On January 11th, I was honored to participate in a panel of esteemed digital marketing colleagues, hosted by SEMpdx. The title and theme of our panel was “The Future of Digital Marketing” (2022 Edition). My fellow panelists included: Tricia Davis-Payne with Webfor, Anna Madill with Avenue, Mike Rosenberg with Veracity and Shuree Jones with Rain the Growth Agency. The conversation was lively and insightful to the degree I felt obligated to share highlights and supporting articles. I hope you find these resources helpful in planning your 2022 digital marketing initiatives.

2021: What did we see and learn as search engine marketers?
• Influencer marketing is here to stay. All panelists agreed. If you don’t have a program in place, check out this article: Influencer Marketing Strategy Best Practices, Tips and Trends
• Voice search has yet to gain the traction we all expected, but it still has tremendous potential for knowledge-based industries. Learn more here: Best Practices for Voice Search and Position Zero Optimization Strategies
• Virtual and hybrid events are the new normal. If you haven’t built these events into your marketing, or haven’t marketed them effectively yet, check out this article: Leveraging Virtual Events to Engage Customers & Prospects
• NFTs, blockchain and cryptocurrency generated significant buzz last year, but how can brands and digital marketers take advantage of the emerging technology? This article sheds light: How Brands Can Use NFTs to Engage Consumers and Generate Revenue
• One theme that has only increased in intensity is the needs for brands to be socially and ethically responsible, or they risk losing customers. If you haven’t invested the time to understand this powerful buying behavior, this article may offer insights: How to market to the ethical consumer: 6 effective marketing strategies
• One of the more contemporary trends that impacts marketers and employers is The Great Resignation. It’s not a question IF you’ll be personally impacted, but WHEN. To learn more about what The Great Resignation means and how to mitigate employee exodus, check out this article: How to manage during The Great Resignation
• Another trend we’ve seen and will continue to see in 2022 is a renewed focus on the creation and optimization of multimedia content, including images and video. To learn more about video marketing optimization fundamentals, this timeless article is a good starting point: The Ultimate Guide to Video Marketing on YouTube

2022: How can we help businesses be more successful in the year(s) to come?
• While SEMpdx is rooted in search engine optimization (SEO), a majority of the topics we covered in our session fell outside of that core discipline. The one exception, however, was the prediction that Google’s Multitask Unified Model (MUM) will be a major factor in search rankings in 2022 and beyond. To read more about Anvil’s thoughts on MUM and other digital marketing trends, check out this SEMpdx blog post: 2022 Digital Marketing Predictions
• The moderator asked me to kick off the conversation about 2022 predictions, so I opened with my favorite prediction about ‘metaverse’ being the buzzword of 2022. Virtual reality (VR) worlds may not be ready for prime time, but marketers need to have a POV and start planning today. For more insights, check out this post: Marketing in the Metaverse
• Another hot button of mine and that of the Anvil team in 2022 is a deeper integration between paid and organic keywords and supporting search marketing strategies. While I’ve extolled the virtues of SEO & PPC integration for over a decade in my PSU SEM Workshop, it was refreshing validation to hear it directly from an SEO guru in a recent Anvil Brown Bag with Wil Reynolds of Seer Interactive. This article sheds additional light on the peanut butter and chocolate of organic and paid search – Search incrementality: How paid and organic work together for better performance
• Due to the loss of third-party cookies thanks to Apple’s new OS, brands and advertisers are scrambling to produce alternative targeting options. One trend that has blossomed in late 2021 and will continue to bloom in the years to come is the idea of leveraging first-party data and reselling access to third parties. Big box retailers outside of Amazon, Target and Walmart are adding retail ad networks to their revenue streams. Learn what brands like Lowe’s, Macy’s and Kroger’s are doing from this article before you take the leap yourself: We Can Have Retail Media Networks And Privacy: 4 Principles
• One hot topic with the panelists is the growth of short-form video as a marketing tool in 2022 and beyond. TikTok is now a more popular domain than Google. Instagram and other short form video options on platforms like Facebook and YouTube validate that the format is here to stay (or return, if you remember Vine). To learn more about emerging short form video trends, read this article: 6 Short-Form Video Trends Online Marketers Should Watch in 2022
• On the other side of short-form video is live-streaming and its sister, live shopping. What began as a buzzword in 2021, live shopping has evolved into a viable ecommerce platform play in 2022. One part influencer, one part unboxing and one part ecommerce, live shopping provides brands new ways to reach consumers in a post-pandemic remote-shopping world. Evaluate your options by reading this article: Live Shopping Is Making A Comeback: Here’s What Your Business Needs To Know Now
• Due to the relative short panel duration, we weren’t able to cover all digital marketing trends or get too deep in any one prediction. As a result, I felt it would be prudent to share additional concepts and supporting articles for more context. These are just a sampling of the most topical trends to consider in 2022 that we didn’t get a chance to cover during the panel session:
o Five marketing experts share their 2022 trends
o Explore the top trends of 2021 according to Google Search
o Looking ahead: nine trends that will steer marketing in 2022
o Google’s Guide to User-Generated Content
o Ecommerce Trends: Social, BNPL & BOPIS
o Five Proven Ways to Pandemic-Proof Your Business

While we as panelists had less than an hour to share our thoughts and answer questions, the event was packed with insights. I recommend attending future SEMpdx events and joining as a member, if you agree with me that the ROI of membership is outrageous. Feel free to share your thoughts on 2022 marketing trends or react to our predictions in the comments section below.

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1. Understand the different types of data: First Party (you are the owner & aggregator), Second Party (another business owns the data), Third Party (a large scale aggregator that sells data programmatically)
2. Test different data sources to determine which performs better.
3. Utilize Google Tag Manager. It’s an invaluable data layer that will help inform audience construction.
4. Analytics is more than just a tool for tracking. It plays well with Google Tag Manager.  You can build custom audiences that push to Google Ads, as well as inform audiences to target and expand from multiple channels and publishers.
5. Take advantage of applying layers and combinations as they offer infinite potential. When using Google Ads, for example, consider detailed demographics, in-market and affinity.
6. Prospect new user growth by creating Similar Audiences and Combination Audiences in Google Ads and Lookalike Audiences in Facebook.
7. Reengage users who haven’t met a primary KPI by remarketing to them. (Touch points are key here.)  Dynamic remarketing is a big opportunity.
8. For users who have completed a primary KPI, nurture them through additional funnels. Consider RLSA (Google Ads), pixel audience upsells (Gmail sponsored promotions) and customer lists (Facebook ads).

Ultimately, remember your business objectives and use data to drive those objectives towards success.

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June 4, 2019 – SEMpdx held its last educational event this week before breaking for summer.  We welcomed Sean McEntee, Senior Director of Client Services at 3Q Digital, who gave an excellent presentation, “Make YouTube Your Newest Performance Channel”.  Following are some of Sean’s tips and insights that stood out from the presentation:

• There are two main advertising formats: In-Stream and Video Discovery. It’s important to separate these formats by campaign.
• Prioritize TrueView for Action. Keep in mind this requires you to use Smart Bidding, so avoid the “Maximum Conversions” setting in most cases.
• A companion banner is a 300 x 60 opportunity to message your value proposition. It displays prominently on both desktop and mobile.
• When building your campaign structure, assign one video ad per ad group. Google favors high view-through rate over high conversion rate.  You can use ad group bids to prioritize top converting videos manually.
• Layer multiple targeting types whenever possible. Remember, YouTube is an awareness platform by nature and has a very high reach.  Only a small percentage of your applicable targeting types will convert at a high rate.
• Advance targeting includes Custom Audiences (tip: target users based on search behavior) and Customer Match & Similar To (tip: upload existing customers to re-target and/or create “similar to” audiences).
• When developing video creative, consider best practices such as winning the first five seconds (i.e. the skip function), displaying a clear call-to-action, creating DR-friendly ads (i.e. CTA overlays), and testing frequently.

After his presentation, Sean stayed for a generous Q&A session.  It was an engaging and very informative event that gave attendees actionable takeaways.  To learn more, view Sean’s presentation slides.

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October 16, 2018

1. Custom landing pages – It’s important to control the landing page experience across every channel.
2. Frictionless call to action – Instead of using your contact page, consider what you can give the visitor that will help push them through the funnel.
3. Test ditching your brand name – Title tags and meta descriptions should not be primarily focused on brand.
4. Decrease click-through-rates – You aren’t everyone’s ideal solution and that’s ok. Clarity almost always wins when testing copy.
5. Double-down on top performing lists – Once you know a directory is working, launch ads on those terms. A program such as SEMRush can help you analyze keywords and choose which ones to build single keyword ad groups around.
6. Segment your product – If you serve small business and enterprise, segment your product and take more market share.
7. Target placements via GDN – Build custom display ads for targeted placements on sites ranking in the top 5.
8. Experiment with ad networks that rank – Add Quora to SEMRush, filter by keywords, and launch ads on the most relevant topics.
9. Use Google’s wildcard to expand – Utilize Answer the Public and Moz Keyword Explorer to prioritize your optimal expansion opportunities.

It was an excellent presentation followed by an especially dynamic Q&A.  If you’re not an SEMpdx member, join today and benefit year-round!

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Jeremy began by describing six principles of optimization that all exponential growth companies display, including strategic business alignment, customer-focused approach, data-driven research, a scientific testing process, high velocity testing and a culture of optimization.  These principles are achievable and can be broken down into a repeatable process that is universally applicable.

The proprietary CRO process that 3Q uses is a structured approach that begins with a growth plan – Jeremy recommends a 90-day project plan – and proceeds through a CRO roadmap development and iterative testing process.  Once the growth plan is in place, determine your conversion strategy (i.e. gather assumptions, competitive analysis, customer profile, testing velocity).  The following step, conversion research, is the most overlooked yet most important part of the process.  This includes heuristic evaluation, analytics and attribution, polling, usability studies, session recordings, etc.  Once your research is complete, develop a roadmap before beginning iterative testing.

The second half of the evening’s presentation focused on landing page tactics that will drive ROI:

• Understand customers’ motivation.
• Remove page leaks, using analytics to isolate high abandonment user paths.
• Overcome objections by isolating them and iteratively testing into higher converting experiences. (Note there are usually 3-7 primary objections for any site to deal with.)
• Clarify your offering. Use the “toddler test” to reframe your thinking.
• Reduce distractions on your landing page by answering visitors’ three primary questions: Where am I? What can I do here?  Why should I do it with you?
• Eliminate risk, keeping in mind that perceived risk kills CVR faster than anything else.
• Find and fix what is broken. The lowest hanging fruit is what you didn’t know was broken.
• Don’t make a visitor work too hard to convert. An easy conversion process increases sales.

The evening closed with a great Q&A session.  Jeremy reminded us that buy-in with CRO is the biggest hurdle.  Once management is on board, follow the proven steps outlined above and you’ll be well on your way to massive CRO.

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1. Different keywords play a role in different parts of the customer journey. For example, short-tail, category non-brand keywords are effective when targeting customer awareness while long-tail, product non-brand keywords are more effective when targeting the consideration phase.  Brand keywords play a key role at the conversion stage.
2. Brand and non-brand campaigns have different goals and strategies. Brand campaigns convert ready-to-purchase customers, reduce friction for common tasks and fend off pesky competitors with their unethical conquest campaigns.  Non-brand campaigns create awareness, nurture interest, and convert first-time customers.
3. Don’t underestimate the value of ad extensions. Bolster your ads with click-to-call (or text or chat), sitelinks, call-outs, location and structured snippets.  You need to utilize these table stakes to be more effective.  That being said, be mindful of potential disadvantages: mismatched messaging, blended statistics and AI determined serving.

During the closing Q&A session, Ben shared additional insights on topics such as B2B conquests, session unification, PLAs and more.

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1. Link Signals – Get involved in your community and it will be easier to get links. Consider, for example, local newspapers, charities, organizations, schools, etc.  Asking the right questions when onboarding new clients will help with this.  Also, pay attention to your internal link strategy.
2. Content Signals – Unique content is no longer a differentiator. Create content that’s localized and provide an exceptional user experience.  Optimize for city and/or state in the tags and use local content silos to build relevancy.
3. GMB Signals – It’s critical that you choose the right categories. Upload plenty of photos and change them often.  It’s also important to add UTM tracking to your website link to ensure clicks are attributed correctly.
4. Citation Signals – This is mostly a foundational tactic. Your citations must be consistent.  Pay attention to both structured and unstructured citations, and remember that all of your citations play together.  Check your top 15 citation sources using Moz Local’s free tool, or go even deeper with Whitespark’s tool.
5. Review Signals – Spread reviews between platforms i.e. Facebook, Google, industry sites, Yelp) and consider using a review survey system such as getfivestars.com. Make sure your responses to reviews are well-written.  Remember – you can’t fake caring about your customers.

Greg ended his presentation with a generous Q&A session addressing a wide range of audience questions.

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January 9, 2018

• Basic tactics are still working. Oftentimes, the problem companies face is not having a customer-centric strategy to work from.
• Continuing to focus on your overall content is important. Create good content to be seen by those who should be seeing it.
• Google Assistant will become your interface for everything from social to purchasing, etc.
• Google will continue to double-down on user experience.
• Site speed should be one of your primary tactics. Tools such as GTmetrix and Google’s PageSpeed Insights provide helpful analyses.
• While AI has gained ground recently, there is still a place for humans. One way we can leverage AI is to view it as much improved problem solving.
• Search engines are moving towards the meaning behind the query. With that in mind, optimize from a topical standpoint.

As the panel reminded us, there are some really good improvements Google has made.  Our job as digital marketers is to weed these out from the rest.

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1. There are three factors to consider when testing ads: sample size, statistical significance and practical significance.
2. Differences in ad format performance are usually the result of differences in inventory. We can’t compare ad sizes for a fair equivalent.  With that in mind, test each format independently.
3. When it comes to Facebook ads, each ad has a life of its own. You can’t compare ads on this platform.
4. To run a fair A/B test that’s statistically valid, follow the scientific method when appropriate: Formulate a question; create a hypothesis; design a controlled test; analyze the results.
5. Ads must be eligible for the same auctions so that results reflect the same audiences on the same sites. They also need to enter on a level playing field, which requires re-setting ad history and re-launching legacy ads when the test begins.
6. The output from proper testing will be useful. For example, the outcome will inform future optimizations, results will be practically significant, and there won’t be confounding factors.
7. Using the “optimize” setting for your ad rotation can drive 10-20% more conversions than the “rotate evenly” setting.
8. Create ads that are meaningfully different variations.
9. Differentiate between data-based and data-influenced decisions.
10. Get creative with ad copy, ad customizers and extensions.

Caitlin closed by emphasizing the importance of questioning everything.  One final tip: Learn what you can about the system, not about ad language.

Here are Caitlin’s slides from the presentation:

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1. Use the 5-step brand story approach: Who is the story for?  Why are we telling this story?  What is the story message?  How should we tell the story?  Where shall we share it?
2. In order to find your story, it’s important to understand your brand story archetype. Take the free quiz available from KayePutnam.com to identify which of the 12 archetypes your brand falls under.  Also, invest in persona marketing.  You can use tools for assistance, such as makemypersona.com, but keep in mind that interviews are often the best way to refine your personas.
3. There are several ways to artificially jumpstart your story. You can give it a PR push (i.e. PodcastGuests.com), connect with influencers to help push your content out (i.e. BuzzSumo.com, Pulse on LinkedIn) and utilize email to reach influencers (i.e. Hunter).  You can also take advantage of guest blogging and encourage customer storytelling (i.e. social media posts).

Before closing, Casey emphasized the importance of infusing your brand story with your own personality.  It will certainly help in bringing success.

Here are Casey’s Slides from the presentation:

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