Digital Marketing News: Amazon Gaining on Google?

We’re collecting a host of links, videos, and assorted analysis on the ever-changing world of digital marketing. We invite you to skim, share, analyze, argue, and refute – just so long as you don’t get embarrassed at the water cooler again. Here are the latest digital marketing news and trends for the week of October 18, 2019.

Google Dominates Search Ads, Amazon Gaining

Amazon is gaining on search ad giant Google, according to estimates from eMarketer released this week. Amazon’s paid search revenue is expected to increase to more than $7 billion in the U.S., an increase of 30% over last year’s totals. Of the five companies in the U.S. search advertising market, only Amazon is set to increase its market share in the next couple of years.

Google still dominates the industry, but its market share is projected to decrease by 2.6% by 2021. Google is attempting to address this trend with its recent updates to the Shopping experience in the U.S.

Walmart, Pinterest, Target, and eBay are also expected to make gains but remain out of the top-five players.

Instagram Shares Tips for Better Instagram Content

Instagram recently shared a few tips for sharing your business’ best life as it becomes a go-to app for interacting with consumers. Instagram says 60% of its users consistently discover new products on the app, and 75% of users have taken action after seeing brand content. Here are a few takeaways that everyone can use:

Rule of Thirds: Use the grid to properly place the subject of your photo at the intersection of the grid lines, which divide the photo into thirds.

Space: Surround the subject of your photo with space. This will make the subject pop from the background.

Leading Lines: Eyes are drawn to lines, so use naturally occuring lines to lead the viewer to the subject of your photo.

Experiment with Light: Take photos at different times of day to create more dramatic lighting. This can create unique photos of the same subject.

Instagram also provided a content calendar template for holiday campaigns as well as tips for selling products. Starting an Instagram feed for your business can be difficult and time-consuming — these tips will help you get started.

Content Marketing Tips for Your Aha Moment

Content marketers spend most days waiting for it all to click, but too often that aha moment never comes. Amanda Milligan of Content Marketing Institute recently shared her tips for arriving at your final content destination. Here are a few of her insights:

Don’t blindly accept best practices. We all operate under a few assumptions about our profession, but avoid falling into total lockstep. Experiment with structure, formatting, and storytelling. Then test. User preferences are always shifting; there’s no reason to always use the same playbook.

Be relatable — always. Do not ask, “Can I have your attention?” Do ask, “May I have your trust?” Everyone likes to talk about themselves, but that won’t do you much good when trying to attract an audience.

Don’t treat all web metrics equally. Is time on site a good indicator of engaging content or does it indicate a confusing site structure? In the end, organic traffic is the metric that measures and matters the most.