Hey there, Digital Darlings,
Firstly, let me say to any of my dear readers who were impacted by Hurricane Helene: my heart goes out to you. For those who want to help, there are tons of different ways to donate and provide support here.
It’s been a stressful week, so let’s take a few deep breaths together before we start…
Done? Ok, let’s get into it.
This town got hit by Helene, and it may disrupt the entire tech industry
Have you ever heard of Spruce Pine? I hadn’t, but it sounds cute AF. It’s a tiny town in Appalachia known for gorgeous hiking, a great local art scene, and for being America’s only source of high-purity quartz, which is used to make semiconductors and solar panels. The town was tragically devastated by Hurricane Helene, and the entire tech industry is about to feel the impact. If Spruce Pine remains cut off from the rest of the world for too long, it could stall the production of solar panels, microchips… basically all the stuff the tech industry needs to function. So be prepared and donate to help Hurricane Helene survivors if you can. Now for a quick Google Ads update…
Google added tCPL bidding for local services ads
They still recommend Maximize Leads for this campaign type, but if you want to set an efficiency threshold, now you can. Just like any other tCPA campaign, some leads may cost more than your target, and some may cost less, but they should average out close to your target. If your local services ads are seeing a higher than desired CPL, consider adding a target CPL to your strategy’s settings. Now for some SEO news…
Google Search Console performance report filters stick now
I know this may not be tea, but it is a big deal to me. I use Search Console all the time and I’m so tired of constantly having to re-apply filters. Now they’re sticky, yay! Just remember to hit the ‘reset filters’ button when you don’t want them anymore. Now for some social updates…
Snapchat influencers are the most ~influential~ influencers
Say that 5 times fast. A recent study by eMarketer on what they call ‘creator-driven shopping’ revealed that Snapchat influencer shopping content has a higher conversion rate than TikTok or Instagram. So retailers, it’s time to reach out to some Snapchat influencers, especially if your target audience includes Gen Zers–who the study showed are most susceptible to influencer marketing. The study also found that Facebook had the lowest rate of creator-driven shopping… no surprises there. Let this report guide where you spend your influencer marketing budget this holiday season. In other social news…
Meta is letting advertisers make ad-embedded chatbots
These AI chatbots offer a new type of CTA. Rather than prompting users to ‘shop now’ in your ads, you can prompt them to chat. Then, ad-embedded chatbots can answer questions about your products–increasing brand engagement and boosting click-through-rates (according to Meta). That said, studies show that the majority of people would rather wait a minute or two to chat with a real person than chat with an AI bot instantly. But I still think an AI chatbot is better than nothing. Test out this new CTA and let me know how it goes? And speaking of AI…
The FTC is cracking down on deceptive AI claims
A lot of companies are making big claims about how their software uses AI. It’s starting to feel like a buzzword that doesn’t mean anything… and the FTC thinks that’s a problem (I agree). They announced four cases against businesses that made “allegedly deceptive claims about AI-driven services” when marketing their businesses. “Some marketers can’t resist using the language of AI and technology to try to make it seem like their products or services deliver all the answers,” said attorney Julia Solomon Ensor. Facts!! To avoid beefing with the FTC, make sure you can back all your AI claims with legit technology. We at Marin recently noticed that there was a lot of confusion around the types of AI our software uses, so we created a handy landing page to spell it out for everyone. That’s one way to stave off the FTC! In more AI news…
Pinterest released genAI tools for ad product imagery
The Pinterest Performance+ suite, a toolkit of AI and automation features for advertisers, can turn plain backgrounds on product images into lifestyle imagery. They started rolling out this feature on Tuesday. These AI backgrounds should drive more clicks for advertisers (according to Pinterest). It’s worth trying out and has the potential to improve the quality of your creatives in seconds. And in my final bit of AI news…
Amazon announced a new AI assistant for sellers
Her name is Amelia, and she’s here to help you manage and scale your business on Amazon. Of course, any new AI assistant warrants a bit of skepticism, but this one seems legit. In Amazon VP Mary Beth Westmoreland’s words, “Project Amelia provides sellers with an all-in-one, generative AI-based selling expert that is always available to immediately provide sellers with the answers, advice, and tools they need to succeed.”
Other new AI-powered features from Amazon include a video tool that uses generative AI to create video ads from a product image and A+ content, which generates custom content for product detail pages. You can learn more about the new features here.
And that’s all for now, Darlings. Try to get some R&R this weekend. I’m going to a music festival, so not much resting is happening on my end, but festivals always renew my lust for life. I hope you do something for yourself this weekend that renews your lust for life, too. Until next week, stay cute, stay smart, and stay on top of the latest marketing trends with yours truly.
You know you love me.
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