Welcome to the latest round-up of all things digital. This is where we look at the latest updates in the world of PPC, SEO, Content and International from the last two weeks.
PR
Jennie Lindehoff – Head of Digital PR & Outreach
Key updates on Instagram’s Reels feature
Instagram Reels has had an update which now allows users to:
- post longer videos, up to 90 seconds,
- import sound from any video (at least 5 seconds long) in their camera roll,
- use interactive stickers, the same ones that are available in stories function.
The amount of views online videos generate has nearly doubled since 2018, it is an important tool for influencers to use when working with brands, promoting their products and services. Instagram video posts currently generate an engagement rate of 1.5%, which indicates people are doing more than scrolling through. Additionally, 86% of consumers say they are more likely to purchase a product with Instagram content rated as “shareworthy.” The new updates to Instagram Reels will allow brands, creators and influencers to be more creative with their video content which will help to attract viewers and engagement in the hopes of increasing more consumers to convert.
Google hint that ‘no follow’ really does mean ‘no follow’
Google changed how they see the no follow attribute in 2019, a change which meant that the links would be considered if any usefulness was to be found. Recently, Danny Sullivan from Google hinted on Twitter that links that are no followed, even if they are useful links, are unlikely to pass much weight or any weight at all in terms of SEO benefits.
If you’re purely looking to increase SEO value, no followed links won’t benefit ranking purposes. Something to be mindful of when acquiring backlinks to your website. However, the no followed attribute has no impact on user experience so if placed on relevant sites where your target audience is, these links will create brand awareness which will lead to traffic and conversions. No followed links might not help increase your Domain Authority but they might earn you money.
PPC
Stephen Duncan – PPC Specialist
Google share best practices at Google Marketing Live
Google held an event on May 24th to share best practices and learn about the latest in Ads and Commerce Innovations. It is important to know what is currently available in the Search world, but it is essential we keep a pulse on what is coming up.
This ensures we can provide the best service possible and always look to innovate for our clients. There were updates around Performance Max which has been one of the main product focuses from Google for about 12 months now, there were updates around new automatically created assets for RSA which is becoming more important with ETAs sunsetting on June 30th, and updates around Video ads and YouTube as Search becomes more and more visual.
Google announce more updates for Performance Max
Google have announced more updates are coming for Performance Max. Performance Max is a campaign type which has been on our radar for a while now, and it is important to always be aware of any updates. Things like automated optimisation tips will be added to help PPCers with the most automated of campaign types out there, additional insights will provide more intelligence for us to not only optimise but to also help contextualise performance to the client, and experiment tools (sadly, not actual experiments) where we can see the lift Performance Max can provide us.
International
Hussnian Qaiser – International Digital Marketing Executive
The world cup influences global advertising
The growth in popularity of the football world cup has had an influence on how businesses reach out to consumers. Looking mainly at the last edition of the World Cup (2018), this event had over 1 billion viewership reach. Businesses therefore decided to capitalise on such a high reach by attempting to reach consumers through high budget PPC ads and content marketing as well as implementing video marketing as consumers are more likely to engage with this. This strategy allowed companies to get more brand recognition, during this specific event.
This demonstrates how much marketing has evolved over the years and how businesses are more inclined than ever before in today’s day and age to implement digital marketing, maximising on key events to improve the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns.
Covid leads to huge uplift in Italian internet users
There have been several implications of COVID in Italy and that has led to Italian citizens being forced to come to terms with digital technologies. Until 2019, 3 out of 10 people in Italy were still not regular Internet users and more than half of the population lacked basic digital skills, making Italy rank among the less advanced European countries in the Digital economy.
Covid changed this however as, with people being asked to stay at home, they had to find a way to connect with their families and friends, keep their businesses running, educate the younger generation, etc.
This demonstrates how an entire country had to accommodate accordingly with the pandemic. It is interesting to see how suddenly Italy went from being one of the least digital countries in Europe, to have almost everybody use some sort of digital platform today. This means that any advertisers thinking about breaking into the Italian market have a bigger opportunity to maximise on the increase in digital interest in this country.
CRO and Web Development
Ruby Waplington – Junior Front-End Developer
We test what primary metrics should be for CRO
For conversion rate optimisation, choosing the primary metric for a test is really important, with a consideration around whether it should be the next step in the user journey or the final conversion.
We conducted a similar test internally. The test added category page links to the homepage to make funnelling easier on mobile. The test immediately improved visits to category pages by 25% which is amazing. But this didn’t translate to e-commerce conversions, which stayed the same or even decreased slightly. If we hadn’t included both goals in our test, we might have assumed that our variation was a total success (if we looked at funnelling) or a total flop (if we only looked at conversions). Because we included both, we can take the successes of this test and optimise it to ensure we’re driving traffic to the correct place.
A/B tests ensure that results are data-driven
When running tests, statistical significance is a key element, as well as the decision as when to end tests.
It’s important to make sure that the results seen are actually due to the changes made and not chance. One way to check this is using a Bayesian significance test, which tells us how likely it is to see this change in conversion rate without making any changes to the site. The aim is to be 95% sure that the results can be attributed to the test changes that have been made. However, this article highlights an experiment in which 1000 A/B tests were run, with identical variations. They found that half the time, these experiments would reach 95% significance at some point by chance. The way around this is to set a minimum sample size/test length. This ensures that the test has been running for long enough to be sure of the results.
Join us in two weeks, where we’ll be delivering more insight into the digital marketing world. Got a question about what we’ve covered today? Get in touch to find out how we can help grow your brand's digital footprint!
Talk To Us About Accelerating your Digital Performance
Please call 01543 410014, submit the enquiry form below or schedule a call with Phil Robinson.
