Agency Blog

One of the greatest changes—and challenges—to the future of digital marketing is the banishment of third-party tracking technology, which was a heavily relied-on method for targeting ads to possible customers. As third-party data is phased out, marketers must turn to first-party data as the foundation for their strategies. And this is good. If you own a business, you may well wonder (as many others are) how you can make this transition “from third-to-first.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the ways in which customers browse, shop, dine, and interact and transact have changed. This meant businesses needed to change how they operated. A lot of changes mean there’s a lot to remember. One online strategy that business owners may have neglected to remember is their social media strategy. And more to the point: avoiding mistakes in their social media strategy.

Did you ever receive a notification letter pertaining to your business that was not a “thank you” card or commendation? You know—the bad kind. It may have been from the collections department of an agency about unpaid bills. Or, maybe it was a legal notice of some kind. Either way, notifications like these translate into warnings. Guess what? Google My Business (GMB) now has its own kind of warning. Find out how to avoid being warned.

Have you heard about NFTs? You're probably asking: “What are NFTs?” It is an acronym for “non-fungible tokens” which are trending like crazy in today’s news that involve the seemingly opposite sectors of blockchain technology and art collecting. Seriously. Read on for some further explanations…

While there’s a lot of coverage around NFTs (non-fungible tokens), this is still a relatively new development in mainstream marketing. All of this can get us thinking of what may be possible in the event NFTs increase in adoption and value. (Bloomberg has already assessed the NFT market at $ 1 billion—one indication of its rapid success.)

Many changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic are obvious. Business owners changed their policies to accommodate social distancing practices and limited capacity. They also changed course by conducting meetings, trade shows, and other events via virtual platforms. And more customers changed their purchasing habits by shopping exclusively online or close to home. But what of the not-so-obvious changes in behavior that resulted from the pandemic? Like video…

More time at home resulted in more people discovering streaming and turning to audience streaming platforms. Audio streaming surpassed expectations and ended 2020 stronger than ever with more than 345 million monthly active users (up 27 percent YoY), of which 199 million are Ad-Supported.

Do you currently use or rely on third-party tracking technologies to target ads to potential customers? If so, prepare to change and give up these methods—now. Google is putting reforms in place that will radically alter how brands can connect to the general public. This in turn means that brands and businesses that have an online presence will need to reorganize their targeting strategies in order to survive. One course of action in giving up third-party data is to adapt to first-party data.

There is always something new to learn. And this week, EGC offers insights on some worthwhile books that are worth reading and that you may learn from.

Everything has changed—and continues to change—because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Where business is concerned, stores and shops have either shut down or changed their methods of conducting transactions to accommodate shoppers. One resource that local shops and stores should maximize is Google My Business. If you own and operate a neighborhood business, this resource will help you stay in business.