Wait, Links WORK Now On TikTok Videos?!

[00:00:00] It is Wednesday, April 17th, Today Tapable links might finally be coming to

[00:00:09] TikTok videos.

[00:00:11] LinkedIn's new premium company pages have a creepy but probably very effective new feature.

[00:00:17] The digital ad industry didn't suck as much as you think it did last year.

[00:00:21] And Elon has a plan for ridding X of bots.

[00:00:26] Give him more money!

[00:00:28] I'm Tod Maffin.

[00:00:29] That's a head today in digital marketing.

[00:00:33] Back in the good old days of the web, links worked.

[00:00:37] You would type in a web link and when people clicked it, it would go somewhere.

[00:00:42] And then Instagram came along and realized that if they make links unclickable, that

[00:00:47] would increase the demand from advertisers who were willing to pay money to make those

[00:00:52] links work.

[00:00:53] To service those that weren't willing to pay, an entire new industry sprung up in the

[00:00:57] form of link in bio platforms.

[00:01:01] I know that's a big generalization but it's mostly true.

[00:01:05] Other platforms followed Instagram's lead including TikTok but that might be changing

[00:01:10] soon.

[00:01:11] DigiDay is reporting that TikTok is testing clickable links in organic videos.

[00:01:17] Quoting their piece, quote, The test seemingly comes at an opportune time given

[00:01:21] the decline in social referral traffic from platforms like Facebook and X and the challenge

[00:01:26] of getting users from popular platforms like Instagram and TikTok to publishers sites.

[00:01:32] However, it remains to be seen how much traffic TikTok can actually drive for publishers,

[00:01:38] TikTok declined to comment on the feature or its ongoing test, unquote.

[00:01:43] In an off-the-record town hall between agency executives and TikTok executives, one attendee

[00:01:48] said the platform confirmed the test and that so far the results were decent.

[00:01:53] Again, from DigiDay, quote, TikTok, like a lot of platforms, are designed for people

[00:01:59] to stay on the platform.

[00:02:01] And so even just the incentive for somebody to want to leave TikTok?

[00:02:05] It's pretty tough, a publishing executive said during the town hall, unquote.

[00:02:15] DigiDay is testing a potential new revenue stream aimed specifically at small and medium

[00:02:19] businesses, he comes in the form of a premium company page subscription that might cost up

[00:02:24] to $99 a month.

[00:02:26] As for what it covers, it's a little underwhelming, a custom called Action Button, a list of

[00:02:32] people who visited your page, a new badge, the ability to showcase testimonials, and

[00:02:37] the usual mumbo jumbo about AI-powered writing assistants.

[00:02:40] The only thing I spotted that did seem interesting was this, quote, without premium company page,

[00:02:47] you can only invite first degree connections to follow your page.

[00:02:51] Save time with an exclusive invite to follow option that allows you to automatically invite

[00:02:57] people who have engaged with your content to follow your page regardless of their connection

[00:03:04] degree, unquote.

[00:03:06] The introduction of these premium features comes at a time when LinkedIn is eager to shed

[00:03:10] its reputation as a platform known mostly for self promotion and cringy hot takes.

[00:03:17] This premium company page was first mentioned on LinkedIn about a week ago, and flew under

[00:03:21] the radar until TechCrunch spotted the update.

[00:03:24] A spokesperson at LinkedIn wouldn't comment except for the usual, we're always exploring

[00:03:28] new ways to enhance our customers experience blah blah blah, but they did confirm the

[00:03:32] tool would be aimed at small and medium sized brands.

[00:03:36] LinkedIn said it's seen substantial growth in its premium services contributing significantly

[00:03:41] to its $15 billion in revenue last year.

[00:03:48] We have new numbers from the Interactive Advertising Bureau on the state of the digital ad industry,

[00:03:54] and it shows last year wasn't nearly as bad as everyone thinks it was.

[00:03:59] In 2023, in fact digital advertising soared, raking in $225 billion that marked a 7.3% increase

[00:04:08] from the previous year according to this report.

[00:04:11] Even amid economic uncertainties, the industry saw significant growth particularly of course

[00:04:17] in the final quarter where revenue surged to $64.5 billion, boosted largely by holiday

[00:04:23] shopping.

[00:04:24] These segments of course saw varied growth rates with audio ads leading the way with an almost

[00:04:29] 19% increase.

[00:04:32] Retail media wasn't far behind growing 16.3% and video advertising particularly connected

[00:04:38] TV and over-the-top platforms grew 10.6%, making up 42% of the revenue in that segment.

[00:04:47] Despite a sluggish start in 2022, social media advertising rebounded with an 8.7% increase

[00:04:54] in 2023.

[00:04:55] This was driven by a vibrant creator economy and was particularly strong in the latter half

[00:05:01] of the year, which accounted for $4 billion of the $5 billion year-over-year increase.

[00:05:06] Looking ahead, the AIB report calls out generative AI and privacy focused ad practices

[00:05:12] as the new issues to think about this year.

[00:05:24] Tiktok is branching out with a new app, Tiktok Notes, launching in Australia.

[00:05:54] This move marks its latest venture into the domain of photo and text sharing, challenging

[00:06:00] Meta's Instagram.

[00:06:02] I'm in Canada so I tried it out.

[00:06:05] It feels a little bit like Be Real but without the limitations on when you can post.

[00:06:09] Visually it looks sort of like a Pinterest Explorer page or the Snapchat Discover tab

[00:06:14] if you're familiar with those.

[00:06:16] We have a screenshot in our email newsletter today.

[00:06:19] It's available on both Android and Apple and it lets users login using their existing

[00:06:23] Tiktok credentials.

[00:06:25] Tiktok had been asking some users if they were okay with their image posts being copied

[00:06:29] over to this app.

[00:06:31] I said okay to that and added a couple of image posts on my main Tiktok account but

[00:06:36] I couldn't find them on this new app.

[00:06:38] And yes, the main Tiktok app does already support image and tech posts but this

[00:06:43] new app presumably aims to refine and expand this and move more firmly into Instagram's

[00:06:50] lucrative territory.

[00:06:56] And finally, sometimes Gizmodo really nails the lead.

[00:07:01] In a post this week they wrote, quote, Elon Musk has a brilliant plan to stop the bots

[00:07:06] on his social media platform.

[00:07:08] Pay him more money.

[00:07:10] Yes, after months of ruminating on the idea it seems Elon Musk has decided to charge people

[00:07:16] an annual fee to use the platform.

[00:07:20] And no, I don't mean to access the premium features.

[00:07:24] I mean to use it at all.

[00:07:26] Musk believes charging a $1 fee for new accounts will keep the bots away, though he also thought

[00:07:32] that the paid check marks would do that and it didn't.

[00:07:35] The new policy is a little confusing.

[00:07:37] It was described as an annual fee but is only required for the first three months of use.

[00:07:42] It will only apply to new accounts going forward, not existing ones.

[00:07:47] This isn't ex's first attempt at using fees to deter bots.

[00:07:51] In October the platform experimented with charging $1 for new accounts in New Zealand

[00:07:56] and the Philippines.

[00:07:59] I feel like a real game streamer now.

[00:08:01] I have a green screen set up.

[00:08:04] I lost my original green screen years ago and my wife found a green blanket at a thrift

[00:08:11] store also a couple of years ago.

[00:08:13] And today I put it behind the couch in the living room, kind of hanging from this big

[00:08:18] poster board thing that I've got.

[00:08:20] It's a little hard to describe.

[00:08:21] Anyway, suffice to say it is a giant green wall in our living room.

[00:08:25] My wife is away for business.

[00:08:28] She hasn't seen it yet.

[00:08:31] So I don't know if it's going to stay.

[00:08:33] The good money is on no, it probably won't.

[00:08:36] But it looks great on stream.

[00:08:38] If you're a gamer and want to watch me die a lot, you can follow me on my Twitch channel

[00:08:43] which is twitch.tv slash low effort dad.

[00:08:46] I usually stream every night or so.

[00:08:48] Alright, that's it for today.

[00:08:49] See you tomorrow.