Marketing techniques and trends are always evolving. From social to SEM, changes are consistently made to make marketing tactics more effective. These changes not only help the marketer but will also help create a better customer experience. Stay in the know each month with the initiate-it RoundUp. Below are the top 5 marketing trends and changes that occurred in October 2017.
1. Instagram Story Advertisements
Do you want your social ad campaigns to reach more people than you have reached in the past? Well, now you can! In the ad set level of Facebook’s Ads Manager, you now have the ability to display your advertisement as an Instagram Story. This is in addition to the previous ad placement in the Instagram feed. When displayed as a Story advertisement, your ad will reach Instagram users who may not have seen your ad in their social feed.
In addition to this Audience Network update, Facebook has taken this one step further and has given the advertiser more control. You will now have the ability to select where on the Audience Network you would like your ad to display. You can narrow your selection to include one of the following: native, banner and interstitial; in-stream videos; or rewarded videos. You also have the ability to select all of these options to keep your audience larger.
2. Facebook Website Value Conversion
Looking to reach people who are most likely to purchase your product? Check out the new value conversion in Facebook’s Ads Manager. In the Ad Set Level, you have the option to select this conversion type. Value conversion will deliver your ad to those people have bought your products in the past and will most likely purchase from you again. One company who tested this conversion method received a 1.86 return on ad spend versus a 1.44 return on ad spend when using the website conversion option. This is a great means to test for your next Facebook ad.
3. Facebook Hidden Eggs
Have you spotted any hidden Easter eggs on Facebook? Previously, words such as “congratulations” would change colors when posted in a status or comment. When the word is selected, an animation would appear, such as balloons floating through the air. Facebook recently added new words to signal these animations, including “bff” and “thank you so much.” In addition to these terms, Facebook has developed animations for certain life events. If a Facebook reaction occurs on a life event post, these will trigger animations of reaction faces to fill the post.
4. Google AdWords Parallel Tracking
Are you losing conversions due to a slow mobile load speed? AdWords is testing a new way to help you increase your conversions. Google attributes this lengthy load speed to the tracking codes attached to ad landing page URLs. In order to combat these tracking codes, the company will utilize parallel tracking. With this parallel tracking, once a user clicks a landing page link, they will be taken directly to the site. The tracking code will be redirected in the background. This will help to create a quicker load time.
5. Google AdWords Sitelinks
In Google AdWords, sitelinks are additional links to promote on your Google ad. These sitelinks, which previously appeared below the ad, are now displayed as a swipe-able carousel. Google callouts and structured snippets, ad additions, have also moved to the description text in the ad layout. These layout changes have been made to help increase clicks and conversions for Google ads. With this increase in clicks, make sure your sitelinks go to the correct landing page. Also, include as many sitelinks as possible. This will give users many places and opportunities to click your ad.
Check back each month for the top marketing trends and changes of each month. Follow our Facebook series, “Take the Initiative,” each Friday for your weekly marketing updates.