How Predictive Analytics Can Help Your Business See the Future. Now more than ever, predictive analytics are becoming available to small businesses looking to get ahead of the competition by mining their data and generating meaningful intelligence. From mapping customer purchase trends to optimizing product campaigns, predictive analytics can be the digital marketing solution your company needs. An investment in predictive analytics may give your business the competitive advantage it needs, helping you leave yesterday’s problems behind and focus on growth to come. Entrepreneur
These Emotions Are Said to Have the Greatest Influence on Brand Loyalty. Research from Capgemini’s, which correlated emotions and stated loyalty towards brands, has revealed that the three most important emotions are: Honesty; Trust; and Integrity. People also associate the emotions of “belonging,” “security,” and “familiarity” with loyalty. MarketingCharts
New Google Best Answer Carousel In Search Results Snippets. I have to say, I think this is a great idea! #BetheBestAnswer Google is testing the display of a carousel of answers, with the “best answer” labeled first as such, allowing the searcher to swipe or click through the answers directly in the search results. Search Engine Roundtable
Accenture Puts A Number On Consumer Distrust: $756B. 49% of customers are concerned about privacy, yet subscribe to intelligent services designed to anticipate their needs, according to research from Accenture. Poor personalization and lack of trust cost U.S. organizations $756 billion last year, as 41% of consumers switched companies. MediaPost
‘Purchases on Google’ Shopping ads test is running on iOS devices. Purchases on Google ads enable consumers to buy products shown in Google Shopping ads right from Google-hosted landing pages when users have payments set up through their Google accounts. Search Engine Land
Google study warns of widespread video ad fraud, encourages wider ads.txt takeup. Publishers are losing up to $1.27bn a year due to fraudsters impersonating their inventory on ad exchanges, with such bad actors conducting up to 700m false ad requests per day, according to a study published by Google. The Drum
Five Trends That Will Shape Mobile Adtech in 2018. Trends to watch include: Industry Consolidation, The Innovating Dragon of China, Transparency and Accountability, Laggards and Late Majority, AI and Machine-Learning – MarketingProfs
Google is sending more traffic than Facebook to publishers — again. Google used to be the main source of referral traffic for web publishers. Then Facebook eclipsed it. And now, Google is back on top again. Facebook sent 25 percent less traffic to publishers this year, while Google increased its traffic by 17 percent, according to Parse.ly. recode
60% Of Marketers To Increase Focus On Organic Search in 2018. Organic search proved to be the top-performing channel in 2017, and will be a top priority for marketers in 2018, according to survey findings released by Search Marketing Platform, Conductor’s. Respondents listed “paid search” or “pay per click” media as their second priority for 2018, and “social” as their No. 3 priority for next year. MediaPost
Google Search Console beta adds 12+ months of data to performance reports. The new beta version of Google Search Console has now added over 12 months of historical data to the performance reports. Search Engine Land
40% of Millennial Women Say Instagram Is the Best Way for Brands to Reach Them. Still not sure how to reach that coveted millennial demographic through your brand’s messaging? Millennial-focused publisher Bustle conducted some research with 1,000 women to help brands understand those consumers a bit more. According to the findings, 81 percent of readers say social media is the most effective way to reach them. AdWeek
Most Effective Digital Marketing Tactics for 2018: Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing, Marketing Technology, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing, Search and Social Ads, Data Management. Ascend2 via MarketingCharts
The Most Shared Facebook Content 2017. The Top Viral Posts, Videos and Articles. To discover what content Facebook audiences love to share, like and comment on, BuzzSumo reviewed two billion articles and Facebook posts that were published in 2017. The findings include: content most shared, viral Facebook posts, expert insights. BuzzSumo
Facebook announces Sound Collection and 360 Community Page for Creators. Creators of Facebook videos can now enjoy more robust audio, a hub for education and resources and even the ability to borrow 360 cameras. AdWeek
Instagram now lets brands feature Stories Highlights on their profile pages. To help brands get more value out of stories, Instagram will also now automatically save Story posts, which can later be added to a Story Highlights collection. MarketingLand
We actually like 280-character tweets, it turns out. Many Twitter users gave the platform grief for expanding the length of Tweets. It turns out that overall, users like it. New data from app maker and analysis firm SocialFlow shows people are responding well to longer Twitter posts the social network started allowing last month. As for me, I’m still not decided. CNET
Pinterest launches Facebook Messenger bot. Pinterest today launched its first Facebook Messenger bot to power Pin searches, as well as a chat extension to power collaborative visual search inside one of the most popular chat apps on the planet. VentureBeat
Twitter officially launches ‘threads,’ a new feature for easily posting tweetstorms. With the 280 character count, is this even relevant anymore? Apparently so. The threads feature is easy to use: There’s now a new plus (“+”) button in the composer screen where you can type out your series of tweets. TechCrunch
Now You Can Follow Hashtags on Instagram. Instagram has introduced the ability to follow hashtags, giving you new ways to discover photos, videos and people on Instagram. Still deciding on this one. Instagram
On the Lighter Side:
Invisible box craze becomes new viral internet sensation. There is no way on earth I will be able to figure this one out. Have you? Telegraph
TopRank Marketing in the News:
- TopRank Marketing Team – What makes a great digital marketing and analytics shop? – ClickZ
- Rachel Miller Interview with Rachel Miller on Social Strategy, Digital and Influencer Marketing – Onalytica
- Amy Higgins & Lee Odden – PR and Marketing Cannot Stand Stagnation. Focus on Developing New Skills! – Prowly
- Lee Odden – Does Traditional PR Really Matter Anymore? – RainmakerFM The Digital Entrepreneur Podcast
- Lee Odden – B2B Influencer Marketing (Seriously!) Lee Odden of TopRank – MarketingProfs, Marketing Smarts Podcast
What was the top digital marketing news story for you this week?
Be sure to stay tuned until next week when we’ll be sharing all new marketing news stories. Also check out the full video summary with Tiffani and Josh on our TopRank Marketing TV YouTube Channel.