Unpolished and effective ads

COMING AT YOU THE WEEK OF 1.10.23

THIS WEEK’S MOST IMPORTANT MARKETING NEWS

GOOGLE’S UPDATING “REMOVE REDUNDANT KEYWORDS” RECOMMENDATIONS ON JAN 19

Google explained this update in an email Jan 4 that said, “Currently, the ‘Remove redundant keywords’ recommendation suggests redundant keywords within the same ad groups, destination, bidding strategy, and match type. Starting January 19, the recommendation can include keywords across different match types.”

This will get more advertisers to use broad match, which is great if broad match works for your ads. But don’t forget to test that and confirm it before adopting all the broad match suggestions.

LINKEDIN ANNOUNCED 7 NEW UPDATES COMING THIS YEAR

LinkedIn made an annual announcement of changes coming this year. We’ve heard a few of them already. Their Content Analytics announcement got me the most excited. They’re adding audience data and reports on top-performing content to the creator analytics dashboard.

TWITTER ADJUSTED ITS AD POLICY TO ALLOW FOR POLITICAL AND CAUSE-BASED ADVERTISING

They had completely banned political ads in 2019 after many platforms had struggled with the spread of misinformation from them. Some people feel like this change is a dangerous move that will perpetuate misinformation on Twitter, and that the update is motivated by Elon’s desperation for Twitter revenue. Others believe the change isn’t as radical since it’s a similar stance to Meta, Alphabet’s, and TV network’s political ad regulations.

YOU CAN NOW ADVERTISE DESKTOP APPS IN THE MICROSOFT STORE

While both Apple and Microsoft have advertising options in their mobile app stores, this is a unique opportunity to advertise your app on desktop.

USEFUL LINKS

PPC 2022 IN REVIEW: PERFORMANCE MAX, APPLE SEARCH, CHAOS AT TWITTER, AND MORE

SEO 2022 IN REVIEW: E-E-A-T, CHATGPT, SEARCH ESSENTIALS AND MORE

Both these reviews of 2022 are pretty stellar. I find these much more useful for planning 2023 strategy than the 2023 prediction articles that are circulating.

A NICE PIECE OF PRACTICAL COPYWRITING ADVICE 

“Replace adjectives for verbs in your copy.

Instead of saying: Our new mascara is effective, healthy, and perfect for your skin.

Say: Our mascara cleans your pores, moisturizes your skin, and adjusts to your skin type.”

CALL IT AS IT IS

Opt for unpolished

Unpolished ads have self-awareness. They prove that they understand people’s relationship with ads, and that makes the viewer feel seen. It builds this small connection, and that is sometimes enough to get your foot in the door.

Call it as it is

Oatly is owning this strategy right now. They’re constantly talking about how their ads are ads…in their ads.

Blend in

Dr. Pepper decided that for their TV ads, they’d pretend to be a TV show. Bring drama and storyline, adopt episode formats. Be f-ing hilarious.

Check out the comments on this Virgin Voyage ad. They captured attention by mirroring a form of high-performing organic content from the platform (TikTok).