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Blog This July’s Top Marketing Industry News

This July’s Top Marketing Industry News

Vlad Calus

Aug 1, 2019

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Welcome back to our favorite part of the month – a roundup of some of the best, important, and interesting new in the digital & marketing industry. This month we have tons of juicy stuff so let’s get into it and don’t forget to check out our last month’s marketing industry news roundup.

Adobe released it’s first-ever Emoji Trend Report (via Adobe)

Emojis are a cultural phenomenon, it’s part of the way we express ourselves on the internet. They’re also a universal way to share your emotions for any language and generation. To celebrate that, and the World Emoji Day – Adobe released its first-ever Emoji Trend Report, after surveying 1,000 emoji users in the U.S.

One of the main takeaways is that emoji play a major role in bringing joy, and encouraging people to share their thoughts. The majority of emoji users are using them to “lighten the mood of conversations.”. emoji users’ top three favorite emojis are , ❤️, and .

A high proportion of emoji users cited the ability to communicate across language barriers (94%) and the ability to instantly share thoughts and ideas (90%) as the biggest benefits of using emojis. What’s your favorite emoji?

Facebook fined for $FIVE billion (lots of zeros) by FTC (via Verge)

The Federal Trade Commission formally announced its $5 billion settlement with Facebook last week, which is the culmination of a years-long investigation into the Cambridge Analytica scandal and other privacy breaches.

The FTC alleges that Facebook has violated the law by failing to protect their data from third parties, and lying to users that its facial recognition software was turned off by default. It’s the second-largest fine ever levied by the FTC.

Aside from the fine, Facebook will be required to conduct a privacy review of every new product or service that it

Linkedin now offers freelancers and SMBs to add their services for profiles (via SMT)

LinkedIn just introduced a new exciting option that will help freelancers and SMBs to list their services on their LinkedIn profiles and be found in the search results for those.

The functionality is not yet available for all users, but it enabled users to add a section in their profiles to showcase the services they offer. Also, LinkedIn introduced a search option so users are able to search based on services filter, like “accounting services”.

With the gig economy, the number of freelancers in the US is continuously rising and LinkedIn saw this as an opportunity. It becomes a platform that wants to connect with business opportunities.

Snap added 13M DAU over the last quarter (via QZ)

In its best quarter since going public in 2017, Snap added 13 million daily active users on Snapchat, an 8% gain year-over-year. The company reported its second-quarter earnings today (July 23), and the sudden jump reversed a period of stagnation for Snap, which investors feared was losing ground to competitors like Facebook’s Instagram and TikTok.

Snap explains its growth is a direct result of its focus on investing in new product features and creating viral face filters. In fact, Snap estimates that 7-9 million users may have joined the app because of the face filters. Last quarter, Snap released an updated, optimized version of its Android app after years of users complaining about a poor quality experience.

Facebook is shrinking mobile News Feed ad space (via MarketingLand)

Facebook is making changes to the aspect ratio for posts and ads in its mobile News Feed. Beginning August 19, posts and ads in the mobile News Feed will display at a 4:5 aspect ratio, which means they’ll be shorter than at the original 2:3 aspect ratio.

For advertisers, this means ads will show fewer lines of text and the maximum height for photos or videos in the ad will be reduced to fit new design: “The tallest supported aspect ration for images without links and for videos is now vertical (4:5). Media taller than 4:5 will be masked on Facebook’s mobile News Feed.”

Two new updates from Instagram – green screen effect and removing post like counts (via WeRSM)

Instagram is now expanding its test of hiding total post likes in Canda to several other countries. Instagram officials argue that it will take the social pressure off of users who do everything for a high number of likes. However, users who posted the content will still be able to see the total likes on their end only.

“We want Instagram to be a place where people feel comfortable expressing themselves. We hope this test will remove the pressure of how many likes a post will receive, so you can focus on sharing the things you love,” Facebook Australia and New Zealand director of policy Mia Garlick said.

One more update from Instagram, it was initially uncovered by app researcher Jane Manchun Wong. It’s called “background” and it allows you to select an image from your camera roll that you can then use as the background for the Stories camera. After you’ve selected a photo, your actual surroundings are replaced by the image, according to screenshots shared by Wong.

New Pinterest features encourage brands and creators to upload more videos (via TechCrunch)

After going public, Pinterest is incorporating new features into its core app. According to Pinterest officials, “Pinners are 54% more likely to say they’re inspired to action by videos on Pinterest compared to videos on other media platforms.” That’s why Pinterest puts more focus on its video features.

As a result, Pinterest introduced a new video uploader, video tab, analytics, and insights into the performance over time. Also, Pinterest is allowing creators and businesses to schedule videos ahead of time with a new Pin Scheduler tool.

With these features, the company is encouraging users to post actionable, and how-to videos tailored to Pinterest users.

McDonald’s latest clever campaign guides you to the nearest location using fries (via Adweek)

McDonald’s and TBWAParis hit an inspiration spree again with a clever ad pointing you to the chain’s nearest location. The creative teams used an ingenious approach to that even something simple as direction can still create a delightful experience.

Amazon rolls out its second-ever back-to-school campaign

As they’re looking to target younger consumers – Amazon is rolling out its new campaign. The effort includes a series of digital & TV spots created by its creative department.

She noted that the back-to-school shopping “pie is not getting any bigger” but is an event that is becoming a bigger part of Amazon’s strategy. Indeed, back-to-school spending has been flat in recent years. This year, sales are expected to hit $27.8 billion, a 2 percent raise over 2018, according to Deloitte.

Sad news at Uber as it’s laying off more than a third of global marketing team (via CampaignLive)

Uber is laying off between 400 people of about 1,200 marketing staff as part of the wider restructure of the department. It follows last month’s departure of chief marketing officer Rebecca Messina after less than a year in the role.

At the time, chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said Uber would combine its marketing, communications and policy teams under Jill Hazelbaker, senior vice-president of marketing and public affairs.

If you’re looking to hire any of them, their profiles are already in this Google Sheet ready to be hired.

And that’s it for July, over to you.

Vlad Calus

Dropped out of college, moved to another country with 2 of my friends and built Planable (Techstars London ’17), social media collaboration platform, at 19 y. o. Forbes 30 under 30

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Table of contents

This July’s Top Marketing Industry News

Vlad Calus

Welcome back to our favorite part of the month – a roundup of some of the best, important, and interesting new in the digital & marketing industry. This month we have tons of juicy stuff so let’s get into it and don’t forget to check out our last month’s marketing industry news roundup.

Adobe released it’s first-ever Emoji Trend Report (via Adobe)

<img decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-10553" src="https://planable.io/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/image4-min.png" alt="Adobe Emoji Trend report" width="700" height="393" />

One of the main takeaways is that emoji play a major role in bringing joy, and encouraging people to share their thoughts. The majority of emoji users are using them to “lighten the mood of conversations.”. emoji users’ top three favorite emojis are , ❤️, and .

A high proportion of emoji users cited the ability to communicate across language barriers (94%) and the ability to instantly share thoughts and ideas (90%) as the biggest benefits of using emojis. What’s your favorite emoji?

Facebook fined for $FIVE billion (lots of zeros) by FTC (via Verge)

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-10551" src="https://planable.io/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/image2-min.png" alt="Mark Zuckerberg - Facebook fined with 5 billion by FTC" width="800" height="533" />

The Federal Trade Commission formally announced its $5 billion settlement with Facebook last week, which is the culmination of a years-long investigation into the Cambridge Analytica scandal and other privacy breaches.

The FTC alleges that Facebook has violated the law by failing to protect their data from third parties, and lying to users that its facial recognition software was turned off by default. It’s the second-largest fine ever levied by the FTC.

Aside from the fine, Facebook will be required to conduct a privacy review of every new product or service that it

Linkedin now offers freelancers and SMBs to add their services for profiles (via SMT)

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-10559" src="https://planable.io/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/image10-min.png" alt="LInkedIn's new feature allows freelancers and SMBs to advertise their services" width="700" height="313" />

LinkedIn just introduced a new exciting option that will help freelancers and SMBs to list their services on their LinkedIn profiles and be found in the search results for those.

The functionality is not yet available for all users, but it enabled users to add a section in their profiles to showcase the services they offer. Also, LinkedIn introduced a search option so users are able to search based on services filter, like “accounting services”.

With the gig economy, the number of freelancers in the US is continuously rising and LinkedIn saw this as an opportunity. It becomes a platform that wants to connect with business opportunities.

Snap added 13M DAU over the last quarter (via QZ)

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-10557" src="https://planable.io/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/image8-min.png" alt="Snapchat added 13M new Daily Active Users" width="1000" height="750" />

Facebook is shrinking mobile News Feed ad space (via MarketingLand)

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-10554" src="https://planable.io/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/image5-min.png" alt="Facebook's new ratio sizes for ads" width="739" height="872" />

Facebook is making changes to the aspect ratio for posts and ads in its mobile News Feed. Beginning August 19, posts and ads in the mobile News Feed will display at a 4:5 aspect ratio, which means they’ll be shorter than at the original 2:3 aspect ratio.

Two new updates from Instagram – green screen effect and removing post like counts (via WeRSM)

“We want Instagram to be a place where people feel comfortable expressing themselves. We hope this test will remove the pressure of how many likes a post will receive, so you can focus on sharing the things you love,” Facebook Australia and New Zealand director of policy Mia Garlick said.

New Pinterest features encourage brands and creators to upload more videos (via TechCrunch)

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-10556" src="https://planable.io/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/image7-min.png" alt="Pinterest's new video format encourages users to post more video" width="1000" height="514" />

As a result, Pinterest introduced a new video uploader, video tab, analytics, and insights into the performance over time. Also, Pinterest is allowing creators and businesses to schedule videos ahead of time with a new Pin Scheduler tool.

With these features, the company is encouraging users to post actionable, and how-to videos tailored to Pinterest users.

McDonald’s latest clever campaign guides you to the nearest location using fries (via Adweek)

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-10550" src="https://planable.io/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/image1-min.png" alt="McDonald's latest ad campaign with fries" width="800" height="400" />

McDonald’s and TBWAParis hit an inspiration spree again with a clever ad pointing you to the chain’s nearest location. The creative teams used an ingenious approach to that even something simple as direction can still create a delightful experience.

Amazon rolls out its second-ever back-to-school campaign

Sad news at Uber as it’s laying off more than a third of global marketing team (via CampaignLive)

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-10555" src="https://planable.io/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/image6-min.png" alt="Uber laid off more than 400 employees" width="700" height="412" />

Uber is laying off between 400 people of about 1,200 marketing staff as part of the wider restructure of the department. It follows last month’s departure of chief marketing officer Rebecca Messina after less than a year in the role.

At the time, chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said Uber would combine its marketing, communications and policy teams under Jill Hazelbaker, senior vice-president of marketing and public affairs.

If you’re looking to hire any of them, their profiles are already in this Google Sheet ready to be hired.

And that’s it for July, over to you.