With more than 6 million registered users, Bluesky is fast becoming a decentralized force to be reckoned with — and with good reason.

Among the new wave of fediverse platforms and decentralized networks, Bluesky is possibly the easiest to get to grips with, thanks to its clean interface and ever-increasing community of all sorts of creators. From science to K-pop, there’s a space for everyone on the network. 

Which is why (…) we’re thrilled to share that Buffer now supports Bluesky! It’s one of our most requested integrations ever — more than 2,500 people upvoted the request on our suggestions board. 

The Buffer integration supports posting, scheduling, and even threaded posts (something you’re not yet able to do natively) — we’ll get into all that below. 

If you’re new to Bluesky and the world of decentralized social media, here’s a quick summary: Bluesky was created by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and is a decentralized social network built on an open-source protocol called AT protocol.

With the protocol, Bluesky’s mission is to create “an open foundation for the social internet so that we can all shape its future” because “social media is too important to be controlled by a few corporations.” 

Here’s a great graphic by artist Davis Bickford that explains the company’s vision:

To mark the occasion, we teamed up with @davis.social to create a comic illustrating what Bluesky is all about.

See if you can spot the easter eggs!

[1/3]

[image or embed]

— Bluesky (@bsky.app) Feb 6, 2024 at 16:10

Initially an invite-only network, Bluesky opened its proverbial doors in February 2024, welcoming more than 1 million new users in just one day. 

That said, adding another network to your social stack is a big decision. With Buffer, we hope to make that a little easier for you with handy planning, publishing, and cross-posting features. 

Another helpful feature to note for those familiar with the idea of decentralized networks and the fediverse: while Bluesky is decentralized, it’s not technically part of the fediverse. That’s because Bluesky’s AT Protocol is different from ActivityPub, the open protocol that fediverse platforms like Mastodon and Threads leverage. 

In a nutshell, Buffer allows you to share your Bluesky content on the fediverse, too, if you cross-post to Mastodon. 

Sound good? Whatever your mission with Bluesky, here’s how to connect your Bluesky account to Buffer and start posting.

How to connect your Bluesky account to Buffer

First things first. Before you can do any of the above, you’ll need to add Bluesky as a channel in Buffer (which shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes). 

Sign in to Buffer (if you’ve not yet signed up, no sweat — you can do that for free here).In a new tab, sign in to Bluesky. In Buffer, navigate to publish.buffer.com. On the left-hand side of the screen, click the ‘New Channel’ button underneath your channels list. From the channels list, click the ‘Connect’ button next to Bluesky.This will open the dialogue box below:Leave your Buffer tab open, and navigate to your Bluesky tab. Click the profile icon on the left-hand side to go to your profile page.

At the top of the page under your name, you’ll find your Bluesky handle. Unless you’ve customized your domain, it should look something like this: @yourname.bksy.social.

Copy that over to the dialogue box you left open in Buffer.

Now head back to Bluesky. Click on the settings cog on the left to navigate to the Settings menu. Scroll down to the Advanced section to find the ‘App Passwords’ option.Click ‘Add app password.’This will open a dialogue box that allows you to create a new app password. You can stick with the default password name or create your own. (Note that this is not your login password — it’s more like a key that will unlock Bluesky for your Buffer account.)Your password will appear in the next window. Copy that and head back to Buffer, where you can paste it into the ‘Bluesky App Password’ box. Now, the window will look something like this:Click ‘Next’ and you’re all done! Congratulations — your Bluesky account is now connected to Buffer. How to schedule and cross-post on Bluesky

There are many routes to creating a new post in Buffer. For ease, we’ll start by using the ‘New Post’ button on the top right of publish.buffer.com, but you can also click the ‘+’ icon next to the channel in your channels list, click on any slots in the calendar, or click on any slots under the queue. 

The process will be similar for whichever ‘create’ option you choose.

Log in to Buffer, then click on the Publish tab at the top. Click the New Post button on the top right. In the composer window, be sure to choose Bluesky from your channels list at the top. To crosspost, choose the other channels you want to publish to as well. Add your text or media to the main composer window. If you’re cross-posting, you can customize for each platform by clicking within the boxes that correspond to each of the channels you’ve selected.When you’re ready to post, click the ‘Add to Queue’ button to publish in the next available slot in each platform’s custom queue*, or click the drop-down to Share Now (publish right away), Share Next (publish in the next queue slot, bumping any posts already scheduled there into the next slot), or Schedule Posts (publish at a specific time). To move your posts around, head to your calendar in Buffer and drag the post to a new slot, or hover over the post and click ‘Edit.’

With that, you’re all set! Your post will be published on your chosen platforms at your chosen times.

Getting started with Bluesky

If you’re new to the platform, we have a bunch of resources to help make things a little easier. Here’s my recommended reading:

Let’s connect on Bluesky!

Bluesky is an exciting new network, and I’m excited to meet you there. You can find me here and Buffer here.

I hope you found this explainer helpful and the process simple!

Today, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Kathleen Finch is retiring as chairman and CEO, US Networks, after 25 years with the company. She will be replaced by Channing Dungey, Warner Bros. Television Group chairman and CEO.

Among Finch’s duties at Warner Bros. Discovery, the executive oversaw animation cable networks Adult Swim and Cartoon Network as well as TNT and TBS.

“There is no one better at developing captivating content, compelling talent, and meaningful lifestyle brands than Kathleen, who has been my partner as we built our premier entertainment networks at Discovery and created Warner Bros. Discovery as an unscripted powerhouse,” CEO David Zaslav in a statement. “While I understand her long-standing decision to retire, I will certainly miss her, as will the entire company, which has benefited from her unmatched collaboration and unique understanding of what our audiences crave.”

In a statement, Finch reflected on her career, including moving from Scripps to Discovery along the way.

“I began my journey at the fledgling Food Network and am so proud to have helped turn it into a cable powerhouse, and then to lead the team developing some of the most addictive unscripted franchises across HGTV and TLC, creating household names out of chefs and house flippers, and capturing the cultural conversation with real-life stories,” Finch said. “The greatest joy, and the part I will miss the most, is the incredible people with whom I get to work every day.”

Finch also threw support behind Dungey as her successor, saying that the executive’s leadership would have “many successes to come.”

Dungey, ADWEEK’s 2024 TV Executive of the Year, became chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group in 2020, making her one of the premier Black executives leading the charge in the television industry. Prior to that, she was president of ABC’s Entertainment Group and vice president of original content at Netflix.

In 2023, she revitalized the long-running Bachelor franchise with the hit series The Golden Bachelor. Excluding sports, that series ended up becoming the No. 2 entertainment series, scripted or unscripted, on network television in the key demos.

“Channing is an unparalleled creative executive who has shepherded countless award-winning hit shows,” Zaslav added. “She has the ideal expertise and experience—as a content developer, platform programmer, and network executive—to lead the US Networks.”  

The news of Finch’s departure comes on the heels of Warner Bros. Discovery’s second-quarter earnings report, which saw the company report a $9.1 billion non-cash impairment charge on its TV linear networks division. Despite that write-down, WBD announced it had a successful upfront, growing Max volume by 50%.

Some brands—but not many—can get away with “unhinged” as a thematic cornerstone of their advertising. Totino’s, best known for its pizza rolls, counts itself among that wacky niche, with the latest evidence being an absurdist campaign steeped in ‘90s nostalgia and sight gags.

And if you don’t get the joke, well, you’re not the demo.

The brand, working with agency partner Dentsu Creative, is introducing its first offering in the breakfast category with ads that feature a food-centric momstache, a freakish sun puppet, and a disembodied zombie arm in a freezer. 

There’s also the return of a humanoid character from a previous campaign, dubbed Toti, who appears to be made entirely of Totino’s puffed-and-stuffed products.

Purposely low-fi and overly cheerful, the two new spots resurrect the jingle with original ditties (from music producer Butter) and harken back to classic TV commercials to grab the attention of the target Gen Z audience.

‘Moments of weirdness’

As a concept, the team wanted to focus on “wholesome mornings,” but with a comically surreal twist, according to Alyssa Ollis, group creative director at Dentsu Creative.

There’s a method to the madness, and props and sets for “Start Your Day the Totino’s Way’ weren’t “weird for weird’s sake,’ per creatives.Totino’s

Creatives imagined “moments of weirdness breaking into that familiar, traditional breakfast space,” Ollis told Adweek. “Then once we started thinking about the songs, it brought us back to old commercials we grew up with, and we just thought, ‘yes, let’s mess with that.’”

The result is “Wakey Wakey” and “Breakfast Momstache,” which aim to distance Totino’s Breakfast Snack Bites from established players in a crowded grocery segment and, in essence, change young consumers’ behavior.

Studies from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention have revealed that 75% of teens regularly skip breakfast, with the brand dissecting the root causes.

“We talked a lot about the difficulty of teen mornings, the unwillingness to roll out of bed and get going,” Ollis said, noting that Totino’s execs wanted to “amp up the idea of ‘quick and easy.’”

‘Visually unhinged’

And as for the ridiculousness of it all, “it’s crucial to surprise people and show them something they’ve never seen before,” Ollis said. “We also love work that has a great and unique visual component.”

Young consumers, even those who are already devoted to pizza rolls, aren’t easy to impress with marketing messages. They also “have infinite access to their favorite types of entertainment, every waking moment of their lives,” Ollis said, adding to the clutter and competition.

With the upbeat tagline “Start Your Day the Totino’s Way,” the campaign went for “visually unhinged,” per Ollis, bringing in director Emma Debany of WW7, who worked with the brand on last year’s quirk-filled “Area 425” ad series.

The campaign also continues a unique comedic spin that’s grounded in past work at a time when the broader ad industry is returning to humor as a way to turn consumers’ heads.

The throwback vibe that fuels the “Start Your Day” spots came naturally, Ollis said, though retro trappings have become one of the most prevalent ad trends. 

Totino’s, best known for its pizza rolls, launches into the competitive breakfast category for the first time.Totino’s

“One great thing about nostalgia is that there are millions of moments and truths and experiences to pull from,” Ollis said. If the team considered the old-school approach to be overused, “we would already be sick of it, and we wouldn’t have done the campaign this way.”

Fan demand

The product itself—which has been developed over the past few years as a kind of breakfast scramble in a shell, minus the eggs—came about because of consumer feedback, according to Taylor Roseberry, General Mills brand experience manager.

A breakfast entry “was the number one flavor that Totino’s fans asked for on social,” Roseberry said.

The snack bites come in three variations—filled with bacon, sausage, chorizo, meatless crumbles, cheese substitute, and other ingredients—and have been expanding distribution to more mass retailers since a May launch. 

“Start Your Day” is the line’s official coming-out party, with spots dropping Monday on streaming TV, online video, and paid social channels.

In the battle between sports streaming platforms, Fubo just gave Venu reason to use even more four-letter words.

The U.S. District Court, Southern District Court of New York, granted Fubo’s request for a preliminary injunction against the launch of Walt Disney Company, Fox Corporation, and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Venu Sports joint venture. The decision comes just two weeks after Venu announced its $42.99 monthly subscription price and fewer than three weeks before the start of the National Football League (NFL) season.

“Today’s ruling is a victory not only for Fubo but also for consumers,” said David Gandler, Fubo’s co-founder and CEO. “This decision will help ensure that consumers have access to a more competitive marketplace with multiple sports streaming options.”

As the court’s opinion pointed out, Fubo was formed in 2015 to address sports fans’ growing demand for streaming content. It entered into carriage agreements with television networks for the rights to license and distribute those networks’ programming.

The issue is that, together, Disney, Fox, and WBD control about 54% of all U.S. sports rights and at least 60% of all nationally broadcast U.S. sports rights. When it comes to the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college football, Venu partners are closer to 75% of the market, including 98% of professional baseball, hockey, football, and basketball playoff games.

Fubo’s claim that the Venu partners have granted Venu exclusive rights to all “unbundled” sports programming (sports channels not bundled with those companies’ entertainment channels, as in cable or satellite packages) posits that Venu would crush sports streaming competition and hike prices. The court’s opinion agreed, but ESPN did not.

 “We respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling and are appealing it,” ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery said in a statement. “We believe that Fubo’s arguments are wrong on the facts and the law and that Fubo has failed to prove it is legally entitled to a preliminary injunction. Venu Sports is a pro-competitive option that aims to enhance consumer choice by reaching a segment of viewers who currently are not served by existing subscription options.”

But legal sparring between Fubo and Venu doesn’t end with the injunction. Fubo is proceeding with an antitrust lawsuit against the Venu partners and their affiliates that it originally filed in February. It alleges that the media companies have been trying to block Fubo’s business for years at a cost to both Fubo and consumers.

Fubo also noted its efforts in lobbying Congress to look into Venu’s practices. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT), and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) sent a letter on August 7 to the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission, while Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) sent letters on April 16 and June 7 to the Venu partner CEOs Bob Iger, Lachlan Murdoch, and David Zaslav voicing their concerns.

Fubo also joined DirecTV, Dish, Newsmax, the American Economic Liberties Project, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Open Markets Institute, and Sports Fans Coalition in co-authoring a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary Committees, House Energy & Commerce, and Judiciary committees calling attention to their concerns about Venu.

“We believe these practices monopolize the market, stifle competition, and cheat consumers from deserved choice,” Gandler said. “A fair and competitive marketplace is necessary to provide consumers with multiple, robust, and more affordable sports streaming options.”

Even as the Paralympics stretch the Paris Olympics hosting duties into September, Olympic brand sponsors are training for the next Games.

From ratings to sponsorships, the 2024 Summer Olympics were already the gold standard. The International Olympic Committee is on track to reach its $1.34 billion sponsorship revenue goal, according to research firm Ampere Analysis. And in the United States alone, NBCUniversal was on track to bring in more than $1.2 billion in Olympic advertising commitments. 

However,

When you look at my YouTube channel today, you might think I’ve had this thing figured out from the get-go. With over 13,700 subscribers, a new video every two weeks, and YouTube driving more organic traffic to my search engine optimization (SEO) consultancy than any other channel, you’d think it all came quite easily.

But I promise it wasn’t always this way. 

After starting a YouTube channel in 2017, my posting was sporadic. I lacked strategy, struggled with the technical aspects of video production, and failed to gain traction despite publishing over 35 videos. This led me to burn out, and aside from a couple of random videos here and there, I almost abandoned my YouTube efforts altogether.

Until one of those seemingly random videos saw significant success. It was about setting up Google Analytics 4, a video that I initially created for a client. I uploaded it to YouTube pretty casually so I could easily share it with a few people, then forgot about it.

When I logged in again, I was surprised to find that the YouTube algorithm noticed it. Within six months, it reached 22,000 views. That might not seem like a lot when you compare it to other YouTube channels, but this was huge for me. 

This experience dramatically shifted my mindset around YouTube. First and foremost, this video allowed me to hit the threshold of being monetized on YouTube with ads (meaning I literally get paid to market my business). 

But it also gave me a framework for planning videos that would serve both my audience and the algorithm. It helped me understand the different ways YouTube could benefit my business, ad revenue included. And, most importantly, it showed me that creating successful videos doesn’t have to be as daunting as I initially thought.

Now, I have done everything I can to make the process of running a YouTube channel for marketing as easy and effective as possible, while still keeping it fun and sustainable for me — and I want to share my approach with you. If you’re a business owner struggling to incorporate YouTube into your marketing strategy, here are my tips for streamlining the process. 

Choose topics that will be helpful to your audience and fun for you

Given how much work YouTube videos can take to create, it’s tempting to over-strategize about which topics will maximize search traffic or virality. But, not only can this approach take time, I found worrying too much about the numbers made me lose passion for it.

Now, I have just two questions that help me choose the topics for my videos:

1. What does my audience want to know about? 

First and foremost, I want my videos to be helpful. That, more than anything, means I’m serving a need that people are searching for, I’m providing content that people will want to watch, and I’m showing off expertise that people may want to hire me for. 

I get most of my video inspiration from client questions, DMs on social media, and comments on my other YouTube videos, which I compile into a long list of ideas. 

My clients now joke that if they have a question, I’ve probably got a YouTube video on it. Even if YouTube did nothing else for my business, it’s motivating to know I’m creating a useful resource, so this approach to planning keeps me pushing forward. 

2. What video do I want to create? 

When it’s filming day, I look at my list of potential videos and pick the one that sounds fun for me to create. This allows me to feel truly energetic going into filming, rather than forcing myself to check something off a list, making the whole process way easier. 

Find an easy format (and don’t hesitate to get help)

People are often shocked to hear that I don’t script my videos. But I’m able to do that because of the format I chose.

Most of my videos are tutorials on topics I already help clients with, meaning I’m essentially teaching something that I know inside and out. I don’t have to research or script anything, I can just sit down and let the words flow from my brain. 

Sometimes I vaguely plan the flow in my head so I can stay on track, but otherwise, my “pre-record” task list is pretty minimal.

I also decided early on I didn’t want overly edited videos because my audience would come to expect them from me every time, and I didn’t want to have to do that work. Instead of making me seem less polished, the simplicity builds trust and authentic connection, giving people a peek at what working with me would be like rather than sounding scripted.

That’s not to say there’s no editing on my videos. Someone needs to cut out my awkward pauses, string my clips together (because I usually record in chunks), plug in my intro, outro, and commercials, and add simple graphics to keep things engaging.

I quickly realized if I tried to edit my videos, I would never do it, so I hired someone on Upwork to help me for $35-$80 a video (depending on length and edits needed). 

I also recently discovered a video editing tool called Descript, which has been a game changer because it lets me edit videos directly from the transcript, shortening the amount of work it takes to remove unwanted sections. I’ll usually do this myself before I send it over to my video editor, so there’s little to no confusion on what to clip and what to keep.

If video editing (or any other aspect of making videos) sounds daunting or is holding you back, I highly recommend outsourcing or finding tools to simplify the process.

Take small steps to optimize for SEO

Of course, as an SEO consultant, YouTube SEO research plays into my strategy. YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine after Google — making it another place for users to search for a solution to a problem. And YouTube videos also rank highly in Google search results. To help your videos gain traction, you want to show up as the best solution to that problem.

Rather than using SEO to plan my video topics, I like to use it to set each video up for search success. 

Once I’ve chosen a topic, I run it through TubeBuddy to find related keywords that are high volume and low competition — these are the gaps in the market I can try to fill. This process can help me tailor the framing of my video. 

For example, I wanted to create a video targeting the topic of “Google reviews,” but I wasn’t sure what specifically I wanted to cover. I typed the keyword into TubeBuddy and looked at the “Related Searches” option to give me ideas.

I saw that “create Google review link” had a strong SEO score based on the number of searches that keyword was getting and how competitive the keyword itself was. So that’s the video I created on my channel back in April 2023, and it’s since gotten over 61,000 views and made me $1,300.

Then, I include these keywords in a few places, including:

Verbally throughout the video: Since YouTube automatically transcribes videos, the algorithm will pick up on words you’re saying.In the video title and description: If you can get the keyword towards the front of the title, that’s always helpful. In the video tags: A lot of people think video tags are “outdated” and not helpful. I disagree — they help give the algorithm more context clues about what my video is about. If you use TubeBuddy, you can also check these tags to see if your video is ranking in search results. Below, you can see my “Create a Google Review Link” holds the top spot for “create Google review link” and in the top five for related searches.Look for multiple ways to use YouTube to benefit your business

So far, I’ve talked a lot about how to create YouTube videos that will gain traction — but how can that actually benefit your business? 

YouTube is generally a strong top-of-funnel marketing strategy, increasing visibility and thought leadership. People often watch my videos, remember how helpful I was, and decide to hire me when they need SEO support.

Another way I drive more direct conversions is by inserting “ads” for my products and freebies into my videos. For example, if someone is searching for how to use a specific keyword research tool, my keyword research planner digital product could be useful for them, so I’ll promote it in the middle of related videos.

I take a similar strategy to drive people to download my freebies, which gets them on my newsletter list so I can continue to nurture them. 

I also like to remind myself that each of these videos is an asset I can use across my business. I send them to clients during my workflow, link them out in my newsletters, and repost them on Instagram — generally squeezing as much juice out of each video as possible. 

Finally, as I mentioned before, when my YouTube channel reached the requirements, I started monetizing it with ads. I currently earn about $950 a month from YouTube ads, but I think of it as the cherry on top and not the goal. The road to monetization isn’t easy, so my advice is to take advantage of it if you can but don’t overly focus on it. 

Instead, focus on creating helpful content for your target customer. That’s ultimately how you will create videos that draw in the right audience, showcase what makes working with you special, and serve as a valuable resource for years to come. 

More resources for YouTube growth

Need help starting and growing your YouTube channel? Bookmark these must-read articles:

Harvest, an artificial intelligence tool developed by media agency Good Apple, is redefining how the agency measures campaigns, ultimately helping it drive revenue for clients and secure new business.

By integrating data from multiple sources—client sales, out-of-home, TV, and digital ads—Harvest shows how a campaign performs across channels, such as search or social. This helps Good Apple’s clients understand where their ad dollars are most effective, enabling smarter budget decisions and more strategic planning.

“As a media agency, we don’t always think that our clients are going to believe what we say the ROI (return on investment) on a campaign is going to be,” said Mark Sturino, vice president of data and analytics at Good Apple. “What Harvest entails is the idea of answering a media question, how our media is impacting the bottom line, what is the end goal of any given campaign and across all channels. And if we have additional money, where should that get spent?”

Harvest, which sidesteps traditional tracking models by using probabilistic modeling, offers a privacy-safe alternative to tracking, said Sturino.

“It doesn’t tie directly to a tracking system,” he added. “From that standpoint, it’s been a very good sales tool.”

Nearly 25% of Good Apple’s clients pay to use Harvest, although Sturino wouldn’t share pricing details or how many use the tool.

Using AI to identify the best-performing channels

Good Apple’s home decor retailer client used Harvest to refine its paid media strategy, identifying which channels—search, social, or programmatic—were most effective and where to invest to boost sales across its 200+ stores.

In three months, Harvest identified paid media channels to end up driving 29% of sales—more than double the industry average of 12%, per the agency—resulting in an additional $7.6 million in sales, according to Sturino.

“We were able to understand how the different channels were performing, where the marginal ROI is, and where to invest the next dollar, ” he said.

Harvest saw an average return on ad spend of $4.06 for each channel it was used with, notably higher than the typical $3 ROAS that is common in the retail industry, per the 2023 U.S. Digital Ad Spending report by eMarketer.

Harvet also identified opportunities in underutilized channels like Pinterest and TikTok, where interest-based audiences offered higher ROAS. This meant the retailer could strategically allocate its budget to maximize for profit and growth.

“When you’re building a statistical model, it’s easy to build something that accurately predicts—that describes it in mathematical terms—but doesn’t give you the insight into what each channel is actually doing and how it’s contributing,” said Sturino. “The AI piece is helping in that area.”