The world of advertising and marketing is constantly evolving, with new tech, trends and best practices popping up nearly every day. We've rounded up this week's most compelling facts and insights so that you can stay in the know and ahead of the game.

Marketing With Virtual Assistants

Summary: Virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri have huge potential in the marketing world, as they can allow marketers to instantly improve customer experience and streamline the commerce process. That said, they can also be invasive and off-putting if used improperly, which means that marketers have to be careful that they keep their engagement helpful - not creepy.

Key Takeaway: Virtual assistant technology can be a hugely useful tool for marketers - if they develop a helpful engagement strategy and make sure to put the customer's interests first.

Animal Planet and Pedigree Add VR and Branded Content to This Year's Puppy Bowl

Summary: With cute puppies up for adoption on screen, Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl already has a winning concept. This year, though, they're taking it to the next level by adding a “pup's-eye view” VR component and incorporating top branded content.

Key Takeaway: VR is big and getting bigger, and important pop culture events like the Puppy Bowl are recognizing this shift and incorporating this engaging new technology.

5 Fixes for Your Online Video Marketing Strategy: Lessons From Google BrandLab

Summary: At this point, every marketer knows that they should have some kind of online video marketing strategy - but not everyone knows how that should look. Some key things you should be doing? Measuring the right metrics, setting attainable short-term goals and being realistic about how much time your consumer actually has to engage with your content.

Key Takeaway: People love video - make sure you have it right to maximize your conversions and get more eyes on your content.

Everything You Should Know About Social Media Aggregators

Summary: Social media aggregators are tools that allow users to streamline their social media and automatically get all of their relevant updates in one place. For marketers, that means a constant stream of up-to-the-minute updates that they can use to build user trust and set themselves apart as an authority - no extra work required.

Key Takeaway: Social media aggregators take the legwork out of updating social media, which means no more missing out on the newest updates and no more struggling to increase consumer engagement. It's about time.

How Virtual Reality Could Change Content Marketing

Summary: Each generation interacts with digital content differently - and marketers have to take this into account if they want to effectively target their audiences. While millennials like content that focuses on the experience, for example, boomers prefer content that focuses on the product, which leads to very different online behaviors.

Key Takeaway: If you want to target both boomers and millennials, you'll have to have a wide-ranging strategy that includes things like hashtags and a multi-platform presence.

6 New Facebook Page Features Your Business Needs to Know About In 2017

Summary: Facebook is still one of the leading social media platforms, so marketers have to stay up-to-date on the platform's latest updates to stay ahead of the curve. Some big ones? Mobile optimization, custom reminders and new uses for video across the platform.

Key Takeaway: Social media platforms are always changing and updating. Make sure that you are aware of the trends so that your pages don't fall behind the times.

This week's new insights are all about the new role of virtual reality and making the most out of the powerful social media tools that we have at our disposal today. Check in next week to stay informed about the latest and greatest updates in the world of marketing and advertising.