Bee Measure

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Passé Website Trends, Writing Better Surveys & 2018’s Top Social Campaigns

Don’t Forget the Pictures!

When your organization’s work is, um, less than visually compelling, it’s easy to make images an afterthought. But before you download yet another boring stock photo, check out Hubspot’s list of statistics why visuals matter. Compelling images can impact not only viewers’ attention spans, but also result in higher retention and engagement. Here’s my favorite fact from the piece: “When people hear information, they’re likely to remember only 10% of that information three days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65% of the information three days later.” Nice!

The Best of the Best

The Digital Agency Network presented their picks for the best social media campaigns in 2018. I love this list because it features sophisticated uses of a medium many consider, well, “basic” and, um, narcissistic. And as a bookworm, my favorite is NY Library’s InstaNovels campaign.

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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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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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Better Web Forms, Gender Positive FB Ads & A Note From Cville

Bee Measure is proud to be based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Much has already been said about the events of last weekend, so I debated whether to add my voice in the mix. Then on Wednesday, a friend and I took a walk to see the impromptu memorial of flowers, candles, writing and gifts that mourners assembled at the scene of the crash. I wanted to share the photo my friend took. The image says a lot about the mix of sadness, apprehension and determination we all feel this week. As nonprofits (and nonprofit supporters), we do great work. And we will persevere.
– Emily (from Bee Measure)

 

What’s New This Week?

Who’s on First, Oops, Facebook?
Business Insider published a new report about the demographics of our fav social media platforms. Here are the free takeaways. And here’s my summary: Snapchat is getting older, LinkedIn is richer and everyone’s on Facebook.

Gender Positive Does Better, Swears Facebook
I’m not sure how much faith I put in research done by Facebook about Facebook to promote Facebook advertising, but I still am heartened by its study of gender in advertising. For an industry that loves to use images like this, it’s good to have stats that ads promoting equality pay off.

Pittsburgh, Not Paris
I love a good case study, so here’s Pittsburgh’s Chief Data Officer talking about how the city built an open data site that displays 311 calls and police blotter data. And the name is a pun too. Gotta love it!

The Protest in IP Addresses
It’s been a while since I’ve covered data privacy issues related to the Trump administration. But it’s back. In the winter, anti-Trump protestors used the site DisruptJ20.org to organize Inauguration Day protests. Then, the Justice Department issued a request for 1.3 million IP addresses to identify site visitors. Now, the site’s hosting company is resisting.

Advice of the Week

End Web Form Intimidation
Your site probably has a form, or two, or 10. Mine has several, and it only has a dozen pages. I love the content from MarketingExperiments.com, and this video on optimizing website forms provides solid advice. (Just ignore the annoying ads.)

Cool Visualization of the Week

86% Eclipsed
Let’s end this on a fun note. Nothing is currently bringing the US together quite like the solar eclipse. So here’s Vox’s fun, interactive graphic to show you what the eclipse will look like in your zip code. Why can’t you be closer to totality, Charlottesville!

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Make Your Own Data Gifs, Better Blog Posts & The Internet in 355 Slides

What’s New This Week?

What’s Up with the ‘Net?
You’d think that an entire year worth of online trends would be too much information to condense into one Power Point presentation. But you’d be wrong!  Each year, Mary Meeker, a partner in venture capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins, does a rapid-fire bazillion-slide-long (actually, 355) presentation of the year’s top takeaways. See this year’s presentation here and read Recode’s synopsis and analysis here.

Brits Slightly Dismayed at Facebook Political Ads
The Brits are having an ethical dilemma about the role of Facebook advertising in political elections. Until recently, political campaigns had spending limits on advertising and a ban on TV ads. But the rules don’t cover online advertising, so Facebook is suddenly cashing in. Here’s BBC’s coverage.

Artificial Intelligence Comes for… Me
Last week, I joked about robots taking over the world. But this article makes me worried that it’s really happening… to my job! Check out this scare tactic, oops I mean trend piece, on how artificial intelligence can help automate social media analysis and take the guesswork out of managing accounts.

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