Marketing is changing fast: AI is an exciting new tool, but many marketers are struggling to track assets and performance. At the same time, privacy laws are getting more strict, and major players like Apple and Google are eliminating the tracking tools that marketers rely on. Many marketers are dragging their feet on embracing these changes – or they don’t know how to do it. The key to success? Your marketing metadata strategy. Learn more by registering and attending “Decode the Future of AI and Privacy with Metadata Mastery,” presented by Claravine. Click here to view more Search Engine Land webinars. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/6jWvDa5
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Google Merchant Center will remove the ability to select four rules-based attribution models when setting up the conversion source in 2024. The models being removed are:
Starting in April 2024, any conversion sources still using these models will be switched to data-driven attribution. Marketers not wanting conversions that use data-driven attribution will be able to use the last-click model instead. Why we care. This change will affect how marketers analyze and attribute conversions, crucial for identifying effective channels, touchpoints and strategies, enabling informed decision-making and resource allocation. Why now? Google announced this change after confirming it was retiring these attribution models for all properties in Google Ads and Google Analytics in October 2023. A spokesperson explained that adoption rates were “increasingly low” with “fewer than 3% of conversions in Google Ads using these models.” They added:
Deep dive. Read Google’s Select Attribution Settings documentation for more information on how to choose the reporting attribution model and conversion window for your property. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/QI9rcvm Google has agreed to pay publishers in Canada $73.6 million a year to keep links to news articles in its search results. The search engine had threatened to stop serving news links in response to a new law that forces tech companies to pay for news content. However, Google was able to strike a deal with the Canadian government before the rollout of the Online News Act, which is planned for Dec. 19, 2023. Why we care. This landmark deal will come as a huge relief for news publishers in Canada. Had Google followed through with its threat to remove links to news articles in search, organic traffic would have been severely impacted, which in turn would have negatively affected the value of the publishers’ ad space. Terms and conditions. Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said in a statement that the “single collective” paid by Google would be distributed to “a wide range of news businesses across the country, including independent news businesses and those from Indigenous and official-language minority communities.” He added:
Although the Canadian government and Google have agreed to solutions to make both parties happy, the final regulations have yet to be confirmed. What Google is saying. Alphabet president of global affairs, Kent Walker, said in a statement:
Meta maintains its opposition. Despite Google’s announcement, Meta is standing firm on its decision to remove news from Facebook and Instagram in Canada. Meta spokesperson, Lisa Laventure, said in a statement:
Deep dive. Read Google’s concerns about Canada’s Bill C-18 in full for more information. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/bNMtZ2a Email marketing remains one of the most effective channels for engaging your audience and driving conversions. But breaking through crowded inboxes is harder than ever. The Definitive Guide for Writing and Designing Emails That Convert outlines professional tips and best practices for optimizing email strategy. This comprehensive white paper shares:
Whether you’re a startup trying to break through the noise or an established business looking to improve existing campaigns, this guide will help strengthen your email marketing fundamentals. Visit Digital Marketing Depot to download The Definitive Guide for Writing and Designing Emails That Convert. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/echMyRd Pinterest has started testing an AI “body type” filter to make search more inclusive. The new consumer tool, which is rolling out on women’s fashion and wedding ideas, will enable users to filter their product search results based on different body types. Pinterest execs claim the feature has potential not just to improve search diversity, but also increase engagement for brands. Why we care. Enabling customers see how clothes fit their unique body shape has the potential to strongly influence their decision to buy, which could possibly lead to higher conversions. Roll out. The AI “body type” filter is currently available in the following countries:
Pinterest has confirmed that the technology will expand to additional international markets soon. What Pinterest is saying. Sabrina Ellis, Pinterest’s chief of product, told TechCrunch:
via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/gtCcTWh YouTube is updating its Product Drops feature to improve accessibility and give creators more control. The tool, which enables creators to announce new products during live shopping streams, is also being rolled out to first-party stores for the first time. In addition, creators will have more flexibility regarding timings of product announcements. Why we care. The Product Drops tool offers a simple way to create buzz around product launches, engage audiences effectively, and boost sales. The new flexibility in timing allows marketers to strategically optimize promotions, ensuring maximum impact for their products. Enhanced accessibility. More creators will be able to utilize Product Drops in the live control room on YouTube as the feature is now available to both:
More control. Previously, creators were restricted to pre-scheduling Product Drops for a specific time, however, this update allows them to drop products whenever they so wish during a live stream. This change has been rolled out to “give creators more flexibility to react to the moment and drive excitement in realtime,” according to a YouTube spokesperson. Getting started. To use Product Drops, head over to the Live Control Room, schedule a live stream, and follows these simple steps:
Deep dive. Read the ‘Create and manage activities for tagged products‘ guide on the YouTube Help Center for more information about the Product Drops Feature. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/B0oXnmG Competitive analysis is a critical, regular initiative for PPC managers. You need to monitor which offers other brands are promoting, which keywords they’re focusing on and where their ads overlap with your ads in search results. Auction Insights in Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising offers a ready-made solution for viewing key data about competitor ads where they’re bidding against the same queries as you. This article covers how to look at this report in the ad platforms and practical ways to use it for your ad management and reporting. Accessing auction insightsDepending on the amount of data available, you can look at auction insights at the account level by campaign, ad group or keyword. You can also filter by sets of any of the above. Segmenting insights at a lower level can show you what topics specific competitors care about based on which ones appear on the radar for each campaign. Google AdsTo access Auction Insights in Google Ads, go to the Campaigns view and click on the arrow by Campaigns in the left sidebar. Next, select Auction Insights from the menu that appears. You’ll see account-wide insights at this level. Depending on what types of campaigns you have active in your account, you can use the dropdown above the table to filter to Search or Shopping segments. For more segmented data, select the Add Filter option above the table. You can then use the Campaign option to choose specific campaigns for inclusion in the data. The data table shows you a list of brands that overlap with your brand in search results for your selected timeframe. Your own site will show as You in the table, with the rest broken out by their top-level domain. Here are the stats you’ll see broken down by column:
Microsoft AdvertisingIf you’re also running ads in Microsoft Advertising, don’t forget to check Auction Insights. You may discover a different mix of competitors there and find out if those putting a high priority on Google prioritize Microsoft the same. To access Auction Insights in Microsoft Advertising, look for the Auction Insights tab in the left sidebar under Campaigns. You can also access insights for individual campaigns, ad groups, or keywords by selecting them in the table and clicking the Auction Insights option that appears directly above. The metrics are the same as those available on the Google end. In a win for unique features Google doesn’t have, Microsoft Advertising also includes a graph showing how competitor metrics have changed over time. You can choose the Summary option to see all-time comparisons by brand, too. Applying auction insightsNow that you know how to access Auction Insights data, how can you make it practical to your account management and reporting process? Here are a few suggestions. Identify new competitorsKeep an eye out for unfamiliar brands starting to spike in impression share for your queries. Bring up new names to your stakeholders to see if they’re aware of the brands, and research those aggressively bidding. Sometimes, the brands competing with you most on search are not necessarily those typically categorized as your top competitors. In addition, you can find brands on your radar that previously did not run paid search, but are now starting to increase paid media budgets. If you see a competitor’s overlap rate increase, you know they’ve likely scaled up their budget. You can also identify if competitors are expanding into different products, service offerings or even regions. For instance, if you have separate campaigns for different countries, you may have seen a client overlapping your U.S. campaigns but not your Canadian campaigns. By monitoring auction insights, you can see if they’re expanding their advertising efforts into Canada and flag potential international expansion efforts to bring to your client or boss. Compare Google Ads and Microsoft AdvertisingMany times, the table of competitors in Google’s Auction Insights will vary from Microsoft’s. Generally, fewer brands are active on the Microsoft end, and the ones spending the most in Google might not even be competing in Microsoft. Sometimes, you’ll find separate brands showing up in Microsoft than in Google. Be sure to include Microsoft and Google in your Auction Insights analysis to identify even more competitors and get a more accurate picture of their cross-channel tactics. Track historical changesYou can track changes in bidding activity over time by pulling reports by month and looking to see which brands have increased and decreased. For Google Ads, you can either pull reports manually for various date ranges to get this data or set up a Looker Studio report that pulls in Auction Insights. But Microsoft Advertising makes this analysis easier by showing a time series chart directly within the interface. When looking at Auction Insights by month, you can identify seasonality trends. Do other businesses increase their activity in search at the same time you do? You may also see responses to current events. See who’s bidding on your brandBrand bidding is a frequently debated topic within the PPC industry, with many valid arguments for or against it. But one benefit from brand campaigns can be the ability to see who else is directly bidding on your brand name and how frequently they appear. Based on impression share and overlap rate, you can get an idea of which competitors are the most aggressive, specifically on your brand terms. Pay attention to your auction insightsIf you haven’t already, begin incorporating a regular task in your PPC management process to review Auction Insights data. Look for the top competitors across channels and campaigns, and find highlights to share with your stakeholders. Identify brands suddenly appearing on the radar or increasing their overlap with you in search results, and monitor the impact on your campaigns when competitors are more or less aggressive. You’ll find value in making these reports a normal part of your approach. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/xJqrvST The world of PPC management is changing faster now than in years past. New automation, economic shifts and developments in reporting capabilities are changing the role of a PPC agency. When I started out in PPC in 2012, I spent much of my time making manual bid changes. The work of a PPC agency was skewed more toward execution than strategy. Today, businesses seek different support: strategic guidance, proactive recommendations and cutting-edge tool/technology integration and targeting. Not delivering on these will result in poor client retention. There are plenty of other causes for client churn, such as:
Businesses are rethinking how they work with agencies today. Some are looking for new agency support for the reasons above, others are consolidating to single agencies across all their digital marketing needs and a few are taking things in house to save money. How can you retain your clients and continue to be an invaluable part of their marketing mix? Understand your client’s needs and expectationsThe first, and what would seem the most obvious, thing to do is to know your client’s goals. Their real goals. If you are confident in the work and results you are driving, you should be able to speak to them and tie them back to the business’s goals. When I say their “real goals,” I mean diving deeper than CPA or even ROAS goals. A client may have a specific ROAS target to which they are holding you – but what does the CMO care about? They likely think about things through a wider lens, like profit and revenue.. Getting embedded deeply enough in your client’s business to reach goals like this can be challenging. Still, if you can close the loop with offline conversion tracking, you can begin to truly show the agency’s value and make parting with you a bad business decision for your client. Having more information like this and feeding it back into Google will help you optimize your campaigns and impact your client’s business more significantly. Where many agencies fall short is around goal setting. Having unclear or mismatched goals and expectations can be a problem. They think they are hitting goals and delivering, but they may not understand what the decision-makers really care about – whether it’s growth, increased profit, market share, etc. Regularly schedule deep divesThe next thing you can do to retain clients and keep engagement high is to perform audits on your own work with a specific and predictable cadence. Auditing your own work is your opportunity to take a step back, think about the larger strategy and present your findings to your client. As the saying goes, it’s hard to see the forest through the trees. Auditing can allow you to think about the big picture and ensure your strategy is tied back to the client’s goal. I recommend auditing accounts quarterly. This type of quarterly business review (QBR) is also a great way to get higher-level executives involved. They might not get the opportunity to see the value of your work as frequently because they aren’t in weekly meetings. But a QBR is a great time to get face time with them and ensure you are meeting their expectations. Another side note: other agencies will likely be doing these types of audits in the background. As a business works to ensure it drives the best results possible, it will likely allow others to review your ad accounts. It’s important for your trust with the client that they feel your audits are addressing the same types of concerns these other agencies are raising. Dig deeper: PPC management checklist: Daily, weekly and monthly reviews Educate your clientsOne of the biggest recommendations I can share as you work to create long and healthy relationships with your PPC clients is to educate them. Create a culture of teaching by sharing recommendations, optimization opportunities and your overall process. There should not be a secret sauce you need to hide away. Be open and teach them the “why” behind your recommendations so they can fully understand your expertise. When you make it clear to the client what you’re doing, why you’re doing i, and how you came up with the idea, they will understand the complexity of your work. Keeping your process and strategy hidden may leave them uncertain, making it more likely they’ll be impressed by someone who showcases their work clearly. Lead regular training sessions with their team to help them truly understand PPC performance, rather than relying on reports. Beyond sharing your strategy, do your best to share the latest trends and tactics, too. They will see you as a partner if you are consistently sharing context on industry updates. Dig deeper: 3 steps for effective PPC reporting and analysis Integrate tools to work smarterConsider the tech stack you provide clients as part of your management, and don’t be shy about showcasing it. Implementing advanced tools and technologies will help demonstrate for your clients that you’re on the cutting edge. Clients who see PPC as a primary driver of their business are looking for the next big thing to test. Highlighting your use of new tools, automation and AI-driven analytics tools will help clients feel confident they aren’t behind the curve. Ask for feedback regularlyFinally, ask you clients how you are doing. Successful agencies encourage feedback often and in different ways. Some ways to consider are:
Collecting this feedback is important, but acting on it shows you are listening and willing to work on getting better. Most clients are reasonable. People have different working styles, and it may take time to get the right rhythm, only to have an individual leave the organization and cause things to change. Changing contacts is a primary cause of poor client retention, so ensure you collect feedback as often as possible without being annoying. Striving for a lasting agency-client relationship in PPCClient retention is a core objective for my teams every year at my agency. There are significant benefits to having long-standing client relationships, such as:
That said, clients have every right to expect the most from their PPC agency. They want an agency that challenges them, understands their business and regularly tests new things. Work to embrace that and build long, lucrative client relationships where both sides win. Dig deeper: How to improve PPC campaign performance: A checklist via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/9cdtqzA Starting a business can be daunting. Only about half of businesses make it past the crucial five-year mark, per the U.S. Small Business Administration. As an accidental entrepreneur who started a digital marketing agency seven years ago, I’ve learned first-hand what it takes to achieve longevity while navigating periods of rapid growth and economic uncertainty. Over the years, I’ve seen many agencies struggle and even shut down – including long-time players and heavily funded startups. Between an impending recession, sluggish sales cycles and clients looking to cut budgets, 2024 poses fresh challenges for agencies looking to thrive. Let’s explore key strategies I’ve learned about how to future-proof your digital agency, adapt to changing conditions, and foster resilience regardless of external factors. Differentiation and diversificationAlthough many consultants advise you to focus on agency specialization to drive higher efficiency and valuations, I think it can create risk in terms of long-term resiliency. Specializing in a segment or platform that experiences a pullback or recession can threaten the survival of your agency. Client portfolio balanceTo mitigate risk, you’ll want to consider diversifying client size, sectors, and channels as best as possible, provided that your team has the knowledge to service these areas. That last part is critical. For the agency to thrive, you should only take on work that you can be great at. Don’t rely one or two clients. Ideally, your top client should represent 10% or less of your business. Things happen; if you’re diversified enough, you can survive losing a client or a client pulling back. From a size perspective, we think in terms of a bell curve:
The small accounts should ideally be strategic. Use them to gain experience in a new channel or industry. Small, medium, and large will all mean different things to different agencies. What’s large for one may be small for another, so you’ll want to define your own thresholds. The big accounts can create risk if you’re hiring against them. That’s often what drives the layoffs you hear about in agencies. Again, this doesn’t mean you should take on work you’re not staffed to manage appropriately. As you’re growing or trying to weather a storm, you may say “yes” to a lot. But in stable times, you want to be good at saying “no” to work you’re less skilled in or that is less profitable. Work with your teams to help them understand that excellent client service doesn’t mean saying “yes” to everything a client asks for. It’s one thing to jump in to help with board slides; it’s another to do projects that are outside of scope of your engagement for free. Differentiation through valuesThere are thousands of digital marketing agencies in the U.S., many offering the same services. So, how do you remain resilient when companies are pulling back marketing spend? You obviously need to deliver expected results by having a great team, but I believe there’s truth to Maya Angelou’s quote: When agencies are navigating difficult times, it’s important to remember that clients are likely hurting, too. Protect your client relationships by being transparent and even occasionally over-delivering when it makes sense. Be a partner. Make it clear that you actually care about helping clients grow. One person from a private equity team told me that we won their business because we led off the pitch meeting by saying that we didn’t want to scale their account until tracking was in really good shape, even though that could take months. He saw that as a high-integrity move and said it was clear that we wanted to be a partner and weren’t just after a quick buck. People will remember how you made them feel in the pitch, weekly meetings, and daily interactions. Dig deeper: How to build a values-based agency that drives results Culture of adaptability and learningOne of the most important things is to hire people who adapt to changes in marketing – whether new channels, new technology, or beta programs – and changes in your company. Your job as a leader is to foster a culture that embraces acceptable risks and continuous learning. To thrive and become resilient, it’s also important to remain flexible to client needs. Sometimes, they will need to pause or adjust budgets for a short time, or sales cycles may not move as quickly as you’d like. While that can be difficult to swallow, it’s better to be flexible and retain the business than lose a relationship permanently. By showing a commitment beyond profit, you can build deep relationships in your organization that last beyond downturns or technological changes. Think about how you can help your clients best sell ideas to their managers; help them build business cases or empower them with tools. Hiring for grit and a sense of humorAlthough I wasn’t an athlete in a “traditional” sport, I grew up surfing for 3-4 hours a day. That said, I’ve always loved hiring college athletes. These individuals often bring grit, mental toughness, and the ability to push through tough times – which make them perfect for fast-growing agencies and those experiencing adversity. It’s also important to hire for the values you prioritize. Humility is one of ours. A sense of humor is probably an unofficial one. A sense of humor and even a little mischief can help foster relationships and bring people together in a remote world. On the flip side, cut ties quickly with people who aren’t a good fit. Even great workers may prove toxic to the organization if they’re not culturally aligned with others in the company. They may get the job done but be negative and complain constantly, or they may be incredibly analytical but not partner well with colleagues and keep information close to the vest. Keeping these types of employees around can impact morale and lead your top performers to wonder why you are permitting the behavior. There’s a great quote which we’ve tried to keep in mind throughout our journey:
That doesn’t mean that everyone has to be a shining example of each and every value on your list, but the closer the fit, the more likely it is that they’ll be part of your team for the long haul. Use just-in-time hiring when it’s feasibleIf you’re bootstrapping, you may be using contractors for a while before hiring full-time employees. Just-in-time hiring can be stressful when you’re out pitching business and putting your existing team under some strain, but it also can help keep you from laying people off, making your company more resilient. Hiring just in time doesn’t mean waiting until you’ve signed a contract or your team is struggling. It can mean hiring when there’s only capacity left for one or two more medium accounts. Transparency with your teamTo build a resilient agency, you must care for your people – even in tougher times. The best people have choices on where to work, so make sure you’re transparent about how the business is doing. Sharing what’s really happening limits the likelihood that team members will invent worst-case scenarios. Similarly, during high growth periods, you also want to be transparent about how you’re navigating growth and where they may experience some pain points as you mature. Strategic operations and strong financial acumenLean and agile managementSalaries, benefits, and contractor fees are generally the highest expenses for digital marketing agencies. But in order to build a high-quality agency, you need to have great people. To be resilient, you need to be mindful of a payroll that can’t support the business. So, how do you balance the two? In our case, we used contractors and part-time employees to limit expenses, especially as we scaled the business. By maintaining a flexible staffing strategy, you can afford to have part of a really talented person’s time rather than settling for all of a more junior person’s time. As your business changes, talk to your team about how their career aspirations may have evolved. You may find that some of your staff is interested in moving to a part-time role or becoming a contractor. This happens when individuals like the idea of freelancing but want to maintain benefits or just prefer a change to their work-life balance. Part of remaining resilient requires not getting too top-heavy but surrounding yourself with great leaders. You’ll need that great leadership team to navigate adversity and change that tends to happen among managers/senior manager-level employees. During periods of high growth, using a combination of FTEs and a trusted pool of contractors can help you adjust to growth or new clients who need to get started immediately – especially if you are doing just-in-time hiring. Closely monitored financial oversightRegardless of whether you’re growing or weathering a change in the business, it’s important to know your numbers and watch your P&L. This includes understanding profitability at the account and line of business level, and employee utilization rates. Focusing on these measures enabled us to grow a $5 million business without taking investment or debt. Avoid long-term agreements on software, especially if it’s not core There are a few lessons I learned through the years, especially as they related to our second largest expense – software. We’ve purchased some software that we liked but didn’t make much financial sense when we slowed down hiring. It seemed worth the cost when we signed the agreement, but then we felt trapped. Similarly, there’s been software that seemed great, but we found it didn’t meet our needs. Try to avoid year-long terms when you can. The exception is on things you know with certainty that you don’t plan to move away from, like Slack. It’s OK to pay month to month, even if it’s not the best price As we scaled the business, we had a lot of software on month-to-month pricing to protect cash flow. While it wasn’t necessarily the best price, it kept things flexible in case we wanted different software or knew we might pull back or switch to a different tech stack. This is especially relevant where you’re paying by the seat. Have a process to review by-the-seat licenses monthly or quarterly If you use a lot of contractors or freelancers, have a process in place to review the roster of licenses each month or quarter at a minimum. Paying for seats for inactive contractors can get expensive if you don’t keep an eye on it. Negotiate renewal terms upfront or get a month-to-month auto-renewal A few months ago, I was caught off guard when I asked to pay an annual contract with a vendor in semi-annual installments, as we had done in the first year. Apparently, it was in the original agreement that the auto-renewal would require upfront payment on this five-figure-a-year software. When we asked about it, they offered to let us pay semi-annually for a 6% markup on the contract. It’s something that I should have caught in the original work order, but it also makes me feel like “just a number” to them. Running a successful digital marketing agency long-termAs you navigate periods of growth and downturns, it’s important to set yourself up for success past the one-year or five-year mark and even longer. By hiring appropriately, adapting to a changing environment, having strong values, and keeping tabs on your finances, you can run a successful digital marketing agency in 2024 and beyond. Dig deeper: Scaling an agency: Lessons of growth and change via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/5lZ4iIo A recently uncovered patent issued and granted to Google named “Generative summaries for search results” describes possibly how Google’s new Search Generative Experience works. The patent can be read over here and was applied for on March 20, 2023 and the patent application was approved on September 26, 2023. Abstract. The patent’s abstract reads:
Dig deeper. Juan González Villa wrote a very detailed and extensive deep dive on this patent. His piece named The Patent Behind Google SGE, Explained goes into detail on this patent. “The patent, which describes how to “selectively use a large language model (LLM) to generate a natural language summary in response to a user query,” matches what we see and know about SGE today,” he wrote. Diagrams. Here are some select diagrams from this patent: Why we care. Reading this patent may help you better understand how the Search Generative Experience works. Do keep in mind just because Google has patent, it doesn’t mean it’s used. Googlers apply for and receive approval on patents all the time. This one is probably worth a weekend read, but don’t expect to find any SGE ranking secrets within. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3IruPg6 |
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