It's hard to believe January is almost over - today marks the last Wednesday of the month! This week we are discussing IIABA's new Agency Guide to Getting Started With Social Media, a new report identifying and ranking the top risks of 2021 by likelihood and how PPP loans could be taxed by state.

The Agency Guide to Getting Started with Social Media

IIABA has released their new guide to help agencies get started with social media, and while we won't give away everything in the report - there are a few key topics that we wanted to break down. 

First, the guide outlines the demographics that mainly use each platform: 

• Facebook - 46% of American users are age 65+, 75% of ages 18 to 45 use Facebook. Usage among those ages 20-30 and 30+ is similar to these stats. 

• Instagram - 75% of Americans ages 18-24, 57% of Americans age 25-29, 47% of Americans age 30-49 and 23% of Americans age 50-60 use Instagram. 

• Twitter - 44% of Americans age 18-24 use Twitter. 80% of people under 50 use Twitter globally and Twitter tends to skew mostly male for its users. 

• LinkedIn - 27% of Americans age 26-35, 34% of Americans age 36-45 and 29% of Americans ages 56+ use LinkedIn. 

This guide also breaks down the main content trends for 2021: 

• Content value will beat production value

• Conversational marketing will change its tone

• Consumers will crave snackable content (content that is very short and memorable)

• Video will continue to take center stage

This is just a glimpse at the great content shared within this guide. If you want to dive deeper, check out the IIAW's Digital Marketing Playbook here. 

Top 5 Risks of 2021, Ranked By Likelihood

The results for the Global Risks Perception Survey from Zurich have been released. The 2021 Global Risks Report includes an analysis of the growing social, economic and industrial divisions in the U.S. and abroad, their interconnections, and their implications on society's ability to resolve major global risks. According to NU Property Casualty 360, "Researchers believe the factors of job losses, a widening digital divide, disrupted social interactions and and abrupt shifts in markets could lead to 'dire consequences and lost opportunities' for large parts of the global population."

According to the report, "Short term threats (0-2 years) show concern with the immediate impact of the crisis on lives and livelihoods - among them are infectious diseases, livelihood crises, digital inequality and youth disillusionment. 

In the medium-term (3-5 years), respondents believe the world will be threatened by knock-on economic and technological risks that may take some years to crystalize, such as asset bubble bursts, IT infrastructure breakdown, price instability and debt crises. Existential risk - weapons of mass destruction, state collapse, biodiversity loss and adverse technological advances - dominate long-term concerns (5-10 years)." Read more here. 

PPP Loans Could Be Taxed by State, Central Wisconsin Business Weighs In

Businesses who received PPP loans will have to pay Wisconsin state taxes on them. According to WAOW, "The federal government is allowing businesses to make deductions on those loans, but the Wisconsin Department of Revenue website says: 

'A taxpayer that received a covered loan guaranteed under the PPP and paid or incurred certain otherwise deductable expenses listed in section 1106 (b) of the CARES Act may not deduct those expenses in the taxable year in which the expenses were paid or incurred if, at the end of such taxable year, the taxpayer reasonably expects to receive forgiveness of the covered loan on the basis of the expenses it paid or accrued during the covered period, even if the taxpayer has not submitted an application for forgiveness of the covered loan by the end of such taxable year.'

Co-owner of  Wausau's Bull Falls Brewery, Michael Zamzow, hopes that something changes before Tax Day, as he the loan would be more impactful if the funds weren't taxed. Read more here. 

For more news, check out the Action News section of our weekly e-newsletter  Big I Buzz.  If you aren't subscribed, click   here  to add your email to our emailing list. Don't forget you can stay up-to-date on other industry news and conversation by joining the IIAW's Online Community, exclusively for IIAW members. You can join the Online Community here. We hope that everyone has a great rest of their week!