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How often do you find yourself lost and referring to Google Maps for guidance? How often have you looked up reviews on Google before purchasing a product? It’s safe to say Google is omnipresent in today’s society. They’re on top of the trends within the industry and are constantly revolutionising the world of digital marketing. In a world of uncertainty, Google seems to be the one certainty out there. It seems we are making more and more decisions only after first consulting Google.
On the 23rd of May, Google hosted a seminar (which was also live-streamed) on the future of marketing called Marketing Next. In the presentation, Google focused on their latest innovations planned to hit the market in 2017. They focused on mobile devices, smarter data to deliver ads to the right people and various measurement tools. Below is a summary of the most important topics covered in the seminar:
New realities
Nowadays, we use our phone for virtually everything. 87% of smart phone users immediately conduct a search in a moment of need. The fact that search has become people’s go-to pad for assistance and they want answers fast is proven by the fact that 20% of searches are now performed through voice command. Consumers want assistive experiences, people expect relative and useful experiences (sometimes even before they ask for it). Technology is getting closer to giving this to them based on years of search data. Things that were really hard to accomplish before are now relatively easy to solve with this relatively new technology.
Now that our experiences with (mobile) devices are improving, people want more assistance and brands have more opportunities to be part of the solution. Being perceived as helpful has a positive impact on purchases for a brand/company. To be able to get there, you need good insights and lots of innovation (data & machine learning are at the heart of all this). We have access to more signals, consumer data & technology to actually make sense of it all. However, this change requires a commitment by brands to put consumers first! There are three new realities to help achieve this:
1. All interactions between consumers and brands can be smarter with data (insights about people and where they are in their journey). Each customer journey is different, which Google is now able to identify through months of data. As a brand, create as many ads relevant to your business and Google will bring the right ad in front of the right person.
2. One step or one second! Consumers only tolerate interactions that happen in a matter of seconds. That’s why Google introduces new AMP Pages for search ads. This is to ensure a great user experience with your brand at every touch point. Ads will be automatically converted to the AMP format. Ads will load almost as fast as the content on the pages.
3. Non-line assistance! Consumers no longer distinguish online / offline. The customer is the channel. Using the same technology as Google Maps, Google is able to get important data about store visits. Also new are the location extensions & store visits measurements on YouTube. This is local information on YouTube along the videos, which you’ll be able to measure. Google will roll out two new tools to see store sales & revenue for your search or shopping campaigns with third party partnership data.
New technology
1. Better audiences
Connecting data across Google, you can now reach the same users through different Google platforms. Follow your customers through the customer journey. Now you know their intent & interest, so you can build a relevant search experience.
2. Brand new audience segments
Recently, Google introduced consumer patterns and life events on YouTube (where do people shop? life events, etc.) These are based on intent-rich signals that are more useful than ever. Cultural-nuances are also taken in consideration. Later this year, this function will be added to Gmail as well.
3. Broader reach with audiences across channels & devices
Expanding across networks. Introducing in-market to search ads.
Google Attribution
Google is making it easier to measure which touch points contributed to a sale by introducing Google Attribution. Google Attribution makes it easy to get a single view of the path to purchase. It’s going to be available to all advertisers at no cost. How it works: it combines all your data from AdWords & Google Analytics accounts, as well as all other channels. Google Attribution calculates how much credit each touch point deserves. 
(Source: google news)
Google also introduced the unique reach reporting in AdWords & Double Click. You can now measure how many people were shown your ads or displays. How many people you reached and how many times you reached them. It also makes it easy to compare different landing pages and see which ones work better with your audience.
Google Assistant
Last but definitely not least is ‘Google Assistant’. Google Assistant can be compared with a personal assistant. It helps you with everything, from shopping online to providing traffic information. It combines all this information in a seamless experience and it is an easy way to plan and perform simple tasks. For brands however, it is an opportunity to interact with their audience. Through Google Assistant, you can reach the right customer at the right time. If you want to be found by Google Assistant you just have to make sure that your company interacts properly with Google by sending a list of your products.
(source: google news)
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