After months of BETA tests, Google has announced plans to expand Google Attribution to more advertisers. First announced in May, the free service aims to help marketers measure the impact of their marketing across devices and across channels, offering valuable insights which could improve results.
Pinterest has announced Pin Collective, a new self-serve tool for advertisers which makes it easier for them to connect with influencers and tap into specialist Pinterest markets. Pin Collective is aimed at both big and small brands, and will allow them to source key influencers and work together to create bespoke content at scale.
All advertisers need to do is submit a creative brief which Pinterest creators can apply to work on. Once a creator is chosen, all communication happens directly through the platform.
With Adidas Originals already using the tools, it’s be interesting to see what other brands jump on board. Learn more about Pin Collective on Pinterest.
Big news with Google Adwords! Google announced early in October that Adwords can now spend up to twice your daily budget. But don’t worry! This doesn’t mean that you’ll be presented with a huge bill at the end of the month. The update to Adwords is designed to get the most out of your ads by improving clicks and conversion and won’t affect your overall monthly spend. Google wants to help you reach your goals by increasing spend on heavy traffic days, and capping the budget quieter ones.
The news was met with mixed reviews from advertisers, who worry that if their ad experiences high traffic early on in the month, that they will spend through their budget before the month is out.
Throughout October, Bing rolled out DSA (Dynamic Search Ads) to advertisers across the globe. With DSA, users can target searchers automatically without the advertiser having to specify certain keywords or landing pages to target.
DSA uses Bing’s crawling algorithm to assess content. It then matches it to users based on what it perceives to be relevant to the searcher, thus, driving traffic to relevant URLs.
Bing will go a step further and auto-generate the ad headline seen by the searcher sees, and will include copy to address any real-time signals that might be useful, such as intent or location.
Bing Ads added two more new features that will make your work life easier. The new ‘Overview’ tab added to the dashboard will give advertisers an in-depth, customisable look at their ads performance. Meanwhile, it’s new ‘Multi-Linking’ feature allows advertisers to link accounts without having to classify itself as an agency, and also allows up to five users to manage a single account. Managers can use multi-linking to run reports across all accounts and manage billing from one shell.
With most users accessing Google through their mobile device, Google has begun testing a new mobile ranking system that evaluates contents relevance to the user. At the moment, Google typically ranks based on the desktop version of a page’s content, which is problematic if the mobile version of the page is different to the desktop and displays less information.
Read Google’s blog to see how mobile first indexing will improve the user experience.
A recent Google algorithm update will localise search results based on where you are in the world. Google will determine your location using GPS and tailor your results, regardless of which regional top-domain you are visiting.
For instance, if you use Google.ie when abroad, you’ll still be given results based on your current location. With an estimated one fifth of Google search results being location-specific, it’s a wonder they didn’t make this update sooner.
Halloween is done and dusted, and we’re on the final stretch to Christmas. In preparation for the height of the holiday shopping period, Google has introduced new local search features to drive footfall to brick-and-mortar stores. Not only will Google drive more visits, but also include ways to measure successful conversions.
Among the features are the inclusion of local inventory display ads and Google Assistant queries. New tabs in AdWords manager will also be added, such as a Time Lag report, which will show retailers how long between an ad click and store visit.
See what else Google has added here.
If you’re a business owner, you now have the option to add a booking button to your Google search result, making it easier for customers to make a reservation or appointment.
The search giant has teamed up with several booking service providers like Appointy and GenBook and integrated them into the Google My Business dashboard for easy set up. If your business appears in a Google search result, users can seamlessly book their appointment or make a reservation with one click.
Google My Business will let you manage your booking schedule and give you useful insights, like how much money you made on bookings over certain time periods.
Do you host your business site on WordPress? The team over at Search Engine Journal put together some absolutely essential tips for optimizing your WordPress site to up your rankings. These seven tips are easy to implement, and could mean a huge improvement of website traffic.
In an effort to edge out the competition in the live streaming space, Instagram is now offering users the ability to broadcast live with a friend in a split screen broadcast.
With the new feature, users who are currently live can easily invite someone watching their broadcast to join them ‘on air’ and broadcast to their followers. Within the broadcast, both users can even use augmented reality lenses and a bunch of other features.
In a controversial move, Facebook is testing a new way to view your timeline – by splitting it in two.
Facebook, for many, started as a way to stay connected with family and friends, but as the platform grew it became one of the biggest sources of news and information on the web. Millions of news publications, musicians, sports teams and other brands use it daily to publish content and grow their following.
Now, Facebook is toying with the idea of having two timelines, one for personal network updates and another for brands. If brands don’t spend money to promote their posts, it will be relegated to this feed and users will have to go looking for content rather than see it appear in their timeline while scrolling through friends updates. This could drastically reduce engagement for brands who have spent years building an online following, and have a huge impact on sales.
As testing continues, only time will tell if this rolls out and what the impact could be for brands.
Early in October, LinkedIn announced new updates to its lead generation solution, Sales Navigator, which will allow customers to “precisely target the accounts and leads their sales team is pursuing.”
Among other features, Sales Navigator will also give advertisers the option to target lookalike audiences – audience groups who behave similarly to their current customers. Get to grips with all the updates to LinkedIn on AdWeek.
For the first time, Snapchat is allowing users to share links within the app to external websites. The update came along with more flexible SnapMap options, which enables users to hide their location temporarily.
Want to go off the grid for awhile? Clandestine Snapchatters can disappear from the SnapMap for between 3 – 24 hours with the latest update.
GoFundMe is by far the most successful fundraising platform around, having facilitated over €3 billion in donations since its inception. Now GoFundMe wants to tell the stories behind select campaigns through short films.
The two-man studio includes Wil Tidman, who previously developed native content for GoPro and Hollywood producer, Chris Nell.
“In my career, I have yet to come across so many truly incredible stories as the ones we’ve found on GoFundMe,” said Wil Tidman in a statement. “GoFundMe Studios will showcase the extraordinary stories of humans changing the world through the simple act of giving. Through a documentary storytelling lens, we aim to inspire our community and the world to turn compassion into action.”
See their first offering, a 9 minute short film called Jim Ford, Repo Man below.
It’s marketers who keep their finger on the pulse that produce the best, most engaging content. From continued focus on mobile, to dynamic video content, Adweek takes a look at what trends to look out for in the new year, and how to start planning early.
Creating compelling visual content on a budget can be tough! Spice up your content with high quality, engaging imagery and audio that won’t break the bank.
SocialMediaExaminer.com put together a list of some of the best, affordable stock assets that you can use to give your content flare.
By now, advertisers know the power of good content, but finding the time and money to invest in its creation can prove difficult. Five of Forbe’s Agency Council Members have shared their tips for creating that much needed content to drive business. This article is a must read for struggling content marketers.
Late in October, Google finally has launched its new quick payment service ‘Pay with Google’, a rival to PayPal and Apple Pay.
‘Pay with Google’ was teased earlier this year, but now customers can start using the service, which is aimed at facilitating speedy, stress-free transactions with the touch of a button.
The feature allows users to store any credit or debit card details they have used for Google products like Chrome, YouTube, Android Pay, or the Google Play store, which will then send their payment information and shipping address to online merchants to buy goods in just a few clicks. For security, Google will send the customer a payment verification code.
Already, the company has teamed with a heap of merchants like Just Eat, AirBnb, Deliveroo, Wish and many more. While there are a tonne of competitors in the payment provider space, Google is bound to take a big chunk in the market. If you sell goods online, you can install the Pay with Google API for free by visiting Google’s Developer Docs.
Date: February 8th, 2018
Tickets for 3XE’s Conversion Marketing Conference are on sale now, and this years schedule is jam packed full of great speakers and workshops aimed at helping you boost conversions.
Tickets start at €195 and available from 3xedigital.com.
Join Marketing Institute of Ireland on Wednesday, 22nd November for this month’s Marketing Breakfast. Speakers include Colin Lewis of OpenJaw Technologies who will present the latest developments in China and what Irish marketers need to know.
Register your attendance at MII.ie.