Today in Digital Marketing - “Have You Tried Increasing Your Budget (to $37M)?”

Starting point is 00:00:00 Today, influencers are ditching TikTok's e-commerce platform. The bigger the budget, the bigger the ROI. 100 Gen Zeds want to tell you how to market your brand. Google's loophole on gun ads could be a major threat to brand safety. And Google also says, cult? What cult? It's Monday, June 20th. I'm Todd Maffin.

Starting point is 00:00:24 Here's what you missed today in digital marketing. And we start this Monday off with a big hiccup in TikTok's plans for e-commerce, as some influencers in the UK are ditching its e-commerce program. The company launched TikTok Shop in the UK last year, a kind of QVC-style shopping feature, which lets merchants, brands, and influencers sell products directly on the app through in-feed videos, lives, and a product showcase tab. But now, over the last few weeks, several content creators have abandoned the platform due to what they say

Starting point is 00:00:56 is poor or non-existent pay, long hours, and cheap products. This report from the Financial Times. TikTok shop sells products directly from manufacturers and brands at heavily discounted prices, and often TikTok subsidizes discounts at a loss. A commission is then paid to influencers based on sales with bonuses if they rank on leaderboards. One influencer in particular claimed she wasn't paid anything after creating a video selling socks, which received over 50,000 views, adding that the items she was asked to sell were spammy products that had nothing to do with her audience. A TikTok spokesperson said it was redefining shopping culture and has had a positive impact on small businesses as well as larger brands that have reached new audiences. Advertising works as it turns out, but better open up that wallet. According to new research,

Starting point is 00:02:00 the average return on investment for every dollar spent on digital media increases as advertisers spend more. The study found that the greatest rise in ROI is between a yearly media spend of $2.4 million and $12.2 million. ROI begins to decrease as advertisers increase spend above $37 million, suggesting this is around the optimum yearly media spend on average. The research suggests this confirms two things. First, frequency matters. Returns get bigger as you spend more, and this is probably tied to ensuring your frequency is high enough to be remembered and discussed. And two, if you spend too much, you'll be preaching to the converted or talking to people that will never buy your product. The analysis also found that ROI rises when a campaign uses more media channels. Advertisers who used seven or eight different media channels achieved the highest returns.

Starting point is 00:02:54 Of course, advertisers noted that $37 million is a lot of money for any business. Three-quarters of the advertisers in the study were either unable or unwilling to make that investment. And businesses have a point to be unwilling. The data showed that nearly seven out of 10 advertisers are only making about $2 or less in revenue for every $1 spent on their campaign. The data has been provided by the advertising research community, which analyzed more than 340 campaigns. How would you feel about 100 Gen Zs dictating your brand's advertising decisions? Well, according to a new study, Gen Zs are influencing all of your customers as the generation's need for conscious brands extends beyond their own demographic. The report found that while 85% of Gen Z buys and advocates based on their values, the majority it's creating a Gen Z lab

Starting point is 00:04:05 marketed as a part consultancy, part data hub to better understand the next generation of consumers. The lab will employ 100 Gen Zs that will assist with client briefs, gut check advertising decisions, and provide advice on how to market to an ad-resistant generation. Google's local service ads now require your business to have at least five reviews. Previously, advertisers only required one review to run campaigns. An SEO enthusiast tweeted an email he received from Google about the change, stating that starting June 30th, real estate agent businesses will need at least five customer reviews to run a new ad. And while that particular email mentioned realtors specifically, this is apparently the new deal for all local services ads, whether you're an HVAC installer or accountant or car repair shop or a lawyer. According to Google Ads Liaison, while the process to advertise with local services ads hasn't changed, the reviews requirements have indeed increased from one to five, stating that,

Starting point is 00:05:12 quote, more customer reviews help build trust, which means more opportunities to connect with potential clients. So while you can't run local services ads without five reviews, you might be able to find a loophole to run ads in categories which are banned from advertising entirely. ProPublica has published a disconcerting article revealing the largest gun retailers in the U.S. used Google systems to place ads that generated over 120 million impressions. So if Google says it doesn't accept gun ads, how did this happen? Quoting ProPublica, Google has two sets of rules for weapons ads. One is for Google ads, the ads that run on the company's own ad network and on properties it owns. The other is for ads sold by partners, like ad exchanges, that place ads using Google's systems. Ad exchanges enable digital ads to be bought and sold via an automated bidding process.

Starting point is 00:06:17 For these partners, Google operates as an exchange of exchanges, in which it facilitates the buying and selling of ads on other exchanges and takes a cut of each ad transaction. Partner exchanges are guided by a set of more permissive rules that allow gun ads to flow through Google's ad systems, unquote. So as a result, gun ads are spread across the web. In response, a Google spokesperson emphasized that the ban on gun ads applies to its ad products and noted that third-party gun ads can flow through its systems. According to the company, while we offer tools for publishers to decide if they want to accept third-party ads for weapons, we do not block sites from running these types of ads if they choose to do so. Do you have business insurance? If not,

Starting point is 00:07:09 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. TikTok has announced that it has migrated U.S. users' data to Oracle servers in the U.S., ensuring that American user data remains separate from its Chinese parent company. Not long after the announcement, BuzzFeed News published a new report claiming that TikTok staff in China had access to all its U.S. user info as recently as this January

Starting point is 00:07:51 and is still potentially sharing U.S. data with Chinese authorities. According to BuzzFeed, recordings from more than 80 internal TikTok meetings obtained claim that U.S. employees of TikTok repeatedly consulted with their colleagues in China, claimed that U.S. employees of TikTok repeatedly consulted with their colleagues in China to understand how U.S. user data flowed because they did not have the, quote, permission or knowledge of how to access the data on their own, unquote. TikTok stated that 100% of U.S. user traffic is being routed to Oracle's cloud infrastructure. Quoting the company, we still use our U.S. and Singapore data centers for backup, but as we continue our work, we expect to delete U.S. users' private data from our

Starting point is 00:08:34 own data centers and fully pivot to Oracle cloud servers located in the U.S. Twitter Innovators Agency Awards are back. The platform announcing there will be five categories this year, including Best Connect Campaign, Best Conversion Campaign, Best Launch Campaign, Best Social Impact Campaign, and Innovator of the Year. From today until October 31st, eligible agencies can submit nominations at innovators.twitter.com,

Starting point is 00:09:04 and those submissions will be judged based on creativity, effectiveness, engagement, and uniqueness. Last week we reported a Google engineer being put on leave for claiming its AI is sentient. Now, a Google contractor is claiming he was fired for calling out cult activity. The New York Times reporting that the religious group in question is known as the Fellowship of Friends. This group, according to the Times, believes higher consciousness can be achieved through massages and serving wine, which Google allegedly buys to serve at these events. For its part, Google has refuted the former employee's claims, stating he was fired for performance issues and not at all because he refused to learn the secret handshake in the Naked Moonlight Ceremony. I know this is going to sound like a humble brag, but I really don't intend it this way. So regular listeners of the show know that we were, my wife and I, installing a hot tub

Starting point is 00:10:24 on our deck. And it's been there now for three or four weeks. And we use it almost every night. You know, go in there, soak for about 20 minutes. And I have to tell you, we have had fantastic sleeps. Really good sleeps. In fact, literally too good of a sleep. Because for the last week or two, my wife and I have both woken up really, really

Starting point is 00:10:45 sore and didn't make any sense, right? We just got a hot tub. Why would this be? And as far as what we can figure out, or at least guess, is that we get so relaxed. We sleep so soundly that we don't move when we're sleeping. And so as a result, we wake up sore. Anyway, good problem to have, I guess. All right, I'll see you tomorrow. From queens riding on white horses

Starting point is 00:11:26 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. 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 dot C-A.

Today in Digital Marketing - “Have You Tried Increasing Your Budget (to $37M)?”

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.