Summer is winding down as we close out the month of August. For Canadians, that means we’ll soon be seeing the last rays of sunshine until we’re plunged into darkness for the foreseeable future. So it goes.
But before that happens, we’re discussing some exciting marketing news from the month of August.
Between expeditions to the beach or enjoying the wilderness on a camping trip, you may have missed them, so we’ve gone ahead and compiled some exciting highlights from the marketing world for you.
Below are five snapshots of what occurred in marketing, from Google updates to their structure data guidelines and the future of commerce on TikTok; we’ve got a ton of great selections to catch you up on what happened this month in marketing.
Google Updates Article Structured Data Guidelines
Good news for web publishers and new sites; Google has updated its guidelines on Article structured data. With these updates, it’s now easier for articles to appear in Google's “Top Stories” section.
Top Stories is one of Google’s many special search display results along with carousel results, featured snippets and many more.
Appearing in Top Stories is crucial for increasing engagement for blogs and news articles as these results appear much larger than regular results and therefore make it easier to attract attention.
According to the latest information from Google, publishers don’t need to include Article structure data to appear in Top Stories. However, adding article structure data is still advised, as it makes it easier for Google to understand the page's nature and display it as a top story.
Want to know more about the updates Google’ announced? Check out the full article!
Presenting the future of commerce on TikTok
Popular video hosting platform TikTok has announced an exciting new feature that’s going to be a game changer for brands and marketers alike. Thanks to an engaged user base of dedicated brand advocates, many brands have found viral success on TikTok.
In response, the app is making it even easier to leverage TikTok for shopping and advertising. The latest feature is “shopping ads,” which allows content creators to integrate interactive ads directly into their videos.
Say you’re watching a make-up tutorial for achieving the perfect winged eyeliner look. With shopping ads, you might see a small pop-up in the corner of the screen for the exact products being used, allowing you to easily check them out and purchase them for yourself.
By implementing shopping ads, TikTok executives are offering brands:
- Simplified media buying experience: Increase Product Sales by easily accessing three new forms of advertising through the TikTok Ads Manager.
- Unlocked catalogue potential: Capitalize on trends with new forms that allow brands to grow their catalogues and reach users beyond the For You Page.
- New automation features to meet buyers throughout the shopping journey: Improved ad targeting allows brands to more accurately reach viewers and potential consumers who are more likely to convert.
- Greater performance and optimization opportunities: Maximize sales and shop performance with all of TikToks new shopping features.
To learn more about TikTok’s latest foray into revolutionizing eCommerce on its platform, click above.
How Spotify built a ‘house of audio’ in lower Manhattan
Spotify is generally thought of as a purely auditory experience, but this month the popular streaming platform looked to challenge that idea.
Their latest experiential marketing event, dubbed “Spotify Everywhere,” turned an industrial building in New York into an “immersive house of audio where music and podcasts were everywhere you turned,” says an executive from Spotify.
The event, which lasted for two days early in August, was meant to target Gen Z influencers and show off Spotify’s features, including the latest Spotify-friendly technology.
A bedroom in the house features rows of smart speakers or earbuds. In the kitchen, the Spotify-compatible Samsung Smart fridge was filled with literal easter eggs, with hidden codes that introduced users to new playlists, podcasts and more.
Want to hear everything that went on during Spotify’s event? Check out the link above.
How to join the Metaverse: The complete guide for your brand
If you’ve been on the internet anytime in the last year (and we know you have), you probably heard about the Metaverse. In 2021 Facebook rebranded to Meta and shortly after introduced the Metaverse, a 4D immersive experience for commerce, social media, videogaming and more.
While the details for how exactly the Metaverse will work are still unknown, as the platform is still being developed, marketers and brands are already looking into a future that includes Meta.
According to Sprout Social’s data, two-thirds of marketers are already planning to allocate a portion of their budget to the virtual platform in the near future.
But is the Metaverse right for your brand? And what does joining the Metaverse even look like? Sprout Social includes five steps for figuring out just that.
- Understand the Metaverse: When it comes to any newly emerging technology, you need to understand how it works to know if it’s right for you.
- Consider if the Metaverse aligns with your target audience and brand: Like traditional social platforms, there are a number of brands and features associated with the Metaverse. The first step to determining if it’s right for you is to decide whether these features align with your target audience.
- Brainstorm engaging marketing campaigns: Does your brand offer virtual experiences? Do you have a brick-and-mortar location? Consider the different ways to integrate your brand into the Metaverse experience.
- Choose a Metaverse platform: The Metaverse is more than just a single platform; it’s a collection of different platforms and mediums. Decide which platform fits best with your brand image and target audience.
- Invest and join the Metaverse: Collaborate with platforms in the Metaverse or explore them as an individual to fully begin your Metaverse journey.
Discover everything you need to know about joining the Metaverse as a marketer at the link above.
The Content Writer’s Guide to Using Keywords for Blogging
We all know that marketing strategies work better together, but when you specialize in one area of marketing, it can be hard to know how to approach the others.
You might be an expert content writer but not know how to optimize your content for search engines. How do you implement keywords and which are better than others? When it comes to keywords, there’s always more to learn, like the different types of keywords.
Different keyword types include:
- Primary Keywords
- Keyword Variations
- Longtail Keywords
- LSI Keywords
This helpful guide is meant to assist content writer’s with the basics of integrating keywords into their blogs. From how and where to conduct keyword research to what keyword stuffing is, why it’s bad and how to avoid this, this is the definitive guide to figuring out keywords for a blogger.
Check out the full article and become an expert at using keywords in blogging.
Wrap Up
Just because summer is ending doesn’t mean we have to move on right away. While it’ll soon be time to pick out our Halloween costumes and sip pumpkin spice lattes, we can still look fondly back on the last full month of summer.
If you were too busy catching rays or lounging by the pool to check your phone, we went ahead and gathered up five exciting bits of news and info from the marketing world that you may have missed throughout August.
In this blog, we discussed Google’s latest update to its Article Structured Data guidelines. News websites will now have an easier time getting their articles featured in the Top Stories section on Google’s SERP.
That will definitely make it easier to increase conversations and generate engagement with their content.
After that, we looked at TikTok’s latest venture toward improving eCommerce within the platform. While previous attempts to up the retail aspect of the app in North America were scrapped, TikTok’s shopping ads look like a great way for brands to integrate eCommerce directly into their videos.
Next, Spotify’s latest experiential marketing event transformed an industrial building in Manhattan into an immersive house of audio.
Invitees to the event were taken on tours of an interactive Spotify-built house featuring podcasts and music in every room, along with a fridge full of literal easter eggs.
Then, Sprout Social put together a step-by-step guide for brands looking to join the Metaverse. Introduced by Meta (formerly Facebook), the Metaverse looks to be an immersive virtual experience involving multiple brands and platforms.
Brands looking to find out where they fit in this future project should check out the guide for more information.
Finally, we went over a helpful guide for content writers looking to incorporate keywords into their blogs.
From learning about the different types of keywords to how frequently they should appear in a given text, this guide is a great resource to help optimize content for search engines.
Any questions, comments, or concerns? We’d love to hear your feedback!
We’ll be back next month with five new articles for you. In the meantime, if you’re looking to learn more, please check out our existing blogs that cover various digital marketing topics!
