LIVE updates: This month in search marketing [July 2023]

Saturday 01st July 2023

Goodbye Universal Analytics…hello GA4!

Today was the last day of Universal Analytics, and GA4 has officially launched. This is going to be a huge shift for digital marketers, as they change and adapt their processes to accommodate the new system. For help with all things GA4, check out our GA4 content hub. 

Sunday 2nd July 2023

Potential to use AI to improve digital marketing tech stack

New research from Optimizely has published their findings on how digital marketers currently perceive their tech stack. The majority (76%) are unhappy with the performance of their current tech stacks, and are considering adopting AI in the future to improve these processes.

Monday 10th July 2023

New PPC market statistics

In the next 4 years, the PPC software market is projected to meet 1166.87 million USD by 2027. Predicted to grow at a CAGR of 9.4% over the next few years, we are likely to see a huge jump from the industries 2021 valuation of 680.54 million USD in 2021.

Programmatic SEO

57.8% of marketers believe that AI will fundamentally change the SEO landscape in years to come. Programmatic SEO is using the power of AI and machine learning to transform the organic search industry completely, by automatically creating thousands of pages that rank highly on SERPs.

Tuesday 11th July 2023

AI-based efficiency tools in an ‘always on’ era

There is no lack of platforms for digital marketers to display their advertisements, helping us reach a wider audience across the entire globe, all hours of the day and night. In this ‘always on’ era, efficiency is key, and using new AI tools might be a step forward in this. To help with efficiency, AI could be beneficial for areas such as customising messages for different user bases and channels.

Wednesday 12th July 2023

The most effective lead generation tactic…?

New research by TechBehemoths has found that 69.7% of IT companies find SEO to be he most effective lead generation tactic. The survey of over 2.5k participants across 57 countries, aimed to identify which digital marketing tools were most effective for IT companies and digital agencies.

Can SEO be unethical?

Search engine optimisation (SEO) if done correctly is an intelligent way to drive traffic to your website. While this is a tactic used by several marketers, there are some SEO methods that the wider field of marketing deem ‘unethical’ to use, these include:

• Keyword stuffing
• Cloaking link schemes
• Duplicate content
• Negative SEO tactics

Digital ad spend downgraded again

Spending on digital advertisements will increase less than 10% for the first time in 14 years! Social media platforms seem to be the worst hit with this ad budget cuts, with most cutting their ad spend from these platforms first (with TikTok being the only exception).

Amazon video advertising

Video advertising is a powerful tool for marketers, particularly in the current age where people prefer to digest information more visually. While known most popularly as a digital shopping giant, Amazon has cemented its position in the world of video advertising, offering solutions such as:

• In steam video ads
• Out stream video ads
• Amazon live video ads
• OTT (over the top) video ads

Like Netflix, Amazon plans to launch an ad supported tier to drive down costs for customers. This is where the streaming giants offer cheaper streaming subscriptions that have ads interspersed into the viewers streaming experience.

How has AI transformed digital marketing?

With all the talks of AI that have occurred in 2023, it is worth noting the ways in which it has enhanced the world of digital marketing so far.

• Enhanced customer insights: AI powered algorithms can find patterns in large sets of customer data, and help garner a deeper understanding of customer behaviour – helping plan marketing activity based on these insights
• Advanced data analytics: you can use AI to quickly process and analyse the huge amounts of data collected from marketing campaigns, and then use these to improve future campaigns
• Improved marketing and ad targeting: through a demographic analysis, ads can be displayed to only those who would benefit from the product or service – allowing for more personalised and specific targeting.
• Chatbots and virtual assistants: businesses can use chatbots to provide 24/7 support on their website, and give answers about their product, service, or company.
• Enhanced content creation: AI powered tools can generate both textual and image based content to be used in marketing collateral – though their is much debate on the quality of the content it produces
• Efficient marketing automation: automating repetitive tasks can can free up valuable time for other more lengthy and important activities.

Thursday 13th July 2023

Twitter’s popularity plunges

Following the launch of rival social media platform Threads, Twitter’s popularity has begun to plunge with its global organic search coverage dropping by 30% in just 48 hours. This comes not long after the platform was overhauled by Tesla and Space X founder Elon Musk, who has since made several what could be described as unpopular changes to the platform. This new research shows that Twitter is facing a significant challenge for the visibility in the digital realm.

Saturday 15th July 2023

What is OSO?

With social media platforms such as TikTok becoming search engines in their own right, SEO needs to expand to encompass multiple platforms. Organic Search Optimisation (or OSO) is a more comprehensive approach that involves optimising content for not just search engines, but also across social media, streaming, and news platforms.

Tuesday 18th July 2023

Should marketers start preparing for the depreciation of third-party cookies?

Though it will be a while before third-party cookies become completely obsolete, marketers need to be prepared for when that eventually becomes a reality. If marketers do not start testing and evaluating alternative methods now, then they may struggle once methods that use third-party cookies are no longer in use.

Wednesday 19th July 2023

Netflix, the latest platform for digital advertisers

Netflix recently launched a new, cheaper version of their platform – one that supports advertisements during the streaming sessions. This has been a successful decision for the platform, as they have already gained many new subscribers, and a substantial profit. As digital marketers, this gives us yet another platform to consider when thinking about ad placements – and a new audience to think about targeting.

Sunday 23rd July 2023

Cheap Top Level Domains (TLDs)

Google have recently advised against TLD options. This is because spammers often target free or low-cost domains, and therefore this can negatively impact search engines. Google also debunked the myth that the SEO keywords provide SEO benefits.

Wednesday 26th July 2023

Paid media statistics for 2023

This post by TechReport has put together all the paid media statistics you need to know for 2023. Below are some of the more interesting ones:

• On average, companies earn $2 for every $1 spend on paid media
• 72% of companies have not reviewed their ad campaigns in over a month
• Ad Spending on Search Advertising is Expected to Reach $118 .2 Billion in 2023
• Google Controls 91.88% of the Global Search Engine Market

Monday 31st July 2023

Are there too many ads on social media?

Social media seems to have found a way to seamlessly blend ads amongst organic content, therefore being less disruptive to user experience. Due to this, however, the amount of ads we are seeing on social media platforms also seems to have increased – the question is, is this becoming too much?

Experts have commented that there has been a decline in ad completion rates recently, and an increase in ad fatigue. With too many ads in competition with each other, it is suggested that social media ads might be starting to lose their effectiveness.

As digital marketers, we should take this information on board, and ensure we are putting in the extra effort to ensure our paid social strategy is strong, to ensure maximum effectiveness and ROI.