What Your Copy 'Should' Be Doing

[00:00:01] It's Thursday, November 7th. Today, should your ad copy stay or should it go? TikTok hits

[00:00:08] a wall in Canada shutting down operations. Reddit's booming user growth is calling brands,

[00:00:13] but what's the ad potential? And YouTube now lets shorts creators court brands. I'm

[00:00:18] Steph Gunn sitting in for Tod Maffin. That's ahead today in Digital Marketing.

[00:00:24] Your ad copy might be lacking words that could change everything. Research shows that using

[00:00:29] words that highlight gaps between the current state and an ideal one, such as should, could,

[00:00:35] and lacking, can boost engagement by up to 20%. Imagine launching a service with a unique

[00:00:41] flat fee structure, unlike your competitors' pay-per-use models. When crafting your tagline,

[00:00:46] a subtle change can make all the difference. For example, Acme Solutions, no need to worry about

[00:00:52] how much you use, versus Acme Solutions, you shouldn't have to worry about how much you use.

[00:00:58] Research suggests that the second option is likely the most effective at grabbing attention and driving

[00:01:03] engagement. According to the study, when people encounter words like should, want, wish, or desire,

[00:01:09] it highlights the gap between the way things currently are and the way they'd like them to be.

[00:01:15] These words trigger psychological reactions that drive actions, like engaging with an ad or social media

[00:01:21] post. However, how much someone engages depends on how personally meaningful the message feels.

[00:01:26] For instance, when people feel a lack of control, they focus more on themselves and pay more attention

[00:01:32] to relatable content.

[00:01:37] Canada has officially banned TikTok's business operations. Yesterday, the Canadian government

[00:01:43] ordered that the Chinese-owned company wind up its business in the country due to national security

[00:01:48] concerns. This decision follows a multi-step national security review process, which revealed potential

[00:01:54] risks tied to TikTok's planned expansion in Canada. Based on these findings, the government advised blocking

[00:02:00] the company's operations. Unlike the US, which is pushing for a nationwide TikTok ban, Canada's move

[00:02:07] stops the platform's expansion but lets users continue using the app. TikTok, however, is not backing down

[00:02:13] and said it will challenge the order in court.

[00:02:20] Reddit's recent spike in traffic is hard to ignore. As we reported last week, the platform has seen a 45%

[00:02:27] increase in daily active users, from 66 million to 97 million over the past year, outpacing every other

[00:02:35] social app's growth. But does that make it a better platform for advertising? Social media today reports that

[00:02:42] Reddit's deal with Google has boosted its visibility, with its content now showing up four times more in

[00:02:48] search results. This partnership has helped Reddit grow to 365 million weekly active users, a more than 50%

[00:02:56] increase from last year. Unlike most social apps, Reddit's daily to weekly usage is much higher, suggesting

[00:03:02] that people use the app less consistently. Quoting social media today,

[00:03:07] While Reddit is getting a lot more people to the app, most of them are likely coming across from

[00:03:12] Google search, checking the response to their query, then moving on from the app. Over time,

[00:03:17] Reddit is seemingly converting more of these visitors into active users, but right now,

[00:03:22] Reddit's 97 million daily actives is significantly lower than the other major social apps. As such,

[00:03:29] that could mean that Reddit provides less opportunity for ad exposure, and thus,

[00:03:33] a more confined pathway to audience reach. End quote.

[00:03:40] YouTube is flipping the script when it comes to brand deals for Shorts creators. The platform has

[00:03:46] announced a new process that will let creators take the lead in securing brand partnerships to

[00:03:50] sponsor their content. Here's how it works. With the update, Shorts creators can post brand-related

[00:03:55] content and ask brands directly if they'd like to feature the video in their campaigns. Previously,

[00:04:01] creators could only accept video linking requests from advertisers through emails or YouTube studio

[00:04:06] notifications. Now, creators in YouTube's partner program with more than 4,000 subscribers have the

[00:04:12] ability to send these requests directly. YouTube will recommend creator-initiated tagged content to brands,

[00:04:18] and if they choose to run ads, these links will function like advertiser-initiated links. Creators don't get a

[00:04:24] cut for any ads that run using their content. In other news, YouTube is also rolling out an updated data story feature,

[00:04:31] which will provide an overview of your latest video's performance within the first 24 hours. And the

[00:04:37] platform is also testing a new most relevant comment filter designed to highlight questions and other

[00:04:42] comment types that may invite responses. Snapchat has expanded its partnership with third-party

[00:04:52] verification provider DoubleVerify by adding ad placement verification. This integration lets advertisers

[00:04:59] check ad placements and whether their ads are being displayed alongside harmful or inappropriate content.

[00:05:05] The tool lets advertisers align their brand promotion with suitable content based on the parameters that

[00:05:10] they've set. The update builds on Snapchat's partnership with DoubleVerify, which already provides ad viewability

[00:05:16] and fraud verification for Snap campaigns.

[00:05:23] And finally, Microsoft has made a couple of changes to shopping audience campaigns. First, the setup workflow for

[00:05:30] creating shopping audience campaigns has been simplified. You can also now create product groups,

[00:05:36] bringing shopping audience campaigns in line with regular shopping search campaigns. If you're running

[00:05:42] an existing campaign, Microsoft said you can opt into this feature by visiting the product group page and

[00:05:48] selecting create first product group. Furthermore, product groups will automatically be created for any new

[00:05:54] shopping audience campaigns. This update is optional and won't impact the performance of current campaigns.

[00:06:05] Our dog is losing his manhood today. So we have a pug, his name is Cheeseburger, and he's actually getting neutered as we speak, which means in just a couple of hours I'm going to have a pup running around with a cone on his head and a toddler. Should be super fun times. Tomorrow we have a special edition inside Google Ads, a deep dive case study coming at you. And then Monday is Remembrance Day in Canada, which is a holiday, so no show Monday. And then I will be back to talk to you about it.

[00:06:34] Until then, I'm Steph Gunn, thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you soon.