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Are Bookmarks a Google Search Ranking Factor?
Are Bookmarks a Google Search Ranking Factor?
Today In Digital Marketing is a daily podcast showcasing the latest in marketing trends and updates. This week, Tod touches on:
- INFLUENCER MARKETING: Regulator Warns of Fines
- AD PLATFORMS: Lowe's Goes It Alone
- Q4 PLANNING: Another Q4 Holiday Planning Guide
- B2B: LinkedIn Will Leave China
- Q4 Quick Wins Guide for Advertisers
Below is the transcription from this weeks topics
INFLUENCER MARKETING: Regulator Warns of Fines
The American trade regulator has sent a rather threatening letter to more than 700 businesses — including Facebook and Amazon — to warn them they'll get hefty fines if they don't crack down on fake reviews and deceptive endorsements.
But the move is a little weird:
- First, even though the letter said it wasn't singling any one company out, the FCC went out of its way to publish a full list of all 700 businesses that got that letter.
- Second, even though they say being on the list doesn't necessarily mean that company's done anything wrong, the letter was titled Notice of Penalty Offenses. Yikes.
How big are the potential fines? Apparently up to $43,792 per violation. (No, I have no idea why it's that weird precise number either.)
Apparently, the letter is the first salvo American trade regulations require before the FCC can actually start levying fines.
Specifically, here's what's on the naughty list:
- Falsely claiming an endorsement by a third party
- Misrepresenting whether an endorser is an actual, current, or recent user
- Using an endorsement to make deceptive performance claims
- Failing to disclose an unexpected material connection with an endorser
- Misrepresenting that the experience of endorsers represents consumers’ typical or ordinary experience.
Industry analysis seems to think this is aimed more at requiring brands to be more insistent with their influencers on disclosing that they've been compensated.
To that end, that list of 700 or so companies could be quite valuable, as it seems to be a list of brands that use influencers.
I spotted some surprising brands on that list, including:
- AstraZeneca
- 3M
- Berkshire Hathaway
- And Kia Motors
That last one got my attention because about six months ago, I saw some guy do a TikTok about the new Kia Carnival, which had a layout my wife and I were looking for. A couple of months later, we bought one. Was that an ad?
We'll certainly watch to see if the FCC follows through on those fines. (FCC’s sponsorship guidelines)
AD PLATFORMS: Lowe's Goes It Alone
The home improvement brand Lowe’s is the latest brand to go it alone and build its own ad network.
It's called the One Roof Media Network and sells banner and search ads on the Lowe’s app and website. It’s also selling sponsored content on its website and, interestingly, on its social channels too.
Quoting Marketing Brew:
Lowe’s is also letting brands use its sweet, sweet first-party data to target users outside of its own properties...
But wait, isn’t privacy such a big deal now? How are they just going to... sell their shoppers’ own first-party data?.... There are a few ways...
They could build custom audience sets for a specific brand. A marketer might want to target “frequent power tool buyers who spend a lot, but seem to favor other brands,” for instance.
Create standardized segments, like “commercial contractors and builders” or “DIY enthusiasts,” and make these available to buyers through a demand-side platform.
Or, run data through a “clean room,” which would anonymize or aggregate it while still allowing for targeting.
Lowe's joins other big brands such as Kroger, Target, CVS, and Walmart — all of which have launched their own ad marketplace.
Q4 PLANNING: Another Q4 Holiday Planning Guide
The holiday buying season is edging ever closer which means one thing — more white papers about holiday marketing planning.
Most of these are pretty generic and locked behind a leadform, but a new one from Listrak is neither of those.
Their report is called “Is Your Marketing Ready to Meet the Demands of Holiday 2021 and Beyond?” It's a PDF you can download without having to give up your information.
It’s got five strategies for optimizing your plans, including:
- Preparing for a cookie-less holiday
- Prioritizing acquisition, identity, and list growth
- Fostering engagement to turn browsers into buyers
Listrak is an enterprise-level digital marketing platform and a link to their guide is in today's Premium Newsletter.
B2B: LinkedIn Will Leave China
Some bad news for B2B marketers trying to reach Chinese markets — LinkedIn this week announced it would be pulling out of the country, as the government there makes it increasingly difficult for social platforms to abide by regulations.
Instead, it will open up a small regional job board app.
LinkedIn first launched a Chinese version of the site in 2014. It was a kind of custom-built site which tried to keep in line with local laws. LinkedIn had to invest millions in moderating the comments to make sure the government watchers were happy.
Quoting the company:
We’re ... facing a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China. Given this, we’ve made the decision to sunset the current localized version of LinkedIn, which is how people in China access LinkedIn’s global social media platform, later this year.
Earlier this year, the government-sanctioned the platform for “failing to control political content on its platform.”
There are currently 54 million users of the service there, and the New York Times says LinkedIn had been the sole major American social network allowed to operate in China.
Q4 Quick Wins Guide for Advertisers
Andrew Foxwell's team has a great new resource out for digital marketers — it's called the Q4 Quick Wins Guide for Advertisers.
It's got ideas specific to the holiday buying season in 2021, and covers:
- changing consumer buying patterns this year
- the impact of tracking data loss
- their recommendation on how your bid strategy needs to change in light of increased competition
- a retargeting approach
- ideas around creative and user-generated content
- and other items
It's a quick read, packed with lots of good nuggets, and if you plan to do be doing any selling over the next 2.5 months, this is a must-have guide.
You can download it at b.link/q4guide. It's $10 bucks, and you'll be supporting this podcast too as we'll get a small cut of that.
Also worth checking into:
Credit to Tod Maffin and the Today In Digital Marketing podcast, Produced by engageQ.com
