Amidst the rise of social media and new platforms to engage consumers, email marketing continues to grow as a marketing channel. A recent report highlighted 28 per cent YOY growth for email and it is an integral piece of the marketing puzzle and remains to be important for brands to reach and interact with customers.

Email is a core channel that has evolved alongside changing customer expectations. It underpins newer platforms and an email address is essential to create a login for most social media accounts. Still not convinced? Here are five key reasons why email marketing should sit at the heart of your marketing mix.

1. Reach: Facebook has 1.55 billion monthly active users, Instagram has 400 million however there are over 4 billion active email addresses in the world providing brands with a significant pool of current and future customers to engage with. The reach of email can’t be denied!

2. Personalised automation: Email has the power to send one piece of content to thousands of recipients and still be totally personal, based on your recipients’ previous behaviour. Email is also the glue when it comes to automation across all marketing channels and complements other marketing channels. For instance, if brands are running promotions via social media, they can retarget through email marketing. Email brings platforms together to promote a single customer view and delivers the connected experience consumers desire and increasingly expect.

What does the rise of Snapchat mean for brands? How big is the audience for the social messaging app? Is it only for Millennials? How are companies using it to reach consumers? And, most importantly, should it be part of your marketing strategy?

Well, if you want to get some answers on all of the above then look no further than MDG Advertising’s new infographic, Snapchat 101: What Brands Need to Know. Check it out below:

Yahoo has filed a patent for a new type of “smart” digital billboard that could potentially transform the OOH industry by taking data collection via the medium to a whole new level.  

Remember that scene in Minority Report where Tom Cruise walks through the shopping centre and gets bombarded with advertising? It’s sort of like that, but maybe not quite to the same level…

Google surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company earlier this year - but although Apple now retains its title, it's worth noting how close they both are, despite the fact that Apple is significantly more profitable than Google.

The battle between the two tech giants is something that has caused much debate across the industry but thanks to the folks at Courier Tracks, here’s a handy infographic which illustrates comparative facts and figures of the two.

Have you heard of Louise Delage? She's the unsuspecting 25-year old Parisian Instagram user who was recently revealed as the star of Addict Aide's new campaign.    

Louise Delage joined Instagram on August 1, 2016 and quickly accumulated nearly 65,000 followers in just over a month. Posting a range of photos of herself spending time with friends, eating out at restaurants and undertaking a range of social activities, but there was a twist... 

Of the some 150 posts that Delage shared via her Instagram account during this time, there was one thing that they all had in common: in every single photo, she was seen holding an alcoholic drink of some sort. 

The big reveal was made on September 22, when Delage made her last post to Instagram: a video clip revealing her to be the star of Addict Aide's 'Like My Addiction' campaign, by ad agency BETC, which aims to raise awareness of alcoholism among young people.  

Instagram's recent introduction of 'Stories' sparked debate across the social media sphere – particularly as it so blatantly appeared to be copying a key feature of its rival 'new kid on block' (OK, not so new now!) - Snapchat. But of course, while there are obvious similarities, there are also a bunch of differences in terms of features, users & engagement, implications and brand usage. 

With more and more brands jumping on board with new opportunities across both social networks (eg. Instagram last week announced that it has more than doubled its advertiser base in six months – now with over 500,000), lucky for us the folks at One Productions have pulled together a nifty infographic that outlines the what's what of both 'Stories' features to help identify which might be a better fit for your brand objectives. Check it out below: