Do Agencies Practice the Content Marketing They Preach? [New Research]
Agency content marketing statistics and budgeting trends for 2019 are examined in a new report from the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, with the release of the new “Agency Content Marketing 2019: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends” survey. Content Marketing Institute

LinkedIn debuts LinkedIn Live, a new live video broadcast service
LinkedIn (client) has began launching a live video feature, LinkedIn Live, to build on the success of its standard video offerings which are already the fastest-growing format on the platform, the firm has announced. TechCrunch

In-app ad spend grows but KPIs slow to catch up, study finds
Advertisers are spending 45 percent of their budgets on mobile formats, and 92 percent of firms expect to see those budgets expand during the next year, two of the take-aways from a new joint survey from Forrester and PubMatic. The Drum

New Inc. 500 and Social Media Use Study from UMass Dartmouth
A new look into how Inc. 500 firms use both paid and organic social media advertising comes from the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and offers a slew of useful information for digital marketers. UMass Dartmouth

LinkedIn Reaches 610 Million Members, Publishes New eBook on Social Media Management Tips
LinkedIn (client) has topped the 610 million user mark, with 40 percent using the site daily — two of the statistics from a guide the firm recently published, also offering best practices and social media management tips. Social Media Today

YouTube expands test of its Instagram-like Explore tab to more devices
YouTube has recently expanded its Explore tab test to surface more video content that would not show up using traditional recommendation algorithms, now available on more devices. TechCrunch

40+ Video Marketing Statistics for 2019 [Infographic]
Video’s prominence in the social media marketing landscape has continued to expand, with some five billion videos viewed daily on YouTube alone, and a new report and infographic from Renderforest dig into some of the numbers behind the growth. Social Media Today

Exclusive: Snapchat weighs what was once unthinkable – permanent snaps
Snapchat has considered making public posts made by its users permanent, sources have told Reuters, in an effort to make it easier for news discovery platforms to share snaps. A possible new option to disclose user identities for public snaps was also reportedly in the works. Reuters

Buffer’s 2019 State of Social Report
Buffer recently released its 2019 State of Social report, offering an in-depth look at what digital marketers are focusing on and an examination of trends and how the industry is changing. Buffer

Twitter Releases its Official Marketing Calendar for 2019
Twitter has put out its 2019 version of so-called hashtag holidays, a handy calendar for digital marketers including traditional mainstream holidays as well as “Talk Like A Pirate Day” and others. Search Engine Journal

Legal tips for managing your influencer relationships
Protecting brand and influencer relationships has become a greater concern among marketers as the use of social influencers has risen, and AdAge takes a look at some legal safeguards and practices that can pay off in the long run. AdAge

Best B2B Content: Analysis and Insights from Over 50,000 Articles
B2B content marketing produced some shining examples and strong results during 2018, and BuzzSumo has parsed through more than 50,000 posts to find examples of the best, along with an examination of some of the factors that helped the strongest B2B content rise. BuzzSumo

YouTube is testing new, blue recommendation bubbles that appear under videos
YouTube has begun testing a new type of video recommendation and filtering system, with under-video suggestion bubbles for both mobile and desktop users, a move aimed at improving the video giant’s often-maligned automated recommendations. The Verge

Study: Two-Thirds Of B2B Brands Are Pushing Digital Transformation
Nearly two-thirds of B2B brands are making efforts to implement the type of digital transformation that improves the customer experience, according to recent survey data, one of several insights of interest to digital marketers. MediaPost

Inside Google Marketing: 4 ways we’re planning for an automated future
Google plans to seek out better data for a more automated future, the search giant recently announced, along with other insight for users of its Google Marketing Platform, including optimized data points and scalable creative templates. Think With Google

Comscore and Nielsen are racing to become the one true cross-platform measurement provider
2019 will see both Google and Nielsen increase efforts to lead the way in online traffic and usage measurement, using expanded measurement tools each plan to begin rolling out in the coming months. Digiday

AI Is Eating Advertising – And 2019 Will Be Critical For Getting It Right
Artificial intelligence is playing a greater role in digital marketing, utilizing vast amounts of existing demographic data, and AdExchanger takes a look at how this shift has affected the way marketers work. AdExchanger

What B2B Tech Marketers Are Planning for 2019
Video marketing, Account-Based Marketing (ABM), and on-demand and influencer marketing strategies lead the list of practices digital technology marketers plan to adopt during 2019, one of several findings in recent survey data. By the end of 2019 influencer marketing strategy adoption is expected to expand to 48 percent, a significant increase over 2018’s 31 percent. MarketingCharts

Instagram CPCs, CPMs drop as click-throughs continue to climb
Instagram advertisers have seen good news lately, as cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-impression (CPM) rates have fallen at the same time that click-through-rates (CTR) have jumped, according the recent report data focusing on the third quarter of 2018. Marketing Land

Over 70 Percent of Millennials on Twitter Have Commented on Companies’ Customer Service
More than 70 percent of millennial Twitter users have left comments for the customer service accounts of at least one company, according to new survey data. 62.48 percent of surveyed Twitter users also say that personalized responses to their comments represent the top way brands can improve their social media customer care. AdWeek

AppsFlyer: App ad market to grow 136% to $64.1 billion from 2017 to 2020
By 2020 app advertising will grow to become a $64.1B market segment, a 136 percent jump from 2017, according to new market research study data, representing a year-over-year rate of 34 percent growth. VentureBeat

Google Introduces WordPress Plugin With Integrated Analytics, Search Console, More
Google has launched a WordPress plug-in called Site Kit that offers convenient access to various Google tools including AdSense, Search Console, Analytics, and PageSpeed Insights, among others. Search Engine Journal

Marketers’ use of Snapchat is on the rise — but is still a fraction of Facebook and Instagram
Snapchat has seen an increase in use as a marketing platform, despite lacking some of the flexibility powerhouses like Facebook and Instagram allow, according to recent forecast data from eMarketer and others. L.A. Biz

Search Engine Marketing: Why People Click on Paid Search Ads
Seventy-seven percent of people are confident that they can recognize paid search advertisements, and 75 percent find paid search eases the buying process, according to new survey data. Clutch

Facebook relaunches search ads to offset slowing revenue
Facebook has announced that it will relaunch its sponsored search results and Marketplace advertising. This is the return of an option unavailable to digital marketers since 2013, a move that could help Facebook offset recent decreased revenue trends. TechCrunch

Consumers Say Brands Ask for Too Much Information
Brands asking for too much personal information is the leading cause of mistrust among U.S. consumers, at 35.9 percent. The second leading cause of mistrust is the result public data scandals at 28 percent, among several findings relevant to digital marketers in a recent Jebbit survey. eMarketer

Will Ad Dollars Continue Shifting From Facebook to Instagram in 2019? New trends report data
Instagram has continued to draw more advertising dollars than its parent company Facebook, according to new report data from Socialbakers. AdWeek

Facebook’s Testing New ‘Keyword Alerts’ for Groups
Facebook has begun testing a Groups feature allowing administrators to receive alerts for keywords, an especially welcome addition for those managing large Facebook Groups, and a new opportunity for digital marketers to monitor relevant subjects. Social Media Today

10 Things Cyber Week Reveals About U.S. Consumers
Mobile and click-to-collect online orders in the U.S. were up 40 percent from 2017, while 23 percent haven’t begun holiday shopping yet, two of the numerous recent revelations from the National Retail Federation. AdWeek

What Consumers Want From Brands: Transparency on Social Media
Social media transparency tops the list of what U.S. consumers want most from brands, according to recent Sprout Social survey data. Admitting mistakes and providing honest responses to customer inquiries led the list of methods customers feel demonstrate brand transparency.MarketingProfs

Google Search Console To Replace Search Analytics With Performance Report
Google has given notice that a new performance report will soon replace the existing search analytics collection of data in its popular Google Search Console tool. Search Engine Roundtable

40 Facts About How Color Psychology Can Boost Your Website Conversions [Infographic]
Color has long been known for playing a role in how we feel about marketing campaigns, and a new infographic explores a slew of information about the psychology of colors. Social Media Today

Blogging Statistics and Trends: The 2018 Survey of 1000+ Bloggers
What works well among successful bloggers was examined in a recent survey, revealing numerous fascinating trends and statistics relevant to digital marketers. Orbit Media Studios