social media

Netizency Secures McDonald’s UAE Social Media Business

Dubai-based digital marketing agency, Netizency, is excited to announce that it has emerged victorious in a competitive pitch process and has been awarded the social media account for McDonald’s UAE. Effective January 1st, 2023, the agency will be responsible for managing the brand’s social media strategy, content creation, community management, analytics, and social listening. Netizency’s success in the pitch process is a testament to the agency’s social media expertise and creativity. 

As reported by Campaign Middle East, Walid Fakih, CEO  McDonald’s UAE said, 

“Social media is a crucial component of our marketing strategy as it helps us engage with our customers. Choosing the right agency was a challenge, but the Netizency team stood out during the pitch process for their expertise and innovative approach, and we have full confidence in their ability to deliver outstanding results.”

Michael Maksoudian, managing partner at Netizency is delighted with this incredible win and is looking forward to working together to drive business growth and engagement with their customers.

“To say that this is big news for Netizency would be an understatement! This end-of-year win has upsized our portfolio and sealed yet another incredible year for the whole team. It has also started off 2023, which marks Netizency’s 10-year anniversary, with a bang! We’re thrilled to be going on this crazy ride with the McDonald’s UAE team- and I can think of no better way to celebrate Netizency’s decade-young milestone than with the trust and partnership of the McDonald’s UAE team.”

Interesting Read: The Ultimate A-Z Glossary Of Digital Advertising!

How Will Meta’s New Ad Formats and Brand Controls Boost Growth?

Meta introduced a basketful of new spaces available for advertisers on both the Explore page of Instagram, within Facebook Reels, and on creators’ pages. 

New ad formats for Facebook and Instagram 

The company said in a blog post that it focused on building products for businesses that meet people where they are.

“We’re announcing new ways for advertisers to reach customers in a range of ways based on how they are spending their time—whether through video, messaging, ads or AI-enhanced experiences—and updates on our ongoing efforts with industry partners.”

It is testing new skippable ‘post-loop’ video ads on Instagram Reels. Other product updates for advertisers include a music catalog, a new ad format for Facebook Reels, and ads on the Explore home page and user profiles.

A test of ads in creators’ profile feeds will give creators a monetization option. They will be able to make additional income from ads within the content they already have.

The company will run 4- to 10-second skippable post-loop ads and standalone video ads after a Reel has ended. It also tests horizontally scrollable carousel ads displaying 2-10 images at the bottom of a Facebook Reel. Additionally, Meta introduced new ad placements and formats for Instagram – AI-powered multi-advertiser ads and Explore home and profile feed ads for businesses.

Another ad product includes an open beta test of Augmented Reality (AR) ads in both Feeds and Stories on Instagram, where brands can encourage people to interact with an effect through their surroundings, such as testing furniture in their home or test driving a car.

AR Ads on Instagram, Credit-Hindubusinessline

Multiverse ads on Instagram, Credit-Hindubusinessline

Meta also revealed brand safety updates the marketing community had been waiting for. Instagram and Facebook feeds will now incorporate brand safety risk tolerance controls, allowing brands to control content proximity (low, medium, high). As an added benefit, brands will also have access to third-party reporting, which will let them know where their ads appear, thanks to ad tech partner Zefr’s technology.

Interesting Read: Meta and JioMart Will Launch Chat-To-Cart Services In India

Marketers Perspective

A new ad revenue opportunity for Meta and creators who make money off the platform. Adweek reports that for in-Reel Facebook ads, creators would get 55% of the revenue, while Meta would get 45%. There are still some details to work out concerning revenue sharing with creators’ pages, but It is unlikely that they will be able to earn a significant income.

In the meantime, buyers aren’t prioritizing the formats, as Meta still needs to fix other glitches on its platform. In addition, some worry that the platform might become overcrowded with advertisements. Also, the macroeconomic headwinds looming have prompted Meta to freeze hiring. However, advertisers may warm to the new offerings. They are equating inventory to lower CPMs (cost per thousand impressions). New offerings build additional inventory on the platform hence marketers look forward to seeing lower bids in return.

The new suitability tools and controls are under testing mode and will be rolled out in 2023. Advertisers will have more control over how the ads will appear on the platform as well as early insights on the future of shopping in the metaverse.

Interesting Read: Meta Audience Network Announces Rewarded Interstitial Ads

Twitter Rolls Out Branded Likes in Saudi Arabia

Twitter brings Branded Likes to all managed advertisers reaching consumers in Saudi Arabia. It also rolled out in other countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

👋 We're launching #BrandedLikes, a feature that lets advertisers customize Twitter’s Like button animation for 24 hours.

Branded Likes will appear on any organic or promoted Tweets that contain the advertiser-selected hashtags after an individual has liked that Tweet. pic.twitter.com/mBRRTWtAru

— Twitter Business (@TwitterBusiness) June 30, 2022

As it can be seen in the tweet, Branded Likes let advertisers transform Twitter’s Like button into a delightful, custom animation for 24 hours. Twitter explains that several brands like Disney, Tesco, and more have tested Branded Likes. The results show that it drives conversation and engagement around the biggest launches and brand moments, and create memorable, interactive experiences with consumers.

Interesting Read: Lemma Partners With Continuum, Expand DOOH Presence In The Middle East

How does this new feature work?

• Branded Likes are available in Twitter’s Timeline Takeover ad offering, which ensures a brand’s ad is the first ad to appear when someone opens Twitter for the first time that day. The pairing helps advertisers to maximize brand exposure and drive additional engagement.
• As part of the Takeover ad, advertisers can select a hashtag (and up to 10 translations of the hashtag) for their Branded Like animation. Bare Tree Media is the partner for activations running in Saudi Arabia, the U.S, and the U.K to create custom artwork for the campaign.
• The custom branded like will appear when a consumer taps the like button on an organic/promoted tweet with the pre-selected hashtag.
• Finally, it will appear for up to 24 hours in the same geography as the brand’s Timeline Takeover.

Twitter stated that during testing the new feature delivers ad effectiveness for brands when paired with Timeline Takeover. 

“Branded Likes generated positive impact when paired with Timeline Takeover, seeing a +277% lift in the recall, and +202% lift in purchase and consideration intent.”

Even though Branded Likes add personality to the tweets and spark interest but involves high cost and scale. Twitter has not provided any price range as of now. It is certainly an intriguing offering that will add some variety to the tweet stream.

Interesting Read: Marriott International: A Hotel or An Ad Tech Company?

Meta Slams Apple Over ATT, Google Hit By Second U.K Anti Trust Investigation

Meta airs grievances over Apple’s market power in the mobile app industry To FTIA.

When the Federal Telecommunications and Information Administration (FTIA) asked what technology companies thought about Apple, Meta enthusiastically responded. Apple’s new tracking prompt has cost Meta billions of dollars and made innovation impossibly hard for them. Meta mostly criticizes Apple throughout 19 pages of comments. Meta, which is itself the target of a federal antitrust suit, paints Apple as a behemoth that restricts its ability to expand. Meta wrote in the letter, 

Despite having some of the most popular apps in the world, Meta’s ability to innovate on its products and services and even reach its customers is determined, and in some cases, significantly limited, by the most popular mobile operating systems, such as Apple’s iOS.

Meta also made a connection between Apple’s ad business which witnessed explosive growth and its challenges in the same market. Other relatively smaller tech companies (mostly app developers), and the Coalition for App Fairness, a group that represents companies including Epic Games, Match Group, and Spotify, filed a comment to the NTIA that also criticized Apple’s market power. They have called on Congress and the Biden administration to act against the power of dominant app store companies like Apple and Google.

Whether this branch would take action is unclear, but it will be interesting to see what approach they decide to take against a tech company.

Interesting Read:  How Will Dubai’s Metaverse Sector Contribute To Its Economy By 2030?

Image Credit: Tech Crunch

Andrea Coscelli, the CMA’s Chief Executive said,

We’re worried that Google may be using its position in adtech to favor its own services to the detriment of its rivals, of its customers, and ultimately of consumers. Weakening competition in this area could reduce the ad revenues of publishers, who may be forced to compromise the quality of their content to cut costs or put their content behind paywalls. It may also be raising costs for advertisers which are passed on through higher prices for advertised goods and services.

Since the tech giant owns the largest service provider in three key parts of the chain. CMA investigation will examine Google’s dominance in the following parts:

Demand-side platforms (DSP) allow advertisers and media agencies to buy publishers’ available ad space from many sources.

Ad exchanges provide the tech to automate the sale of publishers’ ad inventory via real-time auctions by connecting to multiple DSPs and collecting bids for them.

Publisher ad servers that manage publisher inventory and determine which ad to show based on bids received from exchanges and/or direct deals between publishers and advertisers.

CMA advocates for greater regulatory authority for overseeing anti-competitive behavior from tech giants under the new regulator ‘Digital Markets Unit’. It is expected to be introduced in 2020, with the power to fine tech companies up to 10% of global revenues for breaching new digital rules. However, the government has not given the watchdog the authority to impose such fines.

Andrea Coscelli, the CMA’s Chief Executive-

This would be bad for the millions of people who enjoy access to a wealth of free information online every day. It’s vital that we continue to scrutinize the behavior of the tech firms which loom large over our lives and ensure the best outcomes for people and businesses throughout the UK.

In response, a Google spokesperson said,

We will continue to work with the CMA to answer their questions and share the details on how our systems work.                 

Interesting Read: AdTech Vs MarTech: Let’s Settle This Once For All!

Google Introduces New Ad Tools, YouTube Short Ads Are Coming

Google has announced numerous new ad tools at its Google Marketing Live event, including new ad options for YouTube Shorts, new layouts for Responsive Display Ads, improved analytics, and new ad testing options.

YouTube Shorts

YouTube has been teasing ads on Shorts since last October, but is now progressively rolling it out worldwide.” Google has integrated Shorts advertising into its Video Action and App campaigns. Brands will be able to connect product feeds to their Shorts promotions and make video ads more shoppable. 

This could eventually be integrated into regular Shorts clips, enabling creators to monetize their content better. Although it isn’t available yet, the new display could prove valuable for brands, as Shorts delivers more than 30 billion views daily. As quoted by 9to5Google, the company said,

“This is an exciting milestone for advertisers, and a key step on our road to developing a long-term YouTube Shorts monetization solution for our creators, which we’ll share more about soon.”

Image Credit: Google

Google Discover Feeds

Discover feeds are where people scroll through their favorite personalized content for ideas and inspiration. Though it is a lesser used Google app, the new video ad options could help to connect with users and offer more compelling and engaging ad experiences.

Image Credit: Google

Display & Video 360 ad

Google’s also updating its Display & Video 360 ad options and getting new visual shopping ads.

Advertisers will soon be able to add Connected TV campaigns to reach affinity, in-market, and demographic audiences across YouTube and other ad-supported connected TV apps. On the top-left corner, one can swipe through various images accompanied by various product details, such as prices and ratings. This might include information about loyalty programs.

Image Credit:9to5 Google

3D Models of products from merchants will also appear directly in search results, as Google claims 90% of Americans currently use or would consider using, AR for shopping.

Responsive Search Ads

Later this year, Google will roll out automatically created assets for responsive search ads, which should make ads more relevant.

“If you opt in, Google Ads will automatically create assets for you based on content from your landing pages and existing ads. The system will then display the best-performing combination of automatically created assets, and the assets you provide, to make your ads more relevant. The system will then display the best-performing combination of automatically created assets, and the assets you provide, to make your ads more relevant.”

Image Credit: Google

Mobile-First Layouts For Responsive Display Ads

All-new, mobile-first layouts will allow advertisers to showcase their brand on full-screen portrait ad inventory. In addition, Google is introducing scrollable ads and videos based on the product feed.

Performance Max Campaigns

Performance Max campaigns to help advertisers drive better results across Google’s channels and inventory They include A/B testing, campaign management, support for store sales goals to optimize for in-store sales, new insights, and explanations, including attribution, audience and auction insights, and optimization score and recommendations.

Google Insights

Google’s also adding new personalized trend data to its ad insights page to improve contextual understanding and targeting. They include three new reports- Attribution insights, Budget insights, and Audience insights.

Other New Advertising Features

Conversion Lift Test

Google is also bringing Conversion Lift tests directly in Google Ads and Display & Video 360. It will help to measure incremental conversions based on users and regions, and Search Lift tests will enable you to measure the effectiveness of YouTube campaigns at driving organic traffic to YouTube and Google.

Privacy-safe options for interest-based advertising and remarketing

There will be worldwide testing in Google Ads and Display & Video 360 later this year. These tests will incorporate signals from the new Privacy Sandbox APIs.

Ad Control Center

Earlier this month, Google previewed its Ad Control Center at its I/O Summit. People will be able to pick the types of ads they want to see more or less of and control how their data informs ads they see across YouTube, Search, and Discover.

There are several interesting new additions, but the new Shorts display option is the biggest. Users will be able to expand their reach with the rapidly growing Shorts audience. With the growth of TikTok, short-form video has become highly influential. Brands should take note of these options and work to find ways to make use of them in order to maximize appeal and resonance.

Interesting Read: Bridging The Gap: Is YouTube Unifying Linear And CTV Ad Buying?

Snap Partners With Cameo, Introduces Advertiser Program

Snap opened its NewFronts this week with the announcement of a new advertiser program and content initiatives – including a new partnership with celebrity video platform Cameo, a new advertising product called Snap Promote, and original programming.

Interesting Read: AVOD strategy For Netflix Ahead: Should Advertisers Rejoice?

Details

The ‘Snap x Cameo Advertiser Program’ will enable Snap advertisers to pay Cameo members to create short video ads for their Snap marketing campaigns. There are more than 45,000 personalities on Cameo, including actors, influencers, musicians, athletes, and more. With this partnership, advertisers will be able to directly reach Cameo’s celebrities to pitch their ads. As a result of this partnership, top creators could also potentially make money from the new advertiser program through Snapchat, following the launch of its Creator Marketplace last year.

Snap reported during its beta phase, bedding retailer Mattress Firm partnered with a range of Cameo talent for the new campaign “Junk Sleep”. The campaign drove an 8-point lift in ad awareness, which is 2 times the usual rate for the category. The Snap Ads portion of the campaign also had a video view rate that was  3 times the retail category average.

Furthermore, Snap will launch a new advertising program called Snap Promote, which will allow companies to sponsor shows and place advertisements directly within Discover’s news feed. Snap’s new ad product, which is available in the Ad Manager, was recently tested by the NFL, which resulted in 7 times more Snapchat users subscribing to NFL Stories than the average.

On Snap’s Stories page, advertising partners will have the chance to promote their Discover shows, as well as streamable shows known as Snap Originals. Snap reports that its Discover platform saw 25 percent growth year-on-year in Q1 2022 and that 80% of U.S. Gen-Z watched at least one Snap Original in 2021. Snap also announced a slew of new original programming content. There will be a new season of ‘Charli vs Dixie’, starring TikTok stars Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, and a new series with Olympic legend Simone Biles. 

Snapchat extended its content agreements with the NFL, NBA, and WNBA following 205 million people watching sports content on the platform in 2021. NBA, NFL, and Snap will collaborate for the first time on Spotlight Challenges, Snapchat’s in-app TikTok competitor.

Interesting Read: 5 Ad Industry Trends That Are Likely To Unveil in 2022!

Why we care

Snap has 332 million daily active users, outranking Twitter, Reddit, and Pinterest, and last year, Cameo generated $125 million in revenue. It’s safe to say that the new partnership has the potential to be a success for Snap and its ad partners.

However, since the agreement was announced, Cameo has laid off over 25% of its employees as a result of the slowdown in business. Snapchat’s original programming continues to impress viewers. Younger audiences have enjoyed Discover content’s short, episodic format, which caters to their viewing and media consumption habits.

Interesting Read: New Video Game Measurement Allows Brands To Evaluate The Impact Of The In-Game Ads

TikTok Gets More Visual, Launches ‘Interactive Add Ons’ For In-Feed Ads 

Earlier this week, TikTok announced it now offers interactive add-ons for in-feed ads to brands globally to help them make more engaging ads. The short-form video platform is adding a range of new ways to encourage engagement with the in-stream ads. 

Interactive Add-Ons Categories

There are two types of interactive add-ons available for brands: standard and premium. 

Standard Interactive Add-Ons: These add-ons are excellent for achieving lower-funnel marketing goals, such as generating clicks and conversations. It includes:

Display Card Ads

Display Card: Highlight important messages, share exclusive offers, and drive traffic to your website or app.

Gift Code Sticker.: Viewers can click for an exclusive promotional code and copy it before heading to purchase.

Voting Sticker: This allows companies to poll, quiz, or collect user feedback to encourage audience participation.

Countdown Sticker: Add a timer to your video ad to catch your audience’s attention for upcoming releases or important dates.

Premium Interactive Add-Ons: These add-ons can be used to achieve higher-funnel marketing goals such as brand awareness and community building. 

Gesture Ads (via Tiktok)

Pop-out Showcase: This image element will lay over the ad with the ability to spotlight products through a pop-out element to drive clicks.

Gesture: A user can interact with the ‘Gesture reward card’ by tapping or swiping to obtain reward credits.

Super Like 2.0: This will be available soon, but it will allow for even more visuals after a user likes an ad.

These creative new ad enhancers are unique and exciting to add interactivity for more ad engagement. TikTok stated in their blog,

“Our research shows that 57% of viewers are more likely to search for brand information online when they connect with businesses on TikTok. Acting as an extension of your creative idea, Interactive Add-Ons offer flexible formats that encourage consumers to join in the fun when they see your ad.”

Interesting Read: Instagram Shuts Down IGTV For Longer Videos, TikTok Expands Video Length

Meta Makes Instant Messaging Fun, Launches New Features On Instagram

Meta introduced seven new messaging features to Instagram. The social media giant aims to make more investments in messaging to help users connect in a  seamless way. In the new update, Meta is focused on Direct Messages and has rolled out only in select countries. It will make it available globally later.

Interesting Read: Instagram Rolls Out Ad Feature To The Shops Tab Globally

New Instagram Features can help users browse and chat at the right time. It also customizes message threads.

Image Credit: Meta

 Browse and reply:  Received a direct message (DM) while browsing? Tap the in-app notification to bring up the Reply text box. IT allows you to compose a reply and send it without having to navigate to the Inbox. This feature only seems to support text responses at present.

Quick DM’s: Reshare Instagram interesting content which can be a meme, video, or photo instantly just by tapping and holding the share button.

Who’s online: Bored and wondering who to chat with? Look no further than Instagram! Newly added to your Inbox is a horizontal list of all your online friends.

Image Credit: Meta

Song Preview: Can’t the song out of your head? Share it with your connections. The latest feature is enabled by integrations with Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Spotify. You can send a 30-second song preview to your friends to listen directly in the DM.

Silent Messages: Send messages without disturbing friends during the night or when they’re busy by adding “@silent” to your message. It’ll not notify them but just sit there patiently waiting for them to eventually check their Inbox.

Lo-Fi: The new lo-fi chat theme makes your conversations feel more personal and chill.

Group Polls: Deciding on a meal plan or meet-up with friends? The new chat feature on Instagram allows creating a poll directly in your group chat.

Instagram is steadily becoming a more reliable Instant Messaging (IM) platform with these new features and additions. As Meta already supports cross-messaging between Facebook and Instagram, it only makes sense that something of the former should be added to the latter. This can only unify the two and smooth out the irregularities that cause them to be uniquely distinct.

Interesting Read: Meta Taps Zefr For Brand Suitability And Improve Advertising Safety Tools

Meta Consolidates Automated Ad Products Under Meta Advantage Portfolio

Meta is consolidating all of its automated products under the ‘Meta Advantage’ umbrella. The new suite is the home to Meta’s existing automated tools such as Detailed Targeting Expansion, Automatic Placements or Automated App Ads as well as future automated products in the works.

The new suite, Meta Advantage will help advertisers to easily identify and benefit from Meta’s ad offerings. Goksu Nebol-Perlman, VP of Product Marketing, Ads & Business Products Meta said in a blog post that 77% of advertisers testing its automated products saved several hours per week by using them. She further added,

“Automated ad products help to improve the performance of your ads by relying more on machine learning, such as automatically finding the most relevant audiences or ad placements. They also allow you to further simplify optimizing campaigns, so you can worry less about managing campaigns and get back to running your business.”

Interesting Read: Meta Taps Zefr For Brand Suitability And Improve Advertising Safety Tools

Still reticent and reluctant!

Despite Facebook, and now Meta, pushing advertisers to embrace automation (Google has also been doing so), there has been reluctance from advertisers along the way. The platform claims that machine-learning-powered ad products reduce manual work and yield better results at lower prices. However, some buyers are turned off by the lack of control and transparency.

Regardless, the trend toward greater automation is clear, and it’s best to go with it.

What’s new in Meta Advantage?

There are 2 kinds of Advantage products in the suite. First, those features marked “Advantage” help advertisers to enhance a specific aspect of manual campaign setup, such as the selected detailed targeting options within your target audience. Second, those products marked “Advantage+” allow automating an entire campaign flow or an entire core step of manual campaign setups, such as placements or creative.

Meta Advantage aims to provide three key benefits to advertisers- Optimization, Personalization, and Efficiency.

Features under the Meta Advantage umbrella include:

• Advantage Lookalikes: (currently known as Lookalike Expansion) It allows Meta to automatically reach a broader set of people beyond the set parameters in the advertiser’s lookalike audience. Meta studies show when using Advantage Lookalikes,  Website or Mobile Custom Audience seeds saw a 17.3% decrease in median CPA. On the other hand, Customer List Custom audience seeds saw a 10.1% decrease.
• Advantage Detailed Targeting: (currently known as Detailed Targeting Expansion) It uses the advertiser’s targeting preferences: demographics, interests, and behaviors as a guide to finding better performance opportunities outside of a defined audience.
• Advantage+ App Campaigns: (currently known as Automated App Ads) This product uses machine learning to deliver creative variations to the most appropriate audiences and placements based on Meta’s ad systems.
• Advantage+ Placements: (currently known as Automatic Placements) Meta algorithms find the most effective placement for a given ad in order to maximize performance. Showing ads across 6 or more Placements— such as Facebook Marketplace, Instagram Stories, Reels—gives Meta’s system more flexibility to control costs and provide better results.
• Advantage+ Creative: (currently known as Dynamic Experiences) It automatically bundles a set of creative optimizations into a single entry that can improve ad performance.
• Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns: (currently known as Automated Shopping Ads) Meta plans to add it to the suite by end of the year. It optimizes across multiple campaign levers- creative, targeting, placement, budget, and other campaign levers to find the best opportunities to drive conversions with minimal efforts.

The product is in the beta phase now.  Goksu Nebol-Perlman concluded, 

“Wherever you see the name Advantage, you can be sure you’re getting our most advanced automation and machine learning technology designed to help you create and deliver your most efficient campaigns. As we progress through 2022, we will continue to update you on how to increase your performance on our platforms and ensure that you’re able to build and grow your business.”

Interesting Read: The Ultimate A-Z Glossary Of Digital Advertising!

Facebook On TikTok With Verified Account

Social platforms setting up shop on other social platforms and the latest example is Facebook is on TikTok. Astonished? Is this your next thought – what’s Facebook doing on TikTok? Buying ads or just another social account on TikTok?

We’ll know soon enough because the social networking company has set up its own TikTok account. The account is verified and had roughly more than 15,000 followers at the time of this post, but it had not shared any videos or other content, save for a link to the Facebook application on Google Play.

Image Credit: Tech Crunch

A Meta spokesperson said, 

“Brands leverage a variety of channels, including some of our social media platforms, to reach and engage with the people using their products and services every day. “Our intent with establishing a brand presence and cultivating community on platforms like TikTok or others is no different.”

Don’t be surprised! 

The different social platforms often have accounts on each other’s sites and apps. For example, Meta on Twitter provides regular news and updates. A Pinterest account on Facebook promotes its ads in several languages. Well, TikTok also has an Instagram account with 26million followers to promote the content. 

Likewise, Facebook may be looking to boost its Gen Z user base by leveraging TikTok (or its ad platform) after recently reporting flat growth in monthly active users in its last quarter. With the decline in Facebook’s popularity, they might be building a content strategy, especially for the younger generation. 

Another likely factor is Facebook…Errr…Meta is delving deep into the metaverse, and the Roblox user base is primarily 25 and under, with a sizable proportion of people aged nine to sixteen. The fact that large brands utilize various channels for marketing and communication makes it a little amusing to see Facebook pop up on TikTok.  However, TikTok gives Meta a way to connect with younger users that aren’t on Facebook or Instagram today. 

It will be interesting to witness the content of Facebook on TikTok. Well, isn’t it Meta now?