💾 The G-Funk Era

In Today's Issue

• Getting Funky with Gemini

• Must-Have Marketing Assets

• Lookalike No Longer

• Have You Heard About This AI Thing?

• Try, Try Again

Welcome to the Gemini Era

Last week, in an article titled Put Google AI to Work with Search Ads, Shashi Thakur, Google’s VP & GM of Search Ads, announced that Gemini, Google’s largest and most capable AI model, will expand to more of their core products, including Google Ads.

Beta access is already available to English-language advertisers in the U.S. and U.K. It will roll out to all English-language advertisers in the coming weeks.

Google is touting the update’s ability to create a conversational workflow that will help users build better search campaigns. At the same time, Google points out its ongoing commitment to developing and applying new technology responsibly.

Andrew Hutchinson at Social Media Today thinks the new feature could be a big help in identifying the right terms to target. Given the technical understanding required to optimize SEO processes, generative AI is very well suited because it can reference Google’s massive database of trend data.

Matt G. Southern, from Search Engine Journal, added that applying Gemini to Google Ads could be transformative, as it will enable more natural, conversational interactions that make it easier for users to create search advertising campaigns.

The timing couldn’t be more perfect, as last week was Data Privacy Week. In 2024, a key focus for regulators, enforcement bodies, and digital industry professionals across the globe will be the question of how AI and the development of new technologies will intersect with consumer data protection.

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👩🏻‍💼➡️👩🏻‍💼 Changes to LinkedIn lookalike audiences

From February 29, 2024 - Ads on LinkedIn will no longer have lookalike audiences features. No more crafting fresh lookalike audiences or tweaking the existing ones.

This means that: 

• New lookalike audiences can’t be created, and existing lookalike audiences can’t be edited.  

• Existing lookalike audience data will no longer refresh, and a lookalike audience will become a static lookalike audience.  

• Active campaigns using lookalike audiences will continue to deliver using the static audience.

📊 13 Google Ads Tips for Better Results in 2024

Effective PPC campaigns go beyond selecting the right words. Success lies in constantly testing and optimizing your Google Ads campaigns and learning as you go. Testing different aspects of your ads - from keywords to ad copy and targeting - gives you insights into what works best for your audience. 

Check out the latest advice from SEMrush on how to get the most out of your Google Ads.

❓Revisiting GA4 - Answering Ten of the Most Common Questions

In the fast-paced realm of digital analytics, staying abreast of the latest updates is pivotal for making informed, data-driven decisions for your business. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has introduced significant changes. 

In this follow-up to their GA4 Webinar: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, my friends at Granular Marketing delve into key features, addressing common questions to guide you in navigating and optimizing your analytics strategy.

🤳 Google Business Profile: How to Set Up & Optimize Your Listing

In today’s digital landscape, establishing a presence in local search results is crucial for businesses, and a Google Business Profile (GBP), previously known as Google My Business, plays a pivotal role in achieving this.

Yet, just creating a business listing isn’t enough. It needs to be complete, optimized, and active for your business to get the desired results. If it isn’t, your business could be missing out on a LOT of revenue.

It Turns Out AI is a Thing

Over the weekend, and under the banner “Dispatch from Dystopia”, Rolling Stone published an article titled The Cult of AI by Robert Evans. It offered reflections on how one writer’s trip to an annual tech conference left him with a sinking feeling about the future.

We started the year with a look at the competing voices vying to be the lead dog in the techno-optimism pack. Evans’ perspective on what it looks like when AI’s biggest advocates get together in one place seemed like a great way to kick off a follow-up conversation.

Evans does his best to conjure up the ghost of Hunter S. Thompson at the Kentucky Derby in his review of the Consumer Electronics Show. I suspect that it was a conscious decision on his part. And while the complex questions surrounding AI are, in some instances, dividing us into true believers and heretics, it seems to me that there is plenty of room in the middle to focus on practical and pragmatic outcomes rather than unbridled optimism or irrational obstruction.

All it takes is a step back from the zero-sum game that Evans wants us to see. Everywhere you look there is evidence that really smart people are doing important work to help ensure that utopian and dystopian cults get pushed to the margins where they belong.

The folks at Davos gave AI more time and attention this year than almost any other issue. The five bullet points in their executive summary seem like a great way to bring the conversation about AI back into the real world.

A historical perspective can be useful too. David Rotman, at MIT Technology Review, traces the roots of the AI question back to 1938 to take a closer look at the links between technical progress and jobs. Ryan Roslansky at Wired adds to that conversation by looking at the emergence of the internet in the early 90s. He concludes, optimistically, that the best way to manage the changes ahead is to adopt a skills-first mindset.

Ryan Wong at Entrepreneur acknowledges that AI is changing the way we look at job skills. He suggests that companies that focus on skills will have an advantage.

Is AI going to be a paradigm shift? Or, will we look back on this moment a decade from now and chuckle about the tempest in the teapot? I think that AI has the potential to usher in massive changes, but at the end of the day what those changes are and whether they are to our benefit or detriment, will ultimately be up to us.

What do you think?

• If at first, you don't succeed, dust yourself off and try again - The Marketing Millenials Podcast.

• Failing vs Being a Failure - Business Unfiltered Podcast

• Hotjar in 60 Seconds: 6 heatmap types explained  - Hotjar on YouTube

• Go-To-Market Messaging Framework- TK Kader on YouTube

• YouTube Keyword Research Tools (to Rank High on YouTube) - YouTube

• Mastering SEO for Voice Search Optimization - The Digital Marketing Podcast

• Unlocking Your Creativity and Persuasion: A Master Ad Man on Tricks of the Trade- Tim Ferriss Podcast

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