SOCIAL MEDIA

Thirty, flirty, and TikToking

Ashley Dingess is a 34-year-old woman from Temecula, California. She runs a YouTube channel about Disneyland, has worked in the music industry for 13 years—and loves TikTok. 

She downloaded the app last year after friends in the music industry, who she described as “10 years younger,” urged her to join. “In the beginning of Covid they were like, ‘You gotta get on TikTok! Get on TikTok!’ And I was like, you guys, I'm not doing your stupid dances,” she told Marketing Brew. 

One pandemic later, Dingess is now totally hooked. “I browse TikTok way too much,” she enthused. 

Why it matters: As it turns out, Dingess is not alone. 

• Although TikTok has become synonymous with Gen Z, women in their thirties make up a substantial slice of the app's users. 
• Women in the US aged 30 to 39 represent 13.8% of the app’s user base on Android devices, per App Ape research published on Statista this year. They’re the second largest group of monthly active TikTok users (girls and young women from 10–19 account for 16.4%). 

Big picture: And where users lead, brands follow. Marketers at brands ranging from Fabletics to St. Jude are making TikTok videos with millennial women in mind.

Allll the 30s ladies, all the 30s ladies

Aubrie Richey, VP, customer acquisition and media for TechStyle Fashion Group, is one such marketer. TechStyle owns Fabletics, an activewear brand cofounded by Kate Hudson that Richey said makes an effort to appeal to women in their thirties on TikTok. 

• Richey said TikTok data shared with Fabletics shows that women in this age group are spending “increasingly more time on the platform and engaging with a variety of content.” 
• To capture their attention, Fabletics posts TikToks that not only highlight its clothing, but also include practical tips—think workout tutorials and smoothie recipes. 

Zoom out: According to Richey, these women are “at a point in their lives when they still enjoy the mindless entertainment value of social platforms, but also crave more stimulating content.” 

• She said Fabletics has seen success (such as improved click-through rates and customer acquisition costs) with “aspirational” content, such as TikToks that address “personal, familial, and even professional aspirations as well.” 
• Some of its TikToks are geared toward moms; one of its videos promotes the brand’s “mom and me” collection with a mother and daughter dancing together in Fabletics gear. 

Click here to keep reading about how Fabletics, Scary Mommy, and St. Jude appeal to women in their thirties on TikTok.—PB

PLATFORMS

HBO Max plus advertisers

A year after its debut, HBO Max has released an ad-supported version.

Like Hulu, HBO Max is now offering a two-tiered system; subscribers can shell out $14.99 a month to visit Central Perk without any interruptions, or pay $9.99 for what the platform is calling the “lowest commercial ad load in the streaming industry,” or about four minutes every hour. There’s also a discount if you pay for the full year up front. HBO Max said more than 35 brands will start running campaigns on the platform this month.

A caveat: Ad-supported audiences won’t get immediate access to Warner Bros. films like Space Jam 2 that are released on HBO Max the same day as they hit theaters. These subscribers also won’t be able to download shows offline. 

But fear not, HBO’s original shows won’t have ads. The Bada Bing will remain unsullied.

Zoom out: According to a Morning Consult/Adweek survey, “49% of adults said they would choose an ad-supported version of full streaming platforms over a more expensive ad-free option, more than twice the share who said the opposite.”—RB

SPONSORED BY ITERABLE

Exhale to Marketing Workflow Wisdom

Whether of the vinyasa or work variety, flows are essential. And a marketing automation platform without a good workflow is like a yoga class without a few chaturangas—missing a key element. 

This white paper from Iterable shows you how to build a workflow that...works. It touches on the technological limitations of legacy platforms and the four building blocks of a customer messaging workflow. 

Because we love you, we’ll give you a peek behind the curtain at what exactly those blocks are: 

• Enter/Exit criteria 
• Timing 
• Actions 
• Filters 

Iterable explains how to use those building blocks to develop a top-notch workflow. With this framework, you’ll have the tools to engage with your audience in a dynamic and flexible way.

Take your email messaging to the next level here. 

CAMPAIGNS

Money doesn’t buy allyship

Yesterday kicked off Pride Month, and, per usual, brands didn’t waste any time diving right into the celebration. From makeup brand Bliss to Converse sneakers, many companies are giving back to LGBTQ+ organizations in dollar form, per USA Today.

But in recent years, some LGBTQ+ community members have claimed Pride has become too corporate, donations or no donations.

• Last week, in a New York Times essay about police marching at Pride parades, Roxane Gay wrote that Pride sometimes feels “unrecognizable because it has gone so mainstream,” adding that it’s “frustrating that some corporations have commodified it, drenching their marketing materials with rainbow colors but doing little to celebrate and support the LGBTQ community during the rest of the year.”
• Rana Reeves, founder of agency RanaVerse, also has some issues with capitalism’s place in Pride. Reeves spoke to Ad Age last week about why the “traditional way of doing Pride” might not cut it this year. “You use the old rainbow. You may or may not bring out a product. You give 100K because it sounds big, five figures, to Glaad. You use a word like acceptance and maybe two white muscle queens and a drag queen. And it’s like, check.”

Bottom line: Like a regifted candle, donations can be appreciated without feeling genuine. If brands aren't trying to enact tangible change for this community, one and done checks can ring hollow.—PB

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Nike, Sweetgreen, and Mastercard have all voiced their support for tennis star Naomi Osaka’s decision to exit the French Open.
• Discovery Inc. and WarnerMedia’s post-merger name will be Warner Bros. Discovery—how original.
• Twitter is testing full screen mobile ads in Fleets. It’s also debuting a weather newsroom.
• Wendy’s is returning to the UK after 20 years away.

SPONSORED BY LINKEDIN MARKETING SOLUTIONS

Not all who wander are lost, but the same shouldn’t go for your ads. You want your marketing efforts to be good, right? So, why are they reaching who knows who, who knows where? Help your ads stay on the right track, and read our article on the four secrets of advertising. 

AD FRAUD

Can you tell a real marketing story from a fake?

1. ABC’s new logo looks exactly like its old logo.
2. Amazon changes its terms of service, lets customers sue.
3. Warner Bros. Discovery’s new logo was designed in WordArt.
4. SpongeBob and Transformers cost US taxpayers $4 billion, study says.

Keep scrolling for the answer.

FRENCH PRESS

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren't those.

Guide: What’s the (less than obvious) difference between Facebook Shop and the Instagram Store? Here’s a guide to navigating each.

UX: And if you already have an e-commerce store, this checklist will keep it tidy, clean, and performing better than ever.

Sales pitch: If you’re going to have content marketing, make sure it’s written well. Here are the dos and don’ts to emotionally hook readers.

AD FRAUD ANSWER

The new logo may not have been designed by your grandma, but close enough.

EVENTS

Marketers need to know where their messages end up. But they also need to know the latest on brand safety issues, and the language to push back against brand safety snake oil salesmen. Come learn from the cofounders of Check My Ads, a consultancy that knows how to protect you. 

On Wednesday, June 16 at 1pm ET, Nandini Jammi and Claire Atkin will join us in conversation and explain how to make sure your ads don’t end up on the butthole of the internet.

Ready to RSVP? We know you are. Click here to register and share your questions for Claire and Nandini. Can’t wait to see you!

ICYMI

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Hot dogs, the underdog of plant-based meat
• Advertising on OnlyFans
• Why Heineken is offering rideshare vouchers in Waze