Today in Digital Marketing - Why Are So Many Businesses Moving to Independence, USA?!

Episode Date: April 6, 2021

Microsoft wants your Google ads — and just made it easier to switch… How has COVID changed your customer personas?... TikTok’s new agency deal is a kind of influencer buddy program for brands… Pinterest makes its first expansion into Latin America… and why are so many businesses moving to a small town in Kansas?How’s this episode’s audio quality? Tell me at https://b.link/audioqualityGet the entire show content, with links and images, as a DAILY email newsletter! Subscribe at TodayInDigital.com/newsletterPodcast Perks: Exclusive Deals for ListenersAdvertising: Perks (free!) • Ads • Classifieds • Brand TakeoversJoin the Community: Slack or DiscordEnjoying the show? Please rate and review us!Follow Tod: Twitter • LinkedIn • TikTok (daily digital marketing tips)Get this as a daily email newsletterLeave a VoicemailToday in Digital Marketing is hosted by Tod Maffin and produced by engageQ digital. Subscribe at https://TodayInDigital.com or wherever you get your podcasts. (Theme music by Mark Blevis. All other music licensed by Source Audio.)Our Sponsors:* Check out Kinsta: https://kinsta.comPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today, Microsoft wants your Google Ads, and it just made it easier to switch. How has COVID changed your customer personas? TikTok's new agency deal is a kind of influencer buddy program for brands. Pinterest makes its first expansion into Latin America. And why are so many businesses moving to a small town in Kansas? It's Tuesday, April 6th, 2021. Happy Southland anniversary, New Zealand. I'm Todd Maffin from EngageQ Digital.

Here's what you missed today in digital marketing. And we start with Microsoft, which this morning announced a whack of upgrades to its ads platform. First, and this is huge, they now have API support for Google Import. And yes, that's exactly what it sounds like. You can bring all your Google Ads campaigns over to Microsoft's platform. The update here is they've now put that functionality into the API. Also, they say they're working on a customer match solution to let you create audiences from email addresses you've got.

They also now let you use countdown customizers on responsive search ads. Those will let you have your ads say text like, sale ends in three days, and it'll automatically keep that countdown updated. No more creating seven single-day ads for a seven-day run of a countdown. It'll actually count down to the minute if you want it to. Also, advertisers will soon be able to attach PDF flyers to ads. That'll only be available in the U.S. for now. And finally, they're rolling out 60 new in-market audiences

for search and audience campaigns. Two of those new audiences include Mother's Day and Back to School. A great piece this morning on Marketing Profs asks the question, in light of the pandemic, should B2B companies consider updating their buyer personas? It's actually a great question. It's clear that recent events like the pandemic or all the social unrest in the U.S. may have changed the psychological makeup of your ideal customer. For instance, are they more anxious than they used to be?

And if so, how does that change how you sell? The piece offers some suggestions on new tactics you might need to deploy in order to make sure you're not losing sales, Thank you. Link slash B2B avatars. Ask most futurists what they think the next big wave of digital marketing technology will bring, and most will probably put augmented and virtual reality at the top of the list. And sure, we've been able to play around with makeup lenses on Snapchat, funny filters on TikTok, but what of the broader marketing opportunities? Well, Google has released a site that will show off what they think that future will look like. They call it WebXR. It lets you

play around with things from helpful utilities to get things done to playful and immersive experiences. For instance, their measure up tool lets you calculate the length, area and volume of the things around you without using a tape measure. And they have a tool called Flume that they say is a fun new way to explore the space around you. And a tape measure. And they have a tool called Flume that they say is a fun new way to explore the space around you. And a couple more. You'll need the latest Chrome browser and a supported Android device, but if you have those, you can check out what people are doing with AR now at g.co slash webxr.

TikTok has cut a deal with the agency giant Interpublic Group of Companies. That deal will produce a series of programs they say will, quote, drive brands to the center of culture. Whatever the hell that means. Actually, what it appears to mean is a kind of buddy system. Specifically, quoting Marketing Dive, Global Pact includes formation of a creator collective made up of diverse TikTok talent who can provide guidance on engaging users in an authentic and inclusive fashion. Brands will receive feedback on upcoming campaigns and other, as well as other research and insights tools, could help brands avoid sounding out of touch or tone deaf with a fickle but increasingly valuable online audience. Unquote.

This isn't the first agency deal TikTok's done. A couple of months ago, they hooked up with WPP to let that agency's clients get early access to TikTok's latest ad products. This kind of agency deal is becoming a thing these days. Just last month, Reddit brought the Omnicom Media Group on board to give that agency greater support from Reddit's creative strategy team, along with access to measurement data and insights. Still with TikTok for a moment, after you watch a handful of TikTok videos, you will notice that many have one thing in common. Baked in captions.

They're not the traditional closed captions, which you can turn on or off. This is subtitling that stays on the screen. Until now, creators have had to use other apps like CapCut or websites like Veed to add these captions. Now, TikTok is rolling that functionality directly into the app. And these captions can be turned off if the viewer doesn't want to see them. The feature will initially be available in American English and Japanese, with additional languages coming later. All right, three small items in the lightning round today.

First, the venerable old Yahoo Answers will be closing in less than a month. Yahoo says it will delete the whole thing on May 4th, and they have no plans to provide an archive of the site's 16 years of content. Pinterest has expanded its ads platform to Brazil, letting digital marketers there launch paid promotions. This is the first push into Latin America, with more countries coming soon. Mexico, the first on that list. And Facebook announced a new ad product today, Dynamic Ads for video streaming services.

Sure, it's a little narrow, but apparently there's enough demand for the company to make a format specifically for that vertical. It's basically a carousel that recommends programming based on a user's interests. And finally, why are so many businesses apparently moving to a town in Kansas called Independence? People have been noticing this more and more. Google Maps has been listing an increased number of businesses there. Turns out those businesses are not, in fact, there. This is a bug with Google Maps and Google My Business. It seems some service businesses end up being placed there

regardless of where they actually are. And why Independence, Kansas? Turns out it's pretty much the precise geographic center of America. And it's believed that when Google My Business chokes on accepting a business address, it just defaults to smack dab in the middle. So if the podcast sounds a little different today, it's because I'm trying out a new desktop audio workstation, and I could use your help with this. I've been using Logic all the time because it was one of those buy-once-use-forever things.

You listening to this, Adobe? But Logic's meant for music. The whole mixing metaphor is track-based, so often I'd find that its automation was trying to lift or duck my levels without me knowing about it. My good buddy Steve Dotto's been using Hindenburg, which is actually designed for voice like radio and podcasts, so I'm giving that a shot. And I really would love to know if it sounds better to you or worse,

or if you don't notice any difference at all. There is a one-question survey at b.link slash audio quality. Literally, it's just one tap. Even if you don't notice any difference, it would really help me to know that too. That link is also in today's episode notes. So please go tap it and give me a quick opinion of how this sounds.

Thanks. Talk to you tomorrow.