social media

Influencers Share Their Secret to Earning Big Bucks on Social Media

Key Insights

• Affiliate marketing and paid advertising are one of the top revenue sources but the real bread and butter of influencer income is brand sponsorships reveals a survey of 69 digital stars by Influencer.co
• The survey results were gathered at the beginning of 2020, before the pandemic that has changed the consumer and digital landscape.
• The result highlighted that influencers have diversified income sources and can help them earn even in an economic downturn.

A goal is a dream with a deadline.

– Napoleon Hill

Making a living out of online business is a dream that is now achievable. For many, it is a dream turned reality but with a fair share of struggles. A survey of 69 influencers conducted earlier this year by influencer platform Influence.co highlighted myriad ways available for creators to make big money in 2020.

The results gathered before the pandemic outbreak reveals Brand sponsorship as the top moneymaker with 78% of creators calling it the main source of income. 58% of creators highlight paid advertising like YouTube AdSense also amongst the top three sources of income. However, this category has been dropped off recently as advertiser demand has run down due to the pandemic.

Image Credit: Influence.co

However, influencers have leaned on alternate revenue streams and moved away from sponsored posts as brands have paused/postponed influencer campaigns in 2020. 41% of survey respondents have named commission-based revenue as a key income driver followed by affiliate marketing (39%). Respondents also pointed to physical merchandise (26%)  as one of the top income sources.

These are income sources where influencers are paid a fee for e-commerce sales that they drive from their social accounts. 

Below is the breakdown of income sources that is listed by influencers as primary revenue sources in the survey.

1. Brand Sponsorships (78%)

78% of influencers surveyed listed brand sponsorships as a primary source of income.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYwIRyWgHqY/?utm_source=ig_embed

H&M has the largest followings as women reflect H&M style all by themselves as a part of the influencer campaign. H&M partnered for its fall 2017 collection with two influencers -fashion blogger Julie Sariñana and model Ela Velden. Sariñana promoted the clothes on her own Instagram account as she loved them.

Brand sponsorships are mostly sponsored posts on social platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. The most reliable way of making money and the main source of income has taken a hit in the last few months mainly because:

• Advertisers have trimmed their budget to save costs.
• Brands are facing economic headwinds caused by the pandemic.

As reported by Business Insider, the frequency of sponsored posts has dropped down on Instagram and 22% of creators have lowered their rates due to slow demand. 

As this category is affected by the economic downturn, brands are partnering with influencers to conduct live streaming as consumers at-home interest in real-time videos have spiked.

2. Paid Ads (58%)

The second-highest source of income listed by influencers in the survey with 58%.

Different Paid Ads Options on YouTube
Image Credit: Marketinghy

Influencers can directly earn through ads that play in their videos across platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

Instagram says that Live creators have seen a 70% increase in video views during the pandemic. It now prepares to launch new tools that enable video creators to earn money that includes badges that viewers can purchase during Live Instagram videos and the introduction of IGTV ads. 

YouTube’s Partner Program allows influencers to earn money by placing ad breaks within the content on their channel. Ad revenue earned directly through Google placed ads is the main source of revenue and the rate YouTube pays creators depends on factors like video watch time. And viewer demographics. And if a video climbs millions of views then creators receive a big check from YouTube.

For instance, YouTube creator Groth told Business Insider that normally his channel earns $9 and $12 for every 1,000 views. BI also reported that YouTube creators earned from $3600 to $40,000 off a video with 1 million views.

3. Commissions (41%) and affiliate marketing (39%)

Affiliate marketing has been a popular source of income for influencers and 41% of influencers surveyed pointed out commission on sales as a top source of income.

Image Credit: Influencer Marketing Hub

Another popular revenue source for influencers.- fashion and lifestyle influencers on Instagram, Tech reviewers on YouTube, and media publishers like The New York Times that generates affiliate income on its review site, The Wirecutter.com

In this type of arrangement, creators can earn a commission on sales made through a promotional code and affiliate marketing where they promote products with a trackable link. 

Image Credit: Influencer Marketing Hub

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZQolWBB5Eu/?utm_source=ig_embed

In March 2020, the category saw a rise in revenue as many companies shifted their focus to e-commerce sales due to lockdown policies whereas April was a mixed bag as some brands like Walmart, Victoria Secret suspended their services.

4. Event Appearances (29%)

Event Appearances and Speaking engagements are big revenue streams for some YouTube creators who have diversified their businesses.

A recent college grad and YouTube creator Ruby Asabor (170,000 subscribers) have presented for events of universities like NYU and Rutgers in the US. She is a motivational speaker and recently many events and tours have been canceled owing to the pandemic. She explains in her video how the business has changed due to coronavirus and events are postponed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlG26M1a2gk

5. Physical- Merchandise sales (26%)

Image Credit: CNN Money

26% of the influencers points out physical merchandise sales as a source of revenue. The ‘merch’ trend has picked up in recent years. While some have built online direct sales to consumers and others have partnered with retailers like Walmart and others.

Stevin John with Blippi dolls
Image Credit: YouTube

Blippi is a popular YouTube star who makes educational videos and has more than 21 million subscribers. The man behind the creation is Stevin John. Recently, Jazwares LLC which makes toys has created a line of items “My Buddy Blippi” which includes figures, plush toys, and toy vehicles. It aims at helping children count or learn colors by putting accessories inside numbered or colored boxes. The products will be released through Walmart and Amazon.

The North Start for the toy industry is Ryan Kaji, an 8-year-old who is the face of YouTube channel ‘Ryan’s World.’ According to Pocket. Watch, retail sales for Ryan-branded products had hit $200 million in 2019.  

6. Digital Product Sales (16%):

Fitness influencers on Instagram and YouTube witnessed a spike in engagement and direct-to-consumer sales due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Many fitness influencers sell fitness digital membership programs in the form of app or classes or websites. For instance, Rachel Brathen, aka Yoga Girl, is a Swedish yoga teacher and a New York Times’ best-selling author. She leverages her Instagram account to preach and encourages yoga lifestyle and sell classes from anywhere in the world.

Image Credit: Grin

As reported by Business Insider, a fashion stylist, and influencer, Audree Kate Lopez has nearly 30,000 followers and conducts an online course Fashion Fundamentals for college students.

7. Followers donations(6%)

Image Credit: TikTok

Many influencers receive donations or gifts via live streaming through membership platforms and social media platforms respectively. Take a look:

• Influencers receive donations from followers through Patreon or Buy me Coffee.
• TikTok, Twitch also has features to donate to influencers in real-time.
• In April, Facebook announced the rollout of its star monetization program, where fans can send virtual stars to a live-streaming creator worth $0.01 each.
• YouTube content company launched the “FBE Super” Membership program using Patreon’s Memberful platform. It offers three paid tiers for fans to contribute either $5,$10, or $15 a month to receive exclusive live streams, discounts, or an opportunity to be cast in episodes.

Read more: 26 Stellar Video (YouTube) Advertising Examples To Take Creative Inspiration From!

An Open Letter by U.K Advertising Agencies Demand Diversity and Action!

Key Insights:

• Responding to George Floyd’s death, more than 200 advertising agencies pledged to support black talent.
• Advertising trade bodies and bosses assure to take action on inequality and maintain inclusive cultures that are sensitive to the matters of racism and injustice.

Protests continue to take place in the U.S and worldwide after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis last week.

The latest

After various brands condemn racism and voice their support for protestors, now UK bosses from big advertising agencies have signed an open letter expressing solidarity and support with the black community, committed to doing more within the digital advertising industry, and take action on inequality.

The signed letter is coordinated by Creative Equals, a body dedicated to promoting diversity in the workplace involves 200 U.K advertising bosses.

The bigger picture

Chief executives from WPP, Publicis Groupe, IPA, Facebook, GroupM, Havas, and more have come together and pledged to tackle ‘systemic inequality’ within the digital industry and championing black talent.

According to the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) report, U.K agencies along with British businesses have a diversity problem. It shows 4.7% represented Black, Asian, and minority ethnic—a grouping commonly known as BAME in the U.K. That was down from 5.5% in 2018.

The number of employees has dropped from 13.8% to 13.7% year-on-year. However, there was an uptick in the number of BAME chairpeople, chief executives, and managing directors, up from 2.9% to 4.1%.

The open letter addresses these numbers and says,” We need to drive equity in our organizations, the people we hire, the work we produce, and how we engage with clients.”

A commitment to change

As a part of the pledge, the IAB and its members ask the industry leaders to commit to change and action in their support to black talent and communities by holding themselves accountable in 10 following ways:

• Making representation and inclusivity a core part with clear KPI’s and objectives.
• Speaking out and taking action against racism using the company channels.
• Enable employees to understand their privilege as well as white privilege.
• Call out racism when encountered.
• Create safe and inclusive spaces for frank racism discussions.
• Checking with black employees at this traumatic time.
• Commit to elevate and amplify black talent, promote champions, and celebrate black employees.
• Ensuring their advertising isn’t funding white supremacy or racist content.

What are they saying

Some key points from the letter explained by UK ad executives :

“While the brutality has brought widespread shock, the direct effect of this injustice and violence on people of colour in our industry cannot be underestimated.”

“As inequality is so ingrained within the fabric of society and our sector, this is a problem we need to take action on together to affect change. We can all self-educate. We can all challenge our prejudices and those of others. We are all able to prioritise diversity, equity, and inclusion at this critical time.”

The letter ends saying

“Today, we say George Floyd’s name and stand with all black talent in our industry.”

Read the full content of the letter here:

Need for the real change

This week several brands expressed their support to black communities. Although Nike, Ben & Jerry’s, and Netflix have lent their support to the Black Lives Matter movement, it is important to see solidarity translate into action for a meaningful impact especially in the digital advertising industry where it has fallen short in the workforce diversity.

Image Credit: The Drum

The founder of 56 Black Men, Cephan Williams agrees that the brand holds higher influencing power to enact change. Now neither it’s time to remain silent nor jump the bandwagon but take action.

Awin pledges to do more for the black community and fight racial injustice. It said in a statement,

“We recognize our actions need to be ongoing and there is always an opportunity to do more. The pain in our communities and for many of our employees is real and the reality is, too many have experienced this pain for far too long. We know we don’t have all of the answers, but we know this: Complacency is not an option and we are stronger together.”

What next

It is important for the leaders to work collectively as an industry to continue conversations, take action, and support talent in improving diversity and inclusion in the sector. Organizations should ensure not to tolerate racism at any cost.

Snapchat’s Automated Advertising ‘Dynamic Ads’ Is What Global Brands Need Today!

• Snapchat announced a new advertising product called Dynamic Ads. It brings automated customization to ads and is designed to make it easy for brands to set up their e-commerce business on Snapchat.
  

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• Snap first introduced Dynamic Ads in 2019 to e-commerce retailers in the U.S and began testing the ad unit last October.
  

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• The stock was down 1% after the company launched Dynamic Ads in the U.K, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East after being offered only in the U.S.
  

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• Google and Facebook both offer brands Dynamic Ads.
  

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Snapchat Dynamic Ads or Dynamic Product Ads (DPAs) allow a brand to automatically create ads in real-time based on their own product catalogs which may contain hundreds of items. This means if a price or availability changes, ads will be updated automatically with less human intervention.  Dynamic ads will make selling products easier for retailers and brands and can serve Snapchat’s 229 million daily active users based on their interests. Snap offers five templates to advertisers to showcase their products in a way that they look native.

Image Credit: Search Engine Journal

Here is the example of the template after a product is populated:

Image Credit: Search Engine Journal

Brands like Adidas, FarFetch, and Topshop were amongst the first brands to test Snapchat Dynamic Product Ads and all reported positive sales results from showcasing their products and services through customized ad formats.

Image Credit: CNBC

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Adidas has further accelerated its digital business and eCommerce is their key focus in 2020. Adidas test in Europe elicited positive feedback:

“We’re excited to beta test Snapchat’s Dynamic Ads in the U.K., Germany, France, and the Netherlands. Within weeks we saw a 52% growth in ROAS (return on advertising spend) and we have subsequently grown our investment.”

“The launch of DPAs allows us a route to reach our target Gen Z and Millennial audiences with relevant product creative throughout the consumer journey.”

– Rob Seidu, Sr. Director of Media Activation, Europe

 

Image Credit: MediaTel

FarFetch chief marketing officer Gareth Jones said that there is a shift in consumer interaction with eCommerce as consumers are increasingly shopping on their mobile phones during the COVID-19 lockdown which is expected to continue. Jones added that Snapchat Dynamic Ads have transformed the brand’s activity across the entire sales funnel.

“We lent heavily into DPAs during the testing period and we have seen significant success that has translated into high-quality customers and ultimately transactions. We plan to continue to build on our relationship with Snapchat and we see them as an always-on partner.”

Topshop was the first brand to do a beta test and it achieved four times the UK benchmarks for ROAS within two weeks. According to Topshop,

“DPAs have allowed Topshop to reach Snapchatters with high-quality, and relevant ads throughout the consumer journey, and based on such strong results, the activity will be scaled and launched into further markets over the coming weeks.”

Implications on Business

Lockdown has forced many businesses to shift their focus to eCommerce and keep up with consumer demands. According to Interactive Media in Retail Group, online sales reached a 10-year high in April, marking a year-over-year increase of 23.8%.

Snap reported revenue of $462 million in the first quarter, up more than 44% over the first quarter of 2019 and ad revenue grew as they relied on big-spending large advertisers.

According to Ed Couchman, general manager of Snapchat U.K,

“The coronavirus has accelerated the need for businesses to look at their digital sales channels and encouraged them to be more innovative in how they do that.”

“Since we opened up the beta testing I was impressed at the number of businesses who wanted to get involved – far above what we expected – which really shows the appetite for brands to get on board with e-commerce.”

“We are seeing strong results from advertisers in multiple sectors from high street clothing stores to food delivery who have been testing the product.”

Is Zynn, A Clone Of TikTok, Set To Dominate The Market? Certainly Looks Like So!

From a period, TikTok market is suffering from a lot of negativity. After being criticized for its user data policies in the US, the TikTok market is facing a downfall in its active user database in India. Several of its accounts have been suspended, as complaints have been filed against them for posting unethical content. Now, TikTok is facing a challenge due to the #BycottChineseProduct revolution in the Indian market.

Even in its own country of origin, Its problem doesn’t seem to end. TikTok is facing tough competition within its country bounds. Recently, Zynn, which is a replica of TikTok is making its way on the top charts of Google Playstore and Apple store.

Zynn has been ranked as the number one application in the free app category on Apple store. Whereas, it is among the top 10 applications on Google play store.

Image credit – BusinesBlog

Zynn is a doppelganger of TikTok! Every aspect of Zynn is similar to that of TikTok, even they have a similar user interface. The only difference is, it pays its user to watch a video, refer to friends and even just to sign up.
This is also a USP which keeps Zynn ahead of its competitors.

Image credit – Techio

The only distinct feature of Zynn interface is the dollar sign, appearing on the screen. The “$” sign appears on the left-hand top corner, it also acts as a timer for the video.

The moment a user starts watching a video, the dollar sign gets filled with colour. Once the video is complete, and the sign is filled, it gets added into your credit points. The user can redeem these points, and convert them to gift cards or cash.

There is no personal proof of the redeeming of cash and gift card. Although, there are some YouTube videos which claim to have received the balance in their account. They show their bank statements, confirming the above statement.

Zynn didn’t appear from non-existence. Zynn is a byproduct of the competitive market of China. It is launched and promoted due to an ongoing rivalry of tech companies in China.

Kuaishou, a well-funded start-up running the biggest video apps, created Zynn. To promote Zynn, they used the same payment technique used by Douyin. Douyin is a Chinese version of TikTok.

Zynn supports in-app advertisement purchase. It is its only source of income. Currently, as per the reports they are not selling advertisement in the US.

Recently, Zynn received a hefty investment, amount of $2 billion. Tencent a Chinese tech giant invested this amount in Zynn. Tencent is also a creator of Wechat which is the most popular Instant messenger in China.

The report posted by The Information, in December stated that the investment was made to “contain the threat of ByteDance,” the creator of TikTok and Douyin.

Following are some of the reasons responsible for the quick growth of Zynn in the market:

1.  It pays its user an approx of ($0.12), to watch a few minutes video.
2. Secondly, the application provides you with money for every referral.
3. Big brand promotion can provide up to $110. If you make five people sign up, and they keep using the application continuously.
4. The brand obtains its data from Kuaishou, hence, the application is pre-loaded with videos.

Image Credit – Three Pixel lab

A report states that most of the video uploaded on Zynn are from Kuaishou database. Zynn is slowly attracting people to leave TikTok and shift to its database.

After downloading, you can directly start watching the videos. Though, If you are willing to earn rewards you must sign up first.

Also, you must know that you can’t create a direct account with Zynn. It has to be either with Facebook, Gmail or Twitter. it will verify your phone number, and in case of failed verification, you won’t be able to sign up.

Image credit – Click Lancashire

It requests access to the device location. However, you can deny it. You also have to attach your Paypal account for the payments you will receive.

Major Brands Condemn George Floyd’s Death | Supports Black Lives Matter

• Major brands released various statements condemning racism and voicing their support for protesters.

• The protests intensified across the U.S after the death of Geroge Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on 25th May.

Following a long history of Black Americans losing their lives in police custody, the death of George Floyd has sparked nationwide protests and civil unrest. 

Why it matters: Even the brands that remained silent against social injustice, such as ad agencies or marketing professionals have raised their voice in the Trump era to fill the void created by the government. 

Driving the news: Brands like Twitter changed their official display image as a part of the change. Other brands like Google, YouTube, Disney, Netflix, Amazon followed the suit.

However, the brand’s support has received mixed reactions of praise and criticism. Supports that include tangible steps to action like donation or building up of links and resources with statements are welcome to combat racism. However, generic statements that lacked depth are being accused of commercializing the tragedy.

L’oreal drew criticism from British model and activist Munroe Bergdorf, who claimed that she was previously dropped out from a campaign for speaking on racism.

https://twitter.com/MunroeBergdorf/status/1267460238678069249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1267460238678069249&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrum.com%2Fnews%2F2020%2F06%2F01%2Fbrands-show-solidarity-with-george-floyd-protests-can-they-contribute-real-change

Facebook donated $10 million but received backlash from critics. Social media is still taking heat for not taking a stand against the controversial post of President Trump that promoted violence, unlike the competitor Twitter.

One commenter wrote on the Facebook social media post, “If Facebook was serious then Facebook would censor the president’s inflammatory posts the same way the rest of us are censored. This is just lip service at this point.”

Facebook employees staged a virtual walkout over the issue and one employee, software engineer Timothy Aveni, wrote on LinkedIn about why he’s leaving the company altogether.

How have brands and media companies shown solidarity: They took to social media to support the Black Lives Matter movement using a set of hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter and #JusticeForFloyd.

• Social posts go black for Blackout Tuesday

Scroll through any social feeds on Tuesday, June 2 and there will be a sea of black images on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other platforms with the hashtag  #BlackoutTuesday. Brands, celebrities, ad agencies, influencers are participating in support of racial injustice.

Sony postponed a PlayStation 5 event to give fans a sneak peek at the games in a tweet. On the other hand, prominent music labels and musicians participated in Blackout Tuesday with hashtags – #BlackoutTuesday and #TheShowMustBePaused. Others are participating by staying silent on social media.

In solidarity with the Black community, our employees, our friends, our families, and our colleagues across industries we are proud to take part in #BlackoutTuesday.

Savage X Fenty will NOT be conducting any business on Tuesday, June 2 – globally.

— Savage X Fenty by Rihanna (@SavageXFenty) June 2, 2020

Visit this link for a list of actions you can take: https://t.co/tjNjsYlTft #BlackLivesMatter #TheShowMustBePaused #BlackoutTuesday pic.twitter.com/iKvf84Ioav

— Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien) June 2, 2020

On Tuesday, June 2nd, Lucky Brand will observe “Black Out Tuesday.” We will be closed for Business. This is not a day off. We have work to do. #BlackOutTuesday #BlackLivesMatter #LuckyTogether pic.twitter.com/CWLCo5SI15

— Lucky Brand (@LuckyBrand) June 2, 2020

Interscope vowed not to release new music for the entire week.

pic.twitter.com/aWQrKcs5QI

— interscope (@Interscope) May 31, 2020

• Other Brands

Bank of America: It plans to donate $1 billion and four years of support at the local community level to help with economic and racial inequality which has intensified in the pandemic. In a statement, CEO Brian Moynihan, “We all need to do more.”

The financial giant will focus on health, training, small business support, and housing with the help of Bank of America’s 90 local U.S. market presidents.

Verizon: Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg initially fought back tears during a webcast and pledged $10 million to social justice organizations. A full list of those receiving donations can be found here. 

"We have the responsibility as a large corporation to do right in these times. We cannot commit to the brand purpose of moving the world forward unless we're committed to helping ensure we move forward for everyone." –@HansVestberghttps://t.co/fHH4TWe52g pic.twitter.com/9wGIjhwBgw

— Verizon (@Verizon) June 1, 2020

Ben and Jerry : This brand has been consistently conscientious. The ice-cream maker has previously also taken a stand in response to Ferguson unrest.

4 years ago, in the wake of Ferguson, we felt compelled to support the #BlackLivesMatter movement. We’re heartbroken those words are just as relevant today. These racist and brutal attacks against our Black brothers and sisters must end. #JusticeForFloyd https://t.co/7ngefmtqnu

— Ben & Jerry's (@benandjerrys) May 27, 2020

Starbucks:  In 2018, Starbucks came into limelight after a store manager called the police as two black men were sitting at a table and had yet to order. This incident raised an alarm against racism and the coffee chain conducted training on race, bias, and inclusion and had shut the store one afternoon for discussion.

pic.twitter.com/CUXFFEY9yQ

— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) June 1, 2020

Microsoft: The company shared the black employees’ quotes and feelings in this turbulent time on its social channels.

At this time, we will be using our platform to amplify voices from the Black and African American community at Microsoft.

And we’re starting with Megan Carpenter: https://t.co/cFFHxFQCrQ. pic.twitter.com/nDrMi4MPR2

— Microsoft (@Microsoft) June 1, 2020

Lululemon: The company extended its support not merely by statements but pledged $100,000 donations on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAy3PtKJOdN/?utm_source=ig_embed

• Entertainment:

Netflix – Their move drew accolades online including director Ava DuVernay and “Orange Is the New Black” and “Mrs. America” star Uzo Aduba.

To be silent is to be complicit.
Black lives matter.

We have a platform, and we have a duty to our Black members, employees, creators and talent to speak up.

— Netflix (@netflix) May 30, 2020

YouTube: The company pledged $1 million in support of efforts against social injustice whereas Amazon Studios released its own message in support of the Black community and against racism on Twitter and Instagram. Other companies showing their support include HBO, Viacom, Pop TV, Quibi, and more.

HBO changed its name on Twitter to #BlackLivesMatter whereas ViacomCBS President of Entertainment and Youth Brands Chris McCarthy wrote in an internal memo that all entertainment and youth brands and platforms would be going dark on Monday for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the precise amount of time the police officer knelt on George Floyd’s neck.

A new spot was created that read “I CAN’T BREATHE” on the black background as audio plays the sound of breathing. A Call-to-action was included to support the non-profit Color of Change for civil rights advocacy.

For 8 minutes and 46 seconds, we will go dark in tribute to George Floyd. We dedicate this time to the victims of police brutality and the powerful movement fighting for justice. Join @ColorofChange. Text DEMANDS to 55156. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/X6587CxuOw

— VH1 (@VH1) June 1, 2020

• Sportswear 

Adidas: Adidas and Nike, the two rivals came together to support the movement and support George Floyd supporters. Adidas shared Nike’s video.

Together is how we move forward. ⁣
Together is how we make change. https://t.co/U1nmvMhxB2

— adidas (@adidas) May 30, 2020

Business in Minneapolis:  Many businesses and stores have been damaged or looted during the unrest but still some of the brands and business owners are voicing their support for protesters

Brand ‘Target’ has seen many of its stores looted in the Twin Cities region, however, the CEO put out a statement sympathizing with the movement.

“We are a community in pain. That pain is not unique to the Twin Cities — it extends across America. The murder of George Floyd has unleashed the pent-up pain of years, as have the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. We say their names and hold a too-long list of others in our hearts.”

“As a Target team, we’ve huddled, we’ve consoled, we’ve witnessed horrific scenes similar to what’s playing out now and wept that not enough is changing. And as a team we’ve vowed to face pain with purpose.”

Can Brands make a real change: It is difficult to gauge how only words of support for the fight against racial injustice is sufficient. Brands voicing their support needs to translate into action for a meaningful impact. Brands should support lobbying and campaigning pressure on the government and institutions to change the structure which few of the organizations are trying within limited means. 

What’s next: Even though these protests will eventually cease, brands must ensure they are doing everything to dismantle the pillars of structural racism. Expect brands that have stayed silent until now will feel the pressure to respond quickly to the ongoing crisis with a viewpoint.

How Donald Trump’s Executive Order Has Changed the Face of Social Media

Key Points:

• President Trump signed an executive order that aimed to scrap the legal protections conformed for social media.
• He is arguing that if social media companies seek protection from the fact that they cannot control what users post, then they shouldn’t intervene with those posts either.

The battle between Trump and Twitter finally came to a peak. President Trump signed an executive order to narrow legal protection to social media platforms that censors speech for ideological reasons.

Image Credit: Twitter

Strict action will be taken against Facebook, Twitter, Google, Youtube, and other platforms that interfere in direct communication with his followers. The orders give federal regulators the right to take action against online platforms if they are censoring free speech.

What it does

His executive orders call for greater scrutiny of social media platforms by limiting or revoking Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a piece of a 1996 law. 

Section 230 is essential and made sense when it was first introduced when the internet was new. Section 230 gives protection to the digital world. In simple terms, if users post pictures or comments that are defamatory, the operator is not responsible for it but the user and actions will be taken against the user. Without Section 230, the internet that we know now wouldn’t exist. Twitter, Airbnb, Google, Facebook, Trip advisor all depend on this protection for their business. Every internet third party leverages Section 230 to mitigate risks.

Why it matters: The move comes just days after Twitter fact-checked and labeled two of President Trump’s tweet inaccurate. 

Image Credit: Twitter

The tech giants move infuriated Trump and gave him a reason to execute his long time plan of reducing the liability of social media giants for content on their platform. Even though the idea of dismantling Section 230 is a threat to internet companies but many legal experts believe that it’s unlikely that the orders will have a practical impact on tech giants.

What changes with the order

Section 230 is an immunity to social media giants and protects them from being liable for the content billions of people post everyday.

• One of the repercussions of the order on the social media companies is stripping away the protections granted to them.
• It can be the death of an online review system that covers consumer products or services in travel, hotel, airlines, car, or others. For instance, Trip advisor boasts of 860 million reviews and could potentially be sued by U.S Federal courts for statements made by online critics if the protections are diluted.
• Social media platforms may either censor everything in the fear of getting sued that would undermine the freedom of speech as pointed out in the executive order.
• Or they might just not regulate or touch anything under the fear of getting sued, then the free speech problem will be out of control with no moderation.
• A troubling landscape for small and medium-sized media companies as they will not be able to afford staff and lawyer services leading to shut down.
• There will be no moderation over disruptive content like child exploitation over the fear of getting sued.
• Jeff Kosseff, who wrote a book about Section 230, says to Marketplace that we have no idea what the internet might look like without this regulation.

What are they saying

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg took a different tack and called out Twitter for its fact-checking and said they are not ‘arbiters of truth.’ the company will not get into any political fray.

Mr.Trump posted the same words on Facebook which has similar rules around voter suppression didn’t do anything to it. He said,

“We’ve been pretty clear on our policy that we think that it wouldn’t be right for us to do fact checks for politicians. I think in general, private companies probably shouldn’t be — or especially these platform companies — shouldn’t be in the position of doing that.”

However, the comments were met with derision from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who replied to Zuckerberg tweet,

“This does not make us an ‘arbiter of truth. Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves. More transparency from us is critical so folks can clearly see the why behind our actions.”

 

Morgan Stanley Forecasts Australian Ad Spend To Fall By 9% In 5 Years

In a recent analysis by investment bank Morgan Stanley on Australian advertising, it forecasted that the domestic media share will shrink if it doesn’t innovate quickly. The domestic media ad spend was $10.4 billion in 2019 and will fall at an annual rate of 9% over the next five years. In a note to clients, analysts wrote,

“We think investors perpetually underestimate the global leakage of ad spend from Australia.”

A section of marketers holds a viewpoint that the ad spend with Google and Facebook has started to plateau and revenue is returning to the domestic traditional media. However, the analysts completely disagree with this market viewpoint and highlighted numbers that suggest that there can be an acceleration post-COVID 19.

The Australian advertising market has shown little growth over the years – around 1.9 % a year. Also, the financial statements filed with corporate regulator ASIC reveals that over the last three years, global media/tech players’ revenues in Australia increased by roughly 20%.

The global ad tech players like Google, Facebook, Snap, and Twitter as well as emerging players like TikTok continue to take an increase in share in the Australian consumer’s time especially the younger demographics. They will have a larger share in digital media spend in Australia post-pandemic as well.

Image Credit: Ad news

Morgan Stanley forecasts 2.1 % revenue to fall of global tech players in Australia in the current downturn but not as severe as that of domestic media- radio, outdoor, print, and TV. On the other side, the revenue of the domestic media players will see a drop of steep 22.1%

However, the analysts believe that global players will lift their market share in advertising in Australia. For instance, Google Australia’s gross revenue was $4.8 billion in 2019.  Morgan Stanley estimates a 4% decline this year owing to the ad industry slow down but expects to rise 13% year-on-year growth up to 4 years to reach between $7 billion and $8 billion in ad revenue a year in 2024.

Analysts say,

“Eventually, COVID-19 will be over and there will be a cyclical recovery in the Australian economy, and a bounce-back in the advertising cycle. ”

He further added that the market will be disappointed in expecting a rise in domestic media earnings.

“Even post COVID-19, when the overall advertising market stabilizes and starts to improve, we think the magnitude of the recovery will disappoint investors.”

“Our point of difference is our thesis … that if the global tech players continue to grow revenue double digits in Australia, but the total pool of ad revenues is only increasing 2% to 3% p.a., there is necessarily a ‘crowding out’ of ad spend left for domestic media companies to pursue.”

The markets underestimate the risks to ad revenue, profit margins, and ROCE(Return on equity) from a 5-year long term view. The main reason for the global tech giants growing faster than local media is structural changes. ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’ and businesses that continue with traditional media platforms for advertising need to change and rethink their strategy.

The analysts in the report mentioned that

“The consistent industry feedback we receive is the current challenges facing large, small and medium-sized businesses across Australia is prompting leadership and management teams to think harder and deeper about becoming more digital,”

Many SMEs have tried marketing on digital platforms for the first time during COVID 19 as consumer behavior and time spent has changed and accelerated towards digital/online/mobile media. It is expected that the same pivot will exist with the advertising budgets.
Unfortunately, the crowding of traditional media- radio, outdoor, TV, print – is set to be more intense.

Image Credit: Adnews

Morgan Stanley continues to have an underweight rating for ASX media companies like Seven West Media, WPP AUNZ, oOh! media and Southern Cross but Nine Entertainment.

Nine Entertainment (NEC)is an exception due to its various revenue sources like digital subscription, streaming, and digital advertising assets. Analysts believe that some Australian media companies have the potential to reinvent themselves and develop digital businesses and NEC has demonstrated the ability for such a reinvention.

The global players may face a threat if they fail to innovate themselves and will lose their consumer share and ad share.

Let’s Understand The Vendor Landscape Of Identity Resolution Platforms.

What is the Identity Resolution Platform?

Present-day, marketers are facing immense challenges to keep a record of their customers. Due to the increase in the number of smart devices per user, it’s getting hard to track users activity. These days each user or consumer is using at least two to three smart devices for their usage. These smart devices include mobile phones, smart television, laptop, desktop, smartwatch etc.

To make sure the user gets the best user experience and user interface, marketers must keep a track of its users’ habits and path on the internet. Marketers and brands use Identity Resolution Platforms to resolve this issue.

These platforms keep a track of user habits with the help of their IP, MAC, phone number, email, cookies etc. Therefore, with the help of these platforms marketers and brands can provide better-personalized services to their customers.

Vendors of Identity Platforms provide services to a wide range of organizations. The consumer of their services can range from a giant(Pvt. Ltd.) company to budding Startups.

Business Identity resolution platform market is filled with large data-firms, credit reporting companies and many pure-play platforms. Identity resolution platform skill in the market community is provided by coincidence, and not by choice or a stand-alone feature.

The biggest boom in the Identity resolution platform came between the years 2017-2018. During these times, four vendors collected an approximate Of $40 million with 6 sponsorships.

However, in 2019 and 2020(first-quarter), vendors were gearing-up, by adding new features and integrating those features to their Identity resolution platform capabilities. Therefore, the financial graph was low as compared to 2017-2018.

Image credit – martechtoday.

However, LiveRamp, an identity resolution platform, in 2019 was growing fast and doing Mergers and acquisitions. It purchased an authorization administration platform “Faktor” in the month of May. However, LiveRamp never disclosed the purchase amount

In the month of June, it acquired another firm “Data Plus Math”. Data Plus Math is a T.V promotion calculation firm. LiveRamp paid $150 million for the purchase of “Data plus Math”.

Dentsu Aegis Network acquired 4Cite  Marketing in January 2020. 4Cite Marketing is a technology developer-centric to the identity of people.

Image credit -martechtoday.

Experian, Oracle and LiveRamp, all public-owned companies are giants in the field of Identity resolution. However, Merkle, Valassis, Neustar and Acxiom are either owned by worldwide agencies or by private equity enterprise.

There are private owned start-ups related to pure-play identity resolution which are using venture capital stakes to enhance their marketing platform. These companies include FullContact, SmarterHQ, Signal, Throtle, and Infutor. They are small in staffing and structure. They use this fund to further enhance their staffing and do R&Ds.

Image credit – martechtoday.

CarryMinati Effect Continues To Haunt TikTok Ratings.

Quite recently, the TikTok rating has taken a deep dip on Google play store. This happened after millions of its users starting filing reports and providing poor rating to the application.

Currently, TikTok claims to have around 200 million users in India. TikTok states that around 120 million of the users are active on the application.

A report by SenseTower in September 2019 stated that around 60 million people downloaded TikTok in a single month. This number sets a record of the maximum number of downloads.

Image credit – Sensor report.

Around 40% of this share was contributed by Indians.

So, What exactly went wrong? Why all of a sudden TikTok rating fell on Google Play store?

The rage against TikTok started when a meme started surfacing on the internet. The meme showed a statement released by the owner and CEO of TikTok, Kevin Mayer stated the following:

“I created the TikTok for jobless people, I didn’t know India had so many of them.”

Image credit – Twitter

All social media platforms started flooding with meme templates portraying the statement. Several people across India started requesting people to ban the use of TikTok. #bycottTikTok started trending on Twitter.

Image Credit – Twitter.

Since no authenticity of this news was proved, TikTok had not suffered much damage to its userbase. Still, there was a division in society who wanted this software to banned in India.

However, people soon got the opportunity to express their anger for this platform. A certain Group on TikTok community calling themselves “Nawabs” started a dispute by stating that people on TikTok are more hard-working and efficient than people on YouTube. They also stated that TikTok is a better platform for video upload.

Image Credit – Techbugs

To provoke the debate, TikTok star (Amir Siddiqui) created a YouTube video. He named this video as TikTok vs YouTube and asked YouTubers to step up to this war.

This started a speech war between this group on TikTok and a few people on YouTube.
They started mocking each other in their videos. Elvis Yadav was the first YouTuber to step up to the challenge.

Soon another video surfaced on YouTube made by a YouTuber named CarryMinati(Ajey Nagar). In this video, the YouTube channel host used a lot of creative ways to defame TikTok star Amir Siddique and his fellow group members. The video received a great response from his viewers and people started sharing it across other social networking platforms.

Also, people started creating memes on TikTok star Amir, to show their support for YouTubers and CarryMinati.

Image credit – StrictlyForMen.

In just four to five days this video by CarryMinati gained a lot of popularity on the internet. It became the most viewed video in India. However, YouTube decided to bring down the video as the content of the video was reported to be filled with profanity and hate speeches.

The video was still increasing in its views and likes and sudden removal of it from YouTube started a whole new revolution. People started reporting TikTok on their mobile phones and requested others to do the same.
Many fellow YouTubers and Bollywood celebrities showed their support towards CarryMinati and started uninstalling TikTok from their phone devices.

Image credit – Instagram

Within days, millions of users reported TikTok. They started rating it with 1-star reviews. This resulted in the downfall of TikTok rating from 4.6 to 1.2 on Google play store. Recently Google deleted around 1.5 million reviews and comments from TikTok.

Image credit – Republicworld

While all this was going on, another video surfaced on the TikTok.

This video was made by Faisal Siddiqui brother of Amir Siddiqui. In this video, Faisal can be seen throwing a liquid substance on a girl’s face. Reportedly he was supporting acid attacks on females.

This video was reported to the authorities and the National Commission for Women filed a complaint against the user with TikTok.

After this incident, TikTok banned the accounts of Faisal and Amir Siddiqui. Both are brothers and member of Nawab community on TikTok. Even before these incidents, several complaints were filed against them for spreading hate speech via their videos. Millions of people were following their accounts on this platform.

According to TikTok Asia-Pacific office, they don’t allow any such content which is a threat to the security of an Individual. Their policies are strict against Physical harm of violence against women.

However, so many other cases have been reported earlier well where TikTok has been reported to spread hate speeches in the community or religion.