ICYMI: Digital marketing news update for May 1, 2021

While you were busy growing your business, creating money-making content, and absolutely slaying your digital sales and marketing goals this past week, here are the big digital marketing news stories you missed:

Free Course: Fundamentals of Social Media Marketing

1. File under "W" for "Wow, didn't see that coming," Twitter is actually profitable, with a 28% year-over-year increase.
2. Since we all know video is kind of a big deal, it's not surprising, however, that YouTube is also a winner with a 49% increase in ad revenue.
3. U.S. senators have demands, specifically better bottomless brunch options in Washington, D.C., and more transparency into social media algorithms.
4. Get ready to pay homage to our monkey overlords, because MailChimp is moving into the e-comm space with online storefronts and online appointment booking solutions.
5. And, finally, the state of podcasting has been released with a big ol' batch of stats about the podcasting industry.

Oh, and I also locked my keys and my iPhone in the laundry room in my apartment for five hours, in case anyone was curious.

Twitter posts year-over-year revenue growth

Apparently, all of my tweeting about the superiority of the underrated movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is finally paying off for the conversational social platform, Twitter:

"Q1 was a solid start to the year with total revenue of $1.04 billion up 28% year over year, reflecting strength in brand advertising in March as well as accelerating year-over-year growth in Mobile App Promotion (MAP) revenue. Operating margin of 5% reflects ongoing investments across our top objectives."

They also specifically noted a 32% year-over-year increase in ad revenue. I can attest to the increased efficacy of Twitter ads, because last week I got a Bon Appetit subscription, compared my insurance rates with Progressive (and then stuck with eSurance), and purchased a new Apple Watch wristband... all thanks to Twitter ads.

🔎 Related resources:

• Twitter tries (and fails) to buy Clubhouse... so what?
• Twitter acquires email newsletter service Revue
• Fundamentals of social media marketing for business (free course)

Oh, and YouTube ad revenue is up 49%

I still can't really get into YouTube. I'm really into TikTok but something about YouTube keeps me from binging video after video. Clearly, I'm alone, however... 

"Though mobile still makes up the largest percentage of how content is consumed on the platform, our fastest growing viewing experience is on the TV screen. Last December, over 120 million people in the U.S. streamed YouTube or YouTube TV on their TV screens. And there’s another interesting viewing behavior emerging. A new generation of viewers chooses to watch YouTube primarily on the TV screen: Also in December, over a quarter of logged-in YouTube CTV viewers in the U.S. watched content almost exclusively on the TV screen."

I guess that's why the YouTube ad game is so strong... 

🔎 Related resources:

• How much do YouTube ads costs?
• YouTube vs. Vidyard for video hosting for businesses
• YouTube video uploading ultimate checklist

US Senate wants more transparency into social media algorithms

I'm glad the U.S. government is finally focusing on the real issues... like why I keep getting targeted for Kansas City Chiefs gear ads in my Facebook newsfeed when I don't like the Kansas City Chiefs, I live in Maryland, and literally like... what?

"...senators on both sides of the aisle criticized public policy executives from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube about the negative effects of their firms’ data-fueled, advertising-supported business models and questioned whether the sheer scale and dominance of their platforms foster perverse goals inspiring technical decisions that promote engagement with content that ultimately harms people and society."

...oh yeah, that's important, too. Will Facebook ever be out of hot water? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Mailchimp gets into the e-comm game with online storefronts, appointment setting solutions

Mailchimp was once an email newsletter solution, and now it's clearly h-e-double-hockey-sticks bent on world domination... first, it expanded into marketing automation services, and now:

"This addition of built-in commerce features marks a major step in Mailchimp’s evolution. But it also makes sense. The company says about 40% of its more than 14 million customers are in the commerce space already and many of them have been asking for more native commerce features. Almost 30% of its users are also using its existing commerce features and integrations and the company saw its revenue for e-commerce customers grow 61% from 2019 to 2020."

I, for one, welcome our monkey overlords.

Finally, the latest stats about podcasting in 2021

We all know podcasting is a big deal. For example, today alone I listened to a podcast about the cinematic classic Predator and about the wild Super League story coming out of Europe. But those facts alone aren't enough to sell you on its power (and profitability) ...

Podcast listening continues to grow.

And people definitely listen to more than one podcast.

Every Saturday, you can expect this little weekly dose of digital marketing news. I hope you enjoyed the first edition. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch Arnold Schwarzenegger safely guide his friends to a helicopter.