Brand marketers stick to trust-building strategies forged in 2020’s fires, study finds
91 percent of brand marketers will keep focusing on the strategies aimed at building trust they developed in 2020 as a response to the pandemic, according to recently-released survey data of interest to digital marketers. Marketing Dive

Ad Prices Forecast To Inflate 3% This Year
Digital display ad price inflation for 2021 is expected to be 3.4 percent, with digital video slightly higher at 3.6 percent, while this year is expected to hold some recovery from the impact of the pandemic in 2020, according to newly-released forecast data. MediaPost

In Engagement Shift, Friday Proves Top Day for Email Response Rates in 2020
With an 18.9 percent click-to-open (CTO) rate, marketing emails sent on Friday lead the way when it comes to engagement levels, according to recently-released survey data, with Saturday coming in as having the lowest engagement rates. MarketingCharts

LinkedIn Provides New Tips on How to Create Engaging B2B Content [Infographic]
LinkedIn (client) has launched a new 17-page guide offering B2B marketers tips, statistics and a variety of insight and examples surrounding the production of successful B2B creative on the Microsoft-owned platform, the firm recently announced. Social Media Today

2021 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report
Overall social media posting frequency has fallen, while engagement has declined on Instagram, according to newly-released report data from Rival IQ, which also found that platform-specific hashtags have seen growing success. Rival IQ

Dentsu Finds ‘Social Good’ Branding Attitudes Index High Among Most Nations, Less So In Japan
Brands that actively promote a variety of social good initiatives garner positive attitudes towards those brands, according to recently-released global survey data of social media users, examining how social media user attitudes differ in various nations. MediaPost

COVID-19’s Impact on B2B Tech Marketers’ Channel Strategies in 2021
Among B2B marketers, webinars, search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing and LinkedIn ads have grown in importance the most during the pandemic, according to recently-released survey data. The data also shows that the top challenges faced by B2B technology marketers in 2021 are balancing quantity with quality, digital fatique, and measuring the right key performance indicators (KPIs). MarketingProfs

LinkedIn Announces New Measures to Tackle Inherent Bias as Part of Black History Month
LinkedIn (client) has launched an array of new initiatives that are part of a push towards systemic change to increase the Microsoft-owned professional social platform’s value to people in underrepresented groups, the firm recently announced. Social Media Today

Most CMOs expect role to change as a result of Covid-19, finds LinkedIn
Nearly 75 percent of chief marketing officers believe their role as CMO will change due to the pandemic, to include more branding and greater internal communications, according to recently-released survey data of interest to digital marketers. The Drum

6 Ways COVID-19 has Impacted B2B Influencer Marketing
During the pandemic social media users increased their engagement levels with content from industry influencers, lead by the technology industry, which saw a 440 percent increase from 2019 to 2020 — one of several findings of interest to online marketers in recently-released Onalytica report data. Onalytica

How the Pandemic Has Affected Account-Based Marketing
42 percent of B2B marketers say that the pandemic has changed their account-based marketing (ABM) business objectives, according to recently-released survey data, with 30 percent noting that their ABM budgets fell due to the global health crisis, while 26 percent saw their ABM spending increase. MarketingProfs

Despite In-Housing Trend, Clients Continue To Value Agency Relationships
Greater alignment with brand priorities brings increased value to agencies, according to newly-released Forrester report data of interest to digital marketers, which also showed that some 75 percent of brand decision makers were satisfied or very satisfied with their agency rosters. MediaPost

The Top Barriers to Creating Great B2B Content [Study]
Workload, resources, interference and changing priorities rank as the leading obstacles faced by B2B content marketers, according to recently-released survey data of interest to digital marketers. MarketingProfs

Google My Business launches new performance reporting
Google has added new performance reporting features to its Google My Business service, which now includes search term data from Google Search and Maps, among other new reporting information available. Search Engine Land

The Best Times to Post Your Social Media Updates in 2021 [Infographic]
One LinkedIn post a day published on Tuesday through Thursday between 7 to 10 a.m. or 5 to 6 p.m. are the top posting days and times on the platform, according to newly-released report data, which also covers other social media platform top posting times. Social Media Today

LinkedIn Shares New Usage Insights for Your 2021 Planning [Infographic]
Microsoft-owned LinkedIn (client) has released updated usage statistics showing that the professional social network’s LinkedIn Live video streams have increased by 89 percent since March, along with strong levels of member engagement — two of numerous statistics of interest to digital marketers. Social Media Today

Google Question Hub Is Open & It’s A Great Way To Find Content Ideas
Google has rolled out a new service showing unanswered search question data, offering U.S users access to its Question Hub for the first time — a feature previously only available in three non-U.S. nations. Search Engine Roundtable

Social networks will experience a pandemic-driven boost in 2020—but not equally
Greater than predicted numbers of users have flocked to social media this pandemic year, according to recently-released survey data of interest to digital marketers, with 150 million more global users for 2020 than previously estimated. eMarketer

Snapchat Shares New insights into Consumer Behavior and Trends
Mobile eCommerce, augmented reality (AR) campaigns and an uptick in video are among the key shifts in consumer trends and behavior, according to a newly-released user insight report from Snapchat. Social Media Today

Twitter expands API features for developers tracking the public conversation
Better integration of Twitter’s new tweet reply privacy control features are among an array of new API inter-connectivity changes, the social media platform recently announced. TechCrunch

B2B Businesses More Likely To Keep Third-Party Ad-Tracking Secrets From Customers
72 percent of B2B firms say they acknowledge ad tracking and don’t inform customers, compared to some 58 percent of their B2C counterparts, according to recently-released survey data. The report also noted that B2B firms were twice as likely to rate third-party ad platforms as having done a good job of explaining how data is being used. MediaPost

LinkedIn Adds New ‘Products’ Tab on Company Pages to Highlight Specific Products
LinkedIn (client) has launched new product highlighting features to company pages on the platform, in the form of a products tab, allowing digital marketers to augment products with testimonials and customer endorsements, along with noting an additional forthcoming services marketplace feature, the Microsoft-owned firm recently announced. Social Media Today

Some B2B Brands Are Going All-in On Digital Advertising
B2B digital advertising spending has largely skirted the sizable losses seen in traditional ad spend, and certain B2B brands have started shifted more budget dollars to digital media, according to recently-released eMarketer study data of interest to B2B marketers. ANA

The Road To Chatbots, Virtual Assistants For B2B Marketers, Per Forrester
The B2B buyer journey has changed almost entirely into all-digital experiences, and B2B marketers who rush the process by using traditional chatbots or virtual assistants risk losing customers, according to newly-released Forrester survey data. MediaPost

Facebook Expands Brand Collabs Manager to Include Facebook Groups, Adds New Group Post Options
Facebook has augmented its Brand Collabs Manager tool, with the inclusion of several new partnership location features aimed at helping influencer marketing and brand partnerships through the use of sponsored Facebook group posts, the social media giant recently announced. Social Media Today

One-Third of B2B Tech Marketers Say They’ll Meet Their Original KPIs This Year
42 percent of B2B technology executives say they’ll meet their revised 2020 key performance indicators, while 16 just say they won’t meet KPIs — two of several items of interest to digital marketers in recently-released survey data. MarketingCharts

Year-End Global/U.S. Ad Forecasts Improve Markedly
Three recently-released global advertising spending forecasts predict a much stronger outlook for 2021 than in 2020, with improvements in the global market especially better — up an average of 7.8 percent in the studies compared to 4.5 percent for the U.S. MediaPost

Salesforce strikes deal to acquire Slack for $27.7 billion
Cloud services firm Salesforce will pay $27.7 billion to acquire online workplace communication service company Slack, a move seen as likely aiming to bring tighter integration between the two platforms, Salesforce recently announced. Ars Technica

Google Search Podcast Carousel Updated With Larger Graphics
Google has tested significantly larger podcast carousel images within search results, a move that if rolled out would provide marketers greater podcast visibility opportunities in Google search results, and signify the expanding role that podcasts have held over the past year. Search Engine Roundtable