In early December, Fingo were invited to attend a workshop hosted by Google at their London HQ. Fingo were one of ten agencies invited to explore what the future of online marketing platforms involves.
The theme of the day was “future-proofing your agency” with a particular emphasis on automation. Although the focus of the day laid heavily on Paid Search, there is a belief amongst those in attendance as well as the industry pioneers that the call of automation is not just for Search but something the wider marketing field will have to catch up with.
The first of many workshops there, Fingo were offered the chance to see where Google’s beliefs lie in regards to the future of paid marketing; automation in PPC took the spotlight, due in no small part to the constant evolvement that it is experiencing. Next to this, the human element involved, the role of account handlers, executives and managers is set for even greater shift. When Google talk about ‘future proofing your agency’, they mean preparing staff for the rapid changes that will come as a result of automation.
The role of automation in paid marketing has the potential to streamline some currently time intensive activities, such as budget management or search query analysis. Automation techniques and tools will push forward our aim to deliver campaign objectives effectively by offering the account manager the time to focus on strategy and insight. It will allow our focus to shift from making a campaign run to making a campaign run well. The role of automation will only be as beneficial in line with how it is used. An ever-evolving tool, it is used to ensure the right strategy is identified; it is there to create value rather than hindering a campaign.
As we move towards a world where driverless cars are commonplace and artificial intelligence continues to have huge impact on how we learn, automation will begin having a bigger role to play in everything, not least of which marketing with the rise of Voice Search. Despite the relative infancy, many entrepreneurs and marketeers already have huge faith in the future of Voice; Gary Vaynerchuk of VaynerMedia has a deep-rooted belief that it “has the ability to drive huge companies such as Facebook and Instagram [1]” and it is clear to see why. Within a year, devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home have seen an increase in usage by up to 15% - this figure does not appear to show any signs of slowing down.
Such is the confidence in its future, rapid prototyping sessions relating to voice search software were held, offering the guests the chance to get a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of where Google is heading. Above all else, it offered guests the opportunity to get a glimpse of what the future of paid marketing has in store.
Ultimately, it won’t be long before agencies need to shift the way they approach PPC and other forms of platform driven online marketing. The sophistication and evolution of the platforms will mean that a large portion of the time-intensive, hands-on activity that is currently conducted will be handled by the platforms. This means that agencies will need to shift their mindset on how to target and harness the platforms to get the most out of them for a client’s account. This begins with developing a greater understanding of the client, the industry and the needs of the customer and designing a strategy to utilise the platform to best meet those needs.
The benefit to the client is that, providing the agency has the understanding and knowledge to implement an automated setup, agencies will be focusing more time on obtaining more insights from the campaigns to help shape and optimise the strategy for the client. In theory this means a greater capacity to drive continual improvements throughout the life of the campaign.
Fingo’s continual strive to be at the forefront of change and innovation is matched by our dedication to the growth and development of our service and knowledge. Our standing in the industry as well as our close relationship with pioneers such as Google and Facebook have us positioned to become major players in the paid marketing arena.
If you’d like to discuss how fingo could help you with your paid marketing strategies please get in touch via our enquiry form or give us a call on 01372 749 200.
[1]https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/26c76734-3445-4d5f-8c78-aa1eae4100cf/gary-vaynerchuk-voice-will-explode-and-drive-companies-the-size-of-facebook-instagram