February 2023: What's new in the world of digital

What is it?: On the 8th February, TiKTok announced the launch of new features for 'Promote', to allow advertisers to easily reach new audiences, when promoting their organic content. 

 

Why is it important?: Originally launched in 2021, TikTok are stepping up the capabilities of Promote, allowing advertisers the ability to: 

 

 

What action should you take?: These updates come at a time, when a recent report shows that Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have all seen multi Year on Year decline in engagement rates. TikTok is the only one that is bucking this trend. These changes certainly help brands of any size, to increase the discoverabilty of their TiKTok content. 

 

Discover more: TikTok newsroom 'Promote' benefits 

What is it?: Whilst this was announced last year, for all those that missed it, March will see the sunsetting of Instagram's Live Shopping offering. This has been driven by a lukewarm reception in the U.S. to purchasing products via Live Shopping, something which TikTok has also observed. 

 

Why is it important?: Many social critics have observed that Instagram's offering has become too broad and has potentially lost focus. Whilst only a small part of the overall offering, it shows intent from Meta to rationalise their offering and focus on what is important to their community. 

 

What action should you take?: You can continue to run Live Shopping to your Facebook community. We are are also seeing a growing trend of brands running Live Shopping within their own sites or apps, rather than relying on social platforms, providing multiple benefits including the opportunity to retarget custiomers. 

 

Discover more: Instagram ending live shopping feature 

What is it?: A latest report shows that brands may be investing 50% of their product revenue (or in some cases higher), by selling their products on Amazon. 

 

Why is it important?: A big question that is often posed is whether brands should use Amazon as a route to sale. Clearly the addressable audience is large and advantageous, especially for a new brand looking to launch their product(s) for the first time. This is however coming at an escalating cost, with fulfillment costs increasing Year on Year. A cost that also isn't always factored is in Amazon Ad costs, plus any 3rd parties to manage this. 

 

What action should you take?: Whilst we are not advising to move away from Amazon, having a separate P&L with all costs incurred is a must, to ensure that you have a clear view on margin. Considering alternative sellers, who may not drive the volume, but will operate at a higher margin should also be considered. 

 

TikTok is fast becoming what Google has been for the past decade or so in search. Adoption continues to grow and the historically popular social platforms are struggling in its shadows to keep up. One saving grace in the short term may be the scrutiny that TikTok is currently facing in the U.S. If these can be navigated, we only see that it is a matter of time before the dominance is secured. 

 

If any of our February updates have peeked your interest, don’t hesitate to get in touch to understand how we can help you.