First Thing Monday – July 17 2017
Last week we learnt just how out of touch ad agency professionals really are: could they be spending more of your budget where less is needed?
We also wondered what Google was up to, paying to help automate publication of local news stories.
And we woke up to a message Facebook had for its 1.2 billion Messenger users: “You’ve got ads!”.
Coming soon to a Screen Near You: Facebook Messenger ads
After beta tests in Australia and Thailand, Facebook is making Messenger ads available worldwide.
By default, Facebook traffic and conversion campaigns will also be eligible for display on the home tab feed of Messenger’s 1.2 billion users worldwide.
Labelled as “sponsored” ads, Messenger ads include a headline, copy, image and calls to action. They can link directly to a website or to a chat conversation.
Ad agency professionals significantly overestimate just how much other people use social media, and could be spending more of your budget where less is needed.
That’s not just us talking. That’s according to a study from ThinkTV, an Australian research and marketing company. While only Australian agency professionals were surveyed, we have no reason to think the results would be much different here.
We don’t know where they dreamed up these numbers but those who worked at ad agencies thought that in the past seven days:
- 32% of the population had used Buzzfeed. The actual figure (from the average Australians polled) was 7%.
- 53% had used Twitter. Wrong again — only 13% had.
- 76% had used Snapchat. No, try 25%.
- 89% had used Instagram. But only 33% had.
- 94% had used YouTube (but only 61% had).
- Everyone had used Facebook. No — 79%.
Honestly? Laugh or cry? Help us decide.
ThinkTV surveyed over 1,600 Australian advertising professionals and more than 1,000 members of the Australian public. Polling was by Professor Karen Nelson-Field, professor of media innovation at Adelaide University.
Sure, ThinkTV is backed by Nine Network, Seven Network, Network Ten and Multi-Channel Network/Foxtel and has its own agenda (to “demonstrate how advertising in broadcast-quality content environments provides the greatest return on investment”). But anyone who thinks that more than half the population of any country used Twitter last week is living in a bubble.
Just the Syntax, Ma’am: Google funds local news reports
Google is giving the UK’s Press Association about £625k.
“Why?”, you ask.
Good question: it’s to build software that will automate the writing of 30,000 local stories a month.
Why People Block Ads (And What It Means for Marketers)
Pop-up ads, auto-play videos, distracting animations, irrelevant offers…
Sure, we’ve got our own ideas as to why people might want to use an ad blocker.
But HubSpot has done the research and has all the answers.
The company partnered with AdBlock Plus and independent survey panel provider SSI to get responses from 1,055 online browsers in the US and Europe.
This will make you laugh: The Top 20 Clickbait Headlines
What we’ve been reading this week
- Marketers can rest easy — AI is not about to make them redundant
- Yelp’s CEO makes the case against Google’s search monopoly
- ‘We’re Not Dumb’: Brands Worry Twitter Underestimates Its Bot Problem
- The Wartime Spies Who Used Knitting as an Espionage Tool
Have you got your head around everything you could be doing to ensure growth and maximise your digital budget?
How about a Free Digital Strategy Session? Book Yours Online Here
Click here for more search marketing news.
The latest news about web marketing, SEO, PPC Advertising & Web Analytics. But only the stuff that matters from a New Zealand perspective. Delivered to your inbox each Monday.
If you found this useful, please tell your friends.
About the Author SureFire
These search marketing news updates feature articles of interest picked up through the week by the SureFire team.