💾 Can TikTok Become a One Stop Shop?

In Today's Issue

• TikTok’s Aggressive Offense

• Nail Your Approach to Thought Leadership

• X’s & O’s: Marketing By the Numbers

• Digital Tactics We Love to Hate

• Growth Opportunities in In-Game Advertising

• How to Gather the PROOF That Your Marketing Is Working

• Bill Gates and Dolly Chaiwala Break the Internet

TikTok Launches Live Test of Option to Automatically Identify Products in User Uploads

TikTok is aggressively doubling down on improving the shopping experience on the app, and this could dramatically spike the chances of conversion for marketers using the app.  

The platform continues to expand its in-stream shopping push, in the hopes of evolving usage behavior, with its new option to make any object in any video “shoppable” now in live testing for some users. TikTok’s been exploring the option for some time, with Bloomberg reporting last month that TikTok would be moving to expanded testing of the process. 

Western users haven’t been as open to in-stream shopping, though TikTok users are spending more in the app over time, with research from data.ai showing that TikTokers spent $3.8 billion in the app throughout 2023, up 15% year-over-year.

All the indicators are there, and ByteDance has already followed this blueprint, to great effect. But whether Western users actually want to be able to buy products in-stream is another question altogether. 

Will people end up doing more shopping on TikTok, and will that provide another pathway to creator monetization, and lead to a new rise in live-stream commerce, and eventually, as has happened on Douyin, the shift towards AI influencers as sales tools?

Myth-Busting Thought Leadership: How to Nail Your Approach on LinkedIn and Beyond - March 6th

Establishing thought leadership is now a critical goal for both businesses and individual professionals. In the current landscape of the creator economy, marketing professionals are more aware than ever of the significant influence they wield in differentiating themselves from competitors and achieving a direct impact on revenue.

Yet, with the crowded space of aspiring thought leaders, how can your company and its leaders truly distinguish themselves? Moreover, what are the hallmarks of truly effective thought leadership?

Join us for an insightful Brain Gainz workshop today, March 6, where LinkedIn's Purna Virji will dispel the five most prevalent myths about crafting a thought leadership plan.

Purna Virji is a renowned content strategist, and the author of the award-winning book "High-Impact Content Marketing" and currently serves as the Principal Consultant for Content Solutions at LinkedIn.

Join us today to learn Purna’s insights into “thought leadership” based on her expertise.

Register Here To Join Us Today

Note: While this workshop will be recorded, the recording is only available to our Data Driven Insiders Members. If you can’t make it live, you can still join Insiders with a 7-day trial.

Unlock the full potential of your workday with cutting-edge AI strategies and actionable insights, empowering you to achieve unparalleled excellence in the future of work. Download the free guide today!

🤓 How Digitalization Has Transformed The Chief Marketing Officer

Modern CMOs are not merely stewards of marketing initiatives; they are the vanguards of change, steering companies through uncharted territories where innovation and adaptability are currencies of survival. Today’s CMO goes beyond traditional branding—embracing and elevating AI-driven insights, personalized experiences and outcome-driven messaging to create a direct impact on organizational growth.

Within the ever-evolving landscape shaped by technology, increased consumer demand and organizational strategies, the modern CMO isn’t a mere guide but a driving force—instrumental in shaping the trajectory of marketing and business strategy in general. In this era of constant flux, modern CMOs aren’t just adapting; they are architecting the future of marketing, one data-driven decision and innovative strategy at a time.

🤥 How bad stats snowball: Marketing’s love of trends allows spurious insight to spread

Have you ever noticed in the marketing industry that seemingly impressive statistics, often showcasing a startling new trend, can sometimes have unclear origins? 

They usually sound grand and eye-opening, the kind of stat that makes you stop in your tracks and say, ‘Wow! Really?’ But, on looking deeper, you may find that these punchy figures have been cited in ways that don’t faithfully reproduce the original stat or its source.

🤔 By the Numbers: This is the impact thought leadership has on prospects — and current customers

Thought leadership content is more trusted by decision makers than marketing materials or product sheets, according to new data from research conducted by Edelman and LinkedIn. 

A huge 75% of decision-makers, including members of the C-suite, say that thought leadership has prompted them to research products or services they had not previously considered. But perhaps most surprising is that thought leadership is critical not only to attracting and retaining new customers, but also to helping competitors steal one another’s existing business.

• Video Spaces are now live on 𝕏 - @cb_doge on X

• People hate these 2 digital marketing tactics, but they work. - @neilpatel on X

• New PMax questions answered from Think with Google… - Julie F Bacchini on X

• This Ad Type Is Some SERIOUS DOGSH*T! - Anthony Higman on X

In-Game Advertising Market Size, Revenue, Growth Statistics, Trends Analysis, Forecast 2024-2032

IMARC Group, a leading market research company, has recently released a report titled “In-Game Advertising Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2024-2032.” 

The global in-game advertising market size reached US$ 7.9 Billion in 2023. Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the market to reach US$ 17.9 Billion by 2032, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 9.54% during 2024-2032.

The evolution of gaming from a niche hobby to a mainstream entertainment option is broadening the gamer profile to include a diverse audience spanning various age groups, genders, and socio-economic backgrounds. 

This diversification is creating lucrative opportunities for advertisers to target specific demographics with tailored advertising content. Moreover, the integration of gaming into daily routines, facilitated by the ubiquity of smartphones and the increasing accessibility of gaming consoles and personal computers (PCs), is enhancing the reach and effectiveness of in-game advertising.

The development of sophisticated gaming engines and high-speed internet connectivity is enabling the creation of immersive and interactive gaming environments. These advancements allow for more seamless and integrated advertising experiences that can be tailored to the context of the game, enhancing the effectiveness of advertisements without disrupting the gaming experience.

The symbiotic relationship between F2P games and in-game advertising creates a beneficial scenario for developers and advertisers alike, encouraging innovation with in-game advertising.

Webinar: How to Gather the PROOF That Your Marketing Is Working

When asked to drill down on the numbers, most marketers struggle to show proof that things are working well… which leads to trouble down the road (like budget cuts or losing your job).

I’m hosting a webinar with Chris Mercer on Thursday, March 7th at 1:00 PM Eastern Time to show you how to get past these struggles once and for all. 

You’ll learn why marketing budgets are getting cut and how to avoid those cuts, why PROOF is vital to a successful marketing strategy, and get a walk-through of my brand new PROOF Framework.

You can Register Here.

One more thing! If you could take a minute to help us out, we want to know whether you are able to gather proof that your marketing is working. We’ll share the survey results in the March 7 webinar.

Take this short 1-minute survey

• Bill Gates’ tea with content creator Dolly Chaiwala breaks the Internet - thisisbillgates on Instagram

• YouTube Create Expansion: This week at YouTube! - Creator Insider on YouTube

• How Gen Z Became The "Buy Everything, Own Nothing" Generation - The Financial Diet on YouTube

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