Digital Strategy Prep, ViacomCBS T-Mobile Deal, & More | Weekly Marketing News

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Every week there is a lot of news for digital marketers to stay on top of. Luckily, we created this roundup series to make it easier to see the top stories all in one place.

In digital marketing news, many brands are getting started on their plans for the upcoming year. In today’s digital landscape, consumers are given an overwhelming number of options to choose from when it comes to making a purchasing decision. And according to a new article from MarTechSeries, having a comprehensive digital strategy will help ensure that your business is getting noticed. They have a couple recommendations for getting that started, including enhancing your website, which is the face of your brand. Search engine optimization is also one of the most effective ways of improving your brand’s digital presence, and MarTechSeries states that having an effective SEO strategy is much more complex than just developing relevant search terms. 

And in Connected TV news, Viacom CBS and T-Mobile are teaming up to give all T-Mobile and Sprint users free access to the streaming service Paramount+ starting next week. In an article from Adweek, they describe this partnership as a win-win for both companies – ViacomCBS will get a boost in their subscriber numbers, and T-Mobile clients will of course get an added benefit through their phone or internet services. According to ViacomCBS, they added 4.3 million streaming subscribers on Paramount+ last quarter, and are nearing 47 million total direct-to-consumer subscribers overall. This deal is likely to boost those numbers yet again, as their CEO Bob Bakish stated in the article, “These strong streaming results reinforce our conviction that our strategy is working and that we’re well positioned to capture the significant opportunity in the global streaming ecosystem.” Ultimately, it’s deals like this one that have helped push the world of Connected TV into the spotlight over the last few year. 

Here are the rest of the stories that caught our attention this week.

DIGITAL

How the Rise of Digital Privacy will Impact Your Digital Marketing – Security concerns, platform outages, and constant algorithm changes make digital marketing even more challenging. As a result, it is getting harder to break through the noise and get your content in front of your target audience. 

Why Customer Experience Is the Future of Digital Marketing – Customer Experience expectations have been changing over the years due to the rise of digital marketing. With better ways to communicate, customers are now expecting that all brands across industries offer multi-channel engagement.  

Prep Your Newsletter for a Post-Cookie World – The future of advertising is in privacy and authentication, with publishers taking control of data by building direct relationships with audiences. A common misperception is that adapting to such a tectonic industry shift requires vast financial or technical resources. 

Preparing for 2022: How To Grow Your Businesses Digital Presence? – As technology continues to advance, consumers are being shown an overwhelming amount of information about products and services. Having a comprehensive digital marketing strategy is an essential step towards success for any brand operating in the coming year. 

6 Retail Marketing Predictions for 2022  – ‘Tis is the season when marketers love to hop into their time machines and begin prognosticating about the trends that are going to be all the rage in the coming year (or five).

CONNECTED TV & STREAMING

Roku Sees Account Growth Slowdown Amid Supply Chain Issues – Roku is proving it’s still the biggest connected TV player out there, hitting 56.4 million active accounts in the third quarter of 2021. But Roku’s account growth has slowed notably throughout the year, from adding 5.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 to 1.3 million this quarter.

Connected TV Advertising: Fragmentation or Farce? – Media buyers claim that “CTV is in shambles,” but is it really falling apart, or are advertisers going about it the wrong way?

How Disney Harnessed Interest in Escapism in 2020  – As Covid-19 began to descend on the world in 2020, consumers searched for ways to connect while trapped at home. Over and over again, they turned to Disney.

Consumers Want More Streaming in More Places – Although streaming Connected TV has become a reality for more consumers than ever before, viewers are optimistic about the increasing availability of streaming outside the home environment, according to a new survey.

CTV and Gift Cards: The Post-Holiday Strategy That Keeps On Giving – With a holiday season that is already projected to break sales records, there’s no doubt that millions more will be opening up gift cards this year – and it’s opening up some exciting alternative advertising ideas for marketers. 

How ViacomCBS Is Boosting Its Streaming Subscribers – ViacomCBS streamer Paramount+ is growing fast, and to give it an even bigger boost, the company is teaming up with T-Mobile to give the streaming service away for free beginning next week. 

MOBILE

For Pharma Marketers, Mobile Devices Reign Supreme. But for How Long? – With healthcare advertising continuing to grow and digital looking to overtake TV ad spending in the future, Viant, which runs programmatic platform Adelphic, studied the data from September 2020 through August 2021. 

Coalition for Better Ads Launches Better Ads Standard for Mobile Apps – The ad experiences identified in the Standard are based on the Coalition’s extensive research related to mobile apps, which involved more than 45,000 consumers in seven countries. 

Pinterest User Numbers Fall While Revenue and Stock Rise – Pinterest reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the quarter, while monthly active users fell for the second quarter in a row.

How to Grow your Small Business with a Mobile App – You may have wondered if apps for small businesses are a good investment. However, any marketer worth their salt knows the best way to reach customers is to be present wherever your customers frequent.

Report Sees Mobile TV Opportunities for Marketers – While a sizable portion of respondents to a survey about mobile connected TV (CTV) say they are interested in streaming content during flights and on long distance trips, relatively few have actually done so.

WE’LL KEEP YOU UP-TO-DATE

That’s it for the roundup this week, next week we’ll be back with another list of what’s making news in marketing.

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