We’re excited to welcome you to our monthly newsletter with the latest digital marketing news, industry updates.
August presented itself as an interesting month for the Search Marketing Updates.
Last month, among different search updates, revealed the August 2023 Core Update, Google Search Central answered the common difficult question how to rank higher despite having optimised sites, and last but not least, there’s a new algorithm in sight, the TW-BERT promising to revolutionise the SEO field with its hybrid approach.
On the other hand, the Martech field certainly had some movement during the last month featuring two popular CRMs for online businesses. We are covering the latest Dubsado and Hubspot updates.
If you want to keep up to date with the latest industry news, make sure to follow through.
Search Marketing Updates
1. Google Unveils August 2023 Core Update
Source: Deposit Photos
Google has just rolled out its latest core update for August 2023, which means new ranking nuances are here to stay, affecting the existing ranking positions.
This routine update is part of Google’s ongoing efforts to provide users with the best and most reliable search results.
What to expect from the August 2023 Google Core Update?
We have gathered the key highlights from the core update here:
- Upon completion of the rollout, Google will update its ranking release history page.
- Core updates have the potential to have a positive or negative impact on search rankings, or in certain instances, they may have no effect at all.
If your site is affected negatively, here are some recommendations Google has stated to improve the performance and recover from the update.
The first recommendation that Google suggest is to assess and audit your existing content following its help content guide instead of making efforts on technical fixes.
Keep in mind that Google’s efforts are directed towards creating high-value search experiences over low-quality content, so auditing your content would be key to improve and make your ranking performance to be stable.
The second recommendation, is to avoid making drastic changes as the roll-out has recently completed its roll-out and let the algorithm works its purpose.
Regarding the recovery time, the search company has made clear that it typically takes several months for pages to recover rankings. Content impacted in Search or Discover by a core update may not see recovery, even if improvements have been implemented, until the next major core update is rolled out.
As the effects of the August 2023 core update continue to unfold, it’s essential for businesses and SEO professionals to remain patient and focus on enhancing website quality. Quick fixes are not the answer.
2. Google Explains Why Good SEO Doesn’t Always Equal High Rankings
Source: Mueller’s YouTube video Screenshot
A website owner expressed frustration about their well-optimized site’s inability to rank, despite facing minimal competition. Their website boasted essential elements like sitemaps, indexed pages, updated content, backlinks, and on-page optimization
John Mueller, in behalf of Google Search Central, recently delved into the puzzling issue of why a well-optimized website might not achieve high rankings, even when targeting low-competition keywords.
The explanation was made through this YouTube video, where Mueller addresses the question: “Why is my site not ranking despite low competition and good SEO?”
Mueller’s response emphasized that successful SEO entails more than just technical details and aimed to invite content creators to look beyond.
While must-have technical aspects such as site mapping, updated content, backlinks, indexed pages, on-page optimisation, etc, are indeed crucial for a first level optimisation, the recent ongoing efforts from Google to lead with value, incentives users to focus on quality.
He drew parallels to the offline world, where a book’s success isn’t solely determined by its cover and content quality. Similarly, running a restaurant with the right ingredients and a clean kitchen doesn’t guarantee a flood of customers. All of these initial resources are a must-have for smooth-running operations, however don’t guarantee success, and so it happens with SEO.
So, what are other actions to help to increase your ranking performance?
In additional to creating high-value content, keep in mind that SEO is solely a small part of your marketing efforts. Other actions such as site promotion, including podcast appearances, conference speaking engagements, networking, content creation (e.g., YouTube videos), and advertising, can play a crucial role in SEO success.
If a website struggles to rank for low-competition keywords, it could indicate a need to deepen one’s SEO knowledge. Keeping an open mind about search engine optimisation is crucial, as its specifics have changed over the past two decades, and knowledge gaps can catch even seasoned pros off guard.
3. The TW-BERT ranking algorithm has been introduced by Google Ranking Algorithm Research
Source: Deposit Photos
Google has introduced an impressive ranking framework known as Term Weighting BERT (TW-BERT), designed to refine search results without the need for significant alterations.
Among the co-authors of TW-BERT is Marc Najork, a distinguished research scientist at Google DeepMind. His expertise in ranking processes makes TW-BERT all the more intriguing.
So, let’s dive into the basics, what is the TW-BERT algorithm?
TW-BERT is a ranking framework that assigns scores (weights) to words in search queries, enhancing the determination of document relevance. It’s particularly valuable in query expansion, where synonyms or additional terms are used to improve search results.
Already powerful as it sounds, TW-BERT also bridges two search methods: statistics-based retrieval and deep learning models. It addresses the limitations of both approaches by providing contextualized term weighting, offering more meaningful results.
Let’s see how TW-BERT might look into action:
Consider the query “Nike running shoes.”
TW-BERT assigns scores to each word, emphasizing the importance of “Nike” while ensuring context for “running shoes.” This ensures more accurate matching between queries and documents.
This deployment, then solves existing limitations as traditional term weighting struggles with query variations and zero-shot scenarios. TW-BERT aims to overcome these by combining the strengths of lexical retrievers and deep models.
So, does it get rid of the traditional approach? The short answer is no.
TW-BERT acts as a bridge between these two approaches, offering robustness and context. It assigns term weights and seamlessly integrates into the information retrieval process.
While Google hasn’t officially confirmed its use, TW-BERT promises substantial advancements in ranking processes, including query expansion, and its simplicity suggests its practical implementation. Undoubtedly, this new tool positions itself as a potential game changer.
What we do know is that one significant advantage of TW-BERT is its effortless integration into existing ranking systems, requiring no specialized software or hardware updates.
Meanwhile, in the absence of official confirmation, TW-BERT remains a fascinating framework with the potential to enhance information retrieval accuracy across the web.
Martech Updates
1. Dubsado launches an in-app payment gateway functionality
Source: Dubsado
On their last keynote presentation, they introduced Dubsado Payments, a game-changing addition set to transform the financial landscape for agencies and companies. With the waitlist now open and a planned launch by the end of summer, Dubsado Payments promises a host of benefits that will empower businesses using this CRM.
We have gathered some key benefits below:
Same-Day Deposits for Chase Members: Say goodbye to lengthy settlement periods. Connect any bank account to receive funds within 1-3 business days, or opt for same-day payouts by linking your Chase bank account at no additional cost. (Note: A Chase bank account is not mandatory for connecting to Dubsado Payments.)
High-Limit ACH Transactions: For high-volume users, Dubsado Payments offers an incredibly user-friendly solution. With a $5 fee and an impressive $750k limit per transaction, ACH transactions are now hassle-free.
Effortless Refunds: Bid farewell to external refund platforms. Dubsado Payments allows you to process refunds directly on their platform. Plus, when you issue a full refund, your processing fee is returned. It’s all about speed and simplicity.
Dedicated In-House Payment Support: Experience top-notch customer support like never before. Dubsado’s friendly and responsive team is ready to assist with all your payment processing needs, prioritizing your comfort and satisfaction.
While Dubsado Payments initially launches in the US and Canada, the team is actively working to expand its availability to other countries post-launch. This expansion opens up new possibilities for businesses worldwide.
Source: Email Screenshot
It’s essential to note that the company has stated that Payments will not be mandatory. Dubsado will still allow business to connect to other popular payment platforms like Stripe, Square, or PayPal if any of those align with your preferences.
In summary, Dubsado Payments is set to revolutionise financial transactions for agencies and companies.
2. AI technology arrives to Hubspot with the Support Assistant
Source: Hubspot
HubSpot has unveiled its latest game-changing feature: the Content Assistant for the Conversations Inbox composer, now available across all channels.
This exciting addition empowers users with a wide array of capabilities, from generating responses to customer inquiries to editing existing or generated text. This feature promises having the flexibility to rewrite, shorten, expand, or adjust the tone of selected text, putting you in control of your communication.
Streamlined Conversations Across Channels
In a bid to enhance your user experience, HubSpot introduces a nifty feature. Conversations across all channels, except for WhatsApp, in active threads can now be easily summarized within the comment section.
This functionality simplifies your interactions by creating a concise conversation summary. This way, any inbox user can swiftly grasp the context of a conversation without sifting through every single message.
Accessible to All Hubs and Tiers
This update is accessible to all hubs and tiers, ensuring that businesses of all sizes can benefit from these powerful enhancements.
Social Media Updates
1. TikTok publishes the 2023 Holiday Campaigns Guide
Source: TikTok
As we are just leaving summer, we start entering the most significant season for must businesses, and TikTok is well-aware of it having prepared their Holiday Guide for 2023
If TikTok is on your radar for this year’s holiday marketing campaigns, you’re in luck. TikTok has just released its comprehensive ‘2023 Holiday Marketing Guide,’ packed with valuable tips and insights to help you craft your holiday marketing strategy.
TikTok is increasingly becoming a go-to platform for shoppers to discover new trends. It’s essentially evolving into a trend-based search engine. Understanding how your target audience uses TikTok, particularly in the context of the broader shift towards using social platforms for entertainment, is crucial.
Key Planning Tips and Dates
The guide offers essential planning tips, complete with a handy calendar of key dates. This helps you stay on track with your holiday marketing timeline.
Delving deeper, TikTok’s guide provides detailed insights into when to launch your key strategic foundations. It also offers guidance on using TikTok’s specific tools, including CapCut, their separate video editing tool, as seen in the image below.
Engagement and Potential
Given the increasing number of people using TikTok as a primary entertainment platform, in addition to the exceptional algorithm the platform offers, the engagement potential is substantial. This could yield robust responses for well-planned campaigns.
Whether you’re already committed to TikTok or considering it for your holiday marketing, TikTok’s ‘2023 Holiday Marketing Guide’ is a valuable resource that deserves your attention.
2. Threads usage is reportedly down by 79% after 1 month in
Source. Similar Web
Threads, the social media app that emerged in response to Twitter’s tumultuous times, has witnessed a notable decline in its user engagement.
The app was designed to leverage Twitter’s turmoil since its acquisition by Elon Musk and position itself as a leading text-based social media platform. However, it has struggled to match Twitter’s daily user engagement, where Twitter boasts over 100 million active daily users.
In August, the platform recorded 576,000 active users, representing a significant drop of 79% from its peak of 2.3 million users in July.
In the Digital Marketing News and Updates from July, we were already mentioning how the high-rising and promising, Threads App had been slowly decreasing its usage, and by doing it so, compromising its existence and future.
Threads, Meta’s answer to Twitter, had a promising start with a whopping 5 million user registrations within the first few hours of its July 5 launch. Within less than a week, it attracted at least 100 million sign-ups, making it one of the fastest-downloaded apps ever. However, this initial excitement has since dwindled.
Not only we are talking about day-to-day users, but there has also been a corporate shift. Major US companies like Wendy’s, Anthropologie, and Rare Beauty have reduced their posting activities on Threads, indicating a shift away from the platform, as reported by Adweek.
While the app, continues implementing new features such as being able to share a Threads post to your DM’s on IG, adding the ability to add alt-text to photos & videos, and introducing the ability to mention other user’s in Thread posts quickly with a dedicated button, the performance doesn’t seem to increase.
Threads’ diminishing user engagement underscores the challenges faced by newcomers trying to unseat established social media giants. The platform’s fate in the ever-evolving social media landscape remains uncertain.
3. TikTok is making its For You page OPTIONAL in Europe
Source: Deposit Photos
TikTok is making significant adjustments to align with the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). These changes will allow TikTok users in Europe to have greater control over their personalized content experience.
As mentioned by TikTok:
“This means that For You and LIVE feeds will instead show popular videos from both the places where the user lives and around the world, rather than recommending content to them based on their personal interests. Similarly, when using non-personalized search, [EU users] will see results made up of popular content from their region and in their preferred language. Their Following and Friends feeds will continue to show creators they follow, but in chronological order rather than based on the viewer’s profile.”
Opting Out of Personalized Algorithms
Under the DSA, very large online platforms must offer users the option to disable personalized content recommendations that typically rely on tracking and profiling user activity. TikTok will introduce this feature, enabling users to switch off the personalised algorithm behind its For You and Live feeds.
Disabling this function will result in users seeing “popular videos from both the places where they live and around the world” instead of content tailored to their personal interests.
Changes to Search and Feed
TikTok’s search feature will also align with the DSA by showing content that is popular in the user’s region. Additionally, videos in the “Following” and “Friends” feeds will be displayed in chronological order when users opt for a non-personalized view.
Personalised Ad Targeting for Minors
For users between the ages of 13 and 17, TikTok will automatically disable personalised ad targeting based on their online activities, eliminating the need for them to opt out using a toggle.
TikTok is one of 19 companies subject to the DSA’s rules, alongside platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.
As TikTok adapts to these new requirements, it is likely that other platforms will make similar changes in Europe.
These changes undoubtedly reflect TikTok’s commitment to ensuring compliance with the DSA while offering users more control over their content and ad experiences.
Updates from Frizbit
1. Product update: On-site personalisation coming soon.
At Frizbit, innovation is at the core of what we do, and our commitment to enhancing online experiences is unwavering. Our dedicated development team has been working on introducing on-site hyperpersonalisation, a transformative solution set to revolutionize the way businesses engage with their online audience.
Let’s get back to the basics, what is on-site hyperpersonalisation?
On-site hyperpersonalisation is not just a buzzword; it’s a game-changer for businesses seeking to provide exceptional online experiences.
It goes beyond the basics of personalisation by tailoring every aspect of a user’s on-site journey based on their preferences, behaviour, and history.
Our aim and focus has always been customer-centric, and with this update we’d like to introduce it as having a personal shopper guide your customers through your digital shopfront, offering exactly what they need, when they need it.
This is surely a great compliment to our digital marketing automation cross-channel solutions.
Ready to take your online experience to the next level?
Reach out to our dedicated team or request a free demo to try Frizbit’s Marketing Automation platform, so you can specifically cater your business goals.
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