What is Google’s New Marketing Platform and What can it Do for You?

Earlier this week, Google hosted a live web broadcast announcing their new ad service rebrand. AdWords has become Google Ads, DoubleClick has become Google Analytics 360 and they all fall under Google Marketing Platform. A lot seems to have changed but, being a copywriter, I don’t interact much with the backend of advertising and most of the broadcast went right over my head. I sat down with our Director of Digital Strategy, Eric Lucas, for a simplified breakdown of Google’s new services.

What exactly is the update?

Google’s new “Google Marketing Platform” will act as an umbrella service to house: Google Ads, Google Analytics 360, and Google Ad Manager. This is a one-stop-shop for all the front-end and back-end marketing services that Google already had in place including: the research, setup, measurement and optimization of a campaign. Now, marketers won’t have to integrate the separate features to make them work together, but, instead, Google Marketing Platform will allow them to easily toggle between features and allow the features to “talk to each other.” In addition to the bundling of their services, Google Ads will now have “smart campaigns” which use machine learning to optimize ad headlines and descriptions (which are getting a character boost too).

What does this mean for marketers?

Marketers like Eric will now be able to do their job better and faster. With all of Google’s suite of marketing tools in one place, the research, set up, measurement, and optimization will all be in one place. Google Marketing Platform will cut down on set-up time so that marketers can start delivering reports faster and be able to see how effectively your ad budget is being used. There will be better visibility of where the budget is going and what returns on investment are coming back to you.

What does this mean for brands?

Ad campaigns will be much more effective. The new platform will cut down on set up time which and reduce errors that could have occurred before from integrating separate platforms. Measuring and attribution will be easier because the services are better connected. The clarity of results will also improve significantly. For smaller businesses who don’t have a huge ad budget, they may require less long-term professional help. If you don’t have a marketing background, you still might want to consult an agency like Fortress. Business owners will be able to more clearly see what the results are saying about the success of their campaign. The responsive ads that use machine learning will help you to optimize your budget by more quickly assessing which campaigns are working and which ones aren’t. While the platform is more streamlined, if you don’t have a marketing background, you still might want to consult an agency like Fortress.

Will consumers see any change in their ad experience?

The biggest change will be the ability to turn targeted ads on and off. Google will still show you ads, but your data won’t be used to decide which ones you see. Eventually, search ads will become more relevant to you (if you allow targeted ads). Google is allowing marketers to use more characters in the headlines and descriptions which will give you a clearer idea of what the ad will lead you to. This may result in search ads giving you more relevant results than before.

 

Overall, Google’s marketing rebrand will make life much easier for marketers by integrating all their services into one platform. And, although Google has streamlined the process of paid ad marketing, you should still consult an agency. We’ve taken over several campaigns where the client started it themselves and couldn’t clearly see their results or wasted their budget trying to figure it out. In either scenario, we could quickly overhaul and revamp the campaigns to run more efficiently and maximize their budgets. Google has been the leader in paid digital advertising for a long time and is only getting stronger. Check out the recording of the broadcast here if you want to learn more in-depth about the changes happening in the world of Google Ads.

10 Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your Brand

There are many mistakes people make that eventually ruin their business. Knowing what these mistakes are is a great way to keep your businesses running. This is a list of the 10 most common mistakes when building your brand:

1. Not Having a Clear Vision

If you don’t have a clear vision for your company, that can negatively affect your ability to make your business successful. Your vision is our goal for your business. You need to know where you want to take your business in the years to come.

2. Lack of Websites

Your website is the first place clients, and potential clients go to learn about your company. Having a confusing, or unfinished website will scare away any visitor. Their first impression of your business is from your website, and when your business doesn’t match your website, that will affect your ability to be successful. Don’t leave your website for last. There are people than can help with that. Take a look at our portfolio page to see some of our clients that came to us to build their website.

3. Not Conveying a Clear Message

People need to figure out what your company is about from your content. If they don’t know what they are looking at, they wont be able to understand what your business truly does. It’s important that you don’t have any typos, or grammatical errors as this could lead to potential clients thinking that your intern work is as sloppy as your site. You may only get one impression with that customer. You want to present yourself, and your company as professional as possible. Proofread before publishing!

4. Not Googling Yourself

75% of people don’t go beyond the first page. If your name or company is not coming up on the top of the list, that’s business your losing. Know what people see when they google you. Make sure your organization is shown in the best light. You can use SEO and PPC to help you with ranking higher on the search chain. Not sure what SEO and PPC is? That’s okay, check out our SEO and PPC site to learn more.

5. Can’t Explain What You Do

Remember the elevator pitch. Can you convey what you do and who you are in 30 seconds or less? People don’t have time to waste. Get to the point, be engaging, and have a listening ear. It’s not just about the business, it’s also about building relationships.

6. Not Thinking Outside the Box

Be open minded. Think of new ways to get more traffic. Your competition might also be thinking of how to get ahead, beat them to the punch. A little bit of creativity goes a long way.

7. Not Paying Attention to Marketing

You don’t have to have a massive budget. Having an online presence that represents you is the key to success. Explore different marketing options. If you need help, hire people who know how to minimize the risk. A good tip is engaging your social media followers when they like or comment any of your posts. This helps give your business a sense that you care about your followers and will make them more likely to share and recommend your site.

8. Failing to Analyze Data

Everything is based on data. Numbers never lie. Pay attention to objective data. Website traffic is what is used to make impactful decisions. Don’t ignore it. There are people that can help with that.

9. Never Learning

Keeping up with everything is important. Stay up to date with the newest technology and newest trends is important to keep your business up to date. Realizing that the world is changing around you can help your business stay ahead of the curve.

10. Not Having a Sense of Urgency

Never wait until later. Delaying some of these issues can impede your business from growing. Handle tasks when they first arise. Leaving it for later can negatively impact your business, and your profits. If you leave clients waiting around they might go and find another person who will get their needs met in a timely manner.

Introducing Our New Brand, Fortress Consulting Group Interactive

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Fortress Consulting Group is proud to announce a new addition to our family, Fortress Interactive!

Fortress Consulting Group brings innovative digital media and creative advertising together to produce powerful results for our clients. We tailor our web services to grow our clients’ businesses and provide them with a professional web presence that gets quality traffic and engagement from consumers. Our services really help develop businesses and we love taking on new clients. But as Fortress Consulting Group has grown, we’ve taken on bigger projects and felt we were missing out on helping clients who have smaller budgets and need just the essentials of a web package. Thus, Fortress Interactive was born.

Fortress Interactive provides businesses with an all-in-one package for web services at an affordable monthly price. We provide everything you need to get started on the web to develop your business and enhance your web presence. Clients will get a fully custom website and the high quality service that they have expected from Fortress Consulting Group, but on a smaller scale at a low monthly price. This is our way of providing Fortress services to help put entrepreneurs, proprietors and small businesses on the map.

Fortress Interactive’s services include:

Website Design & Development – First impressions matter and we help you stand out from the crowd. We build a brand new custom website for your company that is never from a template. Your website is the digital face of your company and people are judging you based on it.

Responsive Website Optimization – Your customers are mobile, and you’re losing out if your website isn’t responsive. We create websites that look and function optimally on any device.

SEO (On Page Setup) ­– Since 61% of global internet users research products online, we set up your website to help you get more views and ultimately more business.

Content Writing – Never worry about writer’s block again. We help you write the content for your site based on data of what people are searching for. The end result is increased web traffic and engagement.

Social Media Setup & Support – Because 83% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business, we set up your social media so you can exhibit your services and reach millions on the social platform.

Web Hosting – We provide secure web hosting and maintenance to ensure your site is safe and up to date.

Blogging – We get it, you’re busy. Most business owners don’t have time to blog each month so we take care of this for you by utilizing our content writers who will research and come up with original content for you. Since 46% of people read blogs more than once a day, we write original blog posts so you can be a worthy competitor in the online content world.

Monthly Website Edits – We take the hassle out of keeping your site updated. We provide monthly website revisions so your content is fresh and current, all at no additional charge.

We understand that every client has different needs and a lot of websites are built or redesigned based on budget restrictions. Fortress Interactive’s web package is a great fit for businesses that need a high quality and effective website, along with all of the other essentials that go along with a site, at a fraction of the cost. For any needs that go above and beyond the Fortress Interactive package, we can provide through Fortress Consulting Group.

We’re excited to have created a brand that we feel reflects us as a whole and captures our energy and passion to serve our clients from large to small. We look forward to assisting clients of all sizes and needs to strengthen their online presence and, ultimately, their business.

For more information about Fortress Interactive, email us at hello@fortressinteractive.com, call us at 312.988.0185 or fill out our form here. And don’t forget to find us on FacebookTwitterInstagram and LinkedIn!

 

*Marketing statistics based on Hubspot data.

 

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