Some agencies manage to build a steady client base that strengthens over the years, while others ride roller coasters and eventually close up shop. What’s the difference? Client relationships. Strong client relations make for greater success with projects and campaigns, loyal clients who stay with you longer and refer new clients, and a better reputation for your brand. Even better, they make everyday work more enjoyable for all.

So what makes for a strong client relationship? The same traits that define any good relationship: awareness, communication, empathy, dependability, accountability, honesty, and the list goes on.

In this post, I’ve compiled 11 ways your agency can demonstrate the above and more to achieve the best possible outcomes for you and your clients. I’d say happy endings, but good relationships don’t really end.

Table of contents

• Why are client relationships important?
• How do you build client relationships that last?
  • Gather “hard” and “soft” information
  • Internalize that information
  • Go above and beyond with your proposal
  • Have an onboarding process
  • Treat clients like partners
  • Be proactive rather than reactive
  • Be empathetic rather than defensive
  • Establish structure around communication
  • Share your concerns early
  • Embrace the small talk
  • Have quarterly business reviews

Why are client relationships important?

It’s easy to skim over the importance of creating a strong relationship with your clients—you know you have to do it. But when you dig into how it helps your agency grow, you can be more strategic about it.

Reduces churn

It can be 25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one. You also have a much higher probability of selling a new agreement to a current client than closing a deal with a new one.

A strong client relationship helps you weather rough patches and identify clients who are at risk of leaving. Both will help you reduce customer churn.

Increases referrals

Customer referrals are an extremely important source of new clients for your agency. That’s because referred customers are more likely to buy, are more loyal, and spend more on average than non-referred customers.

When you have a strong relationship with your clients, you can ask them to give reviews and refer other businesses. That’s especially helpful if your agency serves a niche industry where everyone knows everyone else.

Provides opportunities to learn

Have you ever wanted to know how a new regulation would affect your clients? Or how to best sell a service like PPC? When you have a rock-solid relationship with your clients, you can ask them.

It takes time to build that sort of comfort, but when you do, your best clients become your agency’s de facto advisers.

Learn how 300 marketing agencies manage services, pricing, and challenges in our State of the Digital Marketing Agency report.

How do you build client relationships that last?

In the following list, you’ll find actionable ways to improve client satisfaction and build mutually beneficial partnerships, with input from PPC agency experts like Mark Irvine, Francine Rodriguez, Akvile DeFazio, and Susie Marino.

1. Gather “hard” and “soft” information

A strong agency-client relationship starts before the client even becomes one. You know that you need as much information as possible about your client to come up with a winning proposal. But the solution you come up with isn’t going to establish a meaningful connection between you and your potential client. It’s how you present that solution with respect to both the business’s goals and the personalities and values of the team you’ll be working with.

This means collecting “hard” information like:

• Products and services they offer
• Target audience and the end-users of their product or service
• Top three competitors
• Prioritized list of goals and challenges
• Strategies that have worked and not worked in the past
• Software are they currently using
• Budget

But also “soft” information like:

• What they define as success
• Their future hopes or anticipations, like scaling, adding on new offerings, etc.
• The company’s mission, beliefs, and values, and unique selling proposition
• What makes them different from their competitors
• Hobbies, interests, and preferences of the individuals you’ll be working with

Think with both sides of your brain when gathering information about your client.

Building emotional intelligence about the team you’ll be working with will help you to make communication more personalized as you move through these initial phases of your journey together.

Side note: Be prepared to answer their questions too! Even their non-PPC questions.

2. Internalize that information

This is the information you’ll be not only including in your proposal, but applying throughout your actual execution and ongoing communication with your client. Take the time to really internalize it so that it shines through organically in everything you do.

• Gather the information in person (or video): Body language and facial expressions tell a lot. Take note of what gets them excited (and not so excited). Also, be sure to send out a list of the questions you’ll be asking far in advance so the client can have time to think about answers and produce follow-up questions.
• Iterate back: As you listen, iterate back to your client what you have interpreted so you can make sure you’re crystal clear on the information you’re receiving. Remember, incorporating the tiniest details into your proposal and execution is what will give your clients confidence that you truly understand their needs.
• Templatize: Have an internal templated document where you can collect all of the information you’ve gathered in one place. This gives every team member something to continually refer back to, and the uniformity makes it easier to internalize.

3. Go above and beyond with your proposal

From a project standpoint, your proposal shows what you’re going to do to achieve your client’s goals. From a relationship standpoint, it’s your opportunity to reinforce, once again, that you have a deep understanding of your client—both the business and its team members. Speak to both the client’s business goals as well as the more personal pain points and desires of its employees.

To do this, think in terms of “what,” “why,” and “so that.”

• The what refers to what you’ll be doing from a process standpoint.
• The why ties the process to one of the business’s specific goals.
• The “so that” speaks to the pain point it will address for the business’s team members.

For example, we’d like to ramp up ad spending in the latter half of the month to drive more signups so that your sales team isn’t scrounging for leads. Just be sure to use the language that your clients used in the initial information-gathering process.

This strengthens that partnership feel. You’re not just looking to achieve goals, you care about the individuals impacted by them.

Source

4. Have an onboarding process

This is one of our customer retention strategies as well. Once you get started, there will be more points of contact added to the roster for both sides. A streamlined onboarding process will set the stage for the clear communication and seamless execution needed for a strong and long-lasting client relationship to form. During this process, you may want to:

• Mail them a welcome kit: Send along some giveaways like branded swag, a greeting card, and additional goodies based on the more personal information you’ve collected.
• Take care of housekeeping: Make sure each of you has the access needed for tools, accounts, and dashboards.
• Have a kickoff meeting: This is to ensure everything is lined up for perfect execution. You’ve also become pretty familiar with one another at this point. This is a good time to have a more informal atmosphere.

Free guide >>> The 6 Absolute Best Strategies to Grow Your Digital Marketing Agency

5. Treat clients like partners

Treating your client like a business will make your relationship purely transactional (i.e., no relationship at all). Treating them like family leaves too much room for miscommunications and unmet expectations.

Treating your clients like partners, on the other hand, sets the stage for a healthy mix of personal, purposeful, and transactional encounters where both your and your client’s identities are preserved, and each of you supplies the essential ingredients for success.

• Embrace the truth: Remember that at the end of the day, both of you are businesses that want to make money. There’s no need to skirt around that. They need your service to generate revenue, and you need their continued business to generate yours.
• Maintain structure with some fluidity: Keep deliverables clear and stick to the intended plan as much as possible, but always leave the door open for input and feedback.
• Let them in: While some of your tools and processes may be proprietary, give them access to dashboards and data when possible. Let them in on (non-confidential) tidbits about your agency that “outsiders” wouldn’t know. Their earning your trust is just as important as you earning theirs.
• Stay honest: This means giving pushback on your client’s desires or requests that may not be best for long-term success (wants vs needs). A good partnership is not one where both parties constantly agree; it’s one where the two parties come together with different perspectives to bring to the table, resulting in better output than either one could have achieved on their own.

6. Be proactive rather than reactive

Akvile DeFazio, President of AKvertise, makes this a priority with clients.

Her team makes sure to proactively:

• Share ideas and propose new campaign strategies.
• Forewarn about upcoming platform changes and any action required.
• Educate the client to empower them further.

“This shows care and builds trust, and our clients share that they appreciate our diligent proactivity,” she says. “When we work with clients, we aim to be a seamless extension of their team and genuinely embed ourselves as so. When they win, we win, and proactive communication is the key to success for all.”

7. Be empathetic rather than defensive

This recommendation from Mark Irvine, Director of PPC at Search Labs Digital, ties back to the partnership mentality in tip #5. The scenario here is that your agency is doing great work. Performance metrics continue to climb. But the client is upset. They aren’t seeing new business come in.

“A wrong response here is to dig your heels in,” Mark says. “Telling them that their business is doing fine is at best tone-deaf. Instead, let them talk it out and listen to them. This may even lead them to discover the problem is in their other marketing or sales teams.”

If this ends up being the case, Irvine recommends that you take yourself out of the problem to prevent it from becoming an “us versus them” situation. Take the approach of teaming up together to come up with a solution. Use language like:

• “I see what you’re talking about.”
• “This is a valid concern.”
• “That really is frustrating, we’re glad you brought this up with us.”
• “Let’s make a plan to review this and report back with some solutions to remedy this.”

Position yourself as a partner in their campaigns. Value their feedback. Even if you’re an expert, allowing them to work with you will help build a long, trusting relationship.

“And remember,” Mark adds, “if you dismiss or fight their concerns, there’s an agency sales rep somewhere else who will be happy to listen to them vent about you all day.”

8. Establish structure around communication

Brett McHale, founder of Empiric Marketing, LLC, provides some great tips around communication and setting boundaries:

Stay away from being “always available

Being always available, whether through Slack or other forms of direct communication, blurs the ever-important work-life balance. It can also distract you away from other clients.

Hold regular meetings with actionable takeaways

Instead, establish weekly or bi-weekly meetings to check in, review performance, and answer questions. “I always have some takeaway or action item from those meetings,” Brett says. “This keeps me accountable, and when I deliver on things that I say I’m going to do, it helps build trust with the client.”

Use email and instant messaging

Brett says, “Email can be very robotic, and I try not to be too professional or polished all the time. Communicating with clients directly via a messenger helps to build rapport and have a more laid back ‘human-to-human’ relationship.”

He suggests designating instant messaging for urgent matters and email otherwise. This cuts out the back-and-forth emailing and also reassures your clients that while you may not always be available, you will never leave them hanging.

Source

9. Share your concerns early

This suggestion from Mark Irvine is particularly relevant to the many changes happening in the advertising realm lately. The scenario here is that your client has big plans and aspirations, and you want to say yes to everything they want. But in the back of your mind, you’re not sure if they can create that audience in Google or build that campaign on Bing. You’re unsure of how the new iOS updates will impact their Facebook targeting.

“Don’t nod, say yes, and then stress,” Mark says. “You lose trust with your client if you say you can do something and then can’t, even if that’s not your fault.”

Instead, show your expertise by sharing your concerns. Practice saying:

• “That’s a really good idea. I know that some ad policies might come into play as we explore it, so let me double-check those first.”
• “This new change could pose some challenges to us. I’ll keep an eye on it as it changes over the coming days.”
• “It’s tough to say what this means for us yet, but I wanted to make sure we all knew about it in advance.”

If you really have to put your foot down, try something like:

“We agree that this is a great idea, but we can’t in good conscience proceed with it until we know that it won’t cost you in the long run.”

Be transparent and ask them for their trust. Most of the time, you’ll come out as the person who helped them navigate through uncertainty, and they won’t forget that.

10. Embrace small talk

Small talk often gets a bad rap, but Susie Marino, WordStream’s Senior Content Marketing Specialist and former Customer Success Specialist, has found that it actually helps with building strong client relationships.

“I know it can feel cringey or uncomfortable at first, but just go for it,” she says. “You’d be surprised at how receptive clients are. Next thing you know, you’ve got a great rapport going, and the banter at the beginning of meetings becomes more meaningful.”

“People love to talk about themselves, and clients are no different,” Susie adds. “When you ask them about how that home garden is coming along, they’ll be pleasantly surprised. These conversations reveal how much you truly care.“

Clients are people who like to work with real people who also have personalities and personal lives. If you don’t show a touch of personality with small talk, it will be harder to stay connected and to demonstrate your genuine care, outside of campaigns and metrics.

11. Establish quarterly business reviews

Francine Rodriguez, former Senior Manager of Customer Success at WordStream, believes that quarterly business reviews are essential for client retention.

“I think all agencies get into a cycle of monthly reporting and proving that deliverables were completed,” she says. “It is important to take that step back once a quarter and have a focused conversation on high-level strategy.”

The QBR allows the agency and the customer to reflect on new goals, the efficiency of strategies taken in the past, and what needs to pivot for the future.

It is also a time to allow your customer to provide insight into how their business goals are changing and perhaps what strategies outside of the agency’s scope they are also planning in the near future. Having that dedicated time to talk without existing action items on the table is a great way to strengthen the relationship, create trust, and become better partners.

It may also lead to surprising discoveries, where an agency could find opportunities to upsell its customers into new services. If your agency is doing QBRs now and your conversations don’t look any different from your regular monthly check-ins, it is time to change the format!”

Start cultivating strong relationships with your clients today

Strong agency-client relationships are built on virtues like trust, reliability, transparency, and personability, and they result in greater outcomes for everyone involved. If you find that you’re lacking in productivity, loyalty, or the overall feel of harmony with your clients, see if you can adopt or improve any of these strategies for your agency:

1. Gather “hard” and “soft” information about your client
2. Internalize that information
3. Go above and beyond with your proposal
4. Have an onboarding process
5. Treat clients like partners
6. Be proactive rather than reactive
7. Be empathetic rather than defensive
8. Establish structure around communication
9. Share your concerns early
10. Embrace the small talk
11. Have quarterly business reviews

The post 11 Actionable Ways to Build Client Relationships That Last appeared first on WordStream.

For the last few years, Google has been preparing us for the deprecation of third-party cookies. And the time has finally come—Google began phasing out third-party cookies for Chrome users in January of this year.

The challenge: third-party cookies are what much of paid media relies on for performance tracking and targeting. So what can you do? Today, I’m going to walk through what you should be doing to prepare your PPC accounts for the removal of third-party cookies and what you should expect from your campaigns moving forward.

Table of contents

• Is Google going cookieless?
• Why is Google getting rid of cookies?
• How to prepare your PPC accounts for the end of third-party cookies
• What should you expect next in this cookieless future?

Is Google going cookieless?

The simple answer: Yes, eventually. As mentioned, in January of 2024, Google began phasing out third-party cookies for Chrome users with the plan to retire all third-party cookies by the end of the year. So far, it’s only impacting a small number of users, about 1%, but the plan for Google (and most other platforms) is to work away from third-party cookies.

If you want to know more about the timeline for the third-party cookies phase-out, you can read this article.

Why is Google getting rid of cookies?

Google is going cookieless to address privacy concerns from users who want to limit how they’re tracked online, what information is collected about them, and how their information is used.

“We continue to invest in features that protect your data and provide more control over how it’s used. This includes taking steps to limit the ability to track your activity across different websites,” Google said.

How to prepare your PPC accounts for the end of third-party cookies

So how can your PPC campaigns succeed in a cookieless world? Here are some steps to take to help.

But, first! Is your Google Ads account set up correctly? Download now >> The Last Guide to Google Ads Account Structure You’ll Ever Need

1. Review existing cookies to know what will be removed

Not all cookies that are added to your sites function the same way. Some will be fine and can stay, and others will be ignored/removed moving forward. The good news is that you and/or your developer can audit your existing cookies to find out which ones will cause issues and need your attention and which ones you can leave alone.

To start the audit process, follow the steps in this article. There’s even a YouTube video to walk you through it. There are a couple of options you can use. First would be through Chrome Developer Tools.

The second is with a custom Chrome Extension Google created called the Privacy Sandbox Analysis Tool.

Either of these routes will help you identify which of your cookies need to be addressed and which will be compliant with the phase-out.

2. Take action for all third-party cookies based on platform

Unfortunately, Google is only making the change to ignore third-party cookies. It’s not providing solutions for the platforms using them.

Here’s the text Google provides for next steps:

Essentially, it’s up to your platforms themselves to find solutions to the cookie phase-out. Depending on which ad platforms you use, you can conduct some quick searches to see what they suggest you do to help avoid tracking breakdowns, but on the whole, there are really two large shifts that most platforms are suggesting advertisers embrace and a few tactics to employ them, which we’ll cover next.

3. Embrace first-party data

The first large shift requires advertisers to take data collection into your own hands. Rather than rely on the platforms provided third-party tracking, generating first-party data will help alleviate some of the privacy concerns with cookies.

That’s because in a first-party relationship, the user directly provides their information to a company. It’s not inferred or shared through a source that’s external to the interaction between the brand and customer, like a Google pixel is.

There are quite a few ways to generate first-party data for your business. Rather than go too far into detail here, I’ll let Joe Martinez give you some ideas to get started.

Worried you’re wasting spend in Google Ads? Find out with a free, instant audit >> Google Ads Performance Grader

4. Use first-party data the right way in ad platforms

I want to give you some ideas of how that first-party data can be used in the ad platforms.

Customer match or audience uploads

Whether it’s Google Customer Match, Facebook Custom Audience Uploads, or a similar solution for another platform, most ad channels now let you import your CRM data into the system to match back to logged-in users. So any information you gather about your customers can be used to track them and create audiences of targetable users later on. (Again, see Joe’s article for ideas on how to generate that user information.)

Conversions API, enhanced conversions, and offline conversions

While Customer Uploads are for audience generation and targeting, these solutions are focused on performance and conversion tracking.

Conversions API is Facebook’s solution for tracking in-platform performance by matching back to user attributes tracked in your CRM. This process usually takes the assistance of a developer, but here are the steps to implement it.

Enhanced Conversions are a solution for Google Ads where user data provided on your website is hashed and sent back to Google privately. This relies on some tagging with the Google Site Tag but is compliant with these shifts as all information is anonymized before being shared. This can be done in a few ways: using your Google Site Tag or through Google Tag Manager.

Lastly, Offline Conversions from Google are similar to Facebook’s Conversions API where your CRM data is used to match to logged-in users on Google and track conversion performance. Usually, these are used for conversion actions that do not take place on a website, like a purchase of a service after receiving a quote online, but they can be used to fill in gaps in online conversions in some instances. Here’s a rundown of Offline Conversions with some helpful links to get you set up.

With these three suggestions, you’re now focused on gathering data through a first-party relationship and leveraging it in your accounts for more accurate audiences and performance tracking, but these solutions aren’t going to be foolproof. There will always be gaps. Additionally, this doesn’t address the other side of the equation: how you find users to target in the first place. That’s where our second shift comes into play.

5. Embrace AI and machine learning

It seems like these have been the hot topics for the last five years, but they’re more important than ever in a world with increasing privacy restrictions. Unfortunately, one of the key ways most of the amazing targeting we’ve gotten used to over the last two decades was through third-party cookies. Now that those are being phased out, we need to find a new solution.

As Google puts it, we need to move into an “Era of Prediction.” The platform algorithms have arguably been better at finding customers for many businesses in the last few years, but with the removal of third-party cookies, this gap between their abilities and ours as advertisers will get even wider.

Google is continuing to push broad match keywords coupled with Smart Bidding on Search but also suggests starting new campaigns with Maximize Conversion bidding strategies, even if your account isn’t meeting the traditional 50 conversions in 30 days threshold.

Facebook is also pushing its Advantage+ Audience targeting where advertisers suggest interests, behaviors, and demographic data that Facebook uses as a guide, but willingly goes beyond to meet campaign and ad set level objectives. Sound familiar?

For Google, that type of targeting is mostly associated with Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns, Google’s new favorite solutions for everything that use Audience Signals to get started, but then target users through machine learning that it thinks will hit performance goals.

Whether it’s machine learning for targeting or bidding optimizations, it’s going to be imperative for advertisers to embrace AI in some way, shape, or form, to continue to see success with campaign performance.

Want to use AI the right way? Free download >> Emergency Guide to AI in Marketing

What should you expect next in this cookieless future?

Once you’ve completed all of these changes for your accounts, or at least the ones that are applicable, it’s still going to be an adjustment as none of the solutions will be as “perfect” as the current setup. (I put “perfect” in quotes because anyone who has ever tried to nail down proper attribution knows there’s no “perfect” solution at the moment.)

Overall, here are the things I suggest you prepare yourself for in the future:

• Shift advertising focus to first-party data.
• Plan to utilize your CRM/internal tracking to understand campaign performance, but also know that…
• Performance tracking will not be perfect, or likely close to as good as it is now.
• Embrace machine learning and AI for targeting and bidding optimization and expect to rely less on manual inputs.

Prepare your PPC accounts for a cookieless future

The shift away from third-party cookies is underway and there’s nothing we can do to change that. All we can do is be good stewards of the ad accounts we manage and work to set them up with as many options as possible moving forward. Keep an eye on the news for the ever-changing landscape of online privacy and make sure you’re not falling behind.

And remember to follow these expert tips to prepare your PPC campaigns for a cookieless future:

1. Review existing cookies to know what will be removed
2. Take action for all third-party cookies based on platform
3. Embrace first-party data
4. Use first-party data the right way
5. Embrace AI and machine learning

The post 5 Strategies for PPC Success in a Cookieless World appeared first on WordStream.

They say keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Now in the online advertising world, your competitors aren’t exactly your enemies (unless you take life way too seriously and in which case you may need to do some self-work), but they are a threat to your business if you don’t pay attention to what they’re doing.

So in this post, I’m going to provide nine ways to spy on your competitors’ ads so you can keep your strategy agile, relevant, and effective.

9 ways to spy on your competitors’ ads

Analyzing ads and keywords is a must when doing a competitive analysis. Here are nine of our favorite tools for spying on your competitors’ ads.

1. Use the Facebook (Meta) Ads Library
2. Go to their website and get retargeted
3. Use Facebook itself
4. Use an SEO tool
5. Do a Google search
6. Use the Google Ads Transparency Center
7. Try the TikTok Ads Library
8. Use competitive intelligence tools
9. Use ad intelligence tools

Let’s dive into each one.

1. Use the Facebook (Meta) Ads Library

The Meta/Facebook Ads Library shows you all ads currently running across Meta technologies, including:

• The ad copy and creative
• Whether it’s active or paused
• When it started running
• Which Meta platforms it’s showing on
• The ad category

Here’s an example of a SoFi ad:

The only downside here is that you have to know the name of the competitor you’re searching for. Since there is no filtering, your keyword search results can be all over the place.

Things to pay attention to:

• Does this ad have multiple variants?
  • If so, what are the variations? Copy, creative, audience? This can give you ideas for your own Facebook ad A/B testing.
• Is this business running ads for other products or services?
• If so, is there a theme or style that is more common than others?
• What segment of their target audience is this ad appealing to?

Want to know how your Facebook ads are really performing? Find out with our free Facebook Ads Performance Grader!

2. Go to their website and get retargeted

Any business with a good digital advertising strategy is going to be running retargeting ads. This means that after people visit their website, those people will see ads for that business on other websites they visit and on social media.

So visit their website a few times, click on different pages, take certain actions and then keep an eye out for social and display ads for that business in subsequent days or even weeks.

Things to pay attention to here:

• Do you get served different ads based on different actions you took on the site?
• What do the ads look like?
• What positioning do they take?
• How long after you’ve visited their website did it take for you to start seeing ads?
• Were the ads for the business in general or specific to the product, service, or page you visited?

Source

3. Use Facebook itself

If you do get retargeted by your competitor with an ad on Facebook, you can do even more marketing competitive analysis by clicking into the ad itself.

Click those three dots in the upper right:

You’ll then see options for “Why you saw this ad.” In the example below, Meta tells me that I’m seeing this ad from impact.com because of the advertiser’s choices as well as my activity on Facebook.

When I click into “Advertiser choices,” I learn that impact.com is targeting people who are part of a hashed (anonymized) list, are 25 and older, and are in the United States.

4. Use an SEO tool

Comprehensive SEO tools like Ahrefs and Semrush offer competitive analysis capabilities that allow you to delve into not just the organic performance of your competitors’ sights, but their paid performance too.

For example, in Semrush, you can use “Domain overview” on the “Competitive analysis” tab to look at another site’s top paid keywords and even sample text ads.

Click on “view details” and you can see details on copy and position tracking over time for each keyword.

You can also look at estimated traffic volume and costs for paid keywords:

Things to look for here:

• What keywords are they targeting?
• Volume and cost per click of those keywords
• How much are they spending on ads?
• Which keywords are associated with which landing pages
• Be sure to also visit the landing pages for those keywords and see what kind of copy, imagery, and positioning they’re using.

For more guidance here, check out our post on how to do a competitive keyword analysis.

Need help finding the right keywords? Try our Free Keyword Tool!

5. Do a Google search

If you don’t have an SEO tool, you can always just search right on Google for your competitor’s brand name or the service they provide. This will show you whether they’re running ads, and if they are, you’ll be able to see their ad copy and landing page—but you won’t get any of the keyword data and position tracking that we mentioned above.

Things to look for here

• What angle do they take in their ad copy?
• Are they bidding on branded keywords only, or non-branded keywords as well?
• Are other competitors bidding on their branded keywords?

In the below example, I searched for “zendesk” and you can see that Zoho is actually ranking above Zendesk for that keyword!

6. Use the Google Ads Transparency Center

If you want a better look at what Google Ads your competitors are running, you can try Google’s Transparency Center. This is essentially their ads library.

You can search for text, ad, and video ads from your competitors or other businesses to get inspiration for your own campaigns.

Dive deeper into how to use the Google Ads library here.

What results are your competitors getting from Google Ads? Download our latest Google Ads Benchmarks to find out!

7. Try the TikTok Ads Library

Are your competitors running ads on TikTok? There’s one easy way to find out: the TikTok Ads Library.

Within the TikTok Ads Library, you can find your competitors’ ads (if they’re running TikTok ads) or just browse other ads on the platform.

We detail 10+ ways you can use the TikTok Ads Library to create better ads here.

8. Use competitive intelligence tools

The tools mentioned above are primarily SEO tools with additional capabilities for competitive intelligence, particularly in the PPC realm.

There are also competitive intelligence tools that offer competitive ad intelligence as well, like Similarweb.

Just like with Semrush, you can use Similarweb to find your competitors’ keywords, view their search ad position, estimated ad impressions, traffic share from specific ads, and keyword data.

Source

As for which tool is better, you’re getting mostly the same information from each one, so it’s more a matter of what else you want the tool to do. If you want a tool focused on SEO, backlinks, and organic performance, then Semrush is your best bet. If you’re focused more on market research, data enrichment, and customer journey mapping, Similarweb is probably the better option.

9. Use ad intelligence tools

And of course there are also plenty of tools dedicated to ad intelligence only. Take Adbeat, for example. Type in a brand name and with the free version, you can see:

• Number of ads seen per month
• Channel breakdown (native, direct, and programmatic)
• A breakdown of ad creative sizes and types
• Which publisher sites the ads have appeared on
• The longest-running ad
• The longest-running page

You can also browse a gallery of the brand’s ads and view the ad’s date, type, and size:

Use these tools to Spy on your competitors’ ads

Keeping an eye on your competitors’ ads gives you additional insights to inform your strategy and can inspire ideas for copy and creative. Add these seven tools to your competitive analysis arsenal and you’ll keep yourself ahead of the game!

1. Use the Facebook (Meta) Ads Library
2. Go to their website and get retargeted
3. Use Facebook itself
4. Use an SEO tool
5. Do a Google search
6. Use the Google Ads Transparency Center
7. Try the TikTok Ads Library
8. Use competitive intelligence tools
9. Use ad intelligence tools

The post 9 Sneaky Ways to Spy on Your Competitors’ Ads appeared first on WordStream.

Memorial Day isn’t just the unofficial start of summer, the day many public pools open, and a time to gather around the BBQ with your loved ones. It’s most importantly a time to remember those who lost their lives while serving in the US military.

If you’re looking for a way to honor the day while also connecting with your audience, look no further. I’m sharing Memorial Day messages and greetings you can share on social media, in your emails, and more with customers, employees, and anyone who engages with your business online.

Table of contents

• Tips for your Memorial Day messages
• General Memorial Day messages
• Memorial Day messages for businesses
• Messages for Memorial Day social media posts
• Memorial Day messages to employees

Quick tips for your Memorial Day messages

Before we get into it, here are a few tips to keep in mind as you choose or customize your Memorial Day greeting.

• Keep it simple. You don’t have to get real fancy with your Memorial Day messages. A simple greeting that lets your audience know you’re thinking about them, pays homage to the reason behind the observance, or communicates what you need to communicate will work great.
• Be sensitive. Memorial Day may be a sensitive day for some as it honors those who died while serving in the US military, so keep that in mind as you prepare your message.
• Tailor it for your needs. Your Memorial Day message may vary based on where you’re sharing it. An email may need a little extra content, whereas a social media post or SMS message will be more concise.
• Keep it on brand. Connect with your audience by communicating your Memorial Day message in your brand voice and using assets that align with your brand colors. This will help you stand out from the other Memorial Day messages and posts people will see.

Customize these templates for your business: [Instagram] [Facebook] [Twitter]

Now that you have some basic tips and guidelines in place, let’s get into some messages you can copy and paste or customize for Memorial Day.

Want marketing ideas, promotions, and messages for every month of the year? Free guide >> The Mega Must-Have Marketing Calendar

General Memorial Day messages and greetings

Here are some messages anyone can use to acknowledge Memorial Day.

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! May we never forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Enjoy the day with your loved ones, and don’t forget to think about those who served and sacrificed. Happy Memorial Day!

What’s your favorite Memorial Day tradition? We’ll be firing up the BBQ and taking a moment of silence to remember those who served at 3 p.m. Happy Memorial Day

Customize this in Canva

Messages of remembrance

Today, we remember those who sacrificed so we could live in freedom.

This Memorial Day, we’re thankful for those who gave their lives while serving. And we’re thinking of those who have lost someone they love. Thank you for your sacrifice.

Did you know Memorial Day has been observed since 1868? We’re proud to continue honoring and remembering those who have served and sacrificed for our freedoms.

Quotes

“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” – Elmer Davis

“Heroism doesn’t always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history.” – Mary Roach

“Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. it flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.” – Anonymous

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” – Joseph Campbell

“You will never do anything in this world without courage.” – Aristotle

Get more Memorial Day quotes you can use in your messages here.

Customize this image: [Instagram] [Facebook] [Twitter]

Memorial Day messages from businesses

Here are some Memorial Day messages businesses can use to discuss changing store hours, business closures, special offers, or well wishes.

Closed on Memorial Day

In honor of Memorial Day, [Business Name] will be closed on Monday, May 27. You can always find us at [website URL]. We’ll reopen normal business hours on Tuesday, May 28. Have a safe and happy Memorial Day!

From all of us at [Business Name], we want to wish you a very Happy Memorial Day! We’ll be honoring this day with our friends and families, so we will be closed Monday, May 27. We’ll resume normal business hours on Tuesday, May 28.

Closing early

[Business Name] will be closing early on Monday, May 27, in honor of Memorial Day. Come see us from [business hours on Memorial Day] or during our normal business hours [normal business hours] on Tuesday.

In honor of Memorial Day, we’ll be closing early on Monday, May 27. We’ll still be here to help you [something related to your business] until [time of close], so come in and see us! Normal business hours will resume Tuesday, May 28.

Well-wishes

From all of us at [Business Name], we wish you a Happy Memorial Day!

Wishing you a happy, safe Memorial Day from your friends at [Business Name]!

Stay safe this Memorial Day and enjoy time with your loved ones

Contest

We’re celebrating this Memorial Day with a social media contest! Like our latest Instagram post highlighting our Memorial Day specials and tag a friend in the comments. Each tag is a separate entry. The winner will receive [insert prize here], and we’ll announce the winner on Instagram on June 1, 2023. The winner will also be notified via direct message, so make sure your DMs are open.

Special offer

Don’t miss our Memorial Day special offer! Come see us Memorial Day weekend to get 35% off your purchase [or other promotion]. Veterans and active military get an extra 10% off on top of that!

Looking for more ways to promote your business? Download now >> 30+ Ways to Promote Your Business (On Any Budget!)

Seasonal product or service

We’ve created a special Memorial Day [product or service] in honor of this special observance. This [product or service] will only be available from [dates of active product or service], so don’t miss your chance to try it!

Memorial Day messages for social media

We have a couple of resources with social media posts and Instagram captions you can use this Memorial Day.

• Memorial Day Posts & Tips for Social Media (+Free Templates!)
• Memorial Day Instagram Captions (+Ready-Made Images)
• May Social Media Holidays & Ideas

The last resource includes Memorial Day ideas as well as other May holidays you may want to feature on your social sites.

Get copy-and-paste social media posts ready to go for every month of 2024 in our free social media template!

Memorial Day messages to employees

Many businesses are closed on Memorial Day. If that’s the case for your business and you’re looking for some messages to send your employees, look no further.

Monday, May 27, is a paid company holiday in honor of Memorial Day. We hope you enjoy this time with your loved ones and take a moment to rest and recharge. We’ll see you on Tuesday, May 28. Happy Memorial Day!

In honor of Memorial Day, [Business Name] will be closed on Monday, May 27. Enjoy this time with your loved ones, and we’ll see you relaxed and ready to go on Tuesday, May 28!

Thank you to all our employees for making [Business Name] so great and for keeping us open this holiday. We appreciate you today and every day, and we hope you have a Happy Memorial Day.

Customize these Memorial Day email headers on Canva

Make your Memorial Day messages memorable

These Memorial Day messages and greetings will help you connect with your audience, communicate important updates from your business, or simply serve as a reminder of why we celebrate at all.

Don’t forget to include a compelling image with your message (if applicable). We’ve curated some you can customize on Canva here.

Want more holiday messages and greetings?

• Father’s Day Messages & Greetings for Your Marketing
• 4th of July Messages & Greetings for Your Customers
• Back-to-School Messages for A+ Marketing
• Labor Day Greetings & Messages for Customers & Employees
• Halloween Greetings & Sayings for All Your Marketing Needs
• Thanksgiving Greetings & Messages for Customers, Comrades, & Coworkers
• Perfectly-Worded Christmas & Holiday Greetings
• Happy New Year Wishes & Images (Plus a Creative Word List!)
• Valentine’s Day Messages for Your Clients

The post 25 Memorial Day Messages for Your Customers, Coworkers & Community appeared first on WordStream.

Google’s core algorithm updates have always been something SEO experts, marketers, and growing businesses alike have had to adapt to.

Each update evolves how search results are curated for your audience, and some updates are more significant than others. For example, we recently saw two major Google algorithm updates roll out in October 2023 and March 2024, both focused on addressing low-quality or spam content. These updates can impact rankings over the course of the following few weeks or months, and many businesses have had to pivot their SEO strategy accordingly.

To understand exactly how these updates have been affecting various sites, we talked to six experts to get their take on what they’ve noticed so far and how businesses should pivot during these tumultuous times on the SERP.

Table of contents

• How the latest Google core algorithm updates are impacting businesses
• How to prepare for future Google core algorithm updates
• What these expert takes on Google core updates have in common

How the latest Google core algorithm updates are impacting businesses

Here is the verdict on the latest major Google core algorithm updates—according to our expert sources!

Looking for more SEO tips and insights? Download our free guide on 10 tangible and no-cost ways to get on the first page of Google.

1. Previously high-ranking content may have lost value

Taking a deeper dive into the updates, it’s apparent that some content you may have not previously considered to be spam could now fall into this category inadvertently.

“In the March update announcement, spam is categorized into three categories: scaled content abuse, expired domain abuse, and site reputation abuse. These types of abuse have become increasingly common in the SEO world over the past two years,” said Goran Mirkovic, Chief Marketing Officer at Freemius.

“Scaled content abuse primarily targets the surge of mass-produced AI-generated content. Google’s policy explicitly states that it rewards high-quality content, regardless of how it is produced. The problem lies in the misapplication of AI, resulting in generic and low-quality content which is now overflowing the internet in every category,” said Goran.

“Meanwhile, expired domain abuse aims to end the misuse of expired domain authority to host irrelevant and low-quality content. Google will penalize domains that are irrelevant when comparing their old content to their new content.

Lastly, site reputation abuse is Google’s attempt to combat ‘parasite SEO,’ which involves using high-authority websites to rank for competitive keywords. You may have noticed many big publishing sites hosting pages with titles like ‘X best products’ in an attempt to gain visibility,” said Goran.

Now, you might be thinking at this point that your business doesn’t have content that falls under any of these three spam categories. However, other types of common website pages could still see a hit from these updates.

“I’ve seen some sites begin to struggle with original content that they’ve copied and minimally altered,” said Mark Irvine, Vice President of Search at SearchLab.

“For instance—a client previously wrote a decent page about his services, no issues there. But the client then copied that content and published that same page for over 100 towns that he serviced—only changing the city name for each page. That may have gotten him some small incremental SEO bumps when he first did it, but now we’re increasingly seeing even the original page get less and less traffic to it,” said Mark.

In this example, individual site pages for each service location could potentially lose SEO value.

2. AI-generated content is seeing the biggest hit

Aside from unoriginal, expired, or disreputable content, varying AI-generated content is the primary reason we’re seeing these updates from Google. Generative AI can be great for content ideation, brainstorming, and more. However, there are some serious risks involved with using AI to scale your content and SEO strategy.

“The biggest challenge I’ve seen is with clients who previously benefitted earlier in 2023 with an overabundance of easy (and often unoriginal) content. AI-generated content was a very fast and painless way to speed up filling out blog or site pages. In moderation, with the correct AI prompts, AI content can still be helpful,” said Mark.

“But the current large language models (LLMs) that drive popular AI tools borrow from the content and language that’s already published across the web. It’s difficult for AI content to contribute a unique or creative perspective that’s different from other pages across the web. These new updates penalize a lot of content that’s not very different from original sources,” said Mark.

Remember, the problem doesn’t lie in AI-generated content itself. It seems Google is looking to strike a balance between the most efficient search results while maintaining that “human touch.”

“Google’s core updates always aim to improve the results being served to users. The latest updates are no different. As the internet is flooded with AI-generated content Google’s task has grown more difficult,” said Milen Vasilev, Director of Digital Presence Implementation at LocaliQ.

“They are aiming to keep their results more relevant through more granular weeding and accounting for more unique, quality content in which the ‘human touch’ shows.”

Get a handle on how to use AI for marketing the right way with our free emergency guide to AI in marketing!

3. Competition has increased for some industries

How you approach your SEO content is going to depend on your niche market. It’s more important than ever to make your business stand out within your specific industry.

“Google isn’t just targeting AI-generated content. I’ve unfortunately seen several clients lose a lot of their organic traffic after previously partnering with a respected SEO agency that specializes in one particular vertical (agencies that just do SEO for lawyers, car dealerships, HVAC, etc.).

Google’s updates strongly prefer original, unique content. Some agencies fall into the trap of writing a great piece of relevant content for one client but reusing it dozens or hundreds of times for their different clients,” said Mark.

“A good oil change page on a car dealership’s site can bring a lot of great SEO value to your first client’s site—but that same page reused a thousand times over begins to get ignored by Google, particularly after these updates.

I’d encourage clients to check the originality of their key site content. Open some of your most popular website pages, copy the first sentence, and paste it in quotation marks into the Google search bar. If Google returns hundreds of pages with the same wording, there’s no way that it’s going to prefer your page over any others.”

This auto repair shop website has similar content to other adjacent businesses.

4. Some sites are seeing a decrease in traffic…

One of the most noticeable impacts of the October 2023 and March 2024 core updates is the dip in website traffic some businesses have been experiencing.

“We’ve seen some dips in organic traffic and keyword rankings, more so with clients who’ve previously used AI to produce content at scale (with little human editing),” said Allie Decker, co-founder at Omniscient Digital.

“By the end of March, most of our clients had rebounded, and those pages that are still recovering have indicated where we need to optimize and update content.”

An example of a website traffic drop that aligns with the start of the March 2024 update.

5. …and others have only seen traffic fluctuations

On the other hand, other websites have only seen fluctuations in traffic and keyword rankings. This might be because the updates are still rolling out. Plus, SEO is a long-term game, so it’ll be crucial to watch your site over the next few months to see how these updates develop results over time.

“Personally, I haven’t noticed any significant changes just yet,” said Goran. “It’s still early, and I predict it will take about a month for the update to be fully implemented. However, I expect to see some fluctuations in search results and a noticeable decrease in the visibility of what Google now considers ‘unhelpful’ content.”

Get more website traffic fast with our free guide to proven strategies for driving more traffic to your website—no matter what updates roll out!

6. October 2023 and March 2024 updates are more complex than others

If you’ve been struggling to get a handle on the recent Google core algorithm updates, it’s not just you. Business owners, marketers, and experts have all agreed that changes to the SERP have become more unpredictable.

“The organic landscape as a whole has changed substantially since the more rapid onset of core algorithm updates started in October of 2023,” said Alex Chefalo, Senior Strategist at 829 Studios.

“This update is more complex than previous ones because it involves changes to multiple core systems, whereas previous updates focused on updating single systems. The main purpose of this update is to combat what Google identifies as ‘spam’ in the search engine results pages (SERPs),” said Goran.

7. Specific industries may have been impacted more than others

Updates from Google over the past few months have impacted rankings across the board, but it’s been found that some industries may be feeling the heat more than others.

“We saw the helpful content update roll out in September through October 2023—this focused on the quality user-centric content and, on the flip, side weeding out AI-generated content,” said Milen.

“We also saw more core updates in October through November 2023 that shook up rankings a bit. In early March 2024, Google rolled out a core and a spam update. We saw the highest volatility in ranking in food and drink, beauty and fitness, and shopping industries (according to Semrush data). Home and garden sites also saw a lot of ranking shifts.”

If you’re in these industries, this doesn’t mean you have to throw in your SEO towel altogether. However, it’s important to know whether your business’s vertical has a higher risk of impact from Google’s updates. That way, you can better prepare and maintain a keen eye over your site’s performance.

An example of how search results for the home and garden industry could vary.

8. The updates are impacting PPC, too

Let’s not forget what shares the SERP with organic results: Google Ads. While the core algorithm updates apply to organic search rankings, the same SEO trends emerging from these updates have trickled into PPC. When one part of the SERP changes, every part of the SERP changes.

“One of the biggest things I watch for when a core algorithm rolls out is upticks in keyword variant matching,” said Navah Hopkins, Brand Evangelist at Optmyzr. “While this is anecdotal, I tend to see a rise in close variant search terms with algorithm updates. Since Google Ads broad match behavior and organic search share a lot of the same technology, it makes sense they would impact each other.”

“My biggest advice is to keep an eagle eye on those search terms, as well as any rules you might have for negatives,” said Navah.

If you sell products via organic search or Google Ads, consider trying Google Merchant Center (GMC) to secure more SERP placements.

“Starting with the SERPs, Google has been dedicating an increasing amount of space to rich results. If you are in the ecommerce space, making sure that you set up Google Merchant Center and add the relevant schema to your product pages should be a major priority,” said Alex.

“Not only does GMC offer free listings but they are constantly beta testing new ways to use these rich results. For example, I was looking at running shoes for a client. The SERP was an interactive rich result that allowed me to swipe left and right on styles I liked.

While the end goal is clearly to get you into paid Shopping ads, taking advantage of the free GMC listings can be a great way to gain more value for your own business or (if you’re an agency) your clients’ business.”

Find out how your industry’s PPC metrics may have also recently shifted with our latest search ad benchmarks!

How can you prepare for future Google core algorithm updates?

While changes coming from Google can sometimes feel unpredictable, one thing you can always count on is more to come. So, how can you be ready for the next major Google core algorithm update? Here are a few expert tips to help you prepare.

1. Continue to prioritize E-E-A-T…

The four themes of E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authority, trust) are the foundational pillars of any strong SEO strategy. While focusing on E-E-A-T may feel like a given, it’s important to remember how sticking to the fundamentals during tumultuous times on the SERP can pay off.

“The best way to prepare for future updates is simple: create high-quality, human-written content infused with fresh data, first-hand experience, and other E-E-A-T factors,” said Allie. “Optimize for the user—think from first principles and build programs to serve your target market (your current or potential customers).

Know what your audience cares about, understand how they utilize and interact with search, and create content to meet them where they are. This is not only effective in the short-term—Google appreciates topical consistency and fresh, quality content—but it also builds long-term resilience in the form of an organic growth program. As a bonus, you won’t have to panic every time there is an algorithm update,” said Allie.

“TL;DR: be patient and don’t try to “hack” the system. It never serves you well!”

The hardest part of digital marketing is patience, but with dedication to E-E-A-T, your long-term SEO goals can still pay off.

“The best bet is to start evaluating the quality of your content by ensuring it’s optimized for EEAT,” said Goran. “If you leaned on AI these last two years to get a lot of SEO stuff out, it’s time to think about how to elevate the quality of that content.”

2. Emphasize your site’s UX and navigation

Beyond the basics of E-E-A-T, businesses should pay extra attention to how the user interacts with content. Google is putting more and more emphasis on user experience (UX), so you’ll want to optimize your website content with that in mind.

“The SEO fundamentals are largely the same—what matters most is focusing on quality and execution while creating for users—not for search engines,” said Milen.

“We think of SEO in terms of content, core technical, deep technical, health checks, and off-site. Across all these, the key is to create for users and help them get the answers or services they need.

Write helpful content, structure your site logically and neatly, and fix broken pages (so users do not go to dead ends—nothing is more frustrating!). Last but not least, keep a stellar online presence on Google Business Profile, social media platforms, and everywhere that matters to your business.”

Including a table of contents like this on your page is one way to help users find answers to their questions quickly and easily.

3. Create question-based content

As you create and optimize content, you’ll want to think of the customer journey and consider how your potential customers might structure search queries. For example, a lot of Google’s updates are meant to help better answer common question queries. Looking at the “people also ask” and “related searches” portions of the SERP can give you ideas for long-tailed, question-based keywords you could work into your page headers, subheadings, and text.

“Another area of change has been the way that people search,” said Alex.

“Generative AI is shaping the way that people interact and ask questions within search engines. Creating content based on questions or including questions inside of headers isn’t exactly an earth-shattering revelation, especially for those out there who have been optimizing this way for voice search.

However, it is a good way to target long-tailed keywords with high intent while future-proofing your content as AI integrates more directly with organic search. Gemini (formerly known as Bard) is already pulling in results from informational site pages if you ask for product recommendations, so including FAQs in your content, tagging them with the proper schema, and making them as efficient as possible for crawlers to evaluate should help give you a leg up.”

Source

4. Conduct SEO audits regularly

This last tip for surviving Google algorithm updates could arguably be the most important. To get ahead of Google at its own game, you’ll want to stay on top of your performance tracking. Regularly checking in on your SEO performance with scheduled SEO audits can help you account for any traffic or keyword ranking changes before they snowball into large-scale issues.

“To survive this update, people need to do some auditing and see if they have something on their sites that falls into these new categories,” said Goran. “If you have bad listicles—delete and redirect them! If you have irrelevant content on the site—delete that too!”

What these expert takes on Google core updates have in common

While everyone’s experience in the current world of SEO is different, one thing we can all agree on is that quality content with a human touch is still king. While the state of SEO will continue to ebb and flow, being able to pivot and flex to the changes Google throws at us is half the battle when looking to rank on the SERP. If you tried our tips for staying afloat during these updates, but still want more out of your SEO strategy, see how our solutions can help you maximize your SEO success no matter what Google throws your way!

To recap, here is what the latest Google core algorithm updates mean for growing businesses:

1. Previously high-ranking content may have lost value
2. AI-generated content is taking the biggest hit
3. Competition has increased for some industries
4. Some sites are seeing a decrease in traffic…
5. …and others have only seen traffic fluctuations
6. October 2023 and March 2024 updates are more complex than others
7. Specific industries may have been impacted more than others
8. The updates are impacting PPC, too

Here is what you can do to prepare for future Google core algorithm updates:

1. Continue to prioritize E-E-A-T…
2. Emphasize your site’s UX and navigation
3. Create question-based content
4. Conduct SEO audits regularly

The post Google Algorithm Mayhem: 6 Experts Weigh In on Recent Changes appeared first on WordStream.

Local businesses know how important it is to be found in their communities when users search online. However, it can be difficult for small local businesses to compete with national brands that can afford to outspend them on Google Ads. Instead, local businesses need to be smarter and make the most of targeting their local area within Google Ads.

But local advertisers have some powerful tools when it comes to advertising online. More than 80% of consumers would prefer to shop locally–and nearly 60% would even pay more to support a local business! Savvy advertisers can take advantage of this and highlight their local status when customers are searching for their products and services online.

In fact, Google Ads and Microsoft Ads have several features that any local business should take advantage of to have their ads stand out in their local searches. So, here are my top three strategies for localizing search ads.

Contents

1. Dynamically insert locations in your Responsive Search Ads
2. Create location assets (and optimize your Google Business Profile)
3. Take advantage of other local ad assets

How to localize your Google Ads

Here are three ways any business can localize its Google Ads.

Looking for other ways to get more out of your local campaigns? Try our free Google Ads Grader to get an instant read on key metrics plus optimization ideas.

1. Dynamically insert locations in your Responsive Search Ads

Of course, localizing your ad copy for each city, town, or state you serve is a clear and effective way to show your business is local to your searchers. But, manually creating hundreds of ads for every town where people might search for your services will quickly get time-consuming. Plus, targeting each one in its own campaign? A nightmare in the making for your account structure.

Instead of manually adjusting each ad for every city, you can tailor your ads easily by using dynamic location insertion in your Responsive Search Ads. Dynamic location insertion works almost identically to Google’s Dynamic Keyword Insertion, just instead of inserting the keyword directly into your ad’s text, these ads will automatically be customized to your user’s location.

To get started with Dynamic Location Insertion in your RSAs, simply write a new headline or description in an RSA. You can insert the location anywhere in the headline or description (just be mindful of character limits). As you type out your new message, when you’re ready to dynamically insert the location in your text, hit the { open bracket to trigger the prompt below, then select “location insertion” from the drop-down menu.

From here, Google what type of location you want your ads to highlight. Within the United States, your locations should be formatted as a city, state, or country. Effectively, this tells Google how “local” you want to highlight yourself. A searcher from Boston, Massachusetts, for instance, would read an ad differently depending on how this location was formatted.

Outside the US, advertisers can either show the city or country. Unfortunately, local international equivalents like provinces or prefectures aren’t yet supported.

Finally, there’s a final option to include “default text” within your dynamic location insertion parameter. This default text will only show when Google can’t insert the name of the searcher’s location directly in the ad text. This might happen due to character limits or if Google can’t easily identify the exact location of a searcher.

This headline might read “Proudly Serving {LOCATION(City): Your City}” when you see it in Google Ads. But Google will dynamically change it to read “proudly serving Boston” or “proudly serving Cambridge” when users search from those locations. But when someone from a long-named place like Manchester-by-the-Sea searches for you, your ad will use the default text and simply read “proudly serving your city.”

Is your Google Ads account structure optimized for local ads? Find out using our free guide to the perfect Google Ads account structure.

2. Create location assets (optimize your Google Business Profile)

The first absolute must-do for any local business is to claim, complete, and keep their Google Business Profile (GBP) up to date! This helps customers searching for your business, and will also hugely improve your local SEO to help you stand out from your competitors on the SERP. But your GBP can also help you with your PPC results as well. You can link your Google Business Profile directly to your ads and create location assets (formerly location extensions).

With location assets, your text ads will highlight your local business address(es) and current hours to local searchers. On mobile devices, searchers will also have the option to call your local branch from the SERP directly. Clicking on the address will open up your full Google Business Profile and allow searchers to get directions or begin navigating to your branch in Google Maps.

Additionally, once you’ve enabled location assets within your campaigns, your Google Business Profile may occasionally show at the top of the local map pack as a prominent sponsored listing with extra lines of text to distinguish you from other local businesses.

Recently, Google also started rolling out additional enhancements to its location assets, such as automatically highlighting your GBP’s cover photo alongside your text ads.

These advantages aren’t unique to just Google Ads though. Microsoft Advertising has similar location extensions. Unlike Google Ads, you don’t need to link your GBP or Bing Places account to Microsoft Advertising to use location extensions. You can enter each location’s address and hours within Microsoft Advertising to enable this feature. Additionally, Microsoft also recently launched Local Search Ads for Bing, which highlights advertisers’ location extensions in local map results.

3. Take advantage of other local ad assets

Although location assets are the most well-known asset for local advertisers, there are several other assets that can also be used to add a local flair to your PPC ads. Structured snippets, for instance, can complement your ads with a list of neighborhoods that your business serves.

To set up neighborhood structured snippets, simply create a new structured snippet asset and choose the “neighborhood” header. Then proceed to list at least three neighborhoods or areas that you serve as “values.” Generally, these values will appear in the same order that you enter them here, so prioritize your top neighborhoods in the first positions to maximize their effectiveness and visibility. Your neighborhood structured snippets can still appear alongside other structured snippets used to highlight your services, brands, models, and other headers.

Sitelinks can also be incredibly useful to help highlight your local ads. If you service different areas and have a dedicated landing page for each area or office, these can easily be utilized as highly visible sitelinks that both spotlight your local experience and help send local searchers to the most relevant page.

Finally, don’t overlook the small but versatile callout assets! With up to 25 characters of text each, these assets are flexible and easy ways to call out unique pieces of your business. Differentiate yourself from national brands by including callouts like “local family owned,” “serving Boston since 1989,” “local experts,” and other similar messages to add some local flair to your ads.

Bing has some additional unique features that Google doesn’t have for your ads. Hidden deep among your account level settings, there’s the ability to opt-in to Microsoft Advertising’s Marketing with Purpose Business Attributes. These attributes allow advertisers to share how their brand takes pride in different aspects as it relates to community responsibility, accessibility, environmental responsibility, and inclusivity. Among these attributes that advertisers can highlight for their brand are “small business” and “local business.”

You may choose any relevant attributes for your brand within the “marketing with purpose” business attributes. Once applied to your account, your ads will sometimes show with a relevant attribute highlighted next to them, such as below.

Write your PPC ads like a local

Big budgets or not–you’ve got the local advantage when it comes to advertising on the SERP. Take pride and highlight yourself as a local business within your PPC ads. Not only will searchers support you, but most are going to prefer to engage with your ad over the generic brands that you’re competing against. If you try these ideas but still want more out of your localized ads, see how our solutions can help you maximize your campaigns no matter how near or far your customers are!

The post 3 Tricks to Localize Your Google Ads (With Examples!) appeared first on WordStream.

Mothers and mother figures are the unsung heroes of our lives. They work hard, provide for their families, and often put their own needs aside for the sake of their loved ones. They deserve to be celebrated.

Mother’s Day is the perfect opportunity to help your customers express gratitude for the coolest “mom” in their life.

Whether you’re a small business or a large company, these tips and examples will help you create Happy Mother’s Day messages that will make your brand shine.

Contents

• Tips for writing Mother’s Day messages
• Mother’s Day marketing messages for sales
• Mother’s Day marketing messages for social media
• Mother’s Day messages for SMS
• Mother’s Day quotes
• Simple Mother’s Day messages

Tips for writing Mother’s Day messages

Are you looking to make the most of Mother’s Day and reach your target audience? Here are some tips for writing marketing messages.

• Keep it concise. You don’t need a lengthy message to convey the spirit of Mother’s Day. Be sure to include a call-to-action that encourages people to visit your site, learn more about your offering, or make a purchase.
• Be genuine and add some humor. A little humor goes a long way toward making your message stand out. Run your message by a few mothers in your organization to ensure it resonates.
• Use personal stories and anecdotes. Tell unique Mother’s Day stories inspired by your employees or customers. These stories will help your customers relate to your brand and make them feel more connected.
• Remember the kids. If you have kids of your own, they might love writing Mother’s Day cards or making gifts for Mom this year. Encourage them (and even let them help!) by ensuring that all of your marketing materials include something fun for children, too.
• Make it shareable. Create a message that people will want to share with their friends and family. Use catchy phrases, humorous quips, or inspiring quotes to encourage people to share your message on social media—and don’t make your brand the focus.

This business shared an inclusive Mother’s Day message on Instagram.

Overall, center your message on feelings of love, gratitude, and appreciation. Use words that will evoke these emotions in your audience, and they won’t be quick to forget your brand.

Want marketing ideas for every month of the year? Free guide >> The Mega Must-Have Marketing Calendar

Mother’s Day messages for sales

Mother’s Day is a great time to show your appreciation for moms. It’s also an opportunity for you to promote your business. You can use these Mother’s Day messages for sales in email marketing campaigns, on social media, and more.

• Celebrate Mother’s Day in style with our exclusive sale! Get up to 50% off on all women’s fashion items, and give your mom a gift she’ll love. Hurry, the sale ends soon.
• Mom deserves the best, and we’re here to help you give it to her! Enjoy our Mother’s Day sale and save big on all our products. We’ve got everything you need to make her day special.
• Make your mom feel like a celebrity this Mother’s Day. We’re giving away a VIP experience for two at a popular event in town. Simply purchase $50 or more and stand a chance to win. Let’s make this day extra special for our moms!
• Make Mother’s Day unforgettable with our exclusive sale. From personalized mugs to custom-made accessories, we have everything you need to make your mom feel special. Shop now and save up to 30% on all our products.
• Looking for the perfect gift for your mom? Look no further than our Mother’s Day sale! We’ve got a wide range of gifts to make her day, and they’re all available at discounted prices. Shop now and show your mom how much she means to you.
• Celebrate your superhero this Mother’s Day with our amazing collection of gifts. Get 20% off on all our products with code MOTHER20. Shop now and make this day extra special for your mom.
• For all the moms out there, we’ve got gifts that will make you feel closer than ever before.
• First Mother’s Day? No problem. We’ve got you covered with gifts and products that will make this day the most memorable one yet.

Looking for sales promotion ideas? We’ve got you covered! Free guide >> 15 Insanely Effective Sales Promotion Examples to Win More Customers

Mother’s Day messages for social media

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, you can use social media to promote your products and connect with your customers meaningfully.

Here are some Mother’s Day marketing messages to use as inspiration for your social media campaigns.

• Celebrate Mother’s Day with us and show your mom some love. Share your favorite memory with your amazing mother in the comments and stand a chance to win a gift from us.
• Mother’s Day is just around the corner. Surprise your mom with a gift she’ll cherish forever. Visit our website and get a discount of 15% on all purchases.
• Thank your mom for always being there for you. Let’s show our gratitude this Mother’s Day with a special message. Use our Mother’s Day filter and share it with your mom.
• It’s Mother’s Day, and we want to make it special for your mom. Like and share this post and get a chance to win a gift basket for your mom.
• Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing moms out there! This day is all about celebrating you. Use our hashtag #MothersDayWith[YourBrandName] and show us how you’re celebrating.
• You always look up to your mother, no matter how tall you grow. Happy Mother’s Day to the moms who inspire us to be our best selves.
• We may not say it often, but we’re grateful for all you do, Mom. This Mother’s Day, let’s celebrate with a special gift. Use the code THANKSMOM at checkout and get a discount on all purchases.
• Mom, you’re our hero, and we’re forever grateful for you. Let’s celebrate Mother’s Day with a special gift. Share a picture of you and your mom and stand a chance to win a gift card from us.
• This Mother’s Day, take your mom on a road trip, cook her favorite meal, or go on an adventure together. It’s not always about the gift but the memories you make together. Share your special moments with us using #MomAndMe and stand a chance to win an exclusive Mother’s Day gift!

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Get copy-and-paste social media posts ready for the whole year in our free social media template!

Mother’s Day messages for SMS

Use these short and sweet Mother’s Day messages for your SMS promotions.

• Savings for mom? Yes, please. Use the code SUPERMOM at checkout and get an exclusive 15% discount on all beauty essentials.
• It’s time to raise a toast to the ultimate superwoman! Get a discount of 25% on all our top-notch wines and spirits this Mother’s Day. Cheers, Mom.
• For all the superhero moms out there, we’re offering a discount of 20% on our latest collection of graphic tees. Get ready to show off your superpowers.
• Happy Mother’s Day! Stop in today for a special surprise.

Mother’s Day quotes

Quotes make an excellent social media caption, email addition, and more. Here are some Mother’s Day quotes you can use.

• “A mother’s arms are more comforting than anyone else’s.” — Princess Diana
• “Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.” — Unknown
• “There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one.” — Jill Churchill
• “Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother.” — Oprah Winfrey
• “When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.” — Sophia Loren
• “To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow.” –Maya Angelou

We curated some Canva templates for you, including one for quotes like the above image! Access them here.

Simple Mother’s Day messages for any business

In need of a simple Mother’s Day greeting for your audience. We’ve got you covered.

• Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom and mother figures out there. Thank you for all you do!
• If Mother’s Day is a difficult day for you, just know that you’re loved. We’re thinking of you.
• Wishing everyone a very Happy Mother’s Day from all of us at [business name]!
• Moms, you’re the best! Enjoy your day

Make Your Mother’s Day messages stand out

Crafting great Mother’s Day quotes and messages is necessary for any brand looking to make a lasting impression on this special day.

Whether celebrating a new mother’s role as her best friend, showing appreciation for a wonderful mother-in-law, or simply sending warm Mother’s Day wishes, your messaging can help strengthen customer relationships and boost sales.

Don’t underestimate the power of an inspirational Mother’s Day message to make this day even more meaningful for the special mother figure in your customers’ lives.

The post 31 Ready-to-Go Mother’s Day Messages for Social Media, Email, & More appeared first on WordStream.

M-A-Y. These three letters, when strung together in that order, represent many things:

• A lovely first or last name.
• Who it’s gonna be, according to N*SYNC.
• An expression of possibility or permission.
• A month bursting with creative and compassionate marketing opportunities

That’s right. I’m not just talking Mother’s Day or Cinco de Mayo. There’s National Limerick Day. Honor Our LGBT Elders Day. Small Business Week. Mental Health Awareness Month. Asparagus Month!?

So in this post, I’m supplying you with over 90 free, easy, and creative May marketing ideas so you can connect with current and potential customers in meaningful and memorable ways.

Contents

Month-long observances in May

In May, we celebrate, appreciate, and raise awareness for quite a lot. Here’s what we’re working with:

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Want marketing ideas for every month of the year? Free guide >> The Mega Must-Have Marketing Calendar

Week-long May observances

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Holidays and observances in May

There’s a complete list of May holidays and observances at the bottom of this post, but here are some highlights:

• National Loyalty Day – every May 1
• National Lumpy Rug Day – every May 3
• Star Wars Day – every May 4
• Kentucky Derby – May 4
• Cinco de Mayo – every May 5
• Teacher Appreciation Day – Tuesday of the first full week in May
• Mother’s Day – May 12
• Limerick Day – every May 12
• Peace Officer’s Memorial Day – May 15
• Do Something Good for Your Neighbor Day – every May 16
• Bike to Work Day – third Friday in May
• Armed Forces Day – 3rd Saturday in May
• Endangered Species Day – every May 20
• Geek Pride Day – every May 25
• National Burger Day – every May 28
• Memorial Day – last Monday of May

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Diversity, equity, and inclusion marketing ideas in May

We all hear about diversity, accessibility, and inclusion in marketing but what does that look like? Let’s take a look.

National Honor Our LGBT Elders Day

This holiday, celebrated every May 16, was created by Chase Brexton Health Care, an LGBT health resource center. It is focused on honoring protestors, supporters, doctors, politicians, influencers, and others who blazed the trail with the LGBT movement.

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Here are some ways to honor them:

• Do some research and identify LGBT trailblazers in your geographic or industrial niche and write a blog post or social media fun fact post about them.
• Ask your audience to share older LGBT mentors and thought leaders in their lives.
• Raise awareness about the importance of taking care of LGBT elders who may still lack the care and support they need.

Jewish, Haitian, Asian & Pacific Island Heritage Month

In May, we celebrate individuals of Jewish, Haitian, Asian, or Pacific Island descent. Here are some ways to do just that:

• Consider learning about each of these groups and sharing your findings in a blog post or on social media.
• Interview a coworker, client, or friend who identifies with one of these groups on a topic relevant to your audience.
• Put a request out there to your network for individuals within those groups to write a guest post or share their experience about something with a dedicated hashtag.

National Foster Care Month

Contrary to what we often see in sitcoms or novels, most people grow up with varying family dynamics. National Foster Care Month is meant to recognize “the important role that members from all parts of child welfare play in supporting children, youth, and families.”

• Update your marketing copy to be more inclusive. For example, instead of promoting a sale for moms and dads, you may want to extend your offer to caretakers, grandparents, or guardians as well.
• Post foster care facts on social media to inspire your audience to take action. For example, did you know that foster youth are seven times more likely to have depression, and five times more likely to have anxiety? There are tons of interesting (and eye-opening) statistics like this on the current state of the foster care system that your followers could find both interesting and action-worthy. This will show that your business truly cares for the cause.
• Connect with local foster care organizations to find ways you and your audience could donate or volunteer. For example, many foster care parents and case workers share Amazon wish lists and more on social media to allow people to support foster children or former foster youth.

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National Silence the Shame Day

This day is observed every May 5 and is dedicated to erasing the shame and stigma around mental health challenges and disorders. Consider these ideas:

• Share eye-opening stats about mental illness in the United States (or the world).
• Share a few resources for those who are struggling with anxiety, depression, and other symptoms.
• Participate in #silencetheshame textathons and fundraisers like the one below.

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National Barrier Awareness Day

Every May 7, National Barrier Awareness Day encourages us to advocate for and educate others about breaking down barriers—visible and invisible—that prevent individuals with disabilities from living independent, fulfilled lives.

To participate in this day:

• Use the #nationalbarrierawarenessday hashtag to post information, resources, and stats.
• Do an Instagram Story takeover by someone with a disability so they can share a day in the life.
• Ask your audience about their experiences with barriers and how they overcame them.

Additional observances in May that help promote diversity, equity, and inclusion include:

• National Interpreter Appreciation Day – first Wednesday in May
• Join Hands Day – first Saturday in May
• National Bombshells’ Day – first Saturday in May
• International Being You Day – annually on May 22

May marketing ideas for national weeks

We’ve got loads of ideas for you for May—for Facebook and Instagram posts, blog posts, events, promotions, and more. We’ve organized them by themes and holidays, but you can find industry-specific ideas within each theme.

National Small Business Week

First and foremost, National Small Business Week happens annually every first week of May. Dedicated to raising awareness about small businesses and celebrating the hard-working owners behind them, this week will be packed with ample marketing opportunities. Here are some ways to make the best of National Small Business Week:

• Run a deal-a-day for the week, promoting different products/services each day. Or, run an online sale with a link to your landing or product page in your Instagram bio.

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• Get return customers: Give out coupons with purchases this week, that can only be redeemed on an upcoming holiday or on the last day of Small Business Week.
• Get more leads: Offer a downloadable, small business-themed piece of content that is of value to your target audience in exchange for their email addresses. You could also create a guide outlining the specials offered by other small businesses in your neighborhood. This is a great way to connect and network with nearby businesses and strengthen your ties to the community.
• Promote your promotions: Write a blog post with a schedule of the deals, events, and contests you’re running and include it in your emails and social media posts.
• Increase your exposure: Use #nationalsmallbusinessweek and #nationalsmallbusinessweek[your location] and other relevant hashtags in your social media posts and promotions.

• Run an Instagram giveaway for a free product or service. Entrants post a photo to Instagram of themselves at your business, using a custom hashtag. Announce the winner at the end of the week.
• Connect: Don’t forget that educating yourself about small businesses and networking with other small business owners is important for your marketing success as well. Attend local events, SBA events, or follow along via live streams.
• Build community and expand your reach: Team up with other complementary small businesses and create an event.
• Give back: Make an extra effort to give back to your community by shopping at, posting reviews, and engaging in social media with other small businesses during the week.

Free Guide >> The 30+ Best Ways to Promote Your Business

Public Service Recognition Week

For Public Service Recognition Week, post a thank you to the men and women who make our lives better by devoting their days to public service professions. Public service employees range from police officers to county clerks to city bus drivers. Say thank you!

Women’s Health Week

During Women’s Health Week, get creative about how you show appreciation for your female consumers and think of fun ways to engage them with your shop and on Instagram.

This influencer partnered with integrative health providers to share women’s health educational content and resources:

This fitness center took their spin class outdoors to shake things up a bit. This is a great idea, especially during the pandemic. If lugging out equipment isn’t an option, go for a yoga class, dance class, or boot camp. This is also a great way to show potential customers how awesome your classes are.

May marketing ideas for national days and holidays

There are plenty of holidays and observances in May that can fuel your marketing plan.

Kentucky Derby

Use the Kentucky Derby in your May marketing efforts. Get creative with derby fashion or horse-themed decorations, promotions, contests, and events. For example,

• Change up your storefront with a derby theme to grab attention and attract customers.
• Blog about derby fashion and outfits for men and women.
• Throw a derby party with derby hat contests and mint juleps.
• Host a cooking or cocktail-making class.
• Run a derby hat contest on Instagram or Facebook.
• Use derby hashtags such as #kyderby, or your own custom hashtag (like #derbyatjoes) so that people can find you and follow along.

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Cinco de Mayo

In the spirit of Cinco de Mayo, there are many ways to infuse a Mexican-American spirit into your marketing. For example:

• Food or fitness businesses can post recipes or videos of recipes on social media.
• Give out coupons the day before or a few days before, redeemable on Cinco de Mayo.
• Share a festive discount “code word” on social media, customers who mention the code in-store get 15% off.

• Use a triumph or underdog theme. This holiday comes from Mexico’s unlikely victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla. Give your customers the victory over high prices, long lines, slow service, and more with particular deals.
• Use the number five in your promotions, such as: get the fifth one free, $5 specials, 5% off, 5 for 5, etc.
• Throw a party or cooking class revolving around Mexican food and culture.
• Consider offering your followers information about where to enjoy Cinco de Mayo. Remember, not everything you post should be in an effort to make a sale. Providing useful information gives your followers another reason to keep watching you on social media.

Teacher Appreciation Day

May 7 is Teacher Appreciation Day—a perfect time for preschools to market themselves to new parents in anticipation of the new school year.

• Throw a party for teachers or have students write thank you letters to show off on your blog, in email newsletters to parents, or on social media.
• Update your website content with new teacher bios and pictures.
• Did anyone receive a new degree or have a teacher accomplishment to share? This is the perfect time to showcase them on an “About Us” page on your website. Doing so not only highlights your teaching staff, but it also can improve your SEO.

Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is prime time for any business, not just the flower shops, salons, and spas (although it is advantageous!). We have a whole post on Mother’s Day marketing ideas, but here are a few:

• Flower shops and bakeries can offer special Mother’s Day products, and discounts for Mother’s Day gift-givers, either on this day or the day before as well.
• Salons and spas can create Mother’s Day-themed gift certificates or offer 2-for-1 deals for mothers and daughters celebrating together.
• Combine products and/or services into attractive gift packages that make gift-giving easy.
• Post on Instagram using any of these Mother’s Day Instagram captions.

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• Businesses that get a spike in traffic on Mother’s Day can hand out coupons with purchases that are redeemable at a later time (ideally a time when business typically gets slow).
• Preschools can have their little ones create Mother’s Day cards or crafts to send home. Make sure to post the pictures on social media or follow up with a blog post or email newsletter to communicate with parents!
• Run a Mother’s Day photo contest on Facebook.

Memorial Day

Here are some ways to show your patriotism and love for the good ol’ USA through your business marketing on Memorial Day.

• Show your respect with these Memorial Day Instagram captions.
• Promote red, white, and blue-themed recipes, outfits, flower arrangements, jewelry, and other products and promote them on Pinterest and Instagram.

• Host a BBQ or picnic for your community, and give out branded swag like sunglasses or water bottles.
• Participate in or sponsor a local event.
• Use quotes, images, and other posts on social media to show your support for those who have lost their lives for our country.
• Run a charity race or ride to remember our troops and veterans.
• Memorial Day is often celebrated with gatherings, and Groupon will feature seasonal deals on its site. Try running a Groupon deal geared for families and groups. You could offer winter and spring products and services at a discount or even introduce your summer deals.

• Run long weekend deals that encourage others to check out your business during their mini-vacay.

Find even more Memorial Day messages you can use in your marketing.

Star Wars Day

Star Wars Day simply can’t be ignored with its rising popularity. Run a webinar or live stream on this day to help add some creativity to your copy.

Or, organize a live or virtual Star Wars trivia night or contest. The prize could be discounts on future purchases or even a small cash prize for the winning team to share.

Bike to Work Day

Perhaps a surprise to most, Bike to Work Day is kind of a big deal in most major cities. Many metro areas have websites to register for the day and to organize large bike-riding groups. Look for information regarding your local Bike to Work Day activities and post useful information for your followers.

Geek Pride Day

Geek Pride Day offers you the opportunity to geek out over anything you think is the bee’s knees (a technical geek term). Geek out over a topic in your industry that you’re passionate about, or ask your employees about what they geek out on. Or, ask your social media followers questions related to the day.

ALS

Not only is it important to support worthy causes, but statistically, people are more apt to do business with companies that share their values. This restaurant got a repost from an ALS-focused organization to help drive customers to their fundraiser:

You could also post infographics that educate the public:

Peace Officer’s Memorial Day

As a part of Public Service Recognition Week, we have Peace Officer’s Memorial Day on May 15. In addition to our troops and veterans, no one deserves our admiration more than those who serve and protect our cities. Take a moment to give a big thank you to your town’s protectors and even offer up specials specifically for Peace Officers.

More May marketing themes and ideas

Want marketing ideas beyond holidays? We’ve got you covered there too!

Warm weather/spring cleaning

Take advantage of the warmer weather and provide information and helpful tips to your customers in accordance with your business.

• Contractors, landscaping companies, and painters should boost their May marketing efforts to get new clients for the spring and summer months. Try sending out postcards encouraging homeowners to get their homes and gardens in top shape for summer.

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• Now’s the time to run that gutter cleaning sale or post pictures on Facebook of your most recent outdoor paint job. Build your content authority with SEO-optimized blog posts about seasonal maintenance.

Speaking of spring cleaning, why not do a little of your own by going through your website, ad campaigns, social media profiles, and listings to make sure information is up to date, photos are relevant to the season, and links are working properly? You may want to refresh some of the evergreen content from last year that performed well around this time.

• Gather up your top reviews from last year and share them on social media. These make for enjoyable Tweets with no pressure to click a link or read more. You might also share success stories with before-and-after photos to get clients excited about the warm weather.
• What better time to get the chatter going about your business when people are getting excited about the warm weather? Word-of-mouth marketing is important for small businesses. Offer existing clients a discount or incentive for each new client they refer who becomes a paying customer.

Flowers

April showers bring May flowers. If you own a flower shop, May marketing is your time to shine! (If you don’t, there are still opportunities!).

• Host that flower-arranging workshop you’ve been thinking about.
• Start a Pinterest board to see if Pinterest is right for your business, or grow your Pinterest following with your creations linked to your online store or blog.
• You don’t have to be a florist to use flowers in your marketing. Spruce up your office, restaurant, or storefront with flowers. Nothing says “spring” like fresh-cut flowers that add a pop of color to your business space.
• Buy flowers from a local florist and introduce yourself. Supporting other small business owners is the first step to getting more word-of-mouth referrals.

Weddings

May is the start of wedding season and a perfect time to market your business to new people who are in town. Unless, of course, you’re hosting a virtual wedding this year due to the pandemic. Here are some wedding-based marketing ideas for both live and virtual weddings.

• Caterers, event planners, DJs, photographers, bakeries, and other wedding-friendly services: Use social media to engage customers as much as possible. Whether you’re hosting the bachelorette party at your restaurant, baking the wedding cupcakes at your bakery, or photographing the event, be sure to take pictures and share them on Facebook and other social media platforms. You may also want to ask and see if you can use the special custom hashtag for the event. This is a great way to put a name to the features of the wedding that stick out to guests (who can become or refer you to new customers) and their social media audiences.
• Landscapers can capitalize on wedding venue owners looking to perfect their property.
• Or perhaps you want to run a virtual wedding planning campaign, through organic content or paid ads.

• Fitness and nutrition businesses can provide workouts, recipes, blog posts, and tips on getting to your healthiest and best version of yourself in time for these heavily photographed events.

More May marketing magic

Show how busy your business has been by simply providing some updates for the month of May. You could frame it as “May mayhem” to showcase to your audience how your business is rapidly progressing. You might:

• Check your business listings for anything that needs updating, like adding more images, new seasonal hours, etc.
• Share a customer testimonial video of a standout product or service offering you completed in May.
• And more!

Final tips for your May marketing

Whatever you decide to do to promote your business in May, be sure to recap your events, promotions, and festivities in your next email newsletter or blog post so that those who missed out will want to join in the fun next year. Also, be sure to send follow-up emails to any new leads for your business. And during your campaigns, post real-time photos and user-generated content to encourage more participation.

Couldn’t get enough? We’ve got lots more May social media holidays and ideas here!

Not May? Here’s our full series of monthly marketing ideas

• 15 January Marketing Ideas to Start the New Year with a Bang
• 20 Fabulous (and Affordable) February Marketing Ideas
• 30+ Creative and Cost-Friendly March Marketing Ideas
• 20+ Free April Marketing Ideas to Freshen Up Your Content Calendar
• 50+ May Marketing Ideas for Any Business or Budget
• 50+ Free June Marketing Ideas for Sizzlin’ Hot Campaigns
• 37 Free and Creative July Marketing Ideas (With Examples!)
• 57 Easy & Engaging August Marketing Ideas (With Examples!)
• 17+ Free and Creative September Marketing Ideas
• 21+ Free and Effective October Marketing Ideas
• 19 Simple Yet Superb November Marketing Ideas (with Examples)
• 20 Super-Festive December Marketing Ideas

And for a year’s worth of marketing ideas, check out this marketing calendar template from our friends at LocaliQ.

Full list of May holidays and observances

Thank you, as always, to National Day Calendar for supplying these days and dates!

May 1

• Law Day
• May Day
• National Chocolate Parfait Day
• National Loyalty Day
• National Mother Goose Day
• School Principals’ Day
• Silver Star Service Banner Day
• National Skilled Trades Day – first Wednesday in May
• National Interpreter Appreciation Day – first Wednesday in May

May 2

• National Life Insurance Day
• National Truffle Day
• National Day of Prayer – first Thursday in May
• National Day of Reason – first Thursday in May
• World Password Day – first Thursday in May

May 3

• National Chocolate Custard Day
• National Garden Meditation Day
• National Lumpy Rug Day
• National Montana Day
• National Paranormal Day
• National Raspberry Popover Day
• National SAN Architect Day
• National Specially-Able Pets Day
• National Textiles Day
• National Two Different Colored Shoes Day
• National Space Day – first Friday in May
• School Lunch Hero Day – first Friday in May

May 4

• Bird Day
• National Candied Orange Peel Day
• National Orange Juice Day
• National Renewal Day
• National Star Wars Day
• National Weather Observers Day
• National Bombshells’ Day – first Saturday in May
• National Fitness Day – first Saturday in May
• National Homebrew Day – first Saturday in May
• National Play Outside Day – first Saturday of Every Month
• National Scrapbook Day – first Saturday in May
• Join Hands Day – first Saturday in May
• Kentucky Derby – first Saturday in May
• National Start Seeing Monarchs Day – first Saturday in May
• Free Comic Book Day – first Saturday in May

May 5

• Cinco de Mayo
• National Astronaut Day
• National Cartoonists Day
• National Hoagie Day
• National Silence the Shame Day
• National Totally Chipotle Day
• National Infertility Survival Day – Sunday Before Mother’s Day

May 6

• National Beverage Day
• National Crepe Suzette Day
• National Nurses Day
• Melanoma Monday – first Monday in May

May 7

• National Barrier Awareness Day
• National Packaging Design Day
• National Paste-Up Day
• National Roast Leg of Lamb Day
• National Foster Care Day – first Tuesday in May
• National Teacher Appreciation Day – Tuesday of the First Full Week in May

May 8

• National Coconut Cream Pie Day
• National Have a Coke Day
• National Student Nurse Day
• National Bike to School Day – Changes annually – May 8, 2023
• National Receptionists’ Day – Second Wednesday in May
• National Third Shift Workers Day – Second Wednesday in May
• National School Nurse Day – Wednesday of National Nurses Week

May 9

• National Home Front Heroes Day
• National Alphabet Magnet Day
• National Butterscotch Brownie Day
• National Lost Sock Memorial Day
• National Moscato Day
• National Sleepover Day

May 10

• National Clean Up Your Room Day
• National Lipid Day
• National Shrimp Day
• National Washington Day
• National Military Spouse Appreciation Day – Friday Before Mother’s Day
• National Provider Appreciation Day – Friday Before Mother’s Day

May 11

• National Eat What You Want Day
• National Foam Rolling Day
• National Twilight Zone Day
• National Train Day – Saturday closest to May 10
• National Babysitter’s Day – Saturday before Mother’s Day
• National Birth Mother’s Day – Saturday before Mother’s Day
• Cornelia De Lange Syndrome Awareness Day – second Saturday in May
• National Archery Day – second Saturday in May
• National Dog Mom’s Day – second Saturday in May
• National Miniature Golf Day – second Saturday in May
• Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Day – second Saturday in May

May 12

• National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day
• National Limerick Day
• National Nutty Fudge Day
• National Odometer Day

May 13

• National Apple Pie Day
• National Crouton Day
• National Frog Jumping Day
• National Fruit Cocktail Day
• National Women’s Checkup Day – Second Monday in May

May 14

• Mother’s Day
• National Buttermilk Biscuit Day
• National Dance Like a Chicken Day
• National Decency Day
• National Underground America Day

May 15

• National Chocolate Chip Day
• National Nylon Stocking Day
• Peace Officers Memorial Day
• National Juice Slush Day – third Wednesday In May

May 16

• Honor Our LGBT Elders Day
• National Barbecue Day
• National Biographer’s Day
• National Coquilles Saint Jacques Day
• National Do Something Good for Your Neighbor Day
• National Love a Tree Day
• National Mimosa Day
• National Piercing Day
• National Sea Monkey Day

May 17

• National Cherry Cobbler Day
• National Graduation Tassel Day
• National Idaho Day
• National Pack Rat Day
• National Walnut Day
• NASCAR Day – third Friday in May
• National Bike to Work Day – third Friday in May
• National Pizza Party Day – third Friday in May
• National Defense Transportation Day – third Friday in May
• National Endangered Species Day – third Friday in May

May 18

• National Cheese Soufflé Day
• National HIV Vaccine Awareness Day
• National No Dirty Dishes Day
• National Visit Your Relatives Day
• National Armed Forces Day – third Saturday in May
• National Learn to Swim Day – third Saturday in May

May 19

• National Devil’s Food Cake Day
• National May Ray Day
• Take Your Parents to the Playground Day – third Sunday in May

May 20

• International Red Sneakers Day
• National Be a Millionaire Day
• National Pick Strawberries Day
• National Quiche Lorraine Day
• National Rescue Dog Day
• National Streaming Day

May 21

• National American Red Cross Founder’s Day
• National Memo Day
• National Strawberries and Cream Day
• National Waitstaff Day

May 22

• International Being You Day
• National Buy a Musical Instrument Day
• National Craft Distillery Day
• National Maritime Day
• National Solitaire Day
• National Vanilla Pudding Day
• World Paloma Day

May 23

• National Lucky Penny Day
• National Taffy Day

May 24

• Brother’s Day
• National Aviation Maintenance Technician Day
• National Escargot Day
• National Scavenger Hunt Day
• National Wyoming Day
• National Yucatan Shrimp Day
• National Cooler Day – Friday before Memorial Day
• National Don’t Fry Day – Friday before Memorial Day
• National Road Trip Day – Friday before Memorial Day

May 25

• National Brown-Bag It Day
• National Missing Children’s Day
• National Tap Dance Day
• National Wine Day
• Towel Day

May 26

• National Blueberry Cheesecake Day
• National Paper Airplane Day

May 27

• National Cellophane Tape Day
• National Grape Popsicle Day
• Memorial Day – last Monday in May

May 28

• National Beef Burger Day
• National Brisket Day
• National Hamburger Day

May 29

• National 529 Day
• National Coq Au Vin Day
• National Paperclip Day
• National Senior Health & Fitness Day – last Wednesday in May

May 30

• Loomis Day
• National Creativity Day
• National Hole In My Bucket Day
• National Mint Julep Day
• National Water a Flower Day
• World Multiple Sclerosis Day

May 31

• Autonomous Vehicle Day
• National Macaroon Day
• National Save Your Hearing Day
• National Smile Day
• National Speak in Sentences Day
• National Utah Day
• Necrotizing Fasciitis Awareness Day

The post 90+ May Marketing Ideas (& Examples) for Any Business or Budget appeared first on WordStream.

Does your head spin when someone mentions artificial intelligence? It’s understandable. LinkedIn and Twitter (fine…X) are rife with newly minted AI experts and tech bros sharing their latest 27-step process for gaming algorithms and automating entire marketing programs.

That’s not useful for most ground-level marketers.

What can help? Knowing which everyday marketing challenges the technology can solve for us right now is a great start. So, I reached out to several marketers I admire to see how they’re using AI in marketing.

The response was outstanding. They shared specific, tactical examples, plus the prompts and AI tools they use—everything you need to repeat their processes.

Contents

• Pull insights from past campaigns for future strategy
• Complete competitive analysis
• Roleplay for customer sentiment
• Produce internal project management assets
• Find thinking models for thought leadership content
• Analyze data for SEO audits
• Link ideas while you write automatically
• Repurpose long-form content for social media posts
• Create customized SMS and email marketing campaigns
• Prepare an interview question list
• Improve design elements in email headers
• Build article outlines quickly
• Write craftier subheadings
• Scale product descriptions and ad copy

Download this handy, free Guide to AI in Marketing for more tips and strategies.

14 ways the pros use AI in Marketing

Interestingly, no one said they were using AI to spin up entire ready-to-publish articles. But they are using AI tools to get out of writing ruts, analyze data, inform strategy, and automate marketing flows. The use cases were way more diverse than I imagined.

1. Pull insights from past campaigns for future strategy

Knowing which ad or blog post generated the most leads is easy. It’s harder to learn why they worked so you can double down on their success. Curt Woodward, Director of Content at ZoomInfo, devised a genius way to get Jasper, a generative AI copywriting tool, to help him figure it out.

Curt started by ranking a list of ZoomInfo’s content titles by a “power score” comprised of three weighted KPIs. Here’s a mockup of that list with fake data he uses for demonstration purposes.

Next, he fed the list to Jasper, along with a prompt asking the AI to identify commonalities that would inform future content campaign choices.

His prompts looked like this:

“Act as a marketing analyst. I am going to give you a list of content titles with corresponding numbers, which represent a value score we use to determine top content. Higher scores are better.”

“Compare the content titles to find common themes, keywords, ideas, and approaches among the top-scoring titles. Suggest ways to replicate successful content packages.”

“Jasper, as a tool, often asks for more information about what you want the output of your prompt to look like,” Curt explained. “In this case, I gave it instructions about format, use of the memo, etc.”

Here’s the follow-up prompt Curt gave Jasper:

“I want to come away with a memo that summarizes our best themes, formats, and concepts for our future marketing content campaigns. Give us ideas and frameworks to use going forward.”

Based on the data and prompts Curt gave it, Jasper created a list of recommendations with detailed ideas for future content.

Curt qualified the fairly obvious results from this example by pointing out that it was fictitious data. He said you get a more insightful analysis when you feed it accurate information. Next up, he plans to get Jasper to proactively rank and sort the content assets by the power score, which will make the process even faster.

But for now, Curt suggests trying this tactic with other marketing copy. “You can easily adapt this for any measurable marketing asset. Ad and landing page copy comes to mind. Just rank them by whatever KPIs are important, and ask the AI to find themes you can use in future campaigns.”

Free guide >> 135 of the Best Words & Phrases for Marketing With Emotion

2. Complete competitive analyses

Completing a competitive analysis is a core function for just about every marketer. The hard part is synthesizing competitive product features and brand positioning for multiple competitors.

Celia Quillian is an MBA and product marketing leader who’s also an influential voice in the artificial intelligence space through her channel @smartworkai on TikTok and Instagram. She uses ChatGPT Plus (the paid version) to quickly curate competitive intel.

“ChatGPT Plus’ web browsing feature is fabulous for competitive analysis,” she said. “In my prompts, I provide the links to competitor websites, asking that it only source from these sites for its competitive intel, and have it craft a table comparing the features of different market competitors.”

The free version of ChatGPT can’t surf the web. I tried a quick version of the request on perplexity AI using three HR software competitors.

Obviously, this would need some additional prompts to make it useful. But Celia said AI is really good at that. “Generative AI models like GP-4 have lengthy ‘context windows,’ meaning I can continually ask follow-up questions,” she said. “My combined prompts and answers only build on each other, helping me to learn, brainstorm, and find answers more efficiently.”

For context, Celia said ChatGPT Plus can “remember” the context of about 100 pages of written text.

3. Roleplay for customer sentiment

AI can’t replace humans, but it can pretend to be one. Celia said that’s a valuable feature of the technology. “ChatGPT is great at playing pretend, so when it comes to thinking of how I might solve a problem for a customer, I can ask ChatGPT to roleplay as my ideal customer persona.”

I gave this a try with the free version of ChatGPT. I fed the AI a description of a backpacking tent that focused on its weight, then entered this prompt:

“Pretend you’re the target customer for a company that sells outdoor camping gear. You’re very concerned about the durability and weight of the next backpacking tent you buy. How would you feel about this product description.”

Here’s what I got back.

This was a simple example, but ChatGPT spotted the durability gap and suggested we add more specificity. Not bad.

“It’s never as good as talking with a real customer,” Celia added. “But it can make for a great stand-in when I’m in the early phases of research and ideation.”

4. Produce internal project management assets

One of the best applications of AI is to automate repetitive marketing tasks. That’s a common way Alaura Weaver, Content Marketing & Community Leader at Writer, uses it.

“I use Writer to spin up internal project management assets instantly—stuff like writing briefs, editing checklists, and creating content promotion plans,” she said. “That way, I don’t have to start from scratch with routine tasks.”

Alaura detailed how she creates briefs since that’s a common task for many marketing team leaders and those who work with freelancers.

“I built a custom ‘brief generator’ app in our no-code Writer App Studio,” she explained. “All I have to do is give a working title, indicate what audience the piece is for, and paste or upload source material (like an executive LinkedIn post, research article, or dev documentation). The app generates content briefs that align with our business goals and content strategy (which I baked into the prompt that powers the generator).”

Alaura said that using AI this way speeds up the entire editorial process, freeing up bandwidth for high-level tasks.

“The output follows a consistent format, so I can easily plug it into docs without much editing,” she said. “It means that my writers have what they need to get started on assignments a lot faster, and it means I have more time to focus on fun, creative, strategic work like producing our Humans of AI podcast.”

5. Find thinking models for thought leadership content

The best thought leadership content has a unique, personal, and interesting point of view. It’s not the typical wheelhouse for robotic writing.

But Anjana Vasan, a Senior Copywriter and Content Strategist at Block Club, found an unexpected way to improve thought leadership content with AI. She asks ChatGPT for thinking models or academic concepts related to her topic.

“Using AI this way, I can develop a unique point of view or think of an interesting metaphor and connect the dots to the topic or the person I’m writing for,” Anjana said. “All while still keeping their experience and expertise in mind.”

The great thing about this tactic is that it works with just about any AI writing assistant or even generative search platforms like Perplexity AI.

6. Analyze data for SEO audits

Anjana showed us another way AI can help analyze large blocks of data—this time for SEO audits.

Here, she asked ChatGPT to review a spreadsheet of content links.

“Usually, I dig in further with additional questions or prompts to draw the insights I’m looking for,” she said. “Or I ask ChatGPT to organize the data so I don’t spend my time on administrative tasks.”

Here are some of the follow-up prompts Anjana uses:

• “Based on the available data, can you identify the top 10 pieces of content?”
• “Have you noticed any themes or overarching topic categories in all the content?”
• “Can you edit the spreadsheet to include only the URL, date of publication, title, meta description, and word count and remove the other columns?”

She warned that this tactic only works with the right information and that any AI output should be double-checked.

“The results are only as good as the quality of your data, so ensure you include the right types of information in your file,” she said “And remember to validate the information since you may not always get the right insights if you rely completely on ChatGPT.”

7. Link ideas while you write automatically

If you have folders full of half-complete ideas and clever copy that are hard to find when you need them, Anna Burgess Yang feels your pain. “I publish a lot of work online and have thousands of notes from articles I’ve read, podcasts I’ve listened to, and even my own writing. In the past, I’ve relied on tags or categorization in note-taking apps to connect topics or ideas.”

Anna is a prolific freelance content marketer and a self-described workflow automation geek. She uses an AI tool called Reflect to surface related notes based on the text she’s writing. So, mid-draft, Anna will see categorized suggestions from her network of documents.

Our human brains are wonderful, but they’re not always great at quickly recalling a specific point buried amongst thousands of others. AI is ideally suited for the job. “This has become an invaluable part of my note-taking since AI can pull ideas together that I may have overlooked or not considered,” Anna said.

8. Repurpose long-form content for social media posts

Social media marketing is one of the best channels for brand awareness and lead generation. But it’s also a never-ending grind that requires a constant flow of content ideas to stay relevant.

Anna came through with another AI tip: a way to pull social media posts from the content she previously produced. “I’ve already done the hard work by crafting long-form content. Why not use AI to speed up the process of creating social posts?”

Anna uses a content summarization feature in the generative AI platform Writer to do this.

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After dropping in the URL of her source article, Writer comes back with a brief synopsis of three key takeaways.

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Next, she pastes the takeaways into Trello, the tool she uses for content planning. Those snippets inspire social posts when she’s ready to write them.

Why not just ask AI to write the posts? “You can try and use AI to write social posts for you, but I’ve found that it never sounds like me,” Anna said. “I’d rather use key takeaways as a launching pad and write my own social posts.”

Get copy-and-paste social media posts you can customize >> Social Media Calendar Template

9. Create customized SMS and email marketing campaigns

Customer journeys are like choose-your-own-adventure stories with dozens or hundreds of potential flows. Personalizing those journeys requires a lot of manual work.

Angela Rollins, an ecommerce-focused content marketer and strategist, suggested a tool called Attentive AI as a solution. “Instead of manually creating all the different flows a brand normally would and layering on segments, Attentive AI basically personalizes SMS and email messages at scale based on all the data a brand has on its customers,” Angela explained.

This screenshot from Attentive AI’s website shows the campaign creation workflow.

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The tool continually learns from the highest-performing marketing interactions to create multi-channel campaigns. It can also build refined segments from your pool of subscribers and dial in the best time to send messages for the highest rate of response.

By using AI, you can “send each person the right message at the right time depending on where they’re at in their relationship with the brand,” Angela said.

10. Prepare an interview question list

Here’s an exciting use of AI’s ability to riff off an existing text. Angela gives the AI assistant Claude outlines and asks it to fill out question lists for subject matter expert interviews.

Here’s an anonymized version of a conversation Angela recently had with Claude.

Claude replied with some pretty insightful new questions to add to the list. It even categorized them like Angela did in the original structure.

Once the interview is over, Angela goes back to Claude to help pull out the most interesting bits. “It’s so helpful to just plug large amounts of content into Claude and ask it to summarize for me. That helps me find specific answers from a long interview.”

11. Improve design elements in email headers

Marketers who aren’t necessarily graphic designers are often called on to produce visuals for the assets they manage. When Ceillie Clark-Keene, Head of Marketing & Communications at Building Ventures, finds herself in this position, she turns to AI.

“I’m not a designer, but I do put together the occasional email header,” she said. “I’ve started experimenting with the AI features in Canva and Designs.ai to improve design elements or generate graphics.”

I gave it a try on Canva. I had trouble creating a new newsletter design (I found plenty of pre-made templates), but with a few clicks, I got a handful of post designs that were properly sized for Instagram.

“These tools help me create better graphics for those times when outsourcing a professional isn’t in the budget or timeline,” Ceillie said.

A word of caution is warranted. Review AI image generators closely. They can sometimes go off the rails and create less-than-ideal visuals.

12. Build article outlines quickly

I’ve written hundreds of articles, and without fail, creating the initial structure is the hardest step. Once you have the logic and framework down, it’s just a matter of filling in the blank spots.

Will Ruzvidzo is a seasoned B2B SaaS content marketer who’s worked with global brands for over 10 years. Will explained how he uses Writer to overcome outlining obstacles.

He starts by entering a straightforward headline. “With just a few clicks, I can generate a well-structured outline for my blog post, complete with relevant subheadings, key points, and supporting examples.”

With the “bones” in place, Will customizes the outline to “add my own voice, insights, and creativity into the blog post.” Writer also gives Will AI-powered copy suggestions as he writes.

He said the time saved lets him focus on crafting captivating introductions and compelling arguments—the types of things that make human-written content stand out.

13. Write craftier subheadings

Subheadings are among the most important aspects of a blog page. They help readers skim and search engines crawl articles more effectively. That’s why Hsing Tseng, a freelance content writer, editor, and strategist, uses ChatGPT as a sounding board when she writes subheadings.

“AI tools can brainstorm much faster and more imaginatively (sometimes) than I have the creative bandwidth to do,” she said.

Here’s an example prompt Hsing shared.

Notice how she adds tone and structure instructions to the prompt, like “don’t be too flowery” and “keep H2s concise.” Hsing said the more specific you can be, the better your output will be.

It’s not just about banging out better section titles, though. The AI suggestions Hsing gets incite new directions for a post she hadn’t considered yet. “I’m able to explore a broader range of angles, picking and choosing wording that might align better with the framing of my article,” she noted.

14. Scale product descriptions and ad copy

A single ecommerce website can have hundreds of products, each needing a concise description and advertising copy.

Gordon Donnelly, a multi-discipline marketer and SEO expert, said that’s one of his favorite use cases for AI. “I have a couple of affiliate/dropshipping sites, and ChatGPT is great for creating product descriptions and ads.”

Here’s an example of how Gordon prompts ChatGPT to zhuzh up a bland product description.

The key, said Gordon, is that you need to coach your AI tool with the right prompts to get it to say something interesting and useful. As he previously wrote, when prompting an AI tool, you should:

• Be specific
• Provide all the relevant information
• Follow up

The future of AI in marketing

We’re just scratching the surface of what AI can do for marketers. Current trends seem to be headed towards more automation, more complex customer-facing AI tools, and analytics that predict as well as review.

Celia also sees a comeuppance on the horizon for marketers trying to game the system with AI.

“There’s an ethical issue behind passing off AI-generated writing as your own, which is unfortunately becoming more popular a pastime as people chase a quick buck or a shortcut,” she said. “If you were to ask ChatGPT to generate the content of a blog post packed with SEO keywords, it would certainly be possible. But you risk not only false information making it in, but ethically not flagging the content as AI generated is by most considered plagiarism.”

Does that really matter to less-ethical marketers who only care about driving traffic? Celia said it should, in light of the recent volatility of Google SERPs.

“Well, it might end up doing more harm than good for your site’s SEO,” Celia warned. “Google recently announced updates to its algorithm that will make it more vigilant at removing low-quality content like much of what AI produces without human refinement. So, if ethics aren’t as much of a concern for you, a drop in your site’s rankings might be!”

The post 14 Ways to Use AI in Marketing that Actually Work (Recommended by Pros!) appeared first on WordStream.

You know it’s emotions, not logical reasoning, that drives decisions, right? By evoking a particular emotion in consumers, you encourage them to take a desired action.

To elicit that emotion, you need a trigger. Where do you get that trigger? By implementing certain psychological principles in your copywriting.

Expert work with all those psycho principles in content is known as neuromarketing, and you’re on the right page to learn how to make the most out of it.

Contents

• What is neuromarketing?
• Why use neuromarketing in your copywriting?
• What are neuromarketing examples?
• What neuromarketing techniques work to drive action?

What is neuromarketing?

Neuromarketing merges neuroscience, psychology, cognitive science, and marketing to understand and influence consumer behavior. It uncovers subconscious and emotional factors impacting choices.

Specialists use neuromarketing techniques to study the human brain and predict decision-making behavior. Let’s explore why you should implement neuromarketing techniques in your copywriting.

Speaking of neuromarketing… Get our free guide >> 26 Brilliant Ways to Use Psychology in Your Copywriting (with Examples)

Why use neuromarketing?

Why apply neuromarketing techniques to your copywriting and other marketing activities? Here are some benefits:

1. Better understanding of consumer behavior: Neuromarketing unveils emotions, attention, and memory triggers in consumer behavior, thus enabling the creation of impactful marketing messages.
2. More effective ways to optimize website design: By studying eye-tracking data and user behavior, you can optimize design elements to encourage desired actions.
3. Improved personalization and targeting: Uncover individual preferences and emotional triggers to tailor messages and offers for specific consumer segments.
4. Enhanced content creation: Understanding how the brain processes information helps you craft compelling stories that evoke emotions and drive engagement.

Numbers speak volumes. According to the stats, neurological engagement can increase advertising effectiveness by up to 19%. We also know that 63% of users remember brands that tell stories, and 74% of consumers trust businesses more after reading positive reviews.

Neuromarketing examples in copywriting

You don’t need to be a scientist. By analyzing research insights, you can identify neurological responses, emotional triggers, and attention patterns influencing your target most. Apply them to tailor your overall marketing strategy and drive purchasing decisions.

Here are some examples of neuromarketing in action.

1. Two odd numbers in headings

The brain loves numbers. They make content more digestible and provide order to chaos.

Why two numbers? To double the effect: The first one grabs attention, and the second one explains why read the content.

Why odd numbers? It’s about psychology again: Even numbers look friendlier, while odd ones are more thought-provoking. It doesn’t mean you should use only the odd numbers. Consider the effect (emotion) you want to evoke with your content.

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2. Questions in subheads

Online readers scan the content to understand if it’s what they need. Format subheads as questions to clarify what readers will learn, spark curiosity, and appeal to FOMO.

Questions encourage scanners to continue the investigation to ensure they haven’t missed anything and satisfy their social instinct.

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3. The Socratic method in introductions

Post three questions or statements in a row to engage users in communication.

Why three?

The human brain grasps three the best, so the sequence of three makes it easier to remember the information. Writers do love the Rule of Three: It builds the rhythm and keeps readers glued to your message.

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4. Power words and active verbs in content

Power words are persuasive and descriptive. They trigger an emotional response, make readers experience different states, and push them in particular directions.

Power words are adjectives indicating and explaining your statements. Like these:

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This wheel chart by Geoffrey Roberts shares 150+ emotion-triggering words you can use in your copies.

Also, power words are strong verbs that add action to your message.

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Free guide download >> 135 of the Best Words & Phrases for Marketing with Emotion

5. Sensory language when appropriate

Sensory words are lexical items appealing to the human physical senses. When reading the content with such words, users “see,” “hear,” “touch,” “smell,” or “taste” it.

Sensory words are powerful because they paint scenes in readers’ imagination. They activate the somatosensory cortex, making us recognize these words faster. Sensory words make readers feel as if they are in your story, thus remembering your message better.

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Remember to use these principles ethically and transparently, respecting consumer trust and expectations.

20 neuromarketing techniques to encourage desired actions

With the above emotional triggers in mind, include the following neuromarketing principles in your copywriting to make it work.

1. Authority

Position your brand as an industry expert through research findings, data, and credible collaborations.

Why do you think influencer marketing works? Users subconsciously believe famous people can’t go wrong because they choose the top products/services for themselves.

But: Authority isn’t only about top celebs with millions of subscribers on social media. Think of micro- or nano-influencers: They have the most loyal audience. Collaborate with experts in your niche: CEOs, top managers, or specialists who know what they talk about.

2. Common enemy

Struggling with a common enemy unites people. It’s not only about physical enemies but pains, complexes, or bad habits, as well. Concepts like hunger, poverty, diseases, or climate change are also here.

What’s your brand’s mission? Is it socially responsible?

Users are loyal to businesses that align with their identities and share the same values. Prescribe this element and incorporate corresponding meanings into your content strategy.

Create a positive ethos for your brand: Why does it matter? Why should people listen to your message?

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3. Consistency and commitment

Encourage commitment through regular communication, loyalty programs, and subscription services.

The more you interact with a customer, the more they trust your product, service, team, or individual specialist. The challenge is to establish a productive interaction and get a response.

You can initiate a dialog in messengers, newsletter emails, or online chat. Tests, quizzes, and other interactive content also work.

4. Cross-marketing

This trigger is about the intersection of several target audience segments. Organize your content so website visitors see your minor products with major ones.

In ecommerce, we know this trick as “You may also like” or “Buy together:” When examining a product description, a customer sees related items they might also want to buy.

Informative or educational websites address the same principle with content elements like “Related articles,” “Extra read,” “Editor’s Pick,” etc.

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5. Framing

Different framing techniques impact perception:

• Comparative framing: Highlight superiority over competitors.
• Loss aversion framing: Use phrases like “limited time offer.”
• Goal framing: Present your product as a solution to specific goals.
• Attribute framing: Highlight appealing features.
• Time framing: Encourage immediate action by prescribing deadlines (“today only,” “first three subscribers will get…,” “two hours left,” etc.)

6. Flattery

Incorporate genuine praise or appreciation to build rapport. Personalized emails and positive feedback boost customer loyalty.

Incorporate genuine praise or appreciation to build rapport. Personalized emails and positive feedback boost customer loyalty.

You can personalize a customer by name, profession, age, social status, or hobbies. It is realistic to find a suitable appeal for every niche and customer segment.

When a subscriber, prospective client, or webpage visitor sees a familiar hook, they subconsciously realize you’re talking to them.

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Their response to a personalized greeting will be faster and warmer than to generic wording.

7. Greed

Appealing to one of the core human weaknesses helps boost engagement and raise sales. Promotions, discounts, and contests encourage prospective customers to open their wallets.

Greed pushes subscribers to invite friends to groups, repost social media content, and share links. Spontaneous purchases are also here.

Palmary examples of using this neuromarketing principle: Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns most brands organize.

8. Herd behavior

Every person is a unique individual, and no one wants to recognize themselves as part of a so-called “herd,” but:

Social instinct is among the top three basic ones, so we can’t resist appreciation and a sense of belonging to some group. Most websites appeal to this instinct with messages like:

• “100,000+ downloads already”
• “Rating: 4.5/5 stars”
• “With over 300k subscribers and 4 million readers, we are…”

When a user sees such messages, they subconsciously approve your offer. After all, so many people can’t be wrong, huh? So, everything is okay with the product/service you have for them.

9. Intrigue

This one is like cliffhangers in a movie series, cutting off episodes at the most intriguing moment to motivate the audience to come back and watch the next one.

A few examples:

• In next week’s video, I will tell how I’ve my first 100 thousand subscribers.
• I’ve become popular by a happy accident, but I will talk about it a little later.
• I have to pause now; please wait for the second part in tomorrow’s release.

10. Justification

It is easier to push a site visitor to the desired action if you explain the why’s behind it. Reveal all the benefits of purchasing in this particular place and time.

Collect all available arguments and added values. Simplify messaging, designs, and instructions to minimize cognitive load.

11. Instant benefit

A sales funnel is a core marketing instrument, but sometimes it’s possible to get loyal clients once they land at your website. Think of a perk (a here-and-now benefit) to offer to visitors:

A free template, checklist, or ebook can become the lead magnet to hook a user to stay with you and become your client.

Source

12. Novelty

Appeal to the brain’s attraction to novelty by introducing innovative elements and collaborations.

Please note that the word “new” itself doesn’t work. The trigger will do the job if your offer is truly fresh, unusual, and unique. Think of it as your UVP (unique value proposition).

What makes you different from competitors? What can you do for a customer that they don’t?

13. Reciprocity

The principle of reciprocity suggests that when you provide value to your audience, they are more likely to engage with your brand. Offer free resources, trials, discounts, or personalized recommendations.

The catch is you’ll ask something in return. For example, an email address to send informative newsletters with compelling content, encouraging to buy.

But remember: Reciprocity works when used right. It’s critical to know your limit, especially today when the audience is fed up with tons of “gifts” and offers they find in inboxes daily. Being too aggressive with marketing messages, you risk unsubscriptions and negative reactions.

Be honest and write about what you’ll send users once they share emails with you.

14. Result

The common example is content assets presenting “before” and “after” to users. Photos or videos demonstrating how your product works do the magic!

The trick is to present everything in as much detail as possible so that people can see the difference between the first and second versions.

“Before” and “after” is not the only way to demonstrate results. Case studies do wonders in all niches, too. Working with the same principle, they are the format where you can show results with a text.

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15. Scarcity

Create urgency through limited availability tactics. Ethically use limited quantity, time-limited offers, and scarcity techniques to drive action.

It’s about FOMO again: People don’t want to miss an offer that will be unavailable soon.

Two options here: 

1. It’s a super popular product/service of extra quality.
2. It’s originally for a narrow circle of “chosen ones.”

Scarcity works with any restrictions: color, features, time, date, quantity, cost, etc. When using this trigger, it’s critical to keep your word. If sales close tomorrow, that’s what should happen.

16. Social proof

Use testimonials, endorsements, ratings, and reviews to establish trust and credibility.

Testimonials remain the most popular social proof, but it’s critical to make it trustworthy. Today’s users aren’t as naive as some marketers continue to believe: They won’t trust comments from John Doe with stock photos in avatars.

Share reviews from real people: Make videos, provide active links to their social media profiles, use signed and stamped thank-you letters from partners, etc.

Another instrument to boost social proof for users is your contact information. Many websites hide it, placing nothing but a standard contact form instead.

Wrong.

It hurts E-E-A-T factors and kills user loyalty and trust. Your address, phone number, email, and active social media accounts are worth placing on the website.

Certificates, ratings, budges–all they confirm your expertise and emphasize your responsibility and integrity in customers’ eyes.

17. Specifics

It’s still an issue for many websites. They continue generating vague content assets, bringing words but no value.

Compare:

• “We sell the best windows in Chicago!” 
• “Our energy-saving windows keep 93.4% of heat in your apartment.”

Yes, the example is a little hackneyed, but numbers and facts work better than sophisticated metaphors when it comes to converting traffic into leads.

Even if your niche is info products, customers want to know how long it will take to get results.

18. Storytelling

Harness storytelling’s power to evoke emotions, build connections, and make your brand memorable.

The human brain operates with stories:

• It retains 70% of information through them, while only 10% comes from data and facts.
• It responds better to narratives as they activate brain areas responsible for experiences.
• Combining data with a story increases info retention from 5-10% to 67%.

The secret is that stories don’t impose anything but, at the same time, bring the right idea to readers. Your task is to build a story in a way readers would choose your business over the others.

19. Upsell

This trigger serves a specific purpose: Make a customer buy more than they planned.

The oldy-moldy “Buy two–and take the third one for free” hook still works, grabbing even the savvy customers who understand the trick. Indeed, it’s hard to resist the temptation to get a free product.

20. More emotional triggers

Here are some additional emotional triggers you can use in your copywriting:

1. Trust: Building credibility and reliability.
2. Fear: Tapping into common anxieties or concerns.
3. Belonging: The need to be part of a community or tribe.
4. Curiosity: Piquing interest to learn more.
5. Pride: Targeting one’s self-esteem and accomplishments.
6. Guilt: Reminding the audience of a problem or responsibility.
7. Urgency: Creating a sense of limited time or availability.
8. Relief: Offering a solution to a problem or pain point.
9. Anticipation: Building excitement for what’s to come.
10. Validation: Confirming a reader’s thoughts or beliefs.

Use neuromarketing responsibly

Neuromarketing offers powerful techniques to enhance your strategies, resonating with audiences. Apply emotional triggers and psychological principles to SEO content and promo campaigns, and the result will surprise you.

But remember: Not all principles are universal, so do your best to test and iterate what works best for your audience.

Explore deeper insights, such as subconscious cues and neural engagement, to refine your strategies further.

About the author

Olesia Filipenko is a seasoned content writer who offers ghostwriting, SEO writing, and blogging services. She works with B2C businesses, providing digital marketing content that increases their search engine visibility. Check out her website WritingBreeze or her LinkedIn to learn more.

The post 20 Neuromarketing Techniques & Triggers for Better-Converting Copy appeared first on WordStream.