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Gearing up for 2020 Ad Spend, Internet Trends Report for Data Nerds & Don’t Silo Social Data

Gearing Up For 2020: Political Ad Spend

If you thought the 2016 election was ripe with ads, just wait until the next one. Political ad spending is expected to total $9.9 billion in 2020, according to the latest U.S. ad forecast. Online fundraising isn’t new, but it is bigger than ever. So, expect to see ads for your favorite candidates popping up soon (and often)… if their campaigns get the targeting right. The Dems are all starting from scratch when it comes to digital strategy, while Trump has managed to streamline voter data files to allow his campaign to target people online more effectively. To get an idea of what that means for 2020, I’ll leave you with this quote that stood out to me: “The modern presidential campaign is now largely won and lost online.”

Zuckerburg’s Plan for Privacy

Facebook is working to strike a balance between users’ demands for more privacy and advertisers who, well, pay the bills. Plans for a tool to let people see and manage off-Facebook activity is rolling out in a few months. Zuckerburg said this about it: “It’s designed to give people more transparency and control over the data other apps and websites share with us.” The most important note about this tool is that measurement will remain intact so organizations can understand the impact of their Facebook investment. Sounds like a good move, but I’m waiting to see.

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Facebook Fundraising Changes, Automating Your Ad Grant & Analyzing Mario Kart

Advertisers and Audiences: Destined to be Frenemies?
I hate to even bring up the E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation, after I spent late May drowning in emails. (I’m still cleaning out my inbox!) However, I wanted to highlight this New Yorker article by Ken Auletta, which puts the issue into a broader context. He examines how the use of Big Data to improve targeting brings to light the tensions between the desire for personalized content and concerns about consumer privacy. The article asserts that: “The advertising and marketing world scrambles for new ways to reach consumers. Big Data, they believe, promises ways they might better communicate with annoyed consumers—maybe unlock ways that ads can be embraced as a useful individual service rather than as an interruption.” What do you think? Is it possible to meet the needs of both audiences and advertisers?

Get Verified! Facebook Political and Issue Ads
Facebook has started enforcing their new ad verification rules. As this article explains, all advertisers wanting to run political content need to verify their identity and location (aka Facebook sends you a postcard in the mail). This is meant to allow users to clearly identify the organization that has paid for an ad. Facebook is also creating a searchable archive of political and issue ads. If your nonprofit runs ads on Facebook, I recommend getting verified. Even if you think your ads aren’t political, Facebook might think they are.

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Newsfeed Exile, Creepy Chat Bots & Why GA Stats Never Match Facebook

Facebook’s New Pay or Disappear Model
It’s been a few weeks, so of course Facebook has made some changes. What’s new this time? FB is rolling out a new Newsfeed called “Explore.”  In most markets, Explore has updates from pages that you don’t follow. But in a few cities, Facebook has bumped brand content to this secondary feed. Only those who pay to promote posts appear in the main Newsfeed.  Look for a follow up soon with metrics about what this means for organizations on Facebook (aka everyone).

The Facebook vs. GA Saga, the Final Word
Ever wondered why Facebook and Google Analytics are different? Yes, it’s a topic that’s been covered before here. But I had to give this article a shout out for falling squarely in the category of “I’m happy they did this, so that I never have to.” The TL;DR version: this article is very kind to Facebook, telling you to add 20% to whatever Google Analytics conversations you attribute to Facebook.

Those Lucky 15 People in Florida
Yeah, yeah. It’s another piece about politics and Facebook ads. Epolitics boiled down the 60 Minutes interview with Brad Parscale (“the first pure-digital consultant to run a major presidential campaign”) to a few gems about the Trump campaign’s savviness with Facebook ads. In one spot, Parscale said the Trump campaign used Facebook to reach clusters of rural voters, such as “15 people in the Florida Panhandle that I would never buy a TV commercial for.”

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Biased Analysts, Harvard’s Social Survey & More on Russia’s FB Ads

Russia’s Meddling, Analyzed
Last time Bee Update came out, the news about Russia’s election-meddling Facebook ads had just broken. This edition, I provide the analysis. $100K is such an odd amount to spend on ads, argues the Atlantic. It’s too much to go unnoticed, and too little to have much effect. Or did it? The low cost of Facebook ads means that $100K can go a surprisingly long way, says The Daily Beast. In this piece, a (colorful) Facebook ad expert estimates that the $100K in ads reached 26 million people. Oh yeah, and Wired explains how Facebook needs to fix itself.

Just Admit You’re Biased Already
I’m a big fan on the Digital Analytics Power Hour podcast. (Yup, there’s a podcast for everything these days). This episode from August on biases was a classic. As much as we want to be impartial, it’s hard to not fall into traps. Here’s some self-reflection from my favorite podcasting analysts.

Social Media Goes to Harvard
Harvard surveyed chief marketing officers and summarized its findings about social media. Social media spending is up 200% in 8 years. (I’m surprised that’s not higher), but nearly half the CMOs say they don’t know if it’s paying off. Here’s that portion and a link to the full survey results.

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Russia’s Facebook Ads, Data Makeovers & Predicting Donors

What’s New This Week?

Russia Funds Political Facebook Ads
Having covered various Facebook Ad drama, I didn’t think anything on the platform could shock me. But it can! Facebook disclosed on Wednesday (finally!) that a Kremlin-backed company funded $100,000 worth of Facebook Ads. The ads, which ran from June 2015 until this May, focused on divisive social issues, such as gun control.

Finding Donors in the Data
Turn on your speakers and check out this podcast from Blackbaud. The nonprofit tech company explains how nonprofits can use predictive analytics to find their most likely (and capable) donors.

Happy Birthday, Here’s the $$
Facebook rolled out a new feature that allows people to solicit birthday donations for their favorite nonprofit. It works like this: two weeks before your birthday, Facebook will prompt you create a fundraiser for an approved organization (There’s currently 750K). You set a goal and create a message. Then, Facebook notifies your friends on the big day. The catch: a 5% fee.

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