Breaking Stories and Top Articles for September, 2015.
Here are the Stukent picks for September. Do you see important news we missed? Let us know in the Comments. Your suggestions are always appreciated!
1. PERISCOPE IS MAKING BIG WAVES
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Social Media Marketing [/highlight]
Key Point: Twitter’s live-streaming smartphone app, Periscope, launched on April 26 and hit 10M (that’s MILLION) accounts on August 2. The last “by the Numbers” report from Twitter said users are logging 40 YEARS of view time each DAY. In response to the meteoric rise of Periscope, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) banned the app, and critics are warning against huge problems with privacy and pirating. Marketers, of course, are scrambling to get on board. Find out more right here: Periscope
[line]2. MOZ RELEASED THE 2015 SEARCH ENGINE RANKING FACTORS REPORT
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]SEO News[/highlight]
Key Point: It’s one of the most anxiously awaited reports in the SEO community – and it’s out! Moz polls industry experts and combines their views with an in-depth correlation study to determine how known (and surmised) factors influence ranking on the Google search engine. If you care about SEO (and every internet marketer should) study this report carefully. It’s not the final word on SEO, but it does provide a valuable look at the current state of the art. Do keywords still matter? Read and see: MOZ 2015 Report
[line]3. GOODBYE GOOGLE, HELLO ALPHABET!
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]SEO News[/highlight]
Key Point: Google CEO, Larry Page, announced this month that Google will reorganize into a “collection of companies” called “Alphabet.” Current Google stockholders will have shares transferred to Alphabet, Inc., though the company will continue to trade on Nasdaq as GOOGL and GOOG (depending on share type). Why would Google make such a move? Page says he and Google president, Sergey Brin are “seriously in the business of starting new things,” and the expansion to Alphabet will allow them to do that more freely. Page will be Alphabet CEO, Brin the president, and the current head of Google product and engineering, Sundar Pichai, will become CEO of Google. What will the change mean to internet marketing? One thing is that Google Alphabet is going to get SERIOUS about innovation. Keep your eyes on the Alphabet X lab for new products. Second… find out more about Sundar Pichai and watch the new command post for potential SEO ramifications. Here’s the announcement: Alphabet
[line]4. MORE CHANGES FOR THE PLATFORM FORMERLY KNOWN AS “WEBMASTER TOOLS”
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Web Analytics[/highlight]
Key Point: 2015 has been a rebranding year for Google. Google Webmaster Tools was renamed “Google Search Console” in May – Google’s attempt to attract more users (many who own websites don’t consider themselves “webmasters”). This month came an announcement from Google’s John Mueller that an application programming interface (API) will soon be launching to expand developers’ ability to create new interfaces for Google Analytics. That will likely mean internet marketers will get access to new ways to view and manipulate analytics data – and for those who ARE developers, the move opens up new vistas entirely. Here’s that news release from Google: New Search Analytics API
[line]5. HOW MARKETING EMAILS CAN “GO VIRAL”
Topics: [highlight type=”dark”]Email Marketing[/highlight]
Key Point: You often hear of videos and quote graphics going viral… but how about a marketing email? Have you considered how one of those can go viral? MarketingProfs says it can happen – if enough people begin forwarding that mail – and they looked at a HUGE study by Litmus (they pulled in data from over 400K campaigns) to find out how it happens. You’ll need to go read the research for yourself, but key factors mentioned include a clear CTA, the use of segments and triggers, personalization… and more. If you’re at all interested in email marketing, don’t miss this article: Viral Email
[line]6. THE NEW REPORT EDITOR INTERFACE PUTS MORE SPICE INTO ADWORDS
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Online Advertising[/highlight]
Key Point: Google began officially rolling out the new Report Editor for Adwords this month, and it instantly claimed top billing in the PPC category of WordStream’s list of internet marketing tools “you won’t be able to live without.” Report Editor lets account managers use drag and drop to design charts and tables to better visualize data. How to know when you have access? Look for the Reports tab to show up (between the Opportunities and Tools tabs) at the top of your MCC dashboard. How about leaving a comment here when yours shows up? Tell us what you think of the additional capabilities Report Editor provides. Here’s the overview from Inside AdWords.: Report Editor
[line]7. TWITTER DM’S ARE NO LONGER LIMITED TO 140 CHARACTERS
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Social Media Marketing[/highlight]
Key Point: Twitter opened up the floodgates this month, removing the 140-character limit for direct messages – and moving the cut-off line out to 10K characters. For marketers, that means you can now take a prospect out of the public stream, go private and talk freely without counting keystrokes. Twitter’s product manager, Sachin Agarwal, attributed the move to a desire to help users “express themselves in a more comfortable and natural way,” but CNET speculates Facebook-envy and a desire to bring in more advertising revenue are the primary motivators. After all, Twitter is an internet marketing company too – right? Here’s that article from Search CNET: Chat Away!
[line]8. FACEBOOK EXPANDS ITS MOBILE AD EMPIRE
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Online Advertising[/highlight]
Key Point: Last quarter, Facebook raked in almost $3 billion from mobile ads. Time to rest and celebrate? No way. This month’s announcement is the roll-out of four additional features for their recently launched dynamic product ads. Marketers will now gain access to cross-selling and up-selling functions as well as the ability to begin optimizing for conversions, not just for clicks. Moreover, the same announcement says dynamic product ads will soon be available offsite via the Audience Network. Are you ready to get started (or go further) with Facebook advertising? We don’t blame you. Here’s where to go for more information: Facebook Dynamic Product Ads
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Congratulations! You’re all caught up on your digital marketing news and updates for the month! Tweet your excitement!
Some online marketers say August is a slow month for sales – but it sure hasn’t been slow on news. We’ve seen blockbusting announcements from Google, the Moz report is out, Twitter and Facebook are shooting for the moon – it’s an exciting time to be an internet marketing student (and we’re ALL students).
