Babe Wake Up, Snapchat Is Putting Ads in Chat

[00:00:00] It is Wednesday, September 4th. Today, is Snapchat's latest scheme a media buyer's dream or a user's

[00:00:08] nightmare? The answer? Yes. Also good news for e-commerce spending, Google Ads gets an

[00:00:15] upgrade and Blue Sky gets a Brazilian bump. I'm Tod Maffin, that's ahead today in

[00:00:22] digital marketing.

[00:00:24] Snapchat is turning its most popular feature into prime real estate for brands. The company

[00:00:29] announcing yesterday it will soon start experimenting with two new ad placements. The first sponsored

[00:00:34] snaps from brands will appear as unread messages in the app's main chat tab, placed above messages

[00:00:43] from real people until they're viewed. The company says sponsored snaps will show up

[00:00:49] in the chat inbox as a new snap without a push notification and opening the message

[00:00:53] is optional. It is unclear how easy it will be to remove one of these sponsored snaps without

[00:00:59] opening it or if that's even possible. Alongside sponsored snaps, Snapchat will also let advertisers

[00:01:05] promote locations in the map tab with promoted places where users typically view friends'

[00:01:11] locations. Snapchat also announced yesterday it is testing a simplified version of its

[00:01:16] app, raising hopes that history won't repeat itself. You may remember the app's failed

[00:01:21] redesign in 2018 which pissed off millions of users, including famously Kylie Jenner. Snapchat's CEO

[00:01:29] tried to rally employees with a letter yesterday following a tough year for the company's stock

[00:01:33] price, which has plummeted nearly 50% this year. Spiegel said investors are concerned

[00:01:38] that we aren't growing faster. As a result, the simplified version aims to improve the

[00:01:43] platform's accessibility and usability, which as TechFrench points out, may be an attempt

[00:01:48] to lure older users who find the current interface confusing. Quoting TechFrench,

[00:01:54] quote, Snapchat does a lot better at attracting younger audiences who seem to just get the app,

[00:01:59] but this isn't the first time Snapchat has tried to reconcile these issues. You might remember

[00:02:04] Snap's 2017 earnings call when the CEO admitted he'd heard that, quote, Snapchat is difficult

[00:02:09] to understand or hard to use, unquote, for older folks. Months later, Snap pushed out

[00:02:15] a major redesign to reclaim those users, jamming stories between private messages,

[00:02:21] among other changes that ended up infuriating more users than it attracted.

[00:02:30] While Snapchat works on its comeback to lure users, Blue Sky is riding high on a massive

[00:02:35] user surge. Following ex's court-ordered shutdown in Brazil, the social networking startup Blue

[00:02:41] Sky has welcomed more than 2 million new users in just a few days, up from half a million.

[00:02:47] It had last Friday. The rapid growth caused some users to see occasional errors like

[00:02:53] not enough resources to handle requests as its engineers raced to keep the servers stable

[00:02:59] amid the flood of new signups. Blue Sky's rapid growth propelled it to the top of Brazil's

[00:03:04] app charts, surpassing Instagram threads over the weekend. App figures report that Blue Sky's

[00:03:10] total downloads skyrocketed by nearly 10,600% compared to the previous weekend. Downloads in

[00:03:18] Brazil alone surged by more than 1 million percent, while international downloads increased by

[00:03:24] just under 600% with notable growth in countries like the US, UK and Canada.

[00:03:30] New users have also actively engaged on the platform, boosting other key metrics.

[00:03:34] A Blue Sky engineer reported that likes surged from 13 million to 105 million in just four days.

[00:03:47] Google Ads has rolled out an update to its performance planner, now featuring new

[00:03:51] advanced plans that cater specifically to YouTube campaigns. This update includes support for

[00:03:56] DemandGen campaigns for both action and awareness goals. The new plans offer customizable options

[00:04:03] for budgeting, ad formats, buying methods and campaign objectives. Advertisers can choose to

[00:04:08] focus on either driving conversions or enhancing brand awareness. Some key features. First,

[00:04:14] action plans are designed to prioritize conversions with a mix of video reach,

[00:04:19] video view and DemandGen campaigns. Awareness plans focus on brand visibility through a mix

[00:04:26] of video reach and DemandGen campaigns to capture conversions. Google is also testing

[00:04:30] a new promotions feature for app campaigns that lets advertisers create event-driven

[00:04:35] promotions tailored for mobile users. This includes options like occasion selection,

[00:04:41] promotion type like a percent discount, an item name or a pre-filled final URL for the app.

[00:04:47] Advanced options allow for tracking URLs and scheduling. Finally, a preview option lets you

[00:04:53] see how ads will appear across search and display networks.

[00:05:01] The future of e-commerce looks promising despite the current economic dumpster fire.

[00:05:06] A new report from marketing automation platform Clavio has projected growth for brands

[00:05:10] and increased consumer spending. The report though reveals a mix of disconnects between

[00:05:17] brands and consumers. While brands see discounts and sales as key to driving conversions,

[00:05:22] consumers want more. Although 85% of consumers use loyalty programs and mobile apps,

[00:05:29] only half of brands offer these features. 80% of consumers read product reviews,

[00:05:34] but only 60% of brands post them. On the flip side, live stream shopping and ARVR features are

[00:05:40] offered by more than half of brands, yet only a fraction of consumers engage with them.

[00:05:46] The report noted that brands need to be aware that they may be investing in

[00:05:49] social channels with minimal consumer influence. For instance, while a third of brands focus on paid

[00:05:56] and organic search, more than half of consumers considered influential. Similarly, broadcast

[00:06:02] advertising and event marketing also show a significant influence on consumers despite

[00:06:08] lower brand investment. According to the survey, adapting to consumer preferences and

[00:06:13] offering discounts is not hurting profits. The survey found that more than half of brands

[00:06:18] increased discounts despite higher costs and generally saw improved profits and margins.

[00:06:28] And finally, as the mobile gaming ad landscape evolves, a new study from Mintagirl has found

[00:06:33] a growing trend toward longer ad campaigns and the increased adoption of playable ads.

[00:06:41] In the US, mobile gaming ad spend saw a slight increase of about half a percentage

[00:06:45] point over the past year. Despite that modest growth, the proportion of new advertisers dropped

[00:06:51] by about 30%. In the first half of the year, the study found that campaign length increased in

[00:06:57] almost every gaming app category. Sports games led with an average campaign duration

[00:07:02] of 47 days followed by social gaming apps and racing games, all of which saw substantial

[00:07:08] increases. Playable ads have also seen a notable rise almost doubling from 4% to 7%.

[00:07:14] Video ads, though, continue to dominate, accounting for more than three quarters of ads in each

[00:07:20] category. We have a link to the full report in today's email newsletter, which you can

[00:07:24] sign up to for free by tapping the link at the top of the show notes or going to todayindigital.com

[00:07:28] slash newsletter. That will do it for the day. I'm Todd Maffin. Thanks for listening. See you

[00:07:39] next time.

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