Bonded Bitesize – Your Midweek Roundup
Bonded Bitesize – Your Midweek Roundup
Bonded Bitesize – Bringing you your midweek roundup of the latest in digital and media.
Stay connected with recent updates from Meta, Google, TikTok, Uber & many more!
Google’s new trim video tool converts long video content into short, 6-second videos allowing advertisers to easily create bumper ads
Google has announced a new tool that will help advertisers create short, 6-second bumper ads from snippets of a longer video. The tool, which builds on their previous Bumper Machine feature introduced in 2019, has an enhanced machine learning model that means it can better select clips to adapt into shorter formats - as well as having more intuitive editing capabilities. This tool can be found in the Asset Library of Google Ads Manager. According to Google, bumper ads can help achieve greater reach, efficiency and improved ad recall - and that advertisers who run two or more CPM brand advertising formats, such as bumper ads, drove a 9% average increase in conversions.
Our takeaway… Long-form and Short-form video content both have their uses, one dominates the tv screens, and the other mobile phones - so using both within your marketing strategy is a great way to increase the overall reach of your campaign, and this new tool makes this easier than ever.
Based on user feedback, YouTube is separating regular videos, Shorts and livestreams into different tabs on a creators’ channel
YouTube has announced it is rolling out separate tabs for Shorts, livestreams and long-form videos on all channel pages. This update, in response to user feedback, is designed to make it easier for viewers to discover the kind of content they are most interested in when exploring different creators' channel pages. This will help make channels less repetitive, as many creators create Shorts from popular segments of their long-form content, meaning users were often seeing the same clips again and again whilst looking for new content to watch.
TikTok have launched a new educational program for marketers of all levels called ‘TikTok Academy, helping teach them how to make best use of the platform
TikTok’s new educational program, TikTok Academy, aims to help marketers from all backgrounds “develop expertise through education”, with helpful how-to’s and key research insights to help marketers understand the platform and its users. The platform currently has 2 curriculums: The 101 Course, and the Small Business Course, with a third ‘Commerce Course’ still in the works. Each course has a series of lessons, followed by questions to test participants' learning and badges awarded upon successful completion of each course.
Our takeaway… We think this sounds like a valuable tool - in fact we already have 3 team members wanting to enrol! Who better to learn the best ways of using TikTok, than from TikTok themselves? If you’re interested too, enrol here.
Meta has expanded its Professional Mode globally, giving all users access to monetisation opportunities and tools to support growth
Meta has announced they are opening up access to Professional Mode to all creators globally, having initially launched it to select creators in December of last year. Professional Mode provides more opportunities for creators to build their presence on the platform. Meta explains, “With Professional Mode you can use tools to build a public following, earn money from various monetisation programs and connect with your audience in more meaningful ways. And you can do it all on the profile you already have”. Features include access to a range of analytics insights, post scheduling and monetisation tools including Meta’s Reels Play Bonus program and Stars for audience donations.
Our takeaway… We would encourage all brands to jump on this, and explore the features that could help support their growth.
Elon Musk is reportedly looking at ways to monetise verifications - such as charging users $20 per month to stay (or become) verified
The sale of Twitter has finally gone through, and Elon Musk is wasting no time changing features and firing staff members. According to a report from The Verge, Musk has ordered employees to introduce paid verification to its premium tier Twitter Blue - wanting to increase the price from $4.99 per month, to $19.99 per month. Verified users will reportedly be given 90 days to subscribe or risk losing their blue tick. The article stated that the team were given the deadline of November 7th to launch this feature, or they will be fired - so we shall just have to wait and see.
Our takeaway… Well, we can’t say we agree with Musk’s management style, nor many of his erratic decisions. Would you be willing to pay $20 for a verification, or do you think they’ll lose their value if they can be bought? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
TikTok has published a new guide to ‘Shoppertainment’ that provide insights into connecting with consumers within the app, based on data from a BCG study
‘Shoppertainment’ seeks to align in-app advertisements, and facilitate connections between users and products. According to the BCG’s study, “Shoppertainment could uncover $1 trillion in market value for brands in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region by 2025, up from $5 billion today”. The results from the study have been presented as a visual guide for marketers, providing key insights into engaging with users throughout the consumer journey. For example, the guide shows that 34% of users are less trusting of branded content - keeping them from purchasing, while 85% of users face distractions throughout the consumer journey by regularly switching apps.
Our takeaway… The report makes an interesting read, take a look for yourself here and see which insights could help inform your marketing strategy
Google has introduced two new elements to its Ads Data Hub to provide new solutions for marketers and measurement partners
Google has announced that it is introducing two new solutions powered by Ads Data Hub that will help cater to the different needs of marketers and measurement partners. Firstly, the new ‘Ads Data Hub for Marketers’ element will provide a new way for advertisers and agencies to analyse their data. According to Google, this improved service will help marketers generate more insights with less need for technical resources. Google is also planning to implement Publisher Advertiser Identity Reconciliation (PAIR) to provide even more insight. The second new element, ‘Ads Data Hub for Measurement Partners’ will give partners a new access point to provide YouTube measurement services on behalf of marketers, advertisers, agencies and publishers.
Snapchat has rolled out its new ‘Director Mode’ to all users, providing new creative options for content creation on the app
After initially previewing the feature earlier this year at its Partner Summit, Snapchat has now announced it is making its advanced video creation tool ‘Director Mode’ available to all users (Yep, even those without Snapchat+, what a treat!). Director mode offers users new camera and editing tools that make it easier to create polished content. Features include the new dual camera capability (that lets users take a photo from the front and rear camera simultaneously) as well as a green screen mode and a quick edit feature (letting users take and edit multiple snaps together with ease).
Instagram has announced a series of livestreams to assist marketers with their holiday campaigns, with speakers from their business team, experts and SMB owners
As Christmas pushes closer and closer (not that we have to remind you marketers!) Instagram has announced it will be holding a series of live events for marketers - sharing tips and tricks on boosting sales within the app over the festive season.
The schedule is as follows:
- Episode 1 ‘Reaching New Customers with Your Shop’ with chef Stephanie Nass of @chefanienass. Using shoppable content and Boost/Ads with Product Tags to drive discovery and reach new customers
- Episode 2 ‘Your Last Minute Holiday Checklist’ with Founder/CEO Adriana Carrig of @littlewordsproject. Last minute actions you can take to get your shop ready for Holiday shopping, including catalog best practices, creating shoppable content, using Boost to reach new users
- Episode 3 ‘Break through the Holiday Noise’ with Founder/CEO Abena Boamah of @hanahana_beauty. Storytelling and deepening engagement with your audience through Reels/Shoppable Reels and Live Shopping
All the live events will be held on the @instagramforbusiness account, and times and dates can also be found there. On top of this, Instagram has also announced that it is publishing a new holiday checklist for businesses to help them get their shops ready for the Christmas period.
TikTok has published a 17-page holiday marketing guide to assist planning - sharing key insights, checklists and ad options
TikTok has launched a new 17-page holiday marketing guide that provides marketers with an overview of key engagement stats, critical engagement points, checklists for planning, explanations of their different ad options and more! The handy overview provides plenty of ways to approach TikTok marketing during the festive period and how best to optimise your activity to suit each event.
Our takeaway… Don’t let the 17 pages scare you, this guide is packed full of interesting insights and helpful takeaways.
Reddit has announced the partner platforms that it has accepted into it Ads API program as part of the development of its ad business
As the platform works to expand its ad business, Reddit has announced its first set of partners set to help the platform build and evolve its ad tools. Reddit explained “VidMob, Sprinklr, adMixt and PMG will join us as foundational partners in the development of our ads API offering. These partnerships will empower our advertisers to measure creative efficacy as well as automate, scale and optimise their campaigns to drive increased visibility, efficiency and functionality of their Reddit ads.
Meta’s new Advantage+ shopping campaigns are designed to simplify the ad creation process through automating target audiences
Meta has launched Advantage+ shopping campaigns to help advertisers reach more prospective shoppers this holiday season by using automation to find the right audiences to target, as opposed to manual targeting. As Meta explains “rather than manually testing many campaigns and parsing through separate targeting, creative, placement and budget setups, advertisers can now more quickly and efficiently create up to 150 creative combinations at once by setting up a single Advantage+ shopping campaign”. According to Meta, companies have seen (on average) a 12% reduction in cost per action and a 15% increase in their return on ad spend via Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns.
Performance Max Campaigns in Microsoft can now be imported as Smart Shopping Campaigns and Local Inventory Ads
Microsoft has launched a solution within the Google Import tool that simplifies the duplication of Performance Max campaigns across platforms. The new feature will import these campaigns as Search Campaigns and create Dynamic Search Ads (DSA). This means that Microsoft users will now be able to easily import their Performance Max campaigns from Google with or without a Merchant Centre.
Google has added several new search features including new coupons, side-by-side deals and price insights to help inform users
Google has announced several new search features designed to help users snag a bargain just in time for the festive period. One of these new features is a promotion badge that will show up in Google search results for items that are running a promotion, as well as new coupon clippings that can be copied and pasted when making a purchase. In addition, Google has added a way to compare 2 or more deals side by side as well as see price insights to help users better understand the price of an item - be it considered low, typical or high.
Uber is testing out push notifications as part of its new ad division, frustrating users who haven’t even engaged with the app
Many people have taken to Twitter over the weekend to complain about receiving invasive push notifications from Uber - popping up on people's phones that hadn’t even engaged with the app. These are just part of an initial test of Uber's new ad division (which we reported on last week) and users can of course block these notifications within their privacy settings. Uber have not confirmed how long this test will last, how many users it is being tested on, or if it is tracking the data of those who turn their notifications off within their privacy settings.
