This Podcast Episode Was Created Especially For You

[00:00:00] Do you want someone who understands you like no other? Someone who can be your true wish and want to experience the most beautiful adventure of your life with you? The shopping platform Shopify revolutionizes millions of companies worldwide.

[00:00:15] With Shopify you only focus on your online shop, without programming or design knowledge. Thanks to the efficient education and intuitive social media and online marketplace integration, you can sell and sell through Instagram, eBay and Co. It was never easy to reach new target groups.

[00:00:34] Shopify offers on a single secure platform all tools to build up your online business. Without any tests, present your business to the world. www.shopify.de.try Simply enter shopify.de.try and start. Made for Germany, powered by Shopify. It is Friday, December 1st.

[00:00:58] Today the pitfalls of over-personalized product recommendations. Tiktok's deep wallets are funding a fight for the future of commerce. Do marketers win when doom-scrolling turns to doom-spending? And a new patent filing reveals a possible upcoming ad product, the working scratch-and-sniff.

[00:01:20] And on the Ad-Free Premium Podcast, which you can learn more about by tapping Go Premium in the show notes, Andrew Foxwell is here with a look at how Black Friday sales were, the damage you're doing by extending those sales, new options for reals ads and more.

[00:01:35] I'm Todd Maffin, that's ahead, today in Digital Marketing. New research reveals a surprising insight in online shopping and it could change the way you position your products. The study published recently in the Journal of Marketing Research found that shoppers who are on mobile devices preferred personalized recommendations.

[00:01:56] These users are more likely to choose items that are presented as just for you or based on your preferences. For example, they preferred a wine described as suited to your taste almost 20% more than a popular choice.

[00:02:10] That might sound obvious but what's interesting here is the study also found the opposite is true when someone is using a desktop browser. Desktop users were more drawn to popular and non-personalized recommendations like a list called bestsellers.

[00:02:28] If you try to use the Here's What We Recommend For You on desktop users, you'll probably lose sales. Why the difference? The researchers think it's because of the personal nature of smartphones which store intimate details from messages to photos.

[00:02:44] When using their phones, people tend to focus more on their personal tastes and emotions. That might explain why the study found this effect only happened when people were using their own smartphone. When they used someone else's to shop, that effect disappeared. Quoting the Ari newsletter, quote,

[00:03:02] When we use our phone, we feel immersed and insulated from the world around us. This makes us focus more on our emotions, opinions and beliefs and increases our awareness of our personal preferences and feelings. This makes us act in ways that express these interviews.

[00:03:19] So when we're buying online, we're more likely to choose unique options that are customized for us, unquote. It's not just for sales. Consumers were 41% more likely to support a charity they were told was chosen especially for them rather than a more popular option.

[00:03:36] Some retailers already do this, the study noted. Companies like Rezix Studio and Old Navy mix personalized and popular recommendations for both platforms. The study is called Phone and Self, how smartphone use increases preference for uniqueness. You can find it in the Journal of Marketing Research.

[00:03:55] And we have a direct link to the study in today's email newsletter which you can sign up to for free by tapping the link at the top of the show notes. Advertising on podcasts is getting cheaper.

[00:04:09] The audio hosting platform Libsyn reports that the average CPM for a 60 second spot was just under $23 last month. Compare that to the same month last year and that's about 7% lower.

[00:04:22] The three highest CPM categories in November based on delivered advertising were kids and family at $27 CPM, arts at 26, education at 25. While CPMs might be dropping a bit year over year, interest in the space is not.

[00:04:39] According to IAB Research, US podcast ad revenue is projected to be up 25% over last year reaching $4 billion by 2025. In a news release Libsyn said it believes brand safety technology has matured enough to allow risk averse brands to dip their toes into the podcast waters

[00:04:58] and more granular controls over geo-targeting may also help there. We find a link to historical monthly podcast CPM rates on Advertise Casts website and again we also have a link in today's newsletter. Reddit is launching two new ad formats.

[00:05:16] In 2021 Reddit introduced Conversation Placement targeting users within conversation threads where they are most engaged. Now after more than 60,000 of those campaigns Reddit today announced Carousel ads and product ads within conversation placement. Carousel ads allow up to six images or gifs each with a link.

[00:05:37] Early tests show a 44% increase in click-through rate according to the company. Product ads which were launched earlier this year target users in their research phase. Reddit says smaller businesses in particular have found success with conversation placement.

[00:05:51] The company this week also changed its logo and introduced a new font all said to be in preparation for an expected IPO in the coming months.

[00:05:58] They are still recovering from the black eye they gave themselves earlier when they jacked up API prices and forced many beloved third-party apps like Apollo out of business. Carousel ads and product ads are now available in conversation placement to all Reddit advertisers globally.

[00:06:14] We are beginning to see just how committed TikTok is to dominating the online shopping space. An interesting report in the information this week looks through the lens of a makeup brush business that's doing quite well.

[00:06:29] It's called BK Beauty and its owner told the publication that orders from TikTok now pick up about 35% of its business. And last month, it shipped more orders than it did in all of 2019, 2020, and 2021 combined.

[00:06:45] Part of the path to these numbers has been through influencers who are signed up through TikTok's creator affiliate program which launched earlier this year. But the real promise is coming from its occasional live streams which its employees host.

[00:07:00] Quoting from theinformation.com, quote, BK Beauty has also signed up for several live streaming campaigns TikTok has offered. Those campaigns reward accounts for hitting certain sales goals while streaming by sending traffic to live streams and offering their shoppers extra coupons or bigger discounts.

[00:07:19] TikTok has been footing the bill for most customer discounts so far, paying brands the full price of items sold. This strategy will likely cost TikTok more than $500 million in e-commerce related losses this year.

[00:07:33] The discounts TikTok offered each shopper depended on both the user and the product they were looking at. First time buyers got higher discounts and bestselling products received the steepest discounts, unquote.

[00:07:47] One thing the beauty brand figured out quickly, the more polished they made the live streams, the worse they performed in terms of engagement. Supporting the industry recognized truism that the more laid back and informal the stream, the better the results.

[00:08:02] Americans are increasingly engaging in doom spending due to financial stress. A new study found that over a quarter of Americans are shopping excessively to cope with concerns about the economy and foreign affairs.

[00:08:19] Key worries include inflation, which saw the consumer price index rise by 3.2% in October, rising living costs, unaffordable housing and inability to afford luxuries or even necessities.

[00:08:32] This idea of doom spending is akin to doom scrolling on social media and is made easier by how little friction there is on many online commerce platforms. Take the one-click purchase pioneered by Amazon as an example.

[00:08:45] This doom spending trend is particularly pronounced among younger generations, with 35% of Gen Z and 43% of millennials admitting to such spending habits. Credit card debt in the US hit a record high last quarter, nearing $1.1 trillion.

[00:09:02] The study was buy into it credit karma based on a survey of more than 1,000 Americans conducted last month. Let's be honest, retros can be boring. And if you're the organizer, you know it's more than just running a meeting.

[00:09:18] You have to synthesize and categorize themes, get the team involved, assign next steps, and make it all a fun safe space where teammates want to participate. Miro is the visual collaboration platform that helps you run effective, engaging, and actionable retrospectives.

[00:09:35] We use Miro at our agency to map out a client's messaging for our engagement team. That can be complicated, a lot of if-bends, but making it visual and sharing it directly with our client sped things way up. Plus our side can share spitballing ideas with private mode.

[00:09:52] The client doesn't get to see our thoughts until we've decided on the approach. Whether you work on the marketing side or in product design engineering or UX, bring your team together on Miro. And your first three Miro boards are free when you sign up today at Miro.com.

[00:10:09] That's three free boards at Miro.com. Thanks to the efficient integration of social media and online marketplace, you can sell and sell ebay, ebay, and co-purchase via Instagram. It was never easy to reach new groups of target.

[00:10:49] Shopify offers a single secure platform for all tools to build up your online business. Test without cost and present a business of the world. shopify.de.try Simply enter shopify.de.try and start. Made for Germany, powered by Shopify.

[00:11:26] Meta accuses the FTC of exercising, quote, structurally unconstitutional authority, unquote. Particularly in what Meta says is the agency's dual role as both prosecutor and judge. But they're not getting a lot of sympathy. One lawmaker, Frank Polone Jr., said, quote,

[00:11:44] It speaks volumes that Meta would rather launch a frivolous lawsuit against the agency tasked by Congress with protecting American consumers, especially our children than do the serious work needed to reform their platforms.

[00:11:56] This is a stunt intended to distract from the serious concerns regarding Meta's social media platforms and business practices, unquote. Meta is asking for a jury trial. And finally, there are a surprising, no, worrying number of fart videos out there.

[00:12:21] On YouTube, there are more than 26,000 compilation videos of, and I can't believe I'm saying this, the best farts. But lucky for the unfortunate viewer who swipes up to a flatulent TikTok, at least there's no smell alongside that video.

[00:12:37] Well, maybe not for much longer, thanks to a patent filed by Snapchat called Old Factory Stickers for Chat and AR-based Messaging. Their patent imagines special stickers that when used in a chat, allow the recipient at the other end to experience certain scents.

[00:12:56] This is achieved by the recipient interacting with the sticker on their screen through a tap or a rub, triggering the release of the associated smell. They have drawings in the patent application showing imagined examples of the interfaces needed to pull the actual smell off.

[00:13:12] This filing is more about Snapchat trying to own the software side of things. But if this comes to be, can you imagine perfume companies, bakeries, movie theaters with popcorn? This could be huge.

[00:13:27] I for one look forward to the day when Meta's learning phase goes haywire and starts shooting out the smell of a decaying chipmunk corpse then to give me two cents credit back for the error. Good times ahead.

[00:13:45] So, eyeball update. I went back to my retina specialist for those of you who are not following this story. I tore my retina two weekends ago, which is not painful. I mean the procedure to fix it is not pleasant, but anyway, yesterday was my two week checkup.

[00:14:04] She poked all sorts of weird things into my eyeball and gave me as clean a bill of health as someone with a recovered torn retina can have. It means that I can resume normal activities. Lifting things in particular was off the list.

[00:14:17] I can do that now, which means I can lift the hot tub lid so I can finally get into the hot tub. We did a marketing chat hot tub livestream yesterday on our TikTok account at today in digital.

[00:14:29] But my wife still can't get into the hot tub because she just had surgery. Boy, the timing on this has been terrible. But thank you for the well wishes. The eyeball appears to be on the man. Follow us on social media. We are almost everywhere.

[00:14:42] Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, Threads, Mastodon, Blue Sky, Post.News, Spoutable, Snapchat and Pinterest. Wherever you are, we are too. Go to todayindigital.com slash social or tap the link in the show notes. And that will do it for the week.

[00:14:59] Today in digital marketing is produced by Engage Q Digital on the traditional territories of the Sunamik First Nation on Vancouver Island. Our production coordinator is Sarah Gild. Our theme is by Mark Blevis, music licensing by Source Audio, ad coordination by Red Circle.

[00:15:15] I'm Todd Mappin. Thanks for listening. Have a rest of weekend friends and I will see you on Monday. Looks like this fight is over.

[00:16:47] Made for Germany. Powered by Shopify.