August 31, 2018

The Figaro Digital Monthly Digest: August

Welcome to the new look Figaro Digital Digest – a monthly round-up of the latest news and biggest stories from the marketing world over the last four weeks.

Without further ado, here’s what has happened in the sector throughout August:

The Latest Social News

YouTube Heavy Weights Hit The Ring

23-year-old YouTube star Logan Paul is known for his hugely successful YouTube channel with 18 million followers and for being penalised by the channel for posting a controversial video set in Japan’s ‘suicide forest’. However, he hit the headlines for an altogether different reason in August 2018.

On 25th August, Paul faced off with his fellow YouTuber, 25-year-old Olajide ‘JJ’ Olatunji (known as KSI), in a boxing match. Neither social stars are professional boxers, but this didn’t stop them from going for gold whilst the fight was streamed on YouTube’s pay-per-view platform.

Despite the fight ending in a majority draw and a second fight now set to take place in February 2019, it garnered so much attention that it has been deemed ‘the largest event in YouTube history’ and ‘the largest ever amateur boxing fight.’ There were five million pay-per-view buys worldwide, with 1.05 live purchases making a revenue of around £37.5 million.

12% Of UK Influencers Are Still Buying Fake Followers

A study by CampaignDeus which analysed 700,000 posts has revealed that 12 per cent of UK influencers have bought fake followers in the first six months of 2018.

However, even accounts with 100 per cent real followings are seeing less successful sponsored posts. The study found, on average, engagement rates are 11 per cent lower on sponsored posts than organic ones. This is especially true for those in the beauty sector who see 27 per cent less engagement.

“The results finally shine some light on the scale of industry fraud and provide valuable insights for marketers looking to assess and optimise their investments. Whether it’s the size of the influencer or the size of the brand, small seems to be beautiful when it comes to return on investment.” Muhsen Syed CEO at CampaignDeus

Facebook Removes 5000 Ad Targeting Terms

This month, Facebook made a big move towards preventing discriminatory ad targeting by removing thousands of options which could show bias against religions, races, and cultures. This means advertisers on the platform can no longer target people interested in Buddhism, Evangelicalism, Passover, and many other terms.

In a blog post, Facebook wrote: ‘While these options have been used in legitimate ways to reach people interested in a certain product or service, we think minimising the risk of abuse is more important.’

Facebook Is Adding Augmented Reality Ads To Your News Feed

It’s not just ad targeting that Facebook is transforming, but it is also adding augmented reality ads to its roster. In a new bid to help brands catch the eye of, and engage with potential customers, this new AR experience will allow users to virtually try on items ‘in just one click’ on certain ads. This will include clothing, fashion accessories, and make-up.

In a blog post, Facebook said:

“From try-on product experiences to immersive filters for games and movies, AR enables people to connect with your business and products in new ways.

“Now, with the introduction of AR ads in Facebook News Feed, people can experiment with your brand’s AR camera effects in just one click from your ad.  And by incorporating calls-to-action within the camera experience, people can seamlessly go from engaging with your product—such as trying on a lipstick shade or exploring a new game—to making a purchase or installing an app.”

The Latest Google News

Google Tests Campaign Effectiveness With ‘Ad Strength’ Metric

Earlier this month, Google announced via its blog a new ‘ad strength’ metric which will measure the relevance, quality and diversity of ad copy. This new metric will be available in the responsive ad platform in the coming weeks and Google believes this will help marketers analyse the effectiveness of their campaigns.

(Image: Google)

Google suggests using multiple distinct headlines and descriptions to help its machine learning features to produce a large number of ad combinations. Therefore, it is allowing users to preview their ad combinations as they’re built and will be providing reporting on these combinations.

Google Makes Search Console Access For Analytics Owners Easier

Google announced in August that owners of Google Analytics properties will soon become automatically verified for the same website on Search Console.

Auto-configuration means you no longer need to manually configure your accounts and Google hopes this will make it easier to access data, quicker to notice opportunities, and simpler to discover any issues.

The Latest Content Marketing News

Content Marketing Has Resulted In Four Fifths Of Consumers Making A Purchase

Finding of research done by Clutch were released in August revealing 82 per cent of people admit to purchasing a product or service from a brand as a result of consuming their content.

The study also found that 53 per cent of people are more likely to revisit a website after consuming a brand’s content, and another 50 per cent are likely to research a company’s products or services as a result.

Consumers are however more marketing savvy; nine out of 10 people surveyed said they were confident they could identify content marketing when they saw it – backlinks, product mentions, and inclusion in author bios were all key signals.

Our Favourite Campaign Of The Month

Every month, we’ll be taking a closer look at one of our favourite new campaigns, and for August we choose BrewDog. Why? Well, sometimes taking a risk with your marketing can pay off, and BrewDog have certainly been risqué with their latest campaign.

So, what has the brewery done? Well, the brand has created a fake porn website, which resembles PornHub, to help satisfy those with a ‘beer fetish’. Acting as its new content delivery service, BeerPorn, included video trailers of 14 original series and will provide subscribers will unlimited, ad-free access to programming on everything from food to travel, game shows to documentaries.

Whilst we may not be as ready to publicly admit our love of porn as we are our love of beer, this campaign has struck a very risqué chord with what the man (and woman) on the street is in to. And although the campaign has seen some backlash, there is no denying that the campaign has done well in terms of brand exposure and garnering coverage from major publications.

The BrewDog Network: Craft Content for the People

“The BrewDog Network is the new king of content. […] Craft beer is our passion – it’s always been what turns us on. And with the launch of the new network we no longer have to keep it as our dirty little secret.

“Porn may be the most popular content on the web today, but we’re about to change that. Our awesome shows span beer and spirits, food and travel, and everything in between, to deliver maximum viewing pleasure. This is a new type of business. A new type of show business. This is BeerPorn.” James Watt, Cofounder of BrewDog

Read More Digital Marketing News

For more news updates, guides and opinion pieces, take a look at a few more of our articles, or discover our digital marketing conferences for further learnings.