Today in Digital Marketing - The Meta Glitch That's Creating Random, Bizarre Ads

Starting point is 00:00:00 Today, wrong images, random body copies. What is happening with Meta's ad platform today? Also, Instagram pivots away from e-commerce. WhatsApp will offer groceries via chat. How ad agencies are trying to lure workers back into the office. Another platform renames its main feed after TikTok. And what to do when your Twitter account has the same username as Britain's new prime minister. It's Wednesday, September 7th. I'm Todd Mathen. Here's what you missed today in digital marketing.

Starting point is 00:00:31 Something strange is happening on Facebook today. Like, really, really strange. Media buyer Barry Haught this morning tweeted a screenshot of an ad he found in his feed. The ad is a photo of a jar with water being poured in. High production values. Looks like something you'd see on Instagram. The headline reads, a better cold brew coffee maker. And there's a call to action button that reads, shop now. All good, right? Except for a couple of things. First, even though the image and headline are about a coffee maker, the body copy is this. Shop the perfect jean today. This was concerning for Barry because the company called the perfect jean is a client of his.

Starting point is 00:01:12 Yeah, really weird that my client's brand name is in the ad but is not the video and is not the link. Do you have any idea what's happening here? I think what's happening is there's some sort of deal that Meta is offering for people using Shop Advantage Plus or something where they are also somehow promoting it from Facebook. I've seen in the past where Facebook has ads supporting Shop Now functionality in Facebook. But I haven't seen anything like this before. And these ads also seem to be driving out of Facebook. These are not ads to try to get people to buy within Facebook. So maybe they're A-B testing something that I don't know about. But it does seem to me like a huge error here. It's very weird.

Starting point is 00:02:10 And it gets even weirder because the advertiser on the ad is actually Facebook itself. Yes, the ad shows up in the news feed as Facebook's account, not a page with a similar name, the actual blue checkmarked Facebook page with this seemingly random hybrid Frankenstein ad. This isn't one of those previews that shows up only in the feeds of account admins. This is a real ad running to the public. There are even comments on it. Comments like, are these jeans? I'm so confused. And when you pop over to the ad library, we see that this isn't the only weird ad Facebook is running. There's an ad promoting a skin cream, one for a wallet, one for baby clothes, all with the same terrible low-effort body copy template, shop, brand name, today. There are hundreds of these ads, all apparently real and all running to the public. Unfortunately,

Starting point is 00:02:59 the ad library doesn't show us the budget being spent, so this could be pennies or it could be millions. We'll probably never know. There was some speculation in Andrew Foxwell's group this morning that this might be related to or perhaps restricted to marketers who are part of the shop's beta. As Barry mentioned, others think this might be connected to Meta's Advantage Plus programs. At least one media buyer said it's been happening with his clients for a week now. But regardless, again, these are real ads in the wild, collecting comments from very confused consumers. We reached out to Meta this morning for comment. A spokesperson told us, quote, we are reviewing the ads and will work to resolve any errors as quickly as possible,

Starting point is 00:03:36 unquote. We have pushed for more information about what caused this glitch and how widespread it was. We will update this story if we hear back. So while Meta deals with this apparent bug on its ads platform today, it is also pulling back from one major long-term project. The company announced it is closing up shop on several e-commerce features on Instagram. The new site, The Information, reports that staff received internal memos yesterday explaining Instagram will retreat from shopping features because it's going to focus on short-form video and ad revenue. According to the memo, and I don't think anyone saw this coming, Instagram will remove its existing shopping tab in the Instagram app. That said, the platform isn't pulling the plug on social commerce entirely. Soon, the company will be testing a simpler and less personalized version of the shopping page

Starting point is 00:04:30 that they are calling Tab Light. Meanwhile, Instagram also plans to eliminate the button that directs users to the existing shopping tab by next March. The memo noted that the changes reflect, quote, a new North Star and goals for the commerce organization that are more directly tied to advertising revenue for Meta, unquote. It's a major shift for the company, which had prioritized turning Facebook and Instagram into social commerce engines over the last two years. Social media today suggests that the change of heart is because consumers don't seem to care about social commerce as much on Western platforms. Quoting the website,

Starting point is 00:05:07 Unlike Chinese consumers who have embraced these new forms of connection, Western audiences just haven't been as enamored by such, which is bad news for Instagram, which had hoped to use in-stream commerce as a key lever for redirecting funds to creators in the app. At this stage, it doesn't seem like social shopping is going to become the major trend that some had foreseen, with Pinterest, Facebook, TikTok, and now Instagram, all seeing big declines in shopping interest and activity within their apps, unquote.

Starting point is 00:05:41 Well, despite scaling back its e-commerce features on Instagram, Meta is rolling out new e-commerce features within WhatsApp in other countries. As part of a new partnership with Jio Platforms in India, WhatsApp recently announced it has launched a new end-to-end shopping experience with e-commerce company JioMart. Customers will browse JioMart's grocery catalog from within a WhatsApp chat session. They can add items to their cart and then complete their purchase all without leaving the chat. Consumers in India can start shopping simply by sending HI to the Geomart number.

Starting point is 00:06:19 Where are digital ads thriving? Kantar released its latest media reactions report today, ranking channel perceptions among both consumers and marketers. Here are the consumer preferences. Amazon ranked highest as consumers consider ads on the e-commerce giants platform to be more relevant and engaging than those on other platforms. Though Amazon claimed TikTok's throne in the annual report, the video sharing app remains more fun and innovative than its competitors and came in second place. Spotify actually jumped four spots to land in third place, Google in fourth, and Snapchat took fifth among consumer preferences. The study found consumer

Starting point is 00:06:56 perceptions contrast with marketers who ranked Instagram as their preferred media brand for the second straight year, followed by Google, YouTube, TikTok, and then Spotify. According to the report, four out of five marketers plan to increase their spending on TikTok in the months to come, despite it not being in the top three preferred marketing choices. Budget allocations for online video, video streaming, and social media stories are all set to increase in the next few months, and three out of five marketers plan to ramp up activity in the metaverse. Meanwhile, for the third consecutive year, consumers say they prefer real-world offline advertising to digital advertising. Do you have business insurance?

Starting point is 00:07:43 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. In the latest attempt to axe work from home, many ad agencies are pushing to get people back into the office this week after the Labor Day long weekend. Like the marketing company Omnicom,

Starting point is 00:08:16 which sources told Business Insider that workers had to return to the office at least three days a week after Labor Day. This isn't the first time it's tried it. Earlier this year, it asked staff to return three days a week and sign into a special platform once they were at their desks. According to one recently departed executive, most people did not return to the workplace. Quoting the former exec, the requirement was made, but there was no incentive or investment to come in,

Starting point is 00:08:40 except once a month they'd throw a pizza party, which became a joke. I don't know how they plan to get people in, considering the low numbers going in now, but Labor Day was the big day on the calendar, unquote. Another ad agency tried luring employees with free lunches and even handed out $250 Amazon gift cards to people who were physically at the office. That didn't seem to help either. One agency that has had success offers breakfast, happy hours, lunch and learns, as well as encourages managers to take their employees out for lunch or coffee or something.

Starting point is 00:09:13 And the agency provided its own research to employees showing promotions have taken 20% longer for remote employees versus when employees worked in offices. With growing demand for inclusive shopping experiences, retail brands are entering an era that is changing how the industry thinks about gender, sizing, and fit. As more consumers demand gender-neutral clothing, Retail Dive has a great piece up today about what this could mean for your brand. Three out of five Gen Zeds think brands could be doing more to prove that style should not have a gender, according to a recent report. The survey also found that nearly half of the TikTok demographic wants brands to market gender-neutral clothing more explicitly. But the growth opportunity isn't just with younger consumers.

Starting point is 00:10:02 Rob Smith, CEO of the gender-free fashion company Fluid, says its brand's average customer is 30 years old. Launching a gender-neutral collection, however, is easier said than done. Quoting Smith, We're seeing the big players enter this space and some of them are doing a good job of it, some of them are doing a horrible job at it,

Starting point is 00:10:20 because they're doing it the old-fashioned way, which is an oversized sweatshirt, sweatpants, sweatshorts. It's about self-expression. It can mean deconstructing the way we see gender and fashion, unquote. So far, gender-neutral collections have been primarily spearheaded by small brands and luxury retailers, but more accessible brands have jumped on board, like Paxson, The Gap, and Target. Retail Dive points out that marketing gender-neutral clothing in a non-performative manner requires effort on multiple fronts, and some brands may wonder if they're ready to enter that space. A couple of updates to stories we reported on in the last few days, so let's head to the lightning round.

Starting point is 00:11:04 Twitter's forthcoming edit button is coming along. When the testing was first rolled out, a spokesperson told us they hadn't decided on how many times you could edit a tweet within the permitted 30-minute window. Now it appears they have settled on that number, at least for now, and that number is five, five times. Twitter says they're still watching user behavior

Starting point is 00:11:22 and that number could change. Still with Twitter for a moment, a small nod to the growing cultural takeover that is TikTok. Twitter says it will change the name of its home feed to For You, which is, of course, what TikTok calls its main feed. Updating yesterday's story about Amazon delaying reviews of its new Lord of the Rings shows by 72 hours. Business Insider Today reporting it's actually been a week since the premiere and oddly still not a single review. Finally, expect a startup slowdown. A new Crunchbase analysis finds that global venture funding has dropped to the lowest monthly funding amount recorded in the two years since August 2020. Quoting Crunchbase, fewer startups are raising funding at every stage. And with that comes a slowdown in hiring, more layoffs, and companies shutting down.

Starting point is 00:12:12 And finally, here's your reminder to double check usernames when you're tagging on social media. The Twitter user Liz Trussell, whose account is at Liz Truss, is, as you might imagine, being mistaken for the new British prime minister, whose name is Liz Truss. And Liz Trussell appears to be loving it. Those confusing prime minister Truss up with Liz Trussell include the Swedish prime minister, who tweeted her congratulations, to which Trussell responded, looking forward to a visit soon. Get the meatballs ready. If you have news you think our listeners should know about, something your company has launched or whatever, please let us know on our news page today in digital.com slash tips, or look for pitch us a story in the show notes. A big hello to those of you who are joining us who are new around here. We're running some ad campaigns on other podcasts, so welcome.

Starting point is 00:13:11 We do this show every day. It's short, just like this. Every once in a while, you'll even get some low-effort dad jokes. The marketing world changes 24-7. We will keep you up to speed in just eight minutes a day. Talk to you tomorrow. 24-7, baby, keep you up to speed in just eight minutes a day. Talk to you tomorrow.

Today in Digital Marketing - The Meta Glitch That's Creating Random, Bizarre Ads

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