New in AdWords: Add Descriptions to Sitelinks Friday, Jun 28 2013

Google AdWords is introducing another new feature to encourage advertisers to convert their campaigns to enhanced campaigns. Google is now allowing advertisers to nominate specific text that will display for their sitelink descriptions within their ads. 

Back in February 2012, Google began showing sitelinks displaying additional detail on some Google AdWords advertisements. This was pulled from other ads in the count or for those advertisers who created sitelink information within their My Client Center.

Now, Google’s allowing advertisers to specify, or nominate, the specific text advertisers would like to appear for their sitelink descriptions. This gives advertisers much more control over what is appearing on their enhanced advertisements and to be specific about what text they would like to appear.

 

This is pretty important for advertisers to consider, since Google has found that click-through rates on ads that appear with sitelinks with further detail are much higher than traditional AdWords ads. They also states that the sitelinks offer additional detail that searchers often find more useful and relevant.

If you haven’t upgraded to enhance campaigns, the option will not be active until those campaigns have been upgraded. All upgraded campaigns will now find a new description field when creating or editing a sitelink.

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Twitter Buys Spindle, Targeting Local Businesses Thursday, Jun 27 2013

Twitter has bought local discovery app Spindle in a move to bolster its product lineup.

Spindle made the announcement with a post on its blog, where it confirmed that it would be “sunsetting” its current service in order to prepare for its move to Twitter’s San Francisco office.

Spindle, available on iOS in parts of the U.S., describes itself as a “news feed for your neighborhood”, collating Twitter and Facebook posts from local businesses into a stream of local events and offers.

It allows users to receive push notifications when businesses they are particularly interested in make a post, or when a topic or product they like is mentioned locally. It also gives them the ability to post directly to social networks from within the app.

Use cases the company suggests include Groupon-style special offer notifications and last-minute cancellation suggestions.

Spindle’s blog post outlined the reasons behind the buyout:

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Google Fights U.S. Government Over FISA Order Data Wednesday, Jun 26 2013

Google has filed a legal challenge to the U.S. government, demanding the right to reveal more information on the data requests it receives in the latest twist in the PRISM scandal.

Since news of PRISM broke earlier this month, tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Twitter have said they would like to reveal more about the requests they receive from the government, and what they provide, in order to prove to wary customers that they remain transparent businesses.

Google has now taken this further by filing a case against the U.S. government, and specifically the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court asking for this right.

“Google’s reputation and business has been harmed by the false or misleading reports in the media, and Google’s users are concerned by the allegations,” it said in the filing. “Google must respond to such claims with more than generalities. Moreover, these are matters of significant weight and importance, and transparency is critical to advancing public debate in a thoughtful and democratic manner.”

The search giant cited the first amendment on the U.S. Constitution as the basis for its argument.

“In particular, Google seeks a declaratory judgment that Google has a right under the First Amendment to publish, and that no applicable law or regulation prohibits Google from publishing, two aggregate unclassified numbers: (1) the total number of FISA requests it receives, if any; and (2) the total number of users or accounts encompassed within such requests.”

Google gave some more insight into its rationale for the case in a post on its Google+ page, explaining that it believes a divide is needed between the type of data it can reveal:

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Facebook Kills Sponsored Search Results Tuesday, Jun 25 2013

Facebook recently announced it was going to simplify its advertising options due to feedback it collected from marketers over the span of a year. Just last week, Inside Facebook revealed sponsored search results were among the features to be cut.

“In keeping with the goal of streamlining our ad products, starting in July advertisers will no longer be able to buy sponsored results,” Facebook told Inside Facebook. “We’ve seen that most marketers were buying sponsored results to advertise their apps and games, and we already offer mobile app install ads and Page post link ads on desktop to achieve these same goals.”

Advertisers can still buy search products with ads on search results pages, according to the report. However, in his post, Justin Lafferty wondered why sponsored results of all features would be cut:

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6 Mobile Marketing Tactics to Nurture Customer Relationships Monday, Jun 24 2013

Lifecycle marketing means marketing to your existing customers, based on the status of the relationship. It is even more relevant for SaaS customers, who will only renew their subscription if they love what you do for them and you continue to provide value month after month. This means you don’t stop adding value once customers sign up for your paid service.

Just like how you nurture leads that are different statuses, you want to treat groups of customers differently also. Communicating with a customer who is “at risk” should be different than with one who is a raving fan.

Here are six mobile tactics to help you stay connected with your customers to generate and maintain customer love.

1. Text Reminders

Sending out a text to customers can help keep your business top-of-mind, let them know about a special promotion you’re running or offer them an opportunity to receive more information about new product updates.

2. Polls and Surveys

Need some quick feedback from your customers? Send them a poll and let them respond instantly with their mobile phones. In addition to the benefit of getting to know your customers better, they will feel appreciated that you are asking for their feedback. This helps build rapport and loyalty with your brand.

3. Sweepstakes

Who doesn’t love to get something for nothing? By offering your customers a chance to win something of value such as a first look product preview or a behind the scenes exclusive, they will be excited to be apart of your community and share your story.

4. Push Notifications

Imagine being able to automagically send a personalized reminder to a customer of yours as they’re walking or driving past your store? Anywhere that relies on people being in the right place at the right time when they’re interested in buying something is a perfect opportunity to send a push notification.

Using the smartphone’s geo-location technology, location based mobile marketing technology can monitor when a customer comes within a specified distance of your location and send them a text letting them know about a specific promotion or daily special.

5. Social Integration

Your mobile campaign can be easily integrated with all the major social networks, which is where your customers are most likely to discuss their great experiences, recommend their friends check you out, and pass along your contact info. Take full advantage of that by making it easy for them to tweet, post and share.

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