Today in Digital Marketing - Where the Marketing Budgets are Going

Starting point is 00:00:00 Today, TikTok moves into second place. What does it mean for the former number two? Also, Instagram's testing a chatbot because, of course they are. Walmart adds new in-store placements. And Google Ads suffers a big crash this morning. It's Tuesday, June 6th. I'm Todd Maffin. That's ahead today in digital marketing.

Starting point is 00:00:24 Marketing budgets are shifting gears. New research from Digiday published today shows marketers are adjusting their social platform budgets with TikTok climbing the popularity ladder, while Instagram and Facebook maintain their reign. The survey revealed that social media is the most widely used marketing channel with 97% of survey respondents using it. Among social platforms, Instagram and Facebook lead the pack with 90% of businesses using Instagram, three quarters using Facebook. Despite Facebook and Instagram's popularity as marketing channels, some marketers are looking to move away from Meta-owned platforms. One chief marketing officer told Digiday that Meta's recent changes have posed challenges

Starting point is 00:01:07 for the company, particularly regarding account management. As a result, the brand has switched its focus to TikTok and others. TikTok ranked third most popular platform among marketers, although it offers fewer prepackaged marketing tools than its rivals. The app's ability to create viral moments has made it

Starting point is 00:01:25 more appealing to the industry. YouTube followed TikTok as the fourth most used platform, serving as both a social platform and an ad-supported streaming service for marketers. In terms of marketing budget allocation, Meta continues to hold the majority share, but, and I don't know if we can say how big a deal this is, TikTok has now surpassed YouTube and secured second place in 2023 so far. Drilling down into that meta number one spot, it was Instagram that maintained its position as the top recipient of marketing budgets, with spending on the platform still increasing year over year. But as TikTok continues to develop its ad options, there is a possibility that Instagram's dominance could be challenged. The data comes from Digiday's survey of 635 marketing professionals. First came Snapchat's AI chatbot called MyAI, followed by TikTok's called TacoAI.

Starting point is 00:02:27 Now, Instagram plans to join the trend. Instagram is currently testing a new AI chat option that lets users ask questions to an AI system directly within DMs. The tool also lets users receive advice, choose which different AI personalities to engage with, and even get assistance with writing more effective messages. According to early screenshots seen, users will be able to access the bot by typing at AI into the chat field, and it will be summoned to answer queries at any given time. Microsoft is cracking down on advertiser identity. The company announcing today that all ads served through its platform will come from verified advertisers starting on August 1st. All ads will display the name and location of the advertiser, the business, or the individual who is funding the ad, as well as information about why they're seeing an ad, like targeting parameters. Effective July 1st,

Starting point is 00:03:28 new advertisers will be required to undergo verification before their ads can be served. Existing advertisers will be gradually transitioned into the verification process and must complete it before August 1st to avoid any disruptions to their ads. Advertisers will receive email notifications regarding this process. For some advertisers, the necessary information for verification

Starting point is 00:03:49 is already available and their status will be automatically updated. Advertisers who do not receive emails or are not automatically verified by July 15th are advised to contact support. Also, Microsoft is introducing a new ad library where users will be able to view ads shown on Bing with impressions in the European Union. The ad library will let users search for ads by advertiser name or keywords in the ad creative. 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.

Starting point is 00:04:37 Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. While Walmart Connect, the retailer's U.S. ad division, primarily has focused on digital ad formats, the company is expanding its in-store advertising options as shoppers return to physical stores with some OG ad formats including in-store demos and ads on the Walmart radio network. Demos let marketers set up product sampling stations to drive discoverability.

Starting point is 00:05:10 The company plans to expand the in-store demo to 1,000 stores by the end of the year and is promoting the integration of real-world activations with Walmart.com through tactics like adding QR codes to carts that link out to custom landing pages. Meanwhile, the Walmart Radio Network, its station that broadcasts in stores, is also introducing ads for the first time, which will let ad buyers target messaging to specific markets. If you thought your brand's content moderation was tough, consider this. Meta receives an appeal of a policy decision every 24 seconds. And that's not even including ad issues. Gizmodo reporting today that Meta's oversight board received nearly 1.3 million appeals challenging the tech giant's decisions last year, amounting to more than 3,500 cases a day. Compared to the previous year, appeals increased by 25%, driven mostly by violence and incitement cases. The U.S. and Canada accounted for almost half of the appeals due to their large Facebook and Instagram user bases. Not surprisingly,

Starting point is 00:06:18 users mostly requested the restoration of their accounts or content rather than requesting content removal. While the Oversight Board received more than 1 million appeal cases last year, it issued binding decisions only in a few high-profile cases. The report indicated that out of the 12 published decisions in 2022, the board overturned Meta's original content moderation decision 75% of the time. Meta itself recognized its own error in another 32 cases under consideration. Although the number of cases reviewed might seem minuscule compared to the number of appeals received, the board says it aims to address broader issues by selecting cases that have implications for a large number of users worldwide.

Starting point is 00:07:10 And finally, it's not just you. Google Ads was down this morning. Advertisers were greeted with a 500 server error when trying to log into their accounts this morning. Some couldn't access the platform for nearly two hours. The issue has now been fixed. Google has not provided an update on what caused the outage. A very major programming announcement about this very podcast coming tomorrow. I will say this, if you are not already a premium subscriber, now is the time to get in. I'm currently running a secret 25% off sale, and it will not last long, I'll say that much.

Starting point is 00:07:51 You'll be able to find it by tapping Go Premium in the show notes, or going to todayindigital.com slash premium. I'm Todd Maffin. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow. The devil will find you 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.

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Today in Digital Marketing - Where the Marketing Budgets are Going

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