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- Google's Failing AI Overviews, Gymshark's unconventional path to success, and leveling up social media maturity
Google's Failing AI Overviews, Gymshark's unconventional path to success, and leveling up social media maturity
June 27, 2024 - Edition #13
Dia Creative
June 27, 2024
June 27, 2024 - Edition #13
This week you'll learn:
🤖 Why Google's AI Overviews are Failing
🦈 Gymshark's unconventional path to success
📈 How to level up your brand's social media maturity
⚡️ Quick Hits: TikTok's premium ad options, Google's GA4 audience targeting, and Airbnb's 'Icons' campaign
Google's AI Overviews Crash in Visibility
Google's AI-powered search feature, AI Overviews, has plummeted in visibility, showing up in less than 15% of queries.
The Rise and Fall of AI Overviews
AI Overviews, formerly ‘Search Generative Experience’ in Google Labs, once appeared in 84% of queries. However, starting in mid-April, the presence of AI Overviews plummeted, continuing into May as the launch was quickly marred by numerous incorrect and dangerous AI-generated answers, like suggestions to eat rocks, for instance.
Industry and Query Variations
AI Overviews are more likely to be triggered by question-based and healthcare-related queries. However, their appearance has dropped to less than 1% for restaurant and travel queries, down from 36% and 30% in January, respectively.
Google has also reduced the overlap between AI citations and classic search results, generally opting for classic search results that are supplemented with follow-up queries that anticipate your questions before you ask them.
"It is inevitable that the relationship between AI and search will accelerate. We must acknowledge that it is getting some things wrong at the moment but be aware that it is fine-tuning several things – search quality, the flow of traffic in its ecosystem, and monetization (ads). It will get exponentially better over time."
Understanding the decline in Google's AI Overviews is crucial for staying informed about the evolving landscape of search technology and its impact on information accuracy and accessibility.
Image Source: Sprouts Social
Social media success doesn't happen overnight. It takes time, effort, and a sophisticated strategy to create a buzzworthy social presence that drives real results. The key is understanding your brand's social media maturity and taking steps to advance it.
Social media's rapid pace can unveil consumer sentiments swiftly, making an advanced social media strategy essential for timely and effective engagement.
A mature social strategy allows brands to respond with agility and purpose, translating into tangible business growth.
According to a Sprout Pulse Survey, a significant majority of marketing leaders and executives recognize the direct impact of social media on their financial outcomes, with 79% noting an increased use of social data from 2021 to 2022.
The Three Stages
There are three primary stages of social maturity: emerging, evolving, and mastering. Understanding where your company falls on this spectrum is the first step to advancing your social media strategy.
Emerging: Siloed departments using social media with little oversight or strategy. Struggles with organizing, executing, and demonstrating ROI.
Evolving: Progress in synchronizing social strategy across departments. Focus on scalability, integration, and optimization. Strong grasp of fundamentals and some ROI.
Mastering: Social integration at every level of the company. Plays a primary role in sales, marketing, customer experience, and more. Competitors and audiences recognize the sophistication.
Laddering Up to the Next Level
To progress from one stage to the next, businesses must focus on key areas:
Emerging to Evolving: Appoint a primary stakeholder, establish clear objectives, create social media policies, educate departments, train teams, determine relevant metrics, and consider a centralized platform.
Evolving to Mastering: Increase focus on social intelligence, use social insights across the organization, cultivate influencer relationships, encourage user-generated content, invest in ROI measurement tools, empower experienced users to share knowledge, and integrate social with existing systems and technologies.
Maintaining Mastery
"Mastering" is a verb for a reason. Mastering social media maturity is an ongoing commitment.
To keep driving an excellent social media strategy forward, it requires prioritizing innovation, staying up to date on emerging trends, using business intelligence, capturing advanced metrics, taking calculated risks, utilizing management tools to their full capacity, and understanding that optimization is a continuous process.
Use this model to diagnose your team's social media maturity and outline a path forward. Focus on a few pressing goals at a time and work your way through the list. The longer you work at it, the more manageable it becomes.
Gymshark's Unconventional Path to Success
Noel Mack, Gymshark's Chief Brand Officer, is charting an unconventional course for the gym apparel brand, focusing on community and culture over traditional marketing approaches.
Culture as Compass
Mack's deep involvement with social media platforms has allowed Gymshark to tap into subcultural trends and emerging platforms ahead of the curve, significantly contributing to the brand's rapid growth and 'unicorn' status in the UK.
This understanding of popular culture drove the company to embrace music.ly (now TikTok) early on, allowing them to establish genuine relationships with fitness enthusiasts worldwide.
Fostering a sense of community, rather than merely amassing followers, is crucial to establishing a modern brand.
As Mack explains, "the community adopted us. It's as though we've been elected to become their leader, the brand that represents them, and we've just been doing our best to represent them ever since."
Community First
Gymshark's community-centric approach shines through in their engagement with British Olympic hopeful Dan Bramble. Upon learning that Bramble was working as a delivery driver to fund his Tokyo Games training, Gymshark stepped in and funded his GoFundMe campaign.
This act not only garnered press and community engagement but also reinforced Gymshark's place within the community—now over 10 million strong.
"I don't need attribution to tell me we made sales from that. I know people out there in the U.K. saw that and went, wow, that's a brand I should stand behind," Mack said.
Focused Branding
Mack is clear that Gymshark is a gym brand, not a sportswear brand. Their products are singularly designed for gym-based training, and the team relentlessly focuses their brand efforts to this end.
They achieve this by consistently creating gym content, collaborating with gym influencers, and engaging with the gym community. This resonates with gym enthusiasts and reinforces their brand identity as a dedicated gym wear company.
This targeted approach sets Gymshark apart from many fitness apparel companies that aim to reach as many consumers as possible.
Gymshark's focus on community and culture made them stand out. Integrating cultural understanding with brand strategy is a necessity for setting yourself apart.
⚡️ Quick Hits
TikTok Expands Premium Ad Options introduces enhanced "Pulse" ads with placements near Paramount Global and NHL content.
Google Enhances GA4 Audience Targeting by integrating directly imported user data like loyalty tiers for audience qualification.
Airbnb's 'Icons' Campaign shifts focus from accommodation to unique travel experiences, as announced by CEO Brian Chesky.
Regulation of Social Media shows a decline in American support for social media regulation to 51% from 56% in 2021.
Mastering TikTok Carousels demonstrates how using up to 35 images can significantly increase engagement compared to videos.
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Retention Marketing: The "Secret" Weapon for E-commerce Growth
While acquiring new customers is important, focusing solely on them can be expensive. A focus on retention marketing reduces organizational customer acquisition cost and skyrockets lifetime value. Here's why retention marketing should be your top priority:
1. Cost-effective: Customer retention strategies cost 5-25 times less than acquiring new ones. You've already nurtured new customers through the sales funnel; retention keeps them engaged and ready to buy again.
2. Boost Your Bottom Line: A mere 5% increase in customer retention can translate to a whopping 25-95% profit increase. Satisfied customers are more likely to return for more, boosting profitability.
3. Revenue on Autopilot: Surveys reveal that 61% of businesses generate over half their revenue from repeat customers. Loyal customers become a reliable source of income, fueling your business growth.
4. Higher Average Order Value (AOV): Repeat customers spend 67% more than newbies. They trust your brand and are more open to trying new products, leading to more significant sales for you.
5. Free Marketing: Loyal customers are your biggest brand ambassadors. They rave to friends and family, influencing buying decisions. Studies show that 90% of people trust recommendations from friends.
Despite these benefits, many businesses struggle with retention. They have the data and understand the market, yet fail to connect with their customers truly. Is that your case? Book a free strategic call and see how you can improve client retention and increase revenue.