On Our Radar | August 2022

NETFLIX’S UPCOMING PARTNERSHIP WITH MICROSOFT | BUYING MORE TIME! (AT LEAST FOR COOKIES) | TIKTOK ADDS NEW CAPTIONING AND TRANSLATION TOOLS | GOOGLE IS LISTENING TO REQUESTS: NEW GA4 FEATURES | INSTAGRAM GIVES REELS A BOOST

To combat the world of ever-changing digital marketing – the TwoSix team is here to give you what’s On Our Radar for the month. This month, we discuss Netflix’s upcoming partnership with Microsoft, buying more time! (at least for cookies), TikTok adds new captioning and translation tools, Google is listening to requests: new ga4 features, and Instagram gives reels a boost! Keep reading to find out what we’re keeping On Our Radar for August 2022.

Netflix’s Upcoming Partnership with Microsoft

Netflix has recently announced a partnership with Microsoft as an advertising technology and sales partner for the ad-supported tier of the streaming service.

Microsoft – with their developments in machine learning technology and presence in the gaming world – will surely provide some interesting options for ad targeting through this connected TV medium. Not only will you have a robust audience of multi-tier profiles, mostly likey built from viewing preferences and profile information, but you may be able to have some fun with the content selections too.

Matching up your travel product to the Netflix content library could be great fun – think Ozarks and Missouri or Shameless and Chicago. Or any types of lifestyle shows that match product in your destination. This is also something that would spark additional visitations based on the consumers’ relationship with the series and their interest to experience the location it was based.

The details of the program are still waiting to be released and you can read more at the button below!

Dave Serino Founder & Chief Strategist

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Buying more time! (at least for Cookies)

We’ve got some good news! If you have been sweating the mid-2023 deadline for the removal of cookies in Chrome you can take a deep breath. The removal of these extremely useful advertising tools has been extended to (at least) The second half of 2024 by the Google gods. This is huge news as many marketers have been scrambling to establish new tactics in anticipation of the pixel’s demise. This extension buys us all more time to build a thoughtful strategy to future-proof your marketing efforts for the inevitable day (or is it?) when the cookie crumbles. Don’t take this extension as an excuse to take your foot off the pedal. Get to work on developing a strategy that is grounded in growing your owned data assets and enhancing your audience segments. Need some help? Reach out to us for some help.

Need to learn more about pixels and their importance? Our blog (LINK: https://twosixdigital.com/what-website-pixels-you-need-and-how-to-install-them/) will explain it all.

Brian MatsonSenior Director of Strategy and Education

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TikTok Adds New Captioning and Translation Tools

TikTok is at it again. The app of a billion users is trying to help expand its reach further by introducing new translation and captioning tools. These accessibility updates are great to see especially as users are more frequently watching videos without sound. The translation feature will be present with captions, text-based stickers and overlays and will initially support English, Portuguese, German, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish and Turkish. With TikTok expanding and increasing in popularity worldwide this is a good move for the app as it makes a move to further connect audiences around the world. This opens up new opportunities for content creators and businesses as well if they’ve been looking for a way to connect with an international market in a more personal way. As much as this is a new opportunity for individual users and businesses alike, it’s awesome to see the inclusivity and accessibility the app is striving for with this addition. Hopefully, they continue on with this expansion to include even more languages, further uniting us through social media.

Ashley MaddixDigital Advertising Strategist

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Google is Listening to Requests: New GA4 Features

If you didn’t know already, the much beloved Universal Analytics (UA) is going out of commission on July 1, 2023 and is being replaced by Google Analytics 4 (GA4). It’s an entirely new platform with different dimensions and metrics. However, due to popular demand, Google announced on July 11th, 2022 that they were bringing back some dimensions and metrics digital marketers have come to rely on.

Bounce rate is back! But also, not really. In GA4, Bounce Rate just the inverse of Engagement Rate, which used to be the only % metric on offer. Also back is UTM term and UTM ad content – UTM codes used to identify search terms and different ads in a campaign. Lastly, they’re bringing back Conversion Rate, which identifies the “the percentage of sessions in which any conversion event was triggered”.

Hopefully, this signals a shift within Google Analytics 4. We want more of the hits from UA. There’s a steep learning curve to the new platform and it’s difficult to uncover granular insights. Honestly, some of us within TwoSix would just prefer they stick with UA, but sadly we don’t make executive level decisions for Google. Fingers crossed there’s more to come.

Nick DanowskiLead Content Strategist

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Instagram Gives Reels a Boost

While Instagram has been adjusting the platform’s user interface to favor Reels and vertical video, Meta ads have yet to fully take advantage of the space. Right now, you can use vertical video in ads for Facebook and Instagram stories. However, creating new video content is not a simple task and it can be difficult to create enough assets to keep up with ads. Many businesses and CVBs have focused their vertical-video efforts on content that does well organically, but can be difficult to work into ad campaigns.

Now, Instagram will let users take some advantage of reels content for paid promotion by introducing a new boosted post option. This not only lets creators capitalize on their most successful reels content, but can help those just transitioning to video get more out of the content they have.

Scout DelicatoDigital Advertising Strategist

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With the ever-changing digital marketing world, we are here to keep you informed of new digital trends and what we are keeping on our radar for August 2022. Have any questions? Contact us! We’re here to help.

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