to pay more for a brand that takes a stand.—RB

SPONSORED BY STACKADAPT

Need2B on Top of B2B

Hey B2B marketers: Now that we’ve gotten through the past year (*exhale*), it’s time to kick back, relax, and…identify learning opportunities from that time frame and execute accordingly.

Yep—as the famous saying goes, no rest for the marketers. But here’s the good news: You don’t need to identify those learning opportunities yourself. StackAdapt has already done that for you.

What do these B2B marketing experts have to say? That working professionals’ digital life is here to stay.

Across all sorts of industries, professionals have fully adjusted to life online—and the research says this “trend” is now reality. It’s time to meet the people where they are, and engage with professionals in a meaningful, genuine way online.

To learn how to do just that, get your marketing paws on StackAdapt’s report for B2B marketers here.

TV

The One With the Friends Reunion Ads

Promotion around HBO Max’s Friends reunion special feels as exclusive and insular as a group of six people who never hang out with anyone else. 

• WarnerMedia (HBO Max’s mom + dad) has only run TV ads to promote the special, airing tomorrow, on its own properties (think TBS and TNT), “spending” $235K worth of media on two separate spots, per iSpot.
• According to iSpot, the ads have resulted in 40.7 million TV ad impressions. Nearly 28 million of those impressions came from TBS, with 20.5+ million occurring during Friends airings.

Ad spend was on a break: While the above numbers only account for linear TV spend (and not, say, potential paid social, OOH, etc.) we still wondered why the hyped-up reunion didn’t get a bigger ad blitz. 

Why Joey WarnerMedia doesn’t share food: TV[R]EV analyst John Cassillo might’ve cracked the case. “It could be that after the initial sign-up push, [WarnerMedia] figured that the folks most interested in a Friends reunion either already subscribe to HBO Max or they're watching Friends on linear TV because they're unaware that the show's on demand on HBO Max,” he told Marketing Brew.—PB (Phoebe Buffay, obviously)

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Amazon is buying MGM Studios for $8.45 billion.
• Philips selected Omnicom as its new global agency to handle creative, media, and communications.
• Influencers say they were offered cash to disparage vaccines.
• The New York Times is in talks to purchase The Athletic.
• Twitter is testing its Super Followers feature.

AD FRAUD

Can you tell a real marketing story from a fake?

1. TikTok is getting its own SiriusXM channel, hosted by the platform’s 'content creators.'
2. Pepsi’s new campaign features Ronald McDonald, Wendy, and The King.
3. New studio owner Jeff Bezos could cast himself as the next Bond.
4. Whose Line Is It Anyway?…is still running??

Keep scrolling for the answer.

FRENCH PRESS

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren't those.

Instagram: You might have seen that IG rolled out Insights tools for Reels and Instagram Live—but you might not know the details or how to access them. So here’s a guide to exactly that.

E-commerce: You get an infographic on the 10 e-commerce trends all online shop owners need to know in 2021, you get an infographic on the 10 e-commerce trends all online shop owners need to know in 2021, everybody gets an infographic!

’Lytics: If your SEO strategy needs help, why not look to Google Analytics?

Read up: The marketing master of Mastercard has spoken. Raja Rajamannar—the CMO of Mastercard—wrote a book on how your business should rethink its entire marketing landscape to remain relevant, be successful, and embrace innovative technologies. Get your copy of Quantum Marketing today. 

AD FRAUD ANSWER

Maybe he’ll settle for the villain.

ICYMI

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Terraboost thrived during the pandemic. Its secret sauce? Selling ads on hand sanitizer kiosks
• 6AM City aims to be the ‘marketing engine’ for America’s small- to mid-sized cities
• The three best quotes from Marketing Brew’s Pinterest workshop