Monthly Industry Roundup: March 2019

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN FRANCHISE DIGITAL MARKETING?

4 Easy Content Ideas for Franchisees

It’s understandable if the daily responsibilities of a franchisee take precedent over producing quality local content. But there are ways for franchisees to create content that won’t take too much time or cost too much money. Here are a few ideas.

Explainer Video: a 60- to 90-second video that solves a common problem for a franchise target audience.

FAQ: A section of content on a franchise location website that answers common questions from customers or potential customers.

Success Stories: A more convincing testimonial, a success story is a short video that details a successful transaction with a satisfied customer.

Live Stream: Capitalize on the power of video marketing with a live Q&A session with your local audience.

Here are more details on how to execute these content ideas.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN PAID MEDIA?

Instagram Testing Branded Content Ad Format

No social network is more synonymous with influencers than Instagram, and the image-focused app is now testing ways to get brands in on the action. Instagram has been testing a new branded content ad format that would allow brands to use influencer posts as ads.

Influencers have been promoting products in their posts for years, but brands have never been able to use these posts for their own ads. The new format would give brands the ability to expand the reach of a typical branded content ad, which an Instagram spokesperson described as previously having “major limitations”. It also enables the brand to target users outside of the organic reach of the influencer.

The Instagram spokesperson says they have received positive feedback, and Instagram is committed to rolling it out to more brands in 2019.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN PAID SEARCH?

What is Click Through Rate and Why Does It Matter?

A click-through-rate, commonly referred to as CTR, is the percentage of impressions that resulted in a click. But why does it matter? Melissa Mackey at Search Engine Journal breaks it down in this post.

First things first, CTR is important to search engines because the PPC model relies on a simple “more clicks, more revenue” formula. But CTR also is important to advertisers.

The goal of a PPC campaign is to provide a relevant ad to a user who is looking to solve a problem. A high CTR means that an ad is highly relevant. A low CTR means that an ad is less relevant. So what is a good CTR (the golden question)?

Mackey says, “It depends.” Here’s an excerpt from the post that goes a little more in-depth:

“CTR is relative to:

• Your industry.
• The set of keywords you’re bidding on.
• Individual campaigns within a PPC account.

It isn’t unusual to see double-digit CTR on branded keywords when someone is searching for your brand name or the name of your branded or trademarked product.

It also isn’t unusual to see CTRs of less than 1 percent on broad, non-branded keywords.”

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN LOCAL SEO?

Looking today, 20-30% of the listings ranking for a personal injury lawyer term in a major city were fake. The situation is getting worse, not better. #StopCrapOnTheMap

— Joy Hawkins (@JoyanneHawkins) March 11, 2019

Google My Business Has a Spam Problem

Google My Business continues to be flooded with fake listings, and it appears the problem is only getting worse. As Google has pushed to make Google My Business a one-stop shop for online business representation, businesses have probed the system for shortcuts, including keyword-stuffed business names, fake reviews, and more.

Google My Business is important for local businesses that understand Google’s consistent place in the purchasing funnel. That’s why businesses and SEO experts go to great lengths to play by Google’s rules in hopes that they’re rewarded for this effort. When spam is pushed to the top of search results, it not only wastes time and effort, it cheapens the Google My Business property and limits its authority.

Google has dedicated human resources to fight the problem, but thus far, hasn’t been able to keep up with the onslaught of spammers. As Jamie Pittman points out at Search Engine Land, all we can do is keep fighting the good fight until Google comes up with a more scalable solution.