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SEO
September 2019 core update roll out
Yesterday, Google announced a new core update called September 2019 core update to its ranking algorithm. Such a creative name, huh?
This update has already started rolling out yesterday at 2PM ET and like all other core updates, it impacts how Google determines the relevancy of a web page for a specific query and how it ranks websites.
What does this mean? To put it simply, your website ranking will either be affected positively or negatively. All of that depends on numerous factors.
What do SEOs have to do?
If you are seeing an improvement in your search rankings, you can take the day off and celebrate. Even if you are seeing a decline in your site ranking, there is nothing you can do to fix it.
“There’s nothing wrong with pages that may perform less well in a core update.”
Google shares a classic example to explain this:
“One way to think of how a core update operates is to imagine you made a list of the top 100 movies in 2015. A few years later in 2019, you refresh the list. It’s going to naturally change. Some new and wonderful movies that never existed before will now be candidates for inclusion.
You might also reassess some films and realize they deserved a higher place on the list than they had before. The list will change, and films previously higher on the list that move down aren’t bad. There are simply more deserving films that are coming before them.”
So, is there literally nothing you can do? Well, Google recommends focusing on ensuring that you’re offering your users the best content you can. That’s what their algorithms seek to reward.
Additionally, here’s a set of questions you might want to ask yourself to troubleshoot this issue further.
Good luck!
SNAPCHAT
A list of updates for Snap advertisers
Snapchat has loaded its ad interface with a bunch of new features to lure more advertisers to its platform.
Here’s a quick summary of the new features unveiled:
+ Longer ad durations: You can now run longer videos on Snap Ads, up to 180-seconds. Previously, the maximum duration for Snap Ads was just 10-seconds. It is not going to change the user experience in any way as users will still be able to skip or interact with ads as they always have.
But you will have more time to persuade them 😉
+ Swipe-up’s for Commercials: These 6-second, non-skippable Commercials were previously introduced as video-only ads, with no interactive features. With this new update, users can now swipe-up on these ad units which will launch either a web view, long-form video or a camera attachment.
Commercials sold via Snap’s ad auction platform are seeing CPMs in the range of $10-$12, with an average cost-per-completed-view (CPCV) of $0.01.
+ Goal-based bidding: In order to increase ad engagements, a new bidding option is added for advertisers to optimize for longer, 15-second video views.
How is this helpful?
With these expanded, long-form video ads, Snapchat is aiming to drive more engagement on its platform. The audiences currently watching longer videos on the platform are growing at 35% Y-Y.
The total daily time spent by users watching Shows has increased 3x as compared to Q2, 2018. Snapchat reports its user base includes 75% of 13 to 34 year olds in the U.S.
With these new video offerings, Snap is making way to take a larger chunk of the video advertising market.
SPONSORED
📈 Casino CPL vs CPA. Which one is more profitable for you and why?
It’s certainly one of the evergreen verticals for affiliates. People like the thrill, they like the money and will always be interested in this vertical… We’re talking about casino.
There’s something you might not have thought about when it comes to this vertical though… Which is that running a CPL with a casino focused affiliate network is probably a better model for the affiliate, compared to CPA. Here’s just a few reasons why:
- CPLs convert faster so you can optimize and scale faster.
- CPL rates can be bumped much faster too, so if you have good quality traffic, a well-established network like YTZ can increase your payout quickly.
- You can run with all the best casino brands that don’t work with most affiliates on a CPL basis.
In other words, generating leads and getting quick feedback enables you to generate higher returns faster. Isn’t that almost always better? So you’re probably thinking then… “Where do these offers perform the best, show me examples!” We’re glad you asked!
Here are 3 of the top offers on YTZ that you could start testing right away:
- True Blue Casino – CPL – AU – $7 CPL- $1.08 EPC – Run it!
- Bao Casino – 20 Free Spins – CPL [Email submit] – AR, AU, BR, CA, CL, CO, DE, FI, IN, JP, LV, MX, NO, NZ, PE, PL, RU – $0.10-$3 CPL (email submit, high CR!) – $0.09-$1.18 EPC – Run it!
- N1 Casino – CPL – NL – $5 CPL – $0.69 EPC – Run it!
The best traffic sources that work for this are email, native ads and push notification traffic. Typical prelanders that do well and can give you a head start:
Working on casino CPL offers with YTZ means you can identify positive-ROI sources faster and won’t squander your ad spend on the losers.
Sign up to YTZ right here and tell them WHAT THE AFF sent you for faster application processing!
PS: Do you want to add 10% net revenue to your campaigns? Sign up for YTZ’s smartlink!
$748k in 30 days with 2.42x ROAS: The process
Well, the headline already says it all. So, let’s just move to the process Josh Graham used to roll in those high six figures.
+ Account structure: This is the foundation. Before running ads, you must have the following campaigns in place:
- Ad creation campaign.
- Prospecting testing campaign.
- Warm retargeting campaign.
- Hot retargeting campaign.
+ The purpose of the ad creation campaign is to create all of your ads and make them run solely to build social proof. No optimization and targeting. You can then use the same posts IDs in the following campaigns.
+ Prospecting: Here Josh starts with a conversion campaign. And it can be either a CBO (campaign budget) or ABO (ad set budget) campaign.
The set up is this: 10 audiences and 3 creatives. For the audiences, he went for LLAs (lookalike audiences). He used what he calls Super LLA. Basically, you gather different LLAs with the same percentage in one ad set. For i.e., 1% Purchases LLA, 1% ATCs LLA, 1% Website visitors LLAs etc.
In addition, if you had already 1k purchases, Josh suggests going for a wide-open targeting. No Interests nor LLAs.
The budget for prospecting is 4x product price for each ad set, with $100 minimum.
For creatives, Josh tests the following ad types: Images, Video and Carousels Ads. He uses lifestyle shots, BuzzFeed style videos, product demo videos, influencer content, user-generated content. When starting off, he just sticks to one copy and a headline.
Once he finds the ad+audience performing combination, he duplicates the ad set into a CBO scaling campaign.
+ Warm retargeting: Here Josh retargets Facebook Page’s engagers, Instagram Page’s engagers and Video VIewers.
For him, the creatives that work here are user-generated content or testimonials videos, whereas the copy is about answering possible objections. Plus he also adds a small discount for the first purchase.
He gathers all the audiences in one ad set:
- 30 Day Instagram Engagers.
- 30 Day Facebook Engagers.
- Exclude 30 Day Page Viewers.
- Exclude 180 Day Purchases.
+ Hot retargeting: Here, again, Josh gathers all the hot traffic audiences in the same ad: 30 day retargeting audience containing all website visitors, view content, add to cart, initiate checkout, and excluding 180-day purchasers.
He uses DPA (Dynamic Product Ads) but also tests Carousel Ads and Collection Ads with the Collection creative being a video or influencer/UGC (user generated content) image.
+ LTV (Lifetime Value): This campaign is about getting buyers back in the store. The set up Josh uses is:
- 7-day purchasers: Use a thank you video filmed by the founder thanking the customer for their purchase and assure them their product will get to them soon.
- 14-day purchasers: Use another video ad, stating that you hope they received their product and are enjoying it. Ask them to leave a review or film a testimonial for a special gift.
- 30-day purchasers: DPA or static image offering them an only for customers one-time discount.
Done It was a long one, right? There’s more! Josh shared more things in his case study such as the copy templates. Check it out!
SWEET SIX
- YOUTUBE: Working to grow your YouTube Channel? Check out this study which reveals the top YouTube keywords for 2019 that drive the most views.
- GOOGLE: Google advertisers can now set up conversion tracking right during the campaign creation process. A small update that might save you some time and ensure conversion tracking is set up immediately after the campaign setup.
- E-COMMERCE: A case study from Alex Fedotoff talks about understanding when to scale your campaigns and when not. The 3 pillars of FB Ads scaling – $528k in 1 month.
- ADVERTISING: Can landing page optimization be a make-or-break factor for the success of FB Ads? AdExpreso answers this with their latest $1k experiment.
- FACEBOOK: A former FB employee gives an insider’s perspective on the recent suicide at Menlo Park and how’s FB’s culture might have had an effect.
- BUSINESS: The California Consumer Privacy Act will go into effect from Jan 1, 2020 and will be enforced from July. Does it mean a major change or just another “OK” button for the users to click?
BRAIN TEASER
What can travel around the world while staying in a corner?
You’ll find the answer at the end of this email.
POOLSIDE CHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things affiliates like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.Opulence for scuba divers
Funniest ad of the year?
Does funny sell?
We mean, do you think that funny ads can give you good results?
You don’t know? Then ask Splenda, a brand that sells stevia-based sweeteners.
They launched a funny ad to solve a problem: Fight the DIY culture that is pushing people to grow stevia plants in their basements instead of buying the final product.
The ad starts off as a traditional commercial, then crashes with people interrupting and sticking it to the narrator. But the bottom line is it makes more sense to buy Splenda Stevia than to go to all the trouble of growing it yourself.
According to AdWeek, this might be the funniest ad of the year, so it’s probably worth a view!
PS: We can already see maryjane brands replicating this strategy 😉
BRAIN TEASER ANSWER
A STAMP.