It’s been another huge month in digital marketing with lots of news out of Microsoft and Bing, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Yelp. Microsoft released a study on pharmaceutical conversions, announced key product updates and Bing added shopping comparison features on par with Google.
ICYMI, here’s what happened in digital marketing this month.
- Microsoft Shows Ad Exposure Drives Pharmaceutical Conversions
- Bing Adds Shopping Comparison Features
- Facebook Updates iOS 14.5 Prompt to Encourage Users to Keep Tracking On
- Twitter Acquires Scroll for Users Sick of Ads
- New Integration Between Dynamics 365 Customer Insights and Microsoft Advertising
- Microsoft Announces Key Product Updates
- Bing Opens Beta for Content Submission API
- Twitter Introduces Tip Jar
- Yelp Announces New Features for Local Businesses
- Instagram Testing New Upload Options on Desktop
- Facebook Launches Live-Stream Shopping Events
- Pinterest Announces Idea Pins Video Format
- Snapchat Announces Public Profiles for Businesses
- LinkedIn Adds Boosted Posts and Event Ads
- SEMrush Improves Keyword Difficulty Score
- “Drops” Product Showcase Added to Instagram
Microsoft Shows Ad Exposure Drives Pharmaceutical Conversions
Microsoft has studied the impact of search advertising for the pharmaceutical market and found that unbranded healthcare search advertising drives impact on brand and category conversions.
The study also showed that exposure to search ads alone – not just clicks – drives an increase in brand and category conversions, plus mainline ad exposure has more impact than bottom-of-page placements.
Bing Adds Shopping Comparison Features
Bing has added aggregated ratings, expert reviews, product specifications and the ability to compare historic prices across sellers to its shopping search interface. This update makes Bing a real competitor for Google’s shopping search capabilities.
Facebook Updates iOS 14.5 Prompt to Encourage Users to Keep Tracking On
Facebook has added a new element to its iOS 14.5 data tracking prompts aimed at encouraging users to keep data tracking switched on. The new element in the prompt asks users to “Help keep Facebook/Instagram free of charge” by leaving tracking on.
Twitter Acquires Scroll for Users Sick of Ads
Twitter has acquired Scroll, which will enable users to read articles without ads and pop-ups. “Publishers who work with Scroll can bring in more revenue than they would from traditional ads on a page. It’s a better Internet for readers and for writers,” according to Twitter.
New Integration Between Dynamics 365 Customer Insights and Microsoft Advertising
At the Microsoft Business Applications Summit, Microsoft announced a new integration between Dynamics 365 Customer Insights and Microsoft Advertising. You can now bring your customer segments from Customer Insights into the Microsoft Advertising platform using Customer Match targeting.
During the event, Microsoft also announced that Customer Match targeting is now available to all advertisers.
Microsoft Announces Key Product Updates
Microsoft has announced a number of key product updates for May, including:
- Changes to phrase match and broad match modifier
- Shopping Campaigns and new extensions available in new markets
- New two-line ad format in desktop search
- Migrating Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) campaigns to mixed campaigns
- Updates to conversion tracking with Smart Goals rolling out
- Redesign of conversion goal setup
- Setup Universal Event Tracking (UET) tags using WordPress.com
Bing Opens Beta for Content Submission API
Microsoft Bing has opened up its Content Submission API as a public beta after being in a private beta phase for over two years. The Bing Webmaster Team said in addition to the URL submission API, it now gives publishers and site owners “the ability to notify Bing directly about URL along with content changes via Bing Content Submission API.”
Twitter Introduces Tip Jar
Twitter is introducing a way for users to pay creators, called “Tip Jar“.
“You drive the conversation on Twitter and we want to make it easier for you to support each other beyond Follows, Retweets, and Likes. Today, we’re introducing Tip Jar – a new way for people to send and receive tips.”
For now, everyone can send tips but not everyone can receive them. A select group of people can add Tip Jar to their profile. The group includes creators, journalists, experts and nonprofits.
Yelp Announces New Features for Local Businesses
Yelp has announced Custom Location Targeting, budget recommendation and additional features to expand reach for local businesses. Custom Location Targeting means businesses can now designate specific locations for their ads to appear, rather than only advertising around their location.
There are also now machine learning-generated budget recommendations for advertisers and the Connect Audience Model, which means that those who use Yelp Connect can now market to a wider audience, showing posts to users who have interacted with similar businesses or search for relevant categories.
Instagram Testing New Upload Options on Desktop
Instagram appears to be testing new upload options in the desktop version of the app. The new option for upload includes all the regular, in-app options for posts, including image formatting tools and filters. Currently, the test only includes uploading posts to feeds, not Stories.
Facebook Launches Live-Stream Shopping Events
Facebook is launching live-stream shopping events, called “Live Shopping Fridays” where Facebook will host live-streamed shopping experiences with select retailers. Viewers can ask questions about the products and make purchases in-stream.
Pinterest Announces Idea Pins Video Format
Pinterest has announced Idea Pins, their multi-page video format to creators in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Anyone with a business account can create in the new format to better interact with users. Idea Pins are an evolution of Pinterest’s Story Pins, with more features including video-first features and fresh editing tools.
Snapchat Announces Public Profiles for Businesses
At Snapchat’s second annual Partner Summit, they announced public profiles for businesses. The new business profiles incorporate various brand elements already available in the app into a consolidated presence and will also include new options like a shop display to highlight products.
“With Public Profiles, you can connect with your customers organically by highlighting useful and engaging content, showcase existing Lens AR Experiences, and share shoppable products directly within the Snapchat app – all while delivering insights for your business. Snapchatters can also subscribe to your Profile to stay up-to-date with your content, new product launches and more.”
LinkedIn Adds Boosted Posts and Event Ads
LinkedIn has introduced the ability to “Boost” organic posts from your brand page. LinkedIn also announced event ads and an event analytics tool, as well as custom streaming integrations and mobile page analytics.
SEMrush Improves Keyword Difficulty Score
Semrush has announced a “new and improved” keyword difficulty (KD%) metric, available across all of semrush. “We’ve collected feedback from you over the years and have now re-imagined the formula that calculates KD% for the keywords in our database.”
The result is more accurate with fewer 0s reported and more consistent scores across global regions, local keywords, and long-tail keywords.
“Drops” Product Showcase Added to Instagram
Instagram has added a new “drops” product showcase to help boost eCommerce activity on the platform. Drops will highlight the latest product launches from brands users have engaged with or may be interested in, at the top of the Shop tab in the app.
“Brands that want to be at the center of culture, community, and commerce are choosing to launch products on Instagram. In September 2019, Instagram made this easier for brands and their fans by offering product reminders where people can sign up to receive a notification when an item is available for purchase.”
Drops is currently only available in the US.
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