Firecrackers, summer sun, and getting outside. It’s tough to stay focused this time of the year – but the crew at Stukent is busy helping make sure students and professors going back to school in the fall have the absolute best, most up-to-date, digital marketing training available anywhere.
Here’s our look at digital marketing highlights over the past 30 days. Take a break, if you need one, but don’t miss the updates. Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you don’t keep moving!
Stay cool and have fun. And take this issue of Stukent’s News You Can Use along with you to the lake.
1. GOOGLE, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, TWITTER AND AMAZON COMBINED = ?
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Social Media Marketing[/highlight]
Key Point: Alibaba is now “the largest commerce platform on Earth. It’s bigger than Walmart. Much bigger than Amazon.” That’s the word pronounced in a Fast Company report covering Gateway 17, an Alibaba-sponsored gathering aimed at helping U.S. businesses access the Chinese market.
Takeaways from the article include the difference between Alibaba and Amazon (Alibaba doesn’t buy or sell, it only introduces buyers and sellers), and the revelation that Alibaba is more than a website, it’s “an ecosystem.” The platform includes video and social media sites, not just an online buy/sell venue.
Is Alibaba really all of the top sites in the USA rolled into one?
Find out more here: Amazon vs Alibaba.
[line]2. “PURCHASES ON GOOGLE” IS NOW IN BETA
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Online Advertising[/highlight]
Key Point: There’s been plenty of chatter the past few years, but it’s finally official: shoppers can purchase products directly from Google search results.
Merchant Center advertisers in the USA can get in on the beta test. Purchases on Google will show to Android users with Google Wallets. Get the full scoop via the WordStream blog.
[line]3. USE SCHEMA TO FINE-TUNE YOUR SEO
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]SEO[/highlight]
Key Point: We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again – schema markup (structured data) is the biggest thing most SEO’s miss. Once reality hits and tools like Simple Schema get wider adoption, there’ll be a whole lot of people wishing they’d moved earlier.
Chris Long, SEO at Go Fish Digital, covers four ways you can utilize schema code to help search engines do a better job of returning data about your site. It’s a must-read article for serious SEO practitioners. Get it here: Improve SEO with Schema.
[line]4. MARKETING MEETS SCIENCE – A GOOGLE PRIMER ON DATA
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Analytics[/highlight]
Key Point: Google’s VP of Marketing at Google Cloud shared three strategies aimed at increasing marketing productivity in this Think With Google report. If your aim includes getting new customers, nurturing those customers, and increasing average order value, then you’ll want to read it.
VP Alison Wagonfeld cites the integrity of your data, an experimental mindset, and specific problem selection as the essentials. And she’s smart enough to know the real value isn’t in the data, but in how YOU utilize it.
Here’s that link again. It’s an excellent read: Marketing Meets Science.
[line]5. FACEBOOK RATCHETS UP THE RETARGETING OPTIONS
Topics: [highlight type=”dark”]Social Media Marketing[/highlight]
Key Point: Facebook advertisers using Dynamic Ads for retargeting have access to two more features. They can use dynamic product videos in place of static images, and they can highlight pricing and pricing discounts.
Access is via Facebook’s advertising API or the Business Manager Tool. This Marketing Land report says “product showcase ads [are now] more of a showpiece.] Astute Facebook advertisers will make good use of the new capabilities as Black Friday draws nigh.
[line]6. SURVEY FUNNELS CAN BOOST LEAD GENERATION
Topics: [highlight type=”dark”]Email Marketing[/highlight]
Key Point: It’s a simple formula that works – but not many marketers utilize the technique. Kim Albee, the founder of Genoo, says survey funnels can save time and provide focus. Just ask and listen.
Kim introduces three steps for implementation and covers the basics of each in this WP Marketing Engine Report: How to Increase Lead Generation.
[line]7. ADWORDS EDITOR 12 IS NOW AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Online Advertising[/highlight]
Key Point: It’s a fresh design aimed at making AdWords management easier and faster. Have you checked out AdWords Editor 12 yet? It’s now available to Google advertisers worldwide.
Use custom rules to monitor changes, not in line with best practices, get faster data transfers, get a better user experience via the revamped dashboard, and more.
Read all about it on the AdWords blog.
[line]8. A SNIPPET PRIMER FOR BETTER SEO
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]SEO[/highlight]
Key Point: Google says search result snippet composition can often be the determining factor in whether a searcher will visit your site or go elsewhere. The better the snippet, the more likely the visit.
So how do you make sure your search snippets attract the right visitors to your site? This Google Webmaster Central article drills right down to the basics: where snippets come from and how to optimize them.
Get your short-course in snippets right here: Better Snippets.
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Congratulations! You’re all caught up on your digital marketing news and updates for the month! Tweet your excitement!
Stukent News You Can Use – Learn and Grow
That’s all for July. We wish you the best, most joyful, most productive summer ever. Read an extra book this summer. Then share your knowledge with us. Digital marketing is a dynamic field. It never stops moving.
We won’t either. See you next month!
– The team at Stukent.
