Wednesday Morning, Issue 19 (4/19/24)

You can now promote LinkedIn Live events, LinkedIn ad campaigns can be extended to CTV and Threads ads are likely coming later this year.

??? JUST THE HEADLINES:

Threads ads are expected to start rolling out in the second half of the year. The details of the roll out are still unclear, but I agree with Meta reps’ redirect statement that it’s a great time for advertisers who are interested in Threads inventory to get more clear about the role Threads can play in their brands’ social strategy overall.

TikTok has begun rolling out a new photo-sharing app, Notes, but the timeline for the U.S. launch is still unknown. New app means a new ads experience, so this is again another platform shift that could impact 2024 media plans.

Two big updates from LinkedIn:

• You can now extend ad placements to CTV leveraging their network of partners including Paramount, Roku and Samsung Ads.
• Brands who have longed to support LinkedIn Live events via ads can now do so without the roundabout hacks we’ve had to resort to until now.

Google eyes Hubspot acquisition, but deal seems unlikely. It scrambles my brain to think about a world where Google owns Hubspot, so this is one to keep an eye on even if no one thinks it will really happen.

?? BAD IDEA HEADLINES: We’ll see if there’s a need to keep this category, but both of these just reek of ‘that’s not the point, guys.’

• Meta wants to help influencers scale comms with followers by creating AI bots of themselves.
• TikTok, on the other hand, is looking to make creators compete with virtual influencers for ad contracts.

Moving on…

???? IN THE WEEDS:

Meta rolled out new targeting and insights capabilities for Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns that help advertisers better understand how Engaged Customers (people who have engaged with the brand, but have not purchased) and Existing Customers (people who have already purchased from the brand) are contributing to the performance of their campaigns. One of my favorite LinkedIn follows, Jon Loomer, shared a great video breaking down how this impacts campaigns as well as a shared hope that this capability will soon be available for all campaigns, not just Shopping.

Meta for B2B? This article gives a nice rundown of how you can put Meta can offer opportunities beyond retargeting for B2B advertisers. Standard disclaimer that your Meta lead pool will most certainly be less qualified than your LinkedIn lead pool, but the overall goal is to leverage Meta to increase reach with decision makers at much more efficient rates than you’ll get on LinkedIn, even if there’s some waste. Also, platform diversification should always be a goal, even if minor, of any media plan.

TikTok is now giving advertisers more control over where their content appears: Category Exclusion and Vertical Sensitivity. These controls will help brands avoid showing up next to content that’s either inappropriate or irrelevant.

Category Exclusion includes:

• Gambling and lotteries
• Violent video games
• Combat sports
• Youth content

Vertical Sensitivity includes:

• Pets
• Beauty
• Food
• Fashion/Retail
• Travel
• Financial Services
• Technology
• Automotive
• Gaming
• Professional Services
• Entertainment

?? RESOURCES: TikTok loves to share new guides, and their latest is for anyone using quick the ‘Promote’ option. It’s almost always better to build campaigns in the ad dashboard environment, but if you need to use this option, this guide gives you best practices for doing so.

?? ANNOUNCEMENT: I’m trying out a new off-the-shelf offering for startups/small businesses: a 1-Week Social Ad Strategy Sprint. I’ve added one booking per week in May and will continue offering these weekly if there’s interest.

Thank you, as always, for reading Wednesday Morning! Subscribe to get new posts delivered to your inbox every other week.