March marks the change from winter to spring. Similarly were seeing transitions happen in digital marketing including a new release of the AdWords Keyword Planner, more focus on HTTPS, a shift to video as a method for B2B advertising, and a peak at the impact of the latest updates with Facebook’s news feed algorithm.
AdWords
AdWords Keyword Planner update appears to be rolling out in the new interface
Summary: Within the new AdWords interface that launched in 2017, Google has now released a new version of AdWords Keyword Planner with more streamlined workflows. Highlights of the new release include: total search volume and mobile search volume shown in the main chart, organic impression share and organic average position for the keywords if a site ranks for them and enough data is available (note: to see this data AdWords and Search Console need to be linked).
Action: No action needed, but we suggest trying out the new Keyword Planner tool when it is live in your account. There is no word yet from Google when all AdWords accounts will have the new Keyword Planner available for use.
Google
Effective July 2018, Google’s Chrome browser will mark non-HTTPS sites as ‘not secure’
Summary: HTTPS continues to be a hot topic and looks like Google will be promoting it even more come this summer. Starting in July, Google will mark all sites that have not migrated to HTTPS as “not secure”.
Action: If your company has been putting off the migration to HTTPS, now’s the time to make it happen. Obility will provide guidance and best practices for our SEO clients ready to migrate sto HTTPS.
LinkedIn
8 Inspiring B2B Video Marketing Campaigns That Played Beautifully
Summary: B2B Video is uncharted territory for many companies and you may find it challenging creating your own video content. This article highlights 8 video campaigns to note. We hope this gets your creative juices flowing for your next video content!
Action: LinkedIn video ads are set to go live at the end of March. Obility currently has clients in the beta program that is live now, but one of the greatest challenges has been getting great video content to promote.
Facebook
Websites See Drastic Decline in Facebook Traffic
Summary: You may recall in January, Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook users would be exposed to less marketing content in their news feeds, and more update from friends and family. According to a report by Shareaholic the percentage of website traffic coming from Facebook declined drastically in the second half of 2017. Facebook’s share of all visits to a sample of 250,000 websites has dropped from 30.9 percent in the second half of 2016 to 18.2 percent in the last six months of 2017.
Action: Have you been watching your site traffic and seen similar trends? Obility’s SEO team is watching for changes MoM regarding social traffic. On the Facebook ads front, we’re monitoring impressions and ensuring that we are hitting your target audience as normal. If we start to see a drop in target audience reach, we’ll start using more B2B tactics on Instagram and LinkedIn reach your buyers.
