A couple weeks ago, I asked on Mastodon about getting a new, lightweight travel laptop. I got a bunch of kind replies, but it was Trevor Longino who first suggested Microsoft’s Surface series. I’d never played with one, but a few glowing reviews later, I took the leap. The laptop is very, very nice to
Why Marketers, Creators, and Brands Should Start Using Mastodon ASAP
By I joined Twitter in June, 2007. It turned out to be a very smart move; over the next decade, that network had a massive impact on my professional success. Some of that is because I did interesting or valuable things, but a lot of it was a combination of timing and serendipity. There are plenty
How Rand Makes Those Split-Screen Videos You See on LinkedIn and Twitter
By Several times a week, I post videos that look like this on (usually) LinkedIn and Twitter: They tend to get a lot of engagement (in this case, 10,000+ “impressions” which translates to a respectable 2,880 “viewers” according to LinkedIn). And inevitably, I get comments, DMs, or emails that ask “how do you make those split
NEW: Audience Tracking is Now Available in SparkToro
By Since our launch in 2020, SparkToro has helped thousands of marketers uncover the most popular demographic and behavioral attributes of their target audiences. Emphasis on “most popular” 😉. That data is undoubtedly valuable: it helps folks know where and how to reach their customers online. But, in the two years SparkToro’s been active, we observed
The Best Damn Food & Drink Gift Guide 2022
By For the third year in a row, we’re back! Our annual food and drink gift guide features our favorite products — ones we’ve used ourselves, received as gifts, and/or gifted to others. Like last year (and the year before), there’s no ulterior motive. There are no affiliate links or kickbacks. Just the products we love
Which 3rd-Party Traffic Estimate Best Matches Google Analytics?
By In July and August of this year, SparkToro solicited (via Twitter, our email newsletter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram) voluntary sharing of Google Analytics data from the web marketing community. Over 1,000 participants shared their websites’ traffic (through GA’s oAuth function) with us. We then acquired metrics from four providers of traffic estimate data—SEMRush, Datos, SimilarWeb,
Trendjacking Without the Cringe
By Here are some cringey ideas for your next viral social media post: photoshop your brand’s responses to Adam Levine’s dubious DMs; make a meme out of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock; or make your team do some variation of that corn song on TikTok. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a cheap dopamine thrill from the
How to Measure “Hard-to-Measure” Marketing Channels
By I’ve ranted endlessly about how marketing leaders refuse to invest in hard-to-measure marketing channels like PR, media, native social, events, many types of content, and word-of-mouth. But, never stepped up and made clear how to use metrics, imperfect though they may be, to turn impossible-to-measure into difficult, but possible. Sadly, I’ve never seen a high-quality
Which Subreddits Does Your Audience Follow? What Do They Talk About? Starting Today, SparkToro Has the Answers
By Today, we’re launching a new “Reddit” tab in SparkToro. It will show you the Subreddits to which the audience you search for most-heavily subscribes, and the text content of their Reddit posts. This feature is briefly available for all paid subscribers. In a few weeks, SparkToro is updating our prices & packages, at which time
Introducing SparkTogether 2022: Because the Marketing World Needs Better, More Unique Events
By On November 10th, we’re running SparkToro’s first-ever marketing summit: SparkTogether. It’s live. It WON’T be recorded (because our presenters are sharing confidential numbers and information). And we’d love to have you there. For details and tickets, check out the SparkTogether 2022 Event Page, or read on for more background. Early bird tickets are on sale