In The Headlights: March 18, 2020 Issue - Trust Insights Marketing Analytics Consulting

Miss our session on social media ROI at Social Media Marketing World? Watch the replay here >

It’s often comforting to keep consistency in times of uncertainty. We hope that our business as usual approach (with our usual humor thrown in for good measure) will provide that to you… and prepare us to come out the other side even stronger.

We all cope with difficult situations in our own ways. I turn to jokes and sarcasm when I’m uncomfortable. I joked with my team that as an introvert I have been preparing for social distancing my whole life. We also joked that we would wash our hands before and after each virtual meeting.

By joking and laughing does it mean that we don’t care, that we aren’t scared, nervous, or empathetic? Not all all. It means that we’re looking to control the situation that we’re in. When we’re anxious or overwhelmed, having control over something gives us a sense of relief.

I was talking with a friend she shared a quick anecdote with me about needing control. She said that when her husband finally made it home (after being in 5 airports in 3 days) he immediately went to the store for Fruity Pebbles. Why? He needed to feel like he had control over something. I respect the hell out of that, and I love Fruity Pebbles (a solid choice).

What does that mean for my everyday life right now? Along with my partners, I’ve decided that for Trust Insights, it’s business as usual. This means that we’re still cracking jokes at each other’s expense, working together on client projects, and moving forward with our business goals. Keeping my routine consistent helps reduce my stress and anxiety. I am, however, washing my hands a little more than I was before and I have the dry, cracked skin to prove it.

It feels a little tone-deaf to operate that way, right? Like – there is so much happening, how dare I put my head down and get to work? I’ve struggled with what to do and how to communicate but here is where I landed: I have zero control over what is going on outside the safety and comfort of my home. I have total control over what I decide to do with my time and for now, I will spend my time moving the business forward and not panicking. It’s the right decision for me. Trust Insights is my constant, it’s my sanity.

Where are you finding your sanity these days? If you want to talk or hear a terrible joke – let me know. I’m here. No pressure, no judgment.

If you want to join our community of other marketers, please do so here. Not as a sales pitch, but as a place where you can find others who are feeling many of the same feelings you are and can talk through the same situations you’re facing.

Take care, talk soon.

Katie

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This week’s Bright Idea is newly relevant as marketing has moved strictly into the digital realm for the foreseeable future, a YouTube video on our morning video production process. Every day, we publish a 10-minute or less video answering questions. Here’s how it’s done.

Watch on YouTube >

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This week’s Rear View Mirror looks at brand communications about COVID-19 and the coronavirus situation by Facebook posts. We had two questions: how much communication about the topic has there been, and how has it impacted brand Page engagement?

What we see is that brand pages began to post about the situation in February, but really ramped up communications on the topic in the beginning of March. As of March 17, 2020, COVID-19-related posts made up 36% of all brand Page posts.

We also see that engagement of content about COVID-19 began to exceed non-COVID-19 content in early March.

Now, to be clear, in no way should you pursue a content strategy that talks endlessly about current events as a form of newsjacking. Provide information as it’s relevant to your audience, provide help to your community as best as you can, and be a good citizen, both personally and as a business. Use this information to persuade your stakeholders internally that they shouldn’t be afraid to communicate truthfully on Facebook, as appropriate, about how your organization is handling current events. It won’t cause harm to your engagement with your Facebook audience.

Methodology: Trust Insights used Facebook’s Crowdtangle software to extract 2,112,131 posts from 3,062 brand accounts on Facebook. The brand list was provided by Facebook and augmented by Trust Insights. The date of the study period is January 1, 2020 – March 17, 2020. The date of extraction is March 18, 2020. Posts were de-duped by post URL. Engagement rate is defined as (reactions + comments + shares) / size of page follower count at posting. Trust Insights is the sole sponsor of the study and neither gave nor received compensation for data used, beyond applicable service fees to software vendors, and declares no competing interests.

Shiny Objects is a roundup of the best content you and others have written and shared in the last week.

Media and Content

Tools, Machine Learning, and AI

Analytics, Stats, and Data Science

SEO, Google, and Paid Media

Business and Leadership

Got a “Silly” Question?

One of the things we’ve found with friends and colleagues is that you have questions you don’t feel comfortable asking in front of your peers for fear of appearing less knowledgeable. We all have those questions – they start with phrases like, “I really should know this but…” or “I’m so embarrassed to ask this, but…”

So we’ve put up a page where you can ask those questions anonymously, and we’ll answer them here or on our blog, podcast, YouTube channel, newsletter, etc. without ever naming names.

If you’ve got a question that you want to ask privately/anonymously, go ahead and ask it here!

Join the Club

Are you a member of our free Slack group, Analytics for Marketers? Join 800+ like-minded marketers who care about data and measuring their success. Membership is free – join today.

Upcoming Events

Where can you find us in person?

Important: events in Q1/Q2 are likely to be postponed due to the pandemic.

MarTech West, April 2020, San Jose, CA (postponed)
ContentTech Summit, August 2020, San Diego, CA (postponed)
HELLO Conference, October 2020, New Jersey (postponed)
MadConNYC, May 2020, New York City
Women in Analytics, June 2020, Columbus, OH
MAICON 2020, July 2020, Cleveland, OH

Going to a conference we should know about? Reach out!

Want some private training at your company? Ask us!

In Your Ears

Would you rather listen to our content? Follow the Trust Insights show, In-Ear Insights in the podcast listening software of your choice:

Stay In Touch

Where do you spend your time online? Chances are, we’re there too, and would enjoy sharing with you. Here’s where we are – see you there?

Required FTC Disclosures

Events with links have purchased sponsorships in this newsletter and as a result, Trust Insights receives financial compensation for promoting them.

Trust Insights maintains business partnerships with companies including, but not limited to, IBM, Talkwalker, Zignal Labs, Agorapulse, and others. While links shared from partners are not explicit endorsements, nor do they directly financially benefit Trust Insights, a commercial relationship exists for which we may receive indirect financial benefit.

Conclusion

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