Welcome to issue no. 41 of Future of Marketing (and the 2020 holiday season). 

This week, we’re discussing…

• Holiday shopping around the world
• Short-form vs. long-form content 
• Why #SpotifyWrapped *worked*

Teach to sell

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 turned out to be more like Cyber Month…

Here’s what we know (so far): 

• Black Friday was the second-largest *online* spending day in U.S. history 
• Chains that offered curbside, drive-thru, and in-store pickup options in the U.S. increased digital sales at a 26% higher rate
• The most mentioned retailers on social media were Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy 
• Shoppers spent $10.8 billion on Cyber Monday (up 15.1% from 2019)
• Thirty-seven percent (37%) of digital sales on Cyber Monday were made on mobile devices 
• Amazon Prime Day generated $10 billion

… and Alibaba made $35 billion within the first *30 minutes*of Singles Day 🤯

Note: Singles Day is the world’s largest 24-hour online shopping event, where ‘key opinion leaders’ Livestream across Chinese marketplaces to engage people. 

“[Sometimes] fans participate in campaigns only for the incentives and they are likely to unsubscribe once the campaign finishes,” JingDaily shared. “To avoid this, make campaigns more educational and offer users the chance to learn new things about the brands and products.”

Cue long- vs short-form content

As video continues to surge, understanding *when and how* to approach various content mediums (i.e. long-form vs. short-form… video, blogs, audio) can facilitate the connection your audience has with your brand. 

For instance, a previous ad study from Google suggests that different video lengths serve different purposes – where short-form video performs better for brand awareness and long-form for brand favorability. 💡

Whether you’re creating content internally (EGC) or re-sharing your fans’ (UGC)… Google says, “Don’t just pop your logo up. This reduces the view-through rate. Instead, create the story in a way that weaves the brand throughout.”

Remember: making your content longer or shorter (and sharing it often) aren’t enough to captivate and connect with your audience. You need a great story… (and the right KPIs).

Additional Resources

• Four Content Marketing tactics to win Q4 and beyond [Forbes]
• Twitter is planning to switch its verification process [Twitter]
• Ask TrueLoyal: Digital Summit AMA Recap [TrueLoyal]
• Blog: Ultimate Guide to Social Commerce [TrueLoyal]
• Next week: TrueLoyal is talking Social Commerce with Searchspring [Webinar]

#brandcrush: Spotify 💘

Each week in #brandcrush, we highlight exceptional brands that are channeling their customers’ voice to connect more authentically with their audience.

Sharing music is one of the most universal forms of self-expression.   

Amid holiday shopping, Spotify gracefully wrapped up the year with #SpotifyWrapped – a campaign that had users sharing screenshots of their top music across social media. 

Notice how Spotify uses small touches of personalization throughout its user journey – from engaging users in its social media comments to weaving notes like “you are in the top 0.001% of listeners” within its app. 

Spotify not only personalized its experience – they gamified it, made it worth sharing, and brought people together.