What were some of the top stories from the world of marketing and video? Each week with Render Perfect Productions, your video marketing experts in Baltimore and beyond, we’ll take a look at marketing news this week. In this edition, we are covering some of the top stories from the week of February 21st to February 25th 2022.
Social Media and the Crisis in Ukraine
Russia’s invasion into Ukraine has caused global angst, putting the military superpowers of the world at odds once again, and potentially forcing an intervention that could lead to one of the biggest conflicts in decades.
And unlike similar incidents in times past, this battle is playing out in the age of social media, with memes, misinformation campaigns and scams all adding to the growing maelstrom of information, which can confuse, contort and cloud what’s actually happening in the eastern European region.
Meta:
Late last week, the Russian Government announced that it would restrict access to Facebook due to Meta’s refusal to remove misinformation warning labels on posts from state-affiliated media. Now, Meta has taken that action a step further, by also prohibiting ads from Russian state media, and demonetizing these accounts, severely limiting the capacity for Russian authorities to use Facebook as an information vector.
Russia, of course, does have its own social media platforms and messaging tools, so there are other ways for the Kremlin to communicate their activities and motivations to Russian citizens. But Meta has taken a strong stance, while it’s also restricted access to many accounts within Ukraine, including those belonging to Russian state media organizations.
YouTube:
At the request of the Ukrainian Government, Google-owned YouTube has announced that it’s restricting access to Russian state-owned media outlets for users in Ukraine, while it’s also suspending monetization for several Russian channels.
YouTube’s also removing Russian state-owned channels from recommendations, and limiting the reach of their uploads across the platform.
TikTok:
A key platform to watch right now is TikTok, with reports that Russian-affiliated groups are using the app to spread ‘orchestrated disinformation’, while thousands of related videos are being uploaded to the platform, many fake, causing significant headaches for TikTok’s moderation teams.
TikTok partners with the NHL
TikTok has announced a new partnership with the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), which will see the NHL share original content and “unique experiences” in the app, helping to bolster TikTok’s broader content push.
The new partnership will see the NHL post more than just highlights, with additional player fashion interviews and other programming that will be designed to lean into TikTok trends and engage its in-app audience.
For TikTok, it will also glean new promotional benefits, including in-ice branding and the launch of a new ‘TikTok Tailgate Stage’ at upcoming marquee outdoor NHL events. The NHL will also work with TikTok on music tie-ins and partnerships for its events.
The announcement comes as TikTok works to build its content offerings, and provide more incentive for creators to keep posting to its app. The challenge with short-form video content is effective monetization – because you can’t insert pre and mid-roll ads into a 30-second clip. TikTok has sought to counter this with its Creator Fund, while it’s also working on in-app tipping and other monetization tools, but some of its top creators have started to raise questions about the platform’s approach, and the imbalance in revenue share for their efforts.
YouTube Previews New Channel Analytics
YouTube has outlined some new analytics options that it currently has in development, and that it’s considering in future, as part of its broader effort to help creators maximize their on-platform performance.
Monetization has become a bigger focus for YouTube of late, as it works to fend off competition from TikTok – because while TikTok is the trending app of the moment, it currently doesn’t provide comparative monetization processes, which means that creators, especially big stars, can make a lot more money by posting to YouTube instead.
YouTube’s hoping that by accentuating this, and providing more analytics tools to its users, that, eventually, will see more of them put more focus on its app, moving away from TikTok as a result, which could help it maintain its position as the key video platform on the web.
The first new analytics offering aims to provide more specific insight into the performance of your content in each stream – i.e. your main channel, live-streaming, Shorts, etc.
Reddit Launches New Discovery Tab
Reddit’s looking to connect more users to content relevant to their interests via a new Discovery tab in the app, which builds on the current Communities tab to provide customized subreddit recommendations, based on your usage.
How refined, and accurate, those matches are will go a long way in determining the true value of the new surface, but it could be a good way to find more relevant communities and discussions, and get people spending more time in the app.
Indeed, in its initial testing, Reddit says that one in five users joined at least one new community after using the Discover Tab.
The new Discover tab will be accessible via a new compass icon in the bottom function bar in the app, which will replace the current shapes icon that represents community search.
In addition to this, Reddit’s also adding a new ‘Community Drawer’ UI, which will make it easier to switch to different subreddit communities.
About Render Perfect Productions:
Render Perfect has been built from the ground up to service growing businesses and help them realize their full visual storytelling and digital marketing potential. We’ve created a service offering and skill-set that spans video production, post-production, motion graphic design, 3D animation, web development, and video marketing strategy. Our insight and experience allow us to help clients make better planning decisions and get more out of their video production effort.
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