Category Archives: Digital Marketing

google discovery ads

Google Discovery Ads: Everything You Need to Know

In November 2019 Google Discovery Ads were released in Beta.  Now, in July 2020, they are available to all advertisers and we believe they’re going to change the way we use PPC. Google Discovery Ads provide us with the opportunity to reach potential customers through three of Google’s most popular feeds. Google’s use of AI will also allow you to be one step ahead of your customers at all times. We’ve compiled a quick and convenient breakdown of all the information you need to know about Google Discovery Ads to successfully implement this new strategy.

 

What are Google Discovery Ads?

Google Discovery Ads provide you with a new opportunity to reach potential customers through YouTube, Gmail and the Discover Feed (the new name for the Google Feed). According to Google, Discovery Ads are particularly effective for driving sales, lead generation, customer acquisition and remarketing, and can apparently reach up to 2.8 billion people.

Discovery ads allow you to connect with potential customers as they browse their favourite Google feeds all with a single campaign. Their purpose is to show customers something they want before they even know they want it, making them excellent at generating demand through the use of compelling images and creatives. Their remarketing function also enables you to reach customers who have shown an interest in your website. Google has taken a leaf out of Facebook ads allowing engaging, compelling images of your products or service to be displayed to targeted, interested audiences.

 

What is “Google Discover”?

In order to understand one of the main feeds that Google Discovery Ads use it is important to provide a quick explanation behind “Google Discover”, which is the new name for the Google Feed. The Google Discover feed was introduced to keep up with shifts in search behaviour from queries to query-less and from text-based to visual-based. It allows iPhone and Android users who have the Google app on their devices to personalise their newsfeed. The aim of Google Discover is to provide an answer before the user even asks the question which is very much in contrast to Google Search. As a user interacts more with Google Discovery, Google learns more about them and tailors the news feed to their interests and preferences. This is where Google Discovery Ads fit into the equation as your ads will appear here based on the interests, searches and preferences of your potential customer – all thanks to AI.

Below is an image of what the Google Discover feed looks like:

Google Discovery Ads

 

What do Google Discovery Ads look like?

Google Discovery ads are quite similar to Display Ads. They’re highly visual and engaging. The images you use are a very important consideration to capture your audience’s attention. Discovery Ads are also available in carousel format so multiple images can be used to engage and interact with users. Below is an example of a Google Discovery Ad across YouTube, the Discovery feed and Gmail. Note how multiple image types are used across the three feeds which are colourful and engaging. Discovery campaigns automatically select the best-performing assets so including several image and text options will help drive performance.

discovery ads

 

What is involved in setting up Discovery Ads?

You’ll need to be signed into your Google Ads account. From here you need to select a new campaign and choose your objective. Next, select the “Discovery” campaign type. You will be prompted to enter one landing page URL, at least one image, your logo and up to five headlines and descriptions. Google will then use machine learning to serve the best combinations of your assets across the best performing placements. This is similar to Facebook dynamic creative ads for those familiar with Facebook advertising. Google is automating ad optimisation so you can reach more relevant users, with more relevant creatives and relevant locations.

 

What are the targeting options?

Similar to the Google Display Network, Discovery Ads allow you to target custom, in-market and affinity audiences. Remarketing audiences can also be targeted allowing you to re-engage with your website visitors through additional methods. The core principle behind Discovery Ads targeting is to target people based on their interests or what they have been searching for. For example, if you’re selling women’s rain jackets then you’ll want to be targeting people who are actively interested in and searching for women’s rain jackets. Effective audience targeting as well as compelling creatives are vitally important to the success of Discovery Ads.

 

Should I implement Google Discovery Ads?

 

Discovery Ads mark a new step in advertising, you can now place your ads in front of people before they even know they want your product or service with specific targeting options available and the help of AI to deliver the best combination of your ad. However, Google Discovery Ads are still in their early phase and not as well developed as Google Display Ads or Facebook ads. In order to get the most out of these ads you need to ensure you are placing them in front of the right people, that they’re engaging and that they’re tailored to your audience’s preferences. 

 

Google Discovery Ads with Evolution Digital

Here at Evolution Digital, we believe that Google Discovery Ads provide an excellent opportunity for advertisers to focus on driving sales, generating leads and acquiring customers. If executed well, with engaging content and tactical targeting then Google Discovery Ads will help your business reach a far greater, interested audience. Google Discovery Ads present the future of advertising where we can target potential customers before they even know they want our product or service! 

If you’re interested in learning how Google Discovery Ads or indeed any other digital marketing strategy can work for your business then get in touch with us here at Evolution Digital.

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digital marketing campaigns

Top 10 Creative Marketing Campaigns during Covid-19

With everyone staying at home and life at a standstill due to Covid-19, spending priorities changed. Companies could have sat back and not spent a cent of their digital marketing budget but a few key players did the exact opposite. These brands kept their customers interested and engaged through creative campaigns while others placed an emphasis on supporting charities or healthcare workers.

Now that restrictions are easing and we prepare for the new ‘normal’, these companies will be remembered for their ingenious digital marketing campaigns that brought some joy into our lives when the whole World was at a standstill.

Here are Evolution Digital’s top 10 creative Digital Marketing campaigns during Covid-19…

 

1.McDonalds

mcdonalds digital marketing

With all McDonald’s across Ireland and the UK closed from March 23rd people were beginning to crave their favourite takeaway. McDonald’s released their sausage and egg McMuffin recipe on April 6th to the delight of fans. Although this seems counterintuitive as it provides a replacement for McDonald’s at home – McDonald’s know that no home recipe will compete with their taste and so it actually creates a greater buzz for when they re-add their breakfast option. Ba Da Ba Ba Ba… I’m craving it!

 

2.Guinness

Even though St. Patrick’s Day was cancelled, it is no surprise that Guinness didn’t stay quiet. Their social media pages put out a video message that was heartfelt and inspirational when the World needed it most! This video focused on the past – Guinness’ legacy, the present – Covid 19 and the future. Looking forward to what is to come and really made us all proud to be Irish!

 

3. Nike

nike digital marketing

Nike masterfully struck a balance between creating a new campaign and highlighting its purpose through inspiring people through the power of sport. Their ‘Play for the World’ campaign highlighted how we must all do our bit and ‘play inside’.

 

4. L’Oreal Paris


With hairdressers closed and roots beginning to show, L’Oreal Paris enlisted the help of their brand ambassador Eva Longoria who made a homemade video using their Excellence Crème hair dye. This campaign was effective as often we can be skeptical if celebrities in ads for home dye kits really use the product or not! This was living-proof that indeed they do, increasing trust in L’Oreal Paris and inspiring others to cover up their greys – if its good enough for Eva then its good enough for us!

 

5. Three


Three Mobile launched its latest campaign to highlight its removal of usage limits on all you can eat data! This message combined with the innocent Facetime dialogue between a grandson and grandfather which is all too real for people during this current time really hit the nail on the head between being informative and striking a chord with customers.

 

6. YouTube


During lockdown, who wasn’t watching some type of ‘how-to’ video or “at-home” workout? Well, YouTube decided to remind us of the importance of staying home to save lives and how this time can be spent on their platform doing things you didn’t have time for before! Using the hashtags #StayHome #WithMe. Smart right?!

 

7. Dove


Dove is well known for its campaigns focused on beauty. Their recent campaign entitled ‘Courage is Beautiful’ featured front-line staff showing the marks PPE equipment was leaving on their faces. A truly poignant digital campaign. Dove also donated to Direct Relief and established themselves as a brand concerned with more than just traditional beauty.

 

8. Tik Tok

With extra time on our hands, many of us turned to Tik Tok in an attempt to pass the time and maybe even become a viral sensation!

Tik Tok released their ‘A little brighter inside’ campaign to signify the power the app has to make you feel better during these difficult times. This idea of escapism was exactly what we needed when things were tough in the real world.

 

9. Tourism Ireland

This stunning campaign entitled ‘I will return’ captures some of Ireland’s treasures and focuses on the future and the day that visitors can ‘return into her arms.’ The perfect inspiration for an Irish holiday.

 

10. Cadbury

Cadbury’s Covid-19 campaign focused on the positive spirit that endured during the pandemic. Entitled ‘This doesn’t need to end’ it focuses on all the positives we can take from our time in lockdown and the kindness we showed one another. Celebrating the many acts of kindness that happened during the pandemic resonates with Cadbury’s revitalised brand message, which focuses on this sentiment. Finishing with ‘There’s a glass and a half in everyone’ beautifully sums up the kindness seen during this pandemic.

 

Digital Marketing with Evolution Digital

If you are looking to kickstart your digital marketing again in the second half of 2020, make sure to contact our team at Evolution Digital. Our team of creative marketers would be happy to discuss where we can take your company using varying digital marketing channels. Get in touch with us now on 01 288 5118 or email info@evolutiondigital.ie.

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Post Covid19 Digital Marketing Tips & Insights

It’s safe to say that the Covid-19 Global Pandemic has certainly thrown us all, Digital Marketers included. Business owners have felt the heat and pressure from this latest societal and economical interruption in a massively significant way. A lot of people have had important decisions to make regarding their Company’s as well as their marketing strategies. 

Most companies are looking for ways to preserve finances, now more than ever, due to the level of uncertainty amidst the market, consumer behaviour as well as the challenges facing both local and world economies. And so, seeing as marketing can cost a significant amount of money, what we have been seeing so far is some people making impulse decisions early on (around the middle of March) eliminating marketing budgets, but for most, then coming back as they’ve seen that cutting budgets was not a sensible business decision (albeit there are some Companies who will sadly never come back now or post Covid-19 (whenever that is).

For some, it may have been necessary to pull marketing spend, for others, who had the means necessary, this crisis was an obstacle to overcome and they decided to adapt and keep the wheels turning. Of course, unfortunately, this is not always an option for all businesses, but those that did manage to keep up and hold tight will certainly be at a strong advantage as we come out of this initial apex of the coronavirus crisis, and will continue to come out stronger for when things eventually return to whatever the new normality will be.

Businesses & Companies that have adapted their marketing strategies to the current climate, are mainly in a strong position and can feel secure knowing that they have not fallen behind their competitors. 

It’s vital to now not drop the ball and to understand that Digital Marketing in the past and present, will not be the same as in the future or for this “post-Covid-19” era that’s ahead of us. 

Marketing is evolving, and certain adaptations need to be made as we re-enter some semblance of “normal” life. Marketers should now be preparing for these adaptations as there will be yet another dominant shift in customer behaviour very soon.

 

Digital Marketing Considerations To Be Mindful of:

 

Bidding & Budget Strategies

We all know that setting up a Google Ads / Adwords / Paid Social Campaign and leaving it be is not going to get the desired results. With such strong and ongoing changes in cultural behaviour it is even more important to roll with the punches. 

It does not make sense to leave everything as is as we start to get out from under covid19. Focus on ROI and prioritise bidding strategies that deliver results. 

Constantly Monitor and adapt your automated and manual bidding strategies because another big shift is coming.

 

Search Trends & Keywords

SEO specialists need to keep up with the ever-changing search trends. It’s vital to know what your target audience is searching for, to recognise changes in search intent, and to regularly strategize based on your findings.

 

Messaging & Device Strategy

Messaging is going to face another major makeover. Ensure to review all messaging and ad copy and make necessary edits.

Ad copy that is no longer relevant will need to be modified and anything insensitive will need to be revoked. It’s important to stay empathetic about what has gone on and understand that many have suffered great losses. 

Keep an eye on competitors and monitor what their messaging includes, what offers they may be promoting, and how they are performing. 

Understand your buyer personas and adapt them to your current cultural and local climate. 

If you’ve not already done so, It’s time to rethink device strategy, many people may possibly be in a few months commuting to and from work again and so we predict a strong resurgence in mobile use. 

 

Content

A lot of digital marketing specialists have been performing content audits and creating a higher level of content during this time. It’s important to note the importance and vitality of strong quality content and keep up the good work.

If you have not done so, review your content quality, and improve on it. This means having the best possible websites, landing pages, evergreen content, and continuing to upload relevant and helpful blogs, videos, webinars, etc.

This is not the time to drop the ball!

 

Remarketing 

If you have been keeping up your Digital Marketing attempts, and engaging with customers as well as working to gain more reach and potential new customers, you’ll find yourself in an ideal situation to benefit from remarketing. We recommend you should have a fresh and targeted audience that will prove effective for remarketing campaigns. Utilise this.

 

Technicalities

Don’t forget to revert any changes you may have made when the time is right. 

Update your Google My Business page, business opening hours, or contact information. 

All of this can’t be ignored or else your business risks looking sloppy.

 

Key Takeaways Going Forward

Agile marketing becomes essential for success

What we’ve noticed as we step away from the initial peak of the Covid19 crisis is that agile marketing is the way forward, as well as something all marketers should have been implementing all along. The rapid leaps that were made in strategising for the situation we had all found ourselves in have only highlighted the importance of responsive marketing. This will be the way forward and marketers will need to prioritise ROI as well as quality content and brand image to be successful. The level of content control and awareness that has been reached must continue, with constant reviewing and analysing of customer behaviour and consumer lifestyle. This will provide a localised & personalised consumer experience in terms of any content or ads that are being published, this is the future. Digital marketers must constantly adapt or risk being left behind and risk tarnishing a brand’s image.

Some form of social distancing, and certain restrictions, will most likely remain for the foreseeable future, and consumer behaviour is not likely to return to “normal” for quite a while, it will only continue to shift. This is not news; people change and situations change. This is where Digital Marketers need to stay on top of their game and keep up the agile marketing tactics that have become so dominant throughout this pandemic. 

 

Thanks for reading this article 🙂

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6 Ways to Optimise Your Youtube Practices

Billions of people watch videos on YouTube everyday. This makes the platform the second largest search engine after Google. Videos have risen as an important part of online marketing. While many companies have come to realize the power behind videos, they don’t necessarily know how to optimize their YouTube practices or content. How can you make sure that you and your brand capture this traffic? Taking just a few extra steps to optimize your videos will give you an online advantage, making your content easier to find and to share.

1. Name Your Video with a Target Keyword

The title of your YouTube video is important as it serves as a meta tag, which tells the search engines what the web page and your video is about. Just as it is important to optimize your written content for your website, it is important to identify keywords that help to identify your video. For this reason, it is important to use keywords in your video title. When people browse or search videos on YouTube, one of the first things that they notice is the video title. The title is what determines whether or not the viewer will actually click to watch your video. As long as your keyword fits naturally in your video title, it will serve you well to optimize your title.

2. Write Your Description with SEO in Mind

The description boxes on YouTube videos can also be helpful for search engines and viewers. Description boxes can be up to 1,000 characters, however, many viewers do not read past what YouTube automatically displays for description boxes, which would be only the first two or three lines of text. Despite this, it is still beneficial to optimize your description box with keywords and phrases. An optimized description allows your video to show up in the suggested videos sidebar on the website, which helps to expose your video to more users.

3. Tag Your Video with Related Keywords

Using tags on your video allows both YouTube and your viewers to know what the content and context of your video is. By using relevant tags, YouTube can place your video in the suggested videos sidebar as a similar video, in turn, broadening the reach of your video. Tags should be a mix of the most important keywords and more general keywords. However, it is important to avoid using irrelevant tags as Google may penalize users who do.

4. Track the Right Metrics

YouTube Analytics allows you to see your greatest areas of success as well as areas that need improvement. The three main reports that YouTube provides are Revenue Reports, Watch Time Reports, and Interaction Reports. Other important analytics to keep track of include audience retention, demographics, playback locations, traffic sources and devices. These analytics will

allow you to see everything from what location and devices people are watching your videos from, to how people discover your videos and when they stop watching them.

5. Encourage Embedding

If someone embeds your video on their site, it allows your video’s rating to be boosted in search engine results. If you embed your video on your own website, you also give your site the opportunity for increased traffic by giving search engines added content to rank. Embedding your videos on a website acts like a back link, enabling your videos to be placed in search engine results, resulting in more views. It also helps you reach a wider, more diverse audience apart from just your usual YouTube audience.

6. Encourage Your Viewers to Like and Share Your Videos

The most important interaction metrics that YouTube shows you on your interaction reports include Subscriber numbers, Likes and Dislikes, Comments and Sharing. These metrics show you how viewers feel about your videos and give you the opportunity to interact and form relationships with your subscribers. It is beneficial to promote your videos on your other social media platforms, like Facebook or Twitter, if you have any. It is also important to encourage your viewers to comment, share and leave a Like on your video. Similar to Views, the more Likes that you have on your video, the better your YouTube SEO ranking will be.

Having a strong YouTube presence can have a huge impact on your brand reach by giving you the opportunity to engage with the billions of users on the platform. Once people watch your video, you have the chance to expand your communication with them by encouraging them to go to your company website, ultimately leading to conversions. By optimizing your YouTube practices, you can take full advantage of the branding power that the platform provides.

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What You Missed At #LearnInbound

This years Learn Inbound event took place in The Mansion House on the 13th & 14th of September, and was once again a delight to attend. Guest speakers from all around the world came to share their thoughts and expertise on the changing digital marketing landscape. Anyone who attended is better off for it, but if you were unfortunate enough to miss it don’t worry; we’ve got you covered.

Let’s take you through the highlights of the conference. Thankfully many keynote speakers shared their slides for anyone interested in inbound marketing to read online.

Barry Adams

Barry Adams is a well known specialist in SEO, and owner of “Polemic Digital”, an SEO agency based in Belfast. Barry’s best work comes in the form of his expertise in Technical SEO, travelling Ireland to speak about the three pillars of SEO; Technology, Relevancy and Authority. His presentation on “Technical SEO in the real world” was one of the highlights of the Conference. Make sure to check out Barry’s advice below and apply it to your website.

Britney Muller

To no one’s surprise, Britney Muller’s presentation on The “Future of SEO” was one of the most popular talks of the festival. There were no seats left as Britney weaved her way through the both daunting and bright future that SEO has as a digital marketing tool. The specialist over at Moz and also the founder of Pryde Marketing was kind enough to share her deck online; check them out below:

Aleyda Solis

One of the more intriguing decks of the week came from Orianti founder Aleyda Solis, who is also an experienced international SEO consultant, author and speaker. Aleyda gave a presentation titled “OK, How can I rank for Voice Search”, capturing the minds of even the other keynote speakers at the conference. The presentation gave more realistic predictions on voice search and its impact on SEO and display going forward. Her slides already have thousands of views since the event; so check out below to make sure you don’t get left behind!

Ian Lurie

Ian is the founder of the agency “Portent”, who cover all aspects of internet marketing. He spoke about Content workflow using Github and Markdown. This article is a must read for all content creationists, speaking through structure and also different tools to help you help you create and publish the best possible content. Check out the tweet below, and take a read of Portents blog for more insights on everything digital.

Dana DiTomaso

Dana DiTomaso is the president of “Kick Point Inc”, and spoke about an often overlooked aspect of digital marketing; reporting. These slides were eye-opening to anyone working in an agency who has delivery monthly or weekly reports to various clients. Dana’s advice on communication and language when talking to customers with different goals and ideals was particularly helpful. Check out her slides below.

Paddy Moogan

Paddy is the co founder of “aira.net” and the publisher of the linkbuildingbook.com. Paddy also spoke about content, this time about how bets to build up your inbound links. The presentation, “Content driven link building: what does good look like?” went down a treat, describing how its best to have a process and a data-led system in place to build up your links. Check out the slide deck below.

Oli Gardner

More content marketing goodness came from well known marketer and speaker Oli Gardner, who co-founded the landing page optimising agency “Unbounce”. Oli kicked off day two with one of our favourite talks, not just because of his knack for public speaking or creative slide deck, but the insightful information on Google Tag Manager. Read “Content Marketing Is Broken & Only Your Mom Can Fix It” below.

The event was filled with amazing guests, not just the ones above but all the men and women who brought their expertise to the table. The event was run ever so smoothly and I suspect it will once again next year. Thank you to the speakers who shared their slides, and if we missed any decks be sure to share them with us!

Check out the Learn Inbound Facebook page for photos of the event.

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Benefits Of Linkedin

Linkedin offers an online platform for networking, social selling and more for business professionals in all industries. If used correctly, it can be a gold mine with endless sales leads for your company. Linkedin can be a difficult platform to really tap in to, as often it comes across as a clutter of random connection requests and mundane or repetitious industry updates.

We here at Evolution Digital are experts in extracting leads and executing your business goals through the online professional network. We get past the clutter to identify the key benefits of having a prominent, consistent and well-glossed presence in the right areas of Linkedin.

Linkedin Training

Learn about your prospective client/customer/employee

Linkedin offers Directors and Managers the ability to analyse the profile of their prospects; to identify the quality of leads by delving into their professional background. Linkedin is a recruiters dream, with CVs, interests, education and previous work projects all attached to better inform your decision before picking up the phone.

Act as on an online vehicle for you and your brand

Linkedin gives you the opportunity like no other to present yourself and your brand’s image in a circle with other working professionals. Separating yourself from your competitors on Linkedin can give you the edge when it comes to standing out against the crowd and becoming the no.1 choice for Linkedin can give you the edge when it comes to standing out against the crowd and becoming the no.1 choice for whoever is your target audience. Linkedin has over 500 million members, with over half of this logging on each month, and a further 40% of these then logging on every day, proving that it is ripe with opportunity simply waiting to be excavated correctly.

The online home for your company

The use of company pages on Linkedin grew from 24% in 2015 to 57% in 2016. Brand’s are seeing more and more the fact that you are missing out by not being present on Linkedin, however it is crucial to develop goals and not be online just because everyone else is. A well polished company page, with consistent posts shows prospective clients that you are active, and can be the crucial difference in capturing new clients or customers. Relevant and quality content is just as important as frequency. The Company page also gives your brand the chance to:

  • Tell it’s brand story
  • Showcase your clients/projects
  • Show off your business locations and staff, presenting in a professional yet appealing manor.

Linkedin posted the following infographic earlier in the year, showing that marketers identified Company Pages as the no.1 aspect of the social network that they needed help with.

Infographic for Linkedin Products chart

Video on Linkedin

Linkedin was not traditionally associated with video, however things began to change in 2017 when they introduced the native video option for businesses. Since then, they have expanded their horizon further with the advent of sponsored video ads. Linkedin’s Senior product manager Peter Roybal announced last year that users are 20 times more likely to share video content that any other format. This proves the potential impact of your ads or campaigns provided there is engaging content, and you captures user’s attention early.

The right people

Linkedin is effective because of its primary audience; the prominent presence of middle and upper class individuals. Not only is there a strong presence of upper level individuals, but they are also amongst the most active. About 45% of article readers on Linkedin are in the upper ranks of industries, such as CEOS, VPs, managers etc, so you know your time is not wasted.
This automatically makes for higher quality leads, particularly if you seek out the right groups. As of August 2018, there are over 2 million Linkedin groups with over half of its users being a member of atleast one group. Linkedin groups had lost some steam in the last couple of years, but just this month they have announced some changes to breath life back into the area.

Graphic of Linkedin's market classes

www.adscode.com/social-media/infographic-linkedin-facts-stats-2018

techcrunch.com/2018/08/15/linkedin-groups-relaunch

marketingland.com/linkedin-officially-rolls-native-video-uploading-worldwide-not-businesses-yet

blog.linkedin.com/2015/07/09/1-million-linkedin-publishers

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