Shorts SightedYouTube’s flown under the social media radar recently, but the platform has been busy behind the scenes focusing on its 2021 priorities. Spoiler alert: they mostly surround Shorts (a.k.a. TikTok’s clone). YouTube rolled out the beta version in India (conveniently where TikTok is banned) and the collection of 60-second videos already receives 3.5 billion views daily.
The ’Tube keyed in on the biggest trends of the year (short-form video and increased mobile usage) and developed priorities with its target audience’s consumption habits in mind. And when the Google-owned giant makes short-form video creation and streaming a primary focus for its users, well, it’s a big hint that you should too.
You can look at this opportunity as a three birds, one stone scenario in which you repurpose the same content for TikTok, Reels, and Shorts and potentially triple your reach. Or, shift gears and create unique content for each channel’s audience. Unless you’ve found your niche on Reels or TikTok already, trying out the three in tandem can’t hurt. Remember, it’s okay to be Shorts sighted as you plan your long-term marketing strategy.
TL;DR: YouTube’s 2021 priorities reflect a mobile-first approach to content creation and consumption. Shorts is expected to roll out globally this year and be a serious competitor to TikTok.
X(cluded) FactorIt takes years to build up a strong brand image — and one poorly placed ad to tarnish it. Facebook gets that, so it’s working on even more ways to give brands control over where their ads are and, more importantly, aren’t shown. The platform is currently testing topic exclusions for brands that have ads in the News Feed.
While currently only a limited number of companies have access to the controls as of yet, the idea is that advertisers will be able to ensure their ads aren’t placed alongside articles regarding certain topics, like “Crime and Tragedy” or “Politics.” This is similar to controls Facebook already has in place for video content.
Marketing teams work tirelessly to present their brands in the best light possible. So it makes sense that digital platforms, from FB to TikTok to Reddit, are increasingly adding new brand safety measures to give businesses greater peace of mind when advertising. And while it’s impossible to dictate where each and every digital ad is placed, it is nice to know you won’t show up near whatever crazy story hits the News Feed next.
TL;DR: Facebook is testing new topic exclusion controls for brands that advertise in the News Feed.
Copycat ContentDuplicate content has long been a major question mark for SEO marketers. Does having the same content repeated in more than one place on your site mean your pages will be shot to the depths of SERP oblivion? Turns out, nah, Google doesn’t work quite like that.
The search engine’s very own John Mueller cleared up this misconception on Google Search Central SEO office hours last week. Mueller shared it is, in fact, normal for a certain amount of content to be repeated across a site — and it doesn’t result in negative ranking signals. Instead, when Google recognizes duplicate content on several pages, it will serve up just one of those pages in search results, aiming to pick the one that’s most relevant to a user’s query.
Of course, this doesn’t mean copying entire pages is necessarily a great idea. But you shouldn’t worry about having, say, the same product description appear on several places on your site, or a section of text from a blog post repeated on a pillar page. Because Google understands that some copy is worth repeating.
TL;DR: Google’s John Mueller shared that duplicate content across a website does not result in negative ranking signals.
What Lit Us Up
Musk Is in the (Club)houseLast week we wrote about Clubhouse and how the consumption of audio content is way up. This week, we’re writing about Clubhouse again — because Elon Musk gave it a major endorsement, and it requires a deeper dive.
The SpaceX CEO took to Clubhouse to answer questions on everything from Mars to vaccines. While the exclusive app already had more than 2 million users, activity soared when Musk joined on Monday. As Musk’s tell-all turned into an interview with Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, the audio room quickly hit the app’s 5,000 listeners cap. Throughout the remainder of the day, overflow rooms (which also hit capacity), YouTube livestreams, pre-show discussions, post-show recaps, and even a Square-sponsored cash giveaway kept the Tesla guru top of mind both on and off Clubhouse.
This is the first major example of how Clubhouse can potentially be a powerful tool for brands. Live chat rooms based on niche topics provide thought leaders and other C-suite executives a unique space for interviews, roundtables, or even direct conversations with consumers. And as users don't need to stare at their screens to participate, marketers can take advantage of both active and passive engagement. It’s clear that brands that get in early and take advantage of the growing platform have a chance to make the biggest splash — so get your invite ASAP. TL;DR: Clubhouse gets a big thumbs up from Elon Musk and provides even more examples of how thought leaders can utilize the platform to reach their audience.
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