Broker Advertising - New Developments in PPC

Pay-Per-Click marketing, and online marketing in general, can be fairly unpredictable at the best of times, but with the wider context of a global pandemic it can get even more tricky. This was certainly true throughout 2020 and while 2021 is looking different, it brings its own marketing challenges to tackle.

The world of online marketing and advertising is a constantly shifting landscape. With platforms changing the way they promote content, privacy regulations being updated as well as emerging technology, it can be difficult to know where to focus your resources. Here are some things to be aware of as we make our way through a new year.

Changes to the landscape:

As priorities and regulation adapts to the modern world, we can expect some baseline changes that will have an impact on how online marketing works.

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Access to Data

Changes in online privacy have been developing for some time, and will continue to do so through 2021. As internet users become more privacy conscious and savvy with regards to protecting their data, there will be different data available to marketers. 

Large platforms such as Google Ads are also changing which data they’ll make publicly available. This will mean that being adaptable is key.

We can expect to see some great improvements in the automated advertising tools that Google offers. For large marketing teams this might be a pain as more specific tweaking will become difficult, but this could be a really positive thing for individuals and smaller teams, who can rely more heavily on Google to do the work for them.

The basics of marketing will remain important: understanding your audience, where to find them, and the kind of content that resonates with them. 

More Automation

Automation isn’t going anywhere. While this does mean that we can expect to see advertising platforms taking away some of the fine-tuning control that marketers have become accustomed to, it also means freeing up time for those who are flexible and happy to adapt.

We’ll see more tasks which have historically been done by hand taken over by computers. This will give you the opportunity to focus on building brand awareness and connecting with your audience. While automated tools do mean slightly less control, there will always be a place for human ingenuity to use these tools in new ways. 

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Types of media to pay attention to:

Social media platforms use algorithms to determine which content is shown to who. They essentially work as a set of rules which customises each user’s feed based on how they use the platform.  When these algorithms change, you may find that you also need to change your marketing strategy.

One constant is that algorithms are generally weighted to promote content that uses the platform’s latest features, this means keeping up to date with the features that your chosen platforms offer is a wise move. 

Stories

In 2021 you’ll be hard-pressed to find a social media platform which doesn’t offer stories as a place to publish content. Originating from the Snapchat ‘Snaps’ feature, you can now find these short-form media opportunities on Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and even LinkedIn.

These are prime real estate for marketers, giving you access to your audience where they hang out. While they follow a very similar format, stories work slightly differently from platform to platform. It’s good to get to know your preferred platform and develop a habit for posting content consistently.

Carousel Posts

You may be familiar with multiple-image posts which have been a mainstay of Instagram’s content offering for a while now. They give the user the opportunity to swipe or scroll through a selection of images, and they give marketers the opportunity to present more information in an engaging way.

Similarly, Facebook’s carousel ads appease the user’s desire for interactive content over static imagery. This basic idea has been expanded upon by LinkedIn, whose carousel posts allow you to upload .pdf documents which users can then scroll through without leaving the platform. Not only do they result in physically imposing and eye-catching content, but they come with a level of interactivity that static posts do not.

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What this all means for brokers:

The digital landscape will continue to change as time goes on, but the importance of connecting with your clients is something that remains the same. Building a good relationship with your clients often means meeting their demands for rapid response times and updates on lending criteria.

Staying on top of the latest digital know-how is a good way to make sure you’re not missing a trick in keeping those relationships growing. Keep an eye on the future and stay flexible and you’ll be best positioned to adapt and achieve the growth that you’re aiming for.