✅ Monday briefing: WaddsCon, social media regulation, ad nightmares, metric mismatch, PR tech stacks, headline performance, TikTok boom, and more...
Media, industry, research and insight, tools, and social media and platforms
Join photographer Paul Clarke, Lynn PR’s Shayoni Lynn, Suez’s Naomi Jones, and PR Cavalry’s Nigel Sarbutts.
Media
😎 SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATION: In a keynote speech to the Oxford Media Convention Ofcom boss Dame Melanie Dawes called for the need for regulation of social media platforms. She said that the platforms have failed to tackle abuse citing recent attacks on footballers. Spotted Stephen Waddington.
Industry
😴 AD NIGHTMARES: An international group of scientists has warned of the ethical implications of so-called targeted dream incubation. Brewer Molson Coors claims to be able to manipulate dreams so that consumers see visions of alcoholic beverages in their subconscious. Spotted Catherine Arrow.
Research and insight
🕵 METRIC MISMATCH: A study by Proof Analytics spotlights the dissonance between business and communication metrics. All but one executive in the study said they believed in the power of marketing and communications to create business value and yet communication professionals insist on measuring reach and awareness. Spotted Stephen Waddington.
😢 MORE MEASUREMENT WOE: Two-thirds of companies don't know why they publish content on the internet according to the Statista Content Marketing Trend Study 2021. Brand reputation and customer acquisition are the main content market strategies. Spotted Stephen Waddington.
📊 UK MEDIA HABITS: The Communications Market Report is a useful interactive data portal for marketing and public relations planning. Insight includes media and channel access, consumer behaviour, and media consumption. Spotted Andrew Bruce Smith.
Tools
💻 PR TECH STACKS: PR agencies reengineered their workflow and technology during the COVID-19 pandemic according to a PR Council study. Where tools have previously been added to workflow to optimize and support discrete tasks, the pandemic has triggered a fundamental reappraisal of processes and end-to-end capabilities. Source Stephen Waddington.
📰 HEADLINE PERFORMANCE: Headline and image testing can improve the performance of an article by as much as 78%, and typically improve it by two-thirds. Chartbeat is a tool for optimising headlines and images. Spotted Andrew Bruce Smith.
🔈 GROUP CALLS: WhatsApp users can now jump in and out of a WhatsApp call at any point after it has started, similar to a Google Hangout or Zoom call. Previously users needed to be on the call from the outset. Spotted Alan Morrison.
🐦 TWEETDECK UPDATE: Twitter is revamping Tweetdeck with a view to making it a subscription product. The update, being tested in Australia, Canada and the US, adds richer scheduled posts and advanced search features. Spotted Karan Chadda.
Social media and platforms
💥 TIKTOK BOOM: Chris Stokel-Walker’s new book TikTok Boom explores TikTok's explosive growth, inside Bytedance, geopolitics, and the future. Azeem Azhar says "it's rare for business analysis to read like a thriller.” Spotted Stephen Waddington.
🤫 TIKTOK ALGORITHM: The TikTok algorithm is based on a content graph. It uses the amount of time you linger on a piece of content to determine what to serve you next. Other social networks use a social graph and serve content based on relationships. Spotted Alan Morrison.
🖼️ INSTAGRAM INSIGHTS: Instagram is doubling the results tracking period in Instagram Insights from 30 to 60 days. The social media platform has added a new calendar tool within IG Insights. Spotted Alan Morrison.
This newsletter is crowdsourced each week from my blog and community of practice for people studying and working in marketing, media and PR. It’s a hive mind, newsroom and source of information, help and support. You’d be welcome to join us.
This is the first anniversary of the Wadds Inc. newsletter. We hope that you continue to find it useful. We’re taking a break for the summer but will be back on 6 September. Enjoy your summer.
The PR Council mentioned in this edition of the newsletter is a Wadds Inc. client.