Today in Digital Marketing - Has Instagram Given Up on Commerce?

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's Monday, January 9th. Today, your creative assets may be training in AI and you don't even know it. Also, Instagram downscales its commerce efforts, a tsunami of product returns is incoming, why New Year's marketing campaigns are passe, and the very low-tech problem some people are encountering with their shopping carts. I'm Steph Gunn filling in for Todd Maffin. Here's what you missed today in Digital Marketing. Is Adobe using your work to train its AI? It appears that's the case unless you've opted out. A developer recently noticed in the settings for their Creative Cloud account

Starting point is 00:00:39 that the company had opted them into a content analysis program. Adobe's privacy and personal data account settings state, it may analyze your content using techniques such as machine learning, for example, for pattern recognition, to develop and improve its products and services, unquote. Users automatically allow Adobe access to their data unless they turn the setting off. The company's

Starting point is 00:01:05 content analysis FAQ notes that the rule was updated last August and applies to content stored in its cloud, including images, audio, videos, text, and documents. The company said it doesn't look at content processed or stored locally on users' devices. As the Register points out, a growing number of artists are frustrated that their work has been scraped and used to train generative AI art models without their consent. Adobe clarified that, when it comes to generative AI, Adobe does not use any data stored on customers' Creative Cloud accounts to train its experimental generative AI features, unquote. So, it does use your content to train its algorithms, but not for its experimental generative AI features, unquote. So it does use your content to train its algorithms,

Starting point is 00:01:46 but not for its experimental generative AI algorithms yet. Some bad news for e-commerce marketers. The shop tab will be no more. Instagram announced today that the platform will be removing the shop tab next month as the company scales back on shopping features. Starting in February, the navigation bar at the bottom of the app will have the shortcut for creating content in the center, where Reels is now, and the Reels shortcut will be to the right, where the shop tab is now. According to the company, brands and retailers will still be able to set up and operate shops, but there will no longer be a dedicated tab for it. Retailers, hold on to your hats. A returns tsunami is in the forecast.

Starting point is 00:02:35 Now that the holiday season is over, a tidal wave of returns is expected to hit merchants in the next couple of weeks, according to a Business Insider report. A former UPS executive quoted in the piece said consumers start sending back holiday purchases in the first few weeks of January, so retailers should start receiving them in the next 10 to 14 days. As it is, many retailers are already dealing with excess inventory. The report noted that several retailers dealt with unusually high inventory levels in 2022 as a result of the pandemic boom in 2021.

Starting point is 00:03:09 This led to big discounts during the holidays. While deep discounting may have helped, inventory problems haven't been solved yet, one analyst suggests, and won't be until later this year. Your brand's New Year's resolutions are not a vibe for 2023. Rather than targeting consumers with a New Year, New You strategy, Marketing Brew has an interesting piece up today on how some brands are kicking off 2023 with a No Year's Resolution approach. Instead of the New Year, New you route, one vitamin company created a do less, feel more campaign. The company also created an anti-planner as a way to prompt customers to focus on their emotional well-being rather than checking off tasks. Weight Watchers

Starting point is 00:03:59 also took a gentler approach this year with its latest ad campaign, which encourages people to reduce the negative self-talk often associated with weight management. Meanwhile, luxury fitness club Equinox also aimed for an anti-resolution theme in its latest campaign, which includes the slogan, We Don't Speak January, and the hashtag, It's Not Fitness, It's life. On January 1st, as many were ready to ring in the new year by getting into shape, customers who went to Equinox's website to sign up were not able to. Instead, they saw the message, it's not you, it's January. The company has since received a lot of backlash on social media for its decision to close new memberships on January 1st.

Starting point is 00:04:44 One Twitter user called the marketing stunt, the cringiest flex in New Year's history. 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. It's the season for new styles, and you love to shop for jackets and boots. So when you do, always make sure you get cash back from Rakuten. And it's not just clothing and shoes. You can get cash back from over 750 stores on electronics, holiday travel, home decor, and more.

Starting point is 00:05:35 It's super easy. And before you buy anything, always go to Rakuten first. Join free at Rakuten.ca. Start shopping and get your cash back sent to you by check or PayPal. Get the Rakuten app or join at Rakuten.ca. R-A-K-U-T-E-N.C-A. Layoffs are giving LinkedIn a boost. According to recent research, the app was downloaded over 58 million times globally last year, up 10% year over year. While the number of LinkedIn posts mentioning open to work were up over a fifth during November versus the same period in the previous year.

Starting point is 00:06:11 LinkedIn said that the rate of users adding connections also increased over the past year, indicating that users have been more active on the platform. Layoff momentum aside, it's no secret that the social media landscape has had a volatile year. At this moment, with fears of a looming recession and career concerns at the forefront, a CNN report suggests LinkedIn may just be what the digital world needs. An associate professor and social media expert at Syracuse University told CNN that many people working in media or academia are likely now looking for somewhere to build and engage in professional communities, other than Twitter.

Starting point is 00:06:50 She added that while Twitter alternatives like Mastodon have experienced a surge in growth, they still don't have the same sort of network effect that comes with a legacy platform's broad user base. And now, it appears users have more reasons to use LinkedIn amid a wave of thousands of layoffs. Snapchat's parent company and Canadian telecommunications giant Bell have partnered to bring a new augmented reality experience to Toronto Raptors games at Scotiabank Arena. At last Friday night's game, the two companies launched the new Bell 5G Toronto Raptors AR lens, which lets audience members team up and compete against each other by shooting hoops in real time.

Starting point is 00:07:34 The lens will be available for a limited time during four upcoming Raptors games. To participate, 5G users in attendance can open the lens in Snapchat or scan the QR code shown on the Jumbotron. Then they can choose a team to play for and shoot virtual hoops together simultaneously to contribute to a collective score. Those without a 5G device can still access a single-player version of the lens on a 4G or LTE network. And finally, change can be challenging for customers, especially when it involves changes to how your store's shopping cart works, your online carts, and your brick-and-mortar ones too. This was apparent in a recent viral video on

Starting point is 00:08:21 TikTok, which shows Target customers struggling to adapt to the store's new anti-theft cart sensors. The video shows several customers trying desperately to move carts that have been locked by the sensors, leading to confusion and frustration. The hardwired system is supposed to unlock carts that return within its perimeter, but the video shows it failing to release carts that have strayed a tiny bit too far. A growing herd of abandoned carts can be seen in the foreground as angry shoppers struggle to drag empty ones from the spot where they froze. It's estimated that nearly 2 million shopping carts are stolen each year, costing retailers over $800 million globally. But hey,

Starting point is 00:09:03 at least that's one shopping cart problem you'll probably never have to solve. Did you know that we have a LinkedIn newsletter? It's called The Top Story and it will send you our top digital marketing story each day directly to your inbox and in your LinkedIn feed. You can sign up for that at todayindigital.com slash top story. It is completely free. There's also a link in the show notes. Todd is out of the office today on some agency business. That's why I'm here with you. And I started my week off to a real hot start. I took my dog out for a walk this morning and checked my coat pocket before I left to make sure that I had a doggy bag. Sure enough, when I reached into my pocket to get that doggy bag

Starting point is 00:09:48 after she did her business, it wasn't in there. But what I did have was a Ziploc bag. 10 out of 10, do not recommend. Thanks for listening. I'm Steph Gunn. Todd will be back tomorrow.

Today in Digital Marketing - Has Instagram Given Up on Commerce?

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