As new market entries go, Amazon’s move into Southeast Asia has been hard to ignore.

The e-commerce giant has been seen as both an opportunity and a threat: a proven partner of choice or a competitor that’ll put local retailers on the back foot. But retail is only one part of Amazon’s business – and for marketers there could be an even greater opportunity here.

In the States and Europe, we’ve already seen some lucrative brand partnerships emerging. These partnerships are about more than selling through the platform though, like L’Oréal, who have moved parts of their Search budget to Amazon. And it’s understandable: with 55% of all product searches now starting on Amazon alone, it pays to have your brand front and centre.

Crucially, it’s not just the big names that are marketing themselves through Amazon either. Smaller brands – and even individual products – are getting in on the act. And I expect it won’t be long before we’re seeing the same in Southeast Asia.

But why is this such a big opportunity, and what should we do about it?

Data, data, data

It starts with data: Amazon isn’t just an online retailer.

Of course, if you want to sell merchandise directly through Amazon, you can. But marketers can also use their data to drive sales. Amazon’s data is a goldmine, because it’s incredibly specific and targeted – all because Amazon’s users are actively looking to buy.

The best way to show this is to compare Amazon’s competitors: Facebook and Google.

Sure, they have vast amounts of data (especially when it comes to what people are interested in or searching for). But when it comes to the quality of the data, Amazon wins hands down. That’s because Amazon knows what they’re searching for and what they actually buy and how they are doing it. After all, actions always speak louder than words. And, here, Amazon can close the loop.

Throw into the mix Amazon’s cross-platform capabilities – combined with Search and Display on its site, app and platforms – and you can start to see why digital marketers have been getting excited.

Hello human insights

But this is only touching the surface. Another exciting part of Amazon’s unique proposition is what’s yet to come.

When I said Amazon does not just focus on e-commerce, I meant it. Think about Prime, Kindle and Echo to name just a few. Amazon is a truly digital company – and it’s just getting started.

Take Echo for instance. Voice Search is becoming a part of everyday life and, because of the detailed insights it offers, it’s set to become a valuable part of the marketer’s arsenal.

This isn’t just about suggesting products or Voice SEO, but a better understanding of customers: their demographics, attitudes and, even, the tone of their questions.

Scary? Absolutely. But it’s an absolute goldmine for marketers everywhere.

And, the best part about it, we’re yet to see the true potential of this and Amazon’s other platforms. Each could feature in our marketing mix – and sooner than we think, if Amazon’s record is anything to go by.

After all, they’ve already revolutionised e-commerce. Now Amazon could do the same for digital marketing.

Luke Janich is CEO of RED²

Thông thường, các tài liệu PDF chứa 1 lượng lớn nội dung phong phú bao gồm text, hình ảnh, thậm chí các đường link đường dẫn,… Kể từ sau năm 2001, Google đã có thể thu thập dữ liệu, lập chỉ mục (Index) và xếp hạng các tài liệu, nếu có thể tối ưu hóa các nội dung SEO trên PDF, bạn có thể đang nắm trong tay một phương pháp làm SEO cho file PDF.  Vậy làm sao để thực hiện? Hãy xem qua 10 mẹo hay dưới đây để đạt được lưu lượng truy cập SEO từ file PDF. 1. Đặt tên File cẩn thận Đây chính là bước đầu tiên vô cùng quan trọng khi chuyển đổi tài liệu văn bản sang định dạng PDF. Thay vì đặt tên đại khái, hãy chắc chắn rằng những từ khóa SEO quan trọng đã được nằm trong tên File. Vì đây là một tài liệu SEO, nếu file bạn đang nhận được nằm ở định dạng PDF, hãy thực hiện phân tích từ khóa, đối chiếu với đối thủ cạnh tranh trước khi thực hiện đổi tên tập tin bằng một key word thật “đắt” vừa thể hiện rõ điểm mạnh của công ty bạn, vừa phù hợp với nhu cầu người sử dụng. Nhớ viết hoa những chữ cái đầu, viết cách ra với dấu gạch ngang phía trước. 2. Chèn các link nội dung khác Việc đưa các cấu trúc nội bộ giống như website vào file PDF chẳng hề đơn giản tí nào. Mặc dù các file PDF chứa nhiều thông tin giá trị hơn (như khảo sát, bản báo cáo,…), khách hàng vẫn chỉ gọi đến Hotline dựa vào thông tin trên Trang web sản phẩm. Điều này khiến cho PDF trở nên vô dụng và lạc loài trong danh mục trang web. Nên có sitemap (sợ đồ cấu trúc) đối với các file SEO PDF. Sau đây là đoạn trích dẫn phát biểu của ông John Mueller – một trong những nhà quản lý của Google năm 2016 như sau: “Khi bạn không lập chỉ mục trang web trong file PDF của mình, thuật toán của Google sẽ tự hiểu rằng chúng đã thu thập đủ dữ liệu từ trang web của bạn, rằng bạn không cần hoặc vẫn chưa có thêm nội dung khác”. Chèn các link dẫn đến các tài liệu nội bộ có liên quan vào file PDF là một trong những cách giúp Google dễ dàng nhận ra các keyword bạn mong muốn xuất hiện trên bảng xếp hạng, thăng hạn các từ khóa SEO của bạn tốt hơn. 3. Liên kết với các nội dung khác có liên quan Đây là hoạt động rất hữu ích cho nội dung trang web. Bằng cách liên kết với các nội dung đã có trên trang web trong file PDF, bạn có thể giúp tăng khả năng thăng hạng của trang trên các hệ thống tìm kiếm, rằng nội dung đó là một phần cốt yếu trong trang web của bạn. Một lợi ích tuyệt vời khác đi kèm với việc sử dụng các file PDF là các trang web bên ngoài cũng có khả năng liên kết lại với chúng, sử dụng chúng như một nguồn một tài nguyên thường trực. Nếu các link trong file PDF của bạn đã từng xuất hiện trên các trang quan trọng trên trang web, điều này sẽ giúp tăng tính thẩm quyền cho cả 2. 4. Thêm vào 1 tiêu đề tối ưu, thực hiện tối ưu hóa Đây là 1 mẹo SEO rất cơ bản song hay bị lãng quên. Có thể đặt tiêu đề cho PDF trong phần ‘Document Properties’. Phần mềm tìm kiếm sẽ sử ứng dụng lên file này giống như tag trên HTML. Điều này sẽ giúp hiện ra những nội dung có thể click vào được trong mục tìm kiếm. Vì thế, hãy chú ý hơn đến những tiêu đề mà bạn đang muốn thăng hạng. Sự thật ở đây là PDF chính là sự lựa chọn phù hợp nhất để xếp hạng cho các truy vấn cụ thể, dài hạn. Với tính chất đó, các tài liệu bổ sung trong một lĩnh vực điều tra như tên đề, miêu tả nên thể hiện rõ. Thực hiện tối ưu hóa PDF cho một thuật ngữ phức tạp khó mà thành công. 5. Chọn lọc lại nội dung cho bản PDF trên thiết bị di động Đây không chỉ là lời khuyên áp dụng cho mọi lĩnh vực tiếp thị kỹ thuật số hiện nay mà còn cho áp dụng cho việc SEO các file PDF. Vì đa số các tập PDF có định dạng rất rộng, khó có thể phù hợp để đọc được trên màn hình điện thoại. Thật ra hoàn toàn có thể điều chỉnh được vấn đề này. Đầu tiên, hãy căn chỉnh lại nội dung ở phía bên trái của trang, bạn sẽ dễ dàng hơn để cuộn qua nội dung trên thiết bị di động mà không phải di chuyển quá nhiều sang biên ngang. Ghi chú cho file SEO PDF: Bạn có thể sử dụng dấu gạch đầu dòng, bôi đậm nội dung cần quan tâm để giúp người đọc lưu ý những điểm hay cần nhấn mạnh, tiết kiệm thời gian và công sức. Tăng cường chất lượng hình ảnh nhưng đừng quá lạm dụng sẽ khiến file trở nên nặng nề, tải lâu. 6. Giảm dung lượng hình ảnh đăng tải Tốc độ tải chính là một trong những yếu tố quan trọng trong việc thăng hạng trang, vì thế file PDF không được nặng. Chắc chắn sau khi đã dành rất nhiều công sức để tạo nên 1 tác phẩm chỉn chu, chẳng ai muốn phải xóa bớt hình ảnh ra khỏi file để giảm dung lượng cả. Có thể sử dụng các côn cụ nén ảnh như JPEGmini or Soda PDF để giảm dung lượng do hình ảnh gây ra mà không ảnh hưởng đến nội dung file. 7. Chèn các tiêu đề phụ vào nội dung Các file PDF thường chứa rất nhiều thông tin chuyên sâu, tuy nhiên không phải người đọc nào cũng có đủ kiên nhẫn để xem hết. Bằng cách sử dụng các tiêu đề phụ, bạn sẽ giúp cho người đọc dễ dàng tìm ra những thông tin quan trọng ki đọc qua tài liệu hơn. Đây là lưu ý đặc biệt quan trọng khi áp dụng ứng dụng cho điện thoại. Quy tắc chung ở đây là không viết nhiều hơn 3 đến 4 câu cho một đoạn văn. Giữa các đoạn văn nên có 1 đoạn dẫn mô tả về nội dung tiếp theo, bao gồm cả nội dung tìm kiếm mục tiêu của bạn. 8. Chỉ sử dụng text Trong file PDF thường chứa nhiều hình ảnh và các công cụ tìm kiếm sẽ không phân biệt được. Điều này làm ảnh hưởng đến việc xếp hạng nội dung trên Google. Các công cụ tìm kiếm hiện nay đã có thể đọc được nội dung thông qua hình ảnh, song nội dung dạng text vẫn được ưu tiên hơn. Một số công cụ như Creative Suite của Adobe sẽ giúp bạn chuyển đổi sang định dạng text dễ dàng hơn. Ngoài ra, có 1 cách kiểm tra đơn giản hơn chính là thử sao chép và dán văn bản từ PDF sang Microsoft Word, Wordpad. Nếu có thể thực hiện được thì văn bản của bạn được xem như ở dạng text nhiều hơn hình ảnh. 9. Tận dụng các văn bản thay thế Đây cũng là một kiến thức nền tảng của SEO. Tuy nhiên, vẫn chưa rõ được bạn có thể đặt các text văn bản thay thế lên hình ảnh trong file PDF hay không. Cách chính xác để làm việc này sẽ khác nhau tùy thuộc vào phần mềm bạn sử dụng để tạo và lưu trữ file PDF nhưng bạn có thể tìm thấy hướng dẫn đầy đủ ở đây. Hãy xem đây chính là một cơ hội khác để cung cấp cho Google các tín hiệu quan trọng về nội dung của tài liệu của bạn, giúp thăng hạng thông qua tìm kiếm hình ảnh. Các file PDF không phải là sự lựa chọn số 1 để thăng hạng tìm kiếm nhưng hình ảnh đẹp, đa dạng sẽ được xem nhiều hơn. 10. Theo dõi hiệu suất Theo quan điểm về SEO, việc gắn file PDF vào trang web không hề giống với tạo ra 1 trang web sản phẩm tí nào bởi cách đo lường hiệu suất sẽ khác hơn rất nhiều. Với mỗi lần file PDF được tải xuống có chủ đích, có thể xem như là 1 chuyển đổi. Bạn nên thêm điều này vào danh sách phân tích của mình và xét đó như 1 mục tiêu, đánh giá được bao nhiêu người đã vào trang web của mình, chủ đích tải file PDF xuống để đọc và nghiên cứu. Nhờ bước chuyển đổi vĩ mô này, bạn có thể thu thập được nhiều dữ liệu hơn để đánh giá đường dẫn mà người dùng đã thực hiện trong trang web tới PDF.

Nguồn: Campaign Asia

Theo ông Luke Janich, CEO của RED2 Digital Solution, chuyến viếng thăm lần này của LinkedIn sẽ là cơ hội lớn cho nhiều doanh nghiệp Việt Nam trong việc giải mã bài toán hóc búa: Làm sao để tiếp cận được đúng khách hàng tiềm năng. Nghiên cứu của Roi Research vào năm 2016 cho biết, có 59% những người được hỏi nói rằng LinkedIn là tài khoản quan trọng nhất của họ trong các trang mạng xã hội. Nền tảng của LinkedIn cũng gần giống với Facebook và những mạng xã hội khác. Tuy nhiên LinkedIn được sử dụng chủ yếu bởi các doanh nghiệp và những cá nhân chuyên nghiệp với mục đích tuyển dụng, tìm kiếm việc làm và mở rộng cơ hội kinh doanh. Ngắn gọn hơn, LinkedIn là mạng xã hội tương tự như Facebook nhưng chủ yếu được dùng để phục vụ cho công việc thay vì giải trí. Hiện nay, LinkedIn đã có hơn 200 triệu thành viên trên toàn thế giới. Thông qua mạng xã hội này, người dùng không chỉ tạo được mối quan hệ với bạn bè, đồng nghiệp mà còn có thể kết nối với những người chưa quen biết. Có nhiều mối quan hệ sẽ giúp bạn mở rộng cơ hội nghề nghiệp, phát triển công việc và sự nghiệp. Xây dựng thành công thương hiệu cá nhân trên LinkedIn sẽ mang lại nhiều lợi ích cho bản thân người dùng và công ty. Bởi LinkedIn là mạng xã hội nghề nghiệp nên thành viên trên đó đa phần là những người đã đi làm, bao gồm từ CEO, giám đốc cho đến nhân viên các công ty, tập đoàn, nếu thực hiện quảng cáo trên LinkedIn, doanh nghiệp của bạn sẽ có nhiều cơ hội hơn trong việc tìm kiếm ra các khách hàng quan trọng, khách hàng tiềm năng,… Dự tính, chuyến viếng thăm Việt Nam lần này của ông Akshay Bajpaee – Trưởng phòng Quan hệ đối tác khu vực Châu Á Thái Bình Dương và ông Jassiel Dcouto – Giám đốc chiến dịch của LinkedIn sẽ diễn ra vào cuối tháng 10 năm 2017. Tiếp tục những thành công ban đầu của chuyến kí kết đối tác phân phối quảng cáo độc quyền vào tháng 7 vừa qua, LinkedIn và RED2 sẽ tổ chức thêm nhiều cuộc hội thảo hơn nữa để các doanh nghiệp, marketer Việt Nam hiểu rõ thêm về mạng xã hội này, về kinh doanh B2B, bí quyết đưa những thông tin về sản phẩm, dịch vụ đến được các đối tác quan trọng hiệu quả hơn Facebook, Google và các mạng xã hội khác,… RED2 Digital Solutions là agency chuyên mang đến cho doanh nghiệp những nền tảng kỹ thuật số tiên tiến và đầy sáng tạo, kết nối các marketer, khách hàng cũng như công tác tuyển dụng hiệu quả hơn. Không chỉ là đối tác phân phối quản cáo độc quyền với LinkedIn, RED2 còn là đại diện quản lý kênh truyền thông mạng xã hội cho Reebok tại 6 thị trường Đông Nam Á.

Ông Luke Janich – CEO của RED2 Digital Solution đã có kinh nghiệm 5 năm ở vị trí giám đốc điều hành cho dự án iProspect tại Singapore.

Ông Oliver Woods, Giám đốc Chiến lược Kỹ thuật số và Mạng xã hội của RED2.

Mọi chi tiết thắc mắc về chuyến viếng thăm của LinkedIn tháng 10 này, vui lòng liên hệ lukejanich@red2digital.com.vn hay truy cập vào red2digital.com.vn.

Mia Trần

“What’s good, digital?” is a compilation of updates happening in the digital world over the week, curated by our team at Red2 Digital. Subscribe to our blog to receive bi-weekly newsletter (We won’t spam! Ain’t nobody got time for that) or simply tune into our Facebook and LinkedIn page!

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Who’s winning? Who’s losing?

With Game of Thrones season 7 premiering last week, it looks like every brand is trying to jump on the bandwagon. KFC made a lasting impression with a GoT themed TVC featuring their new product: chicken and rice.

More: Check out Coco-Cola fresh tunes and Home Depot’s messy week on Facebook!

Keeping up with the digital changes

Facebook rolled out Messenger Ads and brands can now create ads to appear in your inbox. Fret not, you will also have the options to hide and report ads as you deem! Currently available in beta mode in Australia and Thailand. We wonder when they will hit Vietnam’s shores!

A little insight goes a long way!

Spotify has finally launched a service catered for advertisers – Spotify for Brands! It analyses users’ playlists and gather data about their personality, in return, Spotify would offer a playlist personalised for the users. Advertisers can optimize these data to target users based on their music taste i.e. a cooking enthusiast, a parent. How cool is Spotify building a people-based marketing strategy through your music playlist?

More: 5 big character traits that decide consumer behaviors? Vietnamese are among the most sedentary in the world? 

Awesome digital case studies

Each week we’ll be drawing inspiration from some cool case studies with great ideas or smart uses of digital tactics. Check out two awesome Webby-winning campaigns from Qantas & Doctors of the World!

To view the full report on this week digital news, click HERE to subscribe & download. Please feel free to distribute and use it within your own organisation for training purpose. However, selling and making a profit out of this file is strictly prohibited.

RED² Digital has been appointed as Reebok’s social media agency of record for six markets across Southeast Asia. This includes all social media responsibilities for Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The appointment came about following a competitive, multi-agency pitch with no incumbent and RED²’s Ho Chi Minh City office will take the lead on the account.

Headquartered in Boston in the United States, Reebok is looking beyond the US and Europe to increase its presence in the APAC region. By putting a passion for fitness at the heart of the brand, Reebok has grown into a global icon. They’re now looking to make an impact in the lucrative Southeast Asian market.

“We believe in the potential of fitness to transform lives – and we want to inspire even more people to take the first step on that journey. For many, that journey starts on digital and social media”, said Henry Quek, Commercial Director SEAPAC.

He added, “Reebok’s vision is captured in our Be More Human platform. It’s a movement of like-minded individuals who have chosen to embrace fitness and all that it bestows. For us, fitness is more than a physical activity to improve the body. By pushing ourselves to the brink and testing our limitations, we become better partners, leaders, parents – and better humans.”

He noted the importance of an agency partner that understands the passion and flexibility demanded by one of the world’s leading fitness brands – as well as today’s digital and social media landscape. “RED² shares our vision and complements our high-performance culture. It’s this ambition that makes Reebok, Reebok”, he added.

As the social media agency of record, RED² will handle all of Reebok’s social media marketing activities. From content creation and creative development through to cutting-edge analytics and CRM across the six markets.

Luke Janich, CEO of RED², said, “We’ve seen Reebok’s global footprint increase over the past few years and, to build on this we’re excited to have been chosen to work with a brand that’s as international and iconic as Reebok. The promise of social media is that we can talk to exactly the right people at the right time. In partnership with Reebok, we’re going to build an active and engaged community around their brand – and we’re looking forward to being part of the adventure.”

Oliver Woods, RED²’s Director of Digital and Social Strategy, added, “Reebok’s brand resonated with all of us: the rich heritage, great products and the uplifting Be More Human platform. Our focus now is to bring out our excitement and passion in the work we deliver around the region.”

The first campaigns went live in June 2017.

Applications for VR, outside of gaming, are a long way off. And that’s distracting us from the real-world potential of AR.

 

Think virtual reality (VR) is the future of marketing? After CES—the world’s leading tech show—at the start of the year, it’s easy to understand why. There’s been a number of news articles telling us how it’ll change the world and disrupt the way brands work. And, more than anything, we’re warned that we need to prepare.

There’s a problem here though: The applications for VR outside of gaming are a long way off. So much so that while, yes, VR should be on every marketer’s horizon—that should be all. Our focus on VR has distracted us from the blossoming potential of VR’s unloved little sister, augmented reality (AR). With AR we’re seeing more and more real-world applications for the tech. And I’m not just talking about games or gimmicks.

 

Let’s talk VR

If you’ve ever put on a VR headset, you’ll understand why people get excited. It’s a surprisingly immersive alternate reality. And most now agree it’s going to change the way we experience brands and content forever.

However, even devoted believers don’t think that’ll be any time soon. Some, like Mark Zuckerberg (who’s personally invested millions in Oculus Rift), don’t see VR going truly mainstream for up to 10 years yet. Yes, you read that right. Ten. Years.

When VR’s time comes, it will be a game-changer. But until then, the cumbersome hardware and fragmented developer community means adoption will be slow. At the moment, it’s mainly hardcore gamers who are taking advantage of the tech, while typical marketers just don’t have the need for this stuff. Yet.

 

Time to get real

That’s why it’s time to take stock. It seems like marketers everywhere are getting excited about VR before we’ve even mastered AR. And the value of AR as a marketing channel can’t be underestimated.

The first thing to say is that AR is about so much more than Pokémon Go. We’re starting to see more and more AR experiences getting millions of users and downloads. Take IKEA’s popular Interactive Catalogue that lets you see how products look in your own home. A simple idea that solves a real problem.

Next, there’s cosmetics giant L’Oréal, which has been developing a range of technologies that turn your smartphone into a virtual mirror. With its popular Makeup Genius, you can test out all the products from the comfort of your home.

And then there’s the forthcoming Dressing Room by Gap. It takes realism to a new level, letting you try out the company’s range in a virtual dressing room. Now you don’t even need to go into the store.

These are only a few examples, but the value AR brings should be obvious. What’s more interesting, from a marketing perspective, is that AR doesn’t seem out of place at all. It’s used in an intuitive and immersive way—as if it was the natural channel for these campaigns.

And that’s the true potential of this technology, because when market leaders see it as an essential channel, others will follow suit. It all makes 2017 an exciting year for AR—and digital marketers everywhere.

 

*This article is originally published via Campaign Asia-Pacific on Feb 7th 2016.

Luke Janich, CEO of RED².

While brands usually shy away from controversial issues, the rise of fake news represents an opportunity worth considering

 

Nothing highlights the changing nature of news better than, well… fake news. Since the US presidential election, it’s been firmly at the top of the agenda because of its alleged role in turning voters towards Trump. So should brands be worried about fake news spilling over from politics to products and services—and, if so, what can we do about it?

The good news is there have already been some worthy attempts to stem the flow. Facebook and Google are already stopping ads from appearing on fake news sites. They’re hitting the publishers of such content where it hurts: their advertising revenues. By removing the profit motive, these brands have taken an important first step. But even so, vetting sites is hard work, as Facebook and Twitter have found. And its effectiveness is sometimes questionable: though Google now monitors its ads, fake news still appears in your regular search results.

There’s a bigger problem here, though. Even if Facebook and Google’s attempts eventually work, we’ve given them an immense responsibility. They’re now, in effect, the gatekeepers of what content is ‘real’ and what is ‘fake’. I’m not sure how this will play out in the long run. After all, there’s no doubt that detecting fake news is hard work. It takes an understanding of the area in question—as well as the time and human resources to do it. There must be a better way.

And this is where brands could come in. They have resources, scale and expertise in all kinds of sectors. That makes them powerful in the fight against fake news.

 

A hidden opportunity for brands

 

It’s no secret that every brand is an expert in something. Take a look at any corporate blog or social-media account and it should be plain to see. And it’s here that there’s an opportunity.

Most marketing teams have content writers, social-media managers and researchers—whether that’s in-house or through an agency. These are all the people you need to start adding to the conversation in a meaningful way. Sure, you may have to move your focus from run-of-the-mill content to more reactive pieces, but it’ll be worth it if the story gets picked up.

The key thing is, this isn’t about upskilling or growing teams, it’s about shifting our focus outwards. Then we might see tech brands or healthcare companies calling out fake news stories, rather than just ignoring them. We might even see brands commenting on, dare I say it, politics. Every company spends time and money on knowing its industry better than anyone else, and at the moment, that’s a huge untapped resource.

So my question for brands and agencies is this: why don’t we become the experts here? Then rather than worrying about whether—or, more likely, when—fake news will start hitting brands, we can take the fight to the purveyors of fake news. And we could create some incredible content and PR in the process.

 

*This article is originally published via Campaign Asia on Jan 4th 2017.

Luke Janich, CEO of RED².

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Politics has always been the laboratory for advertising and marketing. The 2016 US Presidential Elections were no different, writes Oliver Woods.

 

Donald Trump’s election to the United States Presidency has sent shockwaves around the world. With inaccurate polling, press coverage dripping with disdain and a candidate that broke all the conventional rules, even the most perceptive political commentators were left stunned.

As Trump makes his first significant policy moves and appointments, the professions most closely associated with elections face unprecedented scrutiny. Pollsters desperately explained themselves, with one going so far as to eat a bug on live television after predicting a Clinton victory.

Digital marketing: the Trump campaign’s strategy was widely panned. A Bloomberg journalist claimed that Trump’s digital marketing team ‘knew they were going to lose’ after touring their set-up. A respected political journalist labeled it a ‘Comically Bad Digital Campaign’.

In reality, Trump’s unexpected victory was powered by digital. In one of his few post-election interviews, he said social media ‘helped me win’. Google said Trump “ won the election in search”. His audiences of Facebook Likes & Twitter Followers were both millions ahead of Clinton on Election Day. Trump beat Clinton every single state in Facebook interest.

How did Trump do it? Here are the six elements behind his digital marketing victory.

 

Loyal & Able Talent

Trump’s small team was composed of family members, loyal company men and trusted contractors. His Director of Digital, Brad Parscale, was a cut-price web contractor for Trump’s businesses, with no political marketing experience. Dan Scavino, the campaign’s Social Media Director, first met Trump as a teenager as a golf caddie and spent over a decade working for the latter’s businesses, only to switch to Trump’s digital marketing team in mid-2015.

Despite this ‘attitude over aptitude’ approach, both men have been lauded as digital marketing geniuses since the election result. One of their greatest strengths? They knew when to reach out to outsiders for help. Gary Coby, Trump’s Director of Advertising, lauded a Facebook employee James Barnes as their ‘Most Valuable Player’ for his massive contribution to the campaign’s digital marketing.

 

Below-The-Radar Data Operation

There remains a widely held perception that the campaign’s digital operations were crudely hewn together, a communications rollercoaster defined by Trump’s fluctuating temperament. A leading Republican strategist (who opposed Trump) said “data died” as election results streamed in.

There was method to the madness. Trump’s data operation operated largely below the radar, blending the best of their own activities to build up a database of supporters, the Republican National Committee’s own significant investments in data and a ‘shady’ third party consultancy, Cambridge Analytica, which had provided data for the successful ‘Leave’ campaign in the Brexit referendum.

For Trump, they apparently leveraged an innovative approach that blended different data sources, with a focus on people who ‘felt left out of the political process’. This rich perspective on voters enabled Parscale and the rest of the team to make the unconventional decisions they did – particularly their focus on rural voters.

 

‘Direct Social’

Good strategy has three elements: a diagnosis of a challenge, a policy for dealing with that challenge, and actions that bring that policy to life.

Trump nailed on all accounts in the final weeks of the campaign: he zeroed his advertising dollars on a handful of critical swing states, while Clinton’s team spread their ad buys across the whole country.

With Trump blanketing traditional media, YouTube played a critical role in the digital execution of this rigorous targeting approach. The campaign openly shared their strategy of limiting his YouTube spend to surgically bombard crucial swing states (Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania) with videos of his speeches, attack ads and interviews.

 

Authentic Engagement

Trump’s emphasis on Twitter as an engagement tool and a direct way of addressing his supporters is unmistakable.

His tactics were simple: The platform became an “unvarnished extension of his public persona”. Trump’s ‘straight talk’ contrasted strikingly with the ‘managed and staged’ feel of Hilary’s slick design and clever copywriting.

Another tactic that generated controversy was retweeting supporters content, at one point inadvertently sharing a Mussolini quote. While liberal commentators continue to lash out at Trump’s superficially careless heroing of supportive tweets, it helps generate more conversation and drive more views on Trump’s Twitter feed.

 

“Aggressive Learning”

As Mark Zuckerberg publicly plays down the role of his platform in the election, Republicans were publicly celebrating Facebook’s role in Trump’s win. Parscale went so far as to say that “Facebook was the single most important platform to help grow our fundraising base.”

Multi-variate testing was their not-so-secret weapon. Working in conjunction with the Republican National Committee, Parscale’s team was testing up to 60,000 variations of Facebook Ads a day for fundraising alone. This enabled them to generate $90 million in August and increasing amounts as the campaign went on.

Beyond fundraising, the campaign realised that policy-focused content performed better than negative messaging – and they used this to guide Trump to dial up his policy content in his rallies.

 

Digital Demobilisation

Attack ads are common in the brutal cut and thrust of American politics. But Trump’s campaign went further: they inadvertently admitted to journalists late in the campaign that they had implemented what they openly called a ‘voter suppression’ strategy.

Targeting primarily three segments – “idealistic white liberals, young women, and African Americans” – the campaign would micro-target these groups through Facebook, sharing polarising content that would ‘sow doubt’ about Clinton.

 

Concluding Remarks

Trump’s digital strategy connected with voters online in unique and unusual ways.

He built digital engagement at scale, relying on his existing base of online fans as a mobilization base and tactics that flew below the radar of standard online political marketing.

Most critical of all, Trump has destroyed the conventional narrative that Republicans lag behind Democrats when it comes to digital.

 

This analysis is originally published on Dec 1st 2016 on Mumbrella Asia. Oliver Wood is currently Director of Social & Digital Strategy of Red² Digital

With Facebook apparently set to remove the ‘like’ counter from fan pages, savvy marketers are already investing in a post-like future. Luke Janich of Red2 explains.

 

Ah, the Facebook like. An obsession of social media marketers, the envy of competitors and a key metric in many of today’s marketing campaigns. But is the like over-hyped—and is it time we moved away from this much-loved social metric?

Well, it seems Facebook certainly thinks so. Those with their finger on the social media pulse may have already noticed one or two changes afoot behind the scenes. The big one is that it looks like they’re testing the removal of displayed likes from fan pages. This means that, while likes are still visible in Facebook’s search bar, they’re missing from the fan page itself. To be completely clear: pages are not losing their likes, they’re just going to be less visible on your page.

So why is Facebook doing this and what does it mean for brands? For some time now, marketers have been grumbling and there’s one criticism that’s getting hard to ignore: effectiveness. Facebook knows likes are not that useful to brands and they’re taking the interests of marketers seriously. After all, many marketers invest heavily in their social media activity and Facebook is keen to be seen as the brand partner of choice. They want to help drive business for their partners, rather than just help them to get lots of likes. And true to form, they’re shaking up their platform once again.

 

Changes are coming

We don’t know exactly when the new changes will be rolled out but, as ever, it pays to be prepared. Some marketers will be annoyed, and understandably so. Many will have invested in monitoring and growing likes and, of course, there’s a massive benefit from having lots of likes displayed on your page. Even so, there could be a massive opportunity here.

Growing your fans and building your following is still going to be an essential part of how Facebook works – it’s just now visitors to your page will have no idea how many fans you have. Only page administrators will have access to the specific numbers, which changes the game somewhat. Now pages will live or die based on the quality of their content rather than the halo effect of having lots of likes. And that could be a good thing.

I think we’re going to see a shift towards building smaller, tighter communities on Facebook. That means better, more engaging content. Without displayed likes, there’ll be one less reason to invest in growing fan numbers. Instead, brands will start to focus on targeting and building the right audience – crucially, the audience that has the potential to be customers. And the savviest marketers are already doing this.

 

The future of Likes

So where do we go from here? I’d say, if you’ve invested time and resources in building your Facebook page, it’s time to review your strategy. Start to push resources towards quality content, targeting and engagement. Move resources away from like-building and monitoring.

Sure, likes will still be around for a while yet but it looks like their importance will fade—and that means having an active, engaged community will be more important than ever. For today’s leading digital marketers, this may not be such a bad thing after all. The challenge for the rest is how to keep up.

 

*This article is originally published via Campaign Asia on Nov 23rd 2016.

Luke Janich, CEO of RED².

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What to watch out for in Google’s latest algorithm update, Penguin 4.0, and why brands need to embrace AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages).

 

If you’ve never heard of Google latest algorithm update Penguin 4.0 or Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), I don’t blame you. Both have largely gone under the radar for many marketers. But they are set to have significant effects on the digital marketing industry. In short, the two together represent the biggest change to how Google ranks websites and content in over two years.

 

Let’s start with Penguin. What is it and what does it mean for your typical marketer? Penguin 4.0 is the latest update to Google’s ranking algorithm. It identifies sites that try to game the search results to boost their rankings. And—crucially—it punishes them. The latest update makes old-fashioned SEO techniques, like spammy pages and link networks, a thing of the past. And it does it all in real time.

 

Google is incredibly protective of its algorithm, so there’s no foolproof way of knowing if you’ve been hit. Sure, any drop in search rankings is worrying, but the real risk of Penguin is blacklisting. If Google thinks you’ve been spamming its algorithm, then it punishes your site in the search results. If you’re a digital marketer who’s noticed a significant drop in web traffic, this could well be due to the latest Penguin update.

 

And this is only the start for digital marketers. Many brands have a ‘set-and-forget’ approach when it comes to building websites: cheaply developing their site, rushing out content and using out-of-date tactics like buying links to build their traffic. Many have invested considerable resources into SEO link schemes, which are now going to be completely ineffective. In future, marketers are going to have to look at other ways to protect and future-proof their sites. Luckily, there are many on offer.

 

One such emerging technology is AMP, or Accelerated Mobile Pages—though it too presents challenges for less digitally-savvy brands.

 

So what is AMP and why is it important? Well, Google has long been unhappy with long load times for mobile content. We’ve all been there, staring at a black screen for seconds—seemingly minutes—while a laggy article or webpage loads. Well, Google wants AMP to make slow-loading pages on mobile a thing of the past. And many experts expect AMP-optimised content to become the new normal.

 

The big news for brands is that they won’t want to get left behind. Google has already announced that it’s going to give preferential treatment to AMP-optimised sites in search results. And some big names have already started to optimise their content: Twitter, LinkedIn and BuzzFeed, to name just a few.

 

As Google rolls this out globally, we’ll start to see AMP-based content dominating the search results. First, because sections like Google’s Top Stories will factor AMP into their rankings. This means non-optimised pages will be regularly outranked by optimised ones. Second, web traffic will be higher for AMP content, thanks for its faster performance. Crucially, these pages are more likely to keep their audience’s attention. For brands this means more time to deliver their message, generate a lead or convert.

 

In the coming months, AMP, combined with the Penguin update, is going to become a real game-changer. And, as ever, it pays to be prepared. The challenge for digital marketers today, is not just how to counteract the effects of Google’s recent updates, but how to take advantage of them in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

 

*This article is originally published via Campaign Asia-Pacific on Oct 24th 2016.

Luke Janich, CEO of RED².

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