Google has announced that the new AdWords interface is now available to all advertisers. Along with new features for data visualization, the overhaul enhances load speed of account data up to 20 percent. New reports and controls built into the updated experience have also been highlighted periodically by AdWords on their blog over the past several months. [Source: Search Engine Land]
It appears that Facebook’s testing a new tool which would enable users to search objects in Facebook’s Marketplace via an image. The option makes a lot of sense, and it clearly aligns with Facebook’s ongoing development of their image-recognition technology. [Source: Social Media Today]
LinkedIn is linking together its sales and marketing products for the first time. As a result, B2B marketers will be able to more easily target their ads on the Microsoft-owned, business-centric social network to new leads and existing accounts. [Source: MARTECH TODAY]
Snapchat continues to flip location-based search on its head. Snapchat rolled out a feature called Context Cards that enables people to access information about a venue tagged in a photo or video posted to the app. [Source: Marketing Land]
Twitter announced on Thursday that it has launched in-stream video ads to marketers in India. The company said with in-stream video ads, brands in India can align with videos from Twitter’s premium content partners across sports, news and entertainment globally. [Source: The Economic Times]
Twitter’s adding another way to highlight happening news events and real-time discussion within the app, by pushing out a new ‘Happening Now’ notification which will appear on user home screens, focusing on live events. [Source: Social Media Today]
The recent Microsoft Ignite event told us a lot about the direction technology is going — and specifically how it will impact marketers. Microsoft emphasized two trends that will have a significant effect on marketers. The first is an effort to make artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning available to the masses. The second is heavier integration between Microsoft and LinkedIn. [Source: MARTECH TODAY]
Facebook announced that over the next month Pages will be able to post Stories through its iOS and Android apps. Unlike normal people, however, Pages will not be able to cross-post Stories simultaneously to Facebook and Instagram. [Source: Marketing Land]
Twitter’s working on a new bookmark feature which will help users keep track of tweets they want to come back to, without having to ‘Like’ them to keep tabs. [Source: Social Media Today]
LinkedIn has announced a closed beta for testing video ad units as Sponsored Content. This comes just two months after enabling native videos in the LinkedIn Feed. The video ads will autoplay, and appear as a standalone unit with a “Promoted” label to distinguish them as paid content. [Source: Marketing Land]
Expert Opinion:
- Shifting from ‘Mobile strategy’ to ‘engagement strategy’ is the way forward for marketers
Mobile has become an important part of every person’s life these days. It is also an essential medium through which the modern customer experience takes place. It is the easiest device accessed by every individual and has become a gateway for brands to showcase their products and service offerings to the users.
With the rising awareness about the importance of mobile as an impactful medium for marketing and considering the increasing trend of mobile marketing strategies followed by various brands, it is important for the new-age marketers to focus on creating compelling engagement strategies for consumers.
While designing any campaigns for mobile, marketers need to consider the unique capabilities of mobile. Also, the strategy should not just focus on the mobile experience. Activities across various channels need to be in sync. The new-age customers do not recognize your brand differently through different channels and expect a seamless experience from one brand across multiple channels.
One of the best ways to stand out through your mobile experience strategy is to deliver relevant content to the users whenever and wherever they are highly likely to make a purchase decision. Data can be extremely useful in this regard. Analysing the data available about the user behavior and how they react to the marketing activities (like app behavior, email opens and clicks, web behavior) can be of great assistance to devise impactful mobile campaign strategies that can provide higher returns.
The devices on which customers engage and interact with brands are growing at a rapid rate. For marketers to make an impact and achieve better returns from their marketing campaigns, it is vital to integrate the technologies, processes, teams and internal systems in such a way that the customers’ online and offline behavior is in sync and provides useful insights to create meaningful strategies.
For brands to succeed, it is essential to understand all the platforms (old as well as emerging), consider the pros and cons of every platform and determine ways to use them effectively in a way that can help the business to sustain in the constantly changing digital environment. This way marketers can create experiences that add value to the customer’s day which in turn will help their business to flourish.
– John Mathew, Head – Digital & Multi-Channel Marketing, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals
