Google Adwords, Facebook Advertising Updates and WhatsApp Business in 2018
The New Facebook Advertising Updates and Google AdWords are up now.
Facebook Ads and Google AdWords have been powerful marketing tools for a number of years now. In many countries, WhatsApp has also been a useful tool for businesses to use. But with 2018 just getting started, we have already seen the announcement of WhatsApp Business and a number of other exciting features on both Facebook and Google AdWords. Here’s a look at what’s been going on.
Facebook Advertising updates 2018
3 useful Facebook Advertising updates announcements have already been made to users of Facebook.
1. Improved bidding options
When placing an ad on Facebook, you already have access to multiple bidding strategies. Well, they have now rolled out new features to help users have better control over their cost per action (CPA). These changes should be visible across Power Editor and Ads Manager. Facebook’s bid strategy updates guide is the best place for you to start in understanding the process of Facebook bidding. After that, they now include strategy descriptions in the bidding interface. Finally, and most importantly, is the “target cost bid” option that lets you maintain a CPA that is as near to your target as possible. This was previously displayed as “average costs”.
2. Test and Learn
The new Test and Learn feature should now be visible to users around the world. The idea is simple, which is to create a testing system that shows you the most profitable campaigns for you to run. After Facebook carries out a range of tests, it provides you with a clear breakdown of which campaigns will have the best returns for your business. This is useful for beginner and experienced Facebook advertisers alike.
3. Results from Facebook IQ
Facebook often carries out tests on the 2 billion people using their various platforms. The results are then displayed in Facebook IQ. Their recent post, “Loyalty Isn’t Over, It’s Now On Demand”, looks at the extent of customer loyalty within e-commerce and on-demand applications. The results may be useful for you to understand how consumers engage with new apps and where their loyalty lies. Especially with regards to spending habits.
Hope you find the latest Facebook Advertising updates useful 🙂
WhatsApp Updates 2018
All around the world, businesses use WhatsApp as a way to interact and engage with new and existing customers. Up until now, this connection has been limited to the standard WhatsApp messaging application. However, they have now launched WhatsApp business which is designed for the exact purpose of helping businesses talk to and market to customers. Here are the sort of features WhatsApp Business includes:
– Useful messaging tools. To make the process of replying to customers easier, businesses can make use of smart messaging tools. This includes “away messages” for when you are busy, “greeting messages” for new enquiries and “quick replies” for frequently asked questions.
– WhatsApp Web. Allows you to reply to messages on both your mobile and desktop.
– Confirmed accounts. Businesses will be listed as a “Business Account” to other users. You can then be verified as a “Confirmed Account”.
– Statistical Insight. You can review basic metrics to help you see what responses are working best.
– Business profiles. Customers can get quick access to all the useful information they require. This includes their website, a description of their services and a postal or email address.
Best of all, there is no need for customers to download any new app. Instead, this new functionality is to be included within WhatsApp. Users have full control over blocking numbers and businesses they don’t wish to talk to. They can also report any spam. With access to over 1.3 billion users, this feature is designed to improve the experience of businesses and customers using the application. Especially in countries like Brazil and India, where more than 80% of Asian businesses benefit from WhatsApp as a marketing tool.
AdWords new features in 2018
In late 2017, some key new features were deployed on Google AdWords. So first off, here’s a quick recap.
Showcase shopping ads
A Showcase Shopping ad will appear if someone searches for a general product they’d like to buy, such as “cakes” or “jackets”. Such products are then displayed as an image alongside a description. After clicking the image, a user will see products on offer that most closely related to their search. You, as an advertiser, are charged in one of two cases. First, if someone clicks the ad and then spends 10 seconds looking at your products. And secondly, if someone clicks the ad and then clicks on one of the products displayed.
Universal App campaigns
Google has now phased out AdWords App Install campaigns and replaced them with Universal App campaigns. This revamped service offers a more straightforward and effective way of marketing your app. You now only need to input basic information, such as a starting budget and bid, location and language preferences, and some text. Google then does the rest by split-testing different ad combinations to see which converts the best. It operates on the cost-per-conversion metric, and conversions refer to an in-app action taking place or the app being downloaded.
Updated Merchant Centre tools
Google made changes to help merchants improve their ad performance straight from the Merchant Centre. For example, the “Opportunities” feature provides you with future campaign recommendations based on past ad performance. It also makes use of other ads performing well on Google to show you what others are doing better than yourself. Find out more about Opportunities here.
Landing page suggestions
As a part of the New AdWords Experience, Google now helps analyse how well your landing pages are performing. You can see which landing page URLs may need attention, which ones drive the most sales and which ones are mobile-friendly.
Now let’s take a look at what exciting AdWords new features are coming in 2018.
Parallel tracking
One problem with the Google AdWords tracking system is that those on slower networks may experience slower page load times. This is because the tracking feature delays the opening time. A lag of just a second or more can massively hurt conversion rates. The new Parallel Tracking system helps deal with this problem by processing URL tracking requests behind the scenes whilst page loads.
The Days to Conversion metric
The nature of certain ads is that a conversion won’t necessarily happen straight away. Instead, you may have to leave a campaign running for a number of days until you start to see any returns on your spending. The “Days To Conversion” metric shows users roughly how long their ad may take to start converting. The figure is based on years of Google Ad data as well as past performance of your own ads. It will be useful to help you decide whether it is worth sticking with an ad campaign or ending it early.
Making 2018 a year for success
With so many powerful tools readily available, marketing your business online has never been more achievable. Our team has been following these recent updates with a great deal of excitement, and have already deployed them across a number of client campaigns. If you would like to make improvements to your online marketing efforts this year, then contact our team today. We can help with Facebook Ads, making use of AdWords new features, utilising WhatsApp business, and all aspects of social media marketing.
