Today in Digital Marketing - You Know You're Winning When Your Customers Cry

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is Friday, July 28th. Today, Netflix drops ad prices, the final numbers on media spend during Prime Day, why the Barbie blockbuster isn't a financial boon, and TweetDeck will soon have PsyOps. I'm Todd Maffin. That's ahead today in digital marketing. Netflix has hit the rewind button on its ad partnership with Microsoft. The move comes as the streaming giant introduced a $7 per month ad supported option last year, with Microsoft winning the bid to provide tech for the service and sell ads on Netflix's behalf through a revenue guarantee. But with the new ad tier slowly gaining traction, the Wall Street Journal reports that Netflix is now looking to sell ads through other partners.

Starting point is 00:00:48 The company is also renegotiating its agreement with Microsoft to reduce the revenue guarantee, though those exact terms are not worked out yet. Sources say company executives have been frustrated that Microsoft hasn't sold more ads. To attract more advertisers, Netflix is now offering better deals, charging some brands around $39 to $45 per thousand views compared to the previous range of $45 to $55. These lower rates, which are more in line with other subscription streaming services, have enticed new advertisers to buy ads from Netflix. The company noted, though, that the impact of ads on its overall earnings remains relatively small, and its CFO doesn't expect a substantial

Starting point is 00:01:32 contribution this year. One of the challenges for advertisers is the limited number of subscribers to the platform's ad tier. Brands risk having viewers see their ads too often and can't effectively target specific groups of subscribers. Despite these challenges, Netflix has asked brands to be patient as the ad business continues to evolve. Google Business Profiles received some handy updates for marketers this month. First, the Google Business Profile chat feature now lets users change their availability status and manage away mode.

Starting point is 00:02:07 This feature is currently only available to select users with plans for wider expansion soon. The platform also recently added an option to view your business as a customer would see it. It's a small but useful feature that brands can use to identify any areas that they should tweak. Last but not least, the company's finally gotten rid of its problematic call tracking feature. Before its removal, some users reported the tool was even redirecting calls to the wrong merchant. Advertisers flexed during this year's Amazon Prime Day with a 410% increase in ad spend compared to the previous 30 days. And the gamble paid off as ad-related sales increased 490% during the same period.

Starting point is 00:02:55 This according to a new study from marketing platform Sky, S-K-A-I. The sales event this year occurred in better economic conditions than last year, so that certainly resulted in even greater promotional boosts, with marketers' spend up 65% year-over-year. Clicks also saw a substantial rise of 225%, and the cost-per-click rates increased as well by 60% compared to the previous 30 days. Prime Day also accounted for more than half of the year-over-year spending growth so far this year. During the event, online U.S.-based sales grew by 6% to $12.7 billion, and globally, Amazon sold 375 million items. That's 75 million more than last year. Certain product categories performed exceptionally well, with electronics taking

Starting point is 00:03:45 the lead among big-ticket items. Tech-related sales saw an increase of 115% compared to 30 days prior, while the average order value doubled. Home and garden, as well as beauty and personal care, also saw a jump in ad spend and ad-related sales. YouTube marketers have access to more data. Yesterday, DoubleVerify expanded its offerings to include verification for shorts clips. Advertisers using shorts placements can now access this tech, including fraud measurement,

Starting point is 00:04:20 which looks for bad traffic that's not coming from compromised devices or bots, and viewability authentication, which will provide insight into whether advertisements are likely to be seen. Double Verify will also provide viewability and fraud measurement across YouTube masthead and in-feed video inventory. And that will bring us to the lightning round. Despite the Barbie movie buzz, Mattel's sales and profits have declined. Sales fell 12% to $110 billion, with an almost 20% drop in North America. The company says it's still optimistic about its full-year forecasts.

Starting point is 00:05:01 Google is testing a feature that categorizes reviews on maps and local reviews based on the different types of reviewers leaving feedback like vacationing couples, solo travelers, and families. Pinterest will host its annual Pinterest Prevents Advertiser Summit this year on September 13th, where employees will showcase the latest platform updates. Registration for the online event is now open. You can sign up by searching Pinterest Presents 2023. And Elon Musk announced today that the marketing tool TweetDeck will undergo changes. The dashboard app will soon come with PsyOp plugins, whatever the hell that means, and will be rebranded as X-Pro.

Starting point is 00:05:43 And finally, the musician Drake is making his fans cry. The rapper is adding augmented reality to his tour by using Snapchat's crying lens on concert goers. While performing Laugh Now, Cry Later, the stage screens show audience members with the crying lens in real time, making it look like they are moved to tears. In fact, at a recent concert, the people in the audience were so enthralled by seeing themselves and their fellow concertgoers on the screen that he had to, like, stop and ask people to pay attention. New York, New York, where the fuck y'all at tonight?

Starting point is 00:06:23 I got more. You want more? I got another one for you. Scram! Started from the bottom, now we're crying. If you are one of the people who get our email newsletter, today's has some upgrades. We're in the process of switching over to a new provider.

Starting point is 00:06:39 Sorry, Substack. This one will do things like let us use live polls in the email, but even better, it will give you a chance to earn rewards for referring people to it. There are literally more than a dozen rewards lined up from Amazon gift cards to a one hour keynote speech I give on the six keys to going viral to a free subscription to the premium podcast to even your own brand's ads running right here on the show. If you've not subscribed yet, it's basically everything in this podcast, but more embedded videos, charts, links to the stories we cover, plus comes out about an hour before the podcast drops.

Starting point is 00:07:16 Here's how to find it. Just go to todayindigital.com slash newsletter to sign up or tap the link in the show notes. And that will do it for the week today in digital marketing. It's produced by EngageQ Digital on the traditional territories of this first nation on Vancouver Island. Our associate producer is the intrepid Steph Gunn. Production coordinator Sarah Guild. Music licensing by Source Audio. Ad coordination by Red Circle. And you know, not many people know this, but our theme composer, Mark Levis,

Starting point is 00:07:50 holds the Guinness World Record for the most number of Twitter competitors he's started. He's on number seven so far. This one he even tried to recruit me to help run it. It almost worked, too. I mean, he was so flattering. His offer letter just said, I've got the brains, you've got the looks, let's make lots of money.

Starting point is 00:08:08 I'm Todd Maffin. Have a restful weekend, friends. See you on Monday. Double shot of chat. But maybe that's the devil's law. Another thing to people shot in the road, they say. Well, what if one of them is gold? Because if I really have to go that way, then here's to the belly of the devil

Today in Digital Marketing - You Know You're Winning When Your Customers Cry

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