Author: tom

It felt like January lasted for more than 5 weeks, and yet all of a sudden March is now just around the corner. Meanwhile, the wheels keep turning in the wonderful world of Digital Marketing.

We had an interesting, cautionary tale from Canada this week, where AirCanada fell foul of a rogue AI chatbot (and then by just not doing The Right Thing). 

Meanwhile, LinkedIn is doubling down on trying to drive B2C advertisers to the platform, and I came across some interesting thinking around how Google deals with the amount of nonsense content out there.

What happens when your AI goes off script?

Very interesting case in Canada this week, with AirCanada falling foul of a ruling whereby they had to honour a refund to a bereaved passenger – the catch being, the refund policy didn’t technically exist. Instead, it was generated by their AI chatbot.

Quite apart from the point that we now live in a world where machines appear to have a stronger moral code than us humans (maybe the impending AI-pocalypse is a good thing?), it makes for an interesting case study in adequately training your AI tools to the same, if not a greater extent, than you would do the employees that they are replacing.

Also, if your AI tool stuffs up and it will only cost you relative peanuts to make it right, maybe do that instead. The negative PR and resource/time AirCanada is now devoting to addressing this surely outweighs the cost of just doing the right thing. But this isn’t a PR newsletter…

How does Google rank mediocre content?

There’s no shortage of marketing opinions out there (hi), but sometimes you get some really interesting takes that make you stop and take a second. This week I came across one on Search Engine Land seeking to address the question of What should Google rank in Search when all the content sucks?

There’s a few things at play here. Firstly, the hypothesis is largely spot on – time and time again I have googled a simple question, and waded through keyword-stuffed filler intros before I’ve actually got to the crux of the matter. Second, as the article notes, this isn’t an AI thing – humans have been perfectly capable of writing generic, unintuitive content for years now.

And thirdly, so what does this mean for you? Well, Google has hinted that changes are coming. This, combined with the fact that we all know landing pages need to get to the point and drive impact, poses a great opportunity to actually read the content you’re pulling together, and ask yourself that same question – so what? What is this adding to the person finding it? You’ll find that answering that question can still render content SERP-friendly (depending on how you structure it) AND you can future-proof yourself for the changes that are apparently coming.

LinkedIn highlighting B2C opportunities

The use of LinkedIn as a consumer-facing channel has been discussed for a while, and is something I’ve worked on for a few clients. The general thinking from my experience is that it can serve as a powerful tool to reach specific audiences, but it can also be a very expensive way to build awareness. It’s generally best to try it and see what, if anything, works for you.

However, LinkedIn is clearly making a push to try and bring new advertisers to the platform. They recently ran a Meet the Member survey, the results of which indicate that LinkedIn users are likely to be wealthier, own larger assets, and like spending on high-end products. Which… well, if you didn’t know that (or at least assume that), then you might want to go and brush up on your social networks. 

But in any case, I do think it’s worth trying if you’re looking to shift units of a high value B2C product – but for anything with a minimal CPA, I’d steer clear.

Further Reading

The New York Times explores the growing impact of Instagram as a ‘news’ source, despite the fact the platform itself is trying to de-emphasise political content ($£)

Meta is continuing to double down on Threads, with experiments to cross post from Facebook.

Reddit has signed a deal, reportedly worth $60m per year, with an unnamed AI Company. The deal means that the AI firm can incorporate Reddit user responses into its model, enabling the system to provide more ‘human’ answers. One to watch.

Finally, a recent opinion piece on Slate explores whether recent developments (such as Joe Biden joining) are signalling the imminent decline of TikTok.

That’s it! If you enjoyed this article, then please feel free to tell your friends, say hello or if you’re feeling particularly generous, to buy me a coffee.

In a week where big, blockbuster ads have dominated our social media feeds, it’s been entirely possible to miss a few potentially interesting developments in the world of Digital Marketing.

Firstly, Twitter/X made its first positive advertising announcement (at least that I can remember) for a considerably long time, with a new feature presumably designed to assuage brand safety concerns. LinkedIn also announced a useful evolution of its own (much stronger) ad offering.

Those who closely follow social will already know this, but this week also saw Richard van der Blom’s annual LinkedIn insights report drop, which is essential reading for anyone with a close interest in the platform. If you want to up your LinkedIn game, it’s definitely a great place to start.

Elsewhere there were developments from Google, OpenAI and TikTok.

Twitter/X tries kindness

Elon Musk and the crew at Twitter/X have finally realised that telling advertisers to eff off is potentially not the best strategy to attract their ad spend. Part of the issue Musk has is that even prior to his takeover, Twitter Ads was not a Good product.

Speaking as someone who has managed hundreds of campaigns across well over a dozen self-service platforms, I feel confident saying that actually, Twitter Ads was a Bad product – targeting was inferior to competitors, demographic information was lacking, and all-round accountability was poor.

So, it’s interesting to see the gang (I think there’s just about enough people left there to call it a gang) now looking to improve the offering, by now allowing advertisers to run ads alongside curated content creators. Which sounds amazing in theory, but given these numbers are dwindling, I would expect CPMs to be significantly higher than ads elsewhere – when when internal stakeholders see even less YoY return, they’ll continue to go elsewhere.

Don’t get me wrong – this is a step in the right direction for Twitter/X, but it does feel too little too late. It will be interesting to see if they pursue the path of improving features for advertisers, because there is at least something compelling there.

LinkedIn improves planning

Speaking of platform improvements, LinkedIn this week announced an improvement to its own ad platform, which will enable much more accurate planning in terms of spend x impressions & results. To-date I have always taken the estimates with a pinch of salt, but this sounds like a great development – the idea is that these figures will need some interpretation, but if they actually bear some resemblance to reality then that’ll be a good start.

There was a time when I’d have argued LI was inferior to even Twitter Ads, but those days are long gone.

LinkedIn Algorithm insights

In a week of neat segues, one of the most interesting reports I’ve read for a few months was Richard van der Blom’s annual LinkedIn algorithm update. Some choice cuts include:

• Polls and Documents are the content types most likely to drive reach, with text + image and LinkedIn video further back
• Commenting and Reposting Instantly are the actions you can take to drive success with your own content (although Reposting Instantly feels like something LI will surely look to cut back on if people do it too much)
• If you’re linking out to an article, removing the preview will help reduce reach
• Posting more than once a day is ill-advised
• Engagement in the first hour will play a huge part in determining how successful the post is

These were my key takeaways, but the document has literally hundreds. The whole PDF is pretty chunky, but if you’re someone with either a personal or professional interest in LinkedIn content, it’s worth a look. Alternatively, RVDB pulled together a nice, concise summary infographic.

Further Reading

It seems that OpenAI is working to make sure that ChatGPT can remember conversations in future.

Google said earlier this week that it took down 45% more fake reviews in 2023 thanks to its latest algorithm.

I mentioned last week about TikTok testing a ‘Sub Space’ where private chats could take place between creators and fans – well, TechCrunch have filled in some of the gaps this week.

Having read Walter Isaacon’s recent biography of Elon Musk, this stranger-than-fiction tale of Musk taking over Twitter to try and get revenge following an argument is very believable.

Finally, it would be remiss of me to go through this entire newsletter without mentioning the SuperBowl (I think I can say that legally?), which has dominated my social feeds for the last two weeks; Google unveiled some fun trends, including which states enjoy which dips. Scraping the barrel of PR-friendly content.

That’s it! If you enjoyed this article, then please feel free to tell your friends, say hello or if you’re feeling particularly generous, to buy me a coffee.

I’ve been running these newsletters for a few months now, and I’m not sure I’ve ever offered Snapchat more than a passing reference. However, it’s their time to shin… well, it’s their time this week.

In other news, after years of seeing companies take brief snapshots of SEO performance a couple of times a year, it was interesting to see a columnist at Search Engine Land this week call for a more enlightened approach. Meanwhile, TikTok is testing private spaces where creators can engage with select subscribers – perhaps not world changing in itself, but indicative of a wider trend where social networks are focussing on ways to satisfy both the public and private needs of creators.

What’s going on at Snap?

It was all happening at Snapchat this week, which might have had one of the most turbulent weeks in its relatively rollercoaster existence.

Still reeling from the news it was going to have to recall its Pixy drones due to battery issues, Snap (the company behind Snapchat) then announced significant layoffs to 10% of its workforce. Somewhat predictably given that news, it then transpired that the quarterly earnings had not gone well, leading to stocks tumbling amid fears that growth hasn’t quite gone as well as expected – largely, from where I’m sat, because TikTok has happily stolen it’s lunch.

It isn’t all doom and gloom for Snap however – it has more monthly active users than ever, and there are continued platform improvements.

From my perspective, and chatting with a few peers, I’ve never quite gotten past the fact that Snap was incredibly slow to monetize, wanting to offer advertisers an exclusive experience and failing to launch a self-service ad platform while the iron was hot. By the time that had reached a point of being interesting, much of the same appeal was already offered via Instagram, and then via a TikTok ad platform that has constantly improved since launch.

When you factor in the fact it’s never quite had a market-leading offering with the fact that in that time we’ve seen unprecedented economic instability, it probably isn’t too much of a surprise that investors are concerned. As a marketer, I haven’t heard a single compelling reason to go back to Snap – and don’t see that changing any time soon.

A user-centric approach to SEO

I spotted an interesting article in Search Engine Land this week looking at why a shift to user-centric SEO objectives makes a lot of sense.

At the moment, there is a general focus on capturing volume-based metrics at moments in time – total page views, monthly organic traffic, number of indexed pages and then keyword rankings. These still have a place for me (most obviously tracking keyword rankings) – but the point here is that rather than measuring at distinct fixed points in time, we should consider tracking them dynamically at more regular intervals.

We should also track how user behaviour changes over time, particularly in tandem with how keyword rankings change. This is crucial for adapting to the fluidity of online user needs and aligning marketing strategies more with user experiences and preferences, improving overall SEO performance

Doing this means we can learn more about why these changes are happening, rather than just noting that they’re happening. I’d recommend taking a look at the article for more detail.

TikTok experimenting with private spaces

TikTok is testing a new feature called “Sub Space” within its Live subscription tools, aiming to boost engagement between creators and their paying subscribers by setting up private chat rooms. This very much plays into the wider trend called out by The Economist this week that we’re seeing the demise of the social network as a concept, and the rise of private social spaces.

This feature is designed to incentivize sign-ups by offering exclusive interaction opportunities in live chats. For digital marketers, this represents a novel avenue to deepen relationships with our most engaged audience members. It’s still very much in development, but we should consider how to incorporate private spaces into our TikTok strategies (and potentially other channels – Instagram is playing in the same sandbox).

Further Reading

Are you one of those people who was vaguely interested in Bluesky when it was exclusive and invitation only? Well it’s your lucky day as now anyone can sign up, post once and never use it again. In all sincerity – I’d keep an eye on it as a marketer, but it’s some way off being a major concern.

Meanwhile, Meta gave some insight this week into how the Threads algorithm works. Nothing earth shattering, but worth a look if you have a presence there.

One interesting and unintended consequence of the tightening up of restrictions on ads around political and social issues is that it’s causing brands to see CSR-focussed ads disapproved. This is particularly hitting Pharma firms at the moment.

And finally, well done if you had Tucker Carson interviewing Vladimir Putin on your bingo card this week – the stranger-than-fiction scoop also led to X topping the app store charts for the first time in a long while. Speaking of the channel formerly known as Twitter, Elon Musk is putting his money where his mouth is regarding funding legal action for those cancelled for comments on the channel, funding Gina Carano’s case against Disney.

That’s it! If you enjoyed this article, then please feel free to tell your friends, say hello or if you’re feeling particularly generous, to buy me a coffee.