Today in Digital Marketing - Meta's "Opt-In First, Answer Questions Later" Policy

Starting point is 00:00:00 Today, the ad campaign glitch plaguing meta-advertisers is not a glitch at all. The company releasing details on two programs which will opt you in automatically. Also, some privacy legislation exemptions are due to be dropped. More signs point to a slowdown in ad spend. TikTok's new Insights platform gets more interactive. And YouTube is launching an ad-free player? It's Thursday, September 8th. I'm Todd Maffin. Here's what you missed today in Digital Marketing. We are getting more information about what may have been causing a confusing and apparently widespread issue on Meta's ad platform.

Starting point is 00:00:38 Ads are being generated for hundreds of brands. Ads that the brands themselves did not make and have no control over the creative. Turns out, it's not a bug at all. Meta is doing it on purpose. Here's what we know so far. First, the ads are using very basic templates for the body copy. They often read shop and then the brand name today or explore brands like and then the brand name. That body copy is then paired with an image or video, sometimes from the same brand as in the body copy, sometimes with a completely different brand. It's not entirely clear where they're pulling this media from,

Starting point is 00:01:13 perhaps just from the brand's asset library. In some cases, they're duplicating an existing ad, but then removing the body copy. Most confusingly, the ads do not come from the brand being promoted. They show up as having come from the brand being promoted. They show up as having come from Facebook's brand page. This, of course, is confusing consumers. And finally, these phantom ads are not appearing in the ad manager of the brand being promoted, but apparently they are also not being charged for them. Here's what's happening. Meta confirmed today it is

Starting point is 00:01:42 indeed creating these ads as part of the rollout of its new commerce products. Quoting a help page that has gone up on their site today, Quoting on an item will take each person to the product page for that item in your shop. This means you may see additional transactions from people who have viewed an ad created by Meta, unquote. But here's the catch. On that page, Meta says, quote, selected advertisers are being offered the opportunity to automatically have products from their shop promoted by Meta, unquote. But many marketers are saying that's not true. They were never asked if they wanted this. It just showed up.

Starting point is 00:02:32 Alexandra Weinstein, CMO of the skincare brand Augustin Monroe, says she only found out by chance. I was on Instagram and I saw something being promoted by Shop, like Instagram's Shop account. And it was our ad that we're not even running right now. We got no notice, no permission. And even the video that they're showing is a breach of contract that we have with an influencer because it's whitelist. It was something that we paid for usage rights that we don't have anymore. So we had to let her know that it was going on. Normally, of course, she'd reach out to a meta rep, ask them to shut it down. Problem is, this phantom ad is actually performing. What if this stops and all this traffic and stuff like

Starting point is 00:03:06 that dies down? So it's been kind of like a catch-22. I want to find out information, but I also love what's going on because we're seeing positive impact. Others, too, are finding a silver lining. Christina Hunt from the House Van Albu boutique agency told me this morning her client saw a huge spike in sales when Meta's system picked them for these ads. My clients were freaking out because they're like, something is happening. We're not sure what it is. Our sales are over 10 grand a day. They're normally sitting at about like seven to eight. More revenue is good, of course, but because these aren't being run from her

Starting point is 00:03:38 client's ad manager, they have no idea what's moving the needle or how to recreate it later or even see any of the metrics involved. They had five different versions of the ad running from the 26th of August, but I have, you know, no further details on results or how long it lasted. Indeed, that help page on Meta's site doesn't give any specifics on how long this program will run, only saying they'll let advertisers know when it comes to an end. Veteran media buyer Andrew Foxwell believes this is all part of getting numbers to use in promotions. Quoting a tweet from him today, they're just trying to prove viability of shops and letting Facebook decide where to send people shop or site. They need to be able to say we've

Starting point is 00:04:19 seen X percent of adoption and revenue increases driven on shops on their next earnings call, it's a powerful lever, unquote. So that appears to be what's happening. The decision for marketers now is whether they want Facebook to continue to run ads for free, but somewhat blindly, or to opt out. And there too is a catch. Because according to Meta, you can only opt out once they've opted you in. Quoting that help document again, So if you do want to opt out of this, here's how. From Commerce Manager, in the left-hand menu, click on Settings, and then click General. In the box marked Promote Products from Your Shop, click the Edit button, then click the option reading Turning Off. It is a strange play by Meta to just start running this without telling anyone first, let alone asking if anyone wants it.

Starting point is 00:05:15 And stranger too deciding that the brand name showing on the ad isn't the product brand, but rather Facebook itself. But if we're going to be completely honest, doing something first, then explaining it later, is not out of step with what we've come to expect from the company. It's a huge machine with millions of moving parts. I get it. Sometimes the left hand doesn't talk to the right. For instance, we asked their media relations team for comment yesterday and didn't seem like they knew what was going on either.

Starting point is 00:05:41 At deadline today, a spokesperson told us they thought it was, indeed, a bug that, quote, affected a small number of advertisers, which we have identified and remedied, unquote. It's probably not, though. And finally, in what can only be described as an ironic bit of unfortunate timing, the Wall Street Journal this afternoon reporting that Meta has disbanded its Responsible Innovation team, which worked to address concerns about its product's downsides. The team had two dozen people, ethicists, engineers, and others. The spokesperson says the company remains committed to the team's overall goals. Since we're on the topic, there is another automatic opt-in happening at Meta. At least this time, they're sending out emails about it.

Starting point is 00:06:26 This one is around their in-app purchase workflow. In most cases, of course, you run ads that get people to click off Facebook to your e-commerce store, like Shopify or whatever. This feature will keep people in the Facebook app and let them do the purchase right there. It won't be free though. Meta says it will take a 5% cut of your product sales that use this, although they are waiving that until the end of the calendar year. And true to form, they're going to do this to qualifying brands automatically without you opting in first. Quoting a Meta email circulating today, quote, your shop qualifies to sell directly in-app on Facebook and Instagram and will be

Starting point is 00:07:05 automatically upgraded between September 23rd and October 22nd. Customers will still have the ability to sign up to receive your marketing communications. There is no cost to upgrade, and our 5% selling fee is waived for shops through December 31st. We'll send you an email once the upgrade is complete. You can easily downgrade later, unquote. There are pros to this, of course. Having people buy right in the app reduces a big friction point between interest and action and could very well increase conversions. But it comes at the expense of having people land on your website and having your various pixels kick in. You won't see traffic patterns in Google Analytics. Although Facebook says people can still give you their info, that form will be on Meta's terms and certainly won't have whatever backend

Starting point is 00:07:49 connections to other systems you're running. The company says if you don't want to have Meta turn this on, you should contact your Meta rep or partner manager. You will need to opt out before September 23rd. On to other topics now, and a big heads up for B2B companies. If you reach any consumers in California, this probably affects you. B2B exemptions from the California Consumer Privacy Act are ending and will expire at the end of this year. That means starting January 1st, vendors, partners, and employees of CCPA-covered businesses will have access to or request deletion of their personal data. Despite many expecting the exemption will be extended, that extension was not passed during the current California legislative session that ended late last week. A partial exemption from the CCPA has been offered to

Starting point is 00:08:41 business-to-business companies for the past few years that provide enterprise-level services like Salesforce and Microsoft. As a result, the data shared by employees, companies, and B2B contacts in California, like a company's database of sales contacts, is exempt from providing consumers with the privacy rights and disclosures required by the CCPA. When this exemption sunsets, significant privacy compliance will be required. Adweek has a great piece up on it today, quoting from their piece, quote, the key compliance steps for companies, apart from data mapping, involve understanding the type of personal information collected, used, retained, and disclosed. To that end, companies will be required to update their internal policies and procedures for processing requests from businesses to exercise their access, deletion, and correction rights.

Starting point is 00:09:31 Businesses must also update their privacy policies while renewing their agreements with service providers, unquote. Marketers and B2B brands who violate the CCPA can face substantial fines that are enforced by the state attorneys general who gave companies a 30-day cure period to correct any breaches. But as of January 1st, the bill eliminates that 30-day period and instead grants the attorney general discretion to offer it or not. 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 00:10:18 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. Yesterday, TikTok announced that its insights tool has been updated with more data from industries, advertising regions and more, which could help you discover

Starting point is 00:10:45 trends other than it's corn to your brand's target audience. If you need a refresh on the feature, TikTok provides specific data notes and information depending on your selection on this platform. The tool can filter data to hone in on market-specific usage trends. You can, for instance, filter key usage trends among U.S. TikTok consumers over Christmas. It's a pretty handy tool for social marketers. That said, it's not perfect. Even with TikTok announcing it has added more data to the tool. For example, when I tried to filter the audience to U.S. millennials usage trends over Christmas,

Starting point is 00:11:17 no data was available. You can find the tool at TikTok.com slash business slash insights. Ad spend is projected to grow by over 8% this year to $881 billion globally. But what about next year? Well, slowdowns are probably ahead. Advertising spend is forecasted to grow only 2.5% in 2023. This according to a recent analysis by the research corporation WARC. Due to a cooling economy and the impact of third-party cookie blocking online, the company's forecasts for 2023

Starting point is 00:11:55 and the rest of this year were downgraded from its earlier projections at the end of last year. Four sectors in particular are expected to cut spending next year. Those are transport and tourism, alcoholic drinks, financial services, and the automotive sector. 5% in 2023. Meanwhile, streaming is expected to grow faster than the total ad market in both 2022 and 2023, increasing by 8.5% and 7%, respectively. As for specific social platforms, spending on TikTok is forecast to increase 41.5% year-over-year in 2023, but spending on Facebook expected to see an 8.5% decline in ad spend. The data comes

Starting point is 00:12:47 from Wark's research from over 100 ad markets worldwide. YouTube today announced a new monetization option for educational brands and businesses. Next year, you will be able to offer paid courses on the video platform. Here's how it'll work. Eligible creators will be able to offer paid courses on the video platform. Here's how it'll work. Eligible creators will be able to offer free or paid courses. The paid courses will, of course, be ad-free and can be played in the background of mobile devices. The prices are chosen by the creators with a maximum of just under $1,000. YouTube, though, will take a big bite out of your pie. According to Business Insider, YouTube plans to pocket 30% of the revenue generated.

Starting point is 00:13:28 The company is still working out the policy kinks surrounding courses like ineligible topics, series length, production quality, and so on. The company's head of learning says, at first, all participants in the beta will be pre-vetted. Beta testing begins next year in the US and South Korea with more details to follow. Reddit has changed how you view your feed. The update rolled out on the iOS app yesterday, removing separate feed tabs from the main display and replacing them with a drop-down menu where you can access your home, popular and news feeds. To switch feeds, you can either swipe between them or tap on the drop-down menu.

Starting point is 00:14:16 As more businesses are trying to ditch work from home, Amazon's CEO said the company has no intention of mandating its employees return to the office, but he noted most corporate employees already have a hybrid work schedule and that it would continue its experiments with work arrangements. You can finally schedule multiple Twitter spaces in advance now. Previously, you were only able to schedule one space at a time. Now, you can do up to 10 spaces and up to 30 days in advance. Yesterday, Disney's former CEO said the company estimated a substantial portion of Twitter accounts were not real back in 2016 when it was considering buying the platform. CEO's claims are timely as Twitter and Elon Musk head to trial next month. And YouTube announced today it is launching

Starting point is 00:14:56 an embedded video player for education apps without distractions. And that includes removing ads, external links and recommendations. This new ad free YouTube player for education, as it's called, will be available to select partners to start. The platform will also soon begin testing a new quiz feature that lets brands and businesses create educational quizzes related to their content. Thank you. than it might south of us in the U.S. A reminder, of course, consider your social channels and your ad campaigns. It's always a good idea to give a thought to maybe pausing content during big global events like this. If you're new here, we do this podcast every weekday.

Starting point is 00:15:53 Hope you'll subscribe. See you tomorrow. 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.

Starting point is 00:16:23 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 - Meta's "Opt-In First, Answer Questions Later" Policy

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