Reading up on the most compelling social media, tech, and brand stories is one of the joys of being the editor of Marketing Dive.
From Yahoo's latest acquisition to "Facebook at Work," here are the most important stories of the week.
Forrester: Brands are wasting money and resources on social media
Forrester Research put out a shocking bit of research this week. Not only does social media reach just 2% of a brands audience, but only 0.1% of those followers actually engage with any given post. Forrester's conclusion? Brands are wasting time and money on social media.
What does this mean for the average marketer? Well, it may be a sign that existing social media strategies and best practices are outdated and in need of a refresher. It could also be a sign that Forrester's earlier prediction—that branded communities are the wave of the future—is on the verge of becoming reality. Only time will tell what is really going on, but it does seem hard to fathom that social media is really on its way out the door.
Introducing Facebook at Work
In keeping with Mark Zuckerberg's plan to take over the world, Facebook is reportedly working on a product called "Facebook at Work." Seen as a rival to LinkedIn, the product will allow users to chat with coworkers, share documents, and collaborate on projects. The site would allow for users to keep their personal and professional profiles separate, but would contain some of the same elements of a personal page, like the news feed and groups. No official word on when Facebook at Work will start rolling out.
Yahoo inks exclusive deal with Firefox
On Wednesday, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer announced a pretty bold move: The search engine was teaming up with Firefox to become its default search engine in the U.S. Google will remain the default Firefox search engine in Europe, but the partnership is yet another reason that Yahoo is a company to watch, especially for marketers focused on search ads.
Pizza Hut takes the plunge, completely rebrands
It's not a secret that Pizza Hut has been struggling for a while. It has been trailing behind its competitors—other delivery-based pizza chains—and struggling to come to terms with the changing palate of today's consumer. Seen as a last ditch effort to appeal to the taste of millennials, the chain has introduced a plethora of new flavors, a new logo and a website design that projects a classier image. Will it be enough to keep the pizza chain afloat?
Uber's PR nightmare
For a while there, Uber was pretty much unstoppable. The San Francisco-based startup had successfully shaken up the taxi industry and was the darling of millennials. But after this week, the personal driver app has a serious marketing challenge ahead of them. On Wednesday, the company's senior vice president of business made comments suggesting the company would dig up dirt on journalists that criticize the company—at a dinner party that journalists were attending. It then came to light that Uber New York's general manager is being investigated for tracking a BuzzFeed reporter. Influential tech writer Sarah Lacy then wrote a column on Uber's questionable-at-best tactics, explaining why she was deleting the app from her phone.
While there is no data on how many people have deleted the app in the midst of the outcry this week, Digiday reported Thursday that interest in canceling an Uber account is at an all time high. Didn't anyone tell Uber's team not to mess with people who buy ink (metaphorically speaking, of course), by the barrel?