Fall is here, and along with pumpkin spice lattes and cozy sweater weather, it’s time to bring you some of the latest and greatest news from the digital marketing world.
September was a busy month for marketers, and if you missed anything, we’ve put together this summary for you.
This blog offers five highlights from the world of marketing, from the best (and laziest) way to do keyword research to some surprisingly simple ways you can improve your brand’s social media presence, we’ve got everything you need to know about what happened this month in marketing.
How to Do Better, Lazier Keyword Research
If you’re an SEO marketer or have done any amount of SEO at all, you undoubtedly know the importance of keyword research. Without quality keywords, you won’t be able to improve your search ranking; without keyword research, you won’t be able to know which keywords to use—or what their quality is.
But how much time should you spend doing this research, and how thorough should you be? The marketers Moz have an answer for you: you’re probably doing too much. Or at least spending too much time on it.
In the vein of “work smarter, not harder,” Moz has put together a short list of things SEO marketers approach incorrectly when it comes to keyword research.
Quantity vs Quality
Instead of spending tons of time compiling a list of 100+ keywords, turn your focus towards search intent. No matter how many keywords you add to your list, it will still only be a fraction of the possibilities, and you’ll never be able to optimize your page for all of them.
Instead of trying to target all those keywords, focus on targeting search intent.
Removing Automation
Thanks to many different marketing automation tools, it’s easier than ever for marketers to quickly obtain high-quality keywords.
Instead of manually searching for the right keywords and conducting intensive competitor research, rely on an automation tool to take the pain of the research, freeing you up to focus on strategy.
The Wrong Metrics
While SEO marketers typically consider search volume the primary metric when it comes to evaluating keywords, it’s not the only one that should be taken into account. A high search volume is great, but not if no one clicks through.
Marketers need to make sure that the keywords they’re targeting have the right volume and the right CTR—and that goes back to search intent.
To read more about what you can do to make your keyword research more efficient, check out the link above.
8 Surprisingly Easy Ways to Raise Your Brand’s Social Media Presence
Social media has become an integral part of digital marketing. Even if your brand doesn’t rely on social as a primary channel, integrating social media with your other marketing efforts is a great way to boost engagement.
If you’re looking for some simple, actionable ways to improve your brand’s social media to start seeing some better results, we’ve got a list of eight ways to do just that.
- Take Your Profile Pages Seriously
Your profile page is very likely the first impression a prospect will get of your brand, so you want to ensure it’s a good one.Have an attractive cover photo and profile image, and make sure you include relevant brand information upfront. - Promote Your Prestige Content
People aren’t checking out your brand’s Facebook page because they went to be sold stuff; they’re doing it to find valuable information.While including some information about your product or service is fine, keep customers' attention by also providing valuable content. - Support Your Users on Social Media
Customer service is notorious for being inaccessible to customers—from long wait and hold times on the phone to unreturned emails; users are fed up with being ignored.These days, many users recognize social media as a fast, direct way of getting in touch with a brand. Using social media as an additional avenue for customer support is a great way to keep your customers happy and build brand loyalty. - Give Your Brand a Professional Face
In 2022, people expect a more personal experience from brands than they have in the past. The time of faceless corporations is over, and users want to know the people behind the product.
That’s why ensuring your team is showcased on social platforms such as LinkedIn is so important. Highlight team members, show off the company culture and let your customers get a sense of who you are.
If you want to know the rest of the ways you can improve your brand’s social media presence, check out the rest of the blog!
4 Ways To Manage the Impact of iOS 14 Update on Ads
In the wake of users demanding more privacy and transparency from corporations as to how their data is being gathered and used, Apple has implemented the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework. From iOS 14 and onwards, users can now opt out of app tracking and ensure their data is kept private.
While this is a move most users strongly approve of, the ATT framework leaves marketers in the dark. Without access to valuable consumer information, going to be a lot more difficult for marketers to do their jobs.
With a diminishing amount of customer data to drive their decisions and plans, marketers are going to have some serious issues in the following areas:
- Reduced targeting capabilities: The main benefit of digital marketing is the reliance on consumer data. Marketers are able to analyze the available data to learn which customers to target and for what.
- Unoptimized ad spend: Ad tracking capabilities are all but gone now, and without them, marketers won’t be able to know if their ads are effective or providing the anticipated return on investment.
- Less ad personalization: Without understanding how customers are spending their time on the internet or on their smartphones, marketers have less available ways of personalizing their ads and ensuring users are only met with specific ads that offer them something they’ll find valuable.
- Limited business intelligence: With less information about how users' interests and preferences are evolving, brands will have less ability to anticipate changing trends and focus their goals and objectives around them.
While all of this may sound dire, it’s not as if digital marketing is dead. Savvy marketers can pivot their strategies and refocus their marketing efforts elsewhere.
Click the link above to read Brafton’s suggestions for how marketers can manage in this data-less world.
Microsoft Ads Unveils New Smart Campaign Features
The world of Paid Media Marketing just got a new shake-up early in September, as Microsoft revealed the latest update to Microsoft Ads, Smart Campaign. Smart Campaign includes multi-platform capabilities, a feature that will allow Microsoft to hold its own against Google Ads.
When Marketers utilize Smart Campaign, they can extend the reach of their ads across Microsoft Ads, Google, Facebook and Instagram. These features are still being rolled out, but Smart Campaigns are expected to give Microsoft a major competitive advantage over Google.
With Microsoft Ads Smart Campaign, you can:
- Enhance website and social media efforts:
Build awareness on Facebook and Instagram. Schedule social media posts on these platforms and interact and engage with users within the same interface. - Quickly scale ad and audience reach:
Enhanced targeting capabilities allow brands within niche marketers to put their products or services in front of relevant users to generate new leads. - Expand testing capabilities:
Determine where to put your ad spend with new testing capabilities that allow you to test ads between Microsoft and Google ads - Simplify campaign management:
Perfect for marketers just starting out in PPC marketing, Smart Campaign offers an easy-to-use interface with a simplified setup that’s low cost.
Read the article above to learn more about Microsoft Ads' latest update.
Which Social Media Channels are Gaining and Losing Steam?
The internet moves quickly, with new fads and trends beginning and ending in what feels like mere moments. Yesterday’s viral sensation will be forgotten by tomorrow when we’ve all moved on to the next latest, ephemeral thing.
Given the short attention span of the internet era, it’s not a surprise that the popularity of every social media platform is always in potential question. What was popular last year, or even last week, will not stay that way forever.
That said, some social platforms seem to have more staying power than others. Curious about which social platforms are enduring while others are being left behind? Check out the list below.
Still Popular:
With almost 3 billion users each month, Facebook remains at the top of the social media hierarchy. Older users favour this platform, which is the most-used platform by Baby Boomers.
In the last three months, 91% of Baby Boomers used Facebook. The website is also very popular among Gen X-ers and Millennials.
TikTok
If Facebook is the Boomer’s platform, then TikTok belongs entirely to Gen Z. The video platform is most used by Gen Z, with this age group spending more time on the platform than Instagram and Snapchat.
While Gen Z is also heavily using several other social platforms, TikTok has the highest engagement rate out of all of them.
YouTube
Like Facebook, YouTube has users in the billions and is visited more than 30 billion times each month. Unlike other platforms, YouTube is popular amongst all age groups.
Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X are all heavy users of YouTube’s content, and Baby Boomers rate YouTube as their second favourite social media platform, next to Facebook.
Instagram may not have the number of Facebook or YouTube, but with 78 million monthly users active on the platform, it still manages to be one of the most popular platforms in the world. While Gen Z tends to spend more time on TikTok, they still rate Instagram as their favourite social media app. The same is true for Millennials.
According to SimilarWeb, the Instagram app has over 78 million monthly active users, making it one of the most popular apps today.
Out of the Spotlight:
Tumblr
Tumblr’s had a rough go of it. After being acquired and sold a few times and undergoing a few policy changes, the micro-blogging platform has fallen out of favour.
While the app is most popular with Millennials, studies show that only 11% of millennials have used Tumblr within the last three months. A far cry from the intense popularity it experienced during the early to mid-2000s.
Twitch
While Twitch remains the most popular live-streaming platform, unfortunately, live-streaming, in general, is dwindling in popularity. Along with Twitch, Facebook Gaming and YouTube live are also seeing a significant drop in users.
In the last three months, only 15% of Millennials have visited Twitch, followed by 13% of Gen Z, and 11% of Gen X.
Check out the article if you want to read more about the trends of all our favourite social media platforms.
Wrap Up
This blog went over the best ways to simplify the way you conduct keyword research. While hard work is a virtue, working smart is far better.
Streamline your efforts by focusing on quality keywords with strong search intent, utilizing automated marketing and ensuring you’re focusing on the right metrics.
Then we went over eight surprisingly easy ways to raise your brand’s social media presence.
Simple things like ensuring your profile features eye-catching images and correct information and promoting valuable content can go a long way to improving brand awareness and engagement.
Next, we learned about the latest iOS update and what it will mean for marketers everywhere. To be more transparent about how it collects and uses data, Apple will now allow users to opt out of data collection.
While this is a win for privacy, it will prove a significant loss and challenge for marketers who are now flying blind.
After that, we discussed a new feature of Microsoft Ads, Smart Campaigns. This feature allows marketers to streamline their social media marketing and better target users with paid media.
Finally, we went over the most popular social media platforms worldwide and the few that have fallen out of favour. While Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok are popular amongst a number of demographics, Tumblr and Twitch are being left in the dust.
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!
