March Digital Marketing Industry Updates
Google AdSense is bringing in a new tool to help digital publishers improve site engagement and increase traffic, page views, and impressions. The new feature is called “Related search for content” which works similarly to “suggested content” that users are more familiar with. The way it works is that users are served “Related Searches” that will lead them to other pieces of content on the same or similar topics on the publisher’s website.
This should help create more relevant experiences for users, as well as help publishers improve their site and app statistics. Google also stressed that this new AdSense feature doesn’t expose user data. As Google is looking to veer away from the use of cookies, the feature instead uses page content to deliver relevant search terms rather than user data. So if you’re looking to activate the new AdSense feature on your website, contact your account manager to help you activate it on your AdSense account.
Facebook Group Admins are getting some new tools to help them manage and grow their Facebook communities. With the rise of misinformation on the web these days, Facebook has taken some steps to help Group admins manage fake news and posts that come into their communities. For starters, Facebook has installed the ability to automatically decline any incoming posts that have already been identified by third-party fact-checks as false information.
Additionally, the “mute” functionality on Facebook groups has also expanded into “suspend”. A suspended user will be unable to post, comment, react, and participate in any group chats or Rooms in the group. These features can be found through “Admin Assist”.
When it comes to growing your Facebook groups, on the other hand, new QR codes have been added that admins can download and share or copy and paste as they like. When a user scans a QR code, they are then directed to the Facebook Group’s About page where they can put in a request to join.
According to Google, 95% of vehicle buyers use online sources to do research and find out more information. As a way to help auto sellers gain more exposure and responses, they’ve recently introduced a Vehicle Ads search placement which displays nearby cars for sale.
Sellers that want to take advantage of the opportunity need to create a vehicle inventory data feed and connect it to Google’s Merchant Centre. Search campaigns with the new vehicle ads reported an average increase of 25% in conversions during their testing phases.
Vehicle ad placements are only currently available in the U.S., but Google says that they will be coming out in more countries soon.
Twitter is currently experimenting with a new eCommerce feature called Twitter Shops. The feature is said to allow brands and businesses to showcase up to 50 items in a shop on the platform. Twitter Shops can be accessed on a brand’s profile page and will direct users to an in-app browser from the merchant’s website.
While still in the testing phase, the inclusion of a shop on Twitter should help businesses maximise their online earning potential on the platform as well as gain more exposure and engagement. Currently, only iPhone users in the U.S. can view and interact with the shops that are included in the testing phase. Once it rolls out worldwide, however, it would be a good opportunity to reach out to Twitter users.
How to Find Your Audience on Social Media?
When it comes to digital marketing there’s one major problem that continues to plague small businesses: finding the right audience.
No business wants to put in hours and hours of hard work, only to find out that the people they’re engaging with online are not exactly the people likely to buy their products or services. Therefore it’s important to figure out just who, exactly, your audience is, before you start marketing and posting on social media.
Find supporters for your business, not naysayers. People who will be ecstatic about buying and recommending your products to the point that they become your secret weapon against obscurity online.
That being said, the first question you should ask yourself is, “How can I figure out who my ideal audience is?”
The most important factor in identifying your ideal audience is to know exactly what the problem you’re trying to solve for them is. It’s not enough to have a general idea of the problem, like “taste and experience good food” or “build better health and lifestyle habits”. Rather, it’s important to really dig deep into your customer’s psyche and analyse what might get them to buy, and encourage them to keep coming back.
We’ve put together a couple of examples of how you can find and dig up your potential customer’s pains:
Fitness Industry
Pain:
Food Industry
Pain:
In the examples above, there are a variety of pain points that ordinary people experience in their day-to-day lives. If you look closer, then, hidden behind each of these pain points is a possible solution, a product that you can create and offer to your customers.
Once you’ve figured out what pain points your product or business directly addresses, then you have a clearer understanding of who your ideal customer is. This deeper understanding can help you even more by giving you some ideas on where to go out and look for them. What are the brands or businesses that these people support? Where do they hang out (online and offline)? Who do they follow on social media?
Now that you have figured out your customer’s pain points, your next step is…
This is where the real work starts. For every industry, there are a definite number of online communities gathered around specific topics, whether that be knitting, woodworking, DIY, photography, food, meal preps, etc.
Facebook Groups are a good example of the type of online community that you’re looking for. Because for nearly every niche topic that exists, there is likely to be a Facebook group that gathers around it. Find those groups and join them.
Often these groups are a gold mine of information about your ideal customers. In them, you’ll see trends that are happening, the pains and problems that customers have with competitor products and services. You’ll see people talk about what they love in a certain product, and what features they wish another one had.
Facebook Groups are also the perfect place to get started connecting with your audience. Once you join two or three Facebook groups, start engaging with the content that others are posting. Provide helpful information, tips and solutions to their queries. The more you engage, the more people will recognise you as an authority, as someone they can trust.
Hashtags are still widely used on Instagram and Twitter these days, making them another perfect means of finding your audience. To add to that, the great thing about Instagram hashtags is that once you type out one hashtag on the search bar (example: #fitnessgoals or #fitnessmotivation), Instagram drops a whole list of other relevant hashtags and the number of posts that contain them.
Clicking on a hashtag then reveals to you what people are posting about the topic, and what recent posts are getting the most engagement. The number of posts for each hashtag gives you a general idea of how big the audience is for that topic, and whether or not you should target it.
As a general rule, though, it’s better to go for hashtags that are not overpopulated with millions and millions of posts. Your content is only likely to get lost in a sea of images or posts. Better to target hashtags that have a more niche audience so that your content is more likely to gain greater visibility and reach.
In every industry, there are questions regarding products, services, and options. People seek reviews of popular products and look for recommendations on which one best suits them. A lot of blogs and YouTube channels cover this type of content. And so one thing that you can do is go out in search of these blogs and channels and engage in the comments.
Beware: Don’t start pitching your own business just yet. Instead, be helpful. Provide support. Share your experiences with certain products. Give your own honest opinion.
Platforms like Reddit and Quora are the perfect place to jump in and engage with online communities. Here, a lot of people are seeking answers. They ask specific questions and don’t always find the right answers in the responses. You can be their guiding light.
One script that sometimes works, especially if someone’s asking for recommendations, is to give your honest opinion: “Between the two, I really liked this product more,” and then sneak in a bit of a pitch: “But I still found that it didn’t have all the features I wanted. So I made my own. You can try it out and see for yourself if it’s a better fit for you.”
Finding the right audience for your business is critical for success. It requires a lot of hard work at the start and can take a bit of time. That’s why agencies like Get More Traffic exist. You can leave it to professionals with experience so you can spend more time growing your business and improving your products and services.