Today in Digital Marketing - Returns Reversal: Is This the End of Free Product Returns?

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is Wednesday, April 12th. Today, are free product returns the next victim of the economy? The U.S. government gets serious about hijacked reviews, TikTok's plans for a new Explore function, and LinkedIn's new verification, no checkmarks and no cost. I'm Todd Mathen. That's ahead today in digital marketing. The retail war on returns is heating up as the biggest e-commerce company in the world has started charging fees for some UPS store returns. UPS returns used to be free, but now Amazon is charging $1 for some returns. A spokesperson for the company says it will only add the fee when customers have access to a free return option that is closer to or of equal distance

Starting point is 00:00:46 to a UPS store. As the information points out, the new fee is likely designed to encourage customers to use other return options like Whole Foods or Kohl's stores, which would be less expensive for Amazon to process. The company has been reducing its reliance on delivery partners like UPS and FedEx and instead has been building up its own logistics network. Amazon already charges for other UPS return options, including pickup services and drop-offs at third-party businesses that accept packages on behalf of UPS. share data on returns, so it's unknown which return methods are most popular. But some third party sellers say Amazon shoppers are more likely to send items back than other shoppers. While Amazon is taking steps to reduce product returns, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has issued its first ever fine against a company for review hijacking on the e-commerce

Starting point is 00:01:47 platform. You might recall back in February, we reported that the agency accused the Bountiful company, that's the maker of nature's bounty vitamins, of deceiving consumers. Between 2020 and 2021, the FTC said that Bountiful took advantage of an Amazon feature to make it seem like some of its newer supplements had higher product reviews and ratings than they did in reality. According to the FTC, the company used the feature to boost newer products from older, more established ones with different formulations, tricking consumers into thinking the ratings applied to the newer products as well. Earlier this week, the FTC ordered Bountiful to pay $600,000 in fines and also barred the company from employing such tactics in the future. Instagram plans to expand access to its creator marketplace by offering APIs that will let marketers connect with influencers through third-party platforms, as well as expanding access to brand agencies. Instagram's Creator Marketplace is one spot for brands to find and collaborate with influencers

Starting point is 00:02:54 for ad campaigns. It launched last summer. The new APIs will open that functionality up to a handful of platforms like Aspire, Captivate, and Creator IQ. And honestly, I'm pretty excited that Instagram is betting so heavily on influencers that they're devoting API resources to it. APIs are often second thought tasks at many platforms. We can certainly view this as a vote of confidence for the creator economy. Also, Instagram is trialing access to the creator marketplace for brand agencies. Again, only a few in there for now, like Influential, WPromote, Rickhouse Media, Power Digital, and Dentsu. The marketplace is pretty

Starting point is 00:03:32 solid. It lets you filter influencers by various factors like gender, age, interests, and follower count. Perhaps more importantly, you can filter by the demographics of the audience of each creator's account. You'll be able to send messages directly to creators' partnership message folders. TechCrunch in its coverage today notes that if this all sounds a little familiar, that's because it seems to be based largely on TikTok's creator marketplace. Some industry analysts suggest a big opportunity for marketers in the coming year or two will be from retail media networks. These are big retail players like Walmart, Home Depot, even Instacart, all of which have their own ad platforms with their own first party data they will gladly rent to you. These networks do their best to talk up some of the newer placements like connected TV and digital out of home.

Starting point is 00:04:22 But Insider Intelligence Today reports that ads in stores continue to drive the most demand. In 2023, Insider's forecast is that on-site placements will represent more than 85% of total spending, and that number will stay above 80% for several years, reaching 81.3% in 2027. And true, this is down from 2018 when in-store spending was almost 95% of the budget share, but it's still notable how strong that placement is. The ones to watch? Insider says search ads on the retailers' websites. They think this year advertisers will allocate nearly $30 billion to retail media search ads, and that is expected to more than double by 2027. And don't count banner ads out just yet. Quoting their report, significant growth in display advertising is also anticipated in the near future.

Starting point is 00:05:16 Display ad spending is projected to grow by 34.2% in 2023 and continue accelerating each year until the end of our forecast period in 2027 when it will reach $43.5 billion. 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 is testing a new feature that would replace its Friends tab with an Expl explore page that helps users discover new content based on their interests rather than their real life connections. And it could be a popular place for ads to run. The change would mark a big shift in focus for TikTok away from being a traditional social network to becoming more of a content discovery platform. It's widely acknowledged that even now

Starting point is 00:06:22 it's excellent at surfacing content people want to see, so much so competitors like Instagram name check it when they talk about their own goals for content discovery. That said, this new Explore tab is still in early testing and may never roll out publicly. TikTok does shake things up from time to time, even pushing big changes out to its full user base before backing away. You might remember its science-based feeds or specialized streams for fashion, gaming, and food. The new Explore page is a grid of videos that users can scroll through, but it has less content per screen than Instagram's Explore page. The test of this new feed experience is only being seen by a handful of users.

Starting point is 00:07:01 Also, you gotta think this might be a play for advertising, letting your brand's video show up in a popular eyeball destination. That's essentially what Instagram does to monetize its Explore page. But there's only so many tabs down at the bottom of the screen. Early screenshots of the test shows that TikTok's Be Real clone, called TikTok Now, has been removed to make way for the new option. Which makes sense, given that the once popular Be Real app has been removed to make way for the new option, which makes sense given that the once popular BeReal app has been seeing less and less use over time. Unlike Twitter and Meta, LinkedIn is now letting B2B marketers verify their identity for free with several new features. First, the company's partnered with Clear, a secure identity platform

Starting point is 00:07:45 to provide verification to members in the U.S. Starting this month, you are able to display on your profile that you verified your identity with Clear. To do so, you need to provide a U.S. government-issued ID and phone number. Once you verify your identity, a new verifications section will appear on your profile indicating that you possess a verified government ID with a checkmark next to a banner reading Government ID. LinkedIn users worldwide can also verify their place of employment by using their company email and entering a verification code sent to them. The feature is compatible with more than 4,000 companies on the platform right now, and LinkedIn plans to extend this option to more businesses in the future. Finally, LinkedIn has teamed up with

Starting point is 00:08:29 Microsoft to offer eligible users a digital workplace ID through the Microsoft Entra verified ID platform free of charge. This new option will become available at the end of the month. And finally, some nerd things for you. First, Google Ads API will be removing the keyword plan ad group forecast and the keyword plan keyword forecast functionalities starting on June 1st. Again, that's just the API it's being pulled from. The company recommends updating any applications you have that use those endpoints as soon as possible to make sure you're prepared to handle the empty responses that will be coming from those components. Also, we are seeing reports today that some people are not able to toggle between meta business managers if you have access to more than one. This is,

Starting point is 00:09:20 of course, one of many, many glitches with the platform. Some advice I found was to get to your preferred business manager through Meta Business Suite or open each in a new tab and do not close those tabs. You may remember last month I was whining about eyeball surgery I had to have, glaucoma surgery, where they used a laser to poke a hole in my eyeballs. Today is the checkup. Wish me luck. I'm Todd Mappin. See you tomorrow.

Today in Digital Marketing - Returns Reversal: Is This the End of Free Product Returns?

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