The search giant adds new metrics, ad formats, and more
Now that Cyber Week has passed, guess it’s back to business as usual, huh?
Let’s start with Google releasing interesting updates for three different products.
Analytics gets new metrics: Advertisers can now see Views Per Sessions and Average Session Duration in Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
If you’re still using Universal Analytics (UA), you may see a difference in session counts between the two platforms.
Hello, side rail ads: The new ad format will be displayed at the side of the page if you’re using a wide screen display, such as on your desktop.
If you have anchor ads enabled, side rail ads will start appearing on your site after December 13.
Google plans to update the Disapprovals and suspensions page to show the Display & Video 360 ads policy violations that can cause account suspensions.
And here’s something for SEOs, too: The new update from Google claims that your website URL doesn’t have to be in the same language as page content “from a SEO point of view.”
This is a U-turn from back in 2015 when Google officials said it’s better for the language to be the same. Urgh, Google… decide already.
Why we care: If you’re in Google Search, you’ll be happy to hear about new metrics, ad types, and even to know that search engines won’t punish you for juggling between languages.
And now that we’ve covered search, let’s move to social media…
SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter’s feed imitates TikTok, LinkedIn rolls out “focused inbox”
If you think TikTok’s feed recommendation algorithm is addicting, well… so do competitors.
That’s why Twitter is trying out a similar algorithm, expanding tweet recommendations to attract more users and keep them glued to the platform.
Twitter’s algorithm will use “signals” like interests, engagement, and users’ network to show suggested tweets “in your Home timeline, certain places in the Explore tab, and elsewhere.”
Twitter also introduced tools that will help users manage recommendations. Sweet!
LinkedIn is trying to cut down “spams and scams”: If you’re tired of spammy cold messages on LinkedIn, you may appreciate the platform’s attempt to tidy up your inbox.
LinkedIn announced a couple new features for keeping spammers at bay:
- Focused messages is a new inbox feature that will include “the most relevant opportunities and outreach” determined by the algorithm, while the “Others” inbox will net everything else, including spam.
- Spam reporting lets you… well, report spam messages, obviously. LinkedIn is “quietly introducing automated systems to detect things such as harassment.” See ya later, creeps.
LinkedIn also added a live video captioning option to improve the platform’s messaging features and make inboxes a more pleasant “place of delivery.”
Why we care: It’s unsure how much of an impact Twitter’s new feed algorithm will have, but it’s definitely a signal for content marketers to produce high quality content that drives action, as there’s more chance it will show up organically to users that aren’t following you.
And LinkedIn’s new features, if successful, may boost B2B experiences and help better connect you to new potential opportunities. Here’s hoping.
SPONSORED BY STACKED MARKETER PRO
Never run out of email campaign ideas
It’s that time of the month again…
… When we release a new Stacked Marketer Pro report.
Only this time, instead of a report, it’s a swipe file. But not your average swipe file. We went through thousands of email campaigns sent by hundreds of businesses.
Then we picked the top 1%, broke them down, and categorized them based on the psychological principles they use.
This swipe file shows you how to:
- Add surprise elements to your email that keep your list engaged.
- Arouse intense curiosity in your readers that makes them click.
- Leverage urgency and scarcity without feeling pushy.
- Create emails that are fun and entertaining.
You can find a free preview of the report here.
When you join Stacked Marketer Pro, you get access to the Principles-based Email Marketing Swipe File, plus 22 other Pro Reports.
ADVERTISING
Making bold claims? Beware of the FTC
So, your clients or students have doubled, even tripled their revenue since they’ve started working with you… and you want to use their results to promote your business?
It sounds like a great idea… but it may soon be against the law. Wait, what?
As Rob Freund shows in his recent post, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may start paying more attention to claims in the context of coaching and money-making.
What that means: Let’s say you’re promoting a client success story and say, “This client earned $100k in the last 30 days” with the help of your program.
The FTC will assume you’re saying that “every client is expected to earn $100k in the next 30 days.”
Basically, it will treat that claim as a representation of what your average client is expected to make. And without the data to support it, your ad will be flagged as misleading.
What you shouldn’t do: Using general disclaimers to say results aren’t guaranteed, or that your testimonials come from un-average clients, just won’t cut it.
What you can do: Don’t worry, you have a couple options. You can:
- Find your ideal average result and promote it so you can back up your claim, or
- Offer clear disclosure of what your average result is – so no waffling.
If you go for the second option, you may still be able to promote your best clients while managing expectations. Sure, it might decrease your conversion rate a bit, but it will keep you “legit.”
It might even help to filter out “fake gurus” and other unlawful competition.
So the change could be healthy for the industry. Who would’ve guessed?
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The Daily Upside is the fastest-growing financial newsletter in the US. Want to know why?
Because every issue is packed with equal doses of analysis and insight:
Want to know why rare Scotch whiskey prices are surging?
Or why the UK opened an antitrust investigation into Google and Apple?
The Daily Upside instantly boosts your business IQ. It’s a must-read for marketers.
THE CREW’S INSIGHTS
We analyzed more than 300 of our sponsors’ ads. Here are the do’s and don’ts of writing copy that converts…
As you’ve probably noticed, this newsletter makes most of its money from sponsors.
Companies pay good money to feature their products because you, dear reader, are an up-to-date marketer who might be interested in trying out a new tool or two.
We recently broke down the performance of ads featured in this newsletter in 2022. Here are some of the data-backed copywriting insights we learned:
- Give away something for free. Sponsored posts with lead magnets of some kind outperformed those without. Just make sure the lead magnet is actually valuable.
- Use numbers in your headlines. Headlines with numbers in them do extremely well. But, only use numbers if you have something novel and exciting. Don’t use them just for the sake of it.
- Write curiosity-driven headlines. Tease the content to come, but don’t reveal it all at once. A headline like “These 4 products are going viral on TikTok” works because it begs the question, “what products?”
- Use proof. A line like “learn content strategy from the TikTok creator who gained 1.5M followers” works because there’s solid evidence and authority behind the intrigue.
Those are the insights. As far as what not to do…
- Try to avoid using the name of your brand in the headline. This is more specific to copy that’s being shown in an organic setting like a newsletter… not copy that’s being shown on your site.
- Try to avoid vague promises and statements. There’s a difference between a cliffhanger and a statement that’s so vague, people don’t know what to expect. The latter tends to perform worse.
If you enjoy copywriting insights like this one, sign up for Stacked Marketer Pro and check out the Landing Page Copywriting Deep Dive. It’s our comprehensive guide to writing high-converting pages—and it will help you increase sales and look like a genius at work.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
BUSINESS INSIGHTS: Did you know Chris Meade, a founder behind CROSSNET, the world’s fastest-growing backyard games, runs an insightful weekly newsletter? It covers everything from growing an eight-figure business to retail expansion, paid acquisition, and more. Get his business-changing insights here.*
APPS: The most popular app on Google Play is—wait for it—an AI image generator. The users’ choice winner being BeReal, another 2022 hit. Neither of these winners should come as a surprise. Especially if you’ve read Stacked Marketer throughout the year…
SEARCH: Brave browser, a popular privacy-first search engine, is launching ads in open beta, plus a $3/month ad-free premium access. For now Brave is only serving text-based ads on search results pages that “won’t keep any profile of your searches.” Interesting.
AMAZON: Uh-oh. Seems like Amazon Ads’ dashboard reported inaccurate ad spend data during Black Friday, making advertisers uncertain about how much they actually spent. So if reports seemed off to you – you weren’t alone. Talk about timing…
E-COMMERCE: As was expected, the record-breaking Cyber Week revenue wasn’t all too kind to retailers. Platform fees, deep discounts, and other issues made sales much less profitable than originally thought, according to this report. Ouch.
TIKTOK: Want to learn more about TikTok’s algorithm or privacy protection? Hear it from the CEO himself in this rare interview he gave to the New York Times. And no, he doesn’t disclose how your brand can go viral. Bummer.
*This is a sponsored post
BRAIN TEASER
What kind of tree can you carry in your hand?
You can find the answer here.
POOLSIDE CHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things marketers like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
The 2022 toy map
If you’re wondering what everyone in your country wants for Christmas, just open the map.
A toy website called TheToyZone analyzed web search data to map out this year’s most searched-for toys in each country in the world.
And yes, the map looks as awesome as it sounds.
And while there are shoppers still searching for evergreen classics like Monopoly or Barbie… four out of the top five most searched toys are video game consoles.
But surprisingly, Lincoln Logs are more popular than PS5 in the US. Now you know what to get your niece or nephew this year…