Snap Back to Reality?

Today In Digital Marketing is a daily podcast and daily newsletter showcasing the latest in marketing trends and updates. This week, Tod touches on:

SNAPCHAT: Snapchat experiences a creator comeback, reigniting interest and engagement on the platform.

COMMERCE: Amazon's TikTok-like Inspire shopping feed is now available to all US customers

ADVERTISING: Amazon recruits a longtime Meta veteran to lead its growing adtech division

AR: Meta previews new augmented reality and shopping ads at NewFronts

MARKETING: Roblox reports early positive organic lift after an advertising beta test

ENGAGEMENT: YouTube streamlines channel page options to improve engagement and simplify user experience.

Snap: The Creator Comeback Kid

Could Snapchat be making a comeback for creators?

In an effort to attract brands, the company has redesigned its ad revenue-sharing platform to focus on creators, offering new monetization opportunities including:

• Spotlight Snaps
• Shopify integrations
• Mid-roll ads in Snap Star Stories

And influencers are taking notice as several famous YouTubers have recently praised the app and its monetization opportunities. But, can this shift toward creators help Snapchat compete with other major platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube?

A Competitive Landscape

In a new report from Performance Marketing World, Snap's head of talent, Julie Bogaert, explains what Snapchat has to offer creators and brands that other platforms don't: a low-pressure environment for uncurated authentic content.

Unlike other platforms, Bogaert added that Snapchat lacks comments and a news feed, leading to a more intimate, one-to-one relationship, which keeps users watching longer, and creators who post content that resonates with their audience can expect to grow their following quickly.

The Challenge for Snap

However, according to one agency executive quoted in the piece, despite the company's efforts to attract creators and brands with new monetization options, influencers, and brands still prioritize other platforms over Snapchat.

While Snapchat isn't quite ready to play with YouTube, TikTok, and Meta yet, as more brands follow creators to the platform, it may only be a matter of time before Snapchat can compete with the big dogs.

Image: Canva

Amazon: When Video Commerce Meets TikTok

Amazon has released its new TikTok-like shopping feed, Inspire, to all customers in the U.S.

The new feed lets consumers explore products and shop from content created by influencers, brands, and other customers.

To access Inspire, users need to sign in to their Amazon account, open the Shopping app, and tap on the Inspire icon on the bottom navigation bar.

They can personalize their feed by choosing from over 20 interests such as:

• Makeup
• Pets
• Gaming

Platform Engagement

Like TikTok, viewers can like the content by double-tapping anywhere on the screen and swiping up from the bottom to see the next video.

Consumers can also scroll horizontally through the small buttons that display the products in the video at the bottom of the screen, click on a product to view it in an overlay window, and then make a purchase or add the item to a list.

Brands on Inspire

Brands can post to Inspire, including vendors and sellers enrolled in Brand Registry with an active Brand Store. While Amazon Influencer Program creators can post to the platform and earn a commission when customers shop from their content. Customers, however, can’t post to Inspire but they can submit a product review.

The shopping feed is currently available to all U.S. customers via the mobile app on iOS and Android. Sorry desktop marketers, no Inspire for you.

Images: Amazon

Amazon’s Latest DSP Upgrade: A Former Meta Executive

It seems Amazon isn't just being inspired by TikTok.

Business Insider reported yesterday that Amazon Ads has poached a longtime Meta executive to lead its adtech division.

Kelly MacLean, who spent more than a decade as VP of business products engineering at Meta, has been appointed as Amazon Ads' VP of its demand-side platform.

The Amazon DSP is a platform that uses automation to let advertisers purchase ads on Amazon across various sites such as:

• Twitch
• IMDb
• Amazon.com

The report notes that as Amazon's ad business expands, the DSP plays a critical role in its operations, competing with major players like Google and Microsoft-owned Xandr.

DSP Upgrades

The DSP recently underwent an 18-month-long overhaul to enhance its machine-learning and predictive algorithms, and the company said that further improvements are in progress.

According to sources familiar with the matter, MacLean will have a significant role in communicating these forthcoming offerings to large agency groups and non-endemic advertisers.

Meta Augments the Ad Game

Meanwhile, Meta is taking a page out of Snapchat's book. Yesterday, the company announced that augmented reality is coming to Reels ads and Facebook Stories.

Previously, the tech giant offered AR ads in the Facebook Feed, Instagram Feed and Instagram Stories. However, now these ads can run on other prominent areas across Meta's platform, including:

• Facebook and Instagram Reels
• Facebook Stories

Meta also introduced new interactive Reels Ads options, including:

Product carousels that let brands feature multiple items in one clip.

More prominent CTA buttons on screen – the button includes an ad thumbnail, headline, and other business details, like the site URL.

Facebook users will also be able to pause a video ad and preview a link before clicking it.

Finally, the company said marketers can now work with select third-party measurement partners on Reels Ads campaigns, including:

• Double Verify
• IAS
• MOAT

These firms are helping Meta test and launch a Reels Viewability reporting option that will be rolled out to advertisers in the future.

Roblox: Portaling to Brand Engagement

As Roblox continues to develop its ad options, one product, in particular, is catching the attention of brand partners: Portals.

Internal data from the platform's in-game Portals ad product, which lets users jump between experiences, shows substantial organic lift for brands, Digiday reported today.

Test Results

The test showed that a tenth of users either returned to the branded experience they discovered through a Portal or saw some friends portaled into a branded experience and joined them organically. Meaning brands can generally expect a 10% increase in traffic and engagement through the ad format. Roblox also found that a fifth of gamers redeemed digital items in experiences they joined via Portals.

Quoting Digiday:

Roblox’s organic lift numbers demonstrate one of the platform’s core strengths as it moves toward the full rollout of its ad offerings — that ads in Roblox, and particularly formats such as Portals, are couched inside engaging gaming experiences in which users actually want to spend meaningful time.

Image: Canva

YouTube Updates Channel UI

And finally, YouTube has made some changes to its channel user interface.

‘For You’

First, the platform is adding a new personalized ‘For you’ recommendation section for each channel visitor based on their viewing history, topic affinity, and other factors.

Channel managers will also have the option to exclude certain content types, and set parameters around what gets displayed.

New Display

YouTube is also bringing back the 'Sort by oldest' channel filter, which it removed last year, and simplifying its channel display by hiding tabs with no content present or information available elsewhere.

Coming Soon

The platform is also planning to add new display options, such as:

• A ‘Courses’ tab for channels that have courses enabled
• A ‘Releases’ tab for musicians to showcase their latest tracks and albums
• The capacity to include links in your header overview

YouTube also recently added a ‘Podcasts’ tab for channels with podcast content.

Images: YouTube

Credit to Tod Maffin and the Today In Digital Marketing podcast, Produced by engageQ.com