Hello and Happy Tuesday!
This week in internet marketing, we’re covering Google's algorithm update, Pinterest's purchasing influence, and how employees make the most worthy brand ambassadors. We also cover a recent article and the (lack of) correlation between falling impressions, rising CPMs, and time spent on Facebook.
Google Confirms Core Search Ranking Algorithm Update
After a lot of chatter on the web this past weekend, Google finally came out and confirmed that they ran a “broad core algorithm update” last week that has impacted the appearance and rankings of some websites in the search results. Despite the confirmation, they were not specific as to what exact changes were implemented.
“As with any update, some sites may note drops or gains. There’s nothing wrong with pages that may now perform less well. Instead, it’s that changes to our systems are benefiting pages that were previously under-rewarded.” Judging by their statement on Twitter, it sounds as though rankings will change to how they should have been prior to the update.
Pinterest Releases New Data on How the Platform Influences Purchase Behavior
If your business hasn’t considered the potential of Pinterest, perhaps after reading this, you may want to reconsider your strategy and this powerful tool. According to a recent study of 4,000 Pinners conducted by Pinterest, the platform is much more successful at driving purchase intent than other social platforms. Most notably, 90% of weekly Pinners use Pinterest to make purchase decisions, 70% of Pinners discover new products on Pinterest, and 60% get ideas for what to buy on Pinterest. With an estimated 200 million monthly users, Pinterest is a major player in the influencer marketing game.
How To Activate Employees and Harness The Power of Internal Experts
Author Michael Brennen offers tips on turning your employees into brand ambassadors. Seventy percent of brand perception is fuelled by a customer’s experience with service representatives, in-person interactions at events, live chat replies, and content shared by employees. In fact, 3% of employee-shared content drives customer engagement by 30%. Brennen writes, “The bottom line is, the experiences customers have with your employees shape the impression of your brand more than anything else.”
By tapping into your employees, you are not only accessing ambassadors that have a vested interest in your company’s success, you’re boosting employee motivation and engagement.
No, We Can’t Say Facebook CPMs Are Up Because of the News Feed Change
Ginny Marvin looks at a story published by Recode about Facebook data and the speculation that people are spending less time on Facebook. She concludes that there simply isn’t a connection between falling impressions and rising CPMs and time spent on the platform. There also isn’t clear data that News Feed changes are a factor.
Marvin writes, based on recent comments by Facebook CFO Dave Wehner, “Ad prices have been rising for many months. Impression growth has slowed for many months. Post engagement hasn’t dropped off with the change, and Wehner expects little impact on the ad business.”
Alexa’s Creepy Laughter Is A Bigger Problem Than Amazon Admits
Amazon’s solution to the problem of Alexa’s phantom laughter may seem strange to some—the fix makes interacting with the chatbot more awkward. But maybe that’s the way it should be. Companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple have focused on making this invasive technology relatable but the problem is that the technology is far from understanding social instincts and human interactions. As Mark Wilson writes, “Alexa should be an “it” rather than a “she” because Alexa is nowhere near human, and bound to let us down again (or scare us) when we expect it to act like us.” We may not be far off from computers mastering social nuances but until that day arrives, Amazon could have benefitted from positioning Alexa as a computer you can talk to instead of your best pal.
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