Digital Marketing News: State of Content, Direct Ads on Twitter & Google Attribution

Content Marketing Stats: The State of Content Marketing in 2017 [Infographic]
This infographic from our friends at MarketingProfs uncovers top content trends for B2B and B2C marketers in 2017. You’ll find insights on everything from top channels to budgeting and content goals. (MarketingProfs)

Twitter is Offering Advertisers More Tools to Engage Consumers With Direct Messages
Twitter’s new Direct Message Cards that can include as many as four CTA buttons that will send users to specific content. The cards can also be used in organic tweets and are designed to encourage one-on-one conversations, making it easier for brands to connect with their audience. (AdWeek)

Hello Google Attribution, Goodbye Last-Click
Marketers around the world are rejoicing after the announcement of the new Google Attribution tool. While the tool is still in beta, marketers will soon be able to measure performance across devices and channels all in one place, for no additional cost. That means that marketers will soon have a better understanding of what marketing tactics are most effective at moving prospects through the customer journey. (Google Adwords Blog)

Introducing Location and Hashtag Stories on Explore
For users interested in what’s going on around them, Instagram now displays stories happening based on your location. Additionally, users can also search interest based hashtags to find groups of stories related to that specific topic. (Instagram Blog)

Snapchat Adds Collaborative Stories, Which Could Help Boost Exposure Through the App
Story collaboration on Snapchat just got a whole lot easier. Snapchat’s new custom stories features lets users invite other people to contribute to a story without having to host a takeover. The stories will remain on the Stories page until no one has added for 24 hours, or the creator deletes it. (Social Media Today)

Bing Launches Bots for Local Businesses
Microsoft has started integrating chatbots into search results to make search more interactive. For now, this feature is only available to restaurants but Microsoft envisions rolling these bots out broadly in the future. The bots will answer common customer questions, be available across multiple channels and requires virtually no technical requirements from business owners. (Search Engine Land)

Promoted Video Gets Even Better on Pinterest
Pinterest introduced promoted videos less than a year ago, and are already releasing three big enhancements. They have added an autoplay feature, better accessibility to video content (search and feeds) and improved reporting through a new partnership. (Pinterest Business Blog)

Google is Speeding Up Search Ads With AMP Technology
Google is speeding up AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) for search in two different ways: a new beta where advertisers can use AMP pages as landing pages and the entire Google Display Network is getting hit with AMP technology. (Search Engine Journal)

What Were Your Favorite News Stories This Week?

Thanks for watching and reading our weekly news roundup. Please feel free to share your favorite stories of the week in the comments below or send us a message on Twitter to @toprank.

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