Welcome to a new edition of our monthly newsletter on the latest digital marketing news, insights, and updates.

This month, Google was the main character in the search marketing field.

As we previously announced, the AI industry is taking up more space and could potentially become a threat to Google. To stay ahead, as we expected, Google is moving forward by developing conversational AI into its search engine!

On the other side, we are thrilled to share a sneak peek of the improved Frizbit dashboard. With the latest update, segmentation has become a powerful tool for retargeting and driving sales.

We’ll see what the coming months bring for AI and the search field. In the meantime, if you don’t want to miss the latest updates on MarTech and social media, be sure to read the full blog.

Digital Marketing News & Updates from April 2023

CONTENT

Search Marketing Updates

• Google reveals the ideal number of products on a page for better rankings

• Google reveals how it detects fake reviews of local businesses

• Conversational AI is coming to Google’s search engine

Tech Marketing Updates

• AI arrives to Shopify

• YouTube has introduced AI-powered music ad solutions that target Gen Z

Social Media Updates

• TikTok’s sister App “Lemon8” is gaining traction and might become the alternative app in the U.S. for short-format content

• Instagram is developing a text-based social network called Barcelona (in competition with Twitter…?)

• On LinkedIn Premium Member Profiles, LinkedIn has added new CTA buttons

Updates from Frizbit

• Product update: New Improved Dashboard

• Frizbit attends the EU Startups Summit

Search Marketing Updates

1. Google reveals the ideal number of products on a page for better rankings

SOURCE: DEPOSIT PHOTOS

If you are an eCommerce manager or owner, stay tuned, because this first piece of news is just for you.

John Mueller, from Google, recently provided insight on how many products should be listed on a page for optimal ranking purposes.

The conversation was brought up by a user who asked in Mastodon social website.:

“@johnmu do you prefer an extensive product range (e.g. 30 products) on a page because offering many products is a ranking factor? Or, would you prefer a smaller and more specific product range (e.g. 2 – 3 products) which contributes conversion more (less choice stress) in terms of E-E-A-T?”

Rather than providing a specific number, Mueller suggested considering the question from a different perspective.

This different perspective comes quite aligned to the new “Experience” focus that resonates so much with Google lately.

Mueller suggests considering usability testing when determining the optimal number of products to display on a page for improved rankings.

The truth is that no theory or formula can define it better than your actual clients. And according to Jenny Cove, a UX researcher at Google, the key insights regarding usability testing are:

1. Ask people, ideally not friends or family, to use your product with the desired tasks you want them to do
2. Watch closely what happens when people are using it
3. Identify touchpoints that are critical
4. Modify and test again

In summary, there isn’t an ideal number of keywords that Google prefers. This may sound counterintuitive in the context of SEO, but Google now has a lot more signals related to the user experience, such as the review system algorithm.

 2.  Google reveals how it detects fake reviews of local businesses

SOURCE: DEPOSIT PHOTOS

Google has published a report detailing how it catches fake business reviews and fake profile accounts.

Google published a blog post announcing an update to their machine learning systems. This update is intended to catch and remove more fake reviews, fake business listings, and fraudulent contributed images and videos.

As a result, automated systems and human review teams removed over 200M photos and 7M videos and blocked or removed over 115M reviews (20% YoY increase).

So the question here is, how does Google catch user contributed spam?

As part of its efforts to detect and eliminate fake and fraudulent content, Google has developed new machine learning models.

These models examine user-contributed content for unusual patterns, including identifying those previously unseen before.

As mentioned by Google:

“We’ve long used machine intelligence to help us spot patterns of potential abuse, and we continue to evolve our technology.

Last year, we launched a significant update to our machine learning models that helped us identify novel abuse trends many times faster than in previous years.

For example, our automated systems detected a sudden uptick in Business Profiles with websites that ended in .design or .top — something that would be difficult to spot manually across millions of profiles.

Our team of analysts quickly confirmed that these websites were fake — and we were able to remove them and disable the associated accounts quickly.”

Google reviews new content before it is posted to its Maps system to prevent the submission of fake or fraudulent content. Additionally, they use a machine learning model to scan published content and catch any fake content that may have slipped through the initial reviews.

Thanks to these new systems, spam is now blocked faster and with greater accuracy than in 2021.

Furthermore, Google has announced that it is now scanning images to detect content overlaid on them that is intended to redirect phone calls away from a business and toward the scammer’s phone number.

They also use a system called “intelligent text matching” to identify misleading content, especially if the content contains bots, duplicate content, or similar word patterns.

 3. Conversational AI is coming to Google’s search engine

SOURCE: ADOBE STOCK

During an interview, Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed that the company plans to integrate conversational AI into its search services in response to increasing competition.

This announcement was made during an interview with The Wall Street Journal in response to increasing competition from AI chatbots like ChatGPT and other business pressures.

As we mentioned in our last month’s blog post, with the emergence of GPT-4 and other search AI models, it was impossible for Google to lag behind in the game.

Even though they were optimising their search experience at multiple levels, the truth is that conversational AI could be one of the best approaches to simulate human-like conversations.

Let’s take a look at the current market.

Microsoft has already integrated ChatGPT-like technology into its search engine, Bing, which poses a challenge to Google’s core business.

Bing users can now engage in extended conversations with the language model, leading to increased usage.

This is a problem for Google, as search ads are its primary source of revenue, generating $162 billion last year. For every percentage point gained in the search market, Microsoft expects an additional $2 billion in revenue.

Having said this, it is clear that the decision from Google to implement conversational AI supposes a shift in the industry, and by doing so, Google intents to remain a leader in the search market.

So, what actions are being taken?

Pichai revealed that Google will continue refining its standalone Bard chatbot with new AI models and is still searching for the right market.

Marketing Tech Updates

 1. AI arrives to Shopify

Source: Shopify

Writing product descriptions for eCommerce sites can be a time-consuming and challenging task since it requires providing accurate and detailed information about your products while making them sound compelling and attractive to potential buyers.

The main goal of product descriptions is to convince customers that your products are the best choice for them, and it is essential to invest time and effort in creating high-quality and engaging descriptions.

Fortunately, with the help of AI tools like Shopify Magic, writing product descriptions can be a breeze. Shopify Magic uses advanced algorithms to analyse your products and generate descriptions that are not only accurate but also engaging and persuasive.

By taking advantage of AI-powered software, you can save time and effort while also increasing your sales and attracting more customers to your eCommerce site. And we are loving that the same feature is available to use on-the-go with unlocking productivity whenever it’s most convenient for you.

We love this Shopify update because it is intuitive and fun to use. By providing a few details about your product or the keywords you want to rank for in search engines, the tool automatically generates a product description for you on the product setup page in your store’s admin.

2. YouTube has introduced AI-powered music ad solutions that target Gen Z

Source: Deposit Photos

YouTube, the video-sharing platform owned by Google, has introduced two new AI-powered features to help brands advertise to Gen Z through popular music.

These new features aim to position YouTube as a strong platform for music and a one-stop-shop for brands that want to use music to connect with younger audiences.

After this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, YouTube released an announcement describing itself as the “ultimate destination for content during festival season, especially among Gen Z, who use the platform to share and engage with videos ranging from performances to outfit inspiration, vlogs, and more”

These two updates are:

1. Gen Z Music
2. Leveraging Shorts

The first of the new features announced is Gen Z Music. It uses AI to identify songs that are popular among Gen Z users on YouTube. Advertisers may be surprised to learn that hit songs from Cindy Lauper have become a favorite among some Gen Z users on the platform.

The second feature is designed to help brands use Shorts, a short-form video feature similar to TikTok that was introduced by YouTube in September 2020.

As YouTube states:

“Gen Z uses short-form video to participate in pop culture, discover new hits, and engage with their favourite musical artists”

YouTube Shorts has amassed over 1.5 billion monthly logged-in users and over 50 billion daily views. YouTube suggests that its upcoming Trending Music on Shorts feature will strategically place ads within popular, music-themed Shorts videos with the help of AI.

As a result, YouTube will be piloting Trending Music on Shorts in the coming months.

YouTube is familiar with AI; the platform has used algorithms for some time to personalize user feeds. However, as the announcement shows, the brand intends to rely more heavily on technology to connect advertisers with key audiences.

 Social Media Marketing

 1. TikTok’s sister App “Lemon8” is gaining traction and might become the alternative app in the U.S. for short-format content

Source: Lemon8z

As the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok faces scrutiny from lawmakers in Washington, its creators are looking for alternative platforms to share their content with American audiences.

One such platform is Lemon8, which is gaining popularity among U.S. content creators and viewers.**

Lemon8 offers similar features to TikTok, such as the ability to create and share short videos, but with a focus on fostering a positive and safe community.

So, what’s the hype with Lemon8?

By using Lemon8, content creators and viewers can avoid the controversies surrounding TikTok and enjoy a fresh, new platform to showcase their creativity. 

With its growing popularity, Lemon8 may become a viable alternative to TikTok for those who are concerned about privacy and security issues.

ByteDance marketers sent a message to creators inviting them to become a launching creator on their new Lemon8 platform before it officially rolls out in the United States. The message stated that ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, will be using the same recommendation engine that helped TikTok succeed.

The app’s layout resembles a combination of Pinterest and Instagram. It encourages people to share posts on topics such as health, fashion, and travel. Despite Washington’s push to ban TikTok, the China-based company introduced the app to the U.S. in February and ramped up marketing efforts in late March. This suggests that the company was not deterred by the ban and is determined to succeed in the U.S. market.

However, one concern remains: how much can the platform change in terms of users’ privacy data?

Lemon8 is a social media platform like Instagram, which collects information on its users. Additionally, it shares the same ownership structure as a subsidiary of ByteDance. According to Lindsay Gorman, a former tech adviser for the Biden administration, the same political issues that arose with ByteDance are likely to arise with Lemon8.

 2. Instagram is developing a text-based social network called Barcelona (in competition with Twitter…?)

Source: Twitter Alex 193A

It was reported early last month that Meta was taking into account the growing discontent among Twitter users. Having said this, Meta has been playing around with text-based features and is set to believe that it is creating its own alternative to Twitter, which could attract users who are dissatisfied with Twitter and are seeking a new platform.

As Meta stated to Platformer in early March:

“We’re exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests.”

The project, initially codenamed ‘P92’, is speculated to target Twitter users who are looking for an alternative due to the various changes at the app under its new owner, Elon Musk.

This has led to comparisons with Twitter’s style. However, it seems that the project is moving ahead, with Meta’s new text-based social app, ‘Barcelona’, slowly taking shape, as reported in this tweet.

Source: Twitter Alex 193A

As shown in this image shared by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi, an internal prototype of a separate app is being pitched as “Instagram for your thoughts”. The release date listed is just a placeholder at this stage and we don’t know when it might be launched.

However, the concept appears to be a text-based feed of posts that aims to tap into the rising popularity of private messaging in a more expanded and accessible format.

Given Meta’s history of acquiring features from competitors, this doesn’t come as a surprise. In fact, earlier this year, Instagram launched the text feature ‘Notes’ inside the app.

On the other hand, Meta has also developed Channels, which works similarly to broadcasting messages to followers. So we could say the previous moves, indicate the clear interest from Meta in text-based platforms.

Here’s what we know about the Barcelona project so far:

1. Barcelona will be a separate app that uses your Instagram credentials to log in.
2. As shown in the above screenshots, Barcelona will also use your Instagram ID as your username in the new app.
3. Posts on Barcelona will have a maximum length of 500 characters.
4. Barcelona will be decentralized, although it’s not entirely clear what that means in a Meta context yet.

 3. On LinkedIn Premium Member Profiles, LinkedIn has added new CTA buttons

Source: Social Media Today

LinkedIn has recently made an update to its Premium Member Profiles by adding new CTA buttons, which are designed to give users more options and opportunities for engagement.

The new feature for LinkedIn Premium subscribers allows them to add a custom call-to-action (CTA) button to their profile. Profile visitors will be directed to their LinkedIn profile’s URL by clicking this button.

We believe the biggest benefit would be for creators who are interested in building their own brand.

As mentioned by **Ora Levit, head of Growth at LinkedIn:**

“For many of our Premium Business subscribers, their LinkedIn profile is crucial for connecting to new business opportunities. That’s why we’re starting to roll out a new Custom Button that provides the option to add a personalized call-to-action to their profile.”

It is important to note that this feature is specific to Premium Business users, which is slightly more expensive than Premium Career, the cheapest of LinkedIn’s premium packages. To access the new ‘Custom Button’ option, go to your profile settings.

There are six preset call-to-action options available with this feature:

1. Visit My Store
2. Visit My Website
3. View My Portfolio
4. Visit My Blog
5. Request A Consultation
6. Sign Up for A Demo

So, What is the real impact of this new rollout?

To put this into perspective, only about 6% of LinkedIn members currently pay for LinkedIn Premium, which is a fairly good take-up rate for a social media subscription service. Comparatively, Snapchat+ is used by 0.33% of Snap users, while Twitter Blue is used by 0.26%.

This could help you to attract more direct traffic from your LinkedIn profile, with a wider range of marketing options available to you.

The latest update on this roll out is that currently, LinkedIn Premium subscribers can access the Custom Button, which will be rolled out to more members soon.

Updates from Frizbit

1. New Product update: New Improved Dashboard

In collaboration with our technical team, we recently released an exciting new product update: the new and improved dashboard.

This new update offers a more visual and efficient way to customise campaigns, allowing for easy segmentation and filtering by brand, category, colour, in stock segmentation, and more.

One of the most significant benefits of this update is the ability to filter by device and user information, including timezone, city, and country, and browser. This added functionality allows for more precise targeting, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.

At Frizbit, we understand the importance of providing our clients with the tools they need to succeed in a competitive digital environment. With this in mind, we are constantly working to improve our platform and offer innovative solutions that empower our clients to achieve their goals.

This new dashboard is just one example of our commitment to excellence, and we are confident that it will make a significant difference in the success of our clients’ campaigns.

If you’re looking for a powerful and easy-to-use cross-channel marketing automation solution that helps you reach your marketing goals, enquire a demo here.

With our advanced features and user-friendly interface, we make it easy for businesses of all sizes to engage their audiences and drive conversions.

2. Frizbit attends the EU Startups Summit

The summit organised by EU-Startups, was a two-day event that brought together entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders from across Europe to discuss the latest trends and innovations in the startup ecosystem.

Our CEO & Co-founder, Ata Gür, attended the event representing Frizbit, and we were thrilled to be a part of the summit.

During the event, we had the opportunity to network with other startups, participate in informative panel discussions, and showcase their innovative technology to potential investors and customers.

Overall, this experience was valuable for us, and we are looking forward to attending similar events in the future as we continue to grow our business.

This month marked the end of the first quarter of the year in a particularly exciting way for digital marketing enthusiasts.

The digital marketing news and updates during March were exciting, especially in the search and AI industry.

An AI clone named Dolly – yes, like the cloned sheep – has appeared to democratise large language models. On the other hand, ChatGPT-4 has launched, positioning itself as a threat to Google with its multimodal model, and Google has announced a new core algorithm update to spice things up in the search field. 

The marketing technology field has seen its share of updates with the introduction of new features for two of the most relevant tools for marketers and managers: HubSpot and Salesforce.

These updates are exciting, and to stay ahead of the game, you’ll want to read the full article.

Digital Marketing News & Updates from March 2023

CONTENT

Search Marketing Updates

• Google Rolls Out March 2023 Core Algorithm Update

• OpenAI GPT-4 becomes multimodal and positions as a threat for Google

• Introducing Dolly: A New Open-Source ChatGPT Clone

Tech Marketing Updates

• SalesForce Spring 2023 release

• Hubspot rolls-out new functionalities relevant for managers

Social Media Updates

• TikTok might get banned in the US due to data and security concerns

• LinkedIn adds new features for B2B marketers

• Meta Launches New Reels Ad Options as it Embraces Evolving Consumption Shifts

Updates from Frizbit

• New Product Update: new segmentation features

• Frizbit attends the e-Show Barcelona 2023

 

Search Marketing Updates

1. Google Rolls Out March 2023 Core Algorithm Update

Source: Pexels – PhotoMIX Company

Google has announced the start of its March 2023 core algorithm update rollout, and naturally marks the beginning of search marketing this year. We understand that these updates can have a major effect on search rankings, which is why staying informed is essential. 

Please keep in mind that core updates may take several weeks to fully implement, and search rankings could change over that period. It will be impossible to determine the full impact of the March 2023 core update until the rollout is closer to its end. So we can predict this will be an ongoing topic.

What do we suggest having in mind with this update?

Google is well-known for its algorithm updates, which it introduces regularly to improve its understanding and ranking of content.

These updates aim to provide increasingly relevant and high-quality search results. However, they also bring changes to how Google evaluates and ranks websites. As a result, SEO professionals and website owners must stay informed and adapt their strategies accordingly.

As we await more information on Google’s March 2023 core algorithm update, there are a few key takeaways to keep in mind:

• Allow time to work its magic: it can take days or even weeks for Google’s crawlers to fully assess the web.
• Measure organic traffic: Make sure to monitor your site’s organic search traffic and keyword rankings. These metrics can help you determine the impact of the update and identify potential areas for improvement.
• Don’t write for the rankings: Delivering quality content that is tailored to your target audience’s needs is essential. The goal of these updates is to provide the best search results for your users.
• Optimise your site for rankings: Technical aspects such as site speed, mobile-friendliness, and proper indexing have a significant role in determining your overall ranking, so pay attention to the fine details.

 2. OpenAI GPT-4 becomes multimodal and positions as a threat for Google

Source: OpenAI

On March 14th, the new multimodal version of OpenAI GPT was launched. It’s safe to say that if Google wasn’t already wary of this popular AI tool, they have even more reason to be now.

What does it mean to OpenAI CPT-4 to integrate a multimodal model? 

Multimodal AI refers to the ability to process various types of input, such as video, images, and sound. In machine learning, the term “modality” refers to the different forms of input, including text and senses like sound, vision, and smell.

As GPT-4 states:

“We’ve created GPT-4, the latest milestone in OpenAI’s effort in scaling up deep learning. GPT-4 is a large multimodal model (accepting image and text inputs, emitting text outputs) that, while less capable than humans in many real-world scenarios, exhibits human-level performance on various professional and academic benchmarks”

What are some of the improved capabilities of GPT-4?

• GPT-4 is more reliable and creative than GPT-3.5
• GPT-4 is able to handle much more nuanced instructions than GPT-3.5
• The distinction between GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 is subtle in casual conversation, but becomes apparent when the complexity of the task reaches a sufficient threshold
• GPT-4 can handle text and image inputs, which means users can assign any language or vision task they want, not just text-only tasks.
• GPT-4 appears to work across all languages.

Below, you can find an example of what adding this visual inputs to OpenAI GPT-4 can bring to the table:

Source: OpenAI

Undoubtedly, this is where GPT-4 steps stronger, thanks to its exceptional ability to incorporate inputs in a more natural language through the integration of this multimodal model. Over the last year, we saw Google striving to implement a more human-like Search in 2022, using different tools such as Google Lens, etc.

3. Introducing Dolly: A New Open-Source ChatGPT Clone

Source: Databricks

Dolly and clones are two words that historically have pared well together, and in this case is no different.

Databricks, an enterprise software company, recently released a new ChatGPT clone called Dolly. The clone is named after the famous sheep that was the first mammal to be cloned. The Dolly Large Language Model (DLL) is another step forward for the open-source GPT Chat.

Open Source Large Language Models in AI Development

Source: Databricks

 

The Dolly Large Language Model (DLL) is the latest addition to the open source AI movement, which aims to provide greater access to technology so that it is not monopolized and controlled by large corporations. 

One of the driving concerns behind this movement is that businesses may be hesitant to hand over sensitive data to a third party that controls the AI technology.

The Open Source Model

Dolly was created from an open-source model developed by the non-profit EleutherAI research institute and Stanford University’s Alpaca model, which was in turn created from the 65 billion parameter open-source LLaMA model developed by Meta.

LLaMA, which stands for Large Language Model Meta AI, is a language model trained on publicly available data. According to a report by Weights & Biases, LLaMA can outperform many top language models, such as OpenAI’s GPT-3, Gopher by DeepMind, and Chinchilla by DeepMind, despite being smaller.

What happens with an Open Source model for AI?

Open source in AI offers several advantages, including cost-effectiveness and the ability to customize to fit a company’s specific needs. Collaboration between developers is encouraged, leading to better AI solutions. Innovation and experimentation are promoted, resulting in better AI algorithms and solutions. Transparency is also provided, allowing for better scrutiny of algorithms and code.

However, open source AI also has its disadvantages. Security vulnerabilities and malicious attacks can occur, and the quality of code and algorithms may be lower than that of commercial AI developers. Ongoing maintenance is necessary, and fragmentation can occur if different teams and developers are working on different versions of the same project. Inaccuracies may also arise with open source AI.

Comparing ChatGPT and Dolly, databricks mentioned:

“We evaluated Dolly on the instruction-following capabilities described in the InstructGPT paper that ChatGPT is based on and found that it exhibits many of the same qualitative capabilities, including text generation, brainstorming and open Q&A. Of particular note in these examples is not the quality of the generated text, but rather the vast improvement in instruction-following capability that results from fine-tuning a years-old open source model on a small, high quality dataset.”

Marketing Tech Updates

 1. SalesForce Spring 2023 release

Source: Deposit Photos

Salesforce, the leading cloud-based CRM platform, has been helping businesses grow and succeed for many years by organizing and managing customer data. With over 100 new features and updates released, Salesforce continues to be the top choice for businesses of all sizes.

Recently, Salesforce rolled out its spring update, which included a number of exciting new features. In particular, we were impressed by the following:

• Use Lightning Web Runtime (LWR) to build faster and cheaper websites:
  The B2B LWR template enables easier customization of storefronts. Additionally, the improved functionality and performance of the framework results in faster run times and more personalized experiences for customers.
  

• Salesforce Payments now works more seamlessly:
  Quick payment processing is essential for ecommerce businesses. Salesforce’s new payment framework makes the process smoother and requires less backend coding. It is more user-friendly and allows for third-party payment providers to be integrated into the checkout process. A new click-and-go function streamlines the checkout process for customers.
  

• Salesforce CMS now supports approvals, viewing, and restoring including: the ability for consultants and contributors to create, edit, and view content in their workspace, and for other users to approve or request changes. Additionally, users can now view and restore previous versions of content, track changes, and revert to older versions if needed.
• Metrics and analytics:
  Sales Analytics now has better filters and quicker access to data. This lets you find what you require without going through unnecessary data. Sales managers and reps can see which sales strategies work best, which products are doing well, and find things to improve.
• The Account Engagement Optimizer can assist you in:

1. Identify ways to improve your marketing automation system, such as optimizing sales processes and email campaigns, to increase ROI.
2. Identify risks to your marketing automation system to improve overall marketing. For example, the Account Engagement Optimizer may flag campaigns where click-through rates are below industry averages and prompt changes.
3. Prioritize recommended changes based on what’s most important. These suggestions will help your team focus on changes with the biggest impact.

2. HubSpot rolls-out new functionalities relevant for managers

Source: Deposit Photos

If you are a business manager, it is likely that you are a HubSpot user. The tool has been publishing more comprehensive monthly updates outside individual portals, such as the “What’s New in HubSpot’s Software” page. We are here to tell you about the 5 latest updates that might come in handy.

1. Marketing Campaign custom properties (beta):
   Organise your campaign information and assets more efficiently by creating custom properties for Marketing Campaigns. The once-limited Marketing Campaigns feature now behaves like other standard CRM objects (i.e., contacts and deals), eliminating the need for complex naming conventions to store campaign information in the name.
2. Check bot filtering status to track campaign engagement more accurately:
   Check if your email engagement metrics are accurate by verifying if bots are being filtered out. Look for the new Bot Filtering setting on the email post-send page. If your email engagement metrics are different after migrating to HubSpot, toggle this switch on and off to see if bots were the reason for the higher engagement numbers in your previous system.
3. List releases: Create a random sample, clone and restore static lists, and filter releases based on ‘has/has not completed’:
   If you conduct A/B testing, personalise actions for specific lists, or randomly select contest winners, the new beta release enables you to create a random sample of any list. This feature eliminates the need for previous workarounds and potential errors from exporting and importing spreadsheets, and allows you to choose a percentage or count of list members to add to a new static list.
4. Coloured deal tags (beta):
   Use the new beta feature for coloured deal tags to prioritize your constantly changing deal pipeline boards.
5. Easier social media publishing and email replies on mobile (beta):
   The new HubSpot mobile app features help your team create and edit social media posts on the go. Additionally, the new beta release lets you send and reply to emails within the app. This ensures timely, tracked emails and enables all team members to see the latest conversation and context for the record, regardless of the device used.

 Social Media Marketing

 1. TikTok might get banned in the US due to data and security concerns

Source: Deposit Photos

We can say that 2023 has been an eventful year for TikTok. In January, due to data security & privacy, the company was already facing legal consequences in the EU. 

The focus is currently centred on the US, where nearly two and a half years after the Trump administration threatened to ban TikTok in the country unless it divested from its Chinese owners, the Biden administration is now doing the same.

What are the concerns around TikTok?

Explained in two words: data privacy/security.

Recently, there has been growing concern regarding the use of TikTok and its potential impact on data security. Many are worried that the app is collecting sensitive user information and sharing it with the Chinese government. Some worry that the Chinese government could use the app to spread propaganda to a US audience. 

The fundamental concern behind both is that any company doing business in China may ultimately be subject to Chinese Communist Party laws, with all its implications.

Lawmakers have renewed their scrutiny of TikTok due to its ties to China through its parent company, ByteDance. This comes after a report last year suggested that US user data had been accessed multiple times by China-based employees. TikTok, however, has disputed this claim, and why wouldn’t they?

What has TikTok said about the accusation?

At a Harvard Business Review conference earlier this month, TikTok CEO Shou Chew reiterated the company’s commitment to address lawmakers’ concerns:

“The Chinese government has actually never asked us for US user data,” Chew said, “and we’ve said this on the record, that even if we where asked for that, we will not provide that.” Chew added that “all US user data is stored, by default, in the Oracle Cloud infrastructure” and “access to that data is completely controlled by US personnel.”

The real question here is, is TikTok truly a threat to national security in the US?

One of the biggest fears is not being able to have full control over the matter. 

China’s national security laws compel companies under its jurisdiction to cooperate with various security activities. However, it is difficult for the public to verify the extent of this cooperation. 

And although TikTok doesn’t operate in China directly, its parent company, ByteDance does. There’s a potential leverage the Chinese government may have over them. 

Overall, privacy and security researchers have found that TikTok’s app is not inherently malicious or spyware, but there are concerns about the relationship between TikTok and ByteDance with the Chinese government.

 2. LinkedIn adds new features for B2B marketers

Source: Deposit Photos

Some exciting updates are coming to the platform for marketers and B2B owners that are regular users of the platform. Aside from the long-awaited native scheduling feature, LinkedIn has released some interesting updates regarding the company pages.

1. Native scheduling: You will be able to choose what day and time you want your post to go live when you compose it on the web. With LinkedIn’s native post scheduling option, you can plan your posts up to three months in advance.
2. Get the most reach for job listings: Company pages can now share an automated post when they add an open job listing, which helps maximize exposure and reach.
3. Audio Events: LinkedIn is introducing audio events for Company Pages, providing another way to engage with your on-platform audience. With this new feature, you can make professional connections via audio events or listen to industry-specific discussions with leaders in your field. This addition could be valuable given the platform’s user base, even if broader interest in audio options has decreased.
4. Connecting businesses together: As of now, Company Pages will have the ability to follow other pages in the app, giving you another way to stay informed on relevant industry trends in real-time.
   

 3. Meta Launches New Reels Ad Options as it Embraces Evolving Consumption Shifts

Source: Social Media Today

Meta is advancing its advertising options to help businesses grow even further by leveraging Reels’ growing popularity on Facebook and Instagram. Recently, Meta introduced some new ad video options, allowing advertisers to take advantage of short-form video clips to maximize their promotional opportunities.

Firstly, Meta is introducing Click-to-Messenger ads within Facebook Reels. This will enable businesses to drive traffic directly to DMs via Reels clips. Click-to-Messenger ads in Reels will include a large CTA button to drive contact via private chat. This feature capitalizes on the increasing popularity of short-form video and private message interaction.

Secondly, Meta is making WhatsApp Conversion optimisation available for Facebook Reels Ads. This addition further enhances the capabilities of Reels Ads for businesses.

As mentioned by Meta:

“Typically, we show Click to Messenger ads to people who are most likely to initiate a conversation with a business on WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram. With this update, advertisers who use the Sales, Engagement or Traffic objectives to add a “Send Message” button to their Facebook Reels ads will now give people an option to start a conversation in WhatsApp right from the ad.”

What’s the possible impact for businesses from these updates?

More social media users are now sharing content in DMs instead of public news feeds, causing a major shift in online interaction. A recent survey by Meta showed that almost 50% of Reels viewers contacted a brand through DMs after seeing its short-form video content.

Meta’s broader vision to maximise its business messaging opportunities is also reflected in adding WhatsApp to the mix. This is an area where Meta still holds a significant lead over its competitors.

Meta is also making the Ads on Facebook Reels post engagement objective more widely available, which will provide another means to measure reactions, comments, and likes, and compare them to engagement from other ads or campaigns.

As a result, the Meta In-Stream Reserve video ad product is being retired from its in-Stream video options due to the growth of short-form video options.

Updates from Frizbit

1. New Product Update: new segmentation feature

Source: Pexels | Luis Gomes

We strive to continuously enhance our customer experience, and one way we do so is by constantly improving our marketing automation platform.

Our technical team have recently deployed a new version of database, which enables to segment users also “excluding” them based on any behaviour. This capability has been present for a long time on our triggered campaigns, however we needed to wait this update to have it on any type of campaign.

This not only creates the ability to create specific and impactful campaigns, but also allows our clients to target users who have not yet completed desired actions.This new product update also permits “user merge”, which allows our customers to track users on cross devices.

User merge is particularly useful when considering the increasing number of devices individuals now own, making it more difficult to track users and consolidate data. By merging user data, we can better understand user behaviour on cross-device and provide more personalised experiences.

Additionally, this update allows us to enhance our data analysis capabilities, giving us greater insights into the effectiveness of our campaigns and how to improve them moving forward.

 

2. Frizbit attends the e-Show Barcelona 2023

As Frizbit team, we attended the e-Show Barcelona 2023, the largest event for eCommerce and Digital Marketing in Barcelona. 

During the conference, we participated in a variety of workshops and seminars, gaining valuable insights into topics such as cookieless strategies for 2023, mobile commerce, hyperpersonalisation, social media marketing, and customer experience optimization

We also had the opportunity to network with other industry professionals, establishing new connections and paving the way for future collaborations.

Overall, our attendance at e-Show Barcelona 2023 was an enriching experience that has provided us with a wealth of knowledge and inspiration!

 

The marketing insight and news from November are here! As we head into the last month of the year, there has been a clear trend for a new channel for eCommerce powered by interaction and emotion. Any clue of what we might be talking about? 

During this month, the topic of social media as a new eCommerce channel was definitely relevant. Both giants TikTok and YouTube shorts are taking the leap in this field. Could it be too much of a coincidence that channels with similar content types are trying to incorporate a direct sales experience into their customer journeys?

Keep on reading to find out more about this new trend and, of course, about the other search marketing, tech marketing, social media news and updates from Frizbit.

Digital Marketing News and Updates from November 2022

CONTENT

Search Marketing Updates

• Google releases the ultimate guide to understanding current and retired ranking systems

• Google finally rolls out their new Local search features

• Drive traffic to your eCommerce with the new Google Shopping tab

Tech Marketing Updates

• The new era for ClickUp and Hubspot: the strategic partnership

• Get ready for Notion AI and all its possibilities

Social Media Updates

• TikTok Shop begins rolling out in the United States

• YouTube Shorts has rolled out product features in videos (also just in time for the holidays) 

• Tumblr is back. How can you use it for your marketing strategy?

Updates from Frizbit

• Frizbit exhibited at WebSummit

• Hello, Helsinki: Frizbit was present at Slush

• Client Spotlight!: We welcome Zelucash on board!

Search Marketing Updates

• Google releases the ultimate guide to understanding current and retired ranking systems

Source: Adobe Stock

Good news from Google, just in time before the end of the year! Get ready to readjust your SEO strategy as the company has rolled out the ultimate guide to understanding the current ranking system and discarding old practices.

In the new ranking guide, Google explains which ranking systems it uses to rank search results as well as introduces new terminology, such as highlighting the difference between “ranking systems” and “ranking updates”. In this case, the word “system” stands for a constant concept that is always functioning. And on the other hand, “updates” stands for a one-time specific change to the ranking systems.

With that being said, we will go first through some of the current ranking systems in alphabetical order.

• BERT: Short for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers. It allows Google to understand different combinations of words to create different meanings and intent.
• Exact domain system: It ensures that Google doesn’t give higher punctuation to websites with domain names that exactly match a query.
• Helpful content system: A system developed to rank better content created to add value rather than content created to gain or increase traffic.
• Neural matching: A system that aims to ensure Google understands representations of concepts of queries and pages to match them accordingly.
• Reliable information systems: It ensures that reliable information is shown by elevating authoritative pages, demoting low-quality content, and rewarding quality journalism.

Now let’s move to the retired Google Ranking systems.

• Hummingbird: Rolled out in 2013, it represented a significant improvement in Google’s rankings system.
• Mobile-friendly ranking system: It preferred the content rendered specifically for mobile experiences. It has since been incorporated into Google’s page experience system.
• Panda system: Introduced in 2011, this system preferred high-quality content and original content. It is now part of Google’s core ranking system in 2015.
• Secure sites system: Introduced in 2014, this system preferred websites secured with HTTPS. It is now part of the page experience system.

With this update, Google isn’t implying those older ranking systems, such as page speed, rewarding original content, or secure navigation, are obsolete. On the contrary, Google has transformed most of the retired rankings to be part of their essential needs to be met through their core ranking system or Google’s page experience. This ultimately means that meeting these requirements is no longer optional, but a must when creating content to improve the search experience of the users.

• Google finally rolls out their new Local search features

Source: Google Blog

The time has come, and Google is finally rolling out the local search features that were briefly introduced earlier this year. We believe the timing couldn’t be better as well, as it can increase the positive impact for local businesses during the holiday season.

As a local business in the hospitality industry, this update brings to life the feature of searching a restaurant by dish, as well as incorporating new search capabilities built into Google Maps Live view. This means having a possible increase in both visibility and reach results. 

If you own a local store, keep on reading to find out the new functionalities available to elevate your search possibilities.

1. Live view search: For the moment, it is only available for London, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Tokyo on Android and iOS. This feature allows you to find information around you through the lens of your camera. Information includes if a business is open, how busy it is, star rating and even price range.
2. Search restaurants by dish: In the case of restaurants, this update brings up two ways of being found. Restaurants can be found by either the user manually typing their desired dish or conducting a visual search through Google Lens.
3. Accessibility search: Available worldwide, now users can search in Google Maps for wheelchair-accessible, stair-free places.

• Drive traffic to your eCommerce with the new Google Shopping tab

Source: Google Blog

With the goal in mind of supporting merchants to achieve growth, Google Search Console is introducing the new Shopping tab listings. This new feature aims to help online store owners to showcase their products with ease on the shopping tab on Google.

Through merchant listing reports and product structured data, among other features, Search Console is making it easier for merchants to display their products across Google. The company is then helping merchants drive more traffic to their online stores and connect with customers who already have a need/search in mind.

With this update, merchants can easily create a Merchant Center account and ease the process of having to re-verify the website ownership or submitting a product feed. All that is required from you as a business owner is to keep the product structured data up-to-date. The company hopes that speeding up processes will get products quickly on the Shopping tab on Google.

The roll-out will be deployed gradually and only to eligible businesses.

Marketing Tech

•  The new era for ClickUp and Hubspot: the strategic partnership

Source: Adobe Stock

One of the most remarkable CRM platforms: Hubspot, meets productivity with ClickUp. This partnership aims to help customers create more efficient processes and workflows while collaborating across multiple team members.

Yamini Rangan, CEO at HubSpot, mentioned: 

 “Building deeper relationships with customers starts with having a team that’s aligned and working together towards creating a better customer experience. That’s why I’m so thrilled about our partnership with ClickUp, the power of HubSpot + ClickUp enables growing companies to create strong connections at every point in the buyer journey.”

How will ClickUp contribute to Hubspot?

The productivity app enables teams to achieve their deadlines and goals by creating a seamless and collaborative experience that ultimately reflects delightful experiences for its customers. It will be achieved through:

• Two-way-sync between ClickUp and HubSpot. This creates more efficiency in teams as it saves time on some manual tasks, therefore accelerating the customer success workflow.
• Seamless Automations: By collaborating, if a project needs to be handed off, now it can be done automatically while ensuring the best experience for the users.  Also, stakeholders will get to know the status of the project at all times.
• Special deals for Users: If you are a client of either of the platforms, you can enjoy a 20% discount on the previously unused software during implementation.

We believe that by joining forces, the results will be a game-changer for creating powerful results in the experiences for both the front-end and back-end parts when managing and delivering different projects. 

• Get ready for Notion AI and all its possibilities

Source: Notion AI

 

Recently, Notion has been the number one tool for productivity, planning, and organization. From simple planning to complex tracking, Notion has become the platform to do-it-all in one place. 

In its most recent update, the company has announced that now the tool is putting all its efforts into developing what seems to be the most dynamic and powerful writing artificial intelligence assistant.

They state that its development is able to generate any type of content. What can you achieve?

• Blog post: Write the page title, and Notion AI will do the rest
• Press release: Become an expert in PR.
• Poem: Inspired by the Japanese haiku, Notion AI promises to write poems about all topics
• Meeting Agenda: Provide a topic, and Notion AI will outline the agenda
• Job Description: You only need to add the basic requirements
• Pros and Cons list: Consider and evaluate different scenarios 
• Social media posts: The tool provides specific copy for different channels while providing multiple options.
• Sales emails: It can help you to be persuasive and increase your revenue
• Outline: Create structures while staying in your creative flow. 

Besides generating any type of content, the tool has also announced its great capabilities to work as an editor by translating in real-time, summarizing and fixing grammar and spelling.

As Ivan Zhao mentions: 

“For many users in this space, it solves the cold start problem. And even more than that, it saves time.” Notion AI won’t write you a publishable blog post, but it can help you skip the crappy first draft phase and go straight into improving and polishing.”

Zhao also envisions Notion, further than a mere writing assistance tool. As he describes it, the platform already has the potential to be able to answer questions and act as a knowledge database. Could it be the next Google, powered with AI and productivity tools?

The alpha private version started rolling out in mid-November and will gradually release to more users on a waitlist basis.

 Social Media Marketing

• TikTok Shop begins rolling out in the United States

Source: Adobe Stock

TikTok keeps being controversial, as now the social media platform has decided to broaden its lists of competitors and enter the eCommerce and ads space, competing directly with one of the biggest retailers: Amazon.

Having said this, TikTok is rolling out its shop feature in the United States. For the time being, the feature is only available to a limited number of merchants that have been invited to test the social commerce solution.

TikTok is slowly building fulfilment centres in the US, which might indicate that the platform is serious about making it big in the social commerce space. With this, TikTok has also established the benefits that brands are entitled to by selling on the platform:

• A built-in payment system that creates a streamlined customer experience to buy products
• A rich user base that connects merchants with potential customers in a more trusted space
• An algorithm designed to match brands and content with users who find it relevant, which means that products will be visible to people who are most likely to buy.

This new approach isn’t surprising, as TikTok knows the potential it has, the growth it has achieved through the years, and the capabilities of its algorithm that connect people with their interests. This makes it the perfect space for promoting online shopping dynamics.

 

•  YouTube Shorts has rolled out product shopping features in videos

Source: Deposit Photos

Following up with the new social media eCommerce selling trend, Shorts from YouTube is adding shopping functionalities to this format. The shopping features allow users to purchase products while scrolling through the app.

Is it available to everyone yet? Unfortunately, it isn’t. For the time being, it is being rolled out only to eligible creators in the United States, who are able to tag products of their own shops. 

Who can shop, then? Viewers in the United States, India, Brazil, Canada, and Australia. YouTube has stated that it plans to continue expanding its shopping features to more creators and countries in the future.

The eCommerce social news doesn’t stop here. YouTube is also experimenting with an affiliate program, in which creators can earn a commission for products they recommend through their content, both regular and Shorts formats. 

As the company stated:

“We firmly believe YouTube is the best place for creators to build a business, and shopping is a piece of that” 

 

• Tumblr is back. How can you use it for your marketing strategy?

Source: Deposit Photos

 

Tumblr is back, and although its interface hasn’t changed in more than 10 years, they have understood what it is that its audience wants to get from them, and they are not holding back.

In times when we are overwhelmed by how the algorithm is trying to work on other platforms, Tumblr still works with a reverse chronological feed, you see only what you’ve followed, there’s no pressure and feels absolutely free.

Tumblr invites users to post freely, diversely, and as creatively as they’d like to. Currently, there are 135 million monthly users who are enjoying the freedom and feeling relief from traditional social media channels.

With this rapid resurge, how can marketers take advantage of Tumblr?

Although the social media platform might not be suitable for every brand, here are our takeaways for you to audit if your brand is a good match.

1. Tumblr is defined by its culture, not its content type.
2. Understand its chaotic nature and use it to your benefit
3. Be open to a less structured way of selling 
4. Organic marketing is everything, making your user really see more of your posts
5. Be authentic and content relevant

We are sure Tumblr isn’t for every business, but if your industry fits into this platform, we encourage you to take the leap. Connecting with customers has been one of the biggest pillars of eCommerce this year. It’s a natural and organic way of functioning, making it perfect for brands to show authenticity.

Updates from Frizbit

• Frizbit exhibited at WebSummit

  

From November 1st to November 4th, Frizbit attended one of the most claimed events, WebSummit, in which +2000 companies redefining the global tech industry gathered in just one place.

Representing Frizbit, our co-founder & CEO, Ata and our business developer for Spain, Oscar, let the participants at the Summit learn more about Frizbit and how we can help bring your customers back through cookieless remarketing strategies.

From the Frizbit team, we are deeply thankful to Eureka for the opportunity of participating in the startup Alpha track this year under the category Advertisement, content & marketing.

•  Hello, Helsinki: Frizbit was present at Slush

November was a pretty dynamic month, and Frizbit travelled all the way to Helsinki for this.

In this case, our CEO & Co-founder, Ata Gur was at Slush 2022, representing our AI-based SaaS startup Frizbit and our solution helping the e-commerce industry to bring customers back, revolutionising retargeting without ads or third-party cookies.

The event was a great opportunity for connecting startups with relevant potential stakeholders or even just other startups, their unique solutions and proposal. Thanks to ACCIO for the opportunity to join their delegation as a part of the selected Catalan startups.

It was a great opportunity to connect, inspire, and be inspired!

 

•  Client Spotlight!: We welcome Zelucash on board!

We are thrilled to announce that the Argentinian number one reconditioned devices retailer, Zelucash has decided to join the Frizbit family.

Zelucash knew the potential they had with the service and products they were offering, but was also aware of the need for them to expand their reach and be present in a multichannel customer journey. It was then that the solutions Frizbit introduced were the perfect match for them, and after the one-month free trial, they took the leap and incorporated web push notifications into their strategy.  

During this first month, they have generated a database with more than 20000 push notification subscribers. Our platform multiplied their reach as we are capable of targeting both registered and non-registered users.

Happy to have you on board!

If you wish to experience what retargeting without ads can do for your business, get in touch with us for a personalised demo.

 

Click here to watch the replay of the session in Spanish

On the 22nd of September, we hosted our first event after the summer break, and we must admit it felt like a great way to come back to the routine. As usual at our events, we enjoyed -which was maybe – the last open terrace networking session of the year with some mandatory beers. 

This time, the main topic of the event was the controversial ‘cookieless era’. And our main goal was to equip our attendees with the tools and strategies so that they could stay at the top of their game. Questions such as “Can I actually do retargeting without ads/third-party cookies?”, “What are the cookieless strategies I can implement?”, “What’s the difference between first-party and third-party cookies?” were answered by our host and CEO, Ata Gur.

So, if you couldn’t join us at the event, but still would like to learn more about the main takeaways, keep on reading to elevate your marketing skills.

To start off, it is essential to understand the customer journey that a user usually does while navigating a website with a conversion purpose, whether that is a sales or acquiring leads goal. 

The usual journey has 5 stages that customers go through until they reach the intended purpose. It starts with a 100% conversion rate and ends up with a 1% conversion rate and an estimated value of $25 USD. 

The key takeaway #1 is that client acquisition is indeed an expensive process already, so why not look further into retention to maximise all efforts?

As shown in this graphic, returning customers frequently represent a higher conversion rate than new customers. So, if you have an e-commerce and your sales goals aren’t going as expected, perhaps your focus shouldn’t be on “how to acquire new customers?”, but rather on “how can I better nurture my returning customers?”

At this point, you have seen why retention is crucial for any eCommerce business. Now, let’s move forward with the alternatives to the retention channels that you have:

• Email, SMS, social media, app push notifications & web push notifications: Belong to the owned media category and work with first-party cookies.

• Retargeting ads: Bring the customers back with third-party cookies, and a pay-per-click basis. The ROI is usually adequate, but the ‘cookieless era’ is their biggest threat. Many browsers are restricting its usage, such as Safari, Firefox and soon Google Chrome. This revolutionizes the way we are used to doing retargeting because every retargeting service provider like Facebook, Google, Criteo or other third-party providers will need to change or else become obsolete. 

You might be thinking: “Okay, but I still hear “cookies”, both first and third-party cookies. What’s the difference?”

To keep it short, the main difference is that with third-party cookies, our information can be accessible to all the ads network. Our information is available and shared with others who we don’t trust or know anything about. In fact, 72% of the users reported feeling observed and tracked for their online behaviour, according to Pewresearch.org. 

On the other hand, with first-party cookies, we can rest assured that our information will be stored safely, as it is directly anchored to the domain we are at. This means our information isn’t shared with others we aren’t aware of.

 

Alternatives to third-party cookies for retargeting

Now, let’s dive deeper into what it means that we are moving into a ‘cookieless world’ and what actions you can take to minimise the loss.

The first thing to have in mind is that the cookieless world is nothing more than a new system that is here to stay and is here to protect the privacy of users. As it is an imminent change, there’s no reason to avoid it or delay its implementation.

The key takeaway #2 is that now we need to move forward with understanding and building new cookieless funnels. Our efforts should be focused on first-party cookies channels.

In the following graphic, you can find an example of what a cookieless funnel can look like:

What are the main advantages of relying on first-party cookies, and what channels do you have at your disposal?

• The channels you can use are: push web, push app, email, and SMS
• The main advantage is that you can double your reach by attaining both registered and non-registered users (A.K.A. you don’t need a form to target users with push web and push app notifications)
• You can hyper-personalise the experience, meaning that automatisation doesn’t have to feel cold and robotic.
• You can interact with your audience before they even register with push web and push app notifications, even if they are not on the app or site.
• The interactions can be intentional, meaning you can set them up according to the behaviour of the user. 
• Users don’t stay in just one channel: maximise your marketing efforts so that you can target your users across their customer journey.

Key takeaway #3: Maximise your retargeting efforts by relying on first-party cookies channels.

Discover the benefits that Web Push Notifications can bring to your e-site

In this case, we are going to revise further our starred channel: Web Push notifications. We found there was an industry gap for this particular channel and have specialised enough, which has led us to know the ins and outs of it.

Web push notifications are the newest retention channels for websites, in which messages are sent by a website and appear on the screen of a user’s device. As we mentioned earlier, messages can be sent even if the website is closed, and they can operate without personal data. It is the latest and a very powerful digital channel for websites to re-engage and communicate with subscribers who opt-in to receive them, providing useful/interesting information.

Where can you use web push notifications or browser push notifications?

The coverage you get by using these notifications is great.  

For browsers, they are fully operative on:

• Safari
• Chrome
• FireFox
• Microsoft Edge
• Opera

On the other hand, in operating systems they work on:

• Microsoft Desktop
• MacOS
• Android
• iOS (coming soon with iOS 16 in 2023!)

Key takeaway #4: Web push notifications can bring a higher opt-in rate, increasing your reach and retargeting possibilities. Web push notifications have a 5% to 10% opt-in rate, whereas email opt-in ranks at a 2-4%. With the release of the web push notifications on iOS 16, it means the current rate is likely to increase by 50%.

 

What are the expected results? 

To make it clear, you can find in the following chart how all the different channels can be compared in terms of opt-in rate, click rate and reach rate:

With these graphics, we can see clearly that, on average, web push notifications have better performance rates than other channels, including social media posts.

Emails, on the first hand, require that users confirm their opt-in, which can easily push back the users to complete the action. Social media, on the other hand, usually prioritise paid ads, meaning that organic posts are hardly seen by your audience. 

With web push notifications, the opt-in only requires one click from the user. The click rate can be completely personalised and tailored to the part of the customer journey your user is at, making it relevant. Lastly, the reach is definitely one of its strengths as typically you aren’t competing with other brands, opposite to what happens in social media.

Another great advantage of using web push notifications is that they are completely GDPR friendly, as they don’t require the usage of personal data for them to succeed.

How do we use web push notifications at Frizbit?

We begin by analysing your sales funnel and creating hyper personalised notifications for each stage of the funnel. For instance, if in an e-commerce a user is interested in the category of the same product, but doesn’t add the product to their cart, they will receive a notification that helps them to go back and purchase a particular product. 

Key takeaway #5: Nothing is more relevant than sending the right message, to the right user, at the right time, through the right channel. And web push notifications can help to do this effectively. 

If at this point, you are wondering if the web push notifications can be beneficial for your business, you can apply for a free demo here.

First-party cookies retargeting strategies

We want to show you that moving on from third-party cookies is possible. You can do retargeting without relying on them while keeping in line with the newest GDPR regulations.

In the following graphic, you can see what an integral strategy, incorporating different first-party cookies channels, looks like:

In this example, we are showing a retargeting strategy for abandoned carts. As seen here, you can combine different channels seamlessly, creating personalised flows with specific timing options. 

What are the expected results you can look for with each channel?

Definitely, using all the channels strategically can represent an increase in sales or in your conversion goals. Each channel has a particular strength, and whether you should use one or another in a higher proportion depends on the purpose and industry of your brand. 

To summarise:

• The cookieless world is approaching, and we are leaving behind the so-known third-party cookies, which can limit the way we know on how to do retargeting.
• We recommend investing time and effort in developing strong owned media channels.
• Start creating first-party cookies retargeting funnels using channels like web push notifications, email marketing and SMS
• The key element of success for any retargeting strategy is to send the right message, to the right user, at the right time, through the right channel.

Having said this, we would like to thank everyone who took part in this experience and made it possible. Special thanks to Áticco Working Spaces for their collaboration and continuous support.

If you missed the event and want to have a deeper understanding on how to do retargeting without third-party cookies, the replay of the session is available here. 

Also, if you’d like to stay in the loop and attend our future events, make sure to join our Growth Marketing  Barcelona Meetup group.

We hope to see you at our next event ?

We welcome September after a slower summer season with our monthly newsletter. During August, while most professionals enjoyed a well-deserved break or had a slower-business season (at least in Spain), the rapidly changing marketing landscape kept its usual pace.

Let’s start this back-to-school and back-to-business season with the most recent and relevant digital marketing news and updates.

Keep reading to find out the latest insights from the digital marketing world.

Digital Marketing News and Updates from August 2022

 

CONTENT

Search Marketing Updates

• Meet the new Helpful Content algorithm by Google

• Google sets the race for Local and Smart Shopping campaigns to shift into Performance Max campaigns

• Do you have an international SEO strategy in place? Google Search Console will remove its International Targeting report

   

Tech Marketing Updates

• Introducing Shopify Collabs: the new digital solution to connecting creators with Shopify businesses

• Canva gets one step closer to becoming the one-stop-shop for visual needs with Whiteboards

Social Media Updates

• LinkedIn introduces the ability to pin comments under posts

• Podcasts steps firmly into the YouTube platform

• Twitter is testing professional account options, which include shopping & link features

   

About Frizbit

• Save the date, a new workshop is coming up on September 22nd [Event held in Spanish]

   

Search Marketing Updates

• Meet the new Helpful Content algorithm by Google

 

As announced in the blog of the company, Google is rolling out a new algorithm for its search engines. While many eCommerce stores are still struggling with the recent Product Review Update, Google is determined to provide a more human approach to online navigation. And clearly, this update demonstrates so.

So far, there are many reactive opinions about this new update going around in the SEO industry. Most of them are implying that with this new update, the SEO era will come to an end. Some experts are arguing that the new algorithm will devalue the content written for SEO purposes. However, all that this update aims for is to favour the content written for people by people.

So, what can you expect from the new roll-out? Contrasting with the previous update, which only affected certain pages of a website, the new Helpful Content algorithm has the potential to impact all pages within a site. 

As Google describes it, this update aims to:

“Tackle content that seems to have been primarily created for ranking well in search engines rather than to help or inform people.”

What else do you need to know about the algorithm?

• A new signal ranking is coming out for both new and existing websites.
• It will start rolling out in September
• Google is prioritising expertise and added-value rather than simply summarising content from other posts.
• Undefined niche categories in publications might classify a site as unhelpful.
• If Google detects that users aren’t finding what they truly need, it might affect the ranking of the site.
• Writing about trends outside your niche or industry might get classified as an effort to classify higher in the rankings, rather than providing value.
• Removing unhelpful content will increase the possibility of ranking in a higher position

 

So what can we learn from this update?

First things first, the SEO era will not come to an end. It is definitely taking a new direction towards a more streamlined practice, connecting humans with humans. 

This new update isn’t either devaluing the SEO practices, but rather is an open invitation to content creators to incorporate conscious practices into creating content with people in mind.

 

Google sets the race for Local and Smart Shopping campaigns to shift into Performance Max campaigns

Earlier this year, Google announced that its Local and Smart Shopping campaigns would embrace changes and turn into Performance Max campaigns. In their announcement, Google provided clear deadlines for this placement, with it being September 2022. 

To understand the relevance of this update, let’s get back to the basics: what exactly are the benefits of the Performance Max campaigns?

Performance Max campaigns use Artificial Intelligence combined with automatisation to maximise the performance based on a specific conversion goal. 

So conversion, performance, AI, and automatisation are in one place? Yes! And the benefits don’t just stop right there. These campaigns encompass all Google properties such as YouTube, Gmail, maps, search discovery, and display. Ultimately, you are able to track the customer journey a client does when searching for a product or purchasing online.

Now that we’ve covered the basics and we are well aware of the tight deadlines Google is giving, let’s break down the official news.

In August, Google released a tool to self-upgrade both Local and Smart Shopping campaigns with just one click. The trick with this update is that although you can do it with a simple configuration setting, it won’t be available for all the merchants yet. 

So, how can you know if you’re eligible for the self-upgrade?

If your campaigns were compatible with the upgrade, it is likely you have received a notification with a link or that you are able to find the option through the Google Ads Dashboard. If, on the contrary, that wasn’t your case, your Local campaigns won’t update to Max Performance until 2023.

Now, the next big question is: What happens with the old campaigns?

We do recommend that you use the self-upgrade option as soon as you are eligible. The reason is that all the old self-upgraded campaigns will keep all the historical performance data and your chosen settings.  

Although having this option is great for analysis and reporting purposes, all old campaigns will be automatically set to “Removed” status. This means that no edits, nor reactivation, will be allowed.

 

• Do you have an international SEO strategy in place? Google Search Console will remove its International Targeting report

 

The International Targeting report has been deprecated, and will be removed from Search Console soon. We continue to support hreflang and our recommendations for managing multilingual and multiregional sites still stand. https://t.co/yz4lsHhXhO

— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) August 24, 2022

If you own a multilingual or multi-regional website, stay tuned because Google has officially announced that its International Targeting report will be removed from Search Console by September 22nd.

Many are the questions that have arisen with this announcement, such as:

• Where will the hreflang-tags errors be found?
• Can you target a specific country manually with a .com domain?
• Will hreflang continue to be supported?

While Google hasn’t announced what will happen with the hreflang errors found in websites through the report, they have stated that hreflang tags will continue to be supported by Google Search Console. In fact, as they quoted in their tweet, Google will continue to support multilingual and multi-regional sites with their standard recommendations still. 

So, how can you help Google understand your site if you support different languages or locations?

1. If you are managing a multilingual or multi-regional site, you can optimise Google Search results directly from your website
   
2. If you manage multiple sites for different languages, make sure you are reporting and telling Google about each of these variations. By doing this, Google will appoint the corresponding variation to the right user.
3. If your website shows certain content based on the location or language of the user, Google might not be able to crawl, index or rank all the content for the specific locale.

With this update, certainly, manually targeting countries or the preference of the language from users might become a harder practice. We believe that by doing this, Google continues to strive in its fight against SEO-done content and keeps moving towards a more human navigation experience.

 

Marketing Tech

• Introducing Shopify Collabs: the new digital solution to connecting creators with Shopify businesses.

With creators and brand experiences in mind, Shopify has rolled out its Collabs. It’s a win-win for both creators that can sustain their activities with brands they love, and for brands that can reach new audiences.

Influential marketing has played a big part in the development of brands. In most cases, it helps to boost the awareness of a brand or increase the sales of a product or service. We can agree that nowadays, it is a crucial part of any digital marketing strategy.

This is a free initiative in which brands can:

• Communicate that they are open to collabs
• Detail the brief and description of the brand to match with the perfect creator
• Build stronger and real partnerships with creators
• Announce specific products to be promoted by collabs 
• Send gifts to creators
• Track reports and analytics by the performance of the influencer

Collabs will work on an application basis to ensure that brands connect with the right audience. 

As stated by Kabbara, its Director of Product, in the article of the company:

“For Shopify merchants, Collabs is a new way to find potential customers at a time when it’s never been more difficult or expensive,” Kabbara continued. “By giving merchants the ability to discover and partner with creators that align with their brand, they can tap into the power of community-driven commerce to reach consumers in new and meaningful ways.” 

For the time being, Shopify Collabs will be available only in the US and Canada.

 

 Canva gets one step closer to becoming the one-stop-shop for visual needs with Whiteboard

Canva is living up to its name with its newest product release. The online visual and creative platform surprised everyone with the brand-new feature Whiteboards.

This feature includes pre-made templates to brainstorm and express ideas visually by non-designers. It’s bringing creativity to the fingertips of the day-to-day user. 

One of the most loved features is the possibility of collaborating online with others. This property comes in handy nowadays that remote working is more common. 

From Kanban templates to all types of diagrams and mapping options, Canva is building limitless spaces to bring your ideas to life.

What are some of the best usages you can have with the new rollout?

• Create dynamic presentations that expand in a limitless space.

• Conduct workshops with experience and timing in mind.

• Create Customer Journey and general mind-maps while collaborating online with others.

As Canva states in their blog:

“Great things happen when people come together to bring their ideas to life. There’s truly no limit to what you can do with Canva Whiteboards, which is free for our global community and available on the web, desktop and mobile.”

 

 Social Media Marketing

• LinkedIn introduces the ability to pin comments under posts

LinkedIn has rolled out a new feature that enables all users, both company pages and personal profiles, to pin comments under a thread. To pin a response, simply access the three dots menu, and become ready to place the best responses on the top.

How can this update be useful to you?

With LinkedIn being a social media platform in which getting awareness and visibility tends to be easier than other channels, this new functionality has the potential to elevate the engagement of your publications and get seen by many others.

We firmly believe that this new update will boost interactions and can become a great tool to build personal branding in this social network.

 

Podcasts steps firmly into the YouTube platform

 

The long-format video platform is slowly introducing a dedicated section for podcasts. YouTube is updating itself to provide podcasts with its own dedicated section. 

YouTube has decided to make the best out of a common malpractice of users publishing static content on a dynamic and video-based platform (A.KA. Podcast videos on YouTube). Truth be told, most podcast producers would update their episodes despite sometimes displaying only a picture with the audio behind it. 

Although YouTube hasn’t formally announced the new platform changes, many users have found it while navigating within the platform. Some have even documented how to access the dedicated section.

To access the update, just go to the Explore tab, which will display the menu options, including the podcast. Then click the option of ‘Podcast’ and get ready to support your favourite content creators. 

 

Does this mean YouTube will also raise the fight for podcasts in the industry? 

What we know about this update is that it is slowly being tested and rolled out by countries. It is also known that podcasts are being displayed by subcategories to ease the navigation of the user.

There are 9 podcast categories to suit the need of the customers and help them explore the vast content. These categories are:

1. Popular episodes
2. Popular podcast playlists
3. Recommended (Based on your Subscriptions and History)
4. Popular podcast creators
5. Comedy
6. True Crime
7. Sports
8. Music
9. TV & Film

It does seem that this rollout is the start of something bigger than merely performing changes in the layout of the platform. YouTube knows its market advantage and has taken the first steps into the podcast industry.

 

• Twitter is testing professional account options, which includes shopping & link features

 

These sure are exciting times for professional accounts on Twitter. The platform has announced that a new set of features are being unlocked exclusively for professional accounts. 

Twitter is committed to helping businesses, brands, and creators to have a strong online presence and this new shopping and custom links functionality seems to be hitting off the ground.

 

? We’re going global! Now, any professional around the world can add a Location Spotlight to their profile to help customers find their biz location and get in touch faster. And☝️it has a new Google Maps integration to help customers with directions. pic.twitter.com/Uw5oLdJWXU

— Twitter Business (@TwitterBusiness) August 4, 2022

 

Let’s review what these two new profile spotlights are about. The first one would be the Location Spotlight has rolled out globally. This update aims to help any business owner to become visible to their customers with even a Google Maps integration for directions. 

 

But this isn’t all this new spotlight feature can do for your business. It also includes updates such as displaying business hours and direct contact methods to bring customers closer to businesses. Among the contact options, you can set up to be contacted by phone call, text message, direct Twitter message, and email.

 

 

Last but not least, the Shopping Spotlight is perhaps the most exciting update for professionals and their sales goals. Unlike the previous update, this functionality is available only to qualified accounts, mainly in the US. 

So what’s exciting about this update?

Those qualifying accounts will be entitled to a dedicated section at the top of their account profiles to display their products. The spotlight will act as a catalogue for easy access to purchase products without having to leave Twitter.

As Twitter describes this update:

“This is a feature that allows us to explore how shoppable profiles can create a pathway from talking about and discovering products on Twitter to actually purchasing them. “

The update doesn’t stop here. Twitter is actually developing a product management platform to create a seamless experience in showcasing products. This development will mainly assist business owners to create their own catalogues in-line with the right display in the app.

 

About Frizbit

• Save the date, a new workshop is coming up on September 22nd [Event held in Spanish]

 

We are delighted to announce that we are back with our offline events in Barcelona after a well-deserved summer break. In this event held in Spanish, we will review the strategies to perform retargeting without using third-party cookies.

Despite the delays from Google in fully implementing the cookieless era, we know the change and upcoming challenges are imminent. So, what better way than to actually get your hands on a theory-practical workshop to get ahead of the game?

If this event already sounds like you, keep reading to find out the details about this exciting workshop. 

During the event, you will learn what these types of alerts really are, and you will discover everything they can do for your e-Commerce to bring your customers back. 

In addition, you will explore this channel, which besides being innovative, is aligned with the new data privacy restrictions and third-party cookie limitations that will come into force by 2024.

Of course, after-work, and networking could not be missing in this workshop, so besides learning about best practices and tips to implement them, you will also be invited to enjoy some free beers on a nice terrace in Barcelona.

If you are not in Barcelona but still would love to attend the event, we got you covered! For those who can’t make it physically to the event, we will have a live broadcast for the workshop. To access the broadcast, register through the link below and choose “Watch Online – Remote”.  We will email you the live link on the day of the event.

The details:

When: September 22nd

Time: 18:30 (registration opens) until 21:00 

Where: Aticco Verdaguer, Barcelona

Workshop Facilitator:  Ata Gur, CEO & Co-founder of Frizbit

 

You can register for free here

Digital Marketing News and Updates | May 2022

The digital marketing industry as we know it is ever-evolving. And this month is no different. So the relevance of staying up to date is essential for any digital marketing professional.

 

Today, we want to present you with the latest news, trends and updates from May 2022. Let’s dive in!

 

Content:

1. Search Marketing Updates

   • Google enables users to delete their information from Google Search.

   • Google aims to conquer the eCommerce space. 

   • Google Search Console tracks new desktop features in its experience report.

2. Marketing Tech Updates

   • Meta rolls out Whatsapp Cloud: a monetisation strategy for Whatsapp. 

   • Stripe supports Bitcoin payments.

3. Social Media Updates
   

   • Instagram introduces a new Feed.

   • Twitter launches Twitter Circle. 
   • TikTok Pulse. 

4. About Frizbit

   • Frizbit at the datathon of @Reach Incubator

1. Search Marketing Updates
   

   • Google enables users to delete their information from Google Search.

      

Pexels/PhotoMIX Company

 

Nowadays, as users, navigating through the internet means having to share our personal data. Users are exposed to revealing their full name, email address, phone number and even more personal information such as banking details. We can say that maintaining one’s privacy gets more challenging by the day.

With the recent events regarding the privacy of users, it isn’t surprising that Google is making changes to protect its users. To tackle this issue, the search giant is expanding its options to enable users to be in control of their personal information.

If you do not wish for your information to appear on the google search page, there’s only one action you need to do. You must complete the request on this form, and after the corresponding approval, the platform will take down your personal information.

Now, what does this mean for marketers?

As we have perceived, getting closer to potential customers is getting tougher. As marketers, it is clear that relying on third-party cookies to reach users isn’t a streamlined solution anymore.

Having said this, we advise marketers to start looking out for different strategies. These new tactics should be aligned to the preferences of the users, and the better way is using first-party cookies. 

 

1. • Google aims to conquer the eCommerce space.

     

     Unsplash / Austin Distel

     
     As Bloomberg states, Google is putting efforts again to step strong in the eCommerce landscape. And this time, it seems that Google is willing to step up against its biggest competitor: Amazon.

     What is Google doing differently this time to overcome its competitor?

     While retailers at Amazon are required to pay the company for using the platform as a storefront, Google has started offering free shopping ads and product listings for its users.  

     With a 43% increase in search revenue in eCommerce advertising, statistics forecast success for this new initiative from Google.

     How can retailers prepare to position themselves in the upcoming eCommerce takeover successfully? 

     We suggest retailers start by being present at the Google Merchant Center. At this time, it won’t represent an extra cost for eCommerce businesses, presenting itself as a compelling opportunity. Then, we suggest setting up the product feed using the free product listing feature.

     Once the product feed is set up, the retailer will be able to display free shopping listings and run free shopping ads.

     Developing spaces and conditions that benefit online retailers is undoubtedly a leading step for Google to conquer this landscape.
     
     

   • Google Search Console tracks new desktop features in its experience report.
   • 
     

     Google Developers

     Google has announced that its Google Search Console will start tracking additional desktop features. As stated by the company:

     “Search Console now logs impressions in the Page Experience report for additional desktop features, such as Top Stories. As a result, you may see an increase in your desktop impressions in the Page Experience report and the Search and News performance reports when filtering by the “Good Page Experience” search appearance.”
     
     What does this mean for website owners?
     
     With the new log, you may see an increase in the desktop impressions on the experience report page. This change might also affect the performance reports when using the “Good Page Experience” filter.
     
     Possible spikes or increases should be visible after May 13th in your reports. Look out for any drastic changes and evaluate through the “Good Page Experience” if the rise shown is related to the new logging of the additional desktop features.

     2. Marketing Tech Updates

   • Meta rolls out Whatsapp Cloud: a monetisation strategy for Whatsapp.
     

     Pexels / Anton

      

     Whatsapp introduces its Cloud API to all businesses worldwide hosted in its parent company: Meta. This new feature becomes one of the key ways the app would finally start monetising itself.

      

     So, how does it work?

      

     Whatsapp Business Accounts will pay on a per-message basis. The rates will vary depending on the number of messages sent per month and your region.

      

     This new API targets smaller businesses and eases the third-party channel integrations process. This integration process usually would take up to weeks, and thanks to this tool, it would only take a few minutes.

      

     Through the Cloud API, businesses can have a better CRM experience. The tool will enable account owners to store private data through the app seamlessly. You will be able to integrate all tickets through one channel, increasing efficiency and productivity. This feature becomes relevant for larger businesses.

      

     The API is compatible with Zendesk and MessageBird, which truly facilitates communication operations for small and big businesses to connect with more people.

      

     Whastapp API Cloud isn’t the only change the platform will have. The regular Whatsapp Business app will also get an upgrade offering premium paid features.

      

     What’s included in the paid version?

      

     You will enjoy:

     • The ability to manage up to 10 chats across multiple devices.
     • Customised ‘Click-to-Chat’ links
     • Statistics

     More updates and features, as well as pricing information, will be available later during the year.
     This also enables online stores to send WhatsApp messages to their users who leave without completing a purchase via WhatsApp. If you have an e-commerce and are looking for a solution to run WhatsApp cart abandonment campaigns you can request a demo with Frizbit.

      

   • Stripe supports Bitcoin payments.
     

     Stripe
     

     Stripe is one of the largest online payment gateways in the world. It is known for revolutionising the eCommerce ecosystem, and this time it isn’t the exception. Now, the latest update the company wants to implement is partnering with Bitcoin and offering it as a payment method.

      

     The company valued above 100,000,000 USD has teamed up with the crypto startup OpenNode. This incursion into the cryptocurrency landscape will allow users to convert balances and payments directly into Bitcoin.

      

     What’s the impact on eCommerce owners?

      

     Thanks to millions of users, broadening the usage of cryptocurrencies can increase transactions. This is certainly a positive shift in the eCommerce landscape by easing the online purchase customer journey experience.

     3. Social Media Updates

   •  Instagram introduces a new Feed

     
     Instagram

   • As Adam Mosseri stated in his official publication, the video experience is taking more relevance in the future of Instagram. The ever-changing app has announced that it has started testing a more immersive layout in its visual feed.

     This change will take place for both images and videos with a 16:9 proportion. This new update makes the posts appear in a full-screen format on your device.

      

     In the light of creating immersive experiences, the app is elevating its reels consumption. The platform will start recommending more reels in its suggested section of the Home Page. This shift aligns with the so-desired trend of ranking video content at the front store of the app.

      

     How does this affect your content strategy?

      

     More and more, the platform is trying to stay upfront with its largest competitor: TikTok. They have been studying what makes TikTok so engaging, and this new shift comes as a consequence.

      

     Definitely, video content will keep being prioritised by the algorithm. Therefore, adapting your content to the Reels format is essential. Instagram has mentioned that the so-loved stories might start appearing in the home feed, similar to the current TikTok experience.

      

     Lastly, the platform has announced the option of pinning content to the feed to make the experience of the users smoother and more engaging.

   •  Twitter launches Twitter Circle.

     Twitter 

     Similar to the “Close Friends” Instagram feature, Twitter is rolling out its “Twitter Circle” feature to share exclusive content with a selected audience.

      

     This innovation allows users to select up to 150 profiles to interact with private content, whether they are followers or not. Twitter Circle is now in its beta phase. However, it will only be available for limited accounts worldwide when it is fully released.

      

     We will have to see how this new feature integrates with the app and its new owner Elon Musk, who didn’t include this in his new proposals for the platform.

   •   TikTok Pulse

     

     TikTok 

     TikTok has announced that they are launching a new programme called “Pulse” to bring brands closer to its customers through advertisement.

     Using the “For you” section, the platform plans to add advertisements that are relevant to the brands users consume the most. They have carefully designed the experience by placing the volume of advertisements in proportion to the usage of the app. The more time you spend in the app equals more relevant ads.

     TikTok Pulse allows advertisers to put their brand next to the main content of their feed. Specifically, TikTok highlights 4% of the posts to be shown in the ‘For you’ section. The advertising will be displayed within this range, becoming widely seen and relevant to users.

     “We are focused on developing monetisation solutions in available markets so that creators feel valued and rewarded on TikTok,” the company explained.

     The beta phase will begin with the participation of creators, public figures and media channels that should have at least 100,000 followers.

     4. About Frizbit

   • Frizbit at the datathon of @Reach Incubator

     
     Frizbit team

     The Frizbit team visited Paris earlier in May!

     Reach Incubator is a European incubator for startups specialising in AI & data management products and services.

     This year, the datathon took place at the École Polytechnique in Paris. For two days, more than 30 companies exposed their data management solutions. 

     Frizbit was selected to participate in the “Explore” phase of the program. 

2021 was for sure an eventful year and it went by really, really fast. We shared every step of the ways with you bringing you a sum up of the most important digital marketing news each month and here were are once more with the:

Digital Marketing News from December 2021

1. Search Marketing Updates

• DuckDuck Go is Launching Desktop Version of Mobile App

The mobile search engine solution for a more private experience has announced the release of a desktop version. They claim their solution to be an “everyday browser that respects your privacy” and to be much faster than Google. 

This new release is not to be confused with their extension for Google Chrome. The DuckDuck Go private browsing app will be a standalone product. So far this is what we DuckDuck has said about it:

• Cleaner and simpler interface
• It will keep the “Fire” button from its mobile app
• Less clutter and offer more privacy than Chrome
• Faster than Google Chrome

This desktop version is currently being tested in a closed beta and the company hasn’t made it clear when it will be available for everyone. 

• Google Updates Local Search Results

An algorithm update began to roll out late November and Google has confirmed it concluded early December. Through their Google Search Central Twitter account they said:

Our November 2021 local search update has concluded. It began Nov 30 and ran through Dec 8. It involved a rebalancing of various factors we consider in generating local search results.

On Google’s support page you can find a list of the ranking factors and how to improve them:

• Relevance: how well a local Business Profile matches what someone is searching for.
• Distance: how far each potential search result is from the location term used in a search.
• Prominence: how well known a business is keeping in mind that some places are more prominent in the offline world. 

Even though Google has never been specific about how they rank search results, with these insights you can redirect your efforts towards the one that works best for you and your business. 

• Microsoft Bing’s Integration with Shopify is now Live

Back in October Microsoft Bing announced a new integration with Shopify to allow shoppers across Microsoft to get more diverse products, great prices, and improved discovery of deals.

That integration is now live!

If users head to Microsoft Bing right now and search for a product they have been looking for, they will receive results from millions of merchants thanks to the Shopify integration. After selecting a product and clicking on the “buy now” button, they will be instantly redirected to the shopping cart page to continue with their purchase. 

These products will also be available on Microsoft Start. We’re excited to launch our integration with Shopify to provide our shoppers a delightful experience with wider variety of products, better prices and convenience of “buy now”. – Microsoft Blog

2. Marketing Tech Updates

• Adobe Announces Free Creative Cloud Express

Adobe is introducing a new suite of tools called Creative Cloud Express. It’s a web and mobile app created for anyone, from students to entrepreneurs, to create:

Creative Cloud Express draws on our decades of experience working with the creative community. It makes the core technology in our industry-leading products like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro available with just a few clicks — and with no learning curve. And whether your goal is to make a flyer, edit an image, or produce marketing assets, you don’t have to start from scratch — Creative Cloud Express gives you access to thousands of beautiful templates, millions of images from Adobe Stock, thousands of fonts, and many more assets that you can personalize to tell your story. – Adobe Blog

This free tool is designed for everyone to use, even people with no previous experience with design software. This new suit of tools, Creative Cloud Express is available on the web, in Microsoft stores and on apps for iOS and Android.

It’s so easy to use thanks to many simple features called Quick Actions like removing an image background, trimming a video, or creating a GIF with just a few clicks. On top of that, the suite offers access to millions of resources like photos, fonts, templates, graphics and other. 

• WordPress delayed  5.9 version Release

WordPress has delayed the release of the 5.9 version to January 25th 2022. Originally, it was intended to be published in December 2021, but the project fell significantly behind schedule and core contributors raised their concerns about being able to meet deadlines. 

On their blog they informed that near the end of original alpha release cycle there were issues related to the new features planed for the 5.9 version:

• Full Site Editing (FSE), which is a collection of features, such as global styles interface, Navigation Block, block themes, template editors, and site editing flows.
• The Twenty Twenty-Two (TT2) theme, which depends on these FSE features.

The thing is that WordPress 5.9 version is a major one because of the full editing features it includes and they need to get it right. Adding up to that, the WordPress 6.0 version was scheduled to be released in April 2022 and they felt it was too long for the community to wait.

After revising the list of issues, the Core Editor team realized that these features could be included in the 5.9 version with the new schedule. They are focusing on a schedule that delivers full release and this is what they said:

5.9 is still in feature freeze. Work from here on is strictly to address the changes that get the release to a stable state. – WordPress Blog 

• Jotform adds 3 new Widgets

Jotform takes pride in the vast amount of (very specific) widgets they have to cover their users’ needs. This month they are introducing 3 new ones they feel are worth highlighting:

• Image Gallery
• WhatsApp Button
• OpenStreetMap

The Image Gallery widget allows users to add a photo gallery to their form. They feel this feature could be useful for order forms, for example, when a user needs to display a wide range of products. The widget it’s said to be very easy to use and customize with no coding required. 

The Whatsapp Button embed directly to the forms so anyone can access and message to Whatsapp. It’s a widget that allows users a seamless way to communicate. In Jotform’s blog they say: Use the WhatsApp Button to collect orders, receive feedback or contact information, or simply as a way for users to contact you with any urgent requests.

Last but not least, the OpenStreetMap widget allows users to display an interactive map on their form or app:

This can be especially useful for giving users a point of reference for specific destinations — whether it’s to show precisely where your business is located, how to find an event space, how to navigate to the nearest parking lot, or anything else. – Jotform Blog

3. Social Media Updates

• TikTok Users Can Make Money Through Tips & Gifts

Social media platform TikTok is introducing new ways for content creators to get paid with addition of tips and gifts. These new features are part of a suite of new monetization tools called Creator Next. 

• Tips: the new tipping feature allows users to send tips of $5, $10, $15, or custom tip amount to other users to show their appreciation for the content they create. When a user gets a tip, they receive 100% of it. These payments are facilitated by Stripe and users who are eligible to receive them will display a new icon on their profiles.

• Video Gifts: the new gifting feature allows users to send virtual gifts to other users on specific videos and the recipient can exchange them for money. You might have already seen a new gift box icon displayed on certain videos. 

To be eligible for receiving tips and gift a user must comply with the following:

• 18+ years of age
• At least 1,000 video views in past 30 days
• Have at least three posts in the past 30 days
• An account that’s in good standing with TikTok’s community guidelines
• Be based in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, or Spain
• Meet minimum follower requirements (which differs depending on region)

• Twitter Adds Auto Captions for All Video Uploads in Tweets

Twitter has announced a major new feature: all videos uploaded within tweets will have auto caption enabled. 

The new captions will be enabled for in-stream videos that are muted, on both iOS and Android, while desktop users will have the option to switch them on and off as they please. The captions are available in 37 languages and will show in the language of the device used to upload the video.

Translation and editing of the captions are still in development but this new feature allows Twitter users to access content in more formats. As this social media platform has always been text-focused the auto caption for videos opens the doors to give more prominence to videos. 

• Clubhouse Launches Saved Replays, Unveils New App Icon

Clubhouse, the popular social media platform that gave us so much to talk about early 2021, has announced one more update before the year ends. 

The new “Saved Replays” feature allows users to save the audio from a recorded Clubhouse chat to listen to later. Any user can access the option by clicking the three dots and then tapping the “Save Replay” button. 

This might be a feature users were expecting from the app since it seems to be very useful to be able to listen to audio chats later in time. 

The app also unveiled a new icon featuring streaming influencer Abraxas Higgins since they consider him a “quintessential Clubhouse success story”:

“A former Wall Street banker turned music marketing strategist turned audio influencer. In addition to being the host of Clubhouse’s beloved morning show 9AM in London, Abraxas is also the most followed person in the UK on Clubhouse and makes more money now from brand partners than he did as an investment strategist.” 

That ‘s for 2021!

2021 was for sure a year full of interesting events in all aspects. We hope you enjoyed our last digital marketing news article of the year and we will see you on the next ones! 

Happy 2022! 

With just one month left to 2021 and a major holiday season right ahead, it’s imperative that we take our time to checkout the most important: 

Digital Marketing News and Updates from November 2021

1. Search Marketing News

• Google Launches New Tools and Features to Support Local News

Over the past five years Google has reported an increase in queries on search like “news near me”, reaching a special high during COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020. In response to this demand, Google is launching new features for local search results and new tools for journalists:

“At Google, we’re dedicated to finding new ways to help readers better connect with publishers and helping publishers more efficiently and creatively produce quality journalism their readers want.” Google Blog

a) New Features for Local Search Results

• Local News Carousel: readers will see a carousel of local news stories when there’s local news relevant to their query.

• Top Stories: Google is improving their system to show authoritative local news sources more often alongside national publications.

• Topic Understandment: Google is refining its ability to have a better understanding of general topics like “sports” to more specific ones like “tennis” to help readers get more relevant search results paired with location signals. 

• Local Tweets: results are now showing tweets by local sources, authors authorities and organizations relevant to the search query. 

b) New Tools for Reporters

• Census Mapper Project: an embeddable map tool aimed to help reporters sort out and visualize data in a more easy and appealing way. It displays Census data at the national, state and county level, as well as census tracts.

• Common Knowledge Project: is a data explorer and visual journalism project and Google is making improvements to integrate journalist feedback and new features including geographic comparisons, new charts and visuals.

 

• Google Ads App Updated With 3 New Features

Google is making marketers life’s a little bit easier by updating the Google Ads App adding new 3 features that allow them to make changes and monitor campaigns performance directly from mobile devices. 

• Improved Performance Insights: the update will provide information about campaign performance with a real time notification when a significant change occurs, an explanation of why it happened and, in some cases, a recommendation on how to fix the issue. There will also be insights on positive changes in performance to help marketers understand what worked and how to replicate it in the future. 

• Real-time Search Trends: Google added search trends to the mobile app to make it accessible from everywhere.
  “Let’s say you’re a grocery retailer looking to reach more customers. With Search trends, you may notice a rising trend for “cookie decorating kits” and “bread & pastry dough”. You can then act on these trends by creating new campaigns for these products, and even update your in-store and online merchandising as well. 

• Campaign Creation on the go: with just a few taps is now possible to create campaigns directly from the Google Ads mobile app. By simply tapping the “plus” button you can select your campaign type, where you’d like your ads to appear and other campaign settings. 

• Google Makes Improvements in Search Results for “Deals” Query

During Holiday season searches for deals and discounts peak. That’s why Google is introducing new ways for people to connect with businesses and find the “right deal at the right moment throughout the season.”

 

• Helping People Find the Right Deal: products with a deals badge will appear in a new feed in the Shopping Tab. People can access it by selecting the “Deals” menu or by doing a search that triggers for queries like “deals” or “Black Friday.” Any product with a deals badge is eligible and will be highlighted depending on how attractive the offer is.

• Measure Deals Performance: merchants will be able to see which of their products are eligible for a deals badge in the products tab within the Merchant Center. The dashboard now shows a detailed performance report with data on impressions, clicks and click-through rate.

  

• WooCommerce and Shopify Integration: both platforms businesses will be able to showcase their existing deals across Google by synching existing and new promotions to their products listed on Google directly within their store dashboard.

2. Marketing Tech Updates

• HubSpot Launches New Payments Solution

The CRM platform has announced the launch of HubSpot Payments to Help Customers Deliver a Better Buying Experience. HubSpot Payments is an end-to-end payment solution built natively as part of the platform and allows companies to accept payments seamlessly with fewer tools. 

“For too long, B2B companies have suffered through painful sales processes that leave customers frustrated and lost revenue on the table. That’s why we’ve built HubSpot Payments to enhance the customer experience rather than slow it down” – Brad Greene, VP of commerce and payments at HubSpot.

With HubSpot Payments companies will be able to accept digital payments without the need of any type of development, since it’s integrated directly into the CRM. It also allows a more secure buying experience for customers being able to pay in just a few clicks using the payment method they prefer.

• Mailchimp and Shopify Launch Direct Integration

Mailchimp announced a partnership with Shopify for new and existing users of both platforms to connect their Mailchimp account with their Shopify storefront through a direct integration without needing third-party tools or manual data transfer. 

Mailchimp shared the news saying that “By connecting Mailchimp and Shopify directly, merchants will be able to combine the power of purchase data with marketing data and use those insights to help drive conversions, increase revenue, and reach more customers at the right point of their buying journey.”

This integration comes in time to help small businesses make the most out of the holiday season by making it easier for merchants to reach their customers. 

“The combined power of Mailchimp’s suite of marketing tools and Shopify’s robust commerce infrastructure will level the playing field and unlock even more opportunity for independent businesses to grow and succeed into the future.” – Fatima Yusuf, Director of Commercial, App Ecosystem, Shopify.

Mailchimp also acquired the ShopSync app, which has helped Mailchimp users connect their accounts to Shopify stores.

• Slack Introduces New Platform

With the purpose of empowering organizations by understanding that each one of them works with different flows, structures and specific requirements Slack has completely rebuilt and re-engineered the Slack platform. 

They want Slack to be companies’ Digital HQ to make work more productive and pleasant. With this update they are offering businesses a tailored solution that adapts and responds to their unique business needs. On their blog they say:

“From everyday business users like sales representatives, administrators and marketers to seasoned engineers, everyone can customize their Slack experience and digital HQ to fit how they work, now and in the future.”

Here’s what’s new:

• Workflow Builder: a feature that allows non-developers to create workflows by dragging and dropping pieces of existing apps and then customizing how they work together. 

• Slack Links (coming soon): with just one click, users will be able to sign in to their work apps using their Slack accounts. 

• Subscribe in Slack (coming soon): users will be able to set up Slack notifications from their other tools integrated into their Slack workspace. 

3. Social Media Updates

• YouTube Removes Dislike Counts On All Videos

Videos on YouTube will no longer show a public dislike count, while the dislike button remains. Early 2021 YouTube experimented with the dislike button making invisible the dislike vote count to help protect content creators against harassment where people worked to increase the number of dislikes from a certain video.  

“We want to create an inclusive and respectful environment where creators have the opportunity to succeed and feel safe to express themselves. This is just one of many steps we are taking to continue to protect creators from harassment. Our work is not done, and we’ll continue to invest here”. – YouTube Blog

The results from this experiment showed that, because the count wasn’t visible, viewers were less likely to hit the button trying to drive up the number of dislikes. Apparently this is a practice that affects small and new channels the most. 

Based on these results, YouTube has decided to make the dislike count private across the entire platform. Viewers will still have the option to hit the dislike button if they want to and creators will still be able to find the exact amount of dislikes from a video on YouTube Studio along other metrics. 

This change is rolling out gradually since early November 2021. 

• Instagram Launches Live Test of Longer Videos in Stories

Instagram has launched a live test for 60 seconds videos in stories. This means that longer videos won’t be split into 15 seconds clips anymore. This is what Instagram had to say when inquired about the subject by socialmediatoday: 

“The ability to create longer Stories posts comes highly requested by our community. We’re excited to be testing 60-second Stories so that people can create and view Stories with fewer interruptions.” 

This initiative comes from the desire of Instagram to simplify and consolidate ideas, since they launched a lot of features in the last year. The decision has also been influenced by social media platform TikTok which has become most popular between younger crowds and thrives with simplicity. 

The new feature is currently being tested with only a small group of users, but soon it will reach more and more people. 

• TikTok Tests New Option to Tag Other Profiles in Your Video Clips

With the objective of boosting engagement, TikTok is rolling out a feature that allows users to tag other profiles in their clips. This option comes as an addition to the already available @mention option within the post captions. 

This means that users can still alert other profiles about their clips, but keeping the caption text free of mentions. Functionality wise it doesn’t represent a major change, however it does provide a new way to link creators content. 

The new option to tag other profiles, is still being tested and there are no plans to roll it out to all users at the moment. 

Digital Marketing News From November 2021

So here are the most important news and digital marketing trends from November 2021. As always Google is constantly providing with more and better tools for marketers to do their jobs the easiest way possible, marketing platforms are keeping up with teams’ requirements and social media competition never ends.

Which update caught your attention the most?

If you are interested in reading more about digital marketing make sure to visit some of our other blog post:

• Digital Marketing Trends 2022
• 2021 Christmas Marketing Ideas and Strategies To Boost Your E-commerce Sales
• The Future of Digital Marketing Without 3rd Party Cookies

2021 has gone by extremely fast, we are already in the last quarter of the year and the most important dates for marketers are upon us: Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas. That is why it is more important than ever to be informed about what’s new in the digital marketing world and use all tools available to carry out the best campaigns.

Here are the most relevant:

Digital Marketing News and Updates from October 2021

1. Search Marketing Updates

• Shopify & Microsoft Team Up To Help Merchants Reach More Shoppers

Microsoft is aware of the significant increase in online shopping and the acceleration of e-commerce sites, that’s why they are looking for ways to help brands connect with consumers. With that in mind, they recently announced a partnership with Shopify. 

Shopify merchants can now reach more shoppers using the updated Microsoft Channel app available in their Shopify store. They will have access to more customers through the Microsoft Search Network and Microsoft Audience Network. 

Merchants can connect to the Microsoft Channel app using their Microsoft Advertising accounts or by signing up in a few steps. They can create new ad campaigns, access real-time reports in their Shopify store and all merchants’ products are automatically able to be shown on the Microsoft Bing Shopping tab and the Microsoft Start Shopping tab free as Product Listings.

This new feature is currently available just for Shopify merchants in the United States and Canada.

Microsoft states that soon they will be rolling out a checkout option via the Buy button “to help consumers quickly bridge the gap from discovery to purchase”. 

• Google Mobile Search Updated With Continuous Scrolling

Mid October, Google announced to their blog The Keyword that Continuous scrolling is coming to Google Search on mobile devices. 

Google is always working towards helping people find what they are looking for easily and quickly. Making Search results browsing a seamless experience is a priority, and that is why they are introducing continuous scrolling on mobile devices.

Now, when users conduct a search from their mobile device and reach the bottom of a results page, the next set of results will automatically load to offer more information. The reason behind this update is to save people from having to click on the “See more” button and make their browsing experience more pleasant.

“While you can often find what you’re looking for in the first few results, sometimes you want to keep looking. In fact, most people who want additional information tend to browse up to four pages of search results.” – Google Blog

The new Search experience is starting to gradually roll out today for most English searches on mobile in the U.S.

• Google Rolls Out New Eco-Friendly Search Filters

Google’s rolling out new Search filters to help people make more environmentally-conscious decisions when looking for flights, hotels, routes or products. Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a series of green initiatives from the company, and this new Search filter is one of them.  

• Google Flights Updates: an update to Google Flights will showcase information about carbon emissions in SERP. The information will be displayed next to the price and duration of the flight. 

• Hotel results: when looking for a hotel, users will now see information regarding their sustainability efforts such as waste reduction and water conservation measures, and whether they’re Green Key or EarthCheck certified.

• Environmentally Friendly Appliances: a Google Shopping update will help shoppers find the most environmentally friendly options when looking to buy appliances by displaying the most sustainable products. 

• Eco-friendly Routing in Google Maps: from now on in the U.S and in Europe from 2022, Google Maps will show you the most fuel efficient route to choose from. Google estimates that by doing this, they could help save over one million tons of carbon emissions per year.

Google says that all these efforts are aimed towards being more sustainable and helping contribute against climate change:

In all these efforts, our goal is to make the sustainable choice an easier choice. At the individual level, these choices may seem small, but when people have the tools to make them at scale, they equal big improvements. We’ll need nothing less to avert the worst consequences of climate change, and we’ll continue to find ways our products can help.

2. Marketing Tech Updates

• Free AI Content Optimization Tool by MarketMuse

MarketMuse is a platform built to accelerate the content research, creation, and optimization process using AI and they recently launched a free version of their software.

This tool is designed to help content creators plan and optimize their writing with helpful insights powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning. The new free version is very similar to the paid one and contains the primary features of MarketMuse, the only difference is that, with the paid version, you can focus on more queries. 

The new version is thought out to help small sites with up to 35 queries a month and it offers the following features: 

• Optimize
• Connect
• Compete
• Research
• Questions

Many MarketMuse users have reported the tool to be a complete game changer for their content marketing strategy:

In my opinion, MarketMuse is useful for every business that is doing content marketing. Using MarketMuse, you can create in-depth content that is valued by readers and considered authoritative. I used MarketMuse as an experiment on one of my sites, and my organic traffic grew by 400% in less than 6 months. – Israel Gaudette, Full-time affiliate marketer and founder of the Link Tracker Pro rank tracker.

• Google For Creators Is Here To Help Publishers Get Found & Make Money

Google is introducing Google for Creators to offer personalized guidance, product recommendations and inspiration for creators. 

In a recent blog post Google announced the launch of a new tool to help content creators learn, grow and get inspired. The objective is to bring audiences closer to the content the like and enjoy, at the same time it helps creators reach and connect with more people. 

Google for Creators shows how the web can become part of your content mix. A quick quiz on the homepage provides personalized recommendations with topics most relevant to you. So if you’re just getting started, the quiz might recommend that you check out guides for finding a niche or creating a content strategy. Or if you’re a more seasoned creator, you might see recommendations for learning how to grow your audience and make more money. – Google Blog

The tool is promised to be useful for all types of content creators, new ones or more experienced ones. The quiz will offer relevant insights and recommendations on how to find a niche, planning a content strategy and how to grow your audience. 

Google will release more features in the coming months. 

• WordPress Releases Gutenberg 11.6 

Early October WordPress released Gutenberg 11.6 fixing bugs and making important changes and improvements. Gutenberg is a WordPress site builder with drag and drop functionality to design interfaces. 

Gutenberg is rolling out in a four phase development process and it’s currently in the second one. This builder is aimed to “to revolutionize the entire publishing experience as much as Gutenberg did the printed word”, according to the description in its plugin page. 

The 11.6 version includes:

• Site Logo cropping and rotating within the editor: users are now able to adjust their websites’ logos directly within WordPress. Before this update the image used as a logo had to be edited before loading it in the site. With the Site Logo block’s toolbar that won’t be necessary anymore. 

• Locking control at block level: this new feature allows designers to lock individual blocks to prevent them from moving or accidentally removing them. 

• Query Pagination uses Flex Layout: the new Gutenberg version improves the Query Pagination block to support the flex layout.

There are other notable improvements and changes with Gutenberg 11.6 such as basic support for child themes, enhancements to the writing flow and much more that you can check out in detail here. 

3. Social Media Updates

• Facebook Has New Communication Tools For Businesses

Facebook is rolling out changes and improvements targeted to small businesses. These updates are coming just in time for important marketing dates such as Black Friday and the holiday season which reportedly counts for 20% of annual revenue for small businesses.

Let’s sum up the new features:

• Video and Audio Calling on Messenger: Facebook is testing business audio and video calling with some businesses using Business Inbox in Messenger. This feature allows them to connect directly with their customers right from the platform in order to facilitate transactions.

• Live Audio Rooms: earlier this year Facebook launched Live Audio Rooms as their own version of ClubHouse appa. They are now making it available for small businesses to host live conversations on topics they consider relevant for their target audiences. 

• Expanding Appointment Booking Globally: the appointments feature on Facebook is an easy way for customers to book appointments with local service providers, and for businesses to manage their bookings. From now, Facebook is gradually making Appointment books available to all small businesses, globally.

• Personalized Ads: Facebook wants to let people know they are supporting a small business when they come across a small business ad, so they are testing the display of an informational message in the feed that lets people know they liked or loved a small business ad. According to Facebook “The message explains how engaging with an ad from a small business can help the business continue to find new customers and grow.”

 

• Instagram Adds More Demographic Insights For Businesses

Instagram is introducing new audience insights as a way to give content creators and professionals the tools they need to make more money doing what they love on the social media platform. They are rolling out: accounts engaged, engaged audience, reached audience and new transparency for creators who partner with brands.

• Accounts Engaged and Engaged Audience: the “accounts engaged” feature shows the number of people that interacted with your content in a specific period of time. Instagram is also adding demographic insights to help professionals have a better understanding of their audience. 

• Reached Audience: Instagram is adding new information about reached audiences also adding important demographic insights such as top cities, top countries, top age ranges and gender. 

• Transparency for Creators: Instagram is going to give more visibility to creators who partner with brands to create collaborative content. “When a brand promotes a creator’s post with the paid partnership label or creates an ad without a pre-existing post, that creator will now be able to see the performance of that ad including reach, likes, comments, saves and shares.”

• Instagram Tests new “Add Yours” Sticker for Stories

If you hang out a lot on Instagram you might have already come across the new “Add Yours” sticker in someones’ story. 

Instagram rolled out this new sticker as a way to create chains of content in the app. It works like this: a user uploads a story and inserts the “Add Yours” sticker of a certain topic. Then when another user sees it, they can click on it and their own input to the topic, thus creating a chain of content. 

For example, someone can create a prompt about their favorite Italian restaurant, share it, and then other users can add their own favorites. This is a great way for brands to connect and reach new audiences. 

Even though the sticker is limited to users in Japan and Indonesia, once a prompt has been created, anyone can participate. 

This are the most relevant Digital Marketing News and Updates from October 2021

There were many updates in search, tech and social media marketing this past month and certainly many interesting features to try for next big dates like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas. 

Did you have a favorite? Let us know in the comments!

You can also find useful:

• Top 2021 Black Friday Digital Marketing Strategies for Your E-commerce
• “Don’t Use Web Push Notifications!” Demystifying the Biggest Prejudices About Web Push Notifications
• SMS Marketing: 7 Tips for a Winning Strategy

There wasn’t much digital marketing news to report during summertime. However, September has arrived in full strength with many updates to note that might help us marketers strategize better for the last few months of 2021. 

Digital Marketing News, Insights and Updates from September 2021

1. Search Marketing Updates

• Google is Working on New Search Feature to Index Instagram and TikTok Videos

Google has been reported to be working on new deals with Instagram and TikTok’s parent companies, Facebook and ByteDance, to get the data they need in order to index and rank videos from the social media platform in Search results. 

Users often go to Google to search for TikTok and Instagram videos everyone is talking about and have no luck finding them. The best result they get is a preview with lower qualities. Well, Google is trying to fix that and show users the exact video they want to see in Search, just like they do with tweets. 

A few years ago tweets didn’t show in SERP like they do now. Since Google reached an agreement with Twitter back in 2015, they now show in results and the same thing might happen if these new negotiations go well. We might start getting used to seeing these short social media videos in SERP sooner than later. 

Google is always aiming to make content easily discoverable by users. However, when asked about the new feature a spokesperson stated that sites “can choose how or whether their content appears in Search.”

To this point is just a matter of time and wait to see how the negotiations pan out. 

• Google is Giving Users More Transparency Into their Google Ads Experience

Google has been innovating with different features to help users have a better understanding about ads they get in Search and Display in different formats. Features such as “About this ad” and the advertisers identity verification program, enhance user experience by offering transparency and credibility with the ads shown to them.

Not stopping there, Google has announced now they are rolling out Advertiser Pages to offer users more information about the ads they get. Users can access these disclosures in the new “About this Ad” menu and check the ads said advertiser has run over the last 30 days. 

“For example, imagine you’re seeing an ad for a coat you’re interested in, but you don’t recognize the brand. With advertiser pages, you can learn more about that advertiser before visiting their site or making a purchase.”  Google Blog

 

Users will also be able to report an ad they feel is violating Google’s policies and if they see fit, a Google team member will delete it. As always, Google is aiming to offer users the best online experience as possible and taking their feedback is key to achieving that objective. 

Advertiser pages will launch in the coming months in the United States, and will roll out in phases to more countries in 2022.

• Microsoft Advertising Launches Open Beta for Credit Card Ads 

Microsoft Advertising has announced that, from this week, Credit Card Ads will be available for advertisers targeting customers in the U.S and Canada.

Credit Card Ads are intent-triggered ads dynamically generated with no keywords or site crawling required. They appear on the right side of the Bing Search Results Page alongside text ads.

“Credit card ads trigger for queries such as brand name, card category, credit level, and more. Bank issuers, comparison sites and brands can all take advantage of Credit card ads.” Microsoft Blog

On its blog, Microsoft states that, so far, advertisers have seen great results using Credit Card Ads:

• Up to 46% more conversions
• 70% lower cost per acquisition

Early results are sure promising for advertisers.  This new feature is rolling out as an open beta and anyone wishing to participate has to contact their Microsoft Advertising representative or sign up here.

2. Marketing Tech Updates

• Shopify Launches Shopify Markets to help Internationalize Stores

Up until now, if an ecommerce wanted to sell internationally, they’d have to use a third party marketplace or retailer to do so. With the launch of Shopify Markets that won’t be necessary anymore, since it allows merchants to sell directly to a global market all from one place.

Shopify Markets is a centralized hub with all the tools ecommerce sites need to sell directly outside of their home country. On the announcement of the new solution, Shopify stated that “Complexities like currency conversion, language localization, providing local payment methods, and duty and import taxes can all act as barriers to effectively selling internationally”. All of this is solved with Shopify Markets. 

By entering, merchants can: 

• Enter new markets easily
• Increase buyer trust and conversion with tailored experiences for each market
• Optimize cross-border operations with actionable insights and smart settings
• Save time with a central global management platform

Shopify Markets is already available in early access globally. 

• HubSpot Partners with Envato 

The CRM platform and Evanto, the world-leading online community for creative assets have partnered to launch over 250 high-quality templates specifically designed for HubSpot. 

“Designed by Envato’s internationally recognized community of professional theme developers, the new templates offer a wide variety of ways for businesses to customize their online presence, whether they use a multi-purpose theme or something more niche to their industry.” – HubSpot.com

Since both platforms, HubSpot and Envato, are aimed towards building engaging web experiences faster, Envato’s Chief Content Officer, Cameron Gough, said the partnership was a natural connection between both companies. He also added that:

“With these themes, we have an opportunity to provide the global creative community with the assets they need, while HubSpot can bring their CMS Hub product to life with the help of our talented author base”.

The have reported that the initial reactions from the community have been very positive with the creation of a huge variety of template themes. You can see the collection of CMS Hub themes on ThemeForest here: https://themeforest.net/lp/hubspot-cms-hub-themes/.

• Intuit Confirms Deal to Acquire Mailchimp

A few weeks ago, global technology platform Intuit, confirmed rumors about the acquisition of the popular mailing automation platform, Mailchimp for $12 billion.

Intuit is better known for its financial softwares TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mint and Credit Karma, but with this new acquisition they aim to “advance their mission to power prosperity around the world for consumers and small businesses”.

They described the objective saying that they “will work to deliver on the vision of an innovative, end-to-end customer growth platform for small and mid-market businesses, allowing them to get their business online, market their business, manage customer relationships, benefit from insights and analytics, get paid, access capital, pay employees, optimize cash flow, be organized and stay compliant, and have experts at their fingertips.”

3. Social Media Updates

• Twitter Makes Tips Available to Everyone and Adds Bitcoin & GoFundMe As Tipping Options

Back in May Twitter rolled out a feature called tip jar, that allowed users to tip others. This feature was only available for a select group of English-speaking content creators. Now, Twitter is rolling out Tips for everyone and adding new payment alternatives. 

Tips make the payment much easier by providing one spot right in the user’s profile where they can link to their Cash App, Patreon, Venmo and other platforms. Before, users had to manually share links to their payment profiles in their bios and in their tweets.

In addition to that, Twitter is also including new payment services: GoFundMe, an online fundraising platform, and Bitcoin through Strike, a payment application built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network that offers instant and free payments globally.

This is what Twitter had to say:

We want everyone on Twitter to have access to pathways to get paid. Digital currencies that encourage more people to participate in the economy and help people send each other money across borders and with as little friction as possible – help us get there.

• Facebook Launches New Tools for Businesses

In order to help businesses connect with more people and generate more leads, Facebook is launching a set of new free and paid tools:

• Start conversations with ads that click to message: businesses can use ads to invite people to message them through the messaging platform they prefer: Messenger, Instagram Direct or WhatsApp.

• Start a WhatsApp chat from an Instagram Profile: for many small businesses Instagram is the main platform through which people discover them, and Whatsapp the platform to engage in conversations. With that in mind, Facebook is making it possible to add a click-to-chat button to their Instagram profiles and a button that takes users to Whatsapp directly from Instagram ads.

• Quote Request on Messenger: with this feature businesses can elect 4-5 questions to ask consumers prior to starting a conversation. Then, consumers are able to request a quote from a business by completing a questionnaire on Messenger. This feature is only currently available for select advertisers for testing. 
• Lead Generation on Instagram: Facebook will start testing paid and organic tools to help businesses find qualified leads on the social media platform in a more personal way and reducing costs.

Regarding all updated and new features, Facebook stated that “Today is just a step towards the future we’re building for and with businesses in this next era of personalization and we’ll share more on this as it progresses.

• YouTube Adds 5 Features for Creators

YouTube content creators will have access to more insights and more control over ads and chapters thanks to these five new features:

• Evergreen video insights: evergreen videos are those that have been popular for a long period of time. YouTube is giving content creators access to insights for these types of videos as a way of helping them improve their monthly channel performance analysis. 

• Trending hashtags: YouTube launched the trending hashtag feature in the explore section to help viewers find popular content, and creators to identify topics for their future videos. This feature is only available for U.S mobile users. 

• AdSense Blocking Controls: YouTube is making available the Adsense Blocking Controls to multi-channel affiliate networks (MCNs). Previously this feature that allows content creators to control what type of ads run on their channels, was only available to channels in the YouTube Partner Program.

• Bulk Edit Video Chapters: YouTube launched automatic chapters for newly uploaded videos and creators are automatically opted into it. And for those who don’t want the feature enabled on their channel, YouTube is making it easier to edit the chapters in bulk. 

• Appeal Yellow Icons on YouTube Studio Mobile: a yellow icon means a video is receiving little to no monetization. From now on, content creators will be able to appeal them via the Studio Mobile app, instead of solely via desktop.

Digital Marketing News from September 2021

There was a lot to choose from to sum up the most important digital marketing news and updates from September 2021. We gathered the news we believe you’ll find more interesting and useful to strategize next month. 

If you want to keep reading…

• Remarketing: Everything You Need to Know
• Web Push Notifications Performance: Key Metrics to Track!
• How can Marketing Automation Help you Sell More