Today in Digital Marketing - What Brands Should Say After the Death of a Monarch
Episode Date: September 9, 2022Meta stays silent on why they're running confusing ads for brands without their permission. Also: What does your brand say when a monarch dies? Some industry analysis on TikTok's latest ad pla...cements. One company opens up their ad shop in the metaverse. And Instagram is thinking about copying the retweet button.✅ VOTE HERE: Should we do more "Lightning Rounds"? YES or NO ✨ GO PREMIUM! ✨ ✓ Ad-free episodes ✓ Story links in show notes ✓ Deep-dive weekend editions ✓ Better audio quality ✓ Live event replays ✓ Audio chapters ✓ Earlier release time ✓ Exclusive marketing discounts ✓ and more! Check it out: todayindigital.com/premiumfeed ✉️ Contact Us: Email or Send Voicemail⚾ Pitch Us a Story: Fill in this form📰 Get the Newsletter: Get It (daily or weekly)📈 Reach Marketers: Book Ad • Classifieds🤝 Join our Slack: todayindigital.com/slack🙂 Share: Tweet About Us • Rate and Review 🎤 Follow: LinkedIn • TikTok • FB Page/Group👨🏻💼 Follow Tod: Twitter • LinkedIn • TikTok ------------------------------------🎒UPGRADE YOUR SKILLS• Inside Google Ads with Jyll Saskin Gales• Foxwell Slack Group and Courses 👍 TOOLS WE RECOMMEND• Social media mgmt: Sprout Social and Agorapulse• Marketing tools: Appsumo• Podcast recording: Riverside.FM💡 MARKETING SPOTLIGHTSARAL helps DTC ecommerce brands manage influencer campaigns.1. Find creators on Tiktok, Youtube, and Instagram2. Reach out to them to build relationships3. Monetize your relationships They have a no-card-upfront 7-day free trial to test the product out.Try Saral Now for Free ------------------------------------ Today in Digital Marketing is hosted by Tod Maffin and produced by engageQ digital on the traditional territories of the Snuneymuxw First Nation on Vancouver Island, Canada. Associate Producer: Steph Gunn. Ad Coordination: RedCircle. Production Coordinator: Sarah Guild. Theme Composer: Mark Blevis. Music rights: Source AudioSome links in these show notes may provide affiliate revenue to us.Our Sponsors:* Check out Kinsta: https://kinsta.comPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Today, Meta stays silent on why they're running confusing ads for brands without their permission.
Also, what does your brand say when a monarch dies?
Some industry analysis on TikTok's latest ad placements.
One company opens up their ad shop in the metaverse.
And Instagram is thinking about copying the retweet button.
It's Friday, September 9th. I'm Todd Maffin. Here's what you missed
today in digital marketing. We start with an update on this story we've been following all
week. Meta, as you may remember, has been running real ads under the Facebook page of other brands.
What seems to be happening is they're picking brands which have advertised in the past,
then, without the brand's knowledge or permission, running ads for them with creative that the brands didn't approve, body copy they didn't write, and metrics they don't have access to.
It's not clear why Meta's doing this, or why they didn't communicate this to brands before,
or more importantly, why they didn't ask brands if it was okay to do this.
There's been no formal announcement, only a help page on their site.
We're not even sure if this help page is related to all this. There's been no formal announcement, only a help page on their site. We're not even
sure if this help page is related to all this. When we contacted Meta's media relations, they
told us they thought it was a bug. So, absent of any official word, we turned to two places,
Meta's account managers and Twitter. On the former, unofficial word is that some changes to this
apparent program may be happening. First, they might be changing the
ads to show as coming from the brand's page rather than from Facebook's page, which was
terribly confusing for consumers. Second, they might be seeking approval to run these ads now
on a case-by-case basis. Third, they might be adding in basic UTMs to their ads, so you'll be
able to see performance in external tracking. You'll notice
I said might a lot because, as I mentioned, Meta remains completely silent on this. We get these
tidbits through a source that I trust who spoke off the record to their account manager.
Second source, Twitter. There are some Meta engineers on Twitter, and the tweets I saw
yesterday from those people were, well, less than helpful. One Meta person who didn't
seem to understand the concerns about brand perception or creative control said,
it's great for clients, free demand generation. I replied telling him about the advertiser we
interviewed yesterday who told us this move by Meta, which they didn't want, actually caused
them to breach a contract with an influencer. That meta-engineer responded by blocking me.
We again asked today for a spokesperson to provide details about what they're doing
or even some speaking points about this apparent program.
We did not hear back by deadline.
By now you've probably seen some stark marketing examples of how not to respond to the death of a monarch.
In this time of international mourning, many brands, influencers and celebrities are tempted to make a statement, whether royalists or not.
But is it necessary?
According to Tanya Joseph, a Marketing Week columnist, it's not.
Quoting a piece from her, in my opinion, a period of dignified silence is required when it
comes to public communication. Do we really need to see a social post from a pet grooming service
or manufacturers of toothpicks expressing sorrow at the loss of her majesty? I think for holders
of the royal warrant with her household or organizations of which she was a patron,
it is slightly different. There is a relationship which can be acknowledged, unquote.
A royal warrant, by the way, is an indication that the organization provides services to the royal family.
While the death of Her Majesty may not resonate as strongly outside the Commonwealth,
for British brands, of course, there's a lot to think about.
The British trade body for brand owners recommends that agencies discuss the appropriateness of campaign plans with clients during the mourning period,
while the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising is encouraging advertisers to stay up to date on government mourning guidelines.
Brands are not required to suspend business during the national mourning period, according to official guidance,
but may consider postponing or cancelling events on the day of the Queen's state funeral.
Can TikTok's new ad suite save Christmas? We recently reported that TikTok is releasing a suite of new ad options ahead of the holiday season. If you need a refresh, those three new
shoppable ad formats are video shopping ads, catalog listing ads, and live shopping ads.
Digiday has a great piece up today looking at what this means for brands, advertisers, and influencers.
Quoting their piece,
The new shopping ads provide advertisers with a way to promote one or more products in their in-feed video ads to amplify their products,
similar to the way Facebook approaches its in-feed ads. Using the tool, called video shopping ads, brands can showcase their shoppable videos to users who are more likely to buy them, as well as create a landing page for those advertised products.
The ads will generate a score that determines how likely a user is to purchase, unquote. Digiday that the platform's new ad offering can help navigate rough holiday seasons, especially after last year when a number of issues plagued the shopping season,
such as supply chain shortages, iOS updates, and platform volatility overall.
The article also points out that this holiday season, marketers predict inventory issues
will be a big problem, which is something they should consider with shoppable 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.
From TikTok ads to Roblox,
the online gaming platform
announcing today
it will launch an advertising platform
next year
and will soon start testing
new types of 3D immersive ads.
According to Adweek,
the company will be experimenting
with a couple of new ad
formats, including billboards, which will be static images dynamically placed on billboards
or plastered onto buildings within a metaverse world, and portal ads, which will function as
portals that transport users to a separate branded experience. The company's already begun testing
this with Vans and Warner Brothers. According to
Richard Simm, Roblox's senior product director for monetization, the ad platform's creators worked
to make its ads blend seamlessly into the worlds in which they're placed, while making it easier
for developers to use. The platform will also offer advertisers some basic targeting parameters.
Simm also explains some plans for brand safety. First, the ad platform
will function as a walled garden, never directing users to websites outside its virtual worlds.
The company is also vowing to not use third-party tracking or data gathering like other social
networks might. And finally, ads will only be shown to those who are 13 years of age or older.
In terms of revenue, Roblox said it will
share ad revenue with the developers of the experiences and games within which they're placed,
but declined to reveal exact terms.
You might be able to finally get rid of that third-party Instagram repost app now.
Instagram has confirmed it's working on a repost feature
that will let brands and social marketers reshare other users' posts and reels. The platform told
TechCrunch it is exploring the ability to reshare posts in feed, similar to how you can reshare
stories. And by using the tool, original creators will be credited for their work.
According to screenshots we've seen,
the new tool features a reposts tab
alongside other tabs on your profile
like posts, reels, tagged photos, and so on.
It's likely this new tab will be home to all the content
that users have reshared on their accounts.
Instagram says it will start testing repost
with select users soon.
New to tweet campaigns or need a refresher?
Twitter has announced a new series of business marketing workshops as part of its Flight School education program.
The courses are free and will focus on two areas.
First, how to establish your business on Twitter.
This looks at how to make best use of Twitter's more recent business additions, like professional profiles, shops, and so on. Thank you. You can do that and get more information at twitterflightschool.com.
So if you have news you think our listeners should know about, something your company's launched or whatever, let us know on our news page todayindigital.com slash tips or look for Pitch Us a Story in the show notes.
That'll do it for the week.
Today in digital marketing is produced by EngageQ Digital on the traditional territories of the Tsunamik First Nation on Vancouver Island.
Our associate producer is Steph Gunn.
Production coordinator, Sarah Guild.
Podcast music licensing by Source Audio.
Ad coordination by Red Circle.
And our theme composer, Mark Blavis, is deep in thought about this whole meta phantom ads thing.
I asked him what he thought about it.
He was confused, too.
He told me, I got to take a little time,
a little time to think things over,
and I better read between the lines in case I need it when I'm older.
I'm Todd Maffin.
Have a restful weekend, friends.
I'll see you on Monday.
My heart's calling
I'm free-falling
Straight down to a little listener you on Monday. 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.
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.ca. R-A-K-U-T-E-N dot C-A.