Mediaboss Marketing

August 30, 2022

Experts highlight drought-tolerant landscaping and resources to help customers reduce outdoor water use

Fremont, CA State leaders and Bay Area water agencies gathered today at a drought-tolerant garden to highlight conservation efforts currently underway and discuss important outdoor water saving devices and practices that can collectively save thousands of gallons of water for Californians.

California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot joined water agency leaders at the Quarry Lakes Demonstration Garden to announce resources to assist and inspire Bay Area residents in their efforts to reduce outdoor water use as California prepares for a fourth dry year amid extreme drought.

Drought across the west is bad and getting worse. In response, were taking actions to stretch our water supplies and deliver projects that help us adjust to a hotter, drier climate, said Secretary Crowfoot. Thanks to our local partners and leaders in the Bay Area, we are making progress to conserve water and improve water efficiency. Its time to double down on these critical efforts.

For the period of January to June 2022, Bay Area residents reduced their water use to an average of 60 gallons per person per day compared to the state average of 82. More work is needed, however, to curb daily waterusage, especially outdoors where most water waste occurs. Water agency leaders serving the Bay Area expressed the need for continued partnerships and urgent action by all residents to build drought resilience both in the near- and long-term.

Regional and state partnerships like we have help save our water as we manage through drought and adapt to a changing climate, said ACWD General Manager Ed Stevenson. Residents and businesses in Alameda County Water District and throughout the Bay Area have done a very good job of conserving water during this extreme drought and we're better prepared if next year is dry. Still, we cannot take our foot off the pedal; as we face a possible fourth year of drought, every drop of water becomes more precious every day.

With California undergoing a climate transformation bringing hotter and drier conditions and more extreme weather, Bay Area water agencies along with state and local leaders are encouraging customers to make permanent water wise changes to their landscaping this fall.

EBMUD customers are phenomenal at conserving water. Our customers have conserved 46 million gallons every day compared to historic use, and by 2050 we want to increase that to 70 million gallons saved daily, said EBMUD General Manager Clifford Chan. With climate change resulting in more frequent and severe droughts, we all need to conserve to ensure our water future is reliable. Our goal may seem like a lot, but if everyone makes wise water-use decisions whether its fixing a leak, or cutting back on outdoor irrigation, or using new irrigation technology we will meet that goal. Making conservation a way of life will benefit all our communities.

We thank our customers who continue to be water wise, and we encourage those with room to save more to reach out to us for help, said SFPUC General Manager Dennis Herrera. Just as our customers are doing their part, we are doing ours to make the most of our water supplies. In San Francisco we are building a new recycled water treatment plant, initiating innovative partnerships and exploring pilot programs. As the warm months continue, now is the time for everyone to do what they can to reduce outdoor water use in particular.

Actions highlighted during todays press conference are a direct response to Governor Newsoms statewide call to action for residents to reduce their water use by 15 percent in response to the extreme drought throughout California.For more information on how Californians can take immediate action to save water, visit SaveOurWater.com. To learn more about available rebates, free water saving devices and programs provided by Bay Area water agencies, visit SFPUC.org/BayAreaAgencies.

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Bay Area Water Agencies and State Leaders Urge More Conservation Outdoors as California Prepares and Braces for Fourth Dry Year :: East Bay Municipal...

Weve all scrolled through social media and come across a witty post shared by a friend. Perhaps it references a favourite TV show, or speaks to your current mood. If you were intrigued enough to click on it, you may have been surprised to discover its actually an ad for fast food, fashion or even gambling.

Such ads, with no apparent connection to the product and which are not overtly trying to sell you something, are called content marketing. The UK Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has recently decided that most content marketing ads fall under its regulations. While this decision was in relation to gambling specifically, an ASA spokesperson provided the following statement to The Conversation:

Our remit applies in the same way to advertising for all sectors, so the statement we published for gambling reflects how wed approach content marketing from other industries such as alcohol brands or fast food chains. The vast majority of social media content from marketers is within our remit and therefore subject to our rules.

This could cause a major shift in the types of ads we see online.

Content marketing is everywhere on social media big names like supermarket chain Aldi and sports brand Nike use it with great success. Forbes Magazine has suggested that brands should invest up to a third of their overall marketing budgets in this type of ad, with other research showing the average among North American companies is close at 26%. And its no wonder this form of advertising is becoming more popular, when it generates three times as many leads as other types of marketing yet costs 62% less to produce.

But if youre still wondering what content marketing is, thats not necessarily by accident. Content marketing ads are designed to go under the radar, so that you may not actually notice a funny meme has been posted by a brand in this case, the fashion retailer ASOS:

While the main purpose of content marketing is to enhance brand reputation and ultimately increase sales, the big benefit for the companies is that these ads are designed to make you do the work. By sharing, liking or commenting, youre expanding the brands audience via the myriad networks of social media users. You may not do this for a Buy 2 for 1 supermarket ad, but an image of a cute cat next to a fan posted during a national heatwave could be a different story.

Of course, the idea behind content marketing is that you will make the brand connection subconsciously, as will everyone in your network who you share it with. This will create a positive relationship with the brand. Research shows these positive emotions will strengthen every time you (subconsciously) see funny or cute content from the same brand, eventually leading you to start consuming its products. Its a sneaky but very powerful form of advertising, but its also one thats changing.

Until July 2022, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) did not recognise content marketing as a form of advertising, so its regulations did not apply to such ads. This meant that, in theory, content marketing posts from gambling firms could feature children, alcohol brands could encourage drinking and driving, and fast food chains could target kids, all without breaking any advertising regulations.

While encouraging drinking and driving is a far cry from a funny cat meme, regulation of social media content marketing ads is crucial. For one thing, these posts are deceptive because most people dont realise they are advertising something. They can bypass the cognitive defences we all use when we see an ad to protect us from buying unnecessary stuff. Of course, the effects of this missing link are more harmful for certain products or services.

Gambling is known to be addictive, for example, so a traditional gambling ad will get most peoples alarm bells ringing. But if gambling companies use content marketing, users may engage with the post without even thinking and eventually follow the account. Once this happens, they will be exposed to all of the accounts content not just the funny memes but also the highly appealing, immediate-action ads encouraging users to click here for a free bet.

Read more: How children are being targeted with hidden ads on social media

We know that this is happening on a large scale. We have already written for The Conversation about our study of more than 888,000 gambling ads on Twitter. We found that around 40% of those ads were content marketing, and many were highly appealing to children.

After pressure from our academic publications, a debate in the UK House of Lords and an episode of comedian Joe Lycetts Channel 4 show Got Your Back, the regulator stepped in to expand its rules to content marketing. The ASA now recognises that most content marketing posts are actually ads, and that all existing advertising codes should apply to these posts.

This means that posts like the overheated cat could still appear in your social media feed, but it would now have to adhere to all regulations. For gambling, fast food or alcohol brands, this could mean they cannot use content marketing at all without breaching regulations. Our previous research, for example, showed that 11 out of 12 gambling content marketing posts were strongly appealing to children something not allowed under the existing regulations for adverts.

The regulators decision on content marketing is a seismic shift in advertising regulations. But the real work has just begun, because the expansion also brings up new issues. Enforcement will be tricky, for example, considering everyones social media feed is different, and content marketing pieces are often posted briefly and then spread by users, not advertisers.

But the most fundamental question will be whether, under these new regulations, it is even possible to post content marketing that is not obviously recognisable as such. The whole point of content marketing is that we dont recognise it, otherwise we wouldnt share it. But this breaks one of the first rules of advertising standards so, presumably, every content marketing piece will have to be marked ad or sponsored so that we recognise it, making it considerably less cool to share.

As such, this regulation could kill off the practice of content marketing completely, which in our view would be a good thing. Memes can be cute and funny, but using them to sell unhealthy food or gambling services is sneaky, deceptive and potentially very harmful.

Read more:
Social media ads are about to change how new rules on content marketing will affect what you see and share - The Conversation Indonesia

Sprotts Lindsay McShane receives SSHRC grant to examine the role of chatbots in customer experience - Sprott School of Business Skip to main content

Lindsay McShane, associate professor of marketing at Carleton Universitys Sprott School of Business, has been awarded the Explore Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in the June 2022 competition to deepen our understanding of the role of chatbots.

Companies are increasingly using chatbots as a way to manage their online service interactions with consumers and their incorporation represents a significant cost savings for the company. Yet, current research indicates that 87% of consumers prefer interacting with live agents.

Lindsays research project, Chatbot or Live Agent? The Effects of Relational Value Threat on Consumer Receptivity to Chatbots, aims to address this gap by developing a more clear and systematic understanding of consumers' responses to chatbots and how these reactions shape their relationship with a company. Emerging research on consumers reactions to chatbots examines the issue primarily from the perspective that chatbot receptiveness is shaped by how efficiently consumers can achieve their service encounter goals. Instead, this research will examine the potentially critical role of how such encounters influence the extent to which consumers feel valued and respected by the company.

SSHRCs Explore Grants are part of their Institutional Grants that provide support to help Canadian postsecondary institutions fund small-scale research and research-related activities by their faculty and students in the social sciences and humanities. They are intended to assist in strengthening research excellence in the social sciences and humanities areas of Canadian postsecondary institutions.

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Sprott's Lindsay McShane receives SSHRC grant to examine the role of chatbots in customer experience - Sprott School of Business - Carleton University

Have you got into rising social app BeReal as yet?

If so, youre not alone, with the app now reportedly up to 10 million daily active users, rising from just 10,000 a little over a year ago.

The trending app of the moment, BeReal sends out a prompt to all users at a random time each day, which asks people to share a photo of what theyre doing, right there and then, with a 2-minute time limit to post an update.

The app is being touted as the anti-Instagram, with the focus on real, unedited everyday life, as opposed to airbrushed, polished IG lifestyle scenes.

As described by BeReal:

No filters. No followers. Just friends, sharing with each other. On BeReal, you discover your friends' real lives and get closer to them.

That approach is clearly resonating, so much so that other apps are now looking to replicate its core tools, with Instagram currently working on a new Candid feature which looks very similar to the BeReal UI.

Its interesting to note the growth of the app, and the popularity of its real life approach, which shows that people may well have had enough of unrealistic depictions of peoples chosen persona and image online.

Which is a key point of note when youre looking at peoples social media accounts, youre essentially viewing a highlight reel of their life, which excludes the lows and negatives, and accentuates what that person wants you to see. That can lead to negative self-evaluation, and subsequent mental health impacts. But with the most popular celebrities sharing overly airbrushed, hyper-real images of themselves online, that then leads to new trends in representation, and showcasing your ideal image.

You can see, then, why BeReal is gaining traction, with these immediate, everyday images providing a more relatable representation of real life, which can actually help to build community and connection, as opposed to followings online.

But are there brand and marketing opportunities in the app?

Some brands are experimenting with BeReal, like Chipotle, which has been using the app to share exclusive promotional codes.

As explained by Fast Company:

When Chipotle joined BeReal in April (one of the first major brands to do so), it shared reusable promo codes in its posts for a week. The first 100 people to use the promo would receive a free entree. Those codes were regularly redeemed in less than a minute.

That, of course, could be novelty value, but its an interesting use of the format to entice engagement, which could point to possible marketing approaches via creative use cases.

Maybe, users will be open to such, if they dont intrude too much on the user experience, and it could be a good way to enhance connection and community.

Other brands are using the app to provide behind-the-scenes content, and insights into how they go about their business, while some are also testing out variable approaches to product previews and offers, based on BeReals limited time window approach.

There are no doubt creative considerations here - and at 10 million users, and growing, you can bet that more brands are paying attention, and are considering what they might be able to do to lean into this steadily growing shift.

Its worth noting that BeReal doesnt allowformal advertising at this stage, but that could also be on the cards in future, as the app continues to scale and looks to build a more sustainable business model.

But then again, a larger concern is that BeReals core appeal is very limited, and that it could easily be replicated by other apps.

Again, Instagram is already doing this, and you can expect other apps to follow suit, as they work to dilute competitor differentiation, and stop their users from downloading another app.

That approach, whether you like it or not, has proven effective, and as BeReal becomes more of a competitor for attention, more apps are going to try and use their scale to blunt the platform before it gets too big.

It remains to be seen whether BeReal can become a truly significant competitor in the space, but 10 million users is significant, and its worth, at the least, considering how it might fit into a more creative marketing approach, as an experiment moving forward.

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BeReal Rises to 10 Million Daily Active Users - Social Media Today

Looking for ways to refine your Twitter marketing approach heading into the holiday season?

This will help the team from Twitter Businessrecently hosted a Twitter Space on how to make best use of Twitter ads, in which they highlighted a range of tips based on data, and the experience of Twitters internal promotions team.

You can listen to a replay of the discussion, hosted by Twitter SMB Content Manager Krista Doyle, and featuring Twitter Senior Account Managers Sal Mattos and Isioma Odita, here, but in this post, well take a look at some of the key points raised which could help in your tweet marketing journey.

First off, Twitter advises that brands should stay one step ahead by maintaining awareness of key events and/or occasions that are coming up.

Every year, Twitter publishes a major events calendar to help with this, and it can be a key guiding document to help ensure that you dont miss out on any tie-in opportunities that can help to maximize your tweet performance.

The real-time nature of the tweet feed lends itself to these types of timely, trending discussions, and it can be a great way to maximize your brand messaging, in alignment with usage habits.

In addition to this, Twitter advises that you should look into trending hashtags to get involved in the broader conversation, while you can also use Twitter polls to prompt related discussion and engagement within your brand community.

For events that are annual, check out the top Tweets from the previous year's hashtag for inspiration.

Twitter also highlights the value of visual assets, which can help your tweets stand out in the fast-moving tweet stream.

Its important to include visuals that are eye-catching and highlight your product or key message.Incorporating visuals that fit well with the event, occasion, or trend youre connecting to will help tie your campaign together.

That advice goes for every social network, with video and GIFs outperforming static images in most respects. But the key point is that you need to consider your visual aspects, which will give you more opportunity to maximize your messaging over basic text messages.

In terms of video, Twitter advises that the sweet spot for video creative on the platform is 6 to 15 seconds.

Twitter also notes that concise tweets tend to perform best for brands (between 50-100 characters).

That wont be universally true, and really, the ideal tweet length is the exact amount of characters and/or words you need to communicate your key message. But if you can, keep it brief, and prompt users to get in touch for more.

Twitter also highlights the importance of an effective CTA in your tweets, as well as variable creative elements:

Make sure to have a call to action or ask a question so the audience knows what you are trying to get them to do. During your campaign, we recommend using 3-12 unique creative assets to prevent creative wear-out with your audience.

On ad performance specifically, Twitter says that advertisers shouldnt make any changes to their ads within the first five daysof a campaign.

Thatll enable Twitters system to efficiently calibrate your ads via the learning period, in which Twitters ad delivery system is measuring user response and performance, in order to optimize targeting.

And when you do update your ads, Twitter says that marketers should seek to make all of their desired changes at once, then let the campaign sit for another 3-4 days to understand the impact before making any additional updates.

These are some helpful notes, which will each contribute to greater Twitter ads success. Though it is worth noting that these are not rules, as such, as you may well violate some of these guidelines and see great performance. But as general guidance, based on past performance, these are key advisory tips to keep in mind.

You can check out a full recap, and listen to the Spaces recording, here.

Link:
Twitter Provides New Tweet Ad Tips Ahead of the Holiday Marketing Push - Social Media Today