Today in Digital Marketing - The Skeletons in Elon Musk’s Closet

Episode Date: April 11, 2022

What do consumers really think when it comes to sharing their data? Sites have been ordered to stop using Google Analytics or to pay up... Thousands of ecommerce sellers are boycotting a major marketplace... Elon Musk's plans to take over Twitter... And YouTube tests a content moderation tool to combat comment spam... 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

Today, what do consumers really think when it comes to sharing their data? Websites have been ordered to stop using Google Analytics or pay up. Thousands of e-commerce sellers are boycotting a major marketplace. Elon Musk's plans to take over Twitter and YouTube tests a content moderation tool to combat comment spam. And on the Premium Podcast, with no ads, more stories and deep dive weekend episodes, tap the link in the show notes for more. Over a half million marketers left their jobs last year. What your brand or agency needs to do to hire and retain talent. It's Monday, April 11th. I'm Todd Mathen. Here's what you missed today in Digital Marketing.

With data breaches and cyber attacks, there have been many questions concerning how personal data is used and how it affects consumer anxiety. But new research indicates that consumer attitudes are changing in a positive way. A recent study found that more than half of consumers agree that the exchange of personal information is essential for the smooth running of modern society in 2022, rising significantly since 2018. Consumers are also becoming more comfortable with sharing data, especially if there are clear benefits. More than 80% are prepared to engage with the data economy this year, according to the report. Consumers' willingness to share that personal information with your company is largely determined by their trust in your brand. Almost 40% of consumers rank trust in an organization as one of the top three reasons they are comfortable sharing personal information.

The data has been provided by the Global Data and Marketing Alliance. France's data privacy regulator, the CNIL, has ordered three French websites to stop using Google Analytics. The CNIL deemed the sites to be in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation, the GDPR. The websites have 30 days to comply or risk fines of up to 20 million euros or 4% of their annual revenue. The warning was issued after the data watchdog received a number of complaints from the European Center for Digital Rights concerning data transfers between the U.S. and European Union in 2020. That organization notes that there are many alternatives that are hosted in Europe or can be self-hosted, but many sites still rely on the American-based Google Analytics.

As data protection authorities make U.S. services, I don't know, illegal, it puts pressure on EU companies and U.S. providers to move towards safer and legal solutions. As privacy laws tighten and a transatlantic data transfer framework is still being negotiated, it is likely more services will be found to be ignoring the GDPR. Thousands of e-commerce sellers are boycotting etsy's marketplace today in protest of a 30 seller transaction hike etsy of course being the largely craft-based e-commerce platform online retailers have switched their accounts to vacation mode in response to the fee increase sellers are also criticizing the company across social media and urging buyers to avoid the marketplace entirely this week, according to EtsyStrike.org.

Currently, more than 50,000 consumers have signed a petition calling for an end to the increase, as well as a number of other reforms from the e-commerce company, including cracking down on resellers with transparent policies so sellers can hold Etsy accountable, giving golden support tickets to sellers affected by extreme AI actions, ending the star seller program, and providing all sellers with the ability to opt out of off-site ads.

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, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. So who's joining Twitter's board this week? Well, not Elon Musk, as it turns out. Yesterday, the platform's CEO announced that Twitter's biggest shareholder will not, after all,

be accepting a seat on its board. According to the tweet, he was supposed to reign as a board director on April 9th, but then at the last minute declined the offer. Neither he nor Twitter's CEO has stated why. But an interesting blog post over at thenextweb.com has some good speculations. First, and this is the one that most people are pointing to, Musk would only be able to hold up to 14.9% of the company while on the board. But as a passive stakeholder, he is free to not only acquire a larger share, but also to advance to a total takeover. The announcement also stated he would have to, quote, act in the best interest of the company and all of its stakeholders, unquote. This means that maybe his controversial tweets might be limited.

And we all know how much he values free speech. And finally, the CEO of Twitter included comment on a background check being needed in his announcement, which I don't think is an accident. And maybe we're supposed to assume that Mr. Musk failed the basic background check. Snap Inc. has conducted a study as it continues its push for multi-touch attribution rather than last touch or last click attribution. With last click attribution, the most recent exposure before conversion is considered the reason why consumers have made the purchase. More than a third of marketers believe that these systems will become increasingly relevant in a cookie-less world. But Snap says, quote, relying on last click attribution as a primary lever for digital media optimization can severely harm brands in the long term,

causing them to lose out on major opportunities to grow their brand, unquote. According to the platform, three out of four Snapchatters say they are unlikely to take action after seeing an interesting ad on their phone that would result in a last-click attribution event. The company explains multi-touch attribution as a modeled approach that assigns advertisers conversion credit across a wide range of marketing touchpoints, factoring in both a person's natural tendency to take action as well as the impact of their marketing interactions. The study found that on average, 3.7 times fewer conversions and 3.2 times less revenue

were attributed to Snapchat when using a last-touch attribution approach. Snapchat says it's more likely to be a consumer's first exposure to the brand among converters when compared with search, online, video, or social. The average conversion rate for the app is apparently 10% faster than display and 7% faster than social. We have to remember, of course, these are Snapchat's own numbers. And they say almost 45% of conversions involving Snapchat happen within one week of exposure, second only to paid search. Has your brand's YouTube content been subject to spam?

Recently, multiple creators on the platform have expressed frustration with an increase in comment spam on their channels. Although YouTube has several tools to combat spammy comments, those systems have clearly not been enough. Now, the company says it is testing a new content moderation option called Increase Strictness, which aims to make a dent in the uptick of comment spam on the platform. Busy day at the agency, so I will skip the usual blah blah here.

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