SparkToro Blog

Posts by Rand Fishkin:

Data Product SparkToro

The Three Biggest Problems Folks Have When Searching SparkToro

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
Tens of thousands of marketers, researchers, product managers, and more are using SparkToro to learn more about their audiences. That’s inspiring. I love it. And also… Some of y’all are getting stuck. It’s not your fault! SparkToro’s a new tool, with a new search paradigm, and new kinds of audience data. So, it’s up to us to help out. In…
Events Personal

The Best Damn Food & Drink Gift Guide on the Web

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
What’s in this guide that makes it so good? 37 small, privately-owned, high-quality businesses you’ll actually want to support, 75+ delicious food and beverage gifts that your friends and family will love to receive, and 0 slideshows, 0 ads, 0 affiliate links, and $0 dollars biasing the editorial recommendations. In short: everything you’d want in a food+beverage gift guide, nothing…
Marketing Product Psychology

Social Networks “Optimize for Engagement.” What Does That Mean for Marketers?

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
I’m a firm believer that incentives and systems govern behavior at scale. If you want to understand why companies make the decisions they do, look at how their executives and boards are rewarded. If you’re trying to grok an unfamiliar sport, see how points are scored and wins are tabulated. Follow the incentives, and you’ll understand the system. If you’re…
Data Events Marketing Psychology

Marketing Takeaways from the 2020 US Election | Part V: Brand Familiarity & The Weaknesses of Product

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
Welcome to the final episode in our five part exploration of the 2020 US election from a marketing lens. If you haven’t already, make sure to check out the rest of series Part I: Identity & Common EnemiesPart II: Positioning & SegmentationPart III: Polling Problems & Growing Fans vs. Persuading ConvertsPart IV: Narratives & Information DistributionPart V: Brand Familiarity &…
Data Events Marketing Psychology

Marketing Lessons from the 2020 Election | Part IV: Narratives & Information Distribution

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
Welcome to the penultimate episode (part 4/5) in our ongoing analysis of the 2020 US elections. If you haven’t already, check out part one, covering identity & common enemies, part two on positioning & segmentation, and part three on polling problems & growing vs. converting audiences. This time, we’ll look at the memorable power of simplistic narratives, then take a…
Data Events Marketing Psychology

Marketing Lessons from the 2020 Election | Part III: Polling Problems & Growing Fans vs. Persuading Converts

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
It’s time for part three (of five) in our ongoing analysis of the 2020 US elections. If you haven’t already, check out part one, covering identity & common enemies, and part two on positioning & segmentation. Today, we’ll get into the weeds of survey methodology, why election polling appears to be less accurate, and how your market research might suffer…
Data Events Marketing Psychology

Marketing Lessons from the 2020 Election | Part II: Positioning & Segmentation

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
Welcome to part two (of five) in our ongoing analysis of marketing takeaways from 2020’s record-shattering US elections. Yesterday, I wrote about how cultural identity drives behavior, and the power of common enemies. Today, we’ll pick up the series by diving into the opportunities and limitations of both positioning and segmentation. In case you skipped yesterday’s post, a few caveat…
Data Events Marketing Psychology

Marketing Lessons from the 2020 Election | Part I: Identity & Common Enemies

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
I don’t believe there is any greater, more public example of capitalist-driven marketing on display than the American presidential elections. It is, unquestionably: A globally-followed eventA marketing-driven (rather than product-driven) outcome10X+ larger in spend than any other marketing campaign on Earth Ad spend figures from Quartz, Nielsen, & OpenSecrets This pinnacle of influence-driven action is much more than that, obviously.…

Keep up with SparkToro®