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What If TikTok Goes Away?

Larry Harrington on September 27, 2024

The Rise of Short-Form Video

With the average attention span dropping from two and a half minutes to 45 seconds in the last decade, it’s no wonder short form videos have exploded in popularity. Led by the rise of Tiktok, Facebook reels, Instagram reels, and YouTube Shorts have followed suit. TikTok has more than 150 million active monthly users in the U.S. and YouTube shorts get more than 50 billion views a day. The rapid growth of these channels offers opportunity and promise for digital marketers. But they also require special attention and cannot. You can just roll out identical ads across the platforms. Each channel has its own specifications. Understanding how to work within each is critical to success.

TikTok Successes in Digital Marketing

Many companies have focused their short form video efforts on TikTok recently because of its sophistication and its advertising opportunities. Its audience is massive and properly designed creative yields solid results in TikTok. At CloudControlMedia, we have seen the cost per lead drop by up to 10x when using specially designed creative for TikTok and keeping creative fresh. TikTok creative can fatigue in as little as month, but when that happens there are some strategies you can use to give campaigns new life.

TikTok In Trouble?

But with all its success metrics, some wonder how long they can stay on the platform. The United States passed legislation forcing the Chinese-owned company to sell TikTok or face a total ban of the platform. Since President Biden passed the law, there remains uncertainty about the future of TikTok. And while the ban had some support at its outset, only 32 percent support it now. And half of Americans think it’s unlikely that TikTok will actually be banned in the U.S.

Should TikTok be banned all hope is not lost as the other platforms listed above use many of the same assets as TikTok. Companies currently investing in TikTok may be able to tweak those assets and bring them over to Reels or Shorts. But those channels use different targeting so there will be a learning curve to move from TikTok to other platforms.

user with apps

Choosing a TikTok Alternative for Digital Marketing

Whether TikTok does or doesn’t get banned it is always good to have options. The right audience may be on another platform. Tastes change and companies introduce new features all the time. It could be a new feature that attracts people to another platform or TikTok could run people off with new features like Digg did all those years ago.

On Reels we find that a strong lookalike audience is key as Meta can use those signals to find the most relevant people. If you start building an audience now with the Meta pixel you can capture visits coming from TikTok (or any source) and use that as a base.

For Shorts, ads can be integrated into Performance Max campaigns or Demand Gen campaigns where you can learn which targeting does and does not work. From there you can build dedicated campaigns. If you have YouTube ad campaigns running already then Shorts can also be launched alongside those.

The goal is to use the assets you currently have for TikTok and determine where you might transfer them to other platforms. Even if TikTok is not banned, it would still be a good idea to gain learnings about which platform your audience is using.

How Do Alternative Marketing Platforms Differ from TikTok?

Short form video is a full screen experience with less ad copy. The ad must tell the story, and you cannot rely on headlines and descriptions to fill in the blanks. One mistake we often see is when companies put video or image ads designed for placements on Facebook/Instagram as their reels ads. This results in ads that look out of place and do not match the expectations of the audience.

Vertical content that tells a story is key.

The message you send out in your ads needs to be relevant to your brand and your audience. And you need to make sure to conform to the platform’s requirements. If you try to use content that was designed for other platforms (e.g., horizontal videos or traditional TV ads), it may not fit the vertical aspect ratio used on most short-form video services, resulting in awkward cropping, poor visual quality, or black bars, which will diminish the ad’s appeal and send the wrong message to your audience.

Even if you are not using video assets in your ads for short form video you still need to take many things into account. Is the image sized to fit a phone screen? Does it contain text that tells a story? Does it have a call to action? And will it stand out as it slots in between an endless scroll of videos? A full screen image that uses all the real estate and gets the message across without relying on any other ad copy will have the best impact on the viewer.

It will also be good to test any creative that was not the best performer on TikTok. A new audience can have different tastes, and that creative may end up being more successful on Reels or Shorts. Creative that was not successful at all or that struggled for specific reasons may not work but that ad that just never caught on could find new life.

Short Form Video’s Future in Digital Marketing

Short form video content is here to stay and is projected to continue growing in popularity across all the platforms that support it. Global spend on short form video advertising is expected to grow $11 billion a year through 2028. While TikTok is the hot platform right now, it is important to have a plan to make sure that you have a presence where your audience is. A complete short form video plan can help you find new customers and help drive them down the funnel.

Advertising in short form video is not new, but has long been seen as just a placement on Facebook and Instagram to be checked off. We here at CCM believe that it deserves just as much attention as any other part of a digital marketing strategy.

As platforms holders like Google place more and more emphasis on these kinds of content, the advertisers that were there first will have an edge in a growing space.

Let CCM Help

CloudControlMedia is working diligently to stay ahead of the ever-changing shifts in short form video advertising to ensure we continue to drive the most effective results for our clients. Are you getting all you can from your paid media campaigns? Contact CloudControlMedia today and we’ll let you know.

Larry Harrington, Director of Paid Media Strategy[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

On Again, Off Again Cookies: What’s Google Up To?

Larry Harrington on August 27, 2024

Google has cancelled its plans for a blanket removal of third-party cookies. Again. Although the search giant promised to phase out cookies back in 2020 and has given users three deadlines for deprecation, it’s now opting out. According to Privacy Sandbox VP Anthony Chavez, the company has chosen “an updated approach that elevates user choice. Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time.” This new approach will be similar to what Apple offered three years back that had apps ask whether or not they could track you. The new policy would affect all chrome users.

What Are 3rd Party Cookies?

Cookies are snippets of data placed on your browser when you visit websites. They allow various things to happen: experiencing faster loading the next time you visit, keeping you logged in, and allowing advertisers to better tailor ads to you. They can also track your behavior across the internet. Unfortunately, this is where some companies have abused cookies and run afoul of privacy regulations. Some companies, such as Apple, have already removed 3rd-party cookies, mostly because advertising only makes up a small percentage of its business. But for Google, which very much relies on advertising and cookies, stepping away from them has not been so easy. And since they haven’t found a solution that satisfies its business goals and its advertisers, it’s keeping 3rd party cookies. 

What Is the Privacy Sandbox?

Launched by Google in 2019, the Privacy Sandbox is an initiative to find a way to evolve the internet to be less intrusive when it comes to privacy without removing many of the features that both users and advertisers are used to. The main goals of the Privacy Sandbox are to phase out third party cookies and to reduce tracking across multiple apps or websites. This would mean that all current infrastructure that the internet is built on would need to change. Google and other platforms have been rolling out the tools to move in this direction, but not everything has been updated so easily. The cookie and pixel firing that that the internet is built on has led to some businesses not being able to pivot so easily.

Why Did Google Change Its Mind?

One of the major drivers of this change in course is that offerings such as display, demand gen, and Performance max were having a harder time tracking without cookies and a new solution had not yet materialized. This meant that Google would lose more than it stood to gain with this switch as these new products had been heavily pushed as the wave of the future. 

While Google’s halt to cookie deprecation means that there will not be a mass removal of cookie tracking, it does not mean that there will be no changes. Like with Apple devices, tracking will be harder when relying solely on cookies. The privacy sandbox will still continue to grow, and marketers will need to respond.

As a result of Google’s decision, the impending cliff of cookieless tracking has been avoided but that does not mean new enhanced conversion tools are without use. Those who select not to be tracked will no longer count in conversion totals and Apple devices still offer their own struggles. Enhanced conversions through Google and similar offerings from others remain an important step in ensuring that conversion data in platforms are as accurate as possible. All of the machine learning that goes into google campaigns these days rely on that data to know what is and isn’t working.

Are There Alternatives to 3rd Party Cookies?

As privacy continues to be a paramount concern to users on the internet, we can only expect more updates to block cookies and make tracking an ongoing challenge for marketers. So, a quality tracking setup that uses cutting-edge tracking options remains important. Getting campaigns as much accurate data as possible can make all the difference in the results of marketing efforts. 

CloudControlMedia is working diligently to stay ahead of the ever-changing shifts in cookieless tracking to ensure we continue to drive the most effective results for our clients. Are you getting all you can from your search campaigns? Contact CloudControlMedia today and we’ll let you know. 

Larry Harrington, Director of Paid Media Strategy

Google Broad Match Is Modified No More

Larry Harrington on May 19, 2021

Have you seen a dip in impressions in your search campaigns recently? Blame Google and its abandonment of broad match modifier.

The Paradigm Shift Away From Broad Match Modifier

Google’s recent changes will bring sweeping adjustments to many Google Ads accounts—changes that will require a full understanding of the new paradigm Google is using. You may have already experienced fewer impressions on keywords that have not been updated with these new rules in mind. Let’s dig into it.

After years of loosening the meanings of each match type, Google is finally retiring one of them. Broad match modifier is ending its run this year with Google currently saying the switch will occur in June. It is a change that makes sense considering the adjustments Google has made to match types in recent years.

Some Google Match Type Background

For years Google has been tweaking keyword match types in ways that keep paid media teams on their toes. From making exact match not so exact to their latest change: removing a match type all together. During that time, we have had access to four different keywords options:

  • Broad Match: A free for all that historically has been able to match with almost any remotely similar search
  • +Broad +Match +Modifier: Like broad match but the words with the “+” next to them need to be present in some form. “Running shoes” could trigger phrases like “shoes for running” or “best running shoes.”
  • “Phrase Match”: Matches searches with the phrase appearing in it. This usually takes into account order and words more than broad match modifier. “Running shoes” would not match “shoes for running” but would “best running shoes”
  • [Exact Match]: Loosened over the years but is still intended to find people searching exactly or as close as possible to the terms they type.

For a while now, phrase match was a stricter version of broad match modifier that resulted in adding more keyword variants.

Google Match Type Latest Update

With the new update, phrase match will retain its more focused search term matching rules but be able to match your phrase in more ways. This removes the instances where broad match modifier would jumble words around and potentially result in a less relevant search. If you say you want flights from Rochester to Boston, the new phrase match should not show you flights from Boston to Rochester while the current broad match modifier would without adding the search as a negative keyword. Because of this, the new phrase match will now trigger from most searches that broad match modifier used to but not all.

How Will Broad Match Elimination Affect Me?

“So, what about my current broad match modifier keywords?” I can hear you saying right now. Well they will continue to work but their function will change. Keywords using the broad match modifier will begin to work the same as the new phrase match. They will encompass a larger audience like they always have without being totally broad but will now respect the order you place the keywords in when relevant. The when relevant part being determined by Google. Starting in July you will no longer be able to make keywords using broad match modifier and will have to use phrase match when you want to balance between broad and exact match.

Conversations with Google indicate that it is best to start using all new phrase match keywords. Despite broad match modifier having its function changed to match the new phrase match, Google will favor keywords using phrase match modifier in auctions.

What Should I Do About My Keywords?

You can keep using your broad match modifier keywords if you want, but their function will change. These changes could result in changes to the performance of your keywords since they will not necessarily reach the same audiences.

The transition to the new phrase and broad match modifier began in February and is supposed to be completed by July. There is no specific notice as to when the rollout will affect your keywords. So, if your keywords have been acting funny, your transition may have begun. Now is the time to start thinking with the new phrase match. In some cases, this will make no difference to performance, but it is worth keeping an eye on.

One component that will not be changing, at least until Google decides otherwise, is how match types work on negative keywords. So those are safe. For now. Negative keywords are keywords you do not want to show for. You can exclude entire phrases or just certain words. For example, colleges may want to exclude the word free from showing alongside their degrees.

If you do not want to miss the small group of people that the new phrase match will miss when broad match modifier captured, Google recommends using broad match to catch a wide audience. The search giant is saying that broad match keywords will look for signals from your Ad account and landing pages to rein in broad match. Our own early testing on this has found broad match to be triggering with more relevant search terms, but still resulting in inefficiencies. It has worked best as a way to mine for further keywords to use with phrase or exact match.

 

–Larry Harrington

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