Welcome to the latest instalment in our series of weekly roundups, where we bring you the latest exciting developments in the world of digital marketing. This week, we explore the new lead generation ad tools Meta have unveiled for Facebook and Instagram, and more…
Let’s dive into some of the latest and exciting updates and news from the marketing world…
Table of Contents
Meta unveils five new lead generation ad tools for Facebook and Instagram
Meta is testing full campaign automation for lead generation using Meta Advantage+, allowing advertisers to apply AI to multiple campaign aspects. HubSpot is introduced as a new CRM integration partner, simplifying lead generation for businesses. Meta emphasises the integration of CRM with Conversions API and leveraging the conversion leads performance goal for optimising lead quality. In a recent study, this approach showed a 16% reduction in cost per quality lead and a 21% increase in the rate of converting a lead to a quality lead compared to other ads.
Alongside this, Meta is also introducing a new instant form ad format and WhatsApp lead gen. Facebook and Instagram ads are now getting a new lead generation objective that lets people start a WhatsApp chat. This will help marketers nurture more quality leads with messaging.
Additionally, a new instant form ad format will let people explore and connect with multiple businesses at once. For example, after signing up for a bridal hair trial, people can easily share their contact information with other relevant businesses, like a nail salon. This is convenient for people and gives small businesses more chances to be found by interested customers.
450 redundancies at Reach Plc in 2023’s third set of major cuts
Reach Plc, the UK’s largest commercial news publisher and the name behind over 130 print and online brands including nationals like The Daily Mirror and Express and regional titles including the Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo, has announced 450 redundancies. Leaders at Reach placed the blame on the change on the rise of social media, and predicted further upheaval as the BBC increasingly pivots towards online news. The redundancies follow two major sets of cutbacks this year at the publisher, which have all impacted the editorial teams.
Brands to spend record £9.5bn on Christmas advertising
Advertisers are expected to spend a record £9.5bn this Christmas season, according to data from the Advertising Association and Warc, a 4.8% increase on the same period last year largely attributed in part to inflation. Brands have upped the value of their investment in both emerging and traditional media. Broadcast video on demand, for example, is set to increase by 20.2%, while out-of-home will grow by 10.3%, and online display by 9.1%. Television remains a draw, with £1.5bn predicted to be spent on it in the final quarter, a slight dip of 0.2& down on its 2022 total. Despite a record amount being spent, WARC says that much of the growth can be put down to inflation with real terms growth in the fourth quarter forecast to be just 0.3%.
Meta Enables Amazon Shopping Within Facebook and Instagram
Meta is enhancing social commerce by enabling Amazon shopping directly within Facebook and Instagram. This move allows users to complete purchases without leaving the Meta platform, streamlining the shopping experience. Integrating Amazon shopping into Meta’s ecosystem aligns with the company’s goal to create a comprehensive social commerce hub, aiming to keep users engaged and increase transaction frequency. This development signifies Meta’s continuous efforts to strengthen its position in the e-commerce landscape and provides users with a seamless shopping journey by incorporating popular e-commerce platforms into its social media networks.
New Google Search Feature is a Shopping Portal
Google are rolling out a number of new search features for the festive period to make shopping straight from Google itself easier for users to find the best deals and compare deals and discounts. Some of the new features being introduced include:
- Search enhancements powered by the Google Shopping Graph
- New deals page on available on Google Search
- New features on Chrome for discovering discounts across the web
- New Price Insights tab in desktop version of Chrome
- Additional ways to track prices from all merchants for the same products
We’d recommend exploring whether any of these new features could be beneficial for your business over the festive period to ensure you take advantage of this enhanced visibility.
Google releases November 2023 reviews update
Google’s third Reviews update of the year is officially underway since November 8th 2023. Google have said this is the last time they will pre-announce a Reviews update and post about them on the status dashboard as the reviews system is now in a place that it can just run at a regular and ongoing pace.
As with the April 2023 reviews update, Google dropped the “product” from the name of these updates which suggests the updates are now looking wider than just product reviews to include those of services, businesses, destinations and media. So, if your site features reviews of any kind, you should follow Google’s guidance on writing high quality reviews here.
Looking for some advice on keeping your digital marketing strategies fresh and up-to-date? Contact us! Just drop us an email at team@modo25.com, and we’ll get back to you.
