Today in Digital Marketing - podcast cover

Today in Digital Marketing

Tod Maffinβ€’redcircle.com

Every Friday: An information-packed 15-minute summary of everything you missed in the world of digital marketing, e-commerce, and social media that week. Every Tuesday: A deep-dive episode into one specific digital marketing topic.

Episodes

Not Your Grandma's Influencer

This week: Why 5 is better than 25... Google's secretive new rating system... Snapchat's map algorithm is revealed... and the generation that's using buy-now-pay-later services than credit cards. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing science interviews βœ… Get the show earlier ...

Mar 07, 2025β€’14 minβ€’Ep. 1258

Behind the Scenes of an Accidental Viral Campaign

Earlier this month, a TikTok video of mine went viral β€” and it turned into a large-scale tourism marketing campaign. Steve Dotto chats with me about how the TikTok algorithm works, and if this "lightning in a bottle" can be reproduced. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing scienc...

Mar 04, 2025β€’24 minβ€’Ep. 1257

Reels of Misfortune

This week: Why a blowout Super Bowl game is tanking ad recall… Meta and X are caught approving AI-generated ads referencing hate crimes… YouTube's ditching interruptive ad mid-rolls… Instagram has some major algorithm drama… Plus, is a Reels app in the works? . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of ...

Feb 28, 2025β€’13 minβ€’Ep. 1256

Search Slump

This week: TikTok’s ad manager gets a big upgrade… Spotify’s ad biz is tanking despite a profitable year… Google’s throwing cash at you to try its ad product, and Meta tests a dislike button to bury the haters. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing science interviews βœ… Get the show earli...

Feb 21, 2025β€’9 minβ€’Ep. 1255

Performance Max Goes Negative

This week, our Google Ads correspondent Jyll Saskin-Gales is here to discuss the introduction of negative keywords in Performance Max campaigns, the new DemandGen campaign type, and the ability to exclude demographics in PMAX. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing science interviews βœ… Ge...

Feb 18, 2025β€’17 minβ€’Ep. 1253

Brake and Buy

This week: The hack to get your brand web traffic from Reddit... big changes to Google's Local Services Ads... Will YouTube's milestone this week change your video ad creative? And it's happened folks β€” unskippable ads playing... in your car. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marke...

Feb 14, 2025β€’15 minβ€’Ep. 1253

Explained: Meta's Big Changes to Advantage+ Campaigns

Our Meta ads correspondent Andrew Foxwell joins Tod to discuss the big changes to Meta's Advantage+ campaigns, including the trustworthiness of Meta's AI recommendations, and the impact on advertisers using API access. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing science interviews βœ… Ge...

Feb 11, 2025β€’14 minβ€’Ep. 1252

Meta's AI Ad Offer You Can't Refuse (Literally)

This week β€” big changes to Meta's main ad product, Google's AI is causing traffic to some web sites to plummet, the simple URL hack that can boost your local listings, and why are Google reviews disappearing? . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing science interviews βœ… Get the show...

Feb 07, 2025β€’14 minβ€’Ep. 1291

The New Metric That Can Predict Product Sales

Tod chats with Jeremy Yang β€” co-author of a new paper that proposes a new metric for influencer marketing. His paper's "PE Score" measures how well a product is integrated into videos and its potential impact on sales. In this episode, they explore the methodology behind the study, the significance of engagement metrics, and the emotional factors that drive viewer interaction. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousan...

Feb 04, 2025β€’20 minβ€’Ep. 1250

YouTube's Hour of Power

This week β€” you can now rent the very top of YouTube by the hour… The cost to advertise on Meta’s platform is up 14%... Busting a common myth about page titles and SEO… And the hack to remove Google's AI summaries that your mother will hate. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing scie...

Jan 31, 2025β€’14 minβ€’Ep. 1249

Is "Production Enjoyment" the New Marketing Hack?

Dr. Robert Smith joins Tod to discus his recent research on how enjoyment in the production process impacts buyers and sellers. The study reveals that buyers perceive higher quality and are willing to pay more when they know a product was made with passion. Interestingly, sellers tend to charge less for products they enjoy creating, possibly because they require less compensation for enjoyable tasks. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : R...

Jan 28, 2025β€’14 minβ€’Ep. 1248

Zuck Is Once Again Asking for Your Financial Support

This week β€” ads are finally coming to Threads... how TikTok's crazy week affected its advertisers... a whole bunch of Performance Max updates... and the branding mistake you might be making that is hurting your sales. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing science interviews βœ… Get the...

Jan 24, 2025β€’14 minβ€’Ep. 1247

How Posting About Diversity Affects Social Media Engagement

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) have become buzzwords in many industries, especially as consumers increasingly demand greater representation and fairness from brands. But the practice has also become a political landmine. How do companies’ decisions to post about D&I actually influence their social media engagement? Can posting boost brand loyalty and improve consumer perceptionsβ€”or does it risk coming across as performative? That’s the question tackled by Nick Bombaij and his co-author in...

Jan 21, 2025β€’10 minβ€’Ep. 1246

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

This week β€” the hammer finally comes down on TikTok. What that means for ad prices ahead. Also: Why Google may be blocking third-party search tools. Meta's starting to look a little unsafe for marketers. Amazon cancels a popular consumer program. And Instagram goes back to 2019 because why not and everything else is crumbling into tiny pieces anyway. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . G...

Jan 17, 2025β€’16 minβ€’Ep. 1245

Meta Cozies Up to Trump. What Now for Marketers?

Our Meta Ads correspondent Andrew Foxwell joins Tod to discuss the impact on marketers of Meta’s recent policy changes, including the removal of fact-checkers and relaxed content moderation standards. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing science interviews βœ… Get the show earlier than th...

Jan 14, 2025β€’16 minβ€’Ep. 1244

Page 1 or Bust

Meta goes all in for Trump. What does it mean for marketers and brand safety? Also: A big flaw in the methodology of A/B testing has been found. TikTok is pleading for its life in the U.S. today. And details behind the strange Facebook Marketplace and eBay merger. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of...

Jan 10, 2025β€’16 minβ€’Ep. 1243

What 2025 Holds for Google Ads and AI

Today, our Google Ads correspondent Jyll Saskin Gales tells us what’s in store for Google Ads in the coming year. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing science interviews βœ… Get the show earlier than the free version βœ… Member-only monthly livestreams with Tod And a lot more! Check it out:...

Jan 07, 2025β€’11 minβ€’Ep. 1242

Oh Lawd, They Comin'

Meta floods its platforms with fake profiles. Free advertising on Amazon, but it comes with a big catch. The huge hit taken by retailers on product returns. And out with the mob wife, in with the sportsfluencers β€” what 2025 has in store for the creator economy. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20...

Jan 03, 2025β€’9 minβ€’Ep. 1218

You Won't Believe What Will Happen to Clickbait! 😱

How faking discounts is getting some marketers in hot water... the truth about disavowing toxic backlinks... why you should SLOW DOWN your shipping... and LinkedIn rolls out the single most helpful set of metrics β€” and it has nothing to do with ads. πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing sc...

Dec 20, 2024β€’13 minβ€’Ep. 1240

Predictions: How the Social Media Platforms Will Perform in 2025

Tod speaks with Andrew Hutchinson about his predictions of what 2025 will look like for the major social media platforms, digital marketers, and the emerging platforms in the space. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing science interviews βœ… Get the show earlier than the free version βœ… Me...

Dec 17, 2024β€’30 min

How Popular Pays' SafeCollab Tool Protects Brands

Tod speaks with Corbett Drummey, co-founder of the influencer marketing platform Popular Pays about the clever new brand safety system they’ve built into their site. In this paid partnership, they chat about how to keep your brand safe, without missing out on the influencer marketing trend. If you want to check their platform out while you're listening, just go to PopularPays.com/podcast . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thou...

Dec 14, 2024β€’24 min

Are Electronic Lollipops the Next Ad Format?

A wrap-up of the most important developments in the world of digital marketing over the past five days. βœ… Take the survey . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing science interviews βœ… Get the show earlier than the free version βœ… Member-only monthly livestreams with Tod And a lot more! Check...

Dec 13, 2024β€’16 minβ€’Ep. 1238

Google Ads: Everything That's Happened This Month

Our Google Ads correspondent Jyll Saskin Gales joins Tod to discuss the latest updates in Google Ads. Highlights: The new message asset allows WhatsApp messaging directly from ads. Google engaged audiences are automatically created for remarketing. Performance Max now offers asset group level reporting. Call ads are being discontinued, affecting service providers. Responsive search ads will replace call ads in the future. What do you think of our new schedule and Friday show format? ❗ Take our s...

Dec 10, 2024β€’15 min

What Does Marketing Without TikTok Look Like?

How a TikTok ban will affect YOUR ad campaigns and social media reach. New incentives for agencies to use Google ads because, well, the math wasn't mathing. Why is Google adding outbound links to YOUR WEB SITE'S CONTENT?! And if you don't know what the Castlecore and Pickle Fix trends are, it's time you get with it, Boomer! ❗ Take our survey . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers ...

Dec 06, 2024β€’13 min

Why Meta is Removing Conversion Tracking from Some Campaigns

Why is an entire category of TikTok Ads at Risk? Google is now Hiding a metric they've had since day one , a massive Meta Bug Disrupts Financial Services Ads, and you'll never guess how much content on LinkedIn is AI spam these days. Naw, you'll probably guess. . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back c...

Dec 03, 2024β€’9 minβ€’Ep. 1237

Black Friday Sucks Now and It's Our Fault

Marketers ruined Black Friday; here's how we can fix it. Why is an entire category of TikTok Ads at Risk? Google is now Hiding a metric they've had since day one, a massive Meta Bug Disrupts Financial Services Ads, and you'll never guess how much content on LinkedIn is AI spam these days. )(Naw, you'll probably guess.) . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers . GO PREMIUM! Get these...

Nov 29, 2024β€’15 minβ€’Ep. 1237

ANNOUNCEMENT: What's Ahead For This Podcast

Changes are coming to this podcast and our newsletter starting next week. Today, Tod lets you in on the big secret. πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing science interviews βœ… Get the show earlier than the free version βœ… Member-only monthly livestreams with Tod And a lot more! Check it out:...

Nov 22, 2024β€’8 minβ€’Ep. 1234

Crumbling Chrome

Google’s crown jewel β€” will it soon be for sale? LinkedIn spills the tea on data-driven ads. Threads gets a facelift for the followers-first crowd. And big changes ahead for this podcast. . πŸ“ Take the One-Question Survey . Today’s story links: Google's Search and Chrome Faces DOJ Scrutiny Google Shopping Adds Price Comparison and Local Listings LinkedIn Shares Data-Backed Ad Tips Pinterest Launches Holiday Campaign Hub LinkedIn Adds AI Tools to Sales Navigator Threads Refines Algorithm to F...

Nov 21, 2024β€’9 minβ€’Ep. 1233

The 4.33% Question

Is ChatGPT the new MVP of search marketing? Instagram says #NoMore. TikTok gives influencers a doppelgΓ€nger. Why Google has killed off the Page Experience Report. . πŸ“ Take the One-Question Survey . Today’s story links . πŸ“° Get our free daily newsletter πŸ“ˆ Advertising : Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us . GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: βœ… Listen ad-free βœ… Back catalog of 20+ marketing science interviews βœ… Get the sh...

Nov 20, 2024β€’9 minβ€’Ep. 1232

Schadenfreude and Sympathy: Can Brands Win When Consumers Fight?

If you manage your brand’s social media channels – particularly the replies to your post β€” you’ve probably seen the comments. One person complains about something, then a second person replies to THAT making fun of the original commenter. What do you, as the brand manager do? Do you hide the reply? Hide both? Or let them stand. The answer has largely depended on your brand’s personality and, sometimes, let’s face it, the mood that day of the social media manager. But what if there IS a right ans...

Nov 18, 2024β€’21 minβ€’Ep. 1231