Pinterest drops a CTR explanation and some holiday gift trends
If you’re in advertising (and if you’re reading this, there’s a decent chance you are), you’ll know that CTR is helpful – but it’s only part of the story.
Various factors can affect how useful your CTR is, and it doesn’t always mean your ad is going to be a top-performing one. In a recent blog post, Pinterest outlines some of the problems with CTR and explains their way of fixing those problems. Let’s check it out:
- The problem with CTR: A high CTR doesn’t always translate into sky-high sales. Whether it’s because of clickbait or faulty engagement metrics, there are plenty of problems with CTR today.
- What Pinterest does: The description in the full post is pretty technical, so if you’re into that stuff, you might want to head over there. Essentially, though, Pinterest uses a weighted engagement algorithm to determine how valuable ads really are.
And, if you’re ready to make use of Pinterest’s fancy metrics in a campaign this season, the company just released a holiday gift guide that has some hidden treasures in the form of trend statistics:
- People are looking for comforting gifts. Searches for things like poetry books and loungewear are up, suggesting that people are looking for gifts to relax with this holiday season.
- Go mini. No, we’re not talking about the iPhone 12. But, Pinterest has said that searches for “mini gift ideas” are up 2X, a sign that people are looking for fun-sized gifts.
SEO
You’ve got six months left to optimize
Don’t be (too) alarmed by the headline – but maybe be a little alarmed, because the clock is now ticking for Google’s long-anticipated Core Web Vitals update.
We’ve talked about it more times than we can count in this newsletter, mostly because it’s a pretty big deal for everyone from SEOs to e-commerce site owners. Here’s a quick overview of what the update is:
- User experience signals are getting a lot more weight. Google’s Core Web Vitals, LCP, FIP, and CLS (read more on these confusing acronyms here) are going to become an important part of the ranking process.
- Existing user experience signals will be factored into ranking as well. This hammers home the point we’ve been making for months – make sure the user experience on your site scorches that of your competitors.
Yesterday, Google released an official announcement saying that the update will be coming in May 2021. It’s coming up quickly, but there’s still enough time to get ready. Google makes a couple of suggestions:
- Use the tools that Google currently has available. Search Console, Page Speed Insights, and Lighthouse are the big three tools you’ll want to dive into as you figure out how to improve the user experience on your site.
- Depending on your site, AMP might be a great route to streamline the user experience. Google explains why in this new blog post.
To all the SEOs and site owners out there…Ready, set, optimize!
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- Ian Fernando – Landing page and follow up strategies for lead gen offers.
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Grab your referral link here. Then tell your marketer friends how they can stay ahead of the curve by reading Stacked Marketer (and how they can help you win a MacBook Air).
Meet Mr. Lander and Mr. Ad
They’re two salesmen that relentlessly work 24 hours a day to sell your products (as long as you keep your campaigns active).
Whether they are two savages or two noobs will depend on you. Specifically, it’ll depend on how clever you are at assigning them the right tasks.
Recently, we talked about the AIDA model (Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action) and how to apply it to landing pages.
Alexandros Mitris recently shared a post talking about how the AIDA model applies to the whole ad and landing page funnel. Plus, he explained how to make sure that those two salesmen go out and close the deal.
Let’s start with the first step of the AIDA model, awareness, or attention if you will:
+ Getting attention: The first thing to understand is to create ads that look native to the platform. Your prospect goes on Facebook to check how Mike’s holiday is going. Not to buy your stuff.
What should you do?
1. Catch their attention with a headline.
2. Use the subheadline to draw them into the ad’s copy.
+ Interest: Once the prospect is into the copy, you’re in the interest stage. Mr. Ad’s job now is to make the prospect click the “See more” button. You can use facts or story-based copy to build up more interest.
+ Desire: Here Mr. Lander takes charge of the prospect and starts creating desire. There’s still no pitching involved, discounts, or aggressive CTAs. Here you go on with bullets, stories, benefits, and facts to increase the buying temperature.
+Action: When the prospect is hot enough, you close the deal with an offer your prospect must be blind to refuse.
Now let’s turn this to practical tips:
- Research everything about your prospect. Here we shared a checklist to do it.
- Study how news articles are advertised on social media. People love to hear the news.
- Check native ads on large newspapers and observe what headlines they use to shock and grab attention.
- Don’t use the “Shop Now” button with cold audiences. “I don’t even know you and you’re already asking me to buy?”
- Make scarcity believable because people are not stupid.
- Build credibility in your copy.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
INSTAGRAM: The app added the account switching option to its desktop version.
WHATSAPP: There’s a new shopping button in WhatsApp chats that makes it easier than ever for customers to buy from businesses!
ADVERTISING: This new piece from Danny Goodwin at Search Engine Journal is packed with some tips on what to watch in PPC over the coming year.
AMAZON: There’s trouble brewing for Amazon in the EU, where they’ve been charged with abusing their dominant position online to gain an edge over competitors.
TIKTOK: A report stated that the app will surpass 1 billion users in 2021. The report also notes that this Q3, TikTok saw the second-highest consumer spend among non-gaming apps. The child prodigy is starting to unlock its potential!
BRAIN TEASER
I am something that everyone has in common. I change people’s appearances and opinions. Some people might want to try and hide me, but I’ll show in the end. What am I?
You can find the solution here.
POOLSIDE CHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things marketers like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
Watch out, Han Solo
It might be time to retire the Millenium Falcon – because the US Space Force, the space service branch of the U.S. military, now has a unit solely dedicated to orbital warfare.
If this isn’t fascinating (or scary?) enough, the unit has also been assigned the once-secret X-37B spaceplane.
The spaceplane (we’ll call it a spaceship, though), previously under the control of the Air Force, is a secretive uncrewed spaceship that’s been flying space missions since 2010.
We’re far from seeing X-wings and TIE fighters fighting in our sky, but if you are a Star Wars fanatic and joining the Rebel Alliance has always been your dream (the Space Force in this case), this is your time to step up!