SEARCH
Is TikTok becoming the go-to place for search?
We’ve mentioned before that TikTok has become a search engine.
That’s true now more than ever.
You want it, TikTok’s got it: A new study from Adobe shows that 10% of Gen Z chooses TikTok over Google as their go-to search engine.
Meanwhile, 49% of millennials, 29% of Gen X, and 14% of Baby boomers also say they’ve used TikTok as a search engine.
Top search topics include: Recipes, music, DIY tips, and fashion advice.
Oh, and 62% of users say video tutorials are their preferred content.
Adobe also surveyed business owners, and found interesting results.
22% said video tutorials perform better than traditional SERPs, followed by creative content, product reviews, trends, personal stories, slide shows, guides, Q&As, and influencer content.
Just in case you haven’t heard it before, being present on TikTok could mean more exposure—and customers—for your brand.
Especially if you’re in one of the most searched industries…
AI MARKETING
Microsoft launches a new AI chatbot
Monetizing that: Microsoft just launched Copilot Pro, a subscription-based version of its Copilot AI tool.
Copilot Pro offers enhanced features for writing, coding, designing, researching, and learning.
And for $20 per month, you can use AI assistance across multiple Microsoft applications, and soon build your own customized Copilot GPTs.
Yep, Microsoft is working on a Copilot GPT Builder, too.
And something else kinda cool: Copilot Pro users will have priority access to the latest AI models, like OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo. Nice.
Will you be subscribing?
SPONSORED BY INSENSE
Stop manually searching and chasing influencers in DMs
Are you tired of wasting time contacting influencers who don’t respond to your DMs? Yeah, us too!
Listen up: There’s a simple way to grow your brand awareness with nano and micro-influencers while sourcing high-performing content, for organic and paid social, within 10 days from responsive creators.
It’s called Insense. What makes it so good?
- Creators apply to you: responsive creators apply to your campaigns in minutes.
- Delivered in 10 days: receive high-performing UGC for organic and paid social.
- Simplified admin work: automated influencer agreements, payments, and digital content usage rights.
- Money-back guarantee: if an influencer ghosts you.
- Repeat and long-term collabs: build relationships with influencers and UGC creators.
Join major DTC marketing teams like Obvi, GoPure, and Ivy Beauty using Insense.
Book a free 1-2-1 strategy call by Jan 31 and get $200 for your first UGC campaign.
ANALYTICS
What to know about Google Analytics 4 and cookies
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) came with a fresh dashboard, new metrics, and new dimensions.
… But it also came with a new way of tracking. For now, GA4 still uses cookies—but those old-school methods are slowly fading out.
Here’s what you need to know, courtesy of Jake Peterson:
1) Identifying unique users. GA4 sets up a cookie named _ga to identify unique users, creating one when a user first visits a website.
To look at this unique user data, you can use the GA4 exploration tool called User explorer, which contains the full User ID.
Inspect the page element, go to the application, and filter cookies by “_ga.”
2) Tracking user sessions. Google significantly tweaked how sessions and engagement metrics are monitored in GA4.
The platform now uses something called the _gid cookie, which tracks those metrics while also tracking pageview counts and helping you distinguish current users.
This cookie expires after 24 hours, or when the user closes their browser.
3) Enhancing measurement. GA4’s new advanced features show off user interactions in a more connected way.
The measurements include cross-device tracing, monitoring users across multiple devices and user IDs, and linking user behavior to specific accounts.
Most people have more than one device, so cross-device tracking is a crucial metric to keep your eyes on.
It will help you understand conversion path, attribution modeling, user behavior, customer lifetime value, enhanced targeting, and predictive analytics.
4) Privacy regulations. As you know, GA4 has to comply with worldwide privacy regulations.
GA4’s first-party cookies are created by the website you visit, making them more privacy-conscious.
And of course, GA4 also follows various GDPR and Privacy Act regulations so that both users and advertisers are safe and secure. At least, that’s the hope.
Happy tracking!
SPONSORED BY SALESFORCE
Your guide to survival in today’s B2B marketing
Customers have tighter budgets than they did last year. So do you.
Winning them over—and proving your results—is more challenging, too.
So you’re going to need Salesforce’s “The B2B Marketer’s Guide to Winning Customers and Proving Success.”
It shows you how to:
- Understand and score buyer behavior so you get quality leads.
- Surface insights and automate content creation.
- Measure and report success so it resonates with stakeholders.
Thrive in today’s B2B climate with this free guide.
THE CREW’S INSIGHTS
Should you segment your Performance Max campaigns?
One member of The Crew has worked with a lot of Google Ads clients.
Generally speaking, these clients allowed bidding on branded keywords, a tactic that’s often seen as non-incremental traffic to brands.
And usually, these same clients wanted to segment their Performance Max campaign into two separate campaign types: A branded campaign, and a non-branded campaign.
Is this a good idea? It may sound good on paper, but there are a few hiccups to consider.
First, Performance Max already has retargeting built in.
It’s designed to be a one-stop shop that streamlines all your Google Ads campaigns and hits all the necessary touchpoints—including retargeting audiences.
So why would you pull out individual tools when the kit is already optimized for every job?
Second, over-segmentation can actually dilute the effectiveness of Performance Max.
Your campaigns will end up competing against each other—and one campaign may even cannibalize the other.
Here’s what to do instead: Trust the system, and keep optimizing those search themes and audiences until you get the reach you want.
And if you really want to remove branded keywords from your Performance Max campaign, keep your eyes open for tomorrow’s newsletter, because you’ll find a mini tutorial in the next Crew’s Insight.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
E-COMMERCE ROI: These brands are tapping into psychology to squeeze more revenue from their emails—and it’s working insanely well. “Inbox to Checkout” reveals their emails, the psychological principles, and AI prompts to help you tailor them to your brand. Download the report now to increase your email revenue.*
APPLE: Hello, there’s a new App Store for the Vision Pro. It’s called visionOS, and it’s now open to developers who want to release apps designed specifically for the new Vision Pro headset, as well as iOS apps that are compatible. Cool.
LINKEDIN: Hashtags. Do you need them? According to LinkedIn, the answer is… kinda? Hashtags can be helpful to segment post topics, but users rely on them less to discover new content. It’s also unclear whether you need them if you already have the right keywords in your post.
YOUTUBE: The ad block battle rages on. Supposedly YouTube is slowing down when encountering users’ ad blocking tools. There’s speculation in places like Reddit that this is a deliberate play on YouTube’s part to discourage ad blockers. Of course, it could also be totally coincidental…
*This is a sponsored post.
BRAIN TEASER
What’s stronger than a boulder, but weaker than a flying insect?
You can find the answer here.
POOLSIDE CHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things marketers like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
Hey, it’s just a seat belt joke!
Well, not anymore.
The sun is setting for funny messages on electronic signs over highways and freeways in the US.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, humorous signs are too distracting to drivers—and not always clear.
To see them off, the Arizona Department of Transportation shared some of the funniest creative message contest winners from last year:
“Seat belts always pass a vibe check,” and “I’m just a sign asking drivers to use turn signals.” Excellent.
Too bad. These signs made traffic a little less boring…