Today in Digital Marketing - A Script Writing AI Bot Wrote This Headline And It's Terrible

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is Monday, December 5th. Today, how much is consumer data worth? Amazon thinks $2 a month. Facebook is on the hot seat to explain why it approved ads containing death threats. Millions of consumers are lying to you. Why Adobe is risking lawsuits with its new policy. Text AI is underwhelming. And the word of the year is not metaverse. In fact, I'd bet it's a phrase you've never heard of. I'm Todd Maffin. Here's what you missed today in digital marketing. While you're looking for ways to collect more first-party data, here's an idea. Pay your customers $2 to run a VPN on their phone that tracks exactly where they go. That is what the biggest e-commerce company in the world is doing.

Starting point is 00:00:46 Paying them a measly $2 a month, Amazon offers some of its users now a way to route their traffic through an Amazon server so that the company can see what ads they've seen and where they go afterwards. The Verge reports that this has apparently been going on for months. The offer is part of its Shopper Panel app that gives consumers up to $10 a month in Amazon credit for uploading their receipts for purchases made elsewhere. According to Amazon, if you join this Shopper Panel waitlist, get accepted, and turn on ad verification,

Starting point is 00:01:18 then you'll also be asked to enable an always-on VPN for your device. But it's not actually a VPN being installed. Rather, it makes it so that all of your DNS traffic is routed to its server, which lets Amazon know when you see its own advertising or ads from third-party businesses that advertise through Amazon ads. The e-commerce giant noted that the app, quote,

Starting point is 00:01:43 will only use the app permissions to confirm the ads from Amazon that you see, unquote. It claims it won't share any personal information with third parties. As The Verge points out, Amazon isn't the first company to offer this kind of program. Facebook offered its users a $20 gift card in exchange for running a VPN on their phones, while Google offered to pay consumers $5 every three months for running a Chrome extension that tracked their usage. In a time when many social media companies are cutting their content moderation departments, a new study published by Global Witness, a watchdog group, looks at how platforms like

Starting point is 00:02:23 Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok are enforcing their policies on harmful content. The study found that Facebook failed to stop ads that threatened election workers, despite its policy against content that threatens serious violence. Among the test ads that contained violent content, like threatening to lynch, murder, and execute election workers around election day, three quarters were approved by the site's automatic moderation system. Meanwhile, after the researchers submitted the ads containing death threats to TikTok and YouTube, both platforms there rejected all the test ads and suspended those accounts for violating their policies. A spokesperson for Meta said the ads were a small sample that were not representative of

Starting point is 00:03:10 what people see on its platforms. They noted that the company later disabled several accounts that had submitted the ads and added that ads continue to be reviewed even after they go live. Those customer email addresses your brand has acquired may be fake. A new report has found that one in four British consumers give brands false information about themselves, posing a problem for marketers. According to the survey, a third of respondents don't use their primary email address when signing up for brand communications. And it's the younger demographics that are more likely to be deceptive with their data. Almost half of 18 to 34 year olds choose to not use their primary email address with brands compared to a quarter of those aged 55 and over. The report suggests brands are up against a raft of data blind spots as almost half of consumers said that they deliberately try to withhold their personal data from brands.

Starting point is 00:04:07 The findings also revealed the low tolerance consumers have for impersonal communications. One in five reported that they would unsubscribe from a brand's email list within a week if the content wasn't relevant, while two out of five said that less than a 10th of the content they receive from brands makes them click through. Finally, consumers are also not happy about the amount of content

Starting point is 00:04:31 they receive, while more than half receive between one and ten brand communications every day. Almost three quarters think less than half of it is relevant or appropriate for them. So I finally got access this weekend to chat GPT, the new AI that can write stuff on its own. And I got it right to work, generating insults for my Fortnite teammates, insults that went from the hilarious, like you're as useful as a screen door on a submarine, to rather cold and businesslike, like your contribution to the team is minimal at best, to downright dark. You're a disgrace to the game. Marketers, of course, are keeping a close eye on the technology. Why? Well, this morning, I asked the AI to write an article about itself and how chatPT could change the marketing industry.

Starting point is 00:05:26 And here is what it came up with. Quote, in a groundbreaking move, the marketing industry has embraced a new technology known as ChatGPT. This artificial intelligence tool uses natural language processing to create personalized, engaging conversations with consumers.

Starting point is 00:05:41 The adoption of ChatGPT has already started to shake up the marketing industry, with many companies reporting increased customer engagement and sales. Quote, we've seen a significant increase in customer satisfaction since implementing chat GPT, unquote, said John Smith, CEO of ABC Marketing. Quote, consumers are responding positively to the personalized conversations and it's translating into more conversions for our business, unquote. Some industry experts predict that ChatGPT will become an essential tool for marketers, allowing them to tailor their messaging

Starting point is 00:06:15 to individual consumers and create more engaging, effective campaigns. Quote, the ability to have personalized conversations with consumers is a game changer for the marketing industry, unquote, said Susan Johnson, a marketing expert. Quote, it allows companies to connect with their audience on a deeper level and build more stronger, more meaningful relationships, unquote. All right, that was the end of what it wrote when I asked it to come up with an article about itself and the marketing industry. And, you know, it's definitely human-like. It more or less nailed the general structure of a news story, inverted pyramid writing style and so on. But it's awfully vague. Not to mention the obvious made-up quotes from obviously made-up experts. I guess that's really the end of this story. Well, not quite. Here's what it came up with when I asked it to, quote, write an impactful one-sentence ending to a news story about ChatGPT's use in the marketing industry. And here's what it said.

Starting point is 00:07:11 The future of marketing is here, and ChatGPT is leading the charge. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? No business or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. cable diffusion, and DALL-E, as long as they meet guidelines, which include requiring contributors to clearly label content that has been made using those tools. So your next stock photo might be,

Starting point is 00:08:11 well, not really a photo. Creators are also required to affirm that they own the rights to the works that they submit, which is something I don't think really has any legal precedent for. If I ask software to create an image looking at a sunset while holding a goat on a leash, who owns that? Me? The company that sells the software? The copyright owner of the images used for training the AI engine? Adobe, for its part, says it will indemnify buyers of stock images should there be any legal challenges.

Starting point is 00:08:43 Some creators worry it will eliminate jobs, while others fear the unknown of legalities, including copyright issues. For example, Adobe's competitor Getty Images recently announced it would not accept AI contributions at all due to legal risks. Well, if upping your TikTok game is part of your marketing New Year's resolution, the company recently announced the fall semester curriculum of its CAP University program. TikTok launched its educational program in April, but it has now updated its lesson plan. The fall semester courses include how to find your brand's voice, how to establish your brand's always engaged strategy, producing in the era

Starting point is 00:09:25 of TikTok, and content to cart, which explores the potential of e-commerce in the app. For those interested, you can enroll today via a link in our premium newsletter, or just search Google for TikTok Cap University. And finally, the Zuck is taking another L. The Oxford English Dictionary has crowned Goblin Mode as the word of the year, beating out Metaverse. The company noted that Metaverse was a worthy opponent and gained voting traction with crypto communities and publications. Can you imagine being runner up to Goblin Mode? According to Oxford, Goblin Mode is a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations. Just to the hell of it, I asked

Starting point is 00:10:18 ChatGPT what Goblin Mode meant, and it said, quote, Goblin Mode is a term used in the game Slime Rancher to describe a mode where the player has to play as a goblin and complete certain challenges and tasks, unquote. This is patently false. I have played Slime Rancher. I have more than 100 hours in it. There are no goblins in this game. The competition was opened to a public vote for the first time in history. Goblin Mode also beat out I Stand With, which took third place.

Starting point is 00:10:58 On the show tomorrow, you've heard the advice, seen the listings, prices should end in a nine. Shouldn't they? New research says, not so fast. I'll have the author of a scientific study on pricing on the show tomorrow. By the way, if you dig these interviews with marketing scientists, you might also like the Aerie newsletter.

Starting point is 00:11:17 I think that's how it's pronounced. They cover marketing tactics based on science. Subscribe and you will get three-minute marketing recommendations based on the latest scientific research from top business schools. We've made an affiliate short link for you at todayindigital.com slash science. And you can also sign up with the link in our show notes. I'm Todd Mappin. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow. Want people to read your content? They'll start with your headline, and that's as far as they'll get. If your headline doesn't convince readers to take action, it's meaningless. Stop wasting time writing headlines that don't get results.

Starting point is 00:12:03 Headline Analyzer Studio is a free writing tool from CoSchedule made to help you write effective headlines that actually get seen and clicked. With data-backed headline scoring, suggestions, and SEO tips, you'll write better headlines that rank higher in search results and drive more engagement from your audience. Headline Analyzer Studio is also available as a free WordPress plugin and browser extension, so you can optimize your headlines anywhere you write them. Get the leading edge over millions of existing headlines and maximize the traffic, engagement, and conversions you get from your content. Sign up for your free Headline Analyzer Studio account

Starting point is 00:12:41 at coschedule.com slash today. That's coschedule.com slash today.

Today in Digital Marketing - A Script Writing AI Bot Wrote This Headline And It's Terrible

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