Digital Marketing Agency In Epsom, Surrey | Fingo Marketing https://www.fingo.co.uk/ Fri, 20 Mar 2026 10:50:30 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.fingo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/web-app-manifest-512x512-1-150x150.png Digital Marketing Agency In Epsom, Surrey | Fingo Marketing https://www.fingo.co.uk/ 32 32 Biddable Monthly Industry Update https://www.fingo.co.uk/news-and-insights/biddable-monthly-industry-update-5/ Mon, 02 Mar 2026 10:33:09 +0000 https://www.fingo.co.uk/?p=3785 What February’s Changes Mean for Your Paid Strategy Paid performance is getting harder to predict. February made that clear. Platforms are changing where ads show, how users interact with them, and how traffic reaches your campaigns. You can see performance shift without changing budgets, targeting, or creative. AI is starting to shape product discovery. Social […]

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CHOOSE GREAT MARKETING

Biddable Monthly Industry Update

What February’s Changes Mean for Your Paid Strategy

Paid performance is getting harder to predict.

February made that clear. Platforms are changing where ads show, how users interact with them, and how traffic reaches your campaigns. You can see performance shift without changing budgets, targeting, or creative.

AI is starting to shape product discovery. Social platforms are leaning further into automation. New placements are opening up, while competition continues to increase.

This means your results are no longer driven just by campaign setup. They depend on how platforms choose to distribute attention.

Here’s what changed in February, and what you should focus on next.

AI is becoming a new paid placement layer

Impacts for brands

You may lose visibility in standard Shopping and search results as attention shifts into AI answers. Performance will depend on how well your product data feeds those environments.

What happened

Google rolled out Shopping ads inside its AI Mode search experience in February 2026. These ads appear alongside or within AI-generated responses, often next to product recommendations, and are clearly labelled as sponsored.

This builds on earlier testing, with ads now embedded directly into conversational search journeys rather than only appearing on traditional results pages.

Why this matters

AI Mode changes how users search. Instead of short keywords, users ask broader, more complex questions and receive summarised answers that include product options.

Ads are now part of that answer layer. This shifts visibility from ranking positions to being included in AI-generated outputs. It also increases the chance of “zero-click” behaviour, where users get what they need without leaving Google. 

What you should do

  • Keep product feeds complete and accurate
  • Include pricing, availability, and detailed attributes
  • Monitor shopping campaign performance alongside query trends
  • Test Shopping and Demand Gen formats where appropriate

Search demand is becoming less stable

Impacts for brands

You can see a performance drop or spike without changing anything. Budget planning and forecasting become less reliable as demand moves.

What happened

Google rolled out a Discover-focused update between 5 and 27 February. This update changed how content is selected and distributed within the Discover feed, which is personalised based on user interests and behaviour.

Many publishers reported sharp increases or drops in visibility and traffic during this period. Unlike traditional search updates, these changes were not tied to rankings, but to how content was recommended.

Why this matters

Discover influences what users see before they search. It shapes awareness and interest, which then feeds into search behaviour.

If a topic or brand gains visibility in Discover, search demand can increase. If visibility drops, demand can fall.

This directly affects paid search campaigns. Changes in impressions, clicks, and conversions may be driven by shifts in upstream demand rather than campaign performance.

What you can do

  • Track impression volume and query trends alongside performance
  • Monitor Demand Gen and Discovery campaigns as early indicators
  • Adjust budgets when demand shifts, not just when efficiency changes
  • Explain external demand changes in performance reporting

Meta still dominates, but competition is increasing

Impacts for brands

Costs will continue to rise, and results will depend more on creative and data than targeting. Weak inputs will get exposed faster.

What happened

Recent data shows that Facebook and Instagram account for over 55% of global social ad revenue. This confirms that Meta remains the primary platform for paid social investment.

At the same time, Meta continues to expand its use of automation, including Advantage+ campaigns, broader targeting, and algorithm-led optimisation.

This reduces the level of manual control advertisers have over audience selection and delivery.

Why this matters

As more brands compete in the same environment, auction pressure increases. This leads to higher CPMs and tighter competition for attention.

With automation playing a larger role, performance depends less on manual targeting decisions and more on the quality of inputs provided to the system.

Creative, conversion data, and user signals now have a stronger influence on outcomes than detailed audience segmentation.

What you can do

  • Increase the volume and variety of creative testing
  • Use broader targeting to support algorithmic optimisation
  • Ensure conversion tracking is accurate and feeding back strong signals
  • Monitor cost trends and optimise towards return, not just scale

Threads is emerging as a new placement

Impacts for brands

There is a window to reach users at a lower cost before competition increases, but only if you adapt your creative to the format.

What happened

Threads has grown to around 141 million daily mobile users, overtaking X in daily usage. It is now being integrated more fully into Meta’s advertising ecosystem as a potential placement.

This gives advertisers access to a growing audience within a less saturated environment compared to Facebook and Instagram feeds.

Why this matters

New placements typically offer lower competition in the early stages, which can lead to more efficient reach and engagement.

However, user behaviour on Threads differs from other platforms. Content is more text-led, conversational, and discussion-driven.

Ads that do not match this format are less likely to perform well.

What you can do

  • Test Threads placements within existing campaigns
  • Compare engagement and cost metrics against other placements
  • Adapt the creative to suit a more conversational format
  • Measure performance separately to understand its role

TikTok is scaling fast as a performance channel

Impacts for brands

If you are not investing, you risk missing a growing share of attention and conversions, especially in discovery-led journeys.

What happened

TikTok’s advertising revenue is projected to exceed $20 billion in 2026, with around 35% year-on-year growth. This reflects continued increases in both advertiser spend and platform engagement.

The platform’s algorithm prioritises content discovery, showing users content based on behaviour rather than who they follow.

Why this matters

This creates a different type of demand. Users are shown products and brands before they actively search for them.

As a result, TikTok can drive both awareness and conversions within the same environment. It is not limited to top-of-funnel activity.

Brands that focus only on search-led demand may miss this earlier stage of the journey.

What you can do

  • Invest in content designed specifically for TikTok
  • Test campaigns across both awareness and performance objectives
  • Optimise towards engagement signals such as watch time
  • Align creative with platform trends and user behaviour

Google is changing how ads are built and shown

Impacts for brands

You have less control over how your ads appear. Headlines you didn’t expect to be prominent can now be shown as clickable elements, which can affect performance and brand messaging.

What happened

Google has continued to expand how Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) are assembled and displayed.

As part of this, the system can now take unused, unpinned headlines and display them in a sitelink-style format beneath the main ad. These act as additional clickable elements, even if no manual sitelinks have been set up at campaign level.

Because this is handled at the ad level, Google’s AI can repurpose headlines dynamically based on predicted performance, using them in different positions within the ad layout.

Why this matters

This is another step towards automation, where Google has more control over how ads are constructed and shown.

On one hand, this can increase engagement by adding more clickable elements and testing different combinations. On the other, it reduces control over how messaging is presented.

Headlines that were written as supporting lines may now appear more prominently, or function as standalone calls to action. If those headlines don’t make sense in isolation, it can create a disjointed experience or weaken the message.

There is also a trade-off between control and performance.

Restricting how headlines are used (for example, by pinning them) can limit Google’s ability to optimise and may impact performance. Allowing full flexibility improves optimisation potential, but reduces control over how ads appear.

What you can do

Decide how much control you need over ad appearance based on brand and compliance requirements

If strict control is required:

  • Pin headlines to specific positions to prevent them being reused elsewhere
  • Be aware this may reduce Ad Strength and limit optimisation

If a more flexible approach is acceptable:

  • Ensure all headlines can stand alone and make sense as clickable text
  • Avoid low-value, repetitive or unclear variations
  • Treat every headline as a potential primary message

Regularly review how ads are being assembled and displayed in practice.


What this means in practice

Across all of these changes, the direction is clear.

Platforms are expanding where ads appear and increasing their control over delivery. At the same time, user journeys are becoming less linear, with discovery happening across multiple surfaces before a click.

For brands, this means performance is influenced by a wider set of factors. Not just campaign setup, but platform behaviour, demand shifts, and content visibility.

To stay competitive:

  • Track changes outside your accounts, not just inside them
  • Test new placements early to understand their role
  • Focus on creative quality and data accuracy
  • Measure performance in the context of changing user journeys

Paid media still drives results. But success now depends on understanding how platforms shape the path before a user clicks.

Lizzie Connick avatar
Lizzie Connick
Senior Biddable Executive

5 minute read

Recent articles:

If you have a project or campaign you’d like to discuss, we’d love to hear from you.

CONTACT US

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]]> SEO and Paid Search, Two Sides of the Same Coin https://www.fingo.co.uk/news-and-insights/seo-and-paid-search-two-sides-of-the-same-coin/ Tue, 26 Nov 2024 13:16:00 +0000 https://www.fingo.co.uk/?p=2713 SEO or Paid Search has been debated endlessly within digital marketing. Should you invest in the steady growth of your organic visibility over the long term or focus on the immediate impact of Paid Search? But this is a flawed question. I’ve seen countless businesses treat SEO and paid search as separate entities or rely exclusively […]

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DIGITAL, NEWS, SEO, PERFORMANCE MARKETING

SEO and Paid Search, Two Sides of the Same Coin

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Marissa Freeman avatar
Marissa Freeman
Head of Commercial Success

SEO or Paid Search has been debated endlessly within digital marketing. Should you invest in the steady growth of your organic visibility over the long term or focus on the immediate impact of Paid Search?

But this is a flawed question. I’ve seen countless businesses treat SEO and paid search as separate entities or rely exclusively on one at the expense of the other. I advise all my clients that they are not competitors—they are two halves of the same strategy, designed to complement each other. The most successful digital strategies integrate SEO and Paid Search, using one to amplify the other.

Today, the stakes for this integrated approach are higher than ever. Search algorithms are stricter, AI is reshaping search results, and businesses face growing challenges in maintaining visibility. Let’s break down why SEO and Paid Search must work together and why separating them could be the downfall of any digital strategy.

SEO Is Just Not That Easy

SEO has long been considered the backbone of digital marketing. It is. It provides long-term visibility through high-quality, authoritative content. Businesses have relied on these fundamentals for years to climb the rankings and generate organic traffic.

However, the SEO landscape has changed dramatically, and referring to quality content as a foundation of SEO strategy is an oversimplification.

Google’s algorithms are constantly updating and more vigilant about a website’s technical performance and design features, making it difficult to maintain and optimise your SEO strategy through content alone. Google now prioritises user experience (UX) as a critical ranking factor, as well as content hierarchy (site maps) and schema mark-ups. You won’t rank well off the back of great content, well-placed keywords and cute meta tags. 

Your SERPS ranking will be punished if your website is slow, difficult to navigate, or full of intrusive pop-ups. This shift has made web development, design and SEO inseparable. If your site isn’t designed with UX in mind, Google will simply not rank it highly, and it will struggle to gain visibility, regardless of solid content and standard practice SEO optimisation.

Even for websites that meet these requirements, SEO takes time to deliver results. The recent leak from Google confirmed that new websites often face a sandboxing period, during which Google more or less hides the website while they evaluate its credibility before ranking it prominently. This delay, which can last months, leaves businesses with limited visibility, meaning they are missing out on traffic, which could seriously hinder their conversions. It’s also likely your competitors will have invested a significant budget over a significant time building high authority backlinks (another important signal to Google), so there is a lot of playing catch-up for any new website or brand who haven’t been aggressively investing in their organic strategy.

Additionally, the rise of AI-generated search results has added yet another challenge. You may have seen the new AI search results tool at the top of the results pages. This tool prioritises structured, helpful content that directly addresses user intent. For a website to appear here, it now matters how your content is written, not just what is written or how much is written.

I’ve outlined all the challenges and considerations in developing effective organic search strategies. Now, let’s consider how Paid Search can help save the day and be a strong ally—especially in particular circumstances.

Using Paid Search As A Strategic Ally

Paid Search is often celebrated for its ability to deliver instant visibility and website traffic. It allows businesses to bypass the waiting period required for SEO to establish rankings, instantly placing ads at the top of search results. However, the value of Paid Search extends far beyond its speed.

One of its most critical roles is brand protection. 

Imagine searching for “John Lewis Furniture” and seeing competitors like Wayfair or Ikea dominate the top results. John Lewis risks losing high-intent traffic to competitors who bid on it. This competitive tactic, brand hijacking, is increasingly common across industries, from retail to travel. Paid Search ensures your brand remains visible and in control of its traffic.

However, paid search does more than protect your brand; it actively supports your SEO efforts.

A recent Google leak revealed unprecedented insights into how Paid Search impacts SEO performance. Internal Google documents confirmed that running Paid Search ads can enhance your website’s visibility in organic search results. Here’s how it works:

  • Keyword Recognition: Traffic driven by Paid Search signals to Google that your website is relevant for specific keywords. This helps boost your organic rankings for those terms over time.
  • Faster Indexing: Google’s algorithms prioritise indexing websites that attract higher traffic volumes. Paid Search ensures consistent traffic flow, expediting your site’s indexing process.
  • Overall Visibility: The combined effect of increased traffic and keyword relevance enhances your website’s position across both paid and organic results, creating a synergy that benefits your entire search marketing strategy.

This revelation is a game-changer. It confirms what many in the industry have long suspected: Paid Search doesn’t just complement SEO, it accelerates it. By driving traffic and engagement, Paid Search signals to Google’s algorithms that your site is valuable and relevant, ultimately improving your organic rankings.

Why SEO and Paid Search Are Stronger Together

While SEO and Paid Search have distinct strengths, their true power lies in integration. Together, they form a comprehensive strategy that ensures visibility, authority, and measurable results. When these strategies are combined, they address every stage of the customer journey. Paid Search captures users ready to act, while SEO nurtures users over time, creating a consistent traffic and engagement pipeline.

Integration also creates a powerful feedback loop. Paid Search provides real-time data on keywords, audience behaviour, and messaging effectiveness, which can inform and refine your SEO strategy. Similarly, SEO highlights gaps or opportunities where Paid Search can step in, creating a cohesive approach that continuously evolves and improves.

SEO and Paid Search allow businesses to dominate the search results page. By occupying both paid and organic positions, you maximise visibility, build credibility, and ensure your brand stays top of mind throughout the user journey.

Final Thoughts

Focusing solely on SEO can leave businesses invisible during critical moments, as sandboxing, stricter algorithms, and AI evolution delay results. Even established websites risk losing high-intent traffic to competitors using Paid Search. Conversely, relying entirely on Paid Search can be unsustainable; traffic stops the moment your budget does, offering no lasting value without the authority built by SEO.

SEO builds trust and credibility over time, sustaining results even during budget freezes, while Paid Search drives immediate, high-intent traffic closer to conversion. Together, they’re essential: Paid Search boosts momentum for SEO, while SEO lays the foundation for sustainable growth and cost efficiency.

The question isn’t SEO versus Paid Search—they’re partners, not rivals. At Fingo, we specialise in integrating these strategies to deliver meaningful, measurable results. Ready for a smarter, more effective approach? Let’s talk and ensure your business thrives today, tomorrow, and beyond.

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]]> Social Advertising and The Great Big FaceBook (Meta) Update https://www.fingo.co.uk/news-and-insights/social-advertising-and-the-great-big-facebook-meta-update/ Thu, 20 Jan 2022 09:44:00 +0000 https://www.fingo.co.uk/?p=2848 Back in December, we, along with all Facebook agency partners, were informed that there was an imminent and significant restriction in the way advertisers could target customers and audiences...

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PERFORMANCE MARKETING, NEWS

Social Advertising and The Great Big FaceBook (Meta) Update

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Marissa Freeman avatar
Marissa Freeman
Head of Commercial Success

Back in December, we, along with all Facebook agency partners, were informed that there was an imminent and significant restriction in the way advertisers could target customers and audiences.

The update was carried out in order to prevent discrimination in industries such as recruitment, finance and housing meaning advertisers could no longer target by age, gender or post code. The upshot is that generic interest groups remain but it’s much more difficult to create high quality conversions for brands.

The impact across the digital community has been huge and the fallout far reaching. Many digital agencies have been negatively impacted by the drastic restriction in targeting options. Thankfully, Fingo is not one of those agencies and we are delighted by our strategic platform affiliations that have ensured we can continue running successful Facebook ad campaigns for our clients.

Our specialist team were given notice of the change and immediately set to work designing new strategies to meet our campaign objectives for our clients. Fingo is extremely proud of its Biddable Media team.

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]]> The Dark Danger of Using Broad Keywords in Google Ads https://www.fingo.co.uk/news-and-insights/the-dark-danger-of-using-broad-keywords-in-google-ads/ Fri, 01 Oct 2021 10:27:00 +0000 https://www.fingo.co.uk/?p=2856 Wondering how to protect your campaign budget and avoid wasting your Google ad spend on unpromising leads and unfruitful conversion rates? Here’s everything you need to know… Google recently changed the rules (again) on Phrase Match (which is one of our favourite keyword match types) to place an emphasis on AI machine learning instead of […]

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PERFORMANCE MARKETING

The Dark Danger of Using Broad Keywords in Google Ads

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Marissa Freeman avatar
Marissa Freeman
Head of Commercial Success

Wondering how to protect your campaign budget and avoid wasting your Google ad spend on unpromising leads and unfruitful conversion rates? Here’s everything you need to know…

Google recently changed the rules (again) on Phrase Match (which is one of our favourite keyword match types) to place an emphasis on AI machine learning instead of manual bidding from, you know, human beings. Supposedly, this move was an attempt to improve the relevanc of match results, but here at Fingo we have noticed that there is still an abundance of wastage triggers despite the change. So we went about testing innovative approaches, to ensure we could offer our clients a full arsenal of weapons to maximise lead conversions. And you may just be interested in what we found out.

The Danger

So let’s address what you came here for – the dark danger of using Broad Keywords. It’s true – using Broad Match is like giving Google a free leash. And whilst even we hate to admit it, Google is not a human with a nuanced understanding of language and intent (it may be after the upcoming Mum update but that’s for a different blog). Broad keywords can be interpreted in loads of different ways that can be irrelevant, burn through your ad budget really fast and offer no results. Whilst your broad keywords may seem highly targeted and common-sense, you’d be amazed at how Google interprets them. You may find your ‘Spring Break’ phrase input, for vacation apartment lettings for example, reels in users attempting to repair their broken metal spring bicycle parts. And sadly a mistake like that can burn through a significant advertising budget overnight. We have taken on dozens of projects from desperate in-house marketing teams who have run into trouble in this way and turned to us to fix the problem. We strongly advise brands to work in partnership with specialist digital agencies who can provide expert knowledge and execution, before you allocate a significant budget.

The Tempting Upside

However, there is something tempting in the allure of using Broad Keywords that can offer the most potential volume of search results. If you can’t get the temptation out of your head and hope to run digital campaigns without agency help, this blog may help you avoid disaster. If we imagine Broad Match like an automatic shotgun, and other targeted approaches like sniper rifles, we can easily envisage the benefits of widening our opportunity to hit our targets more easily and liberally (or convert our leads, to avoid using gun metaphors).  Wordstream recently discussed the merits of using Broad Match for ads with a ton of important caveats which will supplement our advice. So… Can you utilise Broad Match keywords carefully, with some protective easing to ring fence your budget and sanity? Maybe, and here’s how.

Why Target CPA Bid Strategy is the Golden Child of Google (and Your Campaign’s Bulletproof Vest)

Target Cost Per Action is a smart bidding model that can be used to control Broad Match keywords, providing you have enough historical data for Target CPA to work efficiently. Past conversion data is not mandatory, but it is a serious advantage. Its personality (yes we dare to personify an automated building model) is very picky about the potential user it targets. It doesn’t necessarily control how Google interprets the keywords, but it is efficient at knowing which keywords or signals are the most valuable in order to convert the end user. As long as the Target CPA isn’t set too low, it will do its utmost best to serve the phrase and reduce the chaos of a broad keyword, and the more historical data you have, the better it gets. If Google’s interpretation of Broad Keywords is fast and loose, we can view Target CPA as Google’s strict older sibling, helping to control its rowdy, rebellious broad match related behaviour. In fact Target CPA is so picky, its general phrase uptake is closer to 1 out of 3, instead of 3 out of 3.

But There is Still Risk-Even With Target CPA

Target CPA is a strategic framework that helps to offer guidance and boundaries to how Google interprets keywords and what it does with them. But all strategy requires a level of expertise and that’s no different here. For the strategy to work, the algorithm uses past conversions to figure audiences, creating new profiles to pick them out and predict behaviours. This means you need a seasoned account to use this type of strategy effectively.  There is also a balancing act between data costs, negative keyword usage and scalability, with you only being able to scale and broaden on successful refinement. Without a skilled understanding of this balancing act, you run the risk of a fruitless and expensive campaign. That said, if you are able to master the art of Target CPAs to control Broad Match (or find an agency who can), you’ll be delighted with your control over finding the most relevant and targeted customers. Of course every account and client is different, and it’s not a one-size-fit-all strategy. At Fingo, we proactively test each campaign to find the ideal bespoke strategy to yield the best results possible.

How Fingo Has Successfully Used Target CPA to Protect Against Broad Keywords

Whilst still at an early testing stage, we have seen incredible results using Target CPA. A recent campaign for a property client saw us reach our target limits through our standard phrase match strategy and began to run out of search volumes, due to the niche nature of the campaign. We innovated and experimented with broad key terms to find more variety of the key words, and of course implemented a Target CPA strategy to keep our client’s costs low and laser focused. Using this approach alone, we successfully converted dozens of high quality leads that would have been otherwise unreachable, with a ROI% well above our target.

Reach out – we’d love to hear from you

Interested in an agency taking charge of your digital campaigns? Fingo has over 18 years of experience designing and delivering digital strategies for a wide range of clients. We would love to help create something that makes the most impact to your business goals and delights you at every stage of delivery.

You can reach Client Services directly on hello@fingo.co.uk or call +44 (0) 1372 749200

About Marissa Freeman

Marissa Ifeolu Freeman is the Head of Marketing at Fingo. Her focus on brand strategy, strategic content design and customer success drive her vision. Fascinated by all things digital marketing including Search, Activation, Social Marketing, SEO, CRO, Programmatic and UX, her true passion lies in empathic people leadership and learning from the specialist experts across the business at Fingo Marketing.

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]]> Which is The Right Social Network for You? https://www.fingo.co.uk/news-and-insights/which-is-the-right-social-network-for-you/ Fri, 15 Feb 2019 10:34:00 +0000 https://www.fingo.co.uk/?p=2959 Over the past few years, we have all seen the impact that social media campaigns can have. Paid social is becoming a valuable tool but is it vital? In a word, yes. In addition to social networks reworking their algorithms to favour paid models as organic reach continues to decline, paid social is not just […]

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SOCIAL MEDIA, PAID SOCIAL, DIGITAL

Which is The Right Social Network for You?

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Peter Woollven avatar
Peter Woollven
Managing Director

Over the past few years, we have all seen the impact that social media campaigns can have. Paid social is becoming a valuable tool but is it vital?

In a word, yes.

In addition to social networks reworking their algorithms to favour paid models as organic reach continues to decline, paid social is not just vital but the natural development for a content campaign.

So what’s the best one for you? There’s no definitive answer there are at least 4 that you should consider.

Social networks

Facebook

The social network, Facebook has gone from strength to strength since it introduced its ads manager in 2007. Facebook ads have remained one of the most undervalued forms of marketing a brand for a number of years now but what sets it aside from the competitors? The sheer level of detail available in targeting means the platform can help you reach the exact audience you’re looking for.

What this means is that once you work out what your audience is, you can then put ads promoting your product on the timeline of users based on demographics, interests, behaviours and locations. It allows you to cast a wide but relevant net.

Facebook offers a variety of campaign structures: you can reach users with a campaign based on getting them to convert within the platform, raising awareness of your brand, directing users to a specific landing page, lead generation form submissions and more! Facebook ads can be your strongest asset for both top and bottom of the funnel activity.

Why advertise on Facebook? Cost-effective, versatile and powerful advertising directed at the most relevant user.

Instagram

Now owned by Facebook, Instagram ads are managed through Facebook’s platform, but that doesn’t mean the ads should be the same.

As an image based platform, Instagram is great for brand awareness, campaigns that are served to generate top-of-the-funnel interest: instant impact and clear visuals aimed at raising awareness and encouraging engagement.

Instagram can usually deliver a lower cost per click than other platforms can however conversions may not be as high.

The platform can be very powerful for promoting experiences focused on travel, fashion or architecture. There are not hard and fast rules, however. We have seen many of our property clients achieve great successes with Instagram ads as a result of the focus on imagery selling a lifestyle.

Why advertise on Instagram? To tell your story and build brand awareness at the top of the funnel.

Twitter

There are 4 key objectives found on Twitter: increasing followers, driving traffic to your site, building brand awareness and getting people talking about your business.

As a result of Twitter having such a strong focus on dialogue and conversation, one of the most effective tool to utilise is keyword targeting. While it is not necessarily as in depth as Facebook’s platform, Twitter Ads can identify users who have used certain words or engages with a posts or hashtags containing them in the last week and serve your ads to them. Similar to Facebook’s interest based targeting, Twitter gives you a very clear timeframe to show ‘this user has shown an interest in x y z as recently as last week.’

Timing is maybe Twitter’s biggest pro. Few other ad platforms can match Twitter for its “right here, right now” immediacy. Twitter’s function of TV targeting allows sponsored content to be shown to users who they know to be watching a certain programme to give brands the chance of becoming part of the conversation at that very moment.

Why advertise on Twitter? It positions your brand in existing conversations and takes advantage of second screening.

LinkedIn

The undisputed king of B2B marketing. Often seen as “Facebook for professionals”, the networking aspect is only part of its capabilities.

Facebook can help you to target by interests and behaviours however LinkedIn will allow you to target specific sectors and occupations. Your audiences can be built using job titles, years of experience, level of seniority as well as many more options.

While most social platforms offer brand awareness, site traffic and similar forms of campaign structure, LinkedIn has a more personal approach. Sponsored InMail messaging creates email-like ads delivered direct to a users inbox. These are known to have a high open and click through rates when compared to more conventional email marketing.

With the platform recently introducing Lead Generation to it’s offering, there is scope for LinkedIn to become one of the leaders in paid social marketing.

Why advertise on LinkedIn? It gives accessed hard to reach B2B audiences with a unique twist.

There are numerous benefits to each social advertising platform. Our expertise allows us to create, manage and optimise paid social campaigns that are founded in your objectives.

Interested in hearing more about paid social? Then please get in touch via our enquiry form or give us a call on 01372 749 200.

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]]> Bid Management: Part 1 – Bid Modifiers https://www.fingo.co.uk/news-and-insights/bid-management-part-1-bid-modifiers/ Thu, 31 Jan 2019 11:03:00 +0000 https://www.fingo.co.uk/?p=2967 In a time where PPC or paid search is often referred to as biddable media, we as an agency wanted to explore the methods and practices that go into bidding as a discipline. So, we decided that a series of blog posts should do the trick! Firstly, we’ll take a look at bid adjustments. After setting […]

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PAID SEARCH, DIGITAL

Bid Management: Part 1 – Bid Modifiers

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Marissa
Marissa Freeman, Director of Client Success

In a time where PPC or paid search is often referred to as biddable media, we as an agency wanted to explore the methods and practices that go into bidding as a discipline.

So, we decided that a series of blog posts should do the trick!

Firstly, we’ll take a look at bid adjustments. After setting your desired cost per click limit, you can make rules or “modifiers” to increase that bid when your user meets a criteria relevant to your targeting.

Google

So What Bid ‘Adjustments’ Are There?

Bid adjustments can be set at either the Campaign level or the Ad Group level. The following adjustments are available at Campaign level:

  • Time
  • Device
  • Location

These adjustments are available at the Ad Group level:AudienceDemographics – Gender & AgeTopics/Interest


It is important to note that a keyword or ad group can have multiple bid adjustments applied to it, e.g. a device and a location adjustment.

What we’re left with is a lot of bidding variables to play with. But, as with most things in life, you can’t be too careful!

How You Can Lose Control of Your Bids?

With many adjustments included, the bid becomes a cumulative factor of the two or more applied bid adjustments.

This means that we need to be very careful when setting bid adjustments so that our cumulative adjustments don’t lose control.

An example:

Let’s imagine we have an Ad Group with a bid of £4.00 and we apply the following bid adjustments to it:

So the resulting bid for a 40 year old male in London, interested in property for sale is:

  • Age bid adjustment for 35-44 = 25%
  • Gender bid adjustment for males = 20%
  • Location bid adjustment for London = 25%
  • In Market Property for Sale Audience bid adjustment = 20%

£4.00 x 1.25 x 1.2 x 1.25 x 1.2 = £9.00

£9! For one click!

This then poses the question: is this click worth the £9.00 you will be bidding?

It’s important to note that when we change the bid amount, the effect of the adjustments can be further exaggerated. So let’s say in the above example we want to increase our keyword bid by £1.

This makes our new bid £5.00 but taking into account those four bid adjustments, our maximum bid can be as high as £11.25. So, again, we ask: is this click worth bidding £11.25 for?

What Can We Do to Make it Count?

The key to using bid adjustments such as this is to find clear data that shows certain characteristics performing far better than others.

When we talk about being ‘data driven’, this is often what we’re referring to. With enough supporting evidence, the question of “is it worth it?” becomes much easier to answer.

We avoid applying any bid adjustments over 50% unless there is a very specific reason for doing so. In most cases, we use bid adjustments in the region of 5-20%.

We also recommend using as many negative bid adjustments as positives. If we find that an age group performs far better than another, we would suggest setting a small, positive bid adjustment for the high-performance age group. This will ensure that the bids do not run out of control and should keep the average CPC at a reasonable level.

Google Ads does have its limits, though. The maximum combined adjustment for any keyword at the Ad Group level is 900% (i.e. a £1 bid becomes a £10 bid) and the minimum combined bid adjustments is -90% (i.e. a £1 bid becomes £0.10).

Only Part of the Solution

There are a number of simple yet effective ways of adding depth to your campaigns and bid adjustment is just one way of doing so. We aim for the best results across all campaigns and having this extensive knowledge makes our goal a possibility.

In the next instalment, we’ll explore the complex relationship between automated bidding models and bid modifiers. Check back soon!

In the meantime if you’d like to discuss how we can help to optimise your paid media campaign or wider digital strategy please get in touch via our enquiry form or give us a call on 01372 749 200.

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]]> Automation and the Future of Paid Marketing https://www.fingo.co.uk/news-and-insights/automation-and-the-future-of-paid-marketing/ Fri, 21 Dec 2018 11:13:00 +0000 https://www.fingo.co.uk/?p=2972 In early December, Fingo were invited to attend a workshop hosted by Google at their London HQ. Fingo were one of ten agencies invited to explore what the future of online marketing platforms involves. The theme of the day was “future-proofing your agency” with a particular emphasis on automation. Although the focus of the day […]

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PAID SOCIAL, PAID SEARCH, DIGITAL, NEWS, AGENCIES

Automation and the Future of Paid Marketing

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Marissa
Marissa Freeman, Director of Client Success

In early December, Fingo were invited to attend a workshop hosted by Google at their London HQ. Fingo were one of ten agencies invited to explore what the future of online marketing platforms involves.

The theme of the day was “future-proofing your agency” with a particular emphasis on automation. Although the focus of the day laid heavily on Paid Search, there is a belief amongst those in attendance as well as the industry pioneers that the call of automation is not just for Search but something the wider marketing field will have to catch up with.

The first of many workshops there, Fingo were offered the chance to see where Google’s beliefs lie in regards to the future of paid marketing; automation in PPC took the spotlight, due in no small part to the constant evolvement that it is experiencing. Next to this, the human element involved, the role of account handlers, executives and managers is set for even greater shift. When Google talk about ‘future proofing your agency’, they mean preparing staff for the rapid changes that will come as a result of automation.

The role of automation in paid marketing has the potential to streamline some currently time intensive activities, such as budget management or search query analysis. Automation techniques and tools will push forward our aim to deliver campaign objectives effectively by offering the account manager the time to focus on strategy and insight. It will allow our focus to shift from making a campaign run to making a campaign run well. The role of automation will only be as beneficial in line with how it is used. An ever-evolving tool, it is used to ensure the right strategy is identified; it is there to create value rather than hindering a campaign.

As we move towards a world where driverless cars are commonplace and artificial intelligence continues to have huge impact on how we learn, automation will begin having a bigger role to play in everything, not least of which marketing with the rise of Voice Search. Despite the relative infancy, many entrepreneurs and marketeers already have huge faith in the future of Voice; Gary Vaynerchuk of VaynerMedia has a deep-rooted belief that it “has the ability to drive huge companies such as Facebook and Instagram [1]” and it is clear to see why. Within a year, devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home have seen an increase in usage by up to 15% – this figure does not appear to show any signs of slowing down.

Such is the confidence in its future, rapid prototyping sessions relating to voice search software were held, offering the guests the chance to get a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of where Google is heading. Above all else, it offered guests the opportunity to get a glimpse of what the future of paid marketing has in store.

Ultimately, it won’t be long before agencies need to shift the way they approach PPC and other forms of platform driven online marketing. The sophistication and evolution of the platforms will mean that a large portion of the time-intensive, hands-on activity that is currently conducted will be handled by the platforms. This means that agencies will need to shift their mindset on how to target and harness the platforms to get the most out of them for a client’s account. This begins with developing a greater understanding of the client, the industry and the needs of the customer and designing a strategy to utilise the platform to best meet those needs.

The benefit to the client is that, providing the agency has the understanding and knowledge to implement an automated setup, agencies will be focusing more time on obtaining more insights from the campaigns to help shape and optimise the strategy for the client. In theory this means a greater capacity to drive continual improvements throughout the life of the campaign.

Fingo’s continual strive to be at the forefront of change and innovation is matched by our dedication to the growth and development of our service and knowledge. Our standing in the industry as well as our close relationship with pioneers such as Google and Facebook have us positioned to become major players in the paid marketing arena.

If you’d like to discuss how fingo could help you with your paid marketing strategiesplease get in touch via our enquiry form or give us a call on 01372 749 200.

[1]https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/26c76734-3445-4d5f-8c78-aa1eae4100cf/gary-vaynerchuk-voice-will-explode-and-drive-companies-the-size-of-facebook-instagram

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]]> Top 10 Re-marketing Ideas that will Increase your Conversions https://www.fingo.co.uk/news-and-insights/top-10-re-marketing-ideas-that-will-increase-your-conversions/ Thu, 22 Mar 2018 13:56:00 +0000 https://www.fingo.co.uk/?p=2988 According to Google, at least 97% of first time visitors don’t convert and most of them will forget that they ever visited your site at all. Re-marketing allows you to keep reminding these visitors of your brand as well as aggressively pitch to them by offering tempting discounts and free services such as delivery. The […]

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NEWS & INSIGHTS, PERFORMANCE MARKETING

Top 10 Re-Marketing Ideas that will Increase Your Conversions

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Peter Woollven avatar
Peter Woollven
Managing Director

According to Google, at least 97% of first time visitors don’t convert and most of them will forget that they ever visited your site at all. Re-marketing allows you to keep reminding these visitors of your brand as well as aggressively pitch to them by offering tempting discounts and free services such as delivery.

The Google Display Network lets you create static and dynamic adverts which are automatically branded according to your website’s themes and colours. It’s essential that you allow yourself time to create high quality ads, since they will be key in attracting attention.

It’s important not to over use this re-marketing strategy as your audience may feel haunted or even stalked by your brand, so setting a time limit of up to 2 weeks is highly recommended. If a visitor ignores your adverts for 2 weeks without conversion then it’s safe to assume that they are no longer interested and to save the ad budget for other visitors.

Remarketing

Remarketing

• Geo-targeting – Re-marketing lets you segment your audience in many different ways. For example, re-marketing banners would target past visitors within the local area, this would be ideal for fast food restaurants, DIY stores, and dry cleaners etc.

• Provide information to convert – Someone who goes to your contact page, then leaves, could be a customer in waiting. The best way to re-market to that person is by showing them banners which display the customer service phone number or redirect them to the contact page.

• People have habits, so think long term – If someone bought a valentine’s bouquet from you in February, that person will probably (well, hopefully) look for another one the following year. Make sure you are fresh in the mind of a repeat purchaser, no matter how long it takes for them to return. This is why year on year analytics provide more insights than month on month analytics.

• Focus on specific items or services – If a customer wants a specific product, you can set your re-marketing banners to display images of that particular product. This can be achieved by setting up the product URL with customised banners which are set to trigger whenever a visitor visits that particular URL. Generic images in banners don’t convert as well.

• Encourage repeat orders – Capture customers who have confirmed an order, then re-market a different but related item to them later. Simply place the re-marketing code on the order confirmation page to capture them at the end of checkout. A good example would be whenever a customer buys an iPad; the re-marketing banners would market iPad cases and accessories compatible with that particular make and model. These banners would appear before the payment section of the checkout process in order to increase order values.

• Take care for existing customers – Boost loyalty by placing a cookie when someone logs in to a members’ area, then re-market to that segment to encourage future spend. Vouchers, discounts and coupon codes work well.

• Optimise, optimise, optimise – Just because you are re-marketing, don’t give up on converting through the first click. Your landing pages should still be A/B tested and tweaked so that you always have the best shot at success. Even if re-marketing banners bring back visitors, the landing pages still need to convert these to customers.

• Pick up abandoned carts – If someone got very close to purchasing, but backed out, capture them with re-marketing and remind them to complete the purchase. This is usually achieved with single use discount coupons and free delivery offers.

• Don’t follow people forever – Many people researching products will convert, but they may not become your customer. The exception here is in seasonal purchases, where you can display an ad at a relevant date in the future. A great example is Valentine’s Day greetings cards; If a customer buys a card from you, re-marketing banners can be set to first appear in 11 months and 2 weeks’ time.

• Don’t re-market once converted – Smart marketers don’t try to sell one person the same thing twice. Re-market a related item. Set the banners to stop appearing for a particular cookie once clicked on or once they visit the “Thank you for your order” page.

As you build a re-marketing strategy, focus on two key areas: awareness and loyalty. Re-marketing buys you a second chance for conversion. Like any kind of advertising, it can be expensive if poorly targeted. Work through these tips before you dive in.

Get in Touch

Find out more about our digital marketing services by emailing us at hello@fingo.co.uk, or give us a call on 01372 749 200.

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]]> 5 Top Tips for Ranking in Google’s Answer Boxes https://www.fingo.co.uk/news-and-insights/5-top-tips-for-ranking-in-googles-answer-boxes/ Mon, 24 Apr 2017 14:39:00 +0000 https://www.fingo.co.uk/?p=3008 We heard a wide range of insights at Brighton SEO in April, including some interesting takeaways around Google Answer Boxes. Our clients often ask us for our advice on how they can appear in this prime time Google space. In an age where top organic listings are increasingly relegated below the fold, it’s essential that […]

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PERFORMANCE MARKETING, DIGITAL STRATEGY

5 Top Tips for Ranking in Google’s Answer Boxes

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Peter Woollven avatar
Peter Woollven
Managing Director

We heard a wide range of insights at Brighton SEO in April, including some interesting takeaways around Google Answer Boxes. Our clients often ask us for our advice on how they can appear in this prime time Google space.

In an age where top organic listings are increasingly relegated below the fold, it’s essential that brands take every action possible to be ‘answer box friendly’; generating those much needed clicks and increased traffic. Here are 6 essential tips for optimising your content for Google answer boxes.

person using google on iphone and laptop at his desk with cup of coffee

1. Answer the Search Query in the First 100 Words

Don’t forget that your content is primarily there to answer a question. Format your H1 to the question, and prioritise your body copy so that the answer is tackled clearly and concisely in the first 100 words.


For example, if your H1 title tag and heading read: “Why should I use Google’s Answer Boxes?” Your copy should kick off with:
“Google Answer Boxes provide the ability to appear above other organic listings, but not only that they also help you to rank for longer tail keywords…”

2. Answer Multiple Related Questions

Maximise the usefulness of your content by identifying questions related to the main search query and answering them in your body copy. A focus on ‘how’ and ‘when’ questions can be especially beneficial.

For example: if your H1 title tag and heading read: “Why should I use Google’s Answer Boxes?” your H2 tags could include:
“When does Google’s Answer box appear in search results?” and “How do I optimise my site for Answer Boxes?”

3. Create Unique Content that Addresses the Whole Topic

Your published content needs be concise, relevant and original. Be sure to fully answer the search query, and ensure the content you publish is original. Google will generally see a longer piece as being more insightful, so we also recommend you aim to write at least 1,200 words.

4. Use Different Assets to Help to Add Topic Authority

Employ as many different types of media as possible to assist the user. Think about using calculators, assets, images, video and charts.Not only will this create a visually more attractive page, but also act to improve your chances of ranking in Google’s answer boxes (as well as the overall usability of your page)

5. Implement Strong SEO Housekeeping and Practices to Rank Higher

Don’t forget to ensure that each page has a keyword phrase optimised title tag, H1, meta description and copy as if any are off topic that could be a hindrance. It’s also best to ensure that any images added are optimised so that the page loads fast on mobile and desktop devices.

Quite simply, the key to ranking in Google’s answer boxes is to understand the user’s intent, needs, wants and desires. Build your content addressing these foundations, and you’re on the road to success.

Get in Touch

To find out more about our SEO services, drop us a line at hello@fingo.co.uk, or give us a call on 01372 749 200.

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]]> 5 Common PPC Mistakes and How to Avoid Them https://www.fingo.co.uk/news-and-insights/5-common-ppc-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them/ Wed, 18 Jan 2017 14:09:00 +0000 https://www.fingo.co.uk/?p=2992 Launching your first PPC campaign? Here are our top 5 things to avoid. 1. Bidding On Irrelevant Terms Whether this is a deliberate attempt to gain greater exposure or a misunderstanding of what terms will be relevant to a campaign, you will end up paying a premium for little return. Bidding on irrelevant terms will […]

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PERFORMANCE MARKETING, PAID SEARCH

5 Common PPC Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

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Peter Woollven avatar
Peter Woollven
Managing Director

Launching your first PPC campaign? Here are our top 5 things to avoid.

1. Bidding On Irrelevant Terms

Whether this is a deliberate attempt to gain greater exposure or a misunderstanding of what terms will be relevant to a campaign, you will end up paying a premium for little return. Bidding on irrelevant terms will reduce your quality score which leads to a lower ad rank. The end result? You pay more per click and your ad will show less often. Also, who wouldn’t click off your site after being tempted by an Ad and expecting to see something completely different?

Instead, create a keyword list that is highly relevant to your product/service and incorporates search terms that your target audience is likely to use. The keyword planner on Adwords can help you to do this.

2. Not Thinking About Your Return On Investment (ROI)

How much budget you assign to your PPC campaign and how much you bid on search terms should be extrapolated from how valuable a conversion is to your business. Different campaigns will have to spend different amounts to achieve a positive ROI. If you are bidding on expensive keywords with low search volume but your leads are highly valuable, then you may have to invest more to see ROI. Alternatively, if your click spend is greater than the value of your conversions then reduce your budget and work on improving your keyword list, targeting and quality score in order to improve ROI.

3. Neglecting Your PPC Data

PPC generates a huge amount of data on how your campaign is performing, allowing you to see where improvements can be made and what is limiting your success. This means you can constantly optimise your campaign to remove keywords that have poor ROI, assign more budget to keywords that are performing well and see what areas of your account might need a little TLC. Becoming familiar with your data is essential to PPC success, so make sure you spend time understanding which metrics are most important for your goals.

4. Not Using Single Keyword Ad Groups

A common concern when building a PPC campaign is how many keywords to have per ad group. Whilst Google recommends using 5-20 keywords per ad group, this is only suitable in some circumstances and makes it difficult to write ad copy that’s relevant to all of the keywords. A solution to this problem is to use single keyword ad groups. By having one keyword per ad group you can tailor ad copy to specific keywords meaning a better quality score, higher ad rank and lower click spend. These benefits are certainly worth the extra time it takes to implement.

5. Using the “Search Network with Display Select” campaign type

“Search Network with Display Select” is the default setting for new AdWords campaigns. This means your ad will be shown on both the Search and Display networks. However, these two networks require completely different approaches to strategy, budget, messaging and many other factors. It is far better to have separate campaigns for Search and Display. So, if you are focusing on the Search network change this setting to “Search Network Only”.

Our top 5 areas should have you set on the right track towards success. But remember to:

  • Avoid using ‘broad match’
  • Review your demographic settings
  • Test call to actions in your ad copy
  • Track your conversions

Above all, don’t leave your campaigns to run on their own! Your spend in PPC requires investment not only in financial terms but also in time to ensure your ads reach the right audience, stand out above competition, and ultimately deliver success.

Get in Touch

Find out more about our PPC services by emailing us at hello@fingo.co.uk, or give us a call on 01372 749 200.

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