LinkedIn updating Campaign Manager experience

LinkedIn is growing in many areas, including individual users and companies using it as a job recruitment tool.

Thus, LinkedIn is updating its Campaign Manager navigation experience in an efforts "to help advertisers be more efficient," according to its website.

"The new left-hand navigation offers a more organized, simplified experience that makes it easier to find the campaign and account elements needed to run successful campaigns," according to LinkedIn's website.

"The new navigation also makes it easier to switch between multiple ad accounts."

LinkedIn does caution users that the update is being gradually rolled out so not all users have access to it as of right now.

To showcase LinkedIn's growth, here are some statistics from omnicoreagency.com:

• 19.2% of Millennials (18-24 years old) use LinkedIn. 
• The age group with the most LinkedIn users is between the ages of 25 and 34 at 60.1%
• 50% of internet users with a college degree or higher use LinkedIn.
• The average income of a LinkedIn user currently stands at $46,644 per year.
• 51% of US College Graduates use LinkedIn.
• In 2010, there were 78 million LinkedIn users. At the end of 2020, there were 690 million users.
• LinkedIn is the top network for B2B content marketers for organic social marketing at 96%.
• 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn.
• In 2017, there were 17 million companies using LinkedIn. At the end of 2020, it was 50 million.

Instagram announces algorithm-free feed

Social media is taking a shift toward the old days.

On March 23, Instagram announced it is providing Favorites and Following option with users' news feeds, which goes away from the often-controversial algorithm method.

"Today, we’re introducing Favorites and Following, two new ways to choose what you see in your feed," according to the announcement on Instagram's blog. "We want you to be able to shape Instagram into the best possible experience, and giving you ways to quickly see what you’re most interested in is an important step in that direction."

In the early days of social media, back in the early- to mid-2000s, news feeds were organized in chronological order based on when your friends posted.

As social media evolved, the concept of organizing feeds based on users' behaviors - i.e. algorithms - came to light.

In that time, especially over the last couple years, that practice has become highly controversial and has seen its fair share of challenges in court. The latter was evidenced by the Facebook whistleblower standing before the U.S. government revealing many of Facebook's secret in how the social media giant "organizes" content.

So, what are Favorites and Following?

According to Instagram, "Your Instagram feed is a mix of photos and videos from people you follow, suggested posts and more. Over time, we’re going to add more recommendations to your feed based on your interests — Favorites and Following are new ways to catch up on recent posts from the accounts you follow.

"Favorites shows you the latest from accounts that you choose, like your best friends and favorite creators. In addition to this view, posts from accounts in Favorites will also show up higher in your home feed.

"Following shows you posts from the people you follow. Both Favorites and Following will show you posts in chronological order, so you can quickly catch up on recent posts.

Click here to read the full blog and how to use the latest feature from Instagram.

Universal Analytics to go away in 2023

Well, we've known for a while about the fading and eventual disappearance of third-party cookies. Now, Google has announced its plans to filter out Universal Analytics or GA-3 by mid-2023.

In a blog post, Google announced, "All standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new hits on July 1, 2023.

"Given the new Analytics 360 experience was recently introduced, Universal Analytics 360 properties will receive an additional three months of new hit processing, ending on October 1, 2023."

Here is more from that blog post:

"In today's measurement landscape, businesses need to navigate new challenges to understand the complex, multi-platform journeys of their customers — all while prioritizing user privacy.

"Two and a half years ago, we introduced Google Analytics 4 to address these evolving measurement standards and help businesses succeed. Google Analytics 4 has the flexibility to measure many different kinds of data, delivering a strong analytics experience that’s designed for the future. It allows businesses to see unified user journeys across their websites and apps, use Google’s machine learning technology to surface and predict new insights, and most importantly, it’s built to keep up with a changing ecosystem."

What will happen is new data will continue to process on GA-3 or UA until July 1, 2023. After that, no new data will be tracked or stored. So, technically, you have until June 30, 2023, to learn and transition to GA-4. However, historical data on UA will disappear. So, in order to build year-to-year, month-to-month data, it's suggested you transition into GA-4 as soon as possible. That way you have historical data to work from.

To read more about it, Prepare for the future with Google Analytics 4, click here.

What's trending on Twitter

Twitter has released an in-depth report, saying it analyzed "billions of tweets" over a two-year period to "find three must-know trends about to go big."

You can download the report "Twitter Trends 2022" by clicking here.

The three trends revealed by Twitter are:

• The Great Restoration. Healing the planet by healing ourselves.
• Fan-Built World. Digital communities call the shots.
• Finance Goes Social. Investing has entered the chat.

Let's first look at the first bullet point, The Great Restoration.

It's been two years (Yes! Two years!) since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Among the many things that have happened as a result of the pandemic, focusing on mental and overall health has become more important than what it used to be.

Another part to this aspect is a greater emphasis on the overall planet's wellbeing, such as recycling. What this means is businesses need to be assertive, take action.

Next, lets explore bullet point No. 2.

Another result from the pandemic is the massive reliance on digital. Therefore, consumers are taking a firmer control of the market. They're setting the communities that are engaged online. Businesses now have to adapt to that and work their way into those communities.

From the report, "Celebrate the people and communities who love you and find new ways to build them up and bring them close."

Lastly, lets explore bullet point No. 3.

The report states, tweets about finance is up 78 percent year-over-year. This trend "is more than viral stock picks, though. The finance conversation has become part entertainment, part gaming, unapologetically social, and more open than ever before."

For example, tweets talking about Bitcoin and the like are on the rise.

Meta/Facebook launches Business Academy

If you manage a business page on Meta/Facebook, you might have noticed a new option: Business Academy.

As you can see with the image, it's a tool being offered to page moderators aimed at helping them learn more about the Meta/Facebook Business page and how to grow its presence.

It features several modules that go over winning customers, growing a business, keeping customers and automating messages.

With these modules are several lessons, such as the one below under "keep customers."

Google working toward business trust

Rolling out slowly is a new Google Business Profile verification label. The "label" will highlight businesses they've been verified by Google as an actual business and how recently it was verified. 

Claire Carlile, a local SEO expert for BrightLocal, sent a tweet March 3 highlighting the change with GBP.

In an article by BrightLocal, Fraudulent Business Profiles in the Spotlight as Google Updates Verification Requirements and Trust Signals, one of the reasons for this change is to show which businesses have verified their information and how recently. The purpose is to build trust with the consumer that a website they may be about ready to click on is a legit website for a legit business. A business that isn't verified or not verified in a respectable time period, may be a deterrant for online users.

"Unfortunately, there’s currently no way to request that Google contacts you to confirm your details," the article says. "It appears that the only way to influence this label appearing on your GBP is ensuring you answer the phone call if you do receive one, and, of course, appropriately confirming your details during the call. However, whether the label is then assigned to you or not is still naturally at Google’s discretion."

The linked article above goes over steps on how to get verified a GBP page verified by Google..

But, in short, it's always a good idea to make sure your information is up to date in GBP. 

Like previously mentioned, the linked article above helps understand the procedure for the verification process. But here is a snippet that is important to understand.

"If you’re a legitimate business, then you’ve no reason to be concerned about the potential for double verification," the article says. "Should this be asked of you, all you need to do is follow the instructions provided and submit the required information.

"A more stringent verification process could help to reduce fake listings in the Local Pack, Local Finder, and Google Maps—which is great news for authentic businesses. 

"If you’re a marketer working with local businesses, then you’ll want to make your clients aware that additional verification may be required. Ensuring that their contact details and other information is accurate now could help to avoid problems with this in the future."

Invited to University of Wisconsin career presentation

I'm excited to share that I've been invited to be a guest presenter at the Wisconsin School of Business’ Sobic Career Workshop: Building Industry Confidence and Connections through Sales Techniques on Friday, April 22.

The workshop will be led by Professor Kevin Chung and Professor Ishita Chakraborty from the Department of Marketing. The event is designed to help students develop the skills necessary to be successful in the sales industry, while building upon their industry knowledge through networking and learning from employers in sales. Students will hear from keynote speaker, Dan Sobic, participate in a networking lunch, and actively engage in three small group learning sessions with employers.

I'm honored to participate in this event.

Google plans to overhaul ad tracking

We've known for months, digital or online marketing is going to shift. One of those reasons is the third-party cookie deprecation.

More recently, in an article by the Washington Post, Google plans to overhaul ad tracking on Android phones. (You can read the full article here)

According to the article, "Google announced it will begin the process of getting rid of long-standing ad trackers on its Android operating system, upending how advertising and data-collection work on phones and tablets used by more than 2.5 billion people around the world."

The reason for the change, according to Google via the Washington Post, is it will improve privacy for Android users. However, the article also pointed out that Google could get more power over digital advertising.

As you may recall, this comes after Apple rolled out its Mail Privacy Protection tool, which masks identifying characteristics of a computer. What that does is eliminates the ability to effectively hit target audiences with advertising, especially through email marketing.

Questions, answers about IG stories

Rival IQ has released a report outlining the influence Instagram Stories have in the social media space.

Plus, just recently, Instagram announced its added a new feature with its stories: the ability to like a story. (You can read more about that here)

So, with Rival IQ's report, it studied five questions:

• What kind of Stories engagement are my competitors seeing?
• How frequently should I be posting Stories?
• What kind of Stories engagement (taps, replies and exits) should I expect?
• How might my Stories engagement change if I published more often or grew my followers?
• How do my Stories stats stack up to my Post stats?

The data set included 783 handles between June-November 2021. That covered more than 128,000 posts, 60,000 stories and 258,000 frames.

According to the report, here were the key findings and takeaways.

• Brands are posting more Stories than ever before.
• Reach rates continue to fall.
• Retention rates are flat.
• Posts reach more than Stories.

One of the telling statistics to me was looking at reach rate comparing posts to stories.

In my case where all of my IG business accounts that I oversee have less than 10,000 followers, about 20% of users are seeing posts, while less than 6% are seeing the Stories.

So, it begs the question: Is posting to Stories worth it? That's what you'll have to evaluate and decide on.

The full report is available for download here.

TikTok publishes rising trends report

TikTok has released a report detailing rising trends, which includes insights and tips for marketers.

There are several versions available based on geography - North America, Middle East/Turkey, Latin America, Europe, Russia and Asia Pacific. You can get to those reports by clicking here and scroll about two-thirds of the way down and you'll see buttons to click on to get that region's specific report.

For this example, we're going to review the North America report. (That's available for download here)

TikTok put heavy emphasis to understanding trends by evaluating hashtag performance.

"Engagement stats show that users continue to see value in TikTok and its wide range of content," the report says. "This year, the top hashtags saw a median engagement rate of 12%, illustrating that through sound-on, full-screen experiences, audiences enjoy immersing themselves in a different world. As we continue to revolutionize the power of entertainment and community, and grow as a platform, we are fully committed to placing the utmost importance on your safety, and the safety of our users."

One of the best performing trends, hashtags, in 2021, according to TikTok's report was beauty and personal care. This area saw a staggering 186% growth in 2021 compared to 2020. The most popular hashtag was #hairtok, which "skyrocketed to the top of the beauty category with a 20,000% increase in video views and a 3,000% boost in videos created."

The other popular beauty and personal care hashtags were: #selfcare, #transformation, #blackgirlmagic, #asmr and #oddlysatisfying. The growing or rising hashtags include #grwm (get ready with me), #dermdoctor, #lashes, #nailart and #momsoftiktok.

If you're a business that serves those looking for beauty and personal care products, this is very good news for you.

Another popular trend in 2021 was collaboration between users.

This isn't a surprise as we approach two years since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Social distancing, mask mandates, among other things, left people disconnected from friends, family and so on. TikTok's collaborative tools such as Stitch, Duet, Reply with Video and Use This Sound, were all highly popular and widely used.

Collaborative growth, the report says, was 145% from 2020.

Here are some TikTok audience insights:

• 73% of people feel a deeper connection to brands they interact with on TikTok, compared to other platforms.
• 78% agree that the best brands on TikTok are ones that work together with users.
• 70% feel like they're a part of a community on TikTok.

This is a big one ...

• 67% of people said TikTok inspired them to shop even when they weren't looks to do so.

To build off that, the hashtag #tiktokmademebuyit drove plenty of success for brands in 2021.

Assessing the Vicinity update and its local impact

In December, Google announced it was making changes to its local search and the local search pack. The change was called Vicinity.

The primary reason for the change was to focus more on local search results for users. Read more about it here: Google confirms local search update.

So, how has it performed?

BrightLocal took a look at that with an extensive review: Vicinity Update & GBP Name Spam: What Was the Real Impact?.

One of the key elements in understanding this review was laid out by BrightLocal

• Keyword Rich: The registered business name is either exactly the same as the GBP name, or both the GBP name and registered business name feature legitimate keywords. For example, ‘locksmith’ in ‘SupaLock Locksmiths’.
• Keyword Spam: The registered business name is either not the same as the GBP name or features keywords that are not included in the registered business name. For example, the registered business name is ‘Platinum Braces’ but the GBP name is listed as ‘Diamond Braces Orthodontist: Braces & Invisalign’.
• No Keywords: Neither the registered business name or the GBP name feature any keywords within them. For example, this would include businesses with names like ‘Lighthouse’ or ‘Exponia Development’.

Now with that understanding, here were the key takeaways, according to BrightLocal's review:

• Keyword spam and keyword rich Google Business Profile names moved an average of 5.5 and 7.9 places down in search results, respectively, while business names with no keywords moved up an average of 4.1 places.
• Google Business Profile names with no keywords ranked for 2 more new keywords following the Vicinity update and saw more of their keyword rankings move up in search results (0.8 places).
• Google Business Profile names with 31 or more characters moved an average of 9 places down in search results.

Here are some excerpts from the review:

• "... the data clearly suggests that the Vicinity update favored businesses that didn’t have any type of keywords in its GBP name—whether genuine or spammy. This, therefore, shows that, while Google’s update may have intended to crack down on keyword spammers, it also appears to have unfairly punished GBP businesses with legitimate keywords in their names."
• "Keyword rich GBP names, on the other hand, were not only found to be the most negatively impacted by the overall change of ranking keywords, but they were also shown to rank for fewer new keywords after the update as well."
• "GBP names with 10 characters or fewer were found to actually move up in rankings following the Vicinity update, again suggesting that Google’s update focused on favoring shorter GBP names with few to no keywords."

BrightLocal does offer tips on how to adjust:

• Consider removing keywords from your GBP name.
• Keep your GBP name short.
• Continually monitor and optimize your GBP listing.
• Focus on your primary location.