Touchdown for Marketers: NFL's Black Friday Game Spurs 35% Higher Engagement for Retail Ads, Walmart Takes the Lead

In a marketing triumph, retail ads during Amazon's inaugural NFL Black Friday game outperformed the category's primetime average by 35%, according to data from EDO. Despite evolving shopping habits, the Thanksgiving weekend, especially tied to football events, proved a significant marketing opportunity. Ads aired during Thanksgiving and Black Friday NFL games saw a 73% increase in consumer engagement compared to the retail primetime average, with Walmart's "Mean Girls" Black Friday campaign leading the way with a 64.5-times boost in ad engagement. College football ads during "highly anticipated" matchups also drove a 13% increase in online engagement.

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Ad Spend Surge: Advertisers Project 25% Rise in Investment for Content Creators in 2024, Fueled by Creator Economy Boom

Advertisers plan a 25% increase in spending on content creators in 2024, with 44% aiming to boost investment, states a report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and TalkShoppe. As digital video consumption peaks, particularly of creator content, ads around this content significantly impact consumer considerations, loyalty, and advocacy, according to 92% of advertisers. The creator economy, valued at $250 billion this year, is set to reach $480 billion by 2027. Ads around creator content have a 1.4-times greater impact on brand loyalty and a 1.3-times greater impact on brand advocacy than studio content, the report notes.

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Love Beyond the Swipe: Hinge Launches '$1M One More Hour' Initiative to Spark Gen Z Connections and Combat Loneliness

Dating app Hinge unveils the "One More Hour" initiative, a $1 million effort combating Gen Z loneliness. Backed by a fund offering grants up to $25,000, the initiative supports social groups in New York City, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Hinge aims to boost in-person connections, addressing the decline in face-to-face interactions among young adults. The app will track connections made through the initiative, collaborating with organizations like DoSomething Strategic. This move aligns with Hinge's ongoing efforts to combat loneliness, emphasizing in-person connections amid the return to pre-pandemic behaviors.

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Unleashing the Power of User-Generated Content (UGC)

In the dynamic realm of digital marketing, User-Generated Content (UGC) has emerged as a potent strategy, transforming the way brands connect with their audience. Here's a brief overview to bring you up to speed:

What is UGC?

User-Generated Content refers to any content—text, images, videos—created by individuals rather than the brand itself. It's the authentic, unfiltered expression of users' experiences with a product or service.

Why is UGC superior to most other brand content?

UGC is more authentic — it feels genuine, which fosters trust and credibility. Most of the time, UGC is based on real experiences. Content that is derived from real experiences tends to be more engaging and believable. People know when someone is lying or exaggerating.

The genuineness of UGC garners more engagement than other forms of brand content. Given that viewers hear from a regular person who has used the product or service, it feels like they have easy access to someone who is able to answer any questions. Additionally, if brands ask for UGC, the users making the content drive up the engagement rates, reach, and visibility of whatever brand they make content for.

UGC also generates a sense of social proof. When you see your neighbor come home with a new car, part of you wants to go out and get a new car. Same sort of effect takes places when you see someone else using something cool, looking cool with drinking or eating something, etc.

Main Approaches to UGC:

Videos are the primary format for UGC. Regardless if content is UGC or not, static content has proven to generate far lower engagement rates than motion (video, animation, etc.) content. Not to mention, personality and that genuineness that we mention before does not come through nearly as effectively in static content.

Currently, UGC is largely made by influencers. Influencer partnerships do not always consist of an influencer making a piece of content, then posting it to their channels with the #sponsored in the description. No. Sometimes, influencer partnerships are much more subtle. Brands strike long term sponsorship deals with influencers to simply include products in their content.

A great example of this is Jon Olsson — a former professional alpine skier turned influencer. His YouTube videos are fantastic. Go look him up right now. We’re willing to bet that Red Bull makes an appearance in just about everything that he uploads…