Digital Marketing: latest News from the World – October Part 4
Welcome to our blog, where innovation meets strategy in the dynamic realm of digital marketing! In this post, we’ll examine the latest developments and emerging trends that are transforming the digital landscape. From recent updates in social media algorithms to AI-powered marketing techniques, these changes offer exciting possibilities for brands and marketers.
Get ready to learn how these advancements can revolutionize your campaigns, broaden your reach, and boost your ROI. We’ll analyze the key developments shaping the future of digital marketing, offering detailed insights to help you stay ahead in this rapidly evolving field. Don’t miss this comprehensive look at the current trends and news that are at the forefront of digital marketing!
Artificial intelligence
Microsoft allows you to create standalone Agents in preview
Microsoft has announced that next month it will make available to users the ability to create specialised Agents through the Copilot Studio platform, a feature it will offer in public preview among its customers and which already has ten of them with features already configured.
The company announced last September what its next phase of innovation in Copilot for Microsoft 365 would be, when it said it was looking to ‘transform’ all the applications in its ecosystem with this tool, with new functions such as advanced data analysis in Excel or improvements in the management of the Outlook inbox.
It also unveiled customised Copilot Agents, which would come ‘in all shapes and sizes’ and would be built with Microsoft Copilot Studio, an end-to-end platform with software-as-a-service (SaaS) infrastructure to manage and deploy them.
Microsoft said in a new presentation on Monday that this capability will be available in a public preview next month. In addition, it has advanced that it has incorporated 10 of these autonomous Agents in Dynamics 365, to increase the capacity of each team of sales, services, finance and supply chain of the brand’s customers.
By offering this service to organisations, they will be able to have at their disposal ‘a constellation of Agents, ranging from those that respond quickly to those that are completely autonomous’, according to Bryan Goode, executive vice president of enterprise applications and platforms.
Agents will therefore be able to work ‘on behalf of an individual or a team, execute and orchestrate the business process’, always in contact with Copilot, which will interact with them on tasks such as order processing or supply chain automation.
As for the ten or so pre-configured Agents, he mentioned the so-called Financial Reconciliation Agent, for Copilot for Finance, which helps teams prepare data sets to simplify and reduce the time spent on closing the financial period.
The Time and Expense Agent for Dynamics 365 Project Operations autonomously manages expense tracking and provides invoices to customers faster, preventing lost revenue and ensuring projects stay on budget, according to Microsoft.
Other Agents available are the one dedicated to case management for Dynamics 365 Customer Service, dedicated to automating key tasks throughout the lifecycle of a case (creation, resolution, follow-up and closure) or the one for supplier communications for Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, which manages collaboration with suppliers to confirm the delivery of orders.
These are joined by an Agent that gets to know the customer and works hand in hand with a customer service representative to learn how to solve problems and another that allows companies to optimise their supply chain, minimise costly disruptions by tracking supplier performance automatically; detect delays and act accordingly.
Microsoft stressed that the data sources used by all these Agents comply with strict security measures and controls, are protected to prevent data loss and are subject to strong authentication protocols.
However, it has reminded that organisations can establish policies for the use of this information to keep it out of harm’s way, as well as monitor the use of the Agents through Copilot Studio. In this service, it has begun to implement a new tab called ‘Activity’.
This is a section it has incorporated ‘to increase transparency and accountability’ and allows creators to access a complete record of the tasks performed by the agents, including a trend analysis and review of procedures carried out in the past.
Google Analytics 4: New Performance Comparison Feature
Google has released a major update to Google Analytics 4 (GA4), which allows users to benchmark their performance against other companies in their industry. This new feature provides valuable context for advertisers trying to understand their performance relative to their peers, which can influence strategic decisions and goal setting.
What it means: Users can access benchmark data if their property has the ‘Modelling and business intelligence contributions’ setting enabled in Admin > Account Settings. Benchmarks are updated every 24 hours. The summary shows your trend line, the median in your peer group and the range in your peer group (25th to 75th percentile). In addition, the update offers customisable peer groups, ensures data privacy and covers a wide range of metrics.
artificial intelligence
Google Ads Update: Generative AI and new controls for Performance Max
Google has gone over the top by integrating generative artificial intelligence (AI) with Google Ads. This innovation, unveiled at the DMEXCO 2024 event, promises to transform the way advertisers will be able to optimise campaigns and gain more accurate insights into their campaigns.
Google Ads and generative AI offer a new perspective on advertising
At DMEXCO in September 2024, Google announced the incorporation of generative AI into its advertising interface, which will allow advertisers to create and optimise ads more efficiently and creatively. This integration focuses on improving personalisation, generating more relevant creative for users in real time. Google’s generative AI, for example, allows multiple versions of an ad to be created in seconds, using audience data to deliver content that is tailored to each stage of the conversion funnel.
In addition, Google has announced improved support for advertisers with Performance Max campaigns. This type of campaign today uses AI to automatically optimise ads across Google’s various placements. But this feature, powered by generative AI, will allow for more precise targeting and better results without the need for constant intervention from campaign managers. This will go beyond simple automation; AI will be able to generate new creative ideas that align with business objectives.
Performance Max: new controls and insights for optimal performance
Another of the innovations announced by Google during DMEXCO were new tools for Performance Max that will allow advertisers to have more control over their campaigns, something that until now has been very demanding for advertisers. These updates include a tool that will allow advertisers to identify which creative works best in each channel and how it is driving conversions. This will be essential for optimising investments in real-time as campaigns can be adjusted based on specific performance data.
In addition, advertisers will now be able to manage budgets with greater precision thanks to AI. This feature will provide insights into budget usage throughout the month, which will help to allocate budget in the most optimal way.
New AI capabilities for ad optimisation
Google is not only focusing on creating and serving ads, but also on making life easier for advertisers with new features that improve campaign management. With the launch of new management options, ad personalisation and real-time audiences, Google will give experts the option to respond quickly to changes in the market and user preferences.
Generative AI will also be integrated into video and display campaigns, enabling more impactful visual ads to be created with less effort. This technology is based on advanced machine learning models, which not only improves the user experience, but also simplifies the work of experts.
John Mueller: Core Web Vitals Are Not a Determining Factor in Rankings
In SEO strategies, Core Web Vitals have been widely discussed as possible crucial ranking factors. However, Google has once again clarified the true impact of these metrics: while Core Web Vitals are a ranking factor, their influence is not as significant compared to content quality. This information was recently reaffirmed by John Mueller, Google’s Search Advocate, in a post on LinkedIn.
Core Web Vitals Are Not a Determining Factor in Rankings
John Mueller made it clear that while Core Web Vitals are part of Google’s ranking system, one should not expect a big impact on rankings simply by improving them.
Mueller stated:
‘We’ve been pretty clear that Core Web Vitals are not giant ranking factors, and I doubt you’ll see a big drop just because of that.’
The main benefit of improving site performance lies in providing a better user experience. A poor experience could decrease traffic because visitors may not return, regardless of how they initially came to the site.
Mueller added:
‘Having a website that provides a good user experience pays off, because if users are annoyed and don’t want to come back, you’re simply wasting first-time visitors.’
Competitive Advantage of Small Sites
Mueller also commented that smaller websites have a unique advantage when it comes to implementing SEO changes. Recalling his experience trying to get a large company to change one line in the robots.txt file, Mueller said:
‘Smaller sites have a gigantic advantage when it comes to being able to take advantage of changes – they can be much more nimble.’
While large organisations may need extensive processes for simple changes, smaller sites can make adjustments in a matter of minutes, such as updating a robots.txt file in 30 minutes or less. This adaptability can be an important factor in maintaining a competitive advantage in SEO.
Impact on User Experience and Content Quality
Mueller’s message is consistent: although Core Web Vitals are important for user experience and are included in Google’s ranking systems, what really matters is the quality of the content. Google will always prioritise providing the most relevant and useful content to users, and performance metrics, while contributing, are not the determinant of ranking success.
Case Study Data
This reaffirmation by Mueller came in response to a study presented by Andrew Mcleod, who documented consistent patterns across several sites that showed rapid changes in ranking after performance modifications. In one case, a site with more than 50.000 monthly visitors experienced a drop in traffic within 72 hours of implementing ads, with a recovery of between one and two weeks after removing them.
This study included five controlled experiments over three months and showed traffic drops of up to 20% in the first 48 hours after enabling ads. These results support the idea that user experience plays a crucial role in maintaining traffic and visitor retention.
artificial intelligence
Computer Usage and the new Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Haiku
Anthropic’s recent announcement of Claude 3.5’s new capabilities marks a truly revolutionary moment in the evolution of artificial intelligence.
The Next Generation: Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Haiku
On 22 October 2024, Anthropic took a giant step into the world of AI with the release of an enhanced version of Claude 3.5 Sonnet and the introduction of Claude 3.5 Haiku.
As someone who has worked extensively with technology, I can say that these upgrades represent a significant quantum leap in the field of AI.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet: The New Standard in Software Engineering
The updated version of Claude 3.5 Sonnet is not just an incremental improvement; it is a revolution in the field of AI-assisted programming. The numbers speak for themselves:
- An impressive performance increase in SWE-bench Verified, from 33.4% to 49.0%.
- Significant improvements in TAU-bench for tool usage, reaching 69.2% in the retail domain
- A jump from 36.0% to 46.0% in the challenging airline domain.
- Most notably, these substantial improvements come without any additional cost or loss of speed.
The Real User Experience
GitLab, one of the first to test the model, reported up to a 10% improvement in reasoning across various use cases in DevSecOps tasks.
Having worked on similar projects, I can confirm that this kind of improvement is extraordinarily significant in the real world.
The Browser Company, meanwhile, has stated that Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperforms all models they have previously tested in automating web-based workflows.
This kind of validation from industry-leading companies is a powerful testament to the model’s capabilities.
Claude 3.5 Haiku: Speed and Efficiency without Compromise
The introduction of Claude 3.5 Haiku represents another important milestone. As someone who frequently needs fast and efficient solutions, I find it particularly impressive that this model:
- Matches Claude 3 Opus performance in many evaluations
- Maintains the same costs and speed as the previous generation
- Achieves 40.6% in SWE-bench Verified, beating even the original version of Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Use Cases
In my experience working with development teams, Haiku’s speed and accuracy make it ideal for:
- End-user oriented product development
- Specialised sub-agent tasks
- Generating customised experiences based on large volumes of data
Latest Tech and Digital Marketing Updates
📌Amazon and the ‘Delivery Today’ service. Amazon has recorded 30% more same-day deliveries than in 2023. And they have announced that there are now 15 cities in Spain that have this service, only for Prime customers.
📌The best time to publish on X. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between 9:00h and 15:00h are the best times to post on this social network.
📌Talk to Gemini Live in English. You can now have voice conversations with Gemini in Spanish from your mobile or tablet for free for Android users.
📌The ChatGPT desktop app is coming to Windows. Users of the Plus, Enterprise, Team or Edu plans can already download the trial version. The final app is expected to arrive by the end of the year.
📌Google will remove the site link search box in November due to low usage. It allowed you to search for specific website content directly from Google results. Don’t worry, this won’t affect rankings.
📌WhatsApp improves contact management. You can save contacts directly within the app and explore the implementation of usernames. This update can make it easier for you to communicate and improve the organisation of your contacts, potentially optimising interactions within the platform.
📌Elon Musk launches API for his AI startup, xAI. It allows developers to integrate and leverage his AI model, Grok, into various apps. This tool offers new opportunities for developers to personalise and enrich user experiences, driving innovation in digital products and services.
📌Spotify introduces self-moderation tools for podcasters. It helps creators manage comments on their platforms. This feature aims to improve the quality of interactions and maintain a positive environment in online communities, benefiting both content producers and listeners.
📌Increased use of price comparison sites ahead of Black Friday… and the holiday season. This is crucial for consumers and marketers, as it provides insights on shopping trends and can help you optimise pricing and marketing strategies to capture consumers’ attention.
📌Amazon offers discount on gas to Prime members. Amazon is giving discounts for when you go to fill up your tank, but only to VIP members. This perk not only increases the value of the membership, but may also attract new users to the programme, benefiting your bottom line. Retention tactics.
📌Adobe vs. Procreate. Adobe has made its painting app, Fresco, available for free, making it available to more users and offering a competitive alternative to Procreate. This change may democratise access to high-quality design tools, encouraging creativity.
📌X launches a real-time search tool. It is called ‘Radar’ and is for Premium subscribers. This tool makes it possible to obtain information instantly, improving the user experience and offering a competitive advantage in accessing information.