JB’s Digital Update 20th June 2023

GroupM has forecast that digital ad spend is only going to grow by a mere 8.4% next year. Mind you, digital ad spend is so big now, that 8% is still  a chunk of a numbers digital accounts for some 70% of all ad spend and is around $500 billion. Of course, if you marry that against inflation of 7% then although digital ad spend is not a tangible product that should be subject to inflation, then it’s just about keeping step with inflation. 

So, an ad agency, says there’s not going to be an ad recession in the next few years. Phew. (And all this against the backdrop of the death of cookies and the death of tracking and personalisation). Give me a shout to talk about how to promote your business with digital advertising in paid search and social media.

I cannot believe it’s 2023 and we’re still talking about how improving your Google Ads landing pages can help your ads perform, both in terms of sales, costs and efficiency. I sometimes feel like we are stuck in Groundhog Day over and over again.

Use relevant keywords and topics, build user-friendly pages, make them quick, make them relevant to the thing the user is looking for and guide them to the purchase. Simples, no? Let’s talk about making your Google Ads perform better.  

Facebook, sorry *Meta* make me laugh sometimes. After its shuffle away from the Metaverse, it’s slowly trying to make itself more relevant by proving its AI chops.

In this puff-piece they mutter about the fabulous work they’ve been doing, like forever guys, into various strands of AI, mostly collaborating with scientists and researchers all in the name of human good. Cute, and fluffy, and just perfect.

Oh, and just in case you make it to the end of the article, they do of course mention how all this AI work was being done for the Metaverse. Honestly. Talk to me about social media management, using AI, and content creation.  

One of the good things about AI is that it is relatively easy for small businesses to access and utilise at a functional level. Either you can use it for ad copy creation, or content creation, or you can use it for product descriptions, social media posts and even report writing.

Of course, there is a small learning curve to get used to it and you do actually have to engage with AI to make it work… which probably means most small businesses won’t actually bother. Yes they can do it, but no they won’t. There are an awful lot of businesses out there who wrote their website / ad copy in 2010 and still don’t see a reason to update it.

Let’s have a chinwag about AI, ad copy, and digital marketing. 

In some ways, Reddit was one of the last holdouts of the non-corporate web, where a certain equality and user-centred focus existed. Or at least that’s what it looked like until a couple of weeks ago when Reddit announced it was changing the way it managed its API usage and charging much more for access.

This upset the “user-base”, or in Reddit terms, the moderators of its forums who believe they created their community. The mods went and shuttered their forums for 48-72 hours, Reddit doubled- and tripled-down on its initial statements, and now we have the remarkably silly situation where Reddit is threatening to replace moderation teams, if they don’t re-open their forums, and in response some of the forums have re-opened solely posting pics of John Oliver, or Tim Cook, or NSFW content.

Honestly, it’s all pretty childish on both sides and isn’t a good look for the maturity of the internet.

The Reddit bosses are learning that if you don’t pay your mods, they think they own the shop, and the mods are about to learn that Reddit isn’t a democracy and they really are just cogs in the machine. It’s amusing and sad in almost equal measures really. Talk to me if you want advice on social media management, development and technology, or just how to be a good VCDO, or VCMO.