Understanding The Google Antitrust Case ⚖️ Instagram Switching To Views 👀 Subreddit Paywalls May Be On The Way 😬

Happy Friday Marketing Engineers!

If you’re new, welcome aboard 👋. If you're a seasoned Engineer, thanks for sticking around! Coming up today: the American Bar Association on gen AI in legal work, 3 zero-click content tactics, and what SEOs need to know about SearchGPT.

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🚀 Adam

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🗞 Marketing News

Google Anti-Trust Trial: Unraveling Allegations And Implications [9 min read]

The trial centers on allegations that the company has engaged in anti-competitive practices to maintain its dominance in the search engine and digital advertising markets, particularly through exclusive deals that secure its position as the default search engine on many devices. This legal battle could significantly impact digital marketing strategies, requiring businesses to adapt their SEO and PPC approaches and diversify their efforts across other platforms while emphasizing user experience and authoritative content. The trial's outcome may lead to more competitive market conditions and stricter regulations, making it crucial for marketers and business owners to stay informed and agile in their strategies.

Instagram Is Making Views The Primary Metric For Content [1 min read]

"Views" will be the primary metric across all content formats, including Reels, Stories, and photos, to provide a unified way for creators to track their content performance. A view is different from reach because the same person can view the same content multiple times and suggests that creators also focus on "sends per reach" to better understand their content's performance. Also, Meta has implemented a similar focus on views for Threads, and Elon Musk has increased the emphasis on view counts on X.

Reddit CEO Hints That Subreddit Paywalls Are On The Way [2 min read]

Steve Huffman hinted that some subreddits might be paywalled as part of the company's new revenue-boosting strategy since becoming public. To increase revenue, Reddit has raised API fees, signed deals with Google and OpenAI for using Reddit posts to train their models, and blocked other search engines unless they pay for access. Also, Reddit plans to introduce AI-generated search result pages that summarize and recommend content, aiming to enhance user experience and potentially generate ad revenue.

🤖 AI

American Bar Association Releases Its View Of Growing Use Of Generative AI In Law [3 min read]

Lawyers using generative AI must adhere to ethical obligations, provide competent representation, ensure client confidentiality, maintain clear communication, and charge reasonable fees, while avoiding charging clients for time spent learning to use these tools. Recent advancements in AI, such as user-friendly interfaces and improved performance, have made these technologies more appealing to legal professionals. As the reliance on AI increases, potential risks include data breaches, intellectual property disputes, and cybersecurity threats. Legal teams must remain vigilant and implement robust policies to protect client data and ensure compliance.

AI Is A Services Revolution [11 min read]

Large language models (LLMs) are transforming services industries, such as healthcare, education, and finance, which rely heavily on language. While AI has the potential to automate workflows and enhance accessibility, its adoption by enterprises is expected to be gradual due to bureaucratic processes, with areas like sales and software development seeing more success than others. This slow adoption provides opportunities for AI startups to innovate by focusing on specific industry pain points and expanding their solutions over time, following a vertical SaaS strategy to become comprehensive platforms.

🧠 Hacks & Tactics

3 Zero-Click Content Tactics [3 min read]

First, give away the punchline by presenting the complete content within the social media post to establish trust with the audience. Second, tease the audience with a sneak peek of the main idea to pique their curiosity, and finally, summarize the essence of the content into a concise, impactful conclusion to capture attention and encourage engagement.

The Smarter Not Harder Guide To Content Marketing In 2024 [10 min read]

Traditional content marketing strategies that rely heavily on SEO and high-volume keywords are becoming obsolete as audiences are now consuming content across various platforms like social media, news sites, and productivity apps. To succeed in this new landscape, Marketing Engineers must adopt an audience-first approach, using surveys, interviews, and social media analytics to understand where their audience spends time and what content resonates with them. Create diverse content formats that align with audience interests and continuously distribute them across multiple channels to maximize reach and engagement. {m}

What SEOs Need To Know About SearchGPT [2 min read]

SearchGPT features a simple, ad-free interface with three columns that present key information above the fold, enhancing the user experience. It excels in providing citations, often including multiple external references directly in the content, and prioritizes affiliate and aggregator sites for software and commerce queries. With improved accuracy in delivering correct answers and support for advanced search operators, SearchGPT offers localized results and positions itself as a strong contender in the search engine market.

Why You Can't Sell To C-Suite Executives, And What To Do About It [5 min read]

To effectively sell to C-suite executives, it's important to avoid using open-ended discovery questions, which often lead to "discovery fatigue" due to their repetitive and generic nature. Instead, focus on context-led questions that demonstrate an understanding of the executive's business context, encouraging more meaningful conversations. These questions should be integrated into a broader sales strategy that includes diagnosing root causes, building a case for action, and co-creating a future vision with the buyer to consistently close deals with senior executives.

⚙️ Machine Shop

How To Onboard Your CMO [3 min read]

A new CMO must quickly assimilate into the company by gaining insights through customer interactions, strategic meetings, and access to critical performance data and documentation. Also, the importance of ongoing engagement and support from the CEO, including regular strategic discussions and alignment on objectives to ensure the CMO is prepared for key company events and can successfully drive their department forward.

How To Market To College Students [14 min read]

To effectively market to college students, it is essential to gain an understanding of their demographic characteristics, digital behaviors, and values. Building authentic and engaging content is crucial; this involves not only using language and trends familiar to the demographic but also aligning the brand with causes important to them and offering student-friendly programs and discounts to foster loyalty and brand advocacy.

How To Write Marketing Emails That Convert [6 min read]

To write effective marketing emails, focus on creating compelling subject lines, engaging content, and clear, value-driven calls to action (CTAs). Ensure the email design is simple and attractive, optimized for readability and engagement, particularly on mobile devices, with concise and valuable content. Continuously monitor performance metrics like open rates and click-through rates to refine and improve your email marketing strategies.

4 Ways To Reduce Your Google Ads Spend [11 min read]

Optimize ad timing and location by leveraging location controls and ad scheduling to ensure ads reach the right audience at the most productive times. Utilizing negative keywords and avoiding keyword bloat can significantly cut costs by preventing ads from appearing in irrelevant searches and focusing on high-conversion keywords. Also, optimize ad groups and conduct A/B testing to enhance ad performance, and improve click-through and conversion rates, ultimately maximizing the return on investment.

🔮 The Future

Introducing Recommendations In Google Search Console [2 min read]

Search Console recommendations is a new feature that offers websites optimization opportunities and actionable suggestions to improve their presence on search engines. These recommendations are based on data from various search systems, such as indexing, crawling, and serving, and help prioritize optimization efforts like using structured data and adding sitemaps. The feature is currently in an experimental stage and will gradually roll out over the coming months, with user feedback encouraged to help improve and expand the recommendations.

Chrome's Manifest V3 And Its Changes For Ad Blocking Are Coming Soon [3 min read]

Manifest V3, a new browser extension platform, requires extensions to update from Manifest V2 to V3. This transition significantly impacts ad blockers, as they will face restrictions on "remotely hosted code," affecting how they update filtering lists; for example, uBlock Origin will release a "Lite" version to comply with the new requirements. While Google claims that Manifest V3 improves security, privacy, and performance, organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Firefox-maker Mozilla are skeptical about the benefits, with Mozilla continuing to support Manifest V2 extensions.

Is Influencer Activism The New Brand Activism? [6 min read]

Influencer activism is a growing trend where influencers use their platforms to advocate for social, political, or environmental causes, driven by strong consumer expectations, especially among Millennials and Gen Z. Brands must be strategic when partnering with influencers, as 42% of consumers are willing to unfollow brands that align with influencers who do not share their values, emphasizing the need for thorough vetting and alignment to protect reputation and trust. While influencer activism faces criticism for being performative or superficial, its impact on brand perception is significant, requiring brands to thoughtfully engage with this trend to maintain relevance and success.

Adtech Startup Funding Has Collapsed [3 min read]

Adtech startups in the U.S. have experienced a significant decline in venture funding, raising only around $360 million this year, the lowest in over a decade. This drop is attributed to market saturation, increased regulatory pressures like GDPR and CCPA, and economic uncertainties, making it challenging for startups to secure investment. In contrast, mature adtech companies such as The Trade Desk and DoubleVerify continue to perform well in public markets, highlighting a divide between the success of established firms and the struggles of new startups.

🗳️ Feedback Dept!

That's it for this week! See you next week. 😎

✌️ Team Marketing Machine

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