Today in Digital Marketing - The Return of the Reverse-Chronological Home Feed

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Starting point is 00:00:18 starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. Today, Facebook is going to get you more reach. at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. 2021. Happy Day of Cultures, Costa Rica. I'm Todd Maffin from EngageQ Digital. And here's what you missed today in Digital Marketing, Episode 481. Well, we're back after the Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada. And we start with an episode of Nobody Asked For This. Nobody asked for this. Yes, Facebook yesterday announcing a huge change to how it counts people that will almost certainly increase your ad campaign's reach number, but not the way you want it to. Starting today, users that have not manually linked their Facebook and Instagram accounts in the platform's accounts center will be considered separate people in ads reporting. Worse, Facebook will consider those accounts as separate people even when they know they're not because of other identifiers, like having the same email address. I'm not guessing here. Facebook went out of its way to say this.

Starting point is 00:01:36 Quote, previously we counted someone with multiple accounts as one person for ads purposes if someone used the same email address across their Facebook and Instagram accounts or accessed both devices from the same platform, we counted them as one person when they interacted with ads, unquote. Well, not anymore. Even though this starts today, the company says it'll be rolling this out over the next few weeks, so digital marketers won't be clear whether those suddenly inflated reach numbers

Starting point is 00:02:04 are because of, well, higher reach or Facebook's monkeying with the metric. So, why is this happening? Does Facebook think this will force users to start linking their accounts? No. Users don't care how many times they show up as a number in an ad report. Is this going to make Facebook look better? Like their ad campaigns are reaching more people? Well, I'll let you decide on that.

Starting point is 00:02:28 He also said to expect increases in pre-campaign estimates, like estimated audience size. Some analysis from social media today, quote, will that open Facebook up for future legal challenges? I mean, it'll be difficult for Facebook to argue that it's not aware that it may be inflating reach estimates, based on this explanation, which outlines how it's previously used more accurate measures to ensure that its counts are a better reflection of actual reach. For its part, Facebook says that this change is about respecting user choices around how their information is used for ads, with people having the option to decide how their personal data is reflected in these elements.

Starting point is 00:03:04 But that seems like a questionable justification for this change, unquote. Remind me again, why are we still spending our ad budgets there? Okay, some actually good news about the Facebook platform. The company has added Reels ads placements on Instagram through its API. That means you'll be able to use your favorite third-party ad campaign tool to put those ads into the auction. Well, not necessarily.

Starting point is 00:03:33 Your third-party platform of choice will still need to grab those new hooks and program a user interface on their end for you to use. That can take a week or two or more if they didn't get a headstart, and some platforms might choose to simply not support that part of the API. Instagram CEOs said recently that Reels is now the fastest growing part of the app. Twitter today announced a number of updates to its ads offering.

Starting point is 00:03:59 Now you can add custom headlines and different landing pages to each card of your carousel ads. Quoting Twitter, With multi-destination carousels, advertisers can now customize headlines and landing pages to help drive the right actions for their audiences. Advertisers will have greater flexibility to diversify their message with unique headlines and URLs per carousel card. With just a swipe, people can engage with multiple images or videos and click through to land on different destinations, unquote. The obvious use here

Starting point is 00:04:29 is different product pages, so definitely a nice upgrade. Also, more improvements for website clicks ad campaigns, including site visit optimization and improvements to its measurement and experimentation tools. They're also working on a better app install placement, which, among other improvements, may soon offer a full-screen overlay format that will entice people to install the app right there. Also in media buying news, DoorDash today launched some new ad placements to help restaurants and consumer packaged goods brands reach consumers. First, sponsored listings. This is a self-serve ad product that appears at the top of relevant search results and an interesting payment model.

Starting point is 00:05:12 You don't pay for impressions and you don't even pay for clicks. You only pay when people order food through that ad. But is that a flat fee or a percentage of the order? Their announcement was pretty elusive on that front, and our email to their media relations team was opened, but not answered at deadline. Also, it's only available in the U.S. There are also banner placements that the company says

Starting point is 00:05:34 will get millions of views, and CBG brands can boost placement in relevant categories within the convenience and grocery categories of featured listings. DoorDash says it has 20 million monthly users, quoting Marketing Dive. By bolstering its ads offering, DoorDash seeks to engage a range of advertisers on its platform as the company explores other revenue sources. While revenue grew 83% to $1.24 billion

Starting point is 00:05:57 last quarter, the growth has slowed compared to earlier quarters during the pandemic. DoorDash's move comes more than a year after rival Uber Eats launched cost-per-click sponsored listings on its app. Competitors in the grocery and convenience areas of its business, like Walmart and CVS, have also beefed up ad capabilities that tap into their large pools of consumer data. Here at our agency, we once had a client that was the government gaming regulator for the province, essentially the body which sets rules around gambling,

Starting point is 00:06:30 from casinos to scratch and wins in the grocery store, and runs an annual campaign about the dangers of gambling addiction. They'd asked me to do something, and in reply, I emailed back saying, no problem, you bet. Two days later, the executive director called me and very politely suggested, maybe I should consider stop using the phrase, you bet. Two days later, the executive director called me and very politely suggested, maybe I should consider stop using the phrase, you bet. Or at the very least, don't use that phrase around people who work in gambling addiction. I felt dumb because it didn't even occur to me what those two words actually mean. And I should because I'm sort of in the

Starting point is 00:07:01 club. I'm a recovering alcoholic. And while I have more than a decade sober now, my addiction almost killed me. I spent months in residential treatment trying to stay alive. Language changes all the time. And it's sometimes hard for marketers to make sure they're on top of how society has adopted new, more inclusive ways of referring to people. A new guide from LinkedIn offers to help if you struggle too. It's a short, inclusive language pocket guide that it says is about making your brand feeling welcoming and accessible to all. Some of the phrasers that it's put on the recommended blacklist, excuse me, block list, include gendered language like you

Starting point is 00:07:36 guys, stigma-based terms like that's insane or turn a blind eye, and even culturally specific words like hit a home run. We've made a shortcut for you to download the PDF directly. It's at b.link slash LinkedIn guide. LinkedIn also has a new LinkedIn learning course called Inclusive Language for Marketers. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack,

Starting point is 00:08:06 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. I don't know of a single digital agency out there that is not having trouble finding people,

Starting point is 00:08:31 either trustworthy contractors for project work or staff people to work in-house. If you're feeling that pain, there's a great piece up on Search Engine Journal today, 15 interview questions to ask your next digital marketer candidates. Here are a few examples. Quote, what types of budgets have you managed?

Starting point is 00:08:48 This interview question helps you understand the individual's bandwidth and what they're comfortable with. The right digital marketer should know how to manage budgets at any level. Sometimes clients with lower budget levels often require more complex strategic work. This is due to their limited budget and what will get them the most for their budget. What platforms are your favorite to work in and why? Asking this question helps understand the individual strength in certain channels and where they could use room to grow. A great digital marketer should be able to comfortably work across platforms and different tools. This is true whether you're talking about hiring someone for PPC or SEO or even a cross channel marketer, unquote. There are more common ones as well.

Starting point is 00:09:26 How do you prioritize projects or tasks? How do you stay up to date with industry changes? Obviously, this podcast. And how do you explain complex answers to a client or someone in a C-suite role? I thought the most clever was, do you feel KPIs should be the same across all channels, and why? Good thing I'm not looking for a job, because I guarantee this is one that would stop me in my tracks. What is the right answer?

Starting point is 00:09:53 The article's author, Brooke Osmunson, who is Senior Director of Digital Strategy at Nordic Click Interactive, offers this, quote, The short answer to this is no. As seasoned digital marketers, we know that no platform or tactic has the same intent, audience, or message, so why should their KPIs be the same? For example, in a PPC strategy, someone who's running top-of-funnel display ads to a new audience will not perform the same as someone who's searching Google for a product or service. Why? The intentions of those two tactics are completely different. In the first example, you're categorizing someone by the audience and interrupting their browsing with an ad.

Starting point is 00:10:28 In the latter example, a user is going out of their way to search. They are expecting you to meet them with a solution to their problem. So which one would have a higher ROAS or lower CPA? The search ads, of course. Unquote. The full article, definitely worth a read. Again, it is on searchenginejournal.com. Back to Facebook for two updates, which I promise will be snark-free, or at least snark-light. First, Facebook is launching a new series of e-commerce-focused events.

Starting point is 00:10:59 There'll be daily live shopping events on both Facebook and Instagram. Instagram will also feature trending products on the shop tab. And talk about burying the lead, they also announced that they will be launching a new discounts program for people who buy products through its apps. Quote, this season we're bringing exclusive gifts to shops that

Starting point is 00:11:18 will be available when people check out on Facebook or Instagram. You may find gifts from Facebook and Instagram like 20% off your first purchase and free shipping when you complete an eligible purchase directly on our apps. And when you make an eligible purchase directly on Facebook or Instagram, you can also refer up to 10 friends to take advantage of an exclusive deal, unquote. As with everything Facebook, they are heavy on the PR, light on the details. What we don't know, which brands would participate in this, what kind of purchases will qualify,

Starting point is 00:11:48 whether Facebook is implementing these at random, whether Facebook expects the merchant to front the discount, or if Facebook will pay the difference. They also announced some new features for Marketplace, including a safer way to arrange meetups and share those details with friends. And they'll be doing another Buy Black Friday event series starting November 5th to encourage people to support black-owned small businesses. Integrate it with other tools and make it cheaper.

Starting point is 00:12:15 Those are the top things marketers say they want from the tools that they use in their day-to-day work, according to a study from Sharpspring and Ascend2. 27% of marketers say integration with other technologies is one of the top areas where improvement is needed with marketing tools, and 26% say data integration and pricing are top. Apparently, we're kind of lukewarm, though, on how effective the tools that we rely on are. Survey participants were asked to score four things. First, using data between the sales and marketing teams to manage and convert leads.

Starting point is 00:12:48 Second, tracking customer data across the entire lifecycle. Third, delivering a single centralized view of the consumer. And four, working with customer data seamlessly across all tools. Overall, they gave their tools only an average of 6 out of 10 for each of those. The most popular marketing technologies are email tools at 78% of survey respondents saying they use them, and social media tools at 60%. The survey asked 187 marketing professionals these questions back in July. One of the most common complaints about social media platforms is their content algorithm. In particular, the removal of a simple reverse chronological feed.

Starting point is 00:13:33 Facebook never really had one. Instagram did until Facebook bought it. Twitter did too until 2016 when they too got drunk on the algorithmic gin. Think about Twitter users though. They're loud. And two years after that, Twitter relented. Sort of. Adding a new icon to let people switch between the algorithmic sort

Starting point is 00:13:53 and a chronological sort. It wasn't perfect. Even if you changed to the cron sort, after a week or two it quietly changed back to the algorithmic version. But that icon and functionality still exist today. Now, Twitter has changed its mind. But wait, it's for the better. Rather than eliminate that icon, it's actually going to make the function more prominent. They're testing putting the word latest at the top of its app, where list headings are now to make it easier to switch between the

Starting point is 00:14:22 two timelines. In the beta scene so far, it doesn't remove the list headings, it just pushes them over a bit. The test is on iOS devices right now. They grow up so fast. And finally, heads up, premium newsletter members, in a couple of weeks we are doing a special live hour-long session on using Google Ads to lift your black friday sales more details on that coming soon it is not too late to join the premium newsletter just tap the link in the episode notes for a special 14-day risk-free trial not really much more to say here so i'll talk to you tomorrow yeah i'm painting pictures

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Today in Digital Marketing - The Return of the Reverse-Chronological Home Feed

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