Digital Disruptors

Marketers need to keep optimizing their search ads for max results. Since we’ve observed a lot of UAE-targeted search ads falling behind these simple best practices, here are 11 tips to take things to the next level.

Why is it necessary to enhance your Search Ads?

• Improve your Click-Through Rate (CTR)
• Increase Quality Score (for higher Ad Raking)
• Lower your Cost per Click / Cost Per Action

There's two ways how search marketers can go about this:

• Enhance campaign infrastructure. In this session, we focus more on ‘text ads’.
• Optimize your campaign towards ROI, setup conversion tracking (we will be covering this soon)

With regards to text Ads, we recommend you to focus on using Ad Extensions along with additional best practices which we have picked up over the years.

Ad extensions

Ad extensions help by occupying more room within the search engine results page. Who wouldn't be excited if they were offered free additional real estate? Here are a few selected ad extensions for first timers to bank upon:

1. Location Extension

Let’s you add a piece of your businesses address with directions. We expect location extensions to appear when a local-info-seeking search phrase is used. i.e. best lasagna around JBR.

2. Call Extension

Ads a Click-to-call functionality on the mobile display. i.e. have your number displayed in a “clickable” format so a searcher can quickly connect with your business.

Tip: Combine location & call extension within an ad group. Imagine someone searches for lunch buffet in Dubai Media City and notices your restaurant address to be pretty close by (from the location extension configured to appear in the search results), and then sees a call button right next to it. He could call your restaurant immediately and reserve a table.

Why are these two extensions important?

• Because the volume of searches on mobile is much higher in the UAE.
• Mobile searches are usually connected to a user's intent to act immediately i.e. Inquire or order your product or service

3. Sitelinks

Instead of having a user land upon your first landing page and then find out that he has to click elsewhere to know more about something more specific, Sitelinks allows you to showcase additional links to pages which are connected with your offering. For example: If your healthcare client is running an anniversary campaign to offer free checkups, and you've got a main landing page connected to sub-pages that mention details about diabetes, blood pressure, weight loss etc. Your main text ad could mention about the camp, below which you can add sitelinks to directly access the diabetes, BP or weight loss sections

4. Callout extension

Use callout's to mention your business’ USP's or Direct Response phrases. Examples: Free delivery, Limited edition, Few seats left , Scholarships available.

5. Structured snippet extensions

Decide what type of information potential customers will find most valuable when considering your products and services (i.e. if you are a university, then course names. And if you are an automobile brand, then the model names). You can then add specific, supporting details to create a supporting line of text that looks like - Brands: Sportage, Optima, Rio, Sorento, Cadenza We continue with a few tips to boost your text ads: 6. Use ' Keyword insertion' ad customizer to make your ads dynamic.

7. Include your most important message in the headline. Example: Hyundai DSF Offer - Extended to 31st April

8. Utilize your display URLs. Advertisers can now optionally add up to 2 fifteen-character path fields to append to their display URL. Although your final URL might be Hyundai-uae.com/DSFOffer, you can now put it as Hyundai-uae.com/DSFOffers/2017Models

9. Impeccable wordplay. Use Call To Actions such as Get started, Reserve now, Get a quote, Coach me... for spontaneous results. Pay attention to your competitors advertising so you can out-do their wordplay

10. Indicate urgency. Use the Adwords ‘countdown’ function. Adwords presents unique enhancements known ad customizers. You can research more about it.

11. Use permitted symbols such as Asterix (5* Facilities), Numbers with Slash (24/7), Registered trademark or the copyright symbol (®™ ©), Ampersand (&), Exclamation mark (!), Percentage symbol (50% off) etc. What next? Get-started and let us know how things work out for you.

Show Notes

[00:21] Thank you to all the listeners who sent us feedback.

[01:00] Today's topic - tools for digital marketers

[01:40] We're going to give the top 9 tools we use at Ubrik to make our jobs easier

[01:55] Ghostery is a tool created to give users an ad-free, more private, faster-browsing experience but we use it to understand what apps, plugins, and scripts running on a website. It tells you everything that's running in the background. We use this so we don't have to waste our client's time by asking them questions like "are you running Google analytics," especially since they sometimes don't know the answer and have to check with their IT/web developer.

[03:45] Google Tag Manager (GTM) helps marketers do things like add analytics and tracking scripts to a website without having to get an IT/web developer to update the website manually. All you need is a one-time effort from your developer to install the GTM code snippet on your website. After that, you can do everything yourself via the GTM interface with almost zero technical know-how. E.g. you can add your remarketing pixels (Google, Facebook) to your website with a bit of copy/paste and a few clicks.

[05:35] Built With - This is another tool we use to save time when going into client meetings if they have an existing website. It tells you what technology/platform a site is built on. We've used it to reverse engineer a website for an e-commerce client by looking at a competitor's website design the client liked.

[07:25] Wappalyzer - This is a browser plugin similar to Built With which allows you quickly get a website's technology stack. Whenever a client meeting turns to talking about websites this is an easy way to impress them because in many cases they aren't very tech savvy and this sort of thing sounds like rocket science. Of course, it doesn't help that some agencies make it sound like rocket science but in the internet-age, this kind of knowledge is easily accessible to everyone. For our part, we try our best to demystify tech to our clients and freely share this knowledge with them.

[08:45] Similar Web - Whenever we speak to clients who want to do campaigns to increase web traffic we ask them what their current traffic is, and how much they would like to increase. Many clients don't have this information handy or don't know how to find it. Not having analytics installed is a common problem too. With Similar Web, we just enter the URL and we immediately get a rough estimate of monthly web traffic, traffic sources, and other data. All of this information can be downloaded as a pdf. They also have a paid version which gives you a lot more information.

[12:25] Hubspot Website Grader - This is a free tool which gives you a multi-point analysis on the quality of a website according to parameters like performance (speed,) mobile responsiveness, search engine optimization, and security. You can also download the report in pdf form. We like to analyze a client's website, download the report and send it to them in our follow-up email after the initial consultation.

[14:30] Hubspot Sales Extension - If you use Gmail and Google apps in general, this a browser plugin which supercharges your apps. It's an excellent free CRM tool which lets you track email opens and clicks. We use it heavily when sending proposals because it gives us information on how the client is reacting to us. For example, if the client opens our proposal email 10 times, we might give them a call because their action conveys intent. And in keeping with our policy of transparency with our customers and demystifying tech, we tell them about the tool. They can use it to add value to their business too, so we want them to know about it.

[17:00] Rapportive - This is a Gmail plugin which pulls contact information from Linkedin - company, job title, social media profiles etc.

[18:15] Boomerang - A Gmail plugin which allows you to schedule email delivery, reminders to follow up on important emails, etc. It improves your email productivity significantly.

[21:00] Once a month, we'll be doing a special episode on tools for marketers. We want to hear from you - what tools do you like to use? We'd love to review them. Send us an email - [email protected] - and let us know.

Did you enjoy the episode?

Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes.

This episode we're joined by Ubrik's Digital Marketing Manager, Azhad Ali.

He usually spearheads our performance marketing campaigns.

He's been in digital marketing since 2008, when he was employee #3 at Ubrik.

Now, Ubrik has handled over 100 accounts and AED 30 million in digital media spend.

Time-Stamped Show Notes

[02:30] Today's topic - a practical breakdown of how to execute your first Google Adwords campaign.

[03:15] Specifically, we will focus on the Search Marketing Cycle (SMC.)

[04:00] The SMC is a 4-step process of research and planning, execution, measurement, and optimization.

[04:45] At the planning stage you figure out what your objectives are and develop keywords you want to associate with your brand, using the information you have about your business.

[05:55] The difference between "search term" and "keyword." A search term is what the user types into Google Search, while a keyword is what the digital marketer configures in an Adwords account.

[06:25] For example, "where can i get a part-time MBA in Dubai?" is a search term.

[06:50] Using data from search engines, the marketer might select "MBA in Dubai" as the keyword.

[07:00] If there is a lot of competition for that keyword, they might refine it further and choose to target "Canadian MBA in Dubai." This is known as a "long-tail keyword."

[07:30] Which keywords you choose to target will depend on how competitive they are and on their price.

[08:00] How does the marketer go about doing the research to identify the right keywords? Using the Canadian University example (one of Ubrik's clients,) the marketer will review Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Google Keyword Planner.

[09:15] He will also use websites like Alexa, Similar Web and SEM Rush to get data about competitors.

[09:41] Keywords can be categorized into brand keywords, product keywords, and competitor keywords.

[09:55] For Canadian University, the brand keyword is Canadian University in Dubai. The Brand offering keywords could be "Canadian University Dubai degree," "Canadian University Dubai courses," "CUD," "Canadian University location," "Canadian University of Dubai," etc.

[11:20] Arabic search data is also essential in this region. You would review Arabic search terms and come up with Arabic keywords.

[12:20] How do you select your offering/product/service keywords? Look at your website structure. In our university example, they could be broken down by undergraduate and graduate, by academic departments, by major etc.

[13:26] In this example Azhad would go with one campaign for brand keywords, one for undergraduate and graduate keywords, and one for competition keywords.

[13:36] The product/offering campaign would be broken down further by degree typ, major, etc.

[14:00] You need to build your brand and increase brand awareness, as well as target your brand keyword, so you don't get beaten by your competitors.

[15:41] When executing a campaign, you need to segment your campaign into ad groups, figure out your budget (i.e. how much you will spend daily on each ad group.)

[16:41] We'll be providing a document that illustrates this so you can understand it better.

[17:15] Adwords works on a daily budget basis. You would divide your total budget by the duration of your campaign. You would also assign a maximum Cost Per Click (CPC) for each ad groups.

[18:10] Along with the keyword you would have your ad copy, and companies will need to optimize the ad copy as part of their iterative process.

[19:35] The final piece of the puzzle is the landing page that each ad is linked to. The keyword, ad copy and landing page together make one ad set.

[19:50] You also want to specify your negative keywords, which are those that you don't want your ad to show up for. E.g. if Canadian University in Dubai is running a campaign to advertise for its 'fall intake, "Canadian University in Dubai jobs" would be a negative keyword.

[20:30] After lauching your Adwords campaign you will be able to collect data and this is the measurement phase.

[20:40] Important metrics to track are impressions, Click-through Rate (CTR,) CPC and conversions.)

[21:40] Based on those numbers you will understand which areas of the campaign need to be optimized. E.g. if CTR is low, you need to work on your ad copy.

[22:30] This process of measuring and optimizing continues until you are satisfied with how the campaign is performing.

[23:00] You can learn how to implement Google Adwords campaigns via online courses like Google's own "Essential Adwords" courses, Wordstream's "PPC University," Udemy's "Google Adwords for Beginners" and Lynda's "Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords."

[23:50] These courses are regularly updated as new features are added. Marketers need to keep themselves sharp.

[24:20] Other resources for news and trends are websites Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Land, SEM Rush, PPC Hero, etc.

[25:40] While there are some best-practices to follow, getting good at Google Adwords is a constant process of experimentation.

[27:22] We plan on doing more episodes to cover SEM in more detail. This was just an introduction.

Enjoy the episode?

Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes.

Our guests today are Abdul Rahman Risilia and Muhamman Aly from Simply Digital, a Dubai-based recruitment agency specializing in hiring for the digital and tech spaces.

Simply Digital is a subsidiary of the well-known Mackenzie Jones.

Topics Covered

• What is the state of the digital and tech job market in 2017?
• What are the main differences with regards to hiring in this region as opposed to more mature markets?
• What are the main challenges faced by employers and candidates?
• How do local candidates compare to international?
• Who do you look for when hiring for digital and tech?
• Shady recruiting agencies and deceptive practicies
• Which industries are doing the most hiring in this region for digital and tech jobs?
• Hot roles in the digital and tech spaces in 2017
• The unrealistic expectations of employers
• Why employers need to look at recruiting agencies as partners and trusted advisors
• How to get a recruiter's attention when applying for jobs
• The role of recruitment agencies in educating the market on trends in the digital and tech landscape
• The importance of building community in the digital and tech spaces

Time Stamped Show Notes

[00:30] Our guests today are Abdul Rahman Risilia and Muhammad Aly from Simply Digital, a recruitment agency in the UAE specializing in the digital marketing space.

[00:40] Our topic today is the UAE job market for digital and tech related jobs.

[01:00] Abdul Rahman's been in recruitment for over 15 years over multiple industries and agency types.

[01:21] Simply Digital is a subsidiary of Mackenzie Jones Recruiting.

[01:30] Last year they worked as part of Mackenzie Jones but realized it was difficult to break away from the perception that it is a corporate HR & Finance recruiting specialist.

[01:50] To solve this, Abdul Rahman and Muhammad pitched creating a separate entity positioned as a digital marketing recruitment specialist.

[02:15] Muhammad's been in recruiting for around 6 years and specializes in the digital space.

[03:00] There are two main differences in recruiting for digital and tech in this region vs. internationally.

[03:15] The digital and tech spaces are in their infancy in this region, so not many people know how it should be implemented.

[03:40] The timelines, sales cycles and decision-making in this region are much slower.

[04:00] Some segments of the digital and tech spaces, and some industries, are progressing faster than others so there's no uniform growth.

[04:30] Over the next year or so things will become easier for recruiters and candidates as more people will digital skillsets enter the market.

[05:00] On the client side of recruiting employers have a general idea of what they need in digital roles but don't fully grasp the job requirements, what skillsets are required, where they go in the organization etc.

[06:00] Simply Digital does a lot of work to educate clients about their needs and what would work best for them.

[06:14] They try to develop trust with the clients as advisors and not just recruiters.

[06:34] It's the same problem faced by agencies, when they create and promote campaigns for clients.

[07:00] Some employers in this region only want to hire people with industry experience and that limits their options.

[08:00] Ubrik's own employees don't have a digital background because the skillsets can be learned and the digital landscape is evolving constantly.

[08:30] Ubrik focuses on hiring for the right attitude and a general grasp of digital concepts.

[09:20] Candidates coming from a more mature international market (North America, Europe, Australia) face special challenges

[09:30] Sometimes told that they are too senior for a role.

[09:40] Rejections because they don't have industry experience.

[09:55] Some settle into a job but then find out the responsibilities are not what they were initially hired for.

[11:10] Some employers want their hires to fit into their idea of the role rather than letting them use their skills to do more advanced work.

[11:50] These employees will feel that there won't be career growth in such roles and end up leaving.

[11:56] It's challenging to find local talent because prospective international hires have been operating in a more mature market for longer.

[12:20] International hires can add a lot of value to this region.

[12:55] A digital marketing manager from the U.S./U.S. will be better equipped than a digital marketing manager from this region is the latter only has experience working in this region.

[13:05] Not every client can afford to relocate an international hire, so that's where local talent becomes much more appealing.

[13:20] Shady recruiting agencies engage in deceptive practices when advertising for jobs.

[14:00] Abdul Rahman says this is a common problem with recruiting all over the World - it's his job to do things better.

[14:40] Some recruiting agencies set up shop without any experience or knowledge of the industry they operate in.

[15:20] 10-15 years ago you would have needed 10-15 years of experience recruiting before you started your own agency.

[15:50] Now, with 2-3 years experience recruiters think, "I can do this myself instead of working for someone else."

[16:00] It's not difficult to start an agency but most of them go bust in 2-3 years.

[17:10] When hiring for digital there are few recruiters who know the space well enough to have credibility.

[17:24] Many of Simply Digital's clients end up offering Muhammad a job because he's one of the few recruiters that do have a deep understanding of the digital landscape.

[17:48] A HR, Oil & Gas or Finance recruiter can't recruit for digital because they don't know the space well enough.

[18:50] Hot digital roles right now - UI/UX designers, product designers, front-end developers, digital marketing managers and social media specialists (junior roles.)

[20:20] Clients want unicorns - Arabic speakers with perfect English from specific universities and special certifications.

[21:20] A lot of marketing agencies are looking for Account Managers.

[21:45] There is big demand for content marketers.

[22:30] In most mature markets the banking sector is the biggest hiring machine for digital, but in this region the banking sector has a lot of catching up to do.

[23:10] Simply Digital does a lot of work for retail FMCG and agencies.

[24:00] Some agencies and clients do understand UI/UX design but in general there is a lot of education required.

[25:00] There is not much hiring going on in the startup space but there is potential.

[25:30] In Austrialia, Abdul Rahman says around 85% of clients are startups. Over here, less than 10% of Simply Digital's business is from startups.

[25:55] Abdul Rahman thinks the UAE is around 5 years behind mature markets in the digital and tech spaces.

[26:25] When a recruiter sees you've applied for several roles with hugely different skillsets, it's a turn-off and they are less likely to contact you.

[27:15] Apply for one role, and follow up with an email and phone call.

[27:35] Make sure your portfolio is clearly provided via URL or attachment.

[27:50] For digital hiring don't care about your resume, we care about what you can do.

[28:35] If you're applying for a content marketing job you better a content creator and have an active social media presence.

[28:55] Show us results, show us a report from one of your campaigns.

[29:30] Digital marketing is highly measurable so there's no excuse for not having numbers to back up your resume.

[29:50] Employers have totally unrealistic expectations with job requirements for digital hires

[30:30] Serial appliers - applying for digital marketing roles, sales roles, finance roles etc.

[31:00] On the client side the important thing is creating a partnership with recruiting agencies

[31:10] Do the research internally, then talk to the agencies - test them.

[31:20] Are they credible? Then trust their advice.

[31:40] Agencies want to find you the best possible hires over the long term.

[31:50] They want to commit to you and they want you to commit to them.

[32:30] If more clients viewed the recruiting agencies as advisors and partners, the agencies would take their jobs much more seriously and dedicate more resources to a client.

[33:40] Recruiting in 2017 has been busy so far but it has been slow at times.

[34:00] The second half of 2017 should pick up, moving towards a very exciting 2018 for digital and tech in the UAE.

[34:20] The key is education - Simply Digital is partnering with Astrolabs and Glass Qube to offer thought leadership workshops

[34:40] They want to educate employers and prospects about the development of different verticals in the digital landscape.

[35:00] The UAE and the region in general have huge potential for developing the digital and tech spaces.

[36:00] More opportunities for networking and learning need to be created to foster a sense of community in the digital and tech spaces.

[37:00] As the market matures and employers become more knowledgeable, more of the right roles will start to appear.

[38:00] Check out Simply Digital's website - simplydigital.ae - where you can look for jobs and sign up for their newsletter to receive announcements on new jobs and events.

Thanks for listening

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Our guest this episode is Hussein Dajani.

Hussein is the COO of Hug Digital, where he's been for 2 years.

He has a background in traditional advertising, made the switch to client side, then decided to try his hand at digital.

Hug Digital has been in business for 7 years, with 122 employees spread out across Dubai, Cairo, and Trivendrum.

If you're in the agency game in Dubai you've probably seen Hussein around. 

He's a go-to expert in social media marketing and a sought-after speaker at industry events. 

Topics Covered

• How has social media marketing changed in the past decade?
• The importance of agencies being transparent with clients about kpis and analytics
• How well are businesses leveraging changes in social media?
• Case study - new initiatives can backfire if not managed well
• Don't focus on sales. Focus on brand building
• Which trends are worth paying attention to?
• What is Hussein's approach to dealing with algorithm changes?
• Who are some of Hug Digital's clients?
• Which tools does Hug Digital use to manage its business?
• Final recommendations and insights

For complete show notes visit our website: What's new in Social Media Marketing?

Please subscribe to the show and leave us a rating and review on iTunes.

In this episode we talk about the pillars of online marketing and you need to make them all work together to achieve marketing success.

Topics Covered

• Paid Search
• Search Engine Optimization
• Content Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Mobile Marketing
• Marketing Automation

For complete show notes, visit our website: The 7 Pillars of Online Marketing

Don't forget to subscribe to the show and leave us a rating and review on iTunes.

I love the online fitness niche.

There are a ton of colorful characters and more than enough drama to keep you entertained.

As a marketer, it's one of the best niches to pay close attention to.

It's so saturated the marketing needs to be very sophisticated if you're going to be successful.

These guys and girls are amazing at content marketing, creating a personal brand, growing an audience, and selling to their audience.

Recently I came across a marketing tactic I haven't seen before - a strength coach taking email marketing and dialing it up to over 9000.

His name is Alexander Juan Antonio Cortes.

He's a bodybuilder, personal trainer, fitness writer, and published author.

He's written for prestigious publications like EliteFTS and Ironman magazine.

A few months ago he transitioned to online business full-time (he used to have a day job as a personal trainer.)

After coming across email copywriting maestro Ben Settle, Alex decided to start emailing his list 3 times a day, 7 days a week.

I've heard of people mailing their list several times a week, but never mailing daily, let alone several times a day

So, I just had to pick his brain about it.

Enjoy the interview, and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Topics covered:

• Who is Alexander Juan Antonio Cortes?
• Why did Alex decide to email his list 3 times a day?
• How is he able to produce so much content?
• What has the feedback from his subscribers been like?
• List segmentation and product development based on subscriber feedback
• People don't read so repeat important messages
• How Alex uses his personal brand to filter his readers
• Email list growth of 579% over 90 days
• Open rates and click-through rates are above average
• How Alex makes it easier for his audience to consume his content
• How long-form emails are more popular with Alex's subscribers
• How does Alex generate revenue from his emails?
• As he grows his list revenue will compound
• Unsubscribe rates are about average
• Alex's perspective on marketing in general (best part of the interview)

A complete transcript of the interview is available here: 

http://dropkickcopy.com/grow-your-email-list

Please remember to subscribe and leave us a rating and review on iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-disruptors/id1202633889?mt=2

In our 2nd episode, we introduce you to the fundamentals of digital marketing. 

Topics covered:

• What is digital marketing?
• Problems facing digital marketers in Dubai
• Offline and online components of digital marketing
• The currency of digital marketing is attention
• Digital marketing contextualized: the marcomm framework
• The marketing mix
• Consumer psychology and digital marketing
• The importance of setting KPIs
• Our focus: online marketing
• Resources to understand digital marketing

Complete show notes are available on our website - What is Digital Marketing?

Please subscribe and leave us a rating and review on iTunes.

How to leave an iTunes rating and review.

The Digital Disruptors Podcast brings you the latest in disruptive trends, tech, tools, and hacks in the digital marketing space.

All packaged in easy-to-digest episodes featuring unfiltered, no-holds-barred banter between old friends.

We'll also be featuring some of the growth-hackiest fresh-take-havers from the hottest businesses in Dubai.

We live and breathe digital marketing. And we've over 100 businesses in the U.A.E. along the way.

We are going to change the way Dubai does business. One episode at a time.

Links from the show

Exclusive Interview: How Jared Kushner Won Trump The White House

PRServe - PR for Startups

This show is brought to you by

Ubrik Media - http://ubrik.com

Dropkick Copy - http://dropkickcopy.com

Please subscribe and leave us a rating and review

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