Ep170-Should You Match Google's Rewritten Titles?

#TWIMshow - This Week in Marketing

Episode 170 contains the notable Digital Marketing News and Updates from the week of July 17-21, 2023.

1. Sell Directly on TikTok with WooCommerce - WooCommerce and TikTok have partnered to allow WooCommerce merchants in the United States to sell directly on TikTok. This new program, currently in beta, gives store owners access to an audience of over 150 million, 61% of which engage in ecommerce behavior.

To participate in the program, merchants must have a WooCommerce store in the United States and be approved by TikTok. Once approved, merchants can create a TikTok Shop and start selling their products.

TikTok Shops offer a number of features that can help merchants sell more products, including:

• The ability to create product catalogs and tags
• The ability to run product ads
• The ability to track sales and performance

The WooCommerce and TikTok partnership is a great opportunity for merchants to reach a new audience and grow their businesses.

2. TikTok Launches Ads Transparency Library: See Who's Advertising What - TikTok has launched a new Ads Transparency Library (Commercial Content Library), which provides users with more information about the ads they see on the platform. The library includes information such as the advertiser, the target audience, and the creative used in the ad.

The Ads Transparency Library is a welcome addition to TikTok, as it gives users more control over the ads they see. It also helps to increase transparency and accountability for advertisers.

Having access to this data can give marketers a better understanding of campaign performance and the TikTok algorithm. This key information will help reveal what creatives work, what ideas don’t work and more. Having this data at hand will enable marketers to make more informed decisions, potentially maximizing reach and ROI.

Access to TikTok’s Commercial Content Library is available to everyone globally. However, only data from Europe is available. TikTok said that its team is already working on ways to include advertising data from more countries, such as the U.S., in the future. But a date for this release is yet to be confirmed.

Read TikTok's official blog post to find out more about its ads transparency library.

3. Meta : How to Integrate Your Brand with Threads - Social media app Threads, Meta's new Twitter alternative, has seen a nearly 70% decline in the number of daily active users since its July 7 peak, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, spoiling their explosive launch just two weeks ago and paling in comparison to Twitter.

Now Meta is providing guidance to brands on how to integrate with Threads, its ephemeral messaging app for teenagers. The guidance includes tips on how to create "epic entrances," engage followers, and run challenges or contests.

Meta suggests that brands make a grand entrance on Threads by combining images, memes, and open-ended questions to announce their arrival. They should also engage followers by creating interactive content, such as polls or quizzes. Additionally, brands can run challenges or contests to encourage users to create and share content on Threads.

The guidance also emphasizes the importance of using puns and talking about Threads in order to promote the app. Finally, Meta suggests that brands explore Threads' existing tools, such as stickers and GIFs, to create engaging content.

4. 30 New Ecommerce Metrics in GA4: Get More Insights into Your Shopping Performance - Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has just announced an expansion of its ecommerce measurement capabilities, adding 30 new dimensions and metrics. These new metrics provide more granular data on items, promotions, and shopping behavior, making it easier for marketers to track and analyze their ecommerce performance.

Some of the new metrics include:

• Item Name: The name of the product that was purchased.
• Brand: The brand of the product that was purchased.
• Category: The category of the product that was purchased.
• Promotion Name: The name of the promotion that was used to purchase the product.
• Checkout Step: The step in the checkout process where the purchase was made.
• Gross item revenue (The total revenue from items only, excluding tax and shipping)
• Gross purchase revenue (The total revenue from purchases made on your website or app)
• Refund amount (The total amount from refunds given on your website or app)

These new metrics can be used to answer questions such as:

• What are the most popular products?
• What brands are performing well?
• What promotions are driving sales?
• Which checkout steps are causing the most abandonment?

The addition of these new metrics is a significant boost for ecommerce marketers, providing them with more data to track and analyze their performance. These changes to GA4 make it easier to see meaningful ecommerce data. Marketers will no longer have to build custom reports to access key revenue metrics.

5. Google Updates Misrepresentation Policy: What You Need to Know - Google has updated its Misrepresentation policy with detailed information on how marketers can build trust. The document advises what steps and precautions brands should take to make sure their products and offers are eligible to be served in Search.

The updated policy includes new requirements for brands to provide clear and transparent information about their products and offers. This includes information about the product's availability, pricing, and shipping. Brands are also required to provide accurate and up-to-date information about their reviews and testimonials. For each issue specified, Google provided specific instructions that brands should follow:

• Business Identity
  • Ensure that the official business name is provided and that there is consistency across the registered business name and domain name.
  • Make sure a brand’s website features an ‘About Us’ page as this establishes authenticity and helps customers to understand their unique journey.
  • Link out to the brand’s social media profiles from the website so that customers can follow those accounts should they so wish.
• Transparency
  • Make sure website content and messaging is completely clear and include details regarding shipping, returns and privacy policies.
  • Ensure honesty and transparency about the brand’s business model and how the company operates.
• Online reputation
  • Display honest reviews and testimonials about a brand’s products and services to help customers understand how to use them.
  • Feature any badges or seals of approval from official third-party sources.
  • Clearly display how customers can get in touch.
  • Be sure to tell customers if the brand publishes a blog post.
  • Make sure customers know if the brand was mentioned in a third-party article.
• Professional design
  • Make sure that the brand’s website has an SSL certificate to reassure customers that their sensitive data is stored securely.
  • The brand’s website should be easy to navigate and shouldn’t contain any unnecessary redirects or redirects to broken links.
  • Try to avoid placeholders where possible as this gives Google and the customer the impression that the website is still under construction and not yet ready for SERPs.

Google explain...