POSITIVE SALES REPORT FOR BLACK FRIDAY, CYBER MONDAY
Key Point: Given economic struggles globally, many marketers watched the Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday period for tell-tale signs. And early returns did not disappoint them. Even though inflation ran 7.7 percent in October, shoppers showed up to spend $9.12 billion online during Black Friday events. Shoppers also spent a record $11.3 billion on Cyber Monday (the Monday following Thanksgiving Thursday).
Amazon reported “a record-breaking holiday shopping weekend,” and though Wayfair struggled earlier in the year, the retailer enjoyed “strong results.” These and other indicators gathered by Retail Dive include Shopify sales gaining 12% year-over-year and similar gains for other DTC (direct to consumer) retailers.
RANSOMWARE AS A SERVICE WILL DRIVE CHANGE IN 2023
Key Point: There are precautions companies can take to help protect themselves and their customers as the online world deals with ransomware offered as a service (RaaS).
TDWI addresses two security trends for 2023 and two trends that emerged in 2022. Check out what’s shared about a strong security culture and backing up everything (and remembering to secure your backups).
Unfortunately, technological advances aren’t making the crooks go away — they’re helping them. And no company, large or small, is immune to their deceptive tactics.
TAKEAWAYS FROM YOUTUBE’S TOP ADS OF 2022
Key Point: You may not be surprised that Amazon’s Super Bowl commercial took the #1 overall award for YouTube ads in 2022. But did you know Amazon’s Alexa is on “life support” or that consumer products have largely disappeared from YouTube advertising?
Check the 2022 YouTube Ads Leaderboard and get in-depth commentary and insight from Marketing Dive.
WHAT’S NEW WITH AI: THE BUZZ AROUND CHATGPT
Key Point: If you’ve yet to hear about ChatGPT, you have now — and you’re very likely going to hear a whole lot more. It’s being called everything from “mindblowing” to “game changing.” Some even predict Google Search will soon kneel to the supremacy of ChatGPT’s artificial intelligence superiority.
Ask OpenAI pretty well anything, and you’ll get a quick answer. Do you need to know how to bake a chocolate cake? Create a business plan? Do you need a quick AI-written song for a friend’s birthday party? ChatGPT has your ready-made answers waiting.
A recent CNET article is a good place to begin learning about ChatGPT, but chances are high you’ll want to keep learning more.
BONUS CONTENT
“The College Essay Is Dead: Nobody Is Prepared for How AI Will Transform Academia” (The Atlantic)
“The Best Marketing Campaigns of 2022: Part One” (Marketing Week)
“The Best Marketing Campaigns of 2022: Part Two” (Marketing Week)
