Today in Digital Marketing - Meta Calls the Kettle Black

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Starting point is 00:00:18 starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. Today, how will the switch to Google Analytics 4 affect your search ranking? Snapchat restricts apps building on its developer platform. TikTok expands its stories feature. And Google might be bringing back a feature it killed off years ago. And on the premium podcast with no ads, more stories, and deep dive weekend episodes, tap the link in the

Starting point is 00:00:45 show notes for more. A new study indicates cable TV is doomed. So where is your advertising budget headed? It's Friday, March 18th. I'm Steph Gunn filling in for Todd Maffin. Here is what you missed today in digital marketing. Today's episode is sponsored by Vendasta.com. Build your agency with the tools you need and the hassles you don't. Visit Vendasta.com slash superhero to book a demo and learn more. There has been a lot of noise in the industry this week about Google Analytics 4 as a result of Google's official announcement to kill its current universal analytics code. And maybe you're wondering how the pivot to GA4 will affect your ranking.

Starting point is 00:01:29 Well, we can confirm that switching to GA4 will not boost your search rankings. Sometimes, the search giant uses a ranking boost as a way to motivate site owners to make a change. For example, it added ranking boosts for mobile-friendly design, page experience, and many others. But when it comes to giving site owners incentive to switch to GA4, Google search advocate John Mueller said, that's not going to happen. Mueller stated years ago that there is no ranking benefit to using Google Analytics, and that will continue to be the case for GA4. You've heard the advice. Avoid getting negative reviews on your product or company at all costs.

Starting point is 00:02:18 Sometimes that leads to shady practices like bribing or suing websites that publish them. But are negative reviews always detrimental? A new study has found how social distance between a brand and consumer can change the effect of a bad review. Todd spoke with the study authors earlier. Here's a portion of their conversation. Conventional wisdom would say that negative reviews are always bad. And interestingly, this wisdom has been based on past research that did not consider the identity of the brand and the meaning of the brand for consumers in the implications of these negative reviews. And what we found was that these deep connections that consumers have with their brands can actually protect brands from negative feedback that these brands receive from different other customers that consumers might wish to push away sometimes, not always, but sometimes.

Starting point is 00:03:06 And your research, as you mentioned, found that if someone connects sort of their identity to a brand, the negative reviews don't matter as much, but could they be beneficial somehow? Yeah. So more specifically, what we found was that when consumers encounter these negative reviews of these brands to which they feel deeply connected, they start to scrutinize who the review is coming from in order to look for reasons to potentially discount the review in their purchase decisions. And so when they find that the review comes from somebody who is very different from them in demographic characteristics and their purchasing patterns, et cetera, et cetera, they actually use that as an excuse to discount that review as being less informative, illegitimate.

Starting point is 00:03:54 As a result of that, they stick to the brand, they protect the brand. And in some situations, they even are more willing to buy that brand with positive implications of these negative reviews for brand outcomes. Their full conversation was about a half hour long, and it also covered things like how marketers can increase that feeling of identity connection, what putting small reviewer profiles on product pages does for conversion rates, and if the opposite is true. In other words, are positive reviews discarded by brand-connected consumers, and much more. That full interview is coming exclusively to the premium podcast feed tomorrow. The premium feed contains deep dive expert interviews like that, plus it erases all ads

Starting point is 00:04:37 from the daily podcast. You get more stories than the free version, story links in the show notes, and a lot more. Check it out at todayindigital.com slash premium feed, or tap the link in the episode notes. Some changes are coming to Snapchat's platform, and it could impact the apps that brands are using to reach young people. Snap Inc. is buckling down on its safety measures and adding new app development policies. Last year, a lawsuit raised allegations about the social media app not doing enough to protect its young users after a teen died by suicide. In response, the company banned the two integrated messaging apps that had facilitated online bullying and conducted a review of the program's policies. As a result of the review, Snap has

Starting point is 00:05:25 announced its revised policies. First, it will prohibit apps that facilitate anonymous messaging from integrating with its platform. The company acknowledged that during its review, it found that even with safeguards in place, anonymous apps pose risks for abuse that are impossible to mitigate at an acceptable level. The platform also announced that developers building friend-finding apps will not be allowed unless they are age-gated and restricted to Snapchatters over 18. Existing developers have 30 days to come into compliance with the new policies. You might be able to start repurposing Instagram stories to TikTok to expand your audience.

Starting point is 00:06:07 TikTok is rolling out its stories feature to more users. Upon launching the app, you will see a new banner asking you to try out the new format if you have the feature. Like Instagram, TikTok stories last for 24 hours before they are deleted and can be viewed by visiting a brand's profile and clicking on the profile picture. However, compared to Instagram, TikTok stories lack one major feature. You cannot see who has viewed your story, but users can like a story and leave a public comment, whereas on Instagram, commenters reply in a DM. While I was scrolling TikTok today, I did notice a few stories appear in my For You page, so it could be a nice new way for your content to get some more reach. Here's how to post a story if the feature is rolled out to you.

Starting point is 00:06:51 First, click the post button on the bottom center navigation bar of the app, then select the quick camera mode, which lets you post a photo or a video to your story. Creating videos for a story is the same as creating normal TikTok videos, with the ability to reply to comments, use filters, and more. Your Google Business profile might be getting a feature that the company killed years ago, text support. When the search giant first launched messaging within Google Business profiles, it was done through SMS text messaging. Then Google removed the SMS portion and added it to the mobile app and the web interface.

Starting point is 00:07:36 But it might be making a comeback. A local SEO spotted the update and tweeted a screenshot of their Google business profile that says, you can now get SMS alerts when customers message your business through chat. Add your phone number to try it out. Google has not released a statement about the update, so it's unclear if it's a test or slowly rolling out to merchants. 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 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,

Starting point is 00:08:12 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. 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. Meta has filed a lawsuit in California over the use of fake reviews on Facebook. In its complaint, the company alleges that the seller operating as

Starting point is 00:09:04 customer feedback score solutions provided fake reviews and feedback for businesses with the Facebook. In its complaint, the company alleges that the seller operating as Customer Feedback Score Solutions provided fake reviews and feedback for businesses with the intention of artificially boosting their Facebook customer feedback score. Meta sends surveys to some users who click on ads on its platform, asking for feedback on customer service, the product, and shipping times. A business that receives a significant amount of negative feedback may be subject to enforcement measures, such as ad restrictions, financial penalties, or account suspension. Customer Feedback Solutions is alleged to have manipulated this process to benefit its clients. Now, Meta is seeking damages and injunctive relief for these alleged violations of its policies, as well as halting fake reviews.

Starting point is 00:09:53 Twitter's clubhouse clone, Spaces, is testing a new way to promote content, with the ability to create audio clips up to 30 seconds from past Spaces streams. The new clipping tool on Spaces will enable users to create audio clips from a recorded space, which can then be shared via tweet with a link back to the full recording. Some hosts on iOS will be able to test creating clips, while everyone on iOS will be able to see and listen to clips on the timeline. The platform said it will be rolling out to Android and web soon. The announcement comes only about six months after Clubhouse rolled out this exact same feature. And finally, Google appears to be testing a new feature in local listings.

Starting point is 00:10:34 Some websites have lists of topics like 10 best restaurants in New York City. Well, now those lists might show up in the local panel on the Google map listing in a new section called on these lists. An SEO analyst posted a screenshot on Twitter of the update, which shows the search for Drayton Manor theme park. The local listing displays the new section with all of the lists that that theme park is on, such as top 10 UK theme parks. Spring is in the air where I'm from. I'm located in London, Ontario, and it has been sunny and a high of 18 for the past couple of days,

Starting point is 00:11:10 and I am absolutely loving it. So I hope you get to see some sunshine wherever you may be this weekend. As always, thank you for listening. Todd will be back on Monday. Today on Digital Marketing is produced by EngageQ Digital on the traditional territories of the Suneimuk First Nation on Vancouver Island. Our associate producer is me, Steph Gunn. Podcast

Starting point is 00:11:33 music licensing by Source Audio. Ad coordination by Red Circle. And some sad news about our theme composer, Mark Levitz. He's got his six string and hog. Now he's holding in what he used to make it talk. So tough, it's tough. Starting a marketing agency is a rewarding experience, but it can also be a challenging one. The fear of selling to prospects, the pressure of delivering top quality services to paying clients, and the scramble to invoice and collect so that the revenue keeps coming in is a lot for one person to handle. What was meant to be a fulfilling venture is suddenly eating away your freedom and your profits, and you're probably not being paid enough for it either. If this sounds like you, you need Vendasta.

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Today in Digital Marketing - Meta Calls the Kettle Black

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