It’s Monday and our trusty SEO and PPC gurus Tom and Kylie are back to share all the digital marketing headlines to kickstart your week. In this week’s digital news to watch, we discuss the ad market during the cost-of-living crisis, TikTok commerce and another Google product review is coming.
TikTok launches a social commerce solution with three new advertising formats
Short-form video platform TikTok has launched a commerce solution called Shopping Ads, which includes three new advertising formats. All three formats are currently being tested as TikTok tweaks its social commerce strategy for the festive period.
The new Shopping Ads formats aim to simplify product discovery and browsing for users, these include:
- Catalogue Listing Ads: These enable brands to link to a full catalogue of their TikTok campaigns.
- Video Shopping Ads: This type of ad places a sponsored ‘Shop Now’ banner at the bottom of posts where viewers can access a landing page to visit the brand’s website and make a purchase.
- Live Shopping Ads: These direct users browsing TikTok’s scrolling FYP (For You Page) to live shopping events.
New Google Helpful Content Update has been announced
Google recently announced that they are rolling out a new algorithm update, entitled the Helpful Content Update. The exact date is unconfirmed, but it is likely going to start this week and take two weeks to roll out in full.
The broad update, which is going to affect all sites, is aimed at serving helpful content to users, rather than content that has been written solely to appease search engines.
In Google’s words, “the helpful content update aims to better reward content where visitors feel they’ve had a satisfying experience, while content that doesn’t meet a visitor’s expectations won’t perform as well.”
Global ad market faces a crash next year during the cost-of-living crisis
As households have been forced to cut back on spending during the cost-of-living crisis, businesses could be obliged to do the same with their advertising budgets as the UK’s inflation rate reaches a three-decade high.
The advertising industry remains optimistic about its prospects, such as the upcoming World Cup. However, mounting concerns for the economy and lower consumer confidence mean that spend is and marketing budgets could be an ‘easy cost to cut’ as demand slows.
Another Google product review update is coming
Google have announced another product review update, which is to be launched in the coming days to serve more helpful reviews to users within their search results to help with purchasing decisions.
Google haven’t updated their product review guidance with the announcement of this latest update, so you should visit this for more details. The only difference with the latest product review update is that it coincides with the new Helpful Content Update which suggests that the two may be linked.
60% of young people consider marketing as a career
New research from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) has found three fifths (60%) of young people would consider marketing as a potential career choice.
The CIM surveyed the views of 500 16 to 21-year-olds and more than 500 parents. The students highlight pay and progression as key attractions, but their parents worry about the mental health implications of a marketing career.
CIM director of qualifications and partnerships notes that the parents’ perceptions could be “lagging behind their children in believing all ‘corporate’ careers are inherently stressful.”
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