The Once Mighty Cache Returns

We meet again!

It has been several months since I took a temporary (but much-needed) pause from Cache, and I could not be more excited about its return.

First, we have an all-new brand & website. Yeah!

Moving forward, I hope to keep our weekly issues more succinct. We will focus on 1-2 major storylines from the week, as well as any quick hits that need to be acknowledged but not covered at length.

Lastly, I hope to catch you up on any news we have missed during the pause, but as those stories develop in the future. So you won't miss a thing.

One housekeeping note - since these emails are no longer coming from Substack, you may find this message in your spam. Be sure to unmark as spam and/or create filters to manage future issues.

Thanks again for subscribing to Cache. Your time, attention, and feedback mean so much to me.

February 6, 2022

📰 The News You Missed

Google's Newest Ad Type Continues The March Towards Automation

Last week, Google Ads Liaison, Ginny Marvin, gave us some insight into the platform's future.

Smart Shopping & Local campaigns will be migrated into Performance Max campaigns this summer, with Google providing a tool to aid in the migration.

Performance Max campaigns are the newest Google campaign type, serving as a mix of Search, Shopping, Display, Discover, Gmail, & YouTube. You upload a passel of digital assets into the campaign, and Google does the rest.

Fellow paid media manager Kirk Williams has a great post on what we know about Performance Max campaigns so far.

But outside of the nitty-gritty details of the campaigns, there are two takeaways for eComm operators.

First, the march toward automation continues.

• Expanded Text Ads > Responsive Search Ads
• Shopping > Smart Shopping
• Display > Smart Display
• Auto-Applying Account Recommendations

And now, Performance Max campaigns...which brings me to my second takeaway.

Since the introduction of 'Smart' campaigns, they served as a very reasonable 'set it and forget it' campaign time. However, account managers could outperform Smart campaigns with active, expert management. But in a post-iOS 14.5 world, where the premium on customer data is at an all-time high, we find an increasing amount of customer & search data held behind the Google veil. So, Smart and Performance Max campaigns have an increasingly distinct advantage in performance - not to mention the favoritism Google shows to them within the account.

It feels like the scales have begun to tilt - and perhaps already have tilted - towards the irrelevance of non-smart campaigns. After all, when managers don't have the growing number of data points and search signals Google hides within their black box, the Google algorithms have a clear and distinct advantage. And it is an advantage managers may never get back.

All hail the mighty automations?!

Do Customers Really Checkout On Facebook & Instagram?

As we watched the emergence of on-platform checkouts on social, I have questioned whether customers actually use them. In recent months, revenue from on-platform checkouts has been 'growing rapidly,' but from zero - far from any significance. This week, eMarketer provided a glimpse into the growth (and perhaps plateau) of this new trend.

The majority of US social buyers still order from retailer websites, rather than directly on social platforms. In December, 61.5% said they made their most recent social commerce purchase on the retailer’s site, while 38.5% reported doing so through the social network’s checkout feature.

via // Are social shoppers buying into in-app checkout?

Quick Hits 🥊

Two new sources of inspiration:

• For emails | Really Good Emails
• For landing page copy | Great Landing Page Copy

Just For Fun 🤪

• What an Amazon dispatcher sees while your packages are being delivered | YouTube