Virtual Marketer's Monthly Mashup: December 2023

Welcome to the Virtual Marketers digital marketing mashup for December 2023, our final one of the year. This month TikTok launches 'Creative Cards'—data-backed prompts for business content creation, LinkedIn expands Collaborative Articles' visibility, Google enhances search personalisation with a 'Follow' button and planning starts for Chrome's 'Tracking Protection' option launching in January 2024. Lastly, Google celebrates its 25th year with a nostalgic time capsule. Let’s go!

1. TikTok Unveils 'Creative Cards' for Business Inspo
2. LinkedIn's Collaborative Articles Gain Momentum
3. Google Unleashes 'Follow' Button for Tailored Searches
4. Goodbye Cookies – Phase 1 is Happening Soon
5. Google celebrates 25 years

1. TikTok Unveils 'Creative Cards' for Business Inspo

TikTok intimidates a lot of businesses, being a primarily Gen Z-run platform with a need for highly relevant and concise content. So, in order to break down some barriers they’ve developed a set of handy ‘Creative Cards’ – data-backed prompts to help businesses generate potential content ideas for TikTok clips.

The digital cards cover various themes, including community growth, "edutainment," creator tools, trends, and storytelling tips, and there are over 100 cards available.. Basically the idea is to help more businesses establish a successful presence on TikTok… genius.  It’s basically Cards Against Humanity but for businesses on TikTok (without the debauchery of course)

Source: TikTok for Business

2. LinkedIn's Collaborative Articles Gain Momentum

LinkedIn is expanding the reach of Collaborative Articles in search results, aiming to tap into community knowledge and real-life experiences. In recent months, these articles have gained increased visibility on the platform, reaching beyond users' immediate networks. While this enhanced exposure offers opportunities for networking and lead generation, concerns arise regarding the reliability of content. Currently, LinkedIn does not rigorously fact-check Collaborative Articles, leaving room for misinformation. Despite this, the platform promises improvements in article quality, potentially making it a valuable tool for advertisers and SEO strategies.

Source: Search Engine Land

3. Google Unleashes 'Follow' Button for Tailored Searches

Google has bolstered its tailored search experience with a new "Follow" button feature, enabling users to receive personalised results on any subject of interest. Launched in the second half of November, the feature is accessible on the Google App, Safari, and Chrome on mobile devices. This aligns with Google's strategy to provide more personalised home feeds for users. To enhance visibility in curated content for popular topics, experts recommend maintaining clear topic-focused landing pages, prioritising people-centric content, and utilising structured data. The update aims to refine and streamline the user search experience across platforms.

Source: Google

4. Goodbye Cookies – Phase 1 is Happening Soon

This has been on the radar for a while but it’s an important update to consider as we’re all deep in planning mode for 2024. As you may have heard in its ongoing effort to enhance user privacy Google plans to phase out cookie-based tracking and retargeting by the end of 2024, pending regulatory clearance. Phase 1 of this is introducing a new "Tracking Protection" option in Chrome as part of its Privacy Sandbox initiative, and that launches in test phase on January 4th 2024.. 

This feature limits cross-site tracking by default, restricting third-party cookies' access, initially just for 1% of global Chrome users. This move signals a broader industry shift towards privacy-conscious practices, prompting marketers to adapt strategies. As cookies diminish, proactive marketers embracing first-party insights will stay ahead, and as always the spotlight needs to shine even more brightly on organic search..

Source: Marketing Dive

5. Google celebrates 25 years

And as we seem to be on a Google buzz, here’s a bit of a feel good end to this month’s piece. Google is celebrating 25 years of search, and with it they’ve compiled a “most searched” time capsule. It’s a good watch, and also showcases the true power of a search engine like Google.

And that’s your monthly marketing updates for December 2023 wrapped folks. Have a wonderful silly season and we’ll see you back next year for more monthly updates, marketing shenanigans, and a whole lot more. Over & out.