Today in Digital Marketing - They Said This Day Would Come.

Episode Date: August 18, 2022

A big moment in the history of media as viewing habits make the ultimate crossover... Also: Hope you haven't bought an AI copywriting tool lately... Bet you can't guess who's copying TikTok now? Instagram plays hardball. And much more. THIS WEEK ONLY - 50% OFF PREMIUMGet the Premium Podcast for just $4.99 a month. This sale ends this weekend.Go Premium! No ads, story links in show notes, deep-dive weekend editions, better quality, live event replays, audio chapters, earlier release time, exclusive marketing discounts, and more! Check out https://todayindigital.com/premiumfeedFor information on advertising, our social media, contact info, and everything else, please go to https://todayindigital.com/shownotes➡ Join our Slack at todayindigital.com/slack_____________Need to Upgrade Your Digital Marketing Skills?*Inside Google Ads with Jyll Saskin GalesFoxwell Founders Slack GroupFoxwell Digital CoursesMarketing Tools We Use and Recommend:*Sprout Social: Full-service social media managementAgorapulse: Full-service social media managementAppsumo: Lifetime deals and discounts on marketing toolsRiverside.FM: Studio-quality podcast interview recordingShor.by: Smart link-in-bio service with full analytics* Some links may provide affiliate revenue to usOur Sponsors:* Check out Kinsta: https://kinsta.comPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today, a big moment in the history of media as viewing habits make the ultimate crossover. Also, hope you haven't bought an AI copywriting tool lately. Bet you can't guess who's copying TikTok now. Instagram plays hardball and much more. It is August 18th. I'm Todd Maffin. Here's what you missed today in digital marketing. And if you'll indulge me just 20 seconds, if you missed it first, we are having a sale on our premium podcast. It has no ads. It has expert deep dive weekend episodes. It has a whole bunch of stuff. It's usually 10 bucks a month. It's only $4.99 until the end of this

weekend only. Check the link in the show notes or go to todayindigital.com slash premium. All right, on with the show. Well, it has finally happened. The number of Americans watching TV from streaming services now outnumbers those who watch TV via traditional cable television. Nielsen released new data today showing streaming platforms led by Netflix overtook cable networks last month to claim the largest share of U.S. TV viewing for the first time. Streaming has a 35% share of TV viewing, cable accounted for 34%, and broadcast 21%. Streaming has actually surpassed broadcast viewing in the past, but this is the first time it has also surpassed cable viewing. Overall, streaming usage increased 3% from June to July. Audience watched an average of more than 190 billion minutes of

streamed content. That exceeds the 170 billion minutes they watched during the pandemic lockdown. Moreover, Nielsen reported that the five weeks of July were the highest volume streaming weeks ever recorded. In contrast, cable viewing declined 2% last month and year-over-year viewing dropped nearly 9%. Broadcast TV viewing was down 4% from June to July. Netflix came out on top with an 8% share, boosted by 18 billion minutes of Stranger Things alone. Google has announced a pretty significant search ranking algorithm update. They're calling it the Helpful Content Update, and it will start rolling out early next week. The company says the update will prioritize original and authentic reviews and content,

rather than content that seems to have been created for ranking. What does that mean exactly? Well, they specifically called out web content written by AI. The AI content space really started a year or two ago. There are now zillions of SaaS tools offering better SEO, higher conversion rates, smarter children, and cheaper gas prices. But most people who've tried these tools say they're pretty good for generating ideas, but not great at generating copy that is any better than a human.

In fact, in most cases, it's worse. That said, Google still has its sights set on it. Quoting the company, we know people don't find content helpful if it seems like it was designed to attract clicks rather than inform readers. So starting next week for English users globally, we're rolling out a series of improvements to search to make it easier for people to find helpful content made specifically by and for people. This ranking update will help make sure that unoriginal, low-quality content doesn't rank highly in search. And our testing has found it will especially improve results related to online education, as well as arts and entertainment, shopping, and tech-related content, unquote. And if that's not enough, the tech giant also plans to roll out a second update in the coming weeks to make it even easier to find high-quality, original reviews.

So, let me see, who is trying to be TikTok today? Is it Meta? No, not today. Pinterest? Also no. Did you guess Amazon? Yes, in a plot twist, Amazon is testing a feature in its app that would show consumers products in a full screen TikTok style photo and video feed. These reports from the Wall Street Journal. In fact, the feed is even called For You. Sources say the test is currently visible to only a small number of Amazon employees. Quoting the Wall Street Journal, the portal being tested under the internal name Inspire

appears as a diamond widget on the homepage of Amazon's app. The widget brings shoppers to a feed that shows a stream of images and videos of products, with shoppers being able to like, share, and ultimately purchase items. While most of the feed now appears as still pictures, watchful researchers said the portal also features video content, unquote. I mean, let's think this through, though. If this is true, that would be one hell of an ad placement. While everyone's trying to be like TikTok, the current golden child of social media

is thoroughly enjoying the ride. TikTok confirmed that it is launching a feature that lets users share their TikTok stories to Facebook and Instagram. Previously, users could share stories directly with their TikTok friends when they clicked the three-dot menu. Now the option will include a row of social media apps

and the option to copy a link to the video, very similar to how you share TikTok videos today. Quoting TechCrunch, the move could give TikTok's content increased visibility on Meta's platform, as the tech giant has been working to downrank recirculated TikTok videos in Reels. Specifically, Meta advised its creators

that it would prioritize original content on Reels across Facebook and Instagram, noting its algorithms would be on the lookout for watermarks, like the one TikTok includes on its videos, unquote. Reposting TikTok stories, though, could be a new way for brands to share content without competing with Reels. TikTok is not confirmed when the feature will be rolled out globally. Speaking of watermarks, YouTube announced today that it will now automatically add its own watermarks to any of your short content. That's its version of TikTok videos. To be fair, this watermark is something that TikTok has done since forever. YouTube says it will be rolling out over the next few weeks on desktop with plans to expand to mobile in the future. So that's YouTube. What's happening today in Instagram's Department of TikTok Annihilation? Well, The Verge is reporting

that Instagram is playing hardball, quoting their piece. While using Reels this week, The Verge discovered that when trying to download an edited clip to an iPhone, the audio from the clip disappeared. This means if you want to export the footage from Reels to use in another app, you have to actually post the Reel first in order to save the sound. As recently as late July, it was possible to download the clip with audio and use it in a separate app, like, say, TikTok, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. On the heels of Nielsen's big streaming news today,

Google has announced some new connected TV ad buying features. First, Google is adding audience guarantees, backed by Nielsen's digital ad ratings. These ratings are often used to understand how many unique viewers buyers have reached within their core audiences and prove campaign impact across digital media platforms. When advertisers are setting up their guaranteed deal, they can now choose a specific age and demographic and pay only for the impressions that reach their target audience, as measured by Nielsen's DAR. Google is also expanding programmatic guaranteed features to more exchanges, including Google Ad Manager, Zander, and Magnite. Now advertisers can use Google Affinity in-market and demo segments while buying programmatic guaranteed deals across a variety of participating publishers. The tech giant noted that for these exchanges, it's improvising how ad frequency

management works. Finally, it is consolidating the connected TV workflow, implementing a more simplified workflow that will help you plan, manage and measure performance across your YouTube and connected TV inventory. YouTube ads can now also be purchased within display and video 360s insertion order dedicated to connected tv ad buying a tiny bit more news in the marketing around connected tv comscore and yahoo have announced a partnership to bring brand protection to streaming ad campaigns comscore's activation service a set of pre-bid inventory filters to help with brand-safe campaigns, will be available to Yahoo! demand-side platform advertisers. The partnership will let advertisers choose specific brand protection preferences based on suitability tiers.

According to Comscore, advertisers can combine segments with numerous descriptive filters to protect campaigns based on their unique brand needs without sacrificing reach. If you could turn back time, would you still pursue a career in marketing? A new survey has found that three out of five young adults would consider marketing as a potential career. And what is luring the youth of the nation to our industry? They say they expect our industry can give them money, career progression, creativity, and transferable skills. Financial security is also a factor with more than a third indicating

that they view marketing as a safer profession for financial stability than other choices. But parents are not sold. Nearly a third of parents said they wouldn't want their child working in marketing. And why? According to the survey, parents think it's too stressful. There's a reputation for poor mental well-being in the industry.

And they've heard the work-life balance sucks. While some parents may fear the mental health implications of a career in marketing, the one in five parents who are open to their children joining the industry said it is because it appears to be future-proof and resilient. Yay? So yes, until the end of this weekend, only our premium podcast, the version that has no ads. It has weekend episodes, better audio quality. There are story links, there are audio chapters.

It is just an upgraded listening experience on sale for $4.99 a month. You keep that price forever. And it is ending at the end of this weekend. So tap the link in the show notes or go to todayindigital.com slash premium. I am in a video game rut. I've given up on Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

I can't play Overwatch anymore because it's broken and I get mad. And then my wife gets mad at me for yelling at my team. Who can blame her? So I'm stuck. I'm maybe replacing some older Assassin's Creed's, but I'm actually like considering going out into... What do they call that again? Oh, outside. Yes.

Maybe doing some more walking. Maybe using my bike for a change. I've got a really nice e-bike. It was not cheap. My wife has a hand cycle and it's an e-bike as well. And, you know, we really could go do that.

So maybe this is a blessing in disguise as they say. See you tomorrow. Kick me out in pink or purple Kick to the escalate Deck out in pink or purple say, see you tomorrow.