Today in Digital Marketing - Teens Abandoning TikTok Because of (checks notes) “Life”

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is Tuesday, March 12th. Today is its reign finally over. TikTok starts losing users. Also, the social media posts you might not realize are being broadcast. The skyrocketing growth of out of home. And Apple is about to have a big ads year ahead. I'm Todd Maffin. That's Ahead, today in digital marketing. 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, there's a big section on copying. And the chief villain in the canon is usually meta.

Starting point is 00:00:58 Much of its success comes from lifting ideas from other apps. Stories being the best example. It was originally Snapchats, but when Snapchat's founders turned down an acquisition offer from Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg simply ordered his lieutenants to copy it. The same thing happened with TikTok, less the acquisition offer. When TikTok started getting crazy popular, Medic copied the vertical video format and built Reels into Instagram.

Starting point is 00:01:27 Now, a new book of lore is set to be written with TikTok apparently poised to copy Instagram and not just a couple of features, the whole app. One software engineer has shown backend code from the current TikTok app with references to a new and unannounced app called TikTok Photos. Quoting social media today,

Starting point is 00:01:49 quote, The addition of a separate TikTok Photos app is not overly surprising, given that TikTok has already added a photo mode for still images in-stream and has been encouraging users to post more photos of late. It also makes sense in the context of Chinese app trends. China's own version of Instagram is the Tencent-backed Chaohongshu, which has seen big success of late after incorporating e-commerce features. Chaohongshu generated more than $500 million in net income in 2023, far exceeding expectations for the platform,

Starting point is 00:02:22 and now has more than 200 million active users in the nation. Unquote. So if TikTok is so darn popular, why is it spending its time working on another app? One that, given TikTok currently does photo posts, could even cannibalize its user base? One big reason? TikTok is, for the first time, losing users in the U.S. Until now, we've seen TikTok's growth rate slow down, but it's never been negative. New numbers show that its user base shrank in the last quarter of 2023. Only the former Twitter also lost users. Hell, even the aging Facebook grew faster than TikTok in Q4.

Starting point is 00:03:08 So what is going on? Quoting Business Insider, quote, one interesting theory is that TikTok users are growing up and taking on new responsibilities that leave less time to watch videos. When the app launched, it took the world by storm. Young kids and teenagers were especially drawn to the service's unique, creator-friendly content and culture. So let's say those users were about 13 when they first downloaded the app in 2016 and 2017. Now, those people are at least 20 years old. They have full-time jobs, or they're studying at college. For many, their parents no longer do their laundry, cook their meals, and ferry them to and from sports games, meetings, and other engagements.

Starting point is 00:03:51 For readers who have not yet experienced this, it's called life. This stuff takes a lot of extra time, which leaves less for TikTok, unquote. Analytics firm Data.ai says TikTok's average monthly users between the ages of 18 and 24 declined in the U.S. by nearly 9% from 2022 to 2023. Be careful what you post on your brand's social media accounts. It could start showing up in places other than social media. For a long time now, social posts have appeared in Google results. But now, social posts may start showing up on Google business profiles.

Starting point is 00:04:31 Not everywhere, though. Google says only for some countries, and only for some profiles, though that's likely to expand. It doesn't appear as if there is a way to disable this, other than to remove social media from your Google business profile entirely. And in some cases, Google might add your brand's social profiles to your business profile automatically. There are no measurement tools for this, so you won't be able to tell how many views or clicks those social posts generate, though apparently this new section can be edited via the API.

Starting point is 00:05:06 Advertising is booming, especially when it's out in the open. According to recent data from Guideline, out-of-home advertising saw a whopping 27% jump in the last quarter of 2023 compared to the year before. And this growth isn't just a small bump. It's part of a larger trend that seeing more national ads, which are growing at a rate of 50%, significantly outpacing local ads growth of 24%. Live events are stealing the show with an eye-popping 181% increase in ad spending, making them the fastest growing out-of-home media format. But cinemas and the category known as street furniture, which I had to look up, and apparently what they mean by that

Starting point is 00:05:49 is bus stops and billboards, those aren't far behind with increases of 57% and 54% respectively. But it's not all rosy. The restaurant sector felt a pinch with a 17% dip in ad spending, including a 20% drop among fast food chains. or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters.

Starting point is 00:06:28 Get customized coverage today, starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. 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. sure you get cash back from Rakuten. And it's not just

Starting point is 00:06:45 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. 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 dot C-A. R-A-K-U-T-E-N dot C-A. Apple TV Plus might soon be shaking things up by adding ads, if we read the tea leaves right. The tech giant has brought on board Joseph Caddy, a seasoned ad executive from NBCUniversal, hinting at a potential shift towards an ad-supported model.

Starting point is 00:07:27 This move would make Apple TV+, the last of the major streaming platforms, to embrace ads, a path already taken by Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max, among others. At NBC, Caddy managed partnerships with tech heavyweights like Amazon, Google, and TikTok, all of which of course positions him well for this new role. Apple has been on a hiring spree, pulling in talent from NBC, DirecTV, Peacock and other media entities. They're also reportedly planning to launch an AI powered ads platform soon designed to optimize ad placements within the app store, this is currently in testing with a handful of brands. Bit of a short show today. Just because there

Starting point is 00:08:12 isn't a lot of news happening today, I assure you that's the reason. It has nothing to do with the fact that the new season of Rainbow Six Siege is out as of right now. Okay, that's it. Gotta go see you tomorrow. Alright, I'm done, boys. Send me an invite.

Today in Digital Marketing - Teens Abandoning TikTok Because of (checks notes) “Life”

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