Automatic work. That’s the promise of automation. 

According to a recent report by Research and Markets, “the global marketing automation market grew from “$5.79 billion in 2022 to $6.5 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.3%. The marketing automation market is expected to grow to $9.5 billion in 2027 at a CAGR of 9.9%.”

The massive investments in automation tools promise massive returns for investors and companies that deliver the goods. However, experience has taught me that ‘automation’ in marketing workflows has been oversold as more promise than reality. 

Rote tasks like email creation, social posting, paid ads, and content creation have become easier with several time-saving tools. Yet, full automation of any marketing practice doesn’t occur as all still require vigilant oversight, input, and review. 

Be wary of overstated buzzwords like automation in current marketing tools. The promise is often too good to be true. 

3 Stories Dominating Media and Tech Headlines

Charter Fires a Shot at Disney by blacking out content. Charter and Disney are amidst a renegotiation of distribution terms in which Charter is seeking access to both traditional TV packages and content from the media company’s DTC streaming services such as Disney+ and ESPN+.

Why it matters: Charter’s decision to cut Disney’s channels from millions of consumers means millions in lost advertising revenue. Not to mention brand reputation risks. All players are fighting over a shrinking pie of fees and ad dollars. Things may get ugly.  

Meta offering Subscription? As E.U regulations evolve, Meta is considering offering paid versions of Instagram and Facebook that would be ad-free for consumers. 

Why it Matters: Meta has already paid out big fines for violating E.U data regulations in the past as a result of updates to their data collection processes. E.U’s evolving Digital Services Act (D.S.A), which comes into effect soon, will allow users to opt out of personalized feeds which are developed by users’ in-app activity. 

As discrepancies over data usage, data laws, and advertising ethics continue to rise, an ad-free subscription tier may be a path to increased revenue for social media.  

YouTube Moves Into Mobile Games. YouTube secretly launched “Playables”, a cloud-based gaming platform embedded in the video player. The new feature is currently being tested to a select number of users, which enables them to play simple games in-stream. 

Why it matters: Gaming has generated 4 billion hours of in-app watch time in 2022 and remains one of the biggest content verticals for YouTube. Hosting the heavy processing games require on 3rd party, cloud-based servers has opened the gates for a new race in gaming. Youtubes’ efforts to branch into direct gaming, along with other video players like Netflix, should signal that more gaming products are on the way that use cloud-tech. 

Client Spotlight - ZDNET AI Goes to Hollywood

MOCEAN’s Chief Creative Officer, Greg Harrison, was interviewed by ZDNET to get his take on how AI is affecting Hollywood and advertising. The interview covers new AI tools, implications for copyrights, and AI’s role in the creative process. Read it here.

Stat of the Week - Marketing Automation Practice

Chart by Miles Mahoney

Email marketing, social management, and paid ads have seen the most automation tools with over 50% of marketers say they automate at least some form of the practice. 

As investment dollars pour into the sector, expect more repetitive tasks in marketing to take on more automation.

Fun fact - this is an email campaign. The only automated part is the distribution.

One Fun Thing - Automated Annoyance 

Sometimes automation only breeds automatic annoyance. Buyer beware of annoying your end user.