??? Digital Marketing Must-Knows

Hello, Marketers. Kole here with your cheat sheet of digital marketing news from the last week. Starting with Uber’s plans to become a more prominent player in the digital advertising space.

Let’s jump straight in.

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Note: A newer edition was published on March 27. Read here.

Round-Up

1. Uber will offer an ad platform for localized businesses to run ads on the roofs of Ubers.?Uber drivers in 7 U.S. cities are being invited to install ad units on their cars and earn 15% more. (Media Post?↗?)

• Advertisers can target based on zip code and time of day to promote the business at the street level. The platform will be self-serve so advertisers can place their ads directly with Uber.
• Uber said it works with third-party measurement firms to offer advertisers reports on how many impressions their ads reached. They also provide brand awareness and foot traffic estimates.
• The Digital Out-of-Home advertising market is part of Uber’s plans to diversify and grow revenue. They are targeting $1bn in total ad sales by 2024.
• Uber already sells Search ads in the Uber eats app. And is trialing in-car tablets in California, with video ads to engage with customers during 'idle' journey time.

Brett Baker, General Manager for Uber Cartops Advertising: "We want to bring the digital out-of-home space forward as much as we can and provide as much targeting and measurement and attribution as possible,"

?2. TikTok launches a platform for brands to crowdsource UGC ads from TikTokers.?Brands select their requirements, and creators submit videos that meet those guidelines. According to TikTok: “Branded Mission empowers creators to co-create authentic branded content, while giving advertisers the ability to boost the videos that align best with their brand”. Brands will welcome inbound collaboration opportunities with creators. (TikTok?↗?)

3. Bing is now running GPT-4, Microsoft confirmed.?Open AI's GPT-4 model has been customized for search. Bing users have already been using an early version of the model and will benefit from Open AI's updates to GPT-4. (Microsoft?↗?)

4. LinkedIn invests more resources into its growing Podcast Network.?Last year LinkedIn launched their Podcast arm. LinkedIn has 14 Podcasts from different creators listed on their channel. And now LinkedIn is looking to secure the next generation of business-podcast talent by launching its Podcast Academy. The Academy acts as a 6-month incubator for emerging podcasts. Audio content does not feature currently feature within LinkedIn's web/app. But when they do it is an opportunity for them to increase engagement. (Social Media Today?↗?)

5. Meta is officially rolling out paid verification subscriptions.?Facebook and Instagram will follow Twitter & Snapchat in offering a subscription. With all three Social Media companies look to diversify revenue from ad sales.?Verification provides protection and customer support. There is?no mention?that subscribers get greater visibility. The blue ‘verified’ check mark will roll out to users in the United States, New Zealand & Australia. The subscription costs $11.99 per month through Facebook’s website or $14.99 per month via the app store. (Tech Crunch?↗?)

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More Headlines

• Netflix’s free/ad plan is expected to reach 10m subs by end of year
• LinkedIn?released AI writing tools for profiles and job descriptions
• Walmart?is beta-testing their own creator-brand marketplace
• Amazon?is considering creating a new web browser
• Microsoft?launches Doctor & Clinic ads
• TikTok?launched a feed refresh feature

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