2024's Top Marketing Takeaways

💡 2024’s Top Insight💡

Why people are so obsessed with Spotify Wrapped

🗞 TL;DR - Ironically, in Growth Daily’s first-ever yearly recap, the top insight of the year is about…recaps. Earlier this month, Business Insider commented on the annual Spotify Wrapped phenomenon in an article titled, “Spotify’s Viral Data Ruse.”

🤔 Why it’s our top insight of the year - Spotify Wrapped has become an annual tradition, with users eager to share their musical insights and top artists with their social media followers. This campaign has become so popular that other brands, like Apple Music, Duolingo, and Starbucks are following suit. But what these seemingly playful campaigns are actually revealing is the amount of data that they have on all of us and how users are more willing to look past that in an effort to avoid FOMO and join community trends.

And in case you missed the takeaways the first time around…

💡 Insight - According to a researcher at Utrecht University who has studied the Wrapped phenomenon, “Wrapped taps into this belief we have that data is meaningful and that we want to see it because it helps us understand ourselves.”

It’s kind of like when people use zodiac and astrology to explain things happening in their lives – the data paints a specific picture of an individual that lumps us all into niche groups like “Laurel Canyon hippie” or “pink pilates princess.” Through those niche groups, people find community and like-minded folks. In that regard, it’s not just the data that people are interested in, it’s the way it’s analyzed and positioned.

And maybe – just maybe – these annual recaps serve as a confirmation that users have become more comfortable with Big Tech watching our every move. After all, how else would people know that you’re in the top 0.05% of Taylor Swift listeners? The data can create a sort of status symbol and further cement our interests as factual representations of our personality.

So, what do you think? Is this your favorite insight of the year? Reply & let us know!

⚡️ 2024’s Top 5 Stories ⚡️

👀 Turns out, Facebook receives data on individual users from thousands of companies. A Consumer Reports study conducted back in January revealed that Facebook collects data from an average of 2,230 companies per user, with one extreme case involving 48,000 companies.

🤓 LinkedIn shared key insights into B2B marketing trends. Back in January, LinkedIn published an infographic revealing trends in the tech industry. Their findings included stats on things like budget allocation, customer acquisition, and AI adoption. Now that the year’s over, how do you feel like these insights stacked up?

🎁 We learned how to reduce eCommerce returns. Make a mental note to revisit this one next month after the holiday boom. Top Growth Marketing revealed six tactics to minimize customer returns, including extending your return policy and implementing customer reviews.

💁🏼 Substack helped writers expand their reach. Back in February, popular newsletter site Substack released an update that allowed writers to create and share a list of publications that their readers could subscribe to. This new feature helped writers aid other writers in the hopes of gaining more subscribers and followers.

🛍️ Livestream shopping evolved a lot this year. Adweek posted an article back in January that discussed why the U.S is having so much trouble replicating China’s success when it comes to livestream shopping. Have we noticed any progress on this front?

Want more from me?

🙏🏼 Save big with exclusive discounts on my favorite marketing tools & services here 

🎙 Hear me interview marketing experts on Spotify, Youtube, or Apple Podcasts

📣 Partner with me to get your product/service in front of my audience here

🤝 Hire me to audit your marketing strategy or as a Fractional CMO here