Today in Digital Marketing - "It's Not You, It's Ad Tech." 💔

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is Tuesday, March 14th. Today, TikTok wants to cut out the middleman, Meta's job cuts will take out a quarter of the company, the one change to your next ad campaign that could boost site visits by 20%, and why Netflix might be planning to bail out on its big ad partner. I'm Todd Maffin. That's ahead today in digital marketing. TikTok's ad tool that lets brands invite creators to contribute to a campaign without the need to go through an influencer agency is now fully available to all advertisers in several markets. That tool is called Branded Mission. It's been released to a number of countries like the US, the UK, France, Korea, and so on. For digital marketers, the tool lets brands select their ad requirements and then creators can submit videos that meet those guidelines.

Starting point is 00:00:47 Basically, the company has cut out the middleman. Rather than sourcing influencers themselves, marketers can post their requests and wait for creators to pitch their suggestions. If this sounds familiar, the self-serve influencer service was introduced last year, and we reported on it at the time, but this represents a wider rollout. Big changes are coming to Meta again. The company is cutting another 10,000 jobs and will not fill 5,000 open positions as the social media giant tries to cut costs. In an email to employees today, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company will begin restructuring plans focused on flattening teams, canceling lower-priority projects, and reducing hiring rates. He added that Meta also plans to make more cuts in its tech groups next month than its business groups in late May. The news comes just four months after Meta laid off 11,000 employees, about 13% of its workforce at the time. Combined, this amounts to it intending

Starting point is 00:01:46 to lay off roughly one quarter of its global workforce. Meanwhile, Bloomberg recently reported that Meta is considering divesting Customer, the customer service software company, as part of its plans to cut costs. According to a person familiar with the matter, the company hasn't yet decided what to do about Customer. It could spin it off or try to sell it. Meta acquired the company for $1 billion in 2020. Looking for a way to boost your sales? Research has found that suggesting product pairings can be a powerful tool to drive clicks and conversions. According to a recent study, recommending two different products together, like a rug to match a sofa, can increase ad clicks by more than 20%. Why does it work? The study's researchers suggest that when someone, like a salesperson, brand rep, or influencer, recommends combining two products to use or buy together, it makes them seem like an expert in the field because we assume they understand how multiple products interact

Starting point is 00:02:45 with each other. Then, due to their newfound credibility as experts, consumers are more likely to follow their recommendations and buy. The researchers also noted that the result isn't as effective if the two items being recommended are used separately rather than simultaneously. The effect also doesn't work if people consider themselves to be experts in the category. The research recommends applying this strategy to your ads, in-store marketing through shelf displays, as well as direct mail and personalized communication after the first item is purchased. For instance, fashion retailer Mango sends follow-up emails after a sale suggesting other items to pair with the purchase. The paper was published in the Journal of Marketing. It's called Combinatory Recommendations Signal Expertise and Improve Product Attitudes.

Starting point is 00:03:40 Here's a word I can pronounce, ghost. And it's what Netflix might be about to do to Microsoft. Less than six months after announcing its ad-supported tier, the streaming giant is already considering alternative options for its ad business. Digiday reported yesterday that Netflix is looking into building or buying its own ad tech after its contract with Microsoft ends next year. As a result of its first-ever subscriber loss, Netflix launched an ad-supported tier in a surprisingly short period of time last year. As a result of its first-ever subscriber loss, Netflix launched an ad-supported

Starting point is 00:04:06 tier in a surprisingly short period of time last year. Despite the quick turnaround, a rushed launch led to some early bumps in the partnership. Due to Netflix's self-imposed deadline and competition from Disney launching a similar tier, the company sought out an ad tech partner rather than build out the technology itself. During its first quarter, the company sought out an ad tech partner rather than build out the technology itself. But during its first quarter, the company saw poor adoptions and significantly underperformed on its viewership guarantees to advertisers. As Insider Intelligence points out, the slower than expected start may have caused some long-term doubts. Quoting Insider Intelligence, but if sudden events hadn't sent Netflix down the advertising path, Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack,

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Starting point is 00:05:31 And that will bring us to another episode of Who's Copying Who? Yes, it's Meta doing the copying, but having apparently run out of other places to copy, they are now cloning features from a social network that peaked in the early 2000s. In a move that takes us back to the MySpace era, Instagram is currently testing a top three sticker option for stories. The feature will let users highlight their favorite accounts, tracks, and

Starting point is 00:05:57 places, which may bring back memories of MySpace's top eight feature and your studded belt. Selecting your favorite top eight friends to display in your top listing was a point of contention for many users, but now it's making a comeback of sorts. That said, it could be a handy tool to promote brand partnerships, brick and mortar locations, and so on. Google's FOMO is getting real.

Starting point is 00:06:24 Earlier today, the company announced several new generative AI features coming soon to its workspace products to catch up with rival Microsoft in the AI race. The features include AI-powered ways to generate, summarize, and brainstorm text in Google Docs, similar to ChatGPT. The option to generate emails in Gmail based on users' brief bullet points, and you'll be able to produce AI imagery, audio, and video to illustrate presentations in slides. But as The Verge points out, Google is definitely ahead of itself. So far, there's been several announcements regarding upcoming AI features, but only the AI writing tools in Docs and Gmail will be available for limited testing this month. Google says other features wouldn't be available to the public until later this year.

Starting point is 00:07:10 It's also worth noting that Microsoft is reportedly building similar features into its Office suite of apps, including Word, Teams, and Outlook. Microsoft, of course, shook things up with the introduction of the new Bing, which has been hailed as an AI-powered search engine that could dethrone Google. Now it seems the competition between the two tech giants will extend to the realm of productivity software as well. And finally, really briefly, just a heads up, it looks like a lot of meta ad accounts got Advantage Plus shopping campaigns enabled. So if you have been waiting for it, check your campaign sales workflow and see if you have been waiting for it, check your campaign sales workflow and

Starting point is 00:07:45 see if you have it now. Busy day at the agency today with a shift, a bunch of media spend around unexpectedly. You know how that goes. I'll see you tomorrow. How do they go? How do they roll? So, so, so on fleek. Making moves on the whole street. Gotta, gotta get good when the good gets me. Cause the me, I, B is weak.

Today in Digital Marketing - "It's Not You, It's Ad Tech." 💔

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