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News from Episode 301

By Site Strategics
February 12, 2019

Digital Marketing News with Scott Brinker

The constantly shifting landscape of digital marketing is a challenge to keep up with, which is why EDGE hosts Erin Sparks (Site Strategics CEO) and Tom Brodbeck (Site Strategics Digital Media Director) open each episode of the EDGE of the Web podcast with the latest trending news. In Episode 301, special guest Scott Brinker of ChiefMarTec and VP Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot provided commentary and analysis of the latest digital marketing news from the EDGE:

Spotify Boosting Its Podcast Credentials Through Acquisitions

From Verge senior editor Tom Warren we learn Spotify has big podcast plans for 2019 as it acquires both Gimlet Media, a startup podcast network, and Anchor, a company that provides creators with tools to build, publish and monetize podcasts. Spotify’s podcast users spend twice the time on their platform as other users, and even more time listening to music.

  • Erin Sparks: This is a big deal. Gimlet produces fantastic shows and has a huge following. And this acquisition seemed like it happened really quick. Spotify has been a kind of secondary destination for podcasts, but it looks like they’re vying for a leadership position. Podcasting has really exploded in recent years because it’s the best media platform for people to get content dialed into the niche they want to know about.
  • Tom Brodbeck: And they’re planning more acquisitions for this year, so it’ll be interesting to see how far they can take it, as well as how they do relative to Apple and Google now that there’s Google podcasts. Google has yet to integrate its podcast offering across its landscape like Apple has done.
  • Scott Brinker: In the competition between martech-related podcasts and the Rolling Stones, it sounds like the podcasts are winning as far as Spotify’s concerned. But seriously, one of the most fascinating things about martech is how long-tail it is, meaning such specialized niche content – and that’s not a “bug,” it’s a feature! It can feel like a bug because it can be overwhelming, but that specialization capability is the biggest gift the Internet has given everyone across every industry.

Snap’s Earnings Rebound, But User Growth is Grim

Kurt Wagner over at Recode reports Snap’s earnings are up but user growth is a concern with the loss of a million users in 2018. The company’s stock price was slowly bleeding out last year as the company weathered government investigations, executive departures and product issues (namely a much-needed Google Android app that is still missing in action).

  • Erin Sparks: Snap certainly needed a good jump in value.
  • Scott Brinker: It’s good to see them make progress. All too often the narrative you see with situations like this is how hard it can be to break out of a downward spiral. It’s a feedback loop either way, whether it’s a meteoric rise or bad news begetting more bad news. You have to admire any company that can stop a downward spiral and reverse the trend.
  • Tom Brodbeck: I don’t use SnapChat. I guess I’m just that “get off my lawn guy” when it comes to SnapChat. I have it. It’s on my phone, but…

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Hints at a Feature to Let Users Edit Tweets

On CNBC, Ryan Browne reports Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey hints at a feature that would let users edit their tweets, perhaps by delaying sending for 5-30 seconds to allow for editing. And the original post would still be publicly viewable. They’ve been reluctant to do this because Twitter’s founders were all “born on SMS” and want to be sure not to take away from the real-time nature and conversational flow of the platform.

  • Erin Sparks: The instantaneous messaging via a platform like Twitter can be problematic when people tweet before thinking it through, resulting in a lot of deleted tweets. But if you can now edit those tweets…but then again, it’s a very short window of time they’re talking about for editing. But it might not be a bad thing to just take a few seconds to think about what you’re tweeting before sending it out. Maybe a simple popup that says “Are you sure you want to tweet that?”
  • Scott Brinker: I’m on the other end of the spectrum on this one. One of the things I like about Twitter are its idiosyncrasies. It’s often better for creativity to have a more constrained canvas. I was actually disappointed when they doubled the character limit. I’d just as soon leave it the way it was. See, now I’m the grouchy “get off my lawn” guy!
  • Tom Brodbeck: I’ve certainly had to delete plenty of tweets where I was trying to rephrase on the fly and ended up looking like more of an idiot than I already am, so I like the idea of a short window. Maybe there could be an option of “Tweet this just to yourself” so you don’t have the added pressure when you’re emotionally worked up of tweeting something out that you shouldn’t. Just send it to yourself and then it’s no harm no foul.

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