On Our Radar | October 2023

The TwoSix team is here to share what’s On Our Radar for October so that you can stay ahead of the always-evolving digital marketing landscape. This month our team discusses new Meta AI ad creation tools, updates to ChatGPT, and much more! Keep reading to find out what we’re keeping On Our Radar for October 2023.

TIKTOK DOES REALLY RESONATE

TikTok recently released a study on attention and resonance on the platform. The data explains that engagement results from the combination of attention and resonance. It’s a great read and provides excellent insight on how to fundamentally build out your efforts on the network.

A few quick takeaways from the study say that users will engage with paid content as long as it “feels native to the platform.” Other tips include videos that feature real people and crafting a creative story. And, TikTok also influences consumers’ path to purchase by making up 15% of product discoveries across all digital media channels.

So, be sure your high funnel efforts include TikTok elements in the future!

Click the button below to learn more about this study.

Dave SerinoFounder & Chief Strategist

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META ADDS NEW AI AD CREATION TOOLS

New AI tools are rolling out across the Meta Ads Manager. Now, you can leverage the power of AI to help you create a variety of different ads to help you get better performance. One AI tool that is especially welcomed is the “image expansion” tool. This will allow AI to assist in creating different sizes of photo and video assets to best fit their various placements. Now, you can let AI do the heavy lifting when it comes to creating impactful visuals for Reels, Stories, and Posts. Additionally, AI can now assist you in creating copy variations based on your original input. Up to six copy variations can be generated that you can edit to perfection. The current rollout claims to be able to save up to 5 hours per week in the ad creation process! That’s significant if true. That opens up bandwidth to create better content and more of a focus on strategy! It’s important to remember that AI isn’t perfect. It’s getting better every day, but it still requires a human touch to ensure that everything is nice and tidy. While it can be tempting to let AI run with it, you’ll likely see some obvious issues upon review.

According to Meta, there are many more AI tools in the works for their Ads Manager in the future. It’s always interesting when new tools roll out so be on the lookout. Over time, the tools will surely get better and better, so you’ll want to start getting your reps sooner rather than later.

Have you seen these tools in your Ads Manager yet? If so, don’t be hesitant to give them a whirl!

Brian MatsonSenior Director of Strategy and Education

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THE MOST UNDERUSED WEAPON IN BLOG WRITING

At TwoSix Digital, we see it all the time: clients put so much effort into writing a blog that they forget to format it in a way that’s readable. But, when it comes to blogs – or any webpages for that matter — headings are more important than the text itself. Why? Because they give readers a clear overview of your blog post and help them browse for information. They’ll also help to increase time on site, because headings can grab readers’ attention and encourage them to keep reading.

Headings are also important for search engine optimization (SEO) because it allow search engines to understand the content of your blog post and rank it accordingly. So, if you want your blog posts to show up higher in search results, make sure you’re using descriptive and keyword-rich headings.

Of course, a title takes precedence over headings. Consequently, we often recommending spending more time coming up with a good title and headings than writing the post. Try it out for yourself! When you do, you’ll realize you’re essentially writing an outline and the blog almost writes itself from there.

Nick DanowskiLead Content Strategist

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WELCOME TO 2023 CHATGPT

Big news for ChatGPT, the generative AI platform that has taken over countless headlines this year is receiving a major update. ChatGPT is now able to surf the live web, so its data is no longer limited to 2021. It will now be aware of current events and will be ideally more accurate. This will make writing itineraries more accurate and may even be able to suggest events going on when you travel somewhere. Some sites may block data scraping from OpenAI but most shouldn’t so, ChatGPT will have a wide range of current data inputs. So far, this feature will be available to for the plus version of ChatGPT but this could be available for the free version in the future. They are also launching voice and image searching, so instead of being limited to text queries, you can take a photo and have a live conversation with the chatbot. ChatGPT is quickly becoming more of an assistant as it continues to grow and add features, as you can now have a full conversation with the chatbot. Continue to say your please and thank yous to keep our AI friend happy and let’s welcome ChatGPT into the year 2023!

Ashley MaddixDigital Advertising Strategist

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YOUTUBE ADDS NEW AI FEATURES TO VIDEO/SHORTS CREATION

Last month, YouTube announced that it would be adding new generative AI tools to help users create videos, especially shorts, more easily. Some of these new tools include generative AI background, auto-captions, access to royalty free music on the platform, and more. This is exciting news for users who may be struggling to create content quickly, as well as accounts who may not have the bandwidth internally to produce high-quality videos.

This is very exciting as an advertiser. We at TwoSix have found that YouTube Short ads are highly effective at driving link clicks, much more so than skippable in-steam ads. There is a clearer call to action button prompting users to visit your website, which helps to drive more clicks. There is also a lower barrier to entry in terms of quality.

So far, we have learned that shorts with a user-generate-feel to them strongly outperform those that feel like highly produced commercials. This makes it easier and more accessible for accounts with smaller social media teams to a) repurpose existing vertical content already made for other platforms and b) find success with content that can be made quickly and affordably on the fly.

YouTube’s new AI creator tools will only accelerate this process and signify a significant leap forward in simplifying the video creation process. For users who face challenges in producing content swiftly or for accounts with limited resources, these advancements offer a lifeline to effectively engage with their audience.

Scout DelicatoDigital Advertising Strategist

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THE BATTLE OF THE LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS

In our recent On Our Radar blogs, we have been discussing the ways that AI tools can assists you in writing or improving blogs, social media posts, and more. As more advanced large language models are introduced, many are wondering which AI tools are best to assist them with tourism marketing. Today, we will take a look at the LLMs and discuss which one has proven to be most beneficial for digital marketing purposes.

Bard, ChatGPT, and Claude.ai are three of the most popular large language models (LLMs) available today. All three models are capable of generating text, translating languages, writing different kinds of creative content, and answering questions in an informative way. However, there are some key differences and similarities between the three models.

Differences

Training data: Bard is trained on a massive dataset of text and code, including Google Search results. ChatGPT is trained on a dataset of text and code that is not as comprehensive as Bard’s dataset. Claude.ai is trained on a dataset of text and code that is specifically focused on reducing bias and improving multilingual capabilities.
Accuracy: Bard and Claude.ai are both designed to provide accurate and factual information. ChatGPT is less accurate than Bard or Claude.ai, but it is better at generating human-like conversational responses.
Capabilities: Claude.ai is best suited for providing accurate and factual information in multiple languages. Bard is the most versatile of the three models, with a wide range of capabilities. ChatGPT is best suited for generating human-like conversational responses.

Similarities

All three models are trained on massive datasets of text and code.
All three models are capable of generating text, translating languages, writing different kinds of creative content, and answering questions in an informative way.
All three models are still under development, but they have learned to perform many kinds of tasks.

So, which one is best suited to assist you in tourism marketing?

At this moment, Bard is the best suited of the three models to assist you in tourism marketing. Bard’s wide range of capabilities and its access to Google Search results make it ideal for generating creative and informative content about tourism destinations, activities, and events.

I asked Bard how it can assist with tourism marketing and this is what it replied:

Generate blog posts and articles about tourism destinations, activities, and events. Bard can generate high-quality, informative, and engaging content about any tourism topic.
Create social media posts and ads. Bard can generate creative and attention-grabbing social media posts and ads that promote tourism destinations, activities, and events.
Write website copy. Bard can write clear, concise, and informative website copy that persuades visitors to book their trips.
Answer customer questions about tourism destinations, activities, and events. Bard can answer customer questions accurately and informatively, helping them to plan their trips and make informed decisions.

Overall, I believe that Bard is currently the most versatile and powerful of these three LLMs, and it is the best suited to assist you in tourism marketing!

Makenna SchmitzDigital & Social Media Director

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UNITED STATES V. GOOGLE LLC

In late 2020, The US Department of Justice brought forward a case against Google, alleging the company engaged in monopolization and anti-competitive behavior in the search engine and search advertising markets. If you’re like me, you only barely remember news of the case. It was one of those should-have-been-huge stories that kind of flew under the radar for most of us during all the craziness of the 2020 news cycle. Well, after 3 years of deliberation, and 4 additional filings by the DOJ against Google, the case is finally in session, and it looks like it will be well into January.

The outcome of this case has the potential to change so much about how we live our lives and do business. Google has its hands in so many different pots – email, video streaming, operating systems, navigation, web browsing, cloud storage, smart home tech, not to mention AI, and the obvious one: search engines.

Breaking up Google can open up new opportunities and avenues for businesses to break through and change the way we think about all of these different technologies…

…but I’m not holding my breath.

A lot of media outlets are comparing this case to United States v. Microsoft Corp., and I think that’s apt – it was a “monumental case” that really didn’t change anything about how we use computers and the internet on a day-to-day basis. Maybe I need to have more trust in the system, but I don’t see this new trial going much differently. Only time will tell, though!

Danny LynchDigital 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 October 2023. Have any questions? Contact us! We’re here to help.

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