This week Google and Meta reveal increased faith in ad platforms, Universal takes on TikTok and Instagram tries fixing a problem no one has.
After a slow start to the year, we’re starting to see some interesting developments within and adjacent to the world of digital marketing. TikTok has been making the headlines this week thanks to a seemingly irreconcilable dispute with Universal, while Meta, Google and Microsoft have been in the business pages with quarterly earnings calls. Plus (at least within my circles) there’s been much discussion about Instagram’s new ‘Flipside’ feature, and what that actually means.
Universal vs TikTok
In the world of digital marketing and social media, it’s been hard to escape the news that Universal is removing its songs from TikTok following a breakdown in negotiations over compensation. The net outcome will be that TikTok will feel like a very different experience for users, no longer able to add songs by artists such as Taylor Swift to their videos.
Universal didn’t pull any punches either, accusing TikTok of trying to “bully” them into “accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth.” Nevertheless, as TikTok users noticed a dwindling selection of UMG tracks, the implications for content creators and potential missed opportunity for the broader music industry became evident.
Digital marketers who use TikTok as a core part of their strategy may need to rethink their content or potentially even overall approach; at the very least, it will be curious to see what, if any, overall impact this has on TikTok usage.
Microsoft and Google Post Better-Than-Expected Earnings
It’s quarterly earnings call season! Microsoft and Google have both posted better-than-expected results, while Meta has made a series of positive projections. Although it should be noted – Meta’s call is scheduled for a few hours after this goes out – I’ll provide any relevant updates in the next edition.
All three are surpassing expectations, and while these aren’t all exclusively driven by marketing activity, it does help demonstrate the growing confidence in their digital marketing platforms by our colleagues and peers. Meta in particular has been bullish about the impact of AI on improving its platform, and it does seem that Google and Meta in particular will be forming part of your marketing mix for some time yet. Don’t forget that Microsoft owns LinkedIn, which is also reported to be over-performing against expectations.
What is Instagram’s Flipside Feature?
Some of you may have heard talk about Instagram and tests of its new ‘Flipside’ feature. In a nutshell, for all the talk about social media being about driving impressions and engagements, there is a not-insignificant minority of accounts belonging to people still living in 2006 – sharing all of their thoughts, feelings and updates with a curated group of people via private ‘Finsta’ accounts.
Instagram is trying to work out how best to serve this audience, and the feature being tested is essentially that an account will be able to have private and public posts, with the former being sent out to private groups of people. Essentially, a slight upgrade on the current ‘Close Friends’ feature on stories.
Given the potential for mishap here, I have to admit I can’t really see any particular issues with the current ‘solution’, but hey, Meta’s gotta find a way to make money somehow. Quite how they achieve that with this will be intriguing to see.
Further Reading
After I mentioned the fact that we’re starting to see tangible demonstrations of the impact of AI on digital platforms in last week’s update, Google’s aforementioned Q4 earnings call revealed its growing role in its search platform.
Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller meanwhile lifted the lid on how long it takes Google to process URL changes on larger websites. Answer: longer than you might think.
Following its EU launch, Threads tripled downloads through December. While many industry writers have used this as a demonstration that the platform is here to stay, I’m waiting for the earnings call later this week and any nuggets in terms of improvements in actual users.
Reddit launched an interesting microsite (as part of a wider strategy shift) on what potential benefits and solutions it offers specifically to SMBs.
And finally, unrelated to Digital Marketing, but I found this article by The Economist on what we can learn about energy in the workplace from Jurgen Klopp’s departure thought provoking.
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