YouTube boosts creator income with Members Only Shorts, challenging TikTok's paywall feature: The battle for creator allegiance and platform supremacy escalates.

Toy sales growth can be attributed to kids’ shifting interests, the influence of online platforms, and expanding into older audiences. In our recent “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail” podcast episode, we dive into trends impacting toy retail sales and how marketers can reach new consumers.

TikTok launches Creative Challenge: It’s a potential win-win for creators and brands seeking innovative advertising content.

TikTok’s rapid entry onto the social scene in Canada makes it a prime venue for marketers to increase investment. Brands of all stripes should test new ad formats, work with creators to engage audiences, and aim to trigger social commerce transactions from TikTok.

Meta thinks users need stepping stones to the metaverse: Its Crayta announcement suggests many consumers need to be pushed along the “immersion continuum.”

Before brands embark on short-video marketing, one of their key considerations should be the pros and cons of user-generated content (UGC). Marketers have had to learn to be comfortable with showing their brand messages in the midst of UGC on social media—and that’s been harder than ever, thanks to the recent rise in negativity and misinformation on some platforms. But to excel in the short-video format, especially on TikTok, marketers must also be willing to tap ordinary users for inspiration, participation, and viral distribution.

The short-video landscape is bigger than just TikTok. Marketers must develop a strategy to make the most of this form of marketing across multiple venues.

User-generated short videos are all over the internet, from TikTok to Instagram Reels to Triller, and the marketing opportunities are exploding. Here’s how the main venues compare across usage, paid advertising, organic and influencer marketing, and commerce.

Reviews have always been a key aspect of a consumer’s shopping journey. But nowadays—particularly as more consumers lean on ecommerce—additional information in the form of user-generated visuals is becoming just as critical.

Social media memes have been around for over a decade, but the last twelve months have solidified their position as a staple of digital communication. While the topics themselves are no laughing matter, lighthearted humor about shared struggles has become a coping mechanism—or simply a much-needed distraction—for many.

The eMarketer team deliberated extensively to select the 10 key digital trends to watch in 2021 from a list of 43. Which trends narrowly missed the cut? Here’s our first in a series of additional transformative developments that ought to be on your radar in the year ahead.

From the growth of TikTok and of social commerce to the challenges of brand safety and the cookieless future, 2021 will be another year of big stories for social media.

After a tumultuous year, the social platforms will close 2020 on a high note in terms of ad revenues and users—and with features that closely resemble each other.