Digital Marketing News 09/06/2022 – 09/12/2022

Search

Google Business Profile Adds a “Products” Section

Retailers and advertisers can now include in-store product listings in Google Business Profile.

Google updated the Business Profile guidelines with a new section on Products and they now allow retail business owners and advertisers to add in-store products to Google Business Profile at no charge.

With the “Products” tab, customers can:

• Click a featured product card to view the product details

• Visit a product category for an overview

• Click a product within a category to view the product details

• Chat or call your business to find out more, or click on the button leading to your website to order online

• Provide feedback in case there are copyright or legal issues

You can add in-store products to your Business Profile in two ways:

• By using the Product Editor to manually upload your products

• By using the Pointy app with your Point of Sale (POS) system

Product listings are available through a products carousel on the Google Maps mobile app and through a products carousel and "Products" tab on Google Search. To preview how your products will appear to customers on Google Search, click “See it on Google.” Allow one or two minutes for newly added products to show.

Whichever way you choose to add product listings, remember that your method must adhere to Google’s Shopping Ads Policy and they must not include banned content related to regulated products and services, including alcohol, tobacco products, gambling, financial services, pharmaceuticals and unapproved supplements, or health/medical devices.

Submitting products that violate Google's policy may result in the removal of your entire product catalog, including products that aren't in violation.

Social

Twitter Tests The New “Edit Tweet” Feature

The Twitter team reveals they’re internally testing the tweet-editing feature, something that’s been highly requested for years.

In an announcement, Twitter gave users a heads up on the current testing phase of the edit button and confirmed through their blog post that they’re internally testing their “most requested feature to date.”

Edit Tweet is a feature that lets people make changes to their Tweet after it’s been published. It gives users a short period of time to modify their post, such as by fixing typos and adding missed tags.

During the testing phase Tweets can be edited “a few times” within 30 minutes after they’re published. Edited Tweets will appear with an icon, timestamp, and label so it’s clear to readers that the original Tweet has been modified. Tapping the label will take viewers to the Tweet’s Edit History, which includes past versions of the Tweet.

According to Twitter, the time limit and version history play an important role. They help protect the integrity of the conversation and create a publicly accessible record of what was said.

Twitter will be expanding the Edit Tweet access to Twitter Blue subscribers in the coming weeks. The test will be localized to a single country at first and expanded as the Twitter team learns and observes how people use the feature. During the testing period, everyone will be able to see if a Tweet has been edited.

Twitter hopes that with the availability of the Edit Tweet feature, tweeting will “feel more approachable and less stressful.”

Social

Reddit Acquires Spiketrap to Improve Ad Relevance and Performance

In a bid to enhance their ad targeting and optimization capabilities, Reddit announces its acquisition of Spiketrap, an audience contextualization company.

As discussion website Reddit continues to expand, the company announced that they acquired Spiketrap, an audience contextualization company. Spiketrap’s technology is expected to help improve ad relevance and performance. As Reddit explained in their blog:

“Bringing the [Spiketrap] team and technology into Reddit will enhance our interest and contextual targeting capability, improve ad quality scoring, and boost prediction models for powering auto-bidding, with the aim of ultimately driving higher return on investment and improved solutions for our advertisers.”

Spiketrap uses AI-powered contextual analysis and advertising tools to help brands and platforms better understand and engage their audiences. This capability is especially valuable for advertisers in Reddit, as the website is home to more than 100,000 active communities.

“We believe targeting relevant audiences based on interests and with the context of the conversations they are engaging in helps ensure advertisers are reaching the right people in the most efficient ways,” said Reddit EVP of Ads Monetization, Shariq Rizvi.

A few months ago, Reddit also acquired Spell, a machine-learning platform, and MeaningCloud, a natural language processing company. With these tools, the company is working towards evolving their algorithms and recommendation engines in ways that optimize for valuable engagement.

Search

Google Defines Good and Bad Meta Descriptions

In the latest update of their snippet help documentation, Google shares eight ways to improve a meta description.

To enhance search engine results, Google updated their help document with best practices on writing meta descriptions. Using quality descriptions is key, and that means being “truly descriptive.”

High-quality descriptions can be displayed in Google's search results, and can go a long way to improving the quality and quantity of your search traffic. Here are eight examples from Google of how you can write better meta descriptions:

• Avoid listing keywords Example: “Sewing supplies, yarn, colored pencils, sewing machines, threads, bobbins, needles”

• Explain what the shop sells and details like opening hours and location Example:“Get everything you need to sew your next garment. Open Monday-Friday 8-5pm, located in the Fashion District.”

• Don’t use the same description for every news article Example:“Local news in Whoville, delivered to your doorstep. Find out what happened today.”

• Use a snippet from the specific news article Example: “Upsetting the small town of Whoville, a local elderly man steals everyone's presents the night before an important event. Stay tuned for live updates on the matter.”

• Avoid descriptions that don’t encapsulate the page content Example: “Eggs are a source of joy in everyone's life. When I was a small child, I remember picking eggs from the hen house and bringing them to the kitchen. Those were the days.”

• Summarize the whole page Example: “Learn how to cook eggs with this complete guide in 1 hour or less. We cover all the methods, including: over-easy, sunny side up, boiled, and poached.”

• Avoid descriptions that are too short Example: “Mechanical pencil”

• Write specific and detailed descriptions Example: “Self-sharpening mechanical pencil that autocorrects your penmanship. Includes 2B auto-replenishing lead. Available in both Vintage Pink and Schoolbus Yellow. Order 50+ pencils, get free shipping.”

Social

Meta Shares The Four Signals That Influence Video Distribution on Facebook

Meta reveals the most important signals and best practices to focus on for your video to thrive on Facebook.

In a blog post, Meta shared the four main signals its algorithm uses to determine the distribution size of videos on Facebook. According to them, these four characteristics have the greatest influence on video distribution right now:

Originality

Meta defines original videos as “distinctive and produced in a manner that’s never been made before.” You can optimize for originality by:

• Publishing videos that you wrote, shot, and edited yourself or with the support of a production partner.

• Meaningfully enhancing the content that you are sourcing or licensing from others. Adding new information or humor will add new value to the content.

• Avoiding duplicate content that you played no meaningful role in creating.

Audience Retention

Meta says videos that capture the audience's attention and encourage people to watch to the end may earn more distribution on Facebook. A slow and gradual decline in the audience retention graph can show that the topic and structure of the video match well with what your audience wants to see, while an early drop off may mean that the content isn’t what the viewer expected.

You can optimize for retention in authentic ways by:

• Focusing on the video narrative structure. Keep in mind as well that content should only be as long as it needs to be so that it’s relatable and engaging and keeps the audience interested for the entire duration.

• Building for on-the-go mobile viewing. Consider adding burned-in captions, or opt-in for the auto-generate option.

• Improving production quality. Clearly showcase your content by aiming for the best clarity.

Audience Loyalty and Intent

When people regularly come back to view your videos or actively search for your content, Meta takes it as a strong, positive signal for distribution. You can encourage these behaviors for your videos by:

• Publishing bonus content in between your regular posting cadences to stay connected with your audience and keep them excited. You can use different formats like videos, reels, stories, live videos, and even photos or links.

• Optimizing your content for Facebook search. This includes writing clear titles, descriptions for your posts, and adding a few relevant tags.

Engagement

Meta increases distribution for videos that inspire friend-to-friend or person-to-person interactions. They also value content that inspires people to create a version of their own.

In addition, Meta revealed that videos may face reduced distribution if they:

• Feel more like slideshows

• Use manufactured sharing behaviors

• Resort to baiting tactics, such as engagement bait, watchbait, and clickbait

What you can do next

• Increase site or store visits and sales by allowing shoppers to browse your products and their prices in Google Business Profile. Providing customers with accurate information helps them move along the purchase journey.

• Target audiences based on their interests and with the context of the conversations they are engaging in to ensure that you’re delivering relevant content to the right people.

• Improve your meta descriptions using Google’s best practices to drive more website traffic.

• Ensure that your Facebook videos are widely distributed by creating content that ticks off each of the four signals that greatly influence video distribution. 

Elevate Your Marketing

SEO vs. PPC: How to Combine These Marketing Tactics for Better Results

Learn what SEO and PPC are, the key differences between them, and how you can use them together to create a traffic strategy that benefits your brand. Read more >

Why an Indestructible Online Reputation is Vital to Your Business

Discover the importance of reputation management and find out how you can build and maintain a great company reputation. Read more >