Marketing Updates With Motion Ave

Welcome to Motion Ave’s newest edition of Marketing Updates! This week, we’ll be sharing some important news from Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. Remember, social media digital marketing is key for your business, so it’s essential to stay up-to-date regarding the latest trends. So let’s get to it!

54% of People Don’t Feel Culturally Represented in Online ads, Facebook finds.

Facebook has found that diversity and inclusion in online advertising helps brands engage with consumers and deliver better business outcomes. Yet marketers still have a long way to go to address misrepresentation and underrepresentation. A study conducted in conjunction with the  Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media found that “71% of consumers expect brands to promote diversity and inclusion in their online advertising, but 54% don’t feel fully represented in online ads, per a study released by Facebook.”

This is particularly important when a majority of consumers are more loyal to and prefer to purchase from brands that stand for diversity and inclusion in online advertising. Some examples of underrepresentation and bias found in the ads include:

  • Women are more than 14x as likely to be shown in revealing clothing and are nearly seven times as likely to be objectified visually or verbally. 
  • Men are 2.4x more likely than women to be presented as angry and 1.4x less likely to be shown as happy.
  • People with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ+ community are “severely” underrepresented in online ads, at 1.1% and 0.3%, respectively.

Nada Stirratt, Vice President of the Global Business Group for Facebook North America, said: “The advertising industry has an outsized responsibility in how members of traditionally diverse groups are broadcast to the world. This research…highlights where and how we can do better. It’s on us to get this right.” 

When brands get representation right, it helps to drive loyalty and purchases, so make sure that your brand pays close attention to representation in your digital marketing strategy!

To learn more about representation in marketing, follow this link: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/54-of-people-dont-feel-culturally-represented-in-online-ads-facebook-fin/596357/

Twitter Looks to Get in on the eCommerce Boom with New Shopping Experiments

We all know that eCommerce is on the rise, and now Twitter wants to join in on the boom! Twitter has recently developed various eCommerce options, including a Twitter-type card for eCommerce, which includes a large ‘Shop’ CTA button that takes you to a transaction page. Twitter is still testing the card’s eCommerce features, which can also list a product’s price and depict info from the item’s page on its business site. 

Twitter knows that there’s potential in this initiative:

“…people come to Twitter to interact with brands and discuss their favorite products…This demand gives us confidence in the power of combining real-time conversation with an engaged and intentional audience.”

So, who will be advertising and offering their product(s) soon on Twitter? Stay tuned!

Read more about Twitter’s entry into eCommerce here:

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/twitter-looks-to-get-in-on-the-ecommerce-boom-with-new-shopping-experiments/595988/

TikTok Launches New TikTok for Business Profile to Share Key Tips and Insights

If you’re looking to add TikTok to your digital marketing mix, you’re in luck! The platform just launched a new TikTok for Business profile within the app. Using this feature, TikTok will discuss platform marketing tips, insights and information on the app’s use, as well as preview upcoming events so that advertisers can best utilize this new resource.

TikTok is projected to reach a billion users in 2021, meaning that this new initiative will definitely become a larger focal point for marketers as the year progresses. Following the TikTok for business profile will be helpful for anybody who wants to understand TikTok and its best practices better, as the information comes directly from the platform’s experts and is based on the app’s response data.

TikTok has already posted the first few clips to this new account, which can be found at @tiktokforbusiness, to cover some key basics, such as framing your promotions and maximizing responses.

Look into how TikTok plans to utilize its new business profile here: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/tiktok-launches-new-tiktok-for-business-profile-to-share-key-tips-and-insig/595904/

That’s all for this week, folks! We hope that you’ve enjoyed this edition of Marketing Updates with Motion Ave, and we’ll see you back here shortly for our next installment!

Marketing Updates With Motion Ave

It’s Google Week on Marketing Updates With Motion Ave! Today’s marketing news is dominated by Alphabet’s web giant! Check out all the news right here. 

Google Ads’ Optimization Score Will Include Display Campaigns

Google has expanded its optimization score feature to include one of the most common campaign types: display, which includes search, shopping, and display ads. As with existing categories, the score uses Google’s algorithm to analyze the features of your ads that it predicts will most improve results.

Want the full story? Click here: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-ads-optimization-score-now-includes-display-campaigns/338665/#close

Google Ads To Explain Itself

In this never-before-seen feature, a paid service will explain why it does anything it does to its advertiser customers. Google’s new “See Explanation” feature will help advertisers optimize ads more efficiently, providing specific measures for ad impressions, clicks, and cost. Accepting our ad money and telling us how those ads actually performed? You’re spoiling us rotten, Google!  

Get the explanation here: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ads-explanations-beta-28643.html

And here:

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-ads-to-explain-why-changes-in-performance-occurred/338911/

Chrome To Provide Support for Likes Addiction

In the time it took you to read this sentence, your likes count on one of your Instagram From FACEBOOK posts has probably changed. Back from checking? I bet it changed again. Just kidding! Want to prevent this nightmare scenario from ever happening again? Google Chrome’s new desktop extension displays the number of likes on posts that don’t show them. Bafflingly, advertisers and influencers in several test countries have exploded into fireballs of anxious rage when Instagram from FACEBOOK has hidden their like counts. We can all sleep better tonight.

Protect yourself and your family here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/heatherleighton/2019/12/10/this-chrome-extension-brings-instagram-posts-likes-back/#21ece31c146c

Canva Launches New Video Editing Feature

Canva will ring in the new year with new tools, including a video editing tool that, as always, requires no previous design experience! The company also launched its desktop version and an option focused on Education: Canva for Education.

Learn more here: https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/06/canva-introduces-video-editing-has-big-plans-for-2020/

That’s all for this year! We hope you have a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year full of new marketing news and ads improvements!

3 Fundamental Facebook Ads Strategies For eCommerce You Need To Know

This year, the total value of global retail eCommerce is expected to reach $3.45 trillion– and most online retailers are reaching  these sales heights with Facebook Ads. 

Facebook, a platform with 2.41 billion monthly active users, recently reported that they had 6 million advertisers on its platform in Q4 2019. 

If you’re not advertising on Facebook, you’re missing a great opportunity to create brand awareness and boost your sales. Last year, I wrote a blog post with 15 essential Facebook Ads strategies for eCommerce. Since the world’s largest social media platform is continually changing, I’ve decided to update this essential information with the 3 fundamental strategies for eCommerce you need to know to start taking advantage of this money-making machine. 

1. Install Conversion Tracking Pixel

Installing a conversion tracking pixel on your website is the very first thing you should do when you start advertising on Facebook. 

The Facebook pixel is a piece of code that you copy from Facebook and paste on your website. It tracks the behavior of visitors to your website: product page visits, add to cart, purchases, and more. This data allows you to optimize your campaigns, build better audiences, and retarget people that have interacted with your brand. 

To create your Facebook pixel, follow these steps:

  • Login in to your Business Manager account
  • Go to your Pixels tab in Events Manager 
  • Click “Create a Pixel”
  • Click “Create” in the box that appears to finish creating your pixel

Facebook Pixel

Next, add Pixel to your site: 

  • Go to your website’s code and find the header of your website
  • Copy the entire code that you created on Business Facebook and paste it in the header of your website. Paste the code at the bottom of the header section, just above the closing head tag.
  • Click “Send Test Traffic” after placing the code on your website to make sure Pixel working properly. If your status says “Active”, your base code has been installed correctly. This can take several minutes to update.

You can also send the instructions to your developer, or if you’re using a partner integration like Google Tag Manager, you can connect your account in Business Manager and follow the onscreen instructions to connect your Pixel to your website.

Related: 5 Reasons Why We Love The Facebook Pixel (And You Should, Too!)

2. Use Dynamic Ads

This is the highest ROI strategy to use on Facebook Ads for eCommerce. 

Instead of individually creating ads for each product, dynamic ads allow you to create an ad template that will use the information you upload to a product catalog with your product’s images and details. 

Your campaign will use the information tracked in your Facebook Pixel to show ads to people who have already expressed an interest in your business or a specific product. 

The best part? Even though you have a vast catalog of products, the ads will be personalized and relevant to your audience. 

Dynamic ads can not only be used to retarget people who have taken actions on your website, but you can also target broad audiences to reach people who haven’t heard from you yet. Facebook calls this “product recommendations.” These recommendations can include products already viewed by a person on your website, popular products on your catalog, and products that similar people to your audience interacted with. 

To set up your dynamic ads, follow these steps:

Step 1: Set up your Facebook Pixel and Conversion Events

  • After installing your Facebook pixel, you need to set up your conversions events, which are specific actions visitors take on your site. You must select the conversion events that best apply to you, for example:
    • Add ViewContent events to all product pages.
    • Add AddToCart events to either your shopping cart pages and/or buttons that allow people to add items to carts.
    • Add Purchase events to purchase or confirmation pages.
  • Then, select either product IDs or product group IDs on your events to match individual products viewed on a website separately, such as showing an ad for a product that comes in multiple colors in one specific color choice.
  • Associate your Facebook Pixel or events to your catalog to show products based on customer behavior.

Step 2: Build your catalog

  • In your Business Manager account, go to Catalog Manager to create your catalog, which is the inventory of products that you want to advertise on Facebook. Keep in mind that you need to keep your catalog up to date and make sure every product has a unique identifier.

Build Catalog

Step 3: Create products sets from your catalog

  • From your inventory, you need to create a group of items that will allow you to control your bids and the items that appear in your ads. The product sets can be organized by product category, price range, markdown, or promotional price or theme. 

Now that you’re ready with your dynamic ads, you can use multi-product ads, like carousels, to reach your audience with multiple products in a single ad.

Related: Getting The Most From Facebook Dynamic Ads

3. Run Retargeting Campaigns

Did you know that on average 72% of online shoppers abandon their carts without buying a product? And only 8% of them will come back. Shocking, right?

For these reasons, one of the most essential strategies for eCommerce on Facebook ads is to run retargeting campaigns. This strategy will help you to show your products to website visitors that view a product or added to cart but didn’t complete a purchase, and also helps you to cross-sell and upsell additional products. 

To create retargeting campaigns, yes, you guessed it, you’ll also need your Facebook Pixel. Thanks to the data it collects, you can create custom audiences with segments of people who already have a relationship or interacted with your business: website visitors, video views, consumers who engaged with your Facebook page or Instagram business profile, and much more.

To build these audiences, follow these steps:

  • Go to Audiences on Business Manager
  • Select Create Audience and then Custom Audience
  • Select the source of your audience
  • Follow the instructions based on the source

Retargeting Campaigns

To maximize the return of your retargeting campaigns, offer coupons and discounts. This way, you’ll entice your visitors to come back to your website and finish their purchases. 

Related: Getting Smart With Targeting On Facebook Ads, For Beginners

Conclusion:

These three strategies are fundamental to making the most of your eCommerce presence. Using them will increase the probability of visitors completing sales and taking more advantage of your ads, improving your ROI.

We hope you find these strategies helpful! Want a team of Facebook ads experts to take it from here? Drop us a line. We’d love to take the hard work off your hands, and help your eCommerce get on the right track! 

 

Sources:

Marketing Updates With Motion Ave

A new edition of Marketing Updates with Motion Ave is here! Platform changes, new options, and political controversy top the headlines of the biggest social platforms. Read on to find out more! 

Twitter Could Allow Scheduling Tweet On Web App

Twitter has jumped on the bandwagon of integrating scheduling features directly on their social platform. Twitter could now let you schedule tweets. Until now it had only been possible to schedule tweets on Twitter through TweetDeck and other third-party services such as Hootsuite, Buffer or SproutSocial. However, in recent days Twitter launched a test in which some users will have the ability to schedule tweets directly in the compose window in the web app.

Are you one of the lucky ones? Find out here: https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/20/20974686/twitter-test-tweet-scheduling-main-web-app-tweetdeck-buffer

Facebook Launch Options To Better Control Ad Placement

In 2017 YouTube lost millions of dollars in revenue after brands removed their ads from the platform for fear that their ads would appear alongside hate speech content. To prevent this from happening on its platform, Facebook launched new features that will allow advertisers to have more control over where their ads appear across Facebook’s ad delivery networks.

Get to know the new ad options here: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-adds-new-options-for-brands-to-control-ad-placements/567748/

Google Also Limits Political Advertising

Google also joins the trend and limits in some way the reach of political ads. Unlike Twitter, Google will not ban political ads, but will limit their targeting capacity, in addition to taking action against “demonstrably false claims” that can influence a voter’s voting decision or generate mistrust in the electoral process. For now, political ad targeting will be limited to age and location.

Get to know more here: https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/20/google-limits-political-ad-targeting-and-all-demonstrably-false-claims/

Pinterest To Support Small Businesses This Holiday Season

Pinterest has launched a page exclusively populated with shoppable product pins from a curated list of small US businesses, mostly run by women. With this initiative Pinterest seeks to support this type of business that in their own words offer “something you won’t find at every other box store on the block.”

Organize your holiday gift list here: https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2019/11/pinterest-highlightssmall-businesses-for-holiday.html

A new week ends with Marketing Updates With Motion Ave. We look forward to having you here next week to learn more about marketing news and the world of online advertisi

Wireframes Or Mockups? Do You Know The Difference?

If you’re not familiar with the design industry and more specifically UX (user experience) design, a “wireframe” and “mockup” could sound like the same thing to you: a representation of the structure of a website. However, these two concepts actually refer to two very different things.

Each of these terms refers to different stages of the design process, from the simplest and most general structure to the most complex and detailed design.  In the following chart, we explain the characteristics of both, so you’ll not only understand how to use these terms appropriately, but how to employ these two design tools themselves.

Wireframes and Mockups difference

Ejemplo de la diferencia entre wireframes y mockups

What do wireframes and mockups have in common? 

Both are completed before the launch of a project to have a clear idea about what the client wants and what will be designed.

How do you make a wireframe and a mockup?

There are lots of tools- both free and premium- available online to develop both. While wireframes can simply be hand-drawn to illustrate design ideas, it’s preferable to use digital tools for this purpose to give a cleaner and more professional look, especially when showing this to a client. 

In this video, we introduce four options suitable for creating both wireframes and mockups:

Conclusion:

Both wireframes and mockups are important when planning a design project. While one shows the “ingredients” of the design, the other shows the baked product. Want a hand with your next design project? Or maybe just more advice? Contact Motion Ave.! We’re passionate about digital design, and we’d love to bring your vision to life.

Are Your Facebook Campaigns A Giant Mess?

Hi there! Trying to get leads but not getting the results you expect? Constantly boosting ads or creating copy that doesn’t convert?

No sweat! We’ve got tips to help you clean up your act on Facebook Ad campaigns.  

At Motion Ave, we’ve been helping commercial cleaning companies become successful in their advertising campaigns. We’re familiar with industry concepts like disinfection dwell time, high touch surfaces, dusting without desktop disruption, and cleaning techniques for carpets and hard floors- and we know how to make the vital but often-overlooked commercial cleaning service sparkle in the eyes of your prospective clients!

Stop scrubbing away at your Facebook campaigns! Cut right to the clean with these simple tips and get better results on your campaigns! We know they work- they’re how we’ve helped businesses like yours succeed!

1. Make sure you have the right objective for your campaigns

Every marketing campaign must have a clear objective.  With commercial cleaning companies what we usually do is drive traffic to a landing page and get people to register so we can follow up with them and set up an appointment.  This process is mapped out in what we call a funnel. 

A good funnel will allow you to bring new prospects, convert them, make sales, retain customers and automatically follow-up leads. This is an example of one of the funnels we use with our commercial cleaning customers:Fix your Facebook Ads Campaigns with funnels

2. Target the right audience

You can’t talk to two different people in the same way! Every ad has to target its own audience.  If not, your ad won’t be successful. With Facebook, you have plenty of possibilities when it comes to audience segmentation (by age, gender, income level, location, interest, language etc.). You can also create lookalike audiences similar to your leads, clients and franchise owners. 

For the commercial cleaning industry, we usually conduct preliminary research to find out who are the “buyer personas” or the people that would be interested in acquiring a franchise.  Then, we design our ads based on their needs, pain points, wishes, and dreams.  We use at least 5-6 different types of audiences in our ads.

Related: https://motionave.com/getting-smart-with-targeting-on-facebook-ads-for-beginners/

3. Put the right offer on the table

Once you have the right objective and audience, you have to figure out the right budget.  Your results are directly related to your investment – a very low investment level will yield a low number of leads. On the ad set level, Facebook gives you the option of estimating the number of leads you can get with a specific daily budget as illustrated below:

Fix your Facebook Ads Campaigns with the right budget

Source: Facebook

With our commercial cleaning clients, we usually recommend a fixed budget for ad spend around $1,000 dollars a month that we usually adjust based on the results.  With this amount, we have managed to get at least 80-100 leads per month for our clients.

4. Get the right creatives up and running

The difference between a good and a bad ad is usually the copy (matched up with some awesome video testimonials). 

Copy is not just a catchy headline.  You need to spend a lot of time designing the content of your ads and testing different options to see what resonates with your target audience.  Try including some of the following in your ads:

  • Emoticons- text alone can look dull and boring.  These little icons help break the monotony.  
  • Killer CTAs- These determine whether your viewer takes action on your ad.  Use power words such as Improve, Learn, Discover, Increase, Reduce, Ultimate, Complete, etc.- always verbs!
  • Monitor the text in your images – Facebook punishes text-heavy images.  Make sure you check the requirements on Facebook Image Text Check tool.
  • Storytelling- Videos with subtitles as 80% of Facebook users watch video content without audio.

Commercial cleaning is not usually the first thing people think about when scrolling down through Facebook. You’ll need to build social proof in your ads, usually done through video testimonials.- the more the better!

Fix your Facebook Ads Campaigns with the right creatives

Related: https://motionave.com/8-secrets-create-killer-facebook-ads/

5. Optimize budget based on ad performance

Optimizing campaigns is a combination of art and science.  Remember we set our campaign objectives? Well, we have to monitor the variables based on that objective.  With commercial cleaning companies what we usually monitor is the cost per lead, cost per link click, CPM, frequency, and link click.  Nonetheless, we study many different variables before making decisions about turning off ads or testing new creatives.

Don’t think that because an ad is not working today, it won’t work in the future. Sometimes what works in the fall might not work in the summer, and vice-versa.  Always monitor your results! Check your data, analyze, and think outside the box! Never forget your metrics.

6. Monitor constantly 

Finally, constantly monitor your campaigns.  What works today might not work tomorrow! Change your creatives from time to time and always use your own genuine style of communication with your audiences.  

Optimize your budgets until you reach the sweet spot where you are achieving great results and all variables are in place (copy, creatives, budget, placement, audiences, ad sets, etc).

Cleaning an office requires skill, knowledge, and experience- so does managing Facebook ads! If you feel like you can’t crack the code, don’t worry! We’ve represented the commercial cleaning industry for more than 2 years, and have helped our customers grow their leads base by as much as 300%! If you’re tired of doing it yourself and not getting the results, contact the professionals- just like your clients do! 

 

Resources:

https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/7-tips-optimize-facebook-ad-campaigns/

https://newsfeed.org/6-tips-for-optimizing-long-term-campaigns/

https://www.facebook.com/business/insights

https://jan-pro.com/office-cleaning-system/

Marketing Updates With Motion Ave

Welcome to another edition of Marketing Updates With Motion Ave!  This week is all about Google. Find out what the search giant has for you this week here! Just read on!

Cart metrics For Shopping Campaigns

Google Ads adds a new set of metrics and data to shopping campaigns. Now it will be possible to see a cart data report, where information about purchases will be given. This report will show specific data on sold items, attributed sales metrics, which include total amount of income from transactions attributed to clicks on an ad and offer-level sales metrics showing all products sold. 

Go deeper into the subject by clicking here: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-ads-brings-new-sets-of-data-to-shopping-campaigns/332563/

Google Improves Asset Combination For App Ads

Google Ads announce is working on improving asset combination for app campaigns and giving traffic to specific assets so advertisers can have better information on which assets are performing better. Even though the platform said these improves wouldn’t affect campaign performance, some changes in metrics and in well performing assets could be seen.

Know more here: https://searchengineland.com/as-app-campaign-placements-expand-google-ads-aims-to-improve-asset-combinations-for-app-ads-324088

Google Updates Search Algorithm 

It seems that the context will be king with this new update of Google’s search algorithm. According to the platform, it will change results rankings for up to one in 10 queries. Previously Google treated phrases as sets of words with no connection, it only read important words (such as nouns) and displayed the results for that search. With the change, now words that it didn’t take into account, such as prepositions, will have more value so users can get better search results.

Learn what the impact of this change might be here: https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/google-just-announced-a-major-search-algorithm-change-that-users-will-probably-love-and-some-businesses-may-absolutely-hate.html

Twitter Is Labeling Bots

To ensure greater transparency within the platform, Twitter has decided to label bots profiles. This bots have dominated political news streams, and had contributed to amplify and manipulate trends in the past. This proposal serves to identify who is really behind those profiles and to limit the way in which they are used. 

Confirm you are not a bot here: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/twitters-considering-a-new-checkmark-to-highlight-bots-on-the-platform/565730/

And that’s it for this issue! Find out what other changes Google might bring and what other transparency fight Twitter would be battling next week in Marketing Updates With Motion Ave.

Marketing Updates With Motion Ave

Options, options, options- almost every major platform announces significant additions to content offerings and marketing. Welcome to another issue of Marketing Updates with Motion Ave.!

Video (Ads) Killed The YouTube Star; Also, Introducing The Google Trust Fall

YouTube goes all-er in? All inner? More all-in? on expanding the power of advertisers to keep content a-monetizin’. The newest feature continues to welcome YouTube’s surprisingly large segment of TV-based viewers on Home Feed- TrueView ads, featuring full-sized, traditional television-style ads. Unpopular? Potentially. Expensive? Yes. Massive reach potential, and the ability to have uninterrupted audience attention? Probably worth it for deep-pocketed marketers trying to dominate the increasingly competitive ad space of YouTube.

Speaking of competitive marketing, the new Video Reach Campaigns let marketers let go and let Google- select this option, and the platform will use its algorithms to determine the optimal placement for uploaded video assets. Options are great, but if there’s only a few truly successful ways to present content, and many of those variables are hidden behind an invisible data-driven algorithm, smart marketers are likely to give up control happily for better metrics; and after all, isn’t that what the Internet is all about?

Want more details? Click here: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/google-adds-new-video-campaign-options-including-home-screen-ads-on-youtub/563545/

Yo Dawg, I Heard You Like Bubbles 

Isn’t it terrible what people say on Twitter? Oh, no, I didn’t mean YOU- I meant the awful folks that reply to your tweets with horrible, toxic flames. Sure, you could just not read the replies… ah, who are we kidding? That’s really hard.

To keep your threads on topic, Twitter now gives users the ability to selectively mute replies to their tweets… unless other users want to see them, in which case they can use the “see all hidden tweets” option, which will also be available. Now, your tweets will be safe from hate speech, as long as no one views the replies you’ve muted!  

Everything will be perfect now: https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/19/20874847/twitter-feature-launch-us-japan-rollout-hide-replies

Like It? Get It… All Of It

“Shop The Look” isn’t a new concept in fashion retail, but Pinterest is leveraging its development of in-ecosystem shopping to take it in a direction that advertisers will love. Brands can promote up to 4 products in a single ad (already deliciously cost-effective)… and users can click directly on these to be taken straight to the retailer’s checkout. Impulse buying made even easier!

Excited? Click here: https://marketingland.com/pinterests-new-shop-the-look-collections-lets-brands-promote-several-items-in-one-mobile-ad-267778

https://newsroom.pinterest.com/en/post/new-ways-to-reach-shoppers-with-shop-the-look-ads-global-catalogues-and-dynamic-business

Facebook To Kids: Don’t Damage Your Bodies

In the United States, it’s forbidden to sell diet drugs or cosmetic surgeries to minors, especially without their parents’ consent… but social media doesn’t exactly have a zip code. There’s a lot of good reasons to restrict this kind of marketing: the developing bodies of children can suffer terrible, permanent damage from many of the active ingredients of so-called “diet pills,” and more importantly, these ads create unrealistic, toxic, and self-destructive expectations for teens already dealing with the challenges of their changing bodies.

Facebook and Instagram now forbid posts relating to diet products or cosmetic surgery to be shown to accounts of users under 18.

Find out more here: https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/18/instagram-will-restrict-posts-on-cosmetic-surgery-and-diet-prod/

Bigger, Longer, And Uncut… Snapchat Ads

Video options abound on Snapchat this week, with maximum ad length increasing from 10 seconds to a bathroom-break-worthy 3 minutes! Furthermore, viewers are now offered alternatives to the 6-minute unskippable ads on streamed content: by swiping, they can instead view a mobile website, long-form video, or camera attachment.

Behind the scenes, Snapchat also further empowers marketers with Goal-Based Bidding, targeting viewers who have already viewed a curated 15-second video.

Embrace the growth here: https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/snapchat-lengthens-video-ad-limit-to-3-minutes/563650/

That’s it for this week! Follow Motion Ave. through our networks to stay informed and entertained about the world of digital marketing!

Six Ways to Optimize Google My Business For Local SEO

Are you familiar with Google My Business? If you’re not, you should be- here’s why. 

Google My Business is a free and easy-to-use tool that Google launched back in 2014 for companies and organizations to manage their online presence across Google. It is a simple way to make your business more discoverable, but most importantly, to stand out from the crowd.

Having a fully optimized listing in Google My Business is crucial for local SEO (search engine optimization). Google offers an array of valuable features that, when properly utilized, can maximize the impact of your business listing.

First things first: if you don’t have an account yet, refer to this article on how to create an account and claim your business. Then, visit Google My Business and create your listing. 

Ready to go? Great! Here are our six recommendations on how to make the best use of Google My Business for local SEO:

#1: Tell the story of your business.

The first step is to provide a description of your business in 750 characters or less. That’s not much, so your goal is to be concise. Give honest, relevant, and essential information that will give a searcher the clearest possible understanding of your identity from the jump. 

The description appears when a user searches for your business on Google. If your business is well-known and has a significant web presence searchable by Google, the description may come from other sources, like Wikipedia, instead. (Bonus tip: if you want this to be true for you, too, and you think your business is significant enough for its own Wikipedia page, create one!)

Optimize your google my business

In the ‘Info’ section of Google My Business, make absolutely certain that all your identifying information is current and complete: provide a current address, phone number, contact numbers, website address – as many ways of being found as the form allows and you can provide! 

#2: Share photos of your business 

Share photos that capture what your business is about. Images are vital for SEO- Google reports businesses with photos to receive 42% more requests for driving directions and 35% more clicks to websites, than businesses that don’t have images in their listings. 

A new feature in Google My Business is that you choose the main image for your listing, and provide logos at the top-right of your profile. Upload photos of your business, products, and events so that your customers can learn more about your business. 

What are some good images to include?

  • Exterior views of your business location. This is a must for anyone that will visit your site.
  • Highlights of your physical site. Are you a school with a beautiful front garden? A nursery school with an attractive playground? A shopping or business center with an iconic piece of art on your grounds?
  • Products. Obviously, you won’t provide a complete photo catalog, but show an image or two of what you’re most associated with: an attractive shot of clean, shiny cars in your dealership, or your sales floor with well-arranged appliances or other goods. If you’re a restaurant, your most Instagram-worthy platings had better be here, too.

Your team in action. This is especially useful if your team has visible branding, like uniforms, T-shirts, or caps. Pictures of your team helping customers or showing clients merchandise create emotional resonance!

#3: Add call to actions for bookings

If you enable this functionality, customers can easily book your service (a hotel room, restaurant reservations, appointments, etc.) when they find you on Google Search and Maps. This is HUGE- allowing visitors to engage with you immediately, without having to pick up their phones, visit a site, or otherwise click away will give a big boost to engagement. Link your account with a participating booking provider to enable this functionality directly on your Google search results. 

Local restaurants have enthusiastically embraced this feature, using “Reserve a Table” CTAs where people, with just one click, can book a table to the restaurant without visiting the website. Users can also check the available tables for other days.

Optimized your google my business with call to actions

#4: Create great business posts 

With your Google My Business listing, you can publish updates and offers directly to your Search and Maps results page, like: 

  • News and announcements
  • Events such as open houses, a special brunch, upcoming performances
  • Sales and discounts, including coupon codes 
  • New arrivals of products or advance orders

You can also include an image and a call to action in these posts. The available calls to action are Book, Order Online, Buy, Learn More, Sign Up, and Call Now. 

Optimized Google My Business with great posts

#5: Get messages from your customers

One of the most amazing new features of Google My Business is the ‘Messaging’ section that allows customers to contact you immediately upon finding your listing. You can respond to questions, and share information directly, for free! 

Using this feature requires the Google My Business app on your iOS or Android device. Once you turn on messaging, users will see a “Message” button on your Google My Business listing. Your customers will then be able to message you at any time. 

#6: Manage your business’ reviews

Did you know that 90% of people read online reviews before visiting a business, and 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations? Google reviews are one of the most important ranking factors for local SEO.  

Having a lot of good reviews can help new people find you online and trust your business. Always encourage your customers to leave you a review!

Customers can post reviews your business listing. Respond to them. It shows your customers (and searchers) that you care about them, but also that you’re active and engaged. Always respond to your reviews, whether positive or negative.

Optimized Google My Business managing your reviews

 

Conclusion

If you don’t have a Google My Business listing yet, you definitely need to create one. Using this free and easy-to-use tool is necessary to be easily found online by your customers and potential customers. Leveraging all its amazing features, and it won’t just be a listing- it’ll be marketing!

Want to make sure your Google My Business listing maximizes attention and traffic? Contact us. We’ll create an amazing Google My Business listing for you, or any other channel for boosting your web presence!

 

Sources:

https://neilpatel.com/blog/google-my-business-optimization/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email

https://blog.hootsuite.com/google-my-business/

https://www.brightlocal.com/blog/new-google-my-business-features-june-2019/

https://www.reputation.com/resources/blog/the-top-6-google-my-business-features-for-marketers/

Colony Theatre Case Study

Summary

The Colony Theatre, located in the heart of South Beach, first opened in January 1935 as a Paramount Pictures movie house.

Today the theatre, managed by Miami New Drama, is a state-of-the-art venue with an impressive art deco design that makes it one of the crown jewels of Miami Beach. The theatre hosts an exciting array of events, including music, dance, comedy, and theatre performances.

On March 7th, 2019, the theatre launched the world premiere play by Rakontur, “Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy,” based on the award-winning documentary series “Cocaine Cowboys.” This play recreated the outrageous era of the 1980s Miami cocaine boom that riveted and shocked the world and explored how coke, cash, and corruption created the Magic City we know today.

The Colony Theatre wanted to drive awareness and ticket sales- and hired Motion Ave. to do the job.

Here’s how our online marketing strategy successfully increased the visibility of the play and sold more than 550 tickets across South Florida with a return on advertising spend (ROAS) of 5.81, which means that for every dollar we spent, we generated 5.81.

Our Roles

  • Creative and Content Development
  • Video Ads Production and Post-Production
  • Facebook and Instagram Advertising
  • Analytics and Optimization

Challenges

We knew the most effective way to reach the target audience of the theatre and this play would be by creating Facebook and Instagram advertising campaigns that would get us direct exposure to the target market.

However, this was the world debut of this play- we had no idea how well-received it would be. Thus, our initial strategy was to A/B test various messages, creatives, and audiences, presenting the play with different angles, before launching a targeted campaign.

Insights

To identify the most viable opportunities for awareness, we conducted several audience tests for cold, warm and hot audiences.

For cold audiences, or top of the funnel (TOFU), we tried different audiences- for example, people interested in related upcoming events, theaters, plays, etc., and people interested in topics related to the new play. We also reached lookalike audiences.

For warm audiences or middle of the funnel (MOFU), we retargeted people who purchased a ticket in the past to another play and hence had interacted with the brand.

For hot audiences, or bottom of the funnel (BOFU), we retargeted people who visited the play landing page but didn’t buy tickets. Ultimately, these audiences cost the least in advertising dollars per ticket purchase.

We additionally tested different creatives and formats including videos, images, and carousels. In some campaigns, we used dynamic creatives to find the best combination of headline, copy, image, and CTA. We concluded that real pictures of the play, with copy and headlines providing background, had excellent performance.

Once the play opened, we began adding testimonials and quotes from satisfied audiences to the ad copy, to great success.

***

Solution

To accomplish the goals of driving awareness and generating purchases, we set up an advertising strategy on Facebook and Instagram.

Investing in engagement and brand awareness was key to creating buzz around the play and driving leads to make a purchase. The key was greater community credibility: posts or ads with social proof- comments, likes, and shares- drove more conversion at a lower cost per purchase.

Here are some examples of the assets we deployed:

Colony Theater Case Study

Results

After just one month of advertising with brand awareness and purchases as primary objectives, the Facebook and Instagram campaigns delivered successfully.

Our work with the Colony Theatre in this specific play generated ticket sales, but also brought more loyal customers to the theatre.

Stats

Colony Theater Stats

Colony Theater Stats

If you’d like to consult a team of skilled and passionate experts to learn how to build your brand better and also find out how we can put solutions like these to work for you, please, say hello. We’d love to talk to you about how to bring your brand to Facebook- and beyond!

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