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Social Networks “Optimize for Engagement.” What Does That Mean for Marketers?
By 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
I Blogged Every Night for a Week. It Went Terribly.
By Friends, I want you to look at a Google Analytics traffic graph with me. It’s not pretty, but sometimes we can learn more from failures than from success. You see that, too, right? In the week of November 15-21, SparkToro’s website saw a slight decline in traffic that, for most of this year, only happens
Marketing Takeaways from the 2020 US Election | Part V: Brand Familiarity & The Weaknesses of Product
By 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 Enemies Part II: Positioning & Segmentation Part III: Polling Problems & Growing Fans vs. Persuading Converts Part IV:
Marketing Lessons from the 2020 Election | Part IV: Narratives & Information Distribution
By 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
Marketing Lessons from the 2020 Election | Part III: Polling Problems & Growing Fans vs. Persuading Converts
By 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
Marketing Lessons from the 2020 Election | Part II: Positioning & Segmentation
By 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
Marketing Lessons from the 2020 Election | Part I: Identity & Common Enemies
By 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 event A marketing-driven (rather than product-driven) outcome 10X+ larger in spend than any other marketing campaign on Earth Ad spend figures from Quartz, Nielsen, & OpenSecrets This pinnacle of influence-driven
How to Apply SparkToro’s Data and Get Better Marketing Results
By Updated April 3, 2024: We relaunched SparkToro! This blog post has been updated to reflect our product’s current functionalities. In 2018, my cofounder, Casey, and I had a crazy idea: what if you could aggregate the behavior of tens of millions of public social profiles and get insights into how groups of people behave online?
Election Polls vs. Results Can Help Explain How SparkToro’s Data Works
By If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent the last 48 hours frantically refreshing the NYTimes, Politico, the Washington Post, Five Thirty Eight, & Memeorandum far more times than is healthy. This American election, more than any news event in my lifetime, has induced massive anxiety, fear, hope, and emotional turmoil (at least in those who