Today in Digital Marketing - Mom! Don’t Come In Here! I’m Building the Metaverse!
Episode Date: April 7, 2022The AI content on your brand's web site could get you in trouble with Google... Instagram removes an ad placement that everybody's used... And gives its creators a reason to switch platforms�...� One company's invasive marketing strategy.... that works...Go Premium! No ads, more stories, audio chapters, and extended weekend episodes — https://todayindigital.com/premiumGet each episode as a daily email newsletter (with images, videos, and links) — b.link/pod-newsletterADVERTISING as low as $20: https://todayindigital.com/ads JOIN OUR SLACK! https://todayindigital.com/slackFOLLOW US: https://todayindigital.com/socialmedia (TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit) ENJOYING THE SHOW?- Please tweet about us! https://b.link/pod-tweet- Rate and review us: https://todayindigital.com/rateus- Leave a voicemail: https://b.link/pod-voicemail FOLLOW TOD:- TikTok: https://b.link/pod-tiktok- Twitter: https://b.link/pod-twitter- LinkedIn: https://b.link/pod-linkedin- Twitch: https://twitch.tv/todmaffin Today in Digital Marketing is hosted by Tod Maffin (https://b.link/pod-todsite) and produced by engageQ digital (https://b.link/pod-engageq). Subscribe at https://TodayInDigital.com or wherever you get your podcasts. (Theme music by Mark Blevis. All other music licensed by Source Audio.)Does your brand need a podcast? Let us help: https://engageQ.com/podcastsOur Sponsors:* Check out Kinsta: https://kinsta.comPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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Today, the AI content on your brand's website could get you in trouble with Google.
Instagram removes an ad placement that everybody's used and gives its creators a reason to switch platforms.
One company's invasive marketing strategy that works.
And on the premium podcast with no ads, more stories and deep dive weekend episodes.
Tap the link in the show notes for more.
The advice you've heard about using alt text for your SEO
is probably wrong.
It's Thursday, April 7th.
I'm Todd Maffin.
Here's what you missed today in digital marketing.
If there are millions of factors
that go into your Google ranking,
there are also, it seems, a million tools
to help you exploit those factors.
One of those popular of late
have been AI-based content
writers. These are sites that will automatically generate content on your website, like blog posts
and how-to articles. It's certainly tempting. While not perfect, they do spit out content well
enough that the average person might not know it was written by a bot. But something those tools
will not tell you, they're actually against Google's rules and could result in a ranking penalty for your brand's website.
And why? Well, because content written by artificial intelligence falls under the category of auto-generated content, the same John Mueller we quoted in the last story suggests that Google systems in the future might not even be able to detect AI generated content without human reviewers.
He also says that Google doesn't care how the AI writing tools are used on your website in any capacity, quoting him.
Currently, it's all against the webmaster guidelines. So from our point of view, if we were to run across something like that, if the web team were to see it, they would see it as spam.
Instagram has made its next move to counter TikTok, a move that will affect you if you run ads on the platform.
They have now officially killed off in-stream video ads as a placement.
Advertisers on the platform are being notified with a message that says
Instagram in-stream video is no longer available as an ad placement.
You can run video ads on Instagram using the Instagram Reels placement instead.
I know you might be thinking what I'm thinking, but wait a minute, a video isn't necessarily a
Reel. But of course, Instagram is trying to push everything toward the Reels format as it's been I know you might be thinking what I'm thinking, but wait a minute, a video isn't necessarily a reel.
But of course, Instagram is trying to push everything toward the Reels format as it's been so successful for TikTok.
The move officially makes Reels the best video option for advertisers on the app,
which is another step in integrating ads into a scrollable stream of video content on the platform, just like their archenemy. But while Instagram gets rid of an ad placement to push toward Reels, it's also giving Reels
creator incentive to go to a different platform.
Meta is allegedly cutting payouts and inflating target metrics for monetization for its Reels
creator program.
Creators say that payments are down as much as
70% per view and that their videos require millions of more views in order for them to get paid.
This all according to the Financial Times. Influencers claim that the changes were not
explained by the company. According to one creator, their personalized threshold for
getting paid up to $35,000 has gone from 58 million views to 359 million views.
In a statement to the Financial Times, Mehta said it was testing Reels bonuses on Instagram
and Facebook, which may cause payouts to, quote, fluctuate as pricing models are refined.
The neighborhood social network Nextdoor has launched a new do-it-yourself ads product.
The company announced its self-service campaign management platform, Nextdoor Ads, that is targeted at small and medium-sized businesses.
The ad platform features a familiar five-step user interface that guides us through the process.
Select a goal, build an ad, choose an audience, set a budget, and publish the ad.
Previously, advertisers on the platform were limited to two ad formats, a reach of only 10 miles, and a flat pricing system.
The company says with Nextdoor ads, they will gain access to a multi-ad platform, increased reach, and flexible pricing.
But will they also have access to one of Nextdoor's most invasive marketing tactics?
A blog post explained recently the company's intrusive snail mail campaign
in which you receive a letter, that's a real letter,
from one of your real neighbors inviting you to join the Nextdoor app.
The letter uses classic marketing tactics such as FOMO language and a sign-up deadline,
similar to what you see in email campaigns, but it's signed by a real person, or at least their name is on it. I saw
people in our community's Facebook group talk about it. Hell, even our associate producer,
the intrepid Steph Gunn, got one of these things in her mailbox. I genuinely thought, I guess,
it was one of my neighbors that sent it to me, so I signed up for it. And I ended up unsubscribing
because they send you so many emails every day.
So how do they get away with something like this?
Well, when someone signs up for the app, they are presented with the option to send, quote, personalized invitations, which include their full name and address, making it a legal but unusual marketing strategy.
But hey, it got Steph to sign up.
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Well, if your brand is feeling the impact of inflation, you are not alone.
A new survey indicates that 85% of American business owners are concerned about the impact of inflation on their company.
On top of that, three out of four small businesses find it challenging
to manage higher costs due to inflation
and said that rising prices have had a significant impact on their business.
Here's how small business owners are adjusting as high inflation becomes more entrenched.
Two out of three business owners report raising prices.
Four out of ten have cut staff or taken out a loan in the past year.
Industries including manufacturing, services, retail,
and professional services all cite inflation as one of the top challenges
facing the small business community. The data provided by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
And finally, Meta is canceling its F8 developer conference this year to, wait for it, build the Metaverse.
Or maybe save some money?
One of these is true. Guess which one?
The conference is traditionally where the company shares insight into its latest projects and developments,
which makes us wonder, have there been any developments?
The company says it still plans to hold its annual Connect event later this year,
where it will discuss its VR, AR, and Metaverse platform offering.
That is the sound of a foundation being dug out and poured the hot tub.
The work towards it has started.
There's an end in sight.
If you're following this, my wife and I are trying to get a little two-person hot tub. The work towards it has started. There's an end in sight. If you're following this,
my wife and I are trying to get a
little two-person hot tub, like a jacuzzi
installed. We don't have a backyard, so we've
got to do it on our side deck,
which is kind of small, so we are reinforcing
it. And then we have to get
a structural engineer, and then we have to get
an electrician, and it's a whole
lot of stuff.
But we will hopefully have a hot tub soon.
And the work started today. I'm very excited about that.
Alright, talk to you tomorrow.
Let's get it started
right now.
Let's get it
started.
Let's get it started.