Digital Marketing Archives - Waterhouse Digital Agency

Missed the important digital marketing news and updates from last week? We’ve got you covered with the WDA Digital Marketing Round-Up. This week, news includes Google My Business messaging functionality, Passage Based indexing, Shopify’s new integration with Facebook and Instagram Shops, and much more.

Let’s delve into it…

Google

Google My Business Messaging Functionality: Google has added messaging functionality for users on web browsers and not just the mobile app. It’s not fully live yet but a lot of users already appear to have access. It appears as part of the left-hand navigation as a clickable button.

Duplicate Image Results Reduced: Google recently announced that back in November last year they rolled out an update to image search to reduce duplicated images. Images that appear now shouldn’t be duplicated and you should get access to more diverse image results thanks to the update.

Google said… “we hope this improvement, which we introduced in November, helps everyone better make use of Google Images to be inspired and informed as they search visually.”

Passage Based Indexing: You may recall that Passage Based Indexing was first announced late last year as a new way to display specific passages from ranking pages in the search results. The update went live as of the 10th of Feb for US English search results. Google stated that the roll-out of the update could impact up to 7% of queries when it’s completely launched.

Google Photos Video Editing Features Improved: Google has recently improved the video editing features available in Google photos with the addition of filters, enhancing specific elements, new cropping options and the ability to change perspective.

Google stated… “There are now more than 30 controls, but a good place to start is with cropping and straightening the frame to focus more on the subject. And if the scene is poorly exposed, you can adjust the brightness to make your video shine.”

Facebook/Instagram

Facebook to Create Clubhouse Clone: Facebook recently created its TikTok clone with Instagram Reels and they look to be set to do the same with Clubhouse.

The New York Times reported… “Facebook executives have ordered employees to create a similar product [to Clubhouse], said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The product is in its earliest stages of development, they said.”

Shopify ‘Shop Pay’ Available on Facebook and Instagram Shops: Shopify recently announced an all-new integrated with Facebook and Instagram Shops that will enable users to purchase items using the ‘Shop Pay’ in-stream payment option.

Here’s what Shopify said… “We’re expanding Shop Pay – the fastest and most secure way to shop online – to all Shopify merchants selling on Facebook and Instagram. With Shop Pay now available as a fast and secure payment option on Facebook, people also get access to industry-leading order tracking and carbon offsets from their deliveries.”

Other

Manual CPC Getting Replaced in Microsoft Ads: Beginning in March, Microsoft will start to replace the manual cost per click bidding option with enhanced cost per click across search, shopping and dynamic search. The update should have completely rolled out by the end of April. We’d recommend that advertisers start testing automated bidding options ahead of the migration.

WDA’s Highlight of the Week

Our highlight from this week’s WDA Marketing Round-Up is Shopify ‘Shop Pay’ getting expanded to Facebook and Instagram Shops. The integration of this only makes sense with the number of users on Shopify and will hopefully provide an even more seamless social e-commerce experience.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the WDA Digital Marketing Round-Up podcast to get this in audio form. It’s available on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts and more. Also, be sure to follow us on Social Media to stay on-trend and stay ahead of the competition.

Missed the important digital marketing news and updates from last week? We’ve got you covered with the WDA Digital Marketing Round-Up. This week, news includes Search Console Discover Report getting updated, Instagram Reels and Facebook Watch test, Vertical Instagram Stories feed, Merchant Centre clamping down on pricing inaccuracies and much more.

Let’s delve into it…

Google

Search Console’s Discover Report Updated: The Discover report, available within Google Search Console under the “Performance” section, has been updated to include data from the Chrome browser. Before the update, the report would just show data from the mobile Google app. This is likely to appear gradually within the report over the coming months.

Search Results Page to Show More Domain Info: Google is starting to show more details about domains in search results to help searchers better understand where information is coming from without having to search again. It’s been added as a three-dot icon at the top right of snippet results.

Inaccurate Pricing Being Clamped Down On: Not having the correct pricing in your Merchant feed is being clamped down on. In a couple of months, it could see your business get a warning, following which you’ll get 28 days to resolve or your account will get suspended.

Google said… “Consistent and accurate pricing is one of the most important factors shoppers take into considerations when making a purchase. If the product’s price at checkout is higher than the price shown in an ad, free product listing, or on a product landing page, shoppers are more likely to abandon the purchase.”

This increased enforcement will come into effect on the 6th of April.

YouTube Data No Longer Collected in Google Analytics: Google has stated that new data from YouTube channels will no longer be collected within Goole Analytics. I guess this only makes sense with YouTube’s comprehensive Analytics built-in. This came into effect on the 1st of Feb but historical data will remain accessible.

Modified Broad Match in Google AdWords Getting Phased Out: Modified broad match has been a mainstay within Google Ads for a long time now but with phrase match taking over, it’s going to be phased out. The change will roll out in a couple of weeks and instead, phrase match will now cover any queries that would have triggered ads with broad match modified terms. Google notes it will “continue to respect word order when it’s important to meaning.”

Facebook/Instagram

Instagram “Recently Deleted” Folder: Instagram has added a “Recently Deleted” folder for removed content on the app. Users can access the content, review and restore it if they would like to or permanently delete it – almost acting like the Windows Recycle Bin! What’s important to note though is that items in this folder which can include feed posts, stories, reels and direct messages will be removed after 30 days and any stories will automatically be removed from the folder after 24 hours from being first published.

Instagram Reels Could Soon Be Shareable to Facebook Watch: Back in December last year, the social media giant started testing a new feature – enabling creators of Reels on Instagram to share them to their Facebook feed and Watch – massively increasing reach. They look to be advancing this further with their latest test which lets Facebook recommend your Reels in the News Feed and Watch to help grow your audience.

Instagram TikTok Style Story Feed: Several platforms have already looked at adding TikTok-style social media feeds of short video clips, including Snapchat with Spotlight. Instagram has recently confirmed that they’re internally testing “Vertical Stories”, offering similar functionality to TikTok – allowing users to browse Stories on the app by swiping up or down.

WDA’s Highlight of the Week

Our highlight from this week’s WDA Marketing Round-Up is the latest Instagram Reels test. As we discussed in our recent digital marketing trends article, short-form video content and content on the go is only going to continue to increase in popularity. Brands should be taking advantage of this on platforms like TikTok and Reels and anything that can have a positive impact on reach and brand exposure is a big plus.

Missed the important digital marketing news and updates from last week? We’ve got you covered with the WDA Digital Marketing Round-Up. This week, news includes YouTube live stream clips, insights on a potential cookie replacement, Pinterest Story Pins following streams and much more.

Let’s delve into it…

Google

Google Releases Insights Into a Potential Cookie Replacement: Google has recently released information on what they believe will replace cookies on Chrome – it’s called FloC or “Federated Learning of Cohorts”.

Here’s what they said… “Today, we’re releasing new data showing how this innovation can deliver results nearly as effective as cookie-based approaches.” – Chetna Bindra, Group Product Manager, User Trust and Privacy.

See the full Google announcement: https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/2021-01-privacy-sandbox

Facebook/Instagram

Brand Safety Topic Exclusions Being Tested by Facebook: With rising brand safety concerns, Facebook is now testing brand safety topic exclusions for Ads and they stated that it’s the first time that the Feed environment would be managed through controls. The feature would let advertisers decide on whether to show ads next to content that could be sensitive.

Sharing Instagram Feed Posts to Stories Being Removed?: Instagram is constantly testing to improve its app, increase engagement and improve the overall experience. While they often add new functions, sometimes they take things away. In their latest test, they’ve been sending out a notification to a group of users with a change to sharing to Stories.

The notification reads… “We hear from our community that they want to see fewer feed posts in Stories. During this test, you won’t be able to add a feed post to your story.”

While users can still share Twitter posts and more to Stories, this may well force content creators to produce more specific Story content if it’s rolled out.

Other News

YouTube Live Stream Clips: YouTube is testing Clips – a new feature that will enable users to make short, shareable videos from a creators’ live stream. In the test, if you’re watching a live stream from a creator within the test group then you’ll see a “scissors icon” under the video which lets you select the bite-size snippet you want to share.

Given the popularity of Clips on Twitch, it’s no surprise that YouTube is testing this and we’re more surprised it’s something they’ve not done already. It could be set to be one of the best additions to YouTube in recent years.

Twitter has Acquired Revue: Twitter has acquired the Newsletter publishing and monetisation start up, Revue. In the announcement of the acquisition, the social media platform said that the integration of the two will allow readers to find and subscribe to newsletters easier.

Here’s more from Twitter… “Our goal is to make it easy for them to connect with their subscribers, while also helping readers better discover writers and their content. We’re imagining a lot of ways to do this, from allowing people to sign up for newsletters from their favorite follows on Twitter, to new settings for writers to host conversations with their subscribers. It will all work seamlessly within Twitter.”

Filter Link Extensions Now Available in Microsoft Advertising: Filter Link Extensions have now been added to Microsoft Advertising’s ad extension options and they give advertisers the ability to tell potential customers more about what they do by presenting features under category headers. They’ll also make ads on Bing search and partners to stand out more, improving click-through-rates. This is worth exploring and testing for businesses making use of Microsoft Ads.

Pinterest Story Pins Following Streams: Pinterest have been testing Stories for a while and they continue to look to improve on this. They recently announced Story Pins Following Streams.

This is how Pinterest described the new feature… “As the home of inspiration, Pinterest is a place to discover not only great ideas but also the people behind them. That’s why we’re introducing Story Pins following streams, a place for Pinners to see new Story Pins from the creators they follow, right at the top of the home feed. In this immersive stream, Pinners can find fresh Story Pins and even find new creators to follow through the “Discover creators” icon.”

WDA’s Highlight of the Week

Our highlight from this week’s WDA Marketing Round-Up, just edging Google announcing insights into a potential cookie replacement, has to be YouTube testing Clips.

To be honest, it’s something that should already be on the platform given the sheer popularity of the feature on Twitch but at least they’re finally testing the option. If it does get rolled out and we see no reason as to why not, then we can see it becoming just as popular, if not more so.

Missed the important digital marketing news and updates from last week? We’ve got you covered with the WDA Digital Marketing Round-Up. This week, news includes Gmail Ads being merged with Discovery Ads, Pinterest Stories test, TikTok’s Q and A feature and much more.

Let’s delve into it…

Google

Gmail Ads to be Merged with Discovery Ads: Google’s standalone Gmail ads will no longer be available as of July this year. Instead, Gmail Ads will be merged into Discovery Ads and it won’t be possible to target them individually. Google sent an email to advertisers early last week to notify them of the change.

Google Crawl Stats Report Updated: Google has updated its crawl stats report (first launched in November last year), to show increased coverage for additional crawl types. It’s important to note that this is purely a reporting change and isn’t reflective in any way of a change in search results/performance, so don’t worry if you get a large crawl rate increase.

Price Drop Appearance: Google has introduced a new Price Drop search appearance in its Product Structured Data page to help searchers understand the lowest price for products. Adding this will further enhance product display information in the search rich results. To become eligible, publishers need to use the “offer” structured data and the product price can’t be a range.

New Mobile Search Results: Google’s mobile search results are getting a bit of a revamp that’s designed to provide a better UX and make content easier to read. It’s a simpler, edge-to-edge design that uses more white-space, larger sections and labels, bolder text and more. The new mobile design should be rolling out soon.

Facebook

Facebook Updated ‘Account Quality’ Dashboard: Facebook is going to be rolling out an updated version of its ‘Account Quality’ dashboard to further help admins of Pages to address concerns such as violations and suspended ads etc. This information is already available but the update makes it easier to access and get a glimpse of potential issues.

Facebook’s Automated Alt Text Process Improved: Facebook has made some significant improvements to its Automated Alt Text process to ensure that visually-impaired users on the app get a better user experience.

Here’s how Facebook explained the update… “First and foremost, we’ve expanded the number of concepts that AAT can reliably detect and identify in a photo by more than 10x, which in turn means fewer photos without a description. Descriptions are also more detailed, with the ability to identify activities, landmarks, types of animals, and so forth – for example, “May be a selfie of 2 people, outdoors, the Leaning Tower of Pisa.”

Pinterest Stories Test: Pinterest has recently been testing a new Stories section at the top of its user’s home screens. Story Pins were first launched as a beta back in September last year and they look to be expanding them slowly. The update gives Story Pins a more dynamic look but is just a test for now.

Pinterest Dynamic Creative Ad Process Launched: Pinterest has launched a new ‘Dynamic Creative’ ad process to automate ad setup.

Here’s what they said… “Advertisers can now generate multiple versions of new Pins from uploaded assets or a product feed where they can automatically import product data (price, location, availability, etc.). Parts of the Pins will dynamically display creative elements like product images, copy, pricing, etc. which will only be shown to the advertiser’s assigned audiences.”

Other Social News

TikTok Q and A: TikTok is looking to prompt more engagement between creators and their fans with the launch of a new Q and A option. The new option will enable users to ask creators questions and creators can then use the query as a prompt for a new video. Additionally, other profile visitors can also see the list of questions asked of a creator and Like each as a form of voting for which queries they also want to see addressed.

LinkedIn’s New Reply Control Tools: LinkedIn has joined Twitter by adding new reply control options for LinkedIn posts – enabling users on the platform to change who’s able to comment. LinkedIn has stated that the new feature provides additional discussion options on the platform by allowing users to just ask questions to industry-specific groups for example. There’s also a no replies option for those that don’t want to get into a discussion.

Shorts Views Counted: Views for YouTube Shorts are available in YouTube Analytics and are counted as if they’re regular videos. Shorts were launched in September last year and are still in beta. Creators’ 60-second Shorts clips will also count towards their channel’s total views.

Snapchat Dark Mode: Snapchat look set to be joining almost every other app that has a dark mode option. They’re currently testing it with a small group of its users and we expect this to get rolled out.

WDA’s Highlight of the Week

Our highlight from this week’s WDA Marketing Round-Up is Google’s new and improved mobile search results. While this isn’t an update to any algorithm etc. it should make the mobile searching experience loads better. The larger labels and bolder text could also help generate better click-through rates from mobile devices.

Missed the important digital marketing news and updates from last week? We’ve got you covered with the WDA Digital Marketing Round-Up. This week, news includes Google News Performance Report now available, YouTube’s dedicated hashtag search results page, Instagram testing unhiding likes and more.

Let’s delve into it…

Google

New HTTP/2 Crawling: Google has started crawling sites with the new HTTP/2 protocol and has been sending out notifications to webmasters to let them know that their sites have been upgraded to the new protocol. It’s a more efficient protocol than HTTP/1.1 and can transfer data faster, resulting in decreased server load for sites.

Google News Performance Report: Google has launched a dedicated performance report for Google News. The report shows clicks, impressions and CTR from news.google.com and the News app on both Android and iOS devices. It’s available within the “Performance” section in Google Search Console. The report doesn’t include content from the “News” tab on Google as this is covered in the existing report for Search.

Index Coverage Report Updated: Google has updated its Index Coverage Report within Search Console with 4 key changes. These include – the removal of the generic “crawl anomaly” issue type, indexed pages blocked by robots.txt are now reported as “indexed but blocked”, soft 404 reporting has been made more accurate and finally, they’ve added a new warning – “indexed without content”.

YouTube

First 24 Hours Metric Now Available: YouTube has added a new First 24 hours metric to its Analytics section, allowing creators to measure the performance of a new video in its first 24 hours after publishing. This is great news for content creators on the platform as this data has never been previously available.

Hashtag Search Results Page: YouTube is improving the discoverability of hashtagged videos with the launch of a dedicated hashtag search results page. The new results page will only display videos that contain relevant hashtags and is available on both desktop or mobile devices.

Post-Roll Ads Turned On: Post-Roll ads have now be switched on by YouTube as default for any monetised videos on the platform. Here’s what someone from YouTube had to say…

“For monetizing creators, any video over 10 minutes in length will automatically have post-roll ads turned on by default.”

If you don’t want to serve these ads then you can turn them off.

YouTube Tagging: Last year, it was reported that YouTube was exploring ways that would allow products to be tagged in videos to provide clickable shopping functionality. This is now in its next phase of testing and here’s what YouTube said…

“We’re testing a new way for people to easily discover and purchase products featured in YouTube videos. Creators in this pilot can add certain products to their videos. Viewers can then see a list of featured products by clicking the shopping bag icon on the bottom left corner of the video. From there, viewers can explore each product’s page to see more information, related videos, and purchase options for that product.”

Facebook/Instagram

Increased Data Transparency: Facebook has updated its “Access Your Information” tool in an attempt to provide increased data transparency. This has likely been updated ahead of the upcoming Apple IDFA update which you can find out more about here. With the update, personal data is broken into several categories instead of two and they’re also adding information about how data might be used to deliver more personalised experiences

“Our Story” Section Being Removed: The “Our Story” section on Facebook Pages is going to be removed at the end of next month and Facebook have started to warn Page owners of the change. In the notification, they’re encouraging admins to add the existing “Our Story” information to the Additional information section on the page instead.

Instagram Testing “Unhide Likes”: Instagram like counts were removed for most users back in 2019 but according to a recent discovery by Alessando Paluzzi, a well-known app researcher, they look to be in the process of testing a new “unhide likes” feature. If rolled out, it would give users the ability to toggle the like count on their posts on or off. If we get any confirmed details on the test from Instagram we’ll be sure to include it here so stay tuned.

Other Social News

LinkedIn Stories Swipe Up: LinkedIn is rolling out a new swipe-up feature which lets users add links to Stories. The feature works in a similar way to what you may be accustomed to on Instagram Stories. It will be available to LinkedIn Pages and members that meet the criteria and creates another opportunity for driving traffic. At this time, LinkedIn Stories can only be created from the mobile app. You can use the app to capture photo and video or upload media from your camera roll.

Snapchat Spotlight Feed Made More Like TikTok: Snapchat has updated its Spotlight feed to bring it even closer in similarity to TikTok with the addition of a public view count on video clips, showcasing a video’s popularity. However, with Spotlight, the view count is on the playback overlay whereas, on TikTok, it’s displayed on the thumbnail. Time will tell whether Snap’s Spotlight feed will be a success for the app or not.

WDA’s Highlight of the Week

Our highlight from this week’s WDA Marketing Round-Up is the addition of the LinkedIn Stories swipe up feature. This provides another way for businesses or professionals to link back to their website or relevant resources from their Stories and will be great for driving additional traffic and referrals from the platform. It also adds to the overall user experience with your audience being able to find out more if they’d like to directly from your Story.

2020 was like no other. It was challenging for nearly all, devastating for some. In less than a year, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work, learn, play and interact, and we have all been forced to lead a more virtual existence – both personally and professionally. Whilst lots of these changes have been made necessary by lockdown, they have also been facilitated by a tipping point in the capabilities of technology and a new generation of consumers much happier to interact with brands online.

For brands looking to optimise their digital marketing activities this year, our digital marketing experts have compiled a list of the top marketing trends to be aware of in 2021. If you can take advantage of just one or two of these trends then you’ll be on track to generating more business from your marketing strategy in 2021 and beyond.

In case you missed our previous annual trends articles, please take a look at 2020 and 2019 – many of the strategies are still relevant in 2021.

A World Without Cookies

48% of marketers “worry that their brands won’t be able to provide impactful performance without cookies” according to research from data, insights and consulting company Kantar.

A cookie-less future is on the horizon and it continues to get closer with 2021 set to be their last full year.

Currently, third-party cookies play a huge role in digital marketing strategies – allowing advertisers to deliver more personalised experiences based on the information the cookies hold. With Chrome ceasing to support third-party cookies in the next year or so, and browsers like Safari already ceasing to support them, the time for change is now.

Continued Advancements in Machine Learning

Machine learning and AI technology will continue to develop in 2021 and the years ahead. Machine learning is used in multiple ways within marketing, to help deliver personalised recommendations and experiences, to enhance paid campaigns to improve conversion testing, in chatbots and more. Google Ads in particular continue to focus heavily on machine learning with automated Smart Campaigns. As marketers, we must adapt and use machine learning to help us market smarter.

Live Streaming

Live-streamed content is still extremely under-utilised within digital marketing strategies. It doesn’t help that there are so many platforms to choose from – Instagram Live, Facebook Live, LinkedIn Live, Twitch and more. Of course, it makes sense to get started on the channel where your audience is most active. A live stream could be a simple Q and A about a new product or service, a live interview with an industry expert or an educational webinar type stream. Live streams are typically far easier and less expensive than professionally shot videos, achieve more reach, and will enable you to engage and empathise with your audience in real-time.

Virtual Events

Yet another 2021 digital marketing trend that has been accelerated by the pandemic. Whilst lockdown’s will necessitate even more virtual shows and events across many sectors this year, we expect the format (or hybrid versions) to become firmly established over the long term – especially as technology develops to enable an ever improving digital experience. Marketers will need to consider event delivery strategy, identify technology needs, effectively promote their virtual event and engage event attendees before, during and after the event.

User Experience

User experience has always been vital in marketing but it often gets less importance placed on it than traffic. However, working with the traffic you already have and getting that to convert better can often achieve results quicker. Your marketing agency should have the expertise and experience to help you improve and optimise user experience, helped along with a host of excellent tools such as Microsoft Clarity, Google Lighthouse, Hotjar, Analytics and Search Console, to name but a few. The importance of getting user experience right will only accelerate when Google’s Page Experience algorithm update rolls out this May.

Social eCommerce

Developments within Social eCommerce came a long way last year and we don’t see it slowing down for 2021. Instagram and Facebook have both introduced native shopping experiences for eCommerce businesses and WhatsApp have recently launched Carts. Giving users the option to purchase products from directly within the apps they love without having to leave them makes for a seamless experience that will see more B2C brands capitalise on.

Content on the Go

Coming into 2021, we’re all spending even more time consuming digital content than we ever have, particularly while we’re on the go – working, travelling or even whilst doing the housework! This has sparked further increases in the popularity of podcasts and podcast advertising, short-form video content (such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, Snapchat Spotlight and YouTube Shorts), clickable content like LinkedIn Carousels and visual content including a marked increase in brands using infographics.

All of these channels can be taken advantage of by repurposing existing content. Blog pieces can be used to create podcasts, existing video can be cut into bite-sized snippets suitable for sharing on social media and visual imagery can often be adapted to create impactful infographics.

Reaching the Home TV

By 2022, research predicts that over 80% of online traffic will be driven by video.

During lockdown people have stayed at home more than ever before and remote working is probably here to stay for lots of businesses. Because of this your potential customers are consuming lots of online content, with audiences increasingly turning to online video for education, entertainment and to stay connected. Additionally, more and more people are watching videos on YouTube on their TV. You can take advantage of this with YouTube Ads or by creating more content for your brand’s YouTube channel.

Augmented Reality

With some 3 billion devices worldwide currently AR-enabled, 2021 is expected to see AR gain further traction, with research suggesting that AR technology will be used by some 1.9 billion people per month by 2022.Whilst Augmented Reality (AR) has been with us for a number of years, the technology is developing at a startling pace and has the potential to allow brands to greatly enhance the customer experience. Many online stores are already offering great AR experiences and as the technology becomes more accessible, brands of all sizes are beginning to adopt it.

Instagram SEO

Late last year, Instagram introduced the option to discover content on the platform by using keywords instead of hashtags. While this is still very new and there’s not enough research at the moment to suggest anything concrete, Instagram SEO could certainly be a possibility for this year. This may change the way we write post captions, integrating specific, well searched for keywords.

UGC

While influencer marketing is still going strong, particularly cross-platform, with nano and micro-influencers generating the best results, customer user-generated content still exceeds it for us. User-generated content promotes existing customer advocacy and delivers social proof to potential customers, in turn generating engagement, building trust and ultimately increasing conversions. Using UGC will also save you a lot of time on creating content! To get the best out of UGC campaigns, tell your audience what it is you want and use carefully selected, specific branded hashtags.

If you’d like to push your brand even further in 2021, our marketing specialists are here to help. We’re a full-service, award-winning, digital marketing and creative agency based in the heart of the UK. Our expertise covers website design, creative campaigns, brand positioning and visual identity to an array of proven digital marketing tactics such as SEO, Paid Advertising, Content Marketing and Social Media. Whether you’re a small business with less than 10 employees or a global company with thousands of employees, our bespoke solutions will skyrocket your business growth. Ready for lift off?

Test Pilot: 3-month Test Pilot Digital Marketing Trial is still available due to its popularity and the impact that Covid continues to have on our industry.

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Missed the important digital marketing news and updates from last week? We’ve got you covered with the WDA Digital Marketing Round-Up. This week, news includes new performance reports in Google My Business, engagement alerts for Facebook Groups being updated, Twitter acquiring podcast app Breaker and much more.

Let’s delve into it…

Google

New Performance Reporting in Google My Business: New performance reports within Google My Business were first hinted back in August last year and they’re now live. The reports can be accessed from the “Insights” section from your My Business profile. They’ve been updated to show up to six months worth of data, rather than the three prior. However, important metrics such as driving directions initiated and website clicks aren’t included at the moment. You also don’t get insights into whether your profile was found on Search or Maps. For now, at least we have access to data from a longer period of time and hopefully, the key metrics missing are added shortly.

Homework Practice Problems Shown in Search Results: Google has been experimenting displaying homework practice problems and quizzes directly in the search results for subject-based terms like “physics”. The results appear to be pulled from a selection of after-school learning software companies. It’s currently just a test.

Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp

Public Figure Pages Get New Layout and Tools: Last year, Facebook started testing a new design for Pages, removing the ‘Like’ button so that the ‘Follow’ button is more prominent. This has now been launched for both creators and public figures. Additionally, new tools, including new options that make it easier to switch between your profile and Page, a dedicated News Feed to connect with fans and more have been added.

Engagement Alerts for Groups Updated: Engagement Alerts for Groups have been expanded to more group admins and there are now additional options for setting alert parameters. Also, admins are now able to switch on alerts for approved posts that are later edited by the original author.

Instagram Tests a New Layout for Stories on Desktop: Instagram has started testing a new way of displaying Stories for desktop users. In the test, they’re now showing Stories in a more engaging carousel format that makes it easier to flick through them. The test is currently active for a small user group at this time and there’s no news on whether it will be rolled out fully but stay tuned.

WhatsApp Privacy Policy Updated: WhatsApp has updated its privacy policy, prompting users to agree to the new update which is mandatory to accept to use the app. The changes take effect on Feb 8th and specifically relates to personal information that can be shared across Facebook’s suite of apps.

Other

Snapchat Partner Solutions Program Relaunched: Snapchat has relaunched its marketing partner solutions program in an attempt to provide additional assistance for advertisers. The program was originally launched 5 years ago and was split into Ad Partners and Creative Partners. With the relaunch and Snapchat continuing to evolve, the tiers are broken into Strategic Partners and Certified Partners.

Twitter Acquires Podcast App Breaker: Twitter further expands its focus on audio with the acquisition of popular podcast listening app Breaker. The acquisition will be used to help build out and enhance Twitter’s Spaces feature. As such, Breaker will be shutting down this Friday.

New Metrics Added to Bing Webmaster Tools Search Performance Report: The Bing Webmaster Tools search performance report has been given three new metrics – crawl errors, crawl requests and indexed pages. There hasn’t been an official announcement or any documentation from Microsoft just yet. While the new data doesn’t directly relate to Bing search performance, any new insights are always nice to have.

WDA’s Highlight of the Week

Our highlight from this week’s WDA Marketing Round-Up is public figure Pages being redesigned and getting new options. Putting greater emphasis on “Follow” makes sense all-round and from the new options, the ability to be able to have a dedicated News Feed for your Page where you can join in the conversation is great and will amplify engagement etc. Here’s hoping that Business Pages get the redesign and new options sooner rather than later!

We’re back with the WDA Digital Marketing Round-Up! If you missed the most important digital marketing news and updates from the 14th December – 3rd Jan then don’t worry because we’ve got you covered…

Google

New Google Ads Editor: Google Ads Editor version 1.5 is now available – bringing new tools and features including image extensions, filter by label, improved messages for account limit errors and more. Ads Editor is great for advertisers looking to make bulk changes to campaigns quickly and easily.

AR Feature for Cosmetics: Google has launched a digital “try it on” experience using augmented reality for a range of cosmetic-related searches on Google Shopping. The feature is only available in the US at the moment and there’s no news on a release date for the UK yet. Brands such as MAC, Charlotte Tilbury and L’Oreal are included.

Short-Form Videos: Google has been testing short-form video carousels for a few select queries in search results. The carousels provide links to the original video either on TikTok or Instagram Reels. Whether they roll this test out remains to be seen but short-form video content certainly continues to grow in importance.

Social

Twitter Verification Returning: Twitter is bringing back account verification with a number of changes to the program. The main updates include: a loosening of the policy that outlines what having a complete profile is, updated references, journalists now included in the News category, eSports now included in the Sports category and digital content creators have been added to the Entertainment category.

Snapchat Set to Expand eCommerce: Snapchat has expanded their eCommerce capabilities by providing new Bitmoji fashion options, allowing users to dress their avatars in the latest fashion items from retailers such as Ralph Lauren and Levi’s. There is significant potential in Bitmoji fashion as a vehicle for promotion and brand affiliation particularly as AR technology develops.

TikTok Small Business Resource Center: TikTok has created a Small Business Resource Center, designed to help SMBs to get more out of the platform. The resources include a range of case studies, creative tools and explainers.

Here’s how TikTok explained it… “From success stories to creative tools and free webinars, it has everything you need to grow your small business on our platform.”

Early Beta of Twitter Spaces: Twitter has launched an early beta of its Spaces feature by inviting a small group of users to test it.

Here’s what they said… “The human voice can bring a layer of connectivity to Twitter through emotion, nuance and empathy often lost in text. We see this with voice tweets and voice DMs. sometimes 280 isn’t enough, and voice gives people another way to join the conversation.”

Twitter Highlighting Things in Common: In what looks to be an attempt to spark further engagement and discussion within Twitter, they’ve launched a test which sees things you may have in common with users you don’t follow being highlighted. The test has been running on Android devices only for now.

Here’s a snippet from the Twitter Support account: “On Android, we’re testing a way to highlight things you have in common when you reply to someone you don’t follow or engage with. We may show the Topics you both follow, your mutual connections, or their profile bio.”

TikTok Coming to Samsung TVs: TikTok is now available on Samsung Smart TVs in the UK and will be rolled out to more across Europe.

Samsung commented… “Samsung Electronics Ltd and TikTok are proud to announce a new app partnership that brings TikTok’s trending content into the home. TikTok will be exclusively available on Samsung Smart TVs in Europe, launching first for UK customers today.”

Other News

Clarity Available in Bing Webmaster Tools: Microsoft Clarity is now accessible from within Bing Webmaster Tools. For those that don’t know, Clarity is a new web analytics tool from Microsoft that enables webmasters to get insights into how users are interacting with their website through heatmaps and click maps etc.

Reddit Partners with Moat: Reddit has announced a new partnership with Moat by Oracle Data Cloud. The partnership will help provide third party verification on ad metrics on the platform.

Here’s what Reddit had to say… “Our latest integration with Moat will now bring more third-party clarity and precision around Reddit ad viewability. It aims to deliver more comprehensive and meaningful campaign performance metrics to ensure our brand partners understand the impact of their advertising in order to maximize awareness, reach, and overall effectiveness on Reddit.”

WDA’s Highlight of the Week

Our highlight for this Round-Up is Microsoft Clarity being integrated into Bing Webmaster Tools.

The reason for this is that many marketers fall victim of putting far too much emphasis on traffic and not enough on their website experience and the user journey. Clarity helps provide further insights into website engagement with heatmaps, scroll maps and more. With the integration into Bing Webmaster Tools, it provides one central platform for website owners and marketers to monitor and optimise site performance.

Missed the important digital marketing news and updates from last week? We’ve got you covered with the WDA Digital Marketing Round-Up. This is our last Round-Up this year so enjoy and we’ll be back with a bumper edition in the New Year!

Google

Lead Form Ad Extensions Enhanced: Google has introduced some new enhancements to Lead Form Ad Extensions which are now available. Firstly, an option to apply and share the extension across all campaigns has been added. Secondly, more pre-made question options have been added. Third and finally, Lead Forms can now be connected to a webhook to automate lead gathering.

Web Story Ads: Web Story Ads are now available via Google’s Display Network, with more demand sources set to be coming in the future. Web Stories enable advertisers to deliver full-screen mobile experiences.

App Campaigns Rolled Out: Google has started the global roll out App Campaigns for engagement. These Ads are specifically designed to re-engage existing app users and can run across Google Search, YouTube, Mobile Display and the Play Store.

Facebook/Instagram

Instagram Reels Test: Instagram is testing the option for users to let Reels clips be recommended on Facebook, possibly being shown in both Facebook Watch and News Feed. While this is just a test at the moment, it looks as though it could be a new feature to boost views of Reels.

Brand Collabs Manager Expanded: Facebook has expanded Brand Collabs Manager to include Groups. Here’s how Facebook explained the update: “Public Group admins can collaborate with brands to create campaigns that resonate with their group members. Brands will be able to connect with relevant audiences in spaces people trust and actively engage in, and group admins will also have an opportunity to earn money to support their work to manage engaged communities.”

Instagram’s Shoppable Christmas Catalogue: Instagram continues to improve eCommerce potential on the app with the addition of its first shoppable 12-page Christmas Catalogue. The shoppable catalogue has been created in collaboration with 9 prominent UK influencers.

Instagram Story Timers: According to reports. Instagram has been testing a Story timer to show how long the Story will remain visible for, which could greatly improve engagement. It’s just a test for now so stay tuned for more news on this in the future.

Twitter

Tweet Reply Options Being Extended: Tweet reply controls were rolled out earlier this year, enabling users to choose who can reply to their tweets with the options – everyone, people you follow or people you mention in the Tweet. These look set to be expanded as Jane Wong, reverse engineering expert, has shared that they’re working on a new option that would enable users to also limit replies to followers only.

Tweet Sharing on Snapchat: Twitter has announced a new update specifically for iOS users at this time that will let them directly add tweets to Snaps. Additionally, for some iOS users, they’re going to be testing the option to share Tweets as a sticker to Instagram!

LinkedIn Test Ads in Stories: Stories were rolled out to all LinkedIn users back in September and LinkedIn now looks to be considering story ads as they’ve just announced an initial test of ads in stories. Here’s what LinkedIn said: “Today, we’re excited to announce that we are testing Stories Ads with a limited number of advertisers in a closed beta with all members globally. Stories Ads can help brands grow their reach with our community of more than 722M members with video and image ads. Already, we have had more than 600 advertisers activate campaigns with positive performance in clicks, views and cost metrics.”

LinkedIn Increases Page Roles: LinkedIn has expanded its company page administrator roles, providing more page management options. Here’s what they said… “LinkedIn Pages offer Page Admin and Paid Media Admin roles to allow for tiered levels of management for all activities related to your Page. Page Admin and Paid Media Admin roles can be granted to members, associated employees, and advertisers.”

Other

WhatsApp Carts: WhatsApp’s eCommerce possibilities continue to grow further with the launch of Carts. Carts enable users to add items while engaging with a business and then place the order all at once. Here are more details from WhatsApp… “Starting today, we’re excited to bring carts to WhatsApp. Carts are great when messaging businesses that typically sell multiple items at once, like a local restaurant or clothing store. With carts, people can browse a catalog, select multiple products and send the order as one message to the business. This will make it simpler for businesses to keep track of order inquiries, manage requests from customers and close sales.”

Pinterest New Board Features: Pinterest aims to further improve navigation on the platform with a suite of new board features. Firstly, ‘Notes to Self’ lets Pinners add notes that only they can see to any board. Secondly, ‘Board Toolbar’ helps Pinners to sort boards according to their preferences. Third and finally, they’re testing a feature which allows Pinners to sort boards by favourite Pins and make it easier to find top ideas and take action.

WDA’s Highlight of the Week

Our highlight for this week is the launch of WhatsApp Carts.

This is a fantastic update, especially for small local businesses who don’t currently have an online shop or website. Carts were previewed back in October so it’s good to see them now launched. The option to communicate with a business at the same time as buying products from them, all within the app, makes for a seamless user experience. Businesses that aren’t using WhatsApp as part of their marketing strategy currently may also want to reconsider.

Missed the important digital marketing news and updates from last week? We’ve got you covered with the WDA Digital Marketing Round-Up.

Google

Google’s December Core Update: Google has announced the rollout of a new core update – the third this year after updates released in January and May. The announcement of the latest core update came on the 3rd of December and as usual, they tend to take between one and two weeks to completely roll out. Be sure to keep a close eye on your organic traffic and keyword rankings over the next week or so.

Page Experience Signals Apply to Mobile Only: Google has recently published some FAQ’s regarding Core Web Vitals and next year’s Page Experience update. Within the FAQ page, Google states that “At this time, using page experience as a signal for ranking will apply only to mobile Search.”

Local Business Message and Map Query Analytics Getting Expanded: Consumers will soon be able to communicate with local businesses in more ways and businesses will get to see further local insights. Firstly, on Google Maps, customers can now get in touch with local businesses via message. The feature can be turned on from your Business Profile. Secondly, improved performance metrics will be released to give businesses a more detailed understanding of how customers have discovered their Business Profile.

Google Maps Community Feed: Google continues to develop “social features” within Maps with the introduction of a “community feed”. The community feed will be rolled out globally for both Android and iPhone users, presenting different types of content tied to the user’s location, offering more opportunities to improve local brand awareness and reach.

Google Discovery Ads Updated: Google has announced a couple of updates for Discovery Ads. Firstly, 4:5 aspect ratio images that you may already be using in social media campaigns can now be used in Discovery campaigns. Secondly, Google will soon start showing the estimated conversion lift when “Audience expansion” is enabled.

Facebook

Facebook News: Facebook News is set to launch in the UK in January. We’ll be the first region to get access to their dedicated News tab outside of the US. The News tab showcases important news updates that are relevant to the user, from Facebook’s trusted sources.

New Facebook Tools for Automotive Advertisers: Facebook is providing three new tools on the platform to help car dealers to connect with buyers. The three new tools include a new “manage inventory” tab on dealership pages, a simpler set-up for automotive inventory ads and a new “Vehicles” tab on dealership pages that enables car dealers to showcase their inventory.

Other Social News

Twitter Frequency Capping: Twitter has introduced frequency capping for all ad campaign types on the platform. Here’s what they said…

“Marketers know one key component of campaign success is effective audience reach. That’s why we are introducing frequency caps for ads on Twitter globally. Whether it’s brand lift or offline sales impact, frequency caps allow advertisers to optimize campaigns to deliver efficient business outcomes through better control over impression delivery and audience reach over extended periods of time.”

TikTok Looks to be Expanding Video Length: TikTok’s current video length limit is 60 seconds but they appear to be testing an option that allows users to upload clips of up to three minutes long, with some users being given early access. The news comes from social expert and authority, Matt Navarra, on Twitter. TikTok has yet to confirm the news officially but we’ll hopefully have more details soon.

YouTube Premieres Gaining 4 New Features: YouTube is adding 4 new features to Premieres to increase the ways you can build hype around a new video.

The new features include…

Live Redirect: Rolling out this month, this will allow creators to create a multi-part experience by connecting a live stream to a premiere. A minimum of 1K subscribers is needed to get access to the feature.

Premiere Trailers: Coming this week, trailers are a hype video between 15 seconds and 3 minutes that can be added on the video page to play any time before the premiere begins. As per Live Redirects, 1K subscribers minimum will be needed.

Expanded Countdown Themes: Countdown themes are being increased from one to 10, giving content creators more choice and the option to match the countdown with the topic of their video. Available early 2021.

Schedule Premieres on Mobile: For the first time, video Premieres can be scheduled from the YouTube mobile app rather than the desktop site.

YouTube hopes to make the Live Redirect and Premiere Trailer features available to more content creators on the platform in the future.

WDA’s Highlight of the Week

Our highlight for this week is YouTube Premiere getting more features.

The premiere feature on YouTube was a great addition back in 2018 but it was definitely time to give it a bit of an upgrade. Even for businesses without a large subscriber base, being able to schedule premieres from mobile is extremely convenient and having access to more countdown themes is also great. For those with more subscribers, the Trailers feature and Live Stream Redirect option are fantastic additions for building further hype.