To understand crypto’s rise in popularity, you don’t have to look up statistics about NFT ownership over time, or hunt for attendance records for each of Miami’s many (many) crypto conferences in 2021. You just need to go on Twitter and see how long you can scroll before being interrupted by an ad for a crypto exchange.

By the numbers: Since 2020, there have been more than a billion tweets about crypto across the globe, Lara Báez, senior communications associate at Twitter, told Marketing Brew via email. Between 2020 and 2021, tweets about crypto increased sixfold.

• And a 2021 YouGov survey commissioned by Twitter revealed that 84% of people interested in crypto use the platform, she said.

“Twitter is essential for any Web3 project. Whether they’re advertising or not, they need to have a strategy,” Jason Keath, co-founder and CEO of Social Fresh, a social media education company, told us. He not only consulted for companies that run paid crypto ads on Twitter, but also ran some ads himself for Social Fresh’s NFT Fresh conference.

Zoom in: Twitter knows that conversations about the crypto space are happening on its platform. It also knows that it can capitalize on those conversations with paid advertising. So last fall, Twitter updated its financial services policy to allow “a few specific” cryptocurrency products and services to run paid ads on its platform.

Since then, some crypto marketers told us it’s been easier to get ads approved on the platform. But others cite confusion around what Twitter requires from advertisers in order for their ads to run.

Wide open (ad) spaces

Twitter’s had an official policy on crypto advertising since 2018, way before most of us knew that we probably should hold onto that bitcoin for a few more years. From 2018 to November 2021, only public cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets listed on major stock market exchanges were allowed to run ads, Báez told us.

But in Fall 2021, Twitter not only rolled out a new policy permitting certain NFT-related ads, but also started letting more types of crypto companies run paid ads. Per Báez, Twitter updated its policy to “address an increased number of crypto products/services.” The details:

• Twitter’s financial products and services advertising guidelines on its website state that, in the US and several other countries, “the promotion of cryptocurrency products or services is only allowed with prior authorization from Twitter.”
• Prior authorization is also limited to managed advertisers, aka those with a Twitter ad representative, Jeff Melei, Twitter’s director of financial services, told us.
• Advertisers subject to this prior authorization include cryptocurrency exchanges, crypto “hot” wallets, crypto kiosks and ATMs, crypto credit and debit cards, crypto staking, and contract for differences (CFDs).

John Vance, director of growth marketing at Web3 marketing agency Serotonin, told us he’s seen firsthand how much easier it is to get crypto ads up and running since that 2021 expansion. “It definitely opened up,” he told us.

Read what other crypto companies had to say about advertising on Twitter here.—PB

Spotify has yet again taken a bite out of the podcast pie.

In February, Spotify bought two attribution and analytics companies—Podsights and Chartable—the latest in a series of acquisitions that have made it a dominant player in podcasting.

First came the content: In recent years, Spotify has inked exclusive deals with Michelle Obama, Joe Rogan, and Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper, as well as bought properties like The Ringer and Gimlet Media, giving it more premium content to sell ads into.

Then came the ad tech: Megaphone was absorbed by Spotify in November 2020, followed by Whooshkaa, giving it tools to sell more targeted ads at greater scale.

Spotify’s latest acquisitions will help the company further demonstrate to advertisers that their campaigns are not only reaching listeners’ ears, but also driving them to take action.

“We’ve consistently heard from our advertisers that measurement is one of the top pain points to scaling their audio campaigns,” Khurrum Malik, Spotify’s global head of advertising business marketing, told Marketing Brew over email.

Big picture: Podsights and Chartable are among the most prominent companies offering measurement solutions. Spotify could potentially do the same on its own, but “it’s kind of a heavy lift that takes time,” said Robert Freeland, founder and CTO of Podtrac, a podcast analytics company that’s been tackling measurement since 2005. So Spotify went the acquisition route.

As is the case with other aspects of podcast advertising, like its programmatic ecosystem, the tech that powers ad tracking and attribution works differently for podcasts than for other digital mediums.

Here, we break down how companies like Podsights and Chartable accomplish these tasks.—AM

You might have heard about a certain influencer “airline” taking to the skies for Coachella—but have you seen what brands are doing on the ground?

Absolut: The vodka brand is entering—you guessed it —the metaverse for the music and arts festival this year. In the metaverse, there’s a three-story digital house where visitors can find “NFT wearables,” cocktail-kit discount codes, and more. IRL Coachella attendees can create avatars at kiosks.

Meta: The artist formerly known as Facebook is partnering with Rolling Stone for a “creator house” activation at the festival. TL;DR: It’s a way for Meta to help influencers learn more about the tools available to them on its various platforms.

HBO Max: Speaking of airlines, HBO Max is making its Coachella debut with an invite-only “pre-flight” lounge inspired by its show The Flight Attendant. The streamer plans to offer wellness treatments like spa services and a juice bar inside the experience.

Lay’s: None other than Lay’s is sprinkling “Potadomes” across the festival where attendees can reserve a “four-course tasting experience” in advance. The brand is also building a lounge that includes a sampling room.

Zoom out: Sarah Dale, senior VP of brand partnerships and strategy at Jack Morton, told Ad Age that client interest in music festivals is back to pre-pandemic levels.—PB

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

TikTok: 16 tools that will up your marketing game on the app.

Learn: Social media advice from 10 Hispanic creators and marketers.

Holidays: Some last-minute Easter marketing tips from Twitter.

Great resignation, you say? Looking for a new marketing job? We just launched the Marketing Brew Job Board to connect you with new and exciting opportunities.

Today’s feature openings:

• Growth Marketing Associate at Spruce
• Content Manager, Communications at Ladder
• Insights Strategist at Kivvit

See more jobs or post your job opportunities here.

Vevo, Rhyme & Reason, and Publicis Media released some new research on video viewing habits. The report takes a look at how viewership and preferences differ between younger and older generations. Some highlights:

• More time: Gen Zers watch 7.2 hours of video content per day, which amounts to nearly half their waking hours, according to the report.
• More platforms: Their video consumption is also more evenly spread throughout the day (whereas Gen Xers stick to prime time) and across different devices. Gen Zers consume 44% of their video content on their phones and 29% on TV. By comparison, Gen Xers spend 28% of their time watching video on their phones and 49% on TV.
• But make it quick: Gen Z, the TikTok generation, also watches more short-form content than Gen X, but not by much. The former spends 41% of their viewing time on short videos, while for the latter it’s 33%.

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Ad-tech fees differ substantially, report finds
• Mood Board: Rethinking the “road toll” in New Zealand
• Apple CEO Tim Cook reiterates privacy commitments at privacy summit