A Surprising Drop for Instagram

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: It is Tuesday October 1st.

[00:00:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Today, a surprising drop for Instagram, less posting, fewer ad dollars.

[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Why Metas loss turns out to be Metas gain.

[00:00:12] [SPEAKER_00]: TikTok wants its users to flip out as it launches a new post format, the surprising underdog

[00:00:17] [SPEAKER_00]: now winning the influencer marketing race, and we now know why a big chunk of YouTube's

[00:00:22] [SPEAKER_00]: music went offline over the weekend.

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Tod Maffin.

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_00]: That's ahead today in Digital Marketing.

[00:00:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Instagram appears to be losing its luster among news and entertainment websites, with about

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_00]: 85% posting content on the platform in Q3 of 2024 that's down from 90% last year.

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_00]: This according to new research from DigiDay.

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_00]: These publishers are often used by our industry as a kind of bellwether, as their business

[00:00:51] [SPEAKER_00]: depends on using social media to drive clicks to their websites where they go is usually

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_00]: an indication of where active users are.

[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And worse for Instagram, ad spend is down too.

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: With 55% of publishing brands purchasing Instagram ads in the past month, a drop from 60% in the

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: same period last year.

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Instagram's branding value has also dropped 70% of publishers now find it valuable for

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_00]: branding down from 85% last year and publishers are posting less frequently on Instagram.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_00]: More than half still say they post content daily but this period last year that number

[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_00]: was at two thirds.

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_00]: There is a few silver linings, weekly posts have increased with about 45% of publishers

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_00]: sharing content weekly that's up from about 33% in previous years and 45% are still

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_00]: investing in original content from Instagram that is up a little bit from 40% last year.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Despite that, the perceived value of Instagram for revenue generation has fallen.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Only two out of five publishers now find it valuable, down from almost half last year.

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_00]: This shift comes after a Washington Post investigation found that political news publishers are receiving

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_00]: less visibility on Meta's platform, leading to a more than 50% drop in engagement for

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: that group.

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_00]: In response to decreased engagement on Meta's platforms and Google digital news publishers

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_00]: are turning to WhatsApp channels.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00]: The New York Times reporting that outlets like CNN and the Financial Times are thriving

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: on the platform, seeing significant growth in audience engagement and gaining millions

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: of followers.

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_00]: As publishers pull back from Instagram, TikTok announced a new feature yesterday designed

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_00]: to keep audiences from flipping out.

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_00]: The new tool called Flip Stories lets brands and creators add a second slide to every

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: story that can be unlocked with a flip gesture.

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_00]: With Flip Stories, brands can showcase promotions, unveil products, share exclusive messages,

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_00]: offer behind the scenes glimpses, that sort of thing.

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Here's how it works.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: To create a Flip Story once it's enabled in your account, just go to the Create page

[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_00]: and toggle to the Story option.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: You'll then find an option to add a Flip Story, which will let you upload two sides

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: of your content to your story.

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_00]: You can either take photos directly from the Create page or upload photos from your

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_00]: device.

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Currently, Flip Stories only supports image uploads.

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_00]: To view a Flip Story, users will press the Hold to Flip button on the first slide to

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00]: reveal the hidden content which will play for a few seconds.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Brands and creators will also have access to a separate list of viewers who engaged

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_00]: with the second side.

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Looking for the top social platform to drive purchases?

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: New research might surprise you.

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Snapchat is taking the crown for influencer driven shopping, at least according to a

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: new survey from eMarketers, 85% of users reported making a purchase after seeing a

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_00]: product showcased by a creator on the app.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Snapchat outperformed TikTok, X, and even Instagram in this category, leaving YouTube

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_00]: trailing behind despite the cloud of YouTube creators like MrBeast and Logan Paul.

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_00]: The survey also found that creators were most effective at getting GenZ to make

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_00]: a purchase.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: 4 out of 5 GenZ shoppers bought something because of creator or influencer content compared

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_00]: to just 1-5th of Baby Boomer shoppers.

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Even GenX showed surprising engagement with 2 out of 5 making creator driven purchases.

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile, Facebook lagged behind with the lowest rate of influencer driven shopping.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Microsoft ads announced a slew of updates today.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: First, advertisers can now access search term insights reports.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: These help advertisers understand how users find their business by analyzing the specific

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_00]: search terms that led to their ads being displayed during a particular time period.

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Reports then organize these terms into relevant categories and provide key performance metrics.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Performance Max also continues to support a pilot for brand exclusions, letting advertisers

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_00]: specify which branded search queries they want to avoid showing ads for.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And coming the middle of the month, URL rules at the asset group level will enter pilot testing

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_00]: along with personalized recommendations for upgrading dynamic search ads to performance

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_00]: max.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Display ads now offer more bidding strategies and targeting options.

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Advertisers can choose from manual CPC, enhanced CPC and maximize conversions with

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00]: CPA targets.

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Targeting options include in-market audiences, dynamic remarketing and even LinkedIn profile

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: targeting, among others.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: There are also a bunch of smaller updates, some new brand safety options, new recommendations

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_00]: for advertisers using automated bidding, some AI updates, all those smaller items are

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_00]: detailed in today's email newsletter which you can sign up to for free by tapping the

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: link at the top of the show notes or going to today in digital.com slash newsletter.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_00]: A few weeks ago reports emerged that Google was testing a new shopping search interface.

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Now looks like that update is rolling out, showcasing a new logo and a more e-commerce

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: friendly layout complete with large search refinement boxes.

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_00]: The updated interface also features a new refined results dashboard in the side panel.

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Users have noted seeing both the old and new interfaces on desktop suggesting a somewhat

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_00]: staggered rollout.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_00]: We have some examples of what it looks like in today's email newsletter.

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_00]: And a couple of small stories to wrap us up.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Threads that's met as Twitter competitor now lets users tag their location.

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_00]: This feature though doesn't provide the exact location like on a map, like Instagram

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: or Snapchat. Instead, the feature lets users give their followers an approximate

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_00]: idea of their location by sharing things like a city name, neighborhood or restaurant.

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: By tapping on a tagged location in a Threads post, followers can explore

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: other posts from that area.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00]: And finally after a brief hiatus, YouTube's missing hits are back.

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_00]: The company struck a new deal with CSAC, the Society of European Stage

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Authors and Composers to restore hit songs from artists like Adele and Nirvana

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: that were removed over the weekend.

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_00]: CSAC says that YouTube unilaterally removed the tracks before the old

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: agreement had expired.

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_00]: The restored music will gradually reappear across YouTube services in the next

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: couple of days.

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Yesterday was a stat holiday in Canada, so we had that marketing science

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_00]: interview, which meant I didn't get a chance to tell you about a big

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: milestone that we crossed with yesterday's episode.

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_00]: It was our 2000th episode.

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_00]: We're doing this for a little over four years now and so it's kind of nice

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_00]: to see that tick over, especially for an industry where not many

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_00]: podcasts get past 20 episodes, let alone 200.

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: We are pretty proud of our 2000.

[00:07:55] [SPEAKER_00]: That's it for today.

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_00]: See you tomorrow.