Be Ready for Q4
What’s the deal with lower conversions and higher ad costs in September? This Labor Day, many small businesses saw an increase in ad costs over the weekend. This was due to more advertisers spending ad dollars for Labor Day Sales and less people clicking on stuff and spending money. September often sees a slump before it revs back into action October on in Q4.
We have seen increases by as much as 40% in some advertising areas during this time and even suggest for some clients to lower budgets until things settle down depending on your industry and to be prepared for Q4. As people get back to normal and return from vacations things will level out again as well and then kick into high gear again come October and beyond. Have plan, pick your sales, and budget for Q4 now.
The big star lately has been Youtube custom placement video ads and Instagram advertising. With custom placements ads it is a commercial you can run but you can pick what videos to run in front of and the locations. Instagram ad campaigns have been doing well lately with video as well allowing small businesses to run ads to select audiences in your location. Granted they are less specific as Youtube targeting but still work very well.
Video and education are key for your customers. If you have a product or service that shines over your competitors then tell your customers!
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Top Client Questions Of The Month:
Thanks to all the clients and newcomers for these great questions. Watch the Video Newsletter Here for more details.
1. Is Google Ads click fraud an issue with VPNs?
– Typically No. We asked this ourselves to Google when we had a number of clicks from VPN apps. They confirmed it was not fraud but actual users based on our audiences that fit. Many people use all different apps and games or VPNs. If you do suspect click fraud you can open a case and submit it to Google. Generally, they have very sophicated techniques to stop this as this is how they make money, selling ads. If the clicks aren’t reliable then people would no longer use their services. Learn more https://www.google.com/
2. Does Google Know where I am if I use a VPN?
– Yes, Google is extremely sophisticated here to know you even when you use a VPN. I spoke to a Google rep who confirmed that they are able to know if you logged into any Google product but use a VPN that it is you. Further, if you use incognito and a VPN it is still technically possible based on your searches and using their algorithms to match a user to certain search queries.
3. What are placements? What do they have to do with display ads?
– Placements refer to video or display ads and would be where you Place the ad. A placement is a website or video on youtube where you would show your ad.
– Google Ads allows you to select placements yourself or you can use what Google chooses for you based on your audiences.
4. Is it possible to have too many detailed product photos to zoom in on or is more always better?
– The rule of thumb is about 10 product images if possible per product. More expensive or complex products generally should have more images to properly describe your item to the customer.
– Items that are very simple like a fidget spinner might only have 1-3 images but having more is often better overall.
– If selling something like a car, it is good to have many images to tell the story of the product and all the components.
5. Why does Google Ads say I have more or less conversions than Google Analytics does?
– Both platforms tracking conversions differently. Analytics even has a delay of 9 hours on conversions sometimes and Google Ads up to 3 hours. Also, Analytics can say you have a conversion from organic traffic and counts that when the conversion happens where as Google ads might say the conversion was from when they saw an ad several days ago. https://support.google.com/
6. Google Analytics is not showing our Bing ads traffic correctly. Is Google not playing nice with Bing?
– Google Analytics is a great free tool for tracking website traffic. GA does have issues properly displaying certain ad traffic that isn’t Google Ads on its platform. Bing Ads traffic could be showing as direct or another source instead of Bing Ads in GA. This is common for other platforms like Facebook and Instagram when look at Google Analytics data. You may have to drill down more to get more accurate information.
7. We now work from Home and used to be at a physical location. Google always cared in the past about having a business address and better rankings, is that still the case?
– yes and no. No, it is not because certain industries such as plumbers, roofers, and locksmiths do not have a physical brick and mortar and they still rank very highly in SEO.
8. Can I use a popular song chorus for a short social post video of my product?
– Professionally, we don’t use song choruses and advise our clients to purchase music and send to us so they have the copyright claim. To my knowledge, you can’t legally use anything without permission. Fair Use is for teaching/reporting only – which prob isn’t your case: https://www.dmlp.org/legal-
7. How can I advertise on TikTok?
TikTok is a growing platform but currently the starting advertising cost is $25k. This is why only major or large brands are advertising on this platform. See link https://blog.hootsuite.
Watch the SEO Video For more detailed answers
GOOGLE ADS NEWS
What is the Top Social Platform? Youtube
Social Activity in 2021 from PEW Research
https://www.pewresearch.org/
SEO NEWS
New Google updates this month and more updates than I have ever seen!
https://www.seroundtable.com/
PRO-TIP
Google Ads tracks users across different devices. This means that an ad can follow users when they switch devices.
This month’s charity is
Flow Olentangy Watershed
Each month we support a charity and donate to it. This month we encourage you to click here to donate to FLOW watershed in Columbus to help the Olentangy watershed in Columbus.
This Month in Memes
Stay Inside…
Buy the Numbers
Spreadsheets
The Off Brand
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Thanks for reading! Please comment below with any questions.
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