Google Boosting Advertisers With ‘Nearby’ Products And Stores Amid Surge In Curbside Pick-ups Vs Home Delivery
Adobe and Google are both reporting that, contrary to popular belief, online buyers now prefer a Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS)/curbside pickup option over home delivery for their product purchases. Google, in fact, stated that that they have seen searches for “curbside pickup” and related terms rise tenfold over the last few months during the Covid-19 pandemic. Their reaction to this has been to take steps to make themselves the go-to place for consumers that search for products, online and offline.
The first steps the search giant has taken are:
• More prominent “nearby” filter under the Shopping tab
• New local stores card
• Greater visibility for Curbside and In-Store Pickup Labels
Why is this important?
Those searching for products will now be able to filter the products they’re looking at to only those in stores “nearby”. When they use this filter, they will see a new “local stores card” displaying local store information such as address and store inventory. They will also be able to see whether or not a store has curbside or in-store pickup options. This means that retailers who don’t utilise Google MyBusiness to give Google their local store information won’t show to those who filter to “nearby”. Those who are currently giving Google this information will now need to make sure store level information and product inventory is up-to-date and that they show Google the curbside/in-store pickups options they offer, so as not to miss out on this surge in hybrid e-commerce/traditional retail sales for Q4.
Radiocentre Reveals Changes In Commercial Radio Listener Spending Habits
Radiocentre’s new research reveals that COVID -19 has encouraged people to switch up their usual spending habits and experiment with new brands. The research found that 54% of commercial radio listeners are more likely to be influenced by advertising as a reason for changing their usual purchasing habits. Since the beginning of lockdown, 30% of listeners have tried a new brand which is 25% higher than non-listeners.
The research, which was revealed at Radiocentre’s event ‘Tuning In: Back to Business,’ also found that the growth in Radio listening captured in early lockdown has been maintained following the relaxation of lockdown measures. 36% of these listeners are listening to Radio more now than before lockdown.
Why is this important?
The maintained growth of listenership for Radio has improved reach figures for the channel, making Radio a strong channel for awareness and brand. The change in spending habits presents an opportunity for advertisers to attract new customers to their brand – whilst bearing in mind that it also raises the importance of reaching out to and retaining existing customers during this time.
Facebook Is Removing Text Restrictions From Ad Images
For a significant amount of time, Facebook has placed strict reach restrictions on ad images where text takes up in excess of 20% of the image. However, the network is now scrapping this restriction, which is quite a significant move in what they say is a result of continuously trying to improve the ads on their platform.
Why is this important?
This new update is designed to continue improving a user’s experience. Lifting reach restrictions means ads designed to have more than 20% text in the main image will be displayed, and could still reach the same number of people as your other Facebook ads. Despite this, Facebook still currently reports that images with less than 20% text continue to perform better, so sustains the recommendation to keep text “short, clear and concise in order to get your message across effectively.”. As always, this is an ever evolving update so there are likely to be developments in the coming months too.