Full Transcription
[Introduction] – 00:00
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Episode 65 of This Week In Marketing Show, also known as the TWIMshow. I’m your host Sajid Islam, and today I’ll be going over the notable news and updates in the digital marketing space from the week of July 12, 2021
[Update 1 – Facebook Announces $1 Billion Funding for Content Creators] – 00:15
So today, First off, we’re gonna begin with announcements from. Facebook, in fact, it’s a rather big announcement where Facebook has said they are looking to spend about a billion dollars to fund content creators. And I high level this is very exciting. This is something we love. Facebook says, you know, Mark Zuckerberg comes out and says, you know what, we’re going to spend $1,000,000 billion. Sorry to fund their creators in the next 18 months. However, this signals the challenge we are all seeing when it comes to, you know, enticing quantum creators to remain on the platform we’ve seen TikTok do that. We’ve seen Snapchat do that. And you know those programs have relatively been successful. Now Facebook is saying, you know, we want to get more creators, which is great. We’ll see how this works out. I personally do not like this programs. It’s just because it attracts people who are, you know, really good at. You know gaming the system or were already doing well to get paid, and oftentimes these are big creators and the people does, you know, small creators such as us. You mean the regular creators we miss out right, and we’ll see how what the downstream effect of this actually works out to in the long run, but I feel like, you know, this is just gonna give them a temporary boost. And eventually when they, the funding runs are the creators go on to something more greener pastures just ’cause. They hired, they brought in creators that are. Not really. Not really going to stay on the platform for the long run. We’ll see. But for now that’s the update.
[Update 2 – Facebook Pay is Now Available as a Payment Option on Third Party Websites] – 01:57
OK, next update we have again is also from Facebook that Facebook pay is now available as a payment option on third party websites. This is a good news for Facebook itself just because you know, Facebook pay has been within Facebook. And you know, it’s something I’ve never used. I’ve always been a little bit leery of using a Facebook payment, just cause Facebook already has too much data about me. But so Facebook extending it out to third party websites where websites can actually use it to process transactions, things like that would be great. Details remains to be seen. What percentage they will take out, how they will you enforce? Things like charge back, you know, banning accounts, things like that, which, you know, Stripe and PayPal does a lot more. And again, Facebook has this history of screwing small business owners by banning their account. How will Facebook do that as face with Facebook pay all remains to be seen. But for now I am personally not interested in. You know, using Facebook Pay anytime soon I don’t see a benefit of it because if a website is saying Facebook page, I would have to steal. You know, log into my Facebook account over my, provide my credentials to them and so that you know it can I can process the transactions with physically I might as well use Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shopify Pay or just putting just simply putting my credit card number. I think that’s just easier. Wouldn’t you say that. But anyway, for Facebook, I think it’s a similar thing. If this catches on. Obviously, they get users to get accustomed to Facebook pay and maybe you know they will do more in platform transactions. That’s one thing. The other thing of Facebook on the other hand side like, imagine if I was a website, you know and right now Facebook has this issue where because of apples entity used app ATT. Forgot application transfer and app transparent. Whatever tracking from iOS 14.5 and be on you know they don’t have a lot of conversion data, so Facebook actually gets the conversion data as well. So this actually helps Facebook in a long way but really remains to be seen how many websites and apps and even if they adopted. How many people actually end up using it, but nevertheless it’s a good move from Facebook as a from business standpoint, I am out. If I was running this program, I would be like let’s do it. Let’s get some data, OK. The next update from Facebook again is also Facebook.
[Update 3 – 🔊 Facebook Rolls Out Soundmojis on Messenger for 🌎 Emoji Day 🥳] – 04:22
It seems like Facebook is dominated this week, which actually they did. The next update from Facebook is Facebook rolled out sound emojis on Messenger Day on Messenger for emoji. Emoji Day was July 17th. And actually, Mark Zuckerberg, she can share the post where he says he’s team with to the sounding module. The Messenger team went to an organic farm to capture some organic goats. Sound, I believe it was good. And then some guy joked and they said, you know, well man, organic goat definitely sound a lot better than regular goats. That’s how I felt. Which is, you know, why would you ship your whole team in the middle of a pandemic to a organic goat farm to record sound of an organic. But again, this is like in a publicity stunt. Nevertheless, sound emoji sounds great. You know, it will definitely increase user. Users are, you know, people who use Messenger to stay on the platform more because they’re gonna send you no more ridiculous sounds and things like that because gif wasn’t doing it. Maybe after sound emojis they’re gonna be have video emojis because, you know, hey, just sound itself is not great. But, you know, people are gonna stay more longer on Messenger, which basically means that’s what Facebook wants. So I think this is a good move from Facebook. Next up,
[Update 4 – Facebook Group Admin can Now Designate Subject Matter Experts] – 05:39
Next up we have Facebook. Group admins can now designate subject matter experts. This is kind of good for Facebook because you know in groups or group admins can designate group experts and when we designate someone as an expert, there’s gonna show up as a Facebook group expert group expert under the name in the group. And, you know, people can follow. This actually allows a lot of good things because number one is you elevate people in status. Just imagine if you were using the old day forums, if you haven’t a lot of people haven’t used forums, but in the forums people who get badges right based on what kind of level of interactivity, how many questions, how many posts you have done. Facebook is bringing some of those things back into groups, which again, you know, if you have never used forums before with a special bulletin or any of those forum softwares, this is kind of a you know a page out of those book playbooks and it creates you know, everyone likes to feel important, right? Everyone wants to feel. Wants to do contribution and also they wanna be recognized from it. So this is a great way. But again you know there is Facebook doesn’t decide you know whether a group expert has to have some certain credentials. Things like that’s up to the group admin. It’s a good move. It’s a great move from Facebook. I like that. Let’s move on very quick update that this update is from YouTube.
[Update 5 – YouTube Launches Shorts Beta in All Regions] – 07:00
YouTube has decided to launch YouTube Shorts everywhere in the world where ever YouTube is available just ’cause they realize, hey, you know the competitions for short video is heating up especially with you know TikTok announcing that day two weeks ago that they’re going to basically allow up to three minutes of video. YouTube is like. Opening it up and let’s see how creators play with it. Now I will tell you I personally haven’t seen any shorts. I haven’t. I’ve seen shorts pop up on my YouTube app as suggested videos, but I’ve not used them just ’cause I know they’re one minute or one minute long. Again, I’m looking for on YouTube. I’m looking for more educational content. I do not even know if I can actually be. Find something valuable within a minute. Now it’s probably more than playing more than you know, more at a. Entertainment angle. That’s what You Tube is trying to do, and it probably is attracting a whole different set of users than I am. I’m not in that particular group. It remains to be seen how people are remixing shorts. Are you mix, remixing, creating shorts, using remixes from other videos? Let’s check it out. Maybe I’m gonna try out a few couple of them and. You know one reason why I don’t do it is because. I’m afraid that it’s gonna mess up my YouTube algorithm and then all the videos that I get are recommended for it’s gonna go away and then I’m gonna start seeing a lot more shorts. That’s one fear I have, but I have to overcome that fear one of these days and. we’ll see how it is how it all works out
[Update 6 – TikTok Announces ‘Small Biz Block Party’ Event Series to Provide Marketing Tips and Insights] – 08:34
Moving on, the next update is TikTok. Very timely because we just talked about YouTube shorts. TikTok is right here and TikTok is and has announced a small business block party and event series to provide marketing tips and insights. Now what TikTok is doing is basically quoting a small businesses onto the platform because TikTok has a thing of he has a brand the public brand image. That’s saying it’s a fun platform, right where you song and dance. In fact, I used to think that way. And one of the videos that they highlighted on this announcement page is a video small business that was burned down and they were struggling and how they got. Back on their feet and became profitable because of TikTok. Amazing story, I will tell you folks, if you’re listening to this, ever since I saw that video, it totally changed my view of TikTok that you know, you don’t have to sing and dance. You don’t have to do all sorts of crappy stuff to make. Pop become popular or become make a dent in the TikTok universe. Great stuff, TikToks. I will say the small business block party kicks off on August 5th. I am going to go ahead and put in a link to that sign up page. If you are small business owner, check it out. I think there’s gonna be great things that’s gonna come out of TikTok just ’cause TikTok is really. Focused on user growth and basically in the right way is what I say OK. With that, moving on to Twitter.
[Update 7 – Bye Bye Twitter Fleets] – 10:03
Twitter. The only thing I’m going to say is bye bye Twitter fleets now if you if you haven’t heard of Twitter fleets, I don’t blame you just cause. No one used it right to the Fleets is basically a me to feature or a copycat feature of Instagram stories. Instagram Stories was also a copycat feature from Snapchat, but anyway. You know and then become Facebook stories as well. Anyway, what I’m gonna say is that. Twitter copied it, and in nine months since August 3rd of last year, sorry. Since August 3rd, it will not be available, but basically they announced it I think in October and November of last year. But Twitter realized that people are not using it right, for that matter. I don’t even know how many people are actually using Facebook stories or Instagram stories ’cause I do follow on like. A lot of people, but I only see a very few people on Instagram using stories we ourselves do not use that much stories, but what I’m going to say is that. Facebook the way Facebook slash Instagram the way they have been able to carry, you know, move stories ahead was that saying? Clear onto this peoples feet peoples innate desire to get featured and make up higher rich. So see what’s happening like Facebook nowadays says. You know if you want higher reach then you gotta keep create Reels right? So what happens? Everyone starts creating reels as a result it gains momentum. Before reels came. Stories where the story was. Hey, if you want a bigger rich, you wanna reach more people, you wanna go viral, then you gotta create stories. ’cause. If you do that Facebook algorithm is going to give that to more, you know priority. So that’s how Facebook made it. But I think this never went with anywhere. With Twitter Fleets anywhere. Twitter users are very different from Facebook and it’s Instagram. So killing it, that’s all. That’s all matters, OK? Next up, we have Microsoft advertising.
[Update 8 – Microsoft Advertising Announces Video Extensions] – 12:02
They’re announcing video extensions. This is something new. This is something no one has done for. Microsoft is the first one to do it, and I’m really thoroughly pleased that Microsoft came out with it. I’m pretty sure Google is gonna copy them sometime soon. And what this basically means is now when you search on Microsoft. Search engine which is Bing. You went along with your search results. You can get a small video on the side that you can actually play and it will take you directly to the product page conversion page landing page right. Great move from Microsoft. I really like what they’ve done here. I hope other platforms. OK, Google copies that because this really creates a lot of. Inventory, but at the same time it creates a lot of challenge because now people have to create videos and embed that with their search. With their search results ads. That’s OK. Talking about advertising search engine
[Update 9 – GoDaddy Merchants Can Now Easily Show Inventory Across Google] – 13:02
Now, the other thing that came out was GoDaddy. Google partnered with GoDaddy and now GoDaddy merchants can add products to Google Shopping directly with a few clicks. Now if you’ve been following our show, you know that we’ve covered how you know Google Partnership. With a couple of other. Shopping cart companies they did with partnership with Shopify. They also did something with WordPress where, you know all the products are going to go directly into Google Shopping. This is great. You know what they’re doing is they’re actually trying to slow the growth in my, in my opinion this is great because they’re trying to basically put a tent to Amazon. Supreme Rain right is, even if that’s a word. But basically they want to basically. Taco Amazon on morning the other end is like in increase bring more people to Google Shopping and Google search because now they realize hey, we have more choices on Google shopping than we have on Amazon. That’s two and #3 is. You’re gonna see a lot of businesses anyway moving away from Amazon because you know, Amazon, either shuts them down, Amazon is too risky, Amazon doesn’t allow their merchants to find out who the user the email address and of the person making the purchase. Things like that right? Amazon has his own flaws and plus this week that Amazon got sued because, you know, there are a lot of unreliable and unsafe products on Amazon that Amazon hasn’t done anything about it. So All in all, this is a great move from Google to create more inventory on Google search Slash Google Shopping. However, Downside is that you know it will be. You know when you search something like just at toothpaste, you probably end up with like you know, 5000 toothpaste results, right? And then? My product is showing up at, you know, 4500 zero, 4000 and if my position on the search results 4500. I have to pay to get to the top of number one right. Again. This is a win win situation for Google is all I will tell you. Right. Great move Google. I really like what you’re doing. OK. With that, the last update of this week is from Google as well.
[Update 10 – Google Launches Free Tools For Travel Marketers] – 15:21
Google launches free tools for travel marketers and you know they have basically you know. Gathered the data and they have launched this tool called Travel Insights and the Travel Insight Tool actually has. Four things underneath it is basically they have destination inside hotel insides focusing facts and demand sizing. All in all, what Google is doing is Google is basically taking the data that they have gathered from people. A from searching, making plans on Google and putting it into our, you know, into the our trap marketers dashboard to help us identify what’s really happening in the world. Think of it as a similar way what we do with Google Keyword research, right? We could say, OK, how many people are actually searching for the word. Let’s just say marketing podcast and based on that we could decide whether we should what keywords to. Bid on and want to do things like that, but my only thing is. Keyword research. The data is never accurate, right? It’s an approximate estimate. I wonder whether with this tool that Google has announced if it’s something accurate, or if still approximate like because for example the destination inside tool provides a clear picture of top sources of demand part destination. The tool allows you to input an original country, a destination country, a date range and view data related to travel demand for the destination. So this is strictly from Google. It’s OK for example, if you set the origin country to worldwide and the destination country to United States, you can find out what demand is coming from and which cities people are looking to visit. This is amazing, right? I can actually say worldwide around the world. What are people around the world are interested in in the US and I can see the list of cities that people are more focused on interested in. And then based on that, I could like to launch different promotion, different campaigns, things like that, right? The same goes for hotel Insights, which is basically. Showing among switch destinations and what kind of hotels people are interested in, things like that are All in all great tools from Google again. If it’s going to be like 80% accurate, great. But if it’s something like one of those gimmicky things, very nice, 50 to 60% accurate and we’re going to always play games with it. I’m not so sure, but will remain to be seen
[Closing] – 17:59
Ok, with that, folks, that’s it for this week in marketing. Now you know everything that you need to know if you’d like to read more, make sure you visit our show page where you’ll find the links to the articles. Once again, this is your host Sajid Islam signing off until next week. Take care. Bye-bye.
Thank you for tuning in this week. It was a pleasure to serve you all. Hit the subscribe button so that you remember to sign on next week. Same place, same time for another round of This Week In Marketing.
1. Facebook Announces $1 Billion Funding for Content Creators (0:15) – Facebook has launched its latest offensive in the escalating digital creator war, with the announcement that it will invest more than $1 billion in programs for creators over the next 18 months, with a prime focus on providing more ways for creators to earn money for the content that they share on Facebook and Instagram.
2. Facebook Pay is Now Available as a Payment Option on Third Party Websites (1:57) – “Starting this August, businesses in the US who use participating platforms will have the ability to enable Facebook Pay as a payment option directly on their websites, giving their customers the ability to speed through checkout without having to re-enter their payment information. We’re starting the rollout with Shopify merchants and expect to expand availability with more platforms and payment service providers over time.”
3. 🔊 Facebook Rolls Out Soundmojis on Messenger for 🌎 Emoji Day 🥳 (4:22) – Facebook welcomed World Emoji Day July 17 with its introduction of Soundmojis, a new feature that enables people to share short sound clips in chats. Messenger users who want to get started with Soundmojis can start a chat, tap the smiley face to open the expressions menu, and select the loudspeaker icon, at which point they can preview and send Soundmojis.
4. Facebook Group Admin can Now Designate Subject Matter Experts (5:39) – Group administrators can now recognize specific members in their communities by designating them as group experts. Those members will see badges displayed next to their names, making it easier for group members to discover informative posts and comments from experts on certain topics. Facebook is not part of the process of designating people as experts, with full control going to the group admins. There are no requirements, such as credentials or degrees, for being named an expert. Group admins can also team up with group experts to host question-and-answer sessions, respond to questions, and share perspectives on topics.
5. YouTube Launches Shorts Beta in All Regions (7:00) – On July 12, YouTube announced that YouTube Shorts beta will be available everywhere where YouTube is available.
6. TikTok Announces ‘Small Biz Block Party’ Event Series to Provide Marketing Tips and Insights (8:34) – TikTok is looking to help small businesses across the US make the best use of its platform for their promotions by running what it’s calling a ‘Small Biz Block Party’, a nationwide, 20-event virtual workshop series which will bring together business owners and TikTok experts, in order to share knowledge, tips, and insights… The Small Biz Block Party kicks off on August 5, 2021, with an event designed for businesses of all sizes and co-hosted by Main Street America, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening communities through preservation-based economic development.
RSVP here: https://www.tiktok-smallbizblockparty.com/
7. Bye Bye Twitter Fleets (10:03) – Twitter is giving up on Fleets nine months after rolling it out to everyone, saying the feature didn’t accomplish what the company hoped it would. As of August 3, Fleets will no longer be available on Twitter. Twitter launched Fleets in hopes that its ephemeral nature would encourage more people to “join the conversation.” In other words, the company wanted to see a noticeable uptick in new users and increased activity among existing users. Fleets accomplished neither of those goals, Twitter says.
8. Microsoft Advertising Announces Video Extensions (12:02) – It is available for all advertisers globally. This is a unique opportunity only available on Microsoft Advertising. With Video Extensions, advertisers have the flexibility to combine video with other ad extensions. This is a great way to provide enriching content to those searching for your offerings. Advertisers can set up an action link on the video overlay which will take users to your website or a specific page of choice where conversions occur.
9. GoDaddy Merchants Can Now Easily Show Inventory Across Google (13:02) – GoDaddy merchants can add products ‘to Google’ from their online store and either promote them via a Smart Shopping campaign or make them eligible for free listings. Merchants aren’t the only ones who will benefit from this partnership. Google has specified that they want searchers to have more choice when it comes to finding unique products from new and smaller businesses online.
10. Google Launches Free Tools For Travel Marketers (15:21) – Google is launching free tools designed to help travel marketers make more informed decisions based on search data for destinations and hotels. To ensure travel businesses and tourism officials have the information they need to recover from the pandemic, Google has created a set of tools that provide insight into real-time travel demand. Google began testing these travel insights tools last December in the Asia Pacific region. Now, Travel Insights with Google is being launched in the United States. Travel Insights with Google includes four tools in total: following tools:
Destination Insights: Destination Insights provides a clear picture of top sources of demand per destination. The tool allows you to input an original country, a destination country, and a date range, and view data related to travel demand for that destination. This data can help marketers understand where potential travelers may be coming from and adjust campaigns accordingly. For example, if you set the origin country to “Worldwide” and the destination country to “United States” you can find out where demand is coming from and which cities they’re looking to visit.
Hotel Insights: Hotel Insights analyzes search trends to help travel marketers understand where interest is coming from and attract new guests by creating a stronger digital presence. Simply input a destination and get an overview of recent search trends.
Focusing Facts: Focusing Facts is a tool nested within the Destination Insights tool that displays a set of quick insights such as “Fastest growing destination globally,” “Country with the most inbound interest” and “Top city in demand.” Focusing Facts are based on the previous 84 days of data which provides a well-rounded vantage point. This data appears at the top of the Destination Insights tool.
Demand Sizing: The Demand Sizing Tool is also found within Destination Insights. It allows you to apply distinct filters to compare inbound and outbound interests between one primary country and up to ten comparison countries.
