From the Burger King Twitter account being hacked to the launch of Vine, there was plenty to talk and blog about in 2013. We have taken the liberty of highlighting what we believe are the top digital stories from this year. It was a turbulent year for some (Myspace) but a maginificent year for others (Instagram). This recap only scratches the surface of the many marketing happenings that graced our Twitter feeds, Flipboards, news tickers, and blog posts in 2013. Check it out and let us know if we missed anything. What would you like to see in the 2013 Digital Marketing Review infographic?

1. 2013 was jam-packed with digital marketing news.
From the launch of Vine to the most tweeted-about VMAs ever,
there was plenty to talk (and blog!) about. Take a look back at the
highlights in this year-end recap.

2. JANUARY
Did MySpace make it into your top eight channels
of 2013? MySpace launches a new layout and
tries to make a comeback.
Twitter unveils Vine, and the 140-character
approach to conciseness comes to video.

3. FEBRUARY
Burger King’s Twitter account gets hacked, and the hacker
replaces BK’s profile image with the golden arches.
Oreo shines bright during the Super Bowl blackout
with a news-jacking tweet and viral image.

4. FEBRUARY
Microsoft converts Hotmail to Outlook.com,
using the same name of Microsoft’s popular
workplace email software.

5. March
Google Reader retires due to declining usage,
despite a loyal following that wasn’t pleased with
the discontinuation.
“Keep a thing seven years, and you’ll always find a use
for it,” goes the old English saying. Plenty have found
a use for Twitter (where would @aplusk be without it?)
as Twitter celebrates its 7th birthday.

6. April
#Boston
Boston police use Twitter to update residents on the search
for the Boston Marathon ombers; thousands turn to Twitter
b
and Facebook or news and to express condolences.
f
Facebook marketers saw the launch of News Feed
retargeting ads and Facebook Home, a replacement
for elect Android devices’ home screens.
s

7. MAY
Gmail introduces the new tabbed inbox
that email marketers are still talking about.
Twitter launches lead generation cards for an impressive
new take on brand-to-follower advertising.

8. June
Instagram introduces video and joins
Vine in the micro-video space.
Yahoo completes Tumblr acquisition.

9. July
salesforce.com completes acquisition of ExactTarget,
m
arking salesforce’s largest acquisition to date.
Publicis and Omnicom merge
to form the world’s argest ad firm.
l

10. AUGUST
Yahoo’s email service closes in China
after a gradual phase-out, with Yahoo recommending
users turn to Alibaba’s Aliyun instead.
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com,
purchases The Washington Post for $250 million.

11. AUGUST
Hey, hey, hey, hey. Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke’s
performance at the VMAs garners over 300,000 tweets
per minute.

12. September
Apple releases iPhone 5s and 5c and launches iOS 7, the new
iPhone operating system that overtakes iOS 6 in just 72 hours.
Connections 2013 hosts more than 5,000 marketers
i
n Indianapolis, and features Condoleezza Rice,
Walter Isaacson, and Jim Collins.

13. September
47
%
Mobile email opens hit record high of 47%.1
Pinterest takes its first steps toward monetization,
announcing sponsored pins.

14. SepTember
Searching for a new Google algorithm?
Look no further than Hummingbird, which includes
increased focus on social engagement and natural
language search.

15. October
New TCPA guidelines require marketers to obtain
express written consent before sending SMS/text
marketing messages.
Instagram announces that photo and video ads
are coming to the Instagram feed.

16. October
Nielsen unveils Twitter TV ratings, urther cementing the
f
relationship between eal-time tweeting and TV viewership.
r

17. November
Jeff Rohrs’ book Audience is released, igniting conversations
about audience evelopment in digital marketing.
d
Marissa Mayer, Marc Benioff, Green Day, Deepak Chopra,
and Sheryl Sandberg join over 120,000 Dreamforce attendees
in San Francisco.

18. December
Happening in December this year,
Cyber Monday nline sales grew
o
by 20% over 2012.2

19. This recap only scratches the surface of the many marketing happenings
that graced our Twitter feeds, Flipboards, news tickers, and blog posts
in 2013. Follow exacttarget.com/blog for the latest in digital marketing,
no matter what 2014 brings.
Sources:
1
litmus.com/blog/mobile-opens-hit-record-high-of-47,
2
IBM Cyber Monday Report 2013,
China image: FreeVectorMaps.com