Edition #6 - Paradigms, Influence & Attention (as a growth lever)

What is interesting about change is that it is constant, but as we change, we tend to become more of the same. At least our patterns are. So it is worth identifying our current patterns of thinking and doing (paradigms), and forecast where we may be heading, both personally and professionally.

If you’re reading this, you probably know our YouTube channel has hit 100 subs! So if you’re one of them, thank you, humbly. We’ve still got a long way to go, 1,000 subs maybe?

Why did I mention that? Well, it’s because I’m now slowly starting to reap the benefits of my past actions (and thoughts). In fact, I’ve had 3-4 prospects come into my inbox/socials last week, that found me through the YouTube channel. And if you work in sales, you know inbound leads are always better than cold ones…

The point is to focus on your current paradigm and forecast where this will lead you. Are there any habits that can be questioned, improved or eradicated? As we all develop as marketers and settle into this new era, know that the future is now (just delayed in manifestation). 

Now back to marketing eh?

LinkedIn CTV and Live Event Ads

LinkedIn is in a streak of changes in its platform, notably, now giving us advertisers the ability to advertise to CTV (smart TVs) and promote any live events we set up. The power of video advertising in the B2B world is now extending into TV, whereas traditionally, this was a medium of D2C/ecom. Times they are a changing…again

Topline Insights:

• New Ad Solutions: Introduction of LinkedIn CTV and LinkedIn Premiere for targeted advertising on connected TV and premium content platforms.

• Enhanced Engagement: Tools and features aimed at maintaining engagement with potential buyers across multiple channels, especially during the limited windows when they are in-market for purchases.

• Strategic Partnerships: Collaboration with NBCUniversal and other publishers to offer premium, brand-safe advertising environments.

• Advanced Measurement Tools: Utilization of iSpot for cross-platform audience measurement and Kantar for detailed brand impact studies.

• Event Promotion Innovation: Launch of LinkedIn Live Event Ads to boost visibility and interaction for corporate events on the platform.

Source: LinkedIn

The State of PPC 2024 Report

Want to hear what 1,135 PPC specialists have to say about work, ad platforms, AI and digital marketing in general?

Read the The State of PPC 2024 Report HERE (it’s an amazing read)

Topline insights: 

• 49% of people and agencies surveyed say PPC management is harder now. Really? I think it’s getting easier!

• Agency struggles include: hiring talent, dealing with client expectations and changes in pricing models (hourly vs subscription vs based on media spend)

• With ad platforms automating campaign strategy and management, PPC experts are blind-sided by the type of insights that can be extracted from the likes of Performance Max/GA4 (Google) and Advantage Shopping+ (Meta). What else can we optimise?

• The importance of soft skills (like communication) as a selling point to managing clients VS solely relying on one’s skillset (who cares about KW research)

• The transition and struggles of multi-channel reporting and attribution (this one is going to take a marketer to solve…)

Source: PPC Survey

How We Search is Evolving (Google SGE, AI)

I remember a time when searching was simply typing a question on Google and hoping you’d find an answer. It then evolved into a gold rush of SEO content that aimed to game the algorithms but not necessarily answer the question.

I then started to use YouTube or add ‘reddit’ or ‘quora’, at the end of my questions, to get people to answer them (it felt like I was conversing with a person ). 

And then chatGPT came and completely made me have a paradigm shift in my ways of researching. With Google’s SGE (Search Generative Experience) on the horizon, how else can our approach to search evolve? How will we adapt our content strategy? Will SEO become obsolete? We’ll find out.

Topline insights:

• SGE Development: Google is confident about the ongoing development of its Search Generative Experience (SGE), emphasizing that it is designed to continue directing traffic to websites and maintain user connectivity with relevant web content.

• Focus on Quality and Relevance: The aim of SGE is to improve satisfaction by providing answers to more conversational and complex queries. Google is focusing on including more links and broadening the range of sources shown on the results page​.

• Strategic Advertising: Ads will continue to play a crucial role in the new search experience. Google plans to experiment with new ad formats that are native to SGE, finding ways to integrate ads that are relevant and useful for users​ 

• Gemini and AI Integration: The launch of Gemini 1.0 marks the beginning of what Google calls the "Gemini era." This model integrates various types of content such as text, images, and video, and is intended to fuel advancements in Google's AI capabilities​.

• User Experience and AI: Google is working on making the search experience more seamless and intuitive, utilizing AI to improve how searches are conducted. Features like Circle to Search on mobile devices enhance this integration​​.

• Caution with Sensitive Content: Google is cautious with how it handles queries in sensitive categories such as health and finance, aiming to provide reliable and safe information without overstepping in terms of content presentation​​.

• Expansion and Testing: SGE is being actively tested and has expanded to new countries including Romania, Poland, and Turkey, indicating a broader rollout and integration into Google's global search services​.

Source: Search Engine Land

How Do You Become a Digital Marketer in 2024? YouTube

Discover practical approaches to getting into digital marketing as a career (or for your personal venture). Including: the different roles in digital marketing, approaches to practically learning/applying digital marketing in different use cases and more. 

Spotify and Video Learning Courses

Not only can you engage in music, podcasts and audiobooks on Spotify…now you can even learn! Spotify has launched courses in the UK (for now), that’ll see video-based lessons from platforms such as BBC Maestro, Skillshare, Thinkific, and PlayVirtuoso. 

Learning as an entertainment? A lot of us engage with books or podcasts to learn, so this is an extension of Spotify supporting that pattern.

Definitely an interesting move here and one I am in support of, especially as someone who teaches, mentors and loves the concept of learning. I predict that more companies will use educational content as a means to merge the concept of learning and entertainment as one, making learning more accessible and frictionless.

Source: The Verge

Snapchat Partners with Agencies

While not one of the first ad platforms I think of when it comes to growth, it’s good to see Snapchat provide custom solutions for agencies, where a more personalised strategy is helpful. 

The fact that they’ve also partnered with an attribution solution like Fospha, tells me they want to take more market share of the ad platform space, but the question is all about performance at the end of the day, not support.

Snapchat will provide agencies with the following:

• Personalised training (how complicated can Snapchat be?)

• Exclusive support (performance marketers, rejoice!)

Source: Snapchat

Worthy Reads

• Google Updates Tracking To Make Conversions Consistent Across Google Ads and Analytics. Source: Growth Hackers

• YouTube Introduces Mandatory Disclosure For AI-Generated Content. Source: Search Engine Journal (I predicted this one)

• The Ultimate PPC Software Directory for 2024. Source: PPC Software

Rapidly Upskill and Future-proof Your Marketing Journey at Futurist Marketers

Connect with me personally on LinkedIn (DM me!): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanmilanes/