September 2024: What's new in the world of digital
Posted on 10th October 2024 at 12:50
Read Time: Approx. 8 Minutes 42 Seconds
Author: Joe Weatherill
Welcome to the September edition, where we share the updates in the world of digital.
AI-Powered Video by Amazon Ads
What is it?: AI-Powered Video by Amazon Ads is a sophisticated tool that utilises machine learning and artificial intelligence to assist advertisers in creating, customising, and optimising video content for their campaigns. Key features include automated video creation, AI algorithms can generate video ads from existing assets such as images, product descriptions, and text, reducing the time and resources needed for video production.
Personalisation: as the tool can tailor video content to different audience segments by analysing user data and preferences, ensuring that each viewer receives the most relevant and engaging ad experience.
Optimisation: AI continuously monitors ad performance in real-time, adjusting elements like video length, format, and targeting parameters to enhance effectiveness and ROI.
Insights: analytics new features provide detailed analytics on viewer engagement, conversion rates, and other key performance indicators, enabling data-driven decision-making.
Why is it important?: The introduction of AI-powered video in Amazon Ads is significant for several reasons. Such as enhanced efficiency - automates the video creation process, allowing advertisers to launch campaigns faster. It’s cost-effective, as it reduces the need for extensive manual editing and production resources. Improved targeting and personalisation, as it delivers more personalised content to consumers, increasing engagement and conversion rates. It also allows you to adjust ads in real-time based on audience behaviour and preferences.
Better Performance, ROI, and Optimisation due to it continuously refining ad elements to maximise effectiveness, ensuring that marketing budgets are utilised efficiently. Data-Driven Insights provides actionable analytics to refine strategies and improve future campaigns. It also enables advertisers to manage and deploy large-scale video campaigns across Amazon’s diverse platforms seamlessly, increasing scalability.
It is positioned as a tool which is suitable for businesses of all sizes, from small enterprises to large corporations, allowing users to stay ahead of competitors with cutting-edge technology, so brands can differentiate brands in a crowded marketplace. A study shows that 89% of consumers want to see more video content from brands in 2024.
What action should you take?:
1. Familiarise yourself and spend time understanding the features and capabilities of the AI-powered video tool. Utilise Amazon’s tutorials, webinars, and support resources to get up to speed.
2. Integrate with Current Campaigns. Evaluate your existing advertising strategies to identify where AI-powered video can enhance performance. Start with small-scale campaigns to test the tool’s effectiveness before scaling up.
3. Use the tools personalisation features to create targeted video content for different customer segments. Experiment with varying video formats and messages to see what resonates best with your audience.
4. Monitor and optimise by regularly reviewing performance metrics provided by the AI tool to assess campaign success.
5. Use insights to make informed adjustments to your video content and targeting strategies. Stay updated with industry trends in AI and digital marketing to continuously refine your approach.
New Ad Tools for Advertisers By Meta
What is it? Meta’s latest ad tools are designed to empower businesses of all sizes to create, manage, and optimise campaigns more efficiently and effectively during the holiday rush. Some of the key features include:
1. AI-Powered Targeting and Creative Tools - Meta is introducing new AI-powered tools that help advertisers create personalised ads by analysing user behaviour and preferences. These tools can automatically optimise ad creative, such as images and text, to resonate better with different audience segments.
2. Shop Ads Expansion - Shop ads are being expanded to include more immersive shopping experiences, such as ads that allow users to browse a catalogue directly within the platform. Meta is also enhancing the ability to send people from an ad directly to checkout, reducing friction in the shopping journey.
3. Click-to-Messaging Ads Upgrades - Meta is improving its click-to-messaging ads, which drive people to communicate with businesses through Messenger, WhatsApp, or Instagram. New features include automated responses and AI-driven suggestions for businesses to streamline conversations and boost conversion rates.
4. Video and Reels Ads Enhancements - Meta is doubling down on short-form video content by making it easier to create ads for Reels on Instagram and Facebook. Advertisers can now use tools that automatically generate video ads from existing assets or recommend video formats that are more likely to engage audiences.
5. Ad Objective Updates - The company is refining its ad objectives, simplifying the process of selecting campaign goals like driving conversions, generating leads, or boosting engagement. This helps advertisers more clearly align their campaign settings with desired outcomes.
6. Holiday Campaign Insights - Meta is also providing enhanced insights for holiday campaigns, giving advertisers better visibility into performance metrics and user behaviour. This includes audience segmentation based on seasonal shopping trends, helping marketers adjust their strategies in real time.
Why is it important? Meta’s new ad tools are essential for several reasons, especially during the high-stakes holiday season. Here’s why these updates matter:
1. Personalisation at Scale - With AI-driven tools that personalise ads based on user behaviour; businesses can deliver highly relevant content to their target audience. This is crucial for standing out during the crowded holiday season, where consumers are bombarded with ads and messages.
2. Streamlined Shopping Experiences - Features like the expanded shop ads and seamless checkout experiences reduce friction in the buyer’s journey, increasing the likelihood of conversions. By making it easier for customers to discover, browse, and purchase products without leaving the platform, businesses can capitalise on impulse buys and last-minute holiday shopping.
3. Enhanced Engagement with Messaging Ads - Click-to-messaging ads, powered by automation and AI, make it easier for businesses to engage with customers quickly and effectively. During the holidays, when customers are often looking for quick answers or personalised service, having an optimised messaging system can be a game-changer.
4. Data-Driven Decision Making - With better campaign insights and seasonal trends at your disposal, you can make more informed, data-driven decisions. This allows for more agile marketing strategies, enabling you to adjust your campaigns in real-time based on performance.
What action should you take? To make the most of Meta’s new ad tools, here are the key steps you should take:
1. Utilise AI-Powered Personalisation: Take advantage of the AI-driven creative and targeting tools to craft personalised ads for different audience segments. This will increase engagement and improve ad performance, especially when competition for attention is at its highest.
2. Optimise Your Shop Ads: If you sell products online, ensure your shop ads are set up and optimised for a seamless shopping experience. Enable direct checkout options to make the purchasing process as smooth as possible, reducing the risk of cart abandonment.
3. Focus on Short-Form Video: Invest in creating short-form video content for reels and other video ad formats. Use Meta’s automated tools to turn your existing assets into video ads, ensuring you don’t miss out on the growing popularity of video during the holidays.
4. Monitor Campaign Insights Regularly: Keep a close eye on the performance of your holiday campaigns through Meta’s enhanced insights dashboard. Be prepared to adjust based on seasonal trends, audience behaviour, and campaign performance to optimise your results.
5. Test and Scale: Run small tests with these new ad formats and tools to see what works best for your audience, and scale successful campaigns as the holiday season progresses. This ensures you’re making the most of your ad budget and maximising returns.
Google's Core Updates
What is it?: Google’s core updates are broad changes to its search algorithms and systems designed to improve the relevance and quality of the search results it delivers. The August 2024 Core Update is part of these regular updates but has been one of the most volatile in recent memory, shaking up search engine rankings across multiple industries. This update focuses on refining how Google evaluates the quality, relevance, and authority of content. While Google doesn’t typically disclose specific details about the changes, we can infer from previous core updates and observed impacts that it is centred on improving how content satisfies user intent and ensuring the most authoritative, trustworthy information appears at the top of search results.
Some of the key areas likely affected by this update include:
Content Quality: Google is refining how it evaluates the depth, originality, and overall value of content. Thin or outdated content may now rank lower, while in-depth, informative content could see a boost.
User Experience: The update likely includes signals related to user experience (UX), such as mobile-friendliness, page load speed, and interactivity, all of which impact rankings.
Search Intent Matching: Google is getting better at understanding the specific intent behind a user’s query, ensuring that the most relevant content is surfaced. This means websites that precisely match user intent might rank higher, while content that is too broad or off-target may drop.
Why is it important?: This update is critical for several reasons, particularly if your business relies on organic search traffic for leads, sales, or overall visibility. Here’s why the August 2024 Core Update matters:
1. Significant Ranking Fluctuations: Many websites have seen dramatic ranking changes, with some experiencing notable declines in organic traffic while others have seen a surge in visibility. This volatility underscores the need for businesses to closely monitor their performance and be ready to adapt.
2. Evolving Content Standards: Google’s continued emphasis on content quality and relevance means that outdated or low-value content is less likely to perform well. Staying competitive requires constant improvement and optimisation of your content strategy
3. Impact on Mobile and User Experience: With Google placing increasing importance on user experience, especially on mobile devices, websites that are not optimised for speed, interactivity, and mobile friendliness are likely to see ranking drops. This is a reminder that technical SEO and UX cannot be ignored.
What action should you take?: It’s crucial to evaluate your site’s performance and adjust your SEO strategy accordingly. You should:
1. Audit Your Content Quality: Conduct a thorough content audit to ensure that your pages offer valuable, original, and well-researched information. Thin, duplicated, or outdated content should be refreshed or removed. Focus on creating comprehensive content that answers user queries thoroughly. Long-form content tends to perform well if it is well-structured, easy to navigate, and provides clear value.
2. Optimise for User Experience (UX): Google continues to prioritise user experience, particularly on mobile devices. Make sure your website is mobile-responsive, fast-loading, and easy to navigate.. Use Core Web Vitals to monitor your site’s speed, interactivity, and visual stability. Poor scores on these metrics can hurt your rankings post-update.
3. Align Content with Search Intent: Analyse the intent behind the keywords you are targeting. Make sure your content aligns with the specific needs and expectations of searchers.. Use tools like Google Search Console or SEO platforms to identify which keywords are bringing traffic and which pages are losing rankings. This will help you adjust your content to better match user intent.
4. Monitor Performance Closely: Pay close attention to your site’s analytics post-update. Look for significant traffic drops or ranking fluctuations and identify which pages or areas of your site are most affected.
Bonus Update
Microsoft Advertising shares 6 latest product updates:
1. Responsive Search Ads (RSA) Performance Insights: Microsoft is enhancing Responsive Search Ads by providing more detailed performance insights. These insights help advertisers understand which headlines and descriptions are driving results, enabling them to optimise their ad copy for better engagement.
2. Video Ads Expansion: Video ads, previously available in a more limited capacity, are now being expanded to more placements across Microsoft’s ad network. This includes both search and audience networks, providing advertisers with more opportunities to engage users through immersive video content.
3. Enhanced Shopping Campaigns: Microsoft has introduced improvements to Shopping Campaigns, including enhanced reporting features and more refined targeting options. Advertisers can now better track product performance and adjust bids based on real-time insights to improve ROI.
4. Targeting Expansion with Audience Network Planner: The new Audience Network Planner tool allows advertisers to forecast the reach and performance of their audience-based campaigns. This helps businesses plan their budget and targeting strategies more effectively, with data-driven estimates on how their ads will perform across different demographics.
5. Automated Bidding Strategy Updates: Microsoft has further refined its automated bidding strategies, including Target CPA (Cost-Per-Acquisition) and Maximise Conversions. These tools now incorporate more real-time signals, improving bidding accuracy and helping advertisers stay competitive while managing costs.
6. New Import Tools from Google Ads: To make cross-platform advertising easier, Microsoft has improved its Google Ads import tools. These updates ensure that advertisers can seamlessly bring over their Google campaigns into Microsoft Advertising, with enhanced compatibility and fewer manual adjustments.
Our final thoughts ...
We've seen a major movement from ad tech giants Meta, Amazon and Bing over the last month, with tools to make it easier for marketers to manage and scale their campaigns? Is this coincidental that these have been launched just before peak trading? Has this given in-house teams and agencies the opportunitiy to test these out and utilise or will the tried and tested methodolgies be taken? We encourage you all to review these new opportunities and see which ones you have time to test in October.
For further information on any of the latest product updates or anything new that is on your mind, get in touch with our team of digital experts today.
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