In the upcoming weeks, Google and Facebook will be implementing changes that will affect millions of businesses. Their new changes include: 

Google Policy Change

Starting on Monday, advertisers on Google who promote housing, employment, and credit products and services will no longer be able to target people based on personal attributes, including gender, age, parental status, marital status, and ZIP code. Google is implementing this policy in an effort to create more equal opportunities for everyone regardless of your background. 

What does this mean for Gainesville businesses?

If you are selling real estate, promoting employment opportunities or credit lending, your Google ad targeting will be very limited. You’ll be able to target a location generally, for example, the entire city of Gainesville, but you will not be able to target a specific zip code within Gainesville.

Google Bans Election-Themed Ads 

Google announced on Friday that they will ban ads on all their platforms, including YouTube, that relate to any concept regarding the federal and state elections after November 3. This is to prevent any false advertising after the election, which Google predicts will have a delay in results. 

What does this mean for Gainesville businesses?

With local elections, campaigns in the area should keep this new policy in mind and make sure to stop all campaign ads on Google by November 3. Google is expecting a 48 hour delay in reviewing ad creative once the ban is implemented, so it’s important to ensure all new creative is implemented prior to the election.

Facebook and Instagram Say Goodbye to WordPress Embeds

Starting on October 24, unauthenticated Facebook and Youtube embeds on WordPress sites will break due to an upcoming API update. 

What does this mean for Gainesville businesses?

If you have embedded content from Facebook and Instagram on your WordPress site, you are affected by this change. Your embedded content will soon be broken. To solve this issue, you must meet Facebook’s new requirements to be a publisher with a Facebook developer account, have a registered Facebook app in Live Mode, an Access Token and have the Embed Product added to the app.

Shopping Inside Youtube

Millions of creators on Youtube provide links to the products featured in their videos. However, viewers have never been able to buy a featured product without being redirected to another site. To make shopping easier, Google confirmed its plan to add new Youtube shopping features. Every product seen on Youtube could be for sale soon on the network itself with a simple “Buy now” button next to all unboxing and review videos. The new feature is currently under testing with select Youtube channels. Viewers are directly purchasing tagged products through Canadian Shopify inside Youtube.

What does this mean for Gainesville businesses?

Youtube Shopping will soon be another way customers can easily find your products. If you have been contemplating starting a channel for your business or have considered partnering with Youtube creators, now is the time to do it! Youtube will be the next big shopping destination, are you ready for it?

Ok, now what?

Now that you’re up to date with the latest industry news, it’s time to invest in a team that specializes in all things social media and digital marketing. We can help! We are a full-service marketing agency ready to help your business operate to its fullest potential without missing a beat.

Instagram celebrated its 10-year anniversary on October 6! To give thanks to the millions of users around the world, Instagram announced new features to improve the user experience and the consumer buying process. Their new features include: 

Messenger Meets Instagram

Over a billion people use the Facebook Messenger app to have conversations, share content and virtually hangout with friends and family. Businesses use Messenger often to provide customer service by answering questions and scheduling appointments. Users can now have the same Messenger experience within the Instagram app without ever needing to exit the app. Users, buyers and business owners can now stay connected in an easier, more efficient way. 

Tabs for Reels and Simple Shopping

On IGTV and Reels, users can now find and purchase products they love in video content immediately. When viewing a video, any of the products linked by the creator can be added to their shopping bag and purchased with the click of a button. 

Anti-Bullying Commenting

To kick off Bullying Prevention Month, Instagram wanted to reduce the occurrence of negative interactions through comments. Businesses can now see the additional measures taken by the app to hide potentially offensive comments and delete comments that violate their Community Guidelines. 

What does this mean for Gainesville Businesses?

As a business, it’s important to stay connected with your audience in every way possible. By updating your Instagram account and using the new built-in Messenger feature, you can provide the ultimate customer service experience. 

Instagram has a new way for Gainesville creators and small businesses to sell products easier. Begin publishing video content to your business’s IGTV and Reels so you can add another option for customers to easily find your products. 

Businesses can now use the anti-bullying feature to prevent negative and offensive comments from appearing on their feed. Businesses can continue to provide a safe community that promotes engagement between their followers and prevents bullying.

Ok, now what?

Now that you’re up to date with the latest industry news, it’s time to invest in a team that specializes in all things social media. We can help! We are a full-service marketing agency ready to help your business operate to its fullest potential.

Have you been waiting to find a digital space filled with professionals, creatives and eager students looking to learn and invest in their next career step? LinkedIn is one of the largest social networks today with over 660 million users across the globe. It connects professionals through networking and career development. Although LinkedIn is often put on the back burner when it comes to social media marketing for businesses, it is an extremely powerful tool when put to its fullest potential. 

Using Linkedin for your business can help you build a community, extend your brand’s reach, connect with prospective clients, boost leads and provide a space to network with industry leaders. Here are the top three reasons why LinkedIn is the tool to take your business to the next level. 

Improves Brand Awareness

Awareness drives demand for your business’ products and services. When people are aware of your business, you become a familiar face to prospective clients and industry professionals, even without them clicking on a link or commenting on your most recent post. People know who you are, what you stand for and what you are best at. You can foster business relationships by sharing your brand story in a compelling way, providing meaningful content and showing your company values in action. 

Provides a Platform for Education

People are wired for connection. Any business can provide a specific set of products and services, but what makes your business stand out from the crowd? LinkedIn provides you with a platform to educate your audience and establish credibility. When you create content that backs up the services you provide, you are nurturing people’s trust in your brand. You have the power to establish credibility, keep up with industry trends and be part of the conversation.

Boost Leads and Conversions 

When using LinkedIn’s marketing tools, you can market and attract quality leads that add greater value to your business. When running LinkedIn campaigns, you can target your ideal clients through the website retargeting feature in LinkedIn Matched Audiences. Have you ever been interested in a product but didn’t have the patience to fill out an information form? Well, LinkedIn’s got your back. The LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms provide interested prospects with simple pre-filled forms within the app, leaving you with a higher number of better quality leads. 

Ok, now what?

Now that you know the value behind using LinkedIn for your professional business, it’s time to invest in building a seamless marketing strategy designed for your business. We can help! Our strategy team is ready to help you generate the top-notch leads you’ve been dreaming of.

Audience targeting is a key component of an effective advertising campaign. It can be tempting to take a mass approach to your marketing strategy. After all, your product or service is absolutely fantastic and everyone should use it! will help so many people! It just makes sense that you’d want to get yourself in front of as many eyeballs as possible. Unfortunately, this approach can be costly and ineffective. Having a target audience in all areas of your marketing campaign (digital marketing, social media, traditional advertising, and email marketing) ensures that you’re getting your message to the people who are going to benefit the most from your product or service.

Return on Investment

The return on investment, or ROI, is one of the main reasons to develop a target audience and focus your marketing tactics  on that group. Targeting your messaging to a narrow and defined audience means you’re reaching people who are most likely to benefit from your product or service. When you do this, you’re not wasting time and resources delivering your message to people who are unlikely to use your product. If you’re selling bathing suits, it wouldn’t make sense to take out a full-page ad in the newspaper in January. Sure, there may be a few people that may need a bathing suit. But likely you’re not going to make enough sales to justify the cost of the advertising. If you create a Google ad for bathing suits where you are targeting people who recently booked Caribbean cruises, more people will see it who are in the market for a bathing suit. You get a greater return on your advertising dollars when you target  your advertising to people who need your product. 

Build Brand Loyalty

Understanding your target audience allows you to better connect with the people who are benefiting the most from working with your business. When you build high-quality connections between your brand and your audience, it makes people feel valued and want to contribute to the success of your company. Feeling heard, understood, and accepted fosters feelings of loyalty. This means you have a fan base that will become a part of your marketing team. Their engagement on your social media and word-of- mouth referrals will help spread your message. Members of your target audience that are loyal to your brand will share your business with other people that share similar traits and values.

Efficient Sales Process

It takes time, effort, and energy to bring people from a lead to a customer. When you effectively market to a segmented audience, you are putting higher-quality leads into the top of the funnel. You’re targeting people who are most likely to use your product or service work with you, so they’ll require less nurturing to convert to a customer. If you are a commercial landscaping contractor, targeting only businesses in your advertising campaign saves you the time and bandwidth of fielding calls from homeowners seeking residential services. Having a target audience helps ensure that the time you’re spending nurturing leads will result in sales.

Establish Authority

Targeting your audience allows you to become an expert on appealing to the people who are going to get the most from your product or service. You will identify what words, images, and strategies work to get their attention and understand how you can best communicate the value of your product or service to them. This builds trust within your audiences and differentiates you as an industry leader. Targeting your audience allows you to deliver an impactful message that increases your credibility. 

OK, now what? 

Now that you understand why audience targeting works, it’s time to figure out who your target audience is and how to reach them. We can help! Our strategy team works with businesses every day to craft messaging that appeals to their target audience. 

 

There’s a lot of noise in the digital marketing world. We’re here to weigh in, distill information, and shed some light on what is working and what isn’t in the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing.

1. Facebook Email Marketing Tool

Recently, business page managers have been reporting a new feature added to the pages app. The Marketing Emails feature allows users to send customized marketing emails to subscribers directly from Facebook. The social media platform contacts are manually uploaded and details like birthdays, addresses, labels, and notes can be added. Essentially, it’s a CRM within the Facebook environment. The stand-out opportunity this feature provides is the ability to create custom and lookalike audiences based on the data of your contacts.

2. Google Discovery Ads

Google advertisers can now promote products on the Discovery Feed! The Discovery Feed offers more adaptability for targeting than search, including remarketing. This is directly in competition with Facebook Pixel and is a powerful tool for marketers. There are two bidding strategies: Target CPA (cost per action), and conversion optimization. These are both great for driving sales rather than increasing awareness. These ads can run on YouTube, Gmail, and in the Discovery Feed. According to Google, nearly 85 percent of people will take action within 24 hours of discovering a new product. This means Discovery Feed ads can be a strong opportunity to drive sales as a part of your digital marketing plan.

3. Facebook News Launches

Facebook has rolled-out Facebook News in an effort to attract publishers and give readers an opportunity to consume even more content without leaving the platform. Facebook has a troubled past with news, having inadvertently allowed fake news to be disseminated widely on the platform. With the News feature, users can react and share articles but the comments section has been removed. The news available to users is a blend of local and national news and is impacted by their ability to hide topics or publishers that they don’t want to see. Facebook is attempting to avoid spreading misinformation by restricting publishers to organizations with wide readership and those who abide by integrity standards. The News feature is now live on the mobile app.

Be on top of the latest information in the digital marketing world. Each month, we’ll take a look at what’s changing in the industry and how it can help you make decisions for your business. Contact us today to move your digital strategy forward.

 

Your digital strategy should include some form of online advertising. There are 3.5 billion Google searches daily and Facebook has 1.45 billion users on the platform every day. Your target audience is online and looking for you, but getting in front of them might feel a little mystifying. To help take away some of the confusion, we have distinguished the advantages of advertising on Google and Facebook.

Audience Targeting

One huge advantage of online ads is ad targeting. You know how your Facebook feed seems to know that you need a new welcome mat and a guide to the best hiking trails in Costa Rica? That’s ad targeting. 

Google and Facebook collect data points on every user based on their interests, search history, demographic data, and interaction with other posts and ads. You can create audiences based on this data. This can include their employer, job title, marital status, whether or not they have kids, household income level, and more. These data points are drawn on to create audiences and show your ads to users that match key points of your ideal client. 

On Facebook, you can also create lookalike audiences. These audiences take similarities from a source audience and target ads to similar users while excluding users in your source audience. You can use lookalike audiences from multiple source audiences to create the audience for a single ad set, including visitors from your website and your Facebook page. 

Retargeting is another way that online ad platforms allow marketers to target audiences that are likely to buy. Facebook allows you to do this using Facebook Pixel. You can install the Pixel on your website or landing page and then use the data to show your ads to people who already visited your website. Google has its own version of the Pixel you can use to retargeting web vistors, the Remarketing Tag. 

Online ads are a key component of a well-rounded digital strategy. Both platforms allow you to meet people where they are in the buyer’s journey and provide them with access to your business’s offerings. 

Ad Formatting

Ad formatting is largely going to depend on your platform, your objective, and the ad’s copy (its wording) and graphics (its images) that will best highlight your brand. 

Facebook provides a great deal of flexibility to be creative with your text and visuals. There are limitations and guidelines, but you can use the combination of words and pictures that best demonstrate the value of your product or service. 

With Google AdWords, or Search Ads, you’re limited just to text. So you need to be able to communicate an impactful message with short copy and no visuals. If you think your message is better served with visual imagery, then Google Display Ads may be a better choice. Google display ads are shown on various partner websites through the Google Display Network. 

Choosing the right platform for your ads will depend largely on your business and on your digital marketing strategy. It may be wise to run test campaigns on Facebook and Google to determine which ad type works best for your business. 

Choosing Your Objective

Facebook allows you to select from a wide number of objectives for your ads. You can run campaigns based on where your audience is in their buyer’s journey. From awareness to consideration to conversion, Facebook has several options for ads in each phase. Because Google generates results based on what users are looking for, Search Ads only target conversions and maximize clicks to your website, however Google Display Ads are great for generating exposure to your brand. Facebook and Google Display are more appropriate if you are looking to spread awareness of your product. 

How Do I Know Which Platform is Right for My Business?

Once you’ve started considering the role ads play in your digital marketing strategy, you’ll get a clearer picture of what platform will work best for you. When you’ve determined your objective, target audience, and what you’re trying to achieve, reach out to us! Our team will recommend a strategy and budget that will help achieve your goals.  

 

Website maintenance may not be the most exciting or glamorous aspect of web development, but it is critical to the health and performance of your site. Routinely updating your website ensures that it is continuously showcasing the best parts of your business and keeping you and your users safe.

 

1. Protect your site from malware and hackers

The web is always changing. If you aren’t keeping your site updated, you’re at risk of the website breaking or getting hacked. 

The main way that programmers infiltrate websites is through openings in outdated security software. As new patches are created, these hackers will specifically target websites that are missing these security features. This leaves visitors to your site susceptible to malware, and your site open to viruses that can cause it to go down completely. 

Additionally, without site protection, your SEO efforts will be unproductive. Your site’s Google search rankings will go down because of lapsed SSL certificates, and sites that have reported malware issues are delisted until they are fixed.

 

2. Provide a great customer experience

A website is often a potential customer’s first experience with a business or organization. Having a site with outdated content, a theme that doesn’t display properly, or broken links is not a good look.

Updating your software, plug-ins, and themes in WordPress will make sure that visitors have a positive experience when they navigate your site. Slow-loading sites are frustrating to everyone, and it’s a surefire way to send a visitor to another site. Maintaining your site ensures that it loads quickly, has functioning navigation tools, and that all the information your visitors are looking for is accessible.

In addition to the overall look and functionality, it’s also important to keep in mind the other ways people use your site. More and more people are utilizing accessibility tools to help them navigate websites. Keeping your site maintained and appropriately updated ensures that people using tools like screen readers are able to navigate your site and use all of its features.

 

3. Make sure that the website displays correctly

The internet changes and adapts based on the way people use it. Your website should be adapting to keep up with the changing needs of users. More people than ever are using mobile devices for their web browsing. Updates to your theme and plugins are key to mobile optimization. Staying on top of site maintenance is critical to ensuring that your site looks sharp no matter where it’s being viewed from.

Coding languages change over time, and this can cause disruption to your site when it’s not routinely updated. If your theme is using an older version of HTML, it will negatively impact how your site looks on the front end. Code often changes and becomes obsolete. Therefore, there’s no way to guarantee that a browser will read your code correctly, and your site may not appear as it was originally designed. 

Website maintenance that protects your clients, your business, and your brand.

We are now offering website maintenance! Our team will keep your website up-to-date so that it runs quickly, stays safe, and looks great. We work diligently to help you avoid costly repairs, excessive downtime, or the need to completely rebuild your site should it become infected.

Contact us today for a quote.

• Weekly backups of your entire website
• Continuous updates of WordPress plug-ins and themes
• Restoration services if your site goes down

 

1. Dramatic changes in PPC performance.

Covid-19 is causing our world to rapidly change. Unsurprisingly, ad performance is changing as a result. From March to May, cost per click (CPC) for Google ads has fallen dramatically while click-through rates (CTR) have risen. As things begin to open back up, the landscape is sure to shift again. The high conversion rates are likely a result of savvy marketers pivoting their messages to meet the needs of their target audience during the most restrictive lock-down phases. If you haven’t recently, it’s a good time to look at benchmarks in your industry and adjust your KPIs accordingly.

2. Chrome releases new metrics for evaluating web pages

Last month, the Chrome team released Core Web Vitals, which quantifies the user experience for your website. Going forward, metrics like loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability will be incorporated into search rankings. Page experience rankings will help users find relevant content that is easy to engage with. Top-quality content and on-page SEO are still going to factor in search rankings. These new metrics are there to help match users with the content they need in the best digital environment available.

3. Proactive marketers are gearing up for what comes next

Despite the economic uncertainty, we’re seeing an uptick in paid advertising. Things slowed down as businesses pulled their ad campaigns in the face of shutdowns and stay home orders. While unemployment is still high and the future is unclear, many marketers are starting to advertise again. Some businesses are newly advertising as they pivot from brick-and-mortar models. Other businesses are anticipating a surge in demand as we enter the new normal and are positioning themselves to be responsive. Online travel agencies were hard hit by the shutdown, but terms like “vacation” are on an uptrend as cabin-fever is setting in and states are lifting restrictions.

4. Move over live-tweets, Facebook Venue is coming soon

As Facebook moves to stay relevant as social media use changes, they have developed an app designed to make watching live events an interactive experience. While Venue users are watching a live broadcast event, they’ll be able to see commentary from hosts like journalists, athletes, or other experts related to the content. They will also be able to participate in polls and conversations that center around moments of the broadcast. These “Moments” will appear as notifications in the app and are created as the Venue host sees something discussion-worthy happening in the event. Facebook Venue will allow users to watch live events with expert commentary while connecting with other fans across the globe.

 

Be on top of the latest information in the digital marketing world. Each month, we’ll take a look at what’s changing in the industry and how it can help you move your strategy forward.

Stay Inspired during COVID-19

 

It’s no secret that COVID-19 has rocked our worlds and disrupted normalcy the past month. 

As we are all feeling anxious and wondering what’s going to come next, it’s important to take this time to block out the noise and discover new ways to stay inspired, take the time to reflect, or build quality connections with one another (while social distancing). Our team shared ways that they stay not only relaxed but inspired as we work through this together. 

Connecting Through Music 

Emily Purvis

Something that has given me both solace and inspiration in these weird times is music. Feeling connected to lyrics or a melody makes you feel like what you’re going through isn’t so different from what someone else has experienced or is experiencing currently. That sense of connection is something I find such comfort in and it often inspires a perspective I didn’t realize I needed to feel more balanced. Sharing music with others has always been one of my favorite forms of communication, and has been a therapeutic way for me to work through and navigate the things life has thrown my way. Lately, I’ve been listening to a wide range of music, but have been sharing and circling back to these particular tracks because it just feels right: 

1.) Spanish Pipedream by John Prine (for when the news is overwhelming and I’m missing John Prine)

2.) Hide in Your Shell by Supertramp (for when I’m feeling freaked out by the state of the world) 

3.) Keep Ya Head Up by 2Pac (for when I just gotta keep my head up)

4.) Hi, I’m Dave (From “DAVE”) by Lil Dicky (for when I need a laugh)

5.) Rock Steady by Aretha Franklin (for when I need to dance/feel sassy/get the creative juices flowing)

6.) Peace and Rockets by Orbiter (for when I’m missing going to live shows)

 

Getting Outside

Lindsay Helms

I never realized that my drive home was when I would decompress from the work-day and transition my mindset to relaxing and enjoying the rest of the day. I have found that working from home means I don’t have any built-in transition from work to home, but that taking walks after the work-day has been incredibly helpful in creating that division. This then means I can relax and enjoy my home time more easily. Getting out of the house, safely, and enjoying my dogs and the environment is also a break from the digital environment. While I love having the ability to connect digitally, we’re all increasingly relying on that digital atmosphere and it’s incredibly easy to forget that the world isn’t actually digital. Getting outside gives me the opportunity to disconnect from all digital sources and by doing so, the ability to connect more fully with myself and the present. 

 

Moving Forward through Dance 

Keara Wright

Keeping physically active is a great way to avoid going stir crazy. The necessary focus, muscle strengthening and cardio endurance keep the mind active and engaged. It’s important especially now when it’s so tempting to glue yourself to the couch the entire day. Choreographed dance is my preferred method – and now so many choreographers around the world are offering online free classes during this time. What better way to learn new styles, connect with your expanding community and stay healthy. 

 

Keeping in Touch with Others 

Sophia Ward

We are all going through this pandemic together, thus I try my best to keep in touch with my family and friends. You never know how someone is doing unless you ask them, “How are you?” I’ve learned by asking them that question, you are giving that person space they need to vent or express themselves – which is what we all need right now. I’ve been in touch with my family every day and reconnected with old friends I haven’t talked to in months and even years. Reconnecting and keeping in touch with my circle of friends and family has made everything that’s happening less surreal and a little more normal.

 

More High-Quality Family Time

Scott Schroeder 

The past few years, I have really tried to focus on maintaining work-life balance. I enjoy working in marketing, spending time with friends and family, and doing home renovation projects as a hobby. Being forced to slow down because of the stay at home order has made me realize that I was doing too much and running at a frantic pace. Since moving into quarantine, we cook dinner together as a family every night homeschooling has provided us with more opportunities to connect as a family, and, even though we are not able to sit in the same room, working remotely has given me an opportunity to build stronger relationships with my work team. While there are certain things that I miss about the way I was living my life just six weeks ago, there are definitely some things that I will incorporate into this new reality. Life will never be the same – and in some ways that is a blessing.

 

Stay Safe and Inspired – We’re in this Together! 

These are just a few ways our team is staying inspired as we adjust to a new way of working and creating bold, purposeful content for our clients. From all of us at Liquid Creative, we hope you are staying safe and healthy at home.

Welcome aboard, Lindsay!

Lindsay just joined Liquid Creative as our newest graphic designer. She approaches graphic design as another form of storytelling, and analyzes those stories with careful and thoughtful precision to create refined and whimsical designs. Lindsay earned her graphic design degree from Santa Fe College after earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Reed College and George Mason University respectively.

A Multi-Talented Creative

Lindsay has a dynamic work history that includes being an office manager at a Spanish-speaking television station, a project manager at a content creation house for textbooks, an owner and photographer of her own photography business, and an intern at a graphic design agency in Zürich, Switzerland. She is through-the-roof excited to join Liquid Creative team as a graphic designer, and is itching to create.

Adventures + Tastes

Lindsay has a tendency towards the fantastical. She believes fiction often tells truths nonfiction can’t handle. She loves dichotomies, dogs, travel, chocolate, and hiking solo in the Swiss Alps. Her favorite authors are Algerian, Indian, and American.  She’s lived in 6 countries and 5 states, and is happy to now call Florida home.

Fun Facts about Lindsay

What’s your favorite way to treat yo’self?

Adventure! A new restaurant or place or activity.

What’s your favorite Instagram account right now?

Cory Richards. He’s a National Geographic photographer and explorer who is about to climb Mount Everest by way of a new route without the use of supplemental oxygen. He was in an avalanche a few years ago and it changed his life.

How do you overcome creative blocks?

Talking it out with someone who has a different perspective. I think creative blocks happen when I’m too locked into one point of view.

Get Eye-Catching Graphic Design Work from Liquid Creative

Whether for web or printed materials, fresh, eye-catching graphic design effectively conveys information to your customers in a way that creates a deeper connection with your brand by telling its visual story. The creative minds in our graphic design department, like Lindsay, apply their skills to bring the brands we work with to life through innovative marketing materials. Learn more about each of our services on our website.