Platypus Digital | B Corp

TikTok recently took a big step forward as the world's newest search engine by offering search ads in the platform This is a game-changer for reaching high-intent audiences searching for stuff on high-engagement social platforms. What it is: • Ads appear directly in TikTok search results • Supports both video and image carousel formats • Targets users based on their search queries How it works: 1. Choose your objective: Traffic or Web Conversion 2. Select relevant keywords (aim for at least 20 per ad group) 3. Set your bids and budgets (20:1 budget-to-bid ratio recommended) 4. Upload your creatives – make them engaging to drive click-throughs 5. Optimise regularly – this is not a set-and-forget dealio The potential for TikTok search ads is huge: • 57% of TikTok users search within the app - reaching them in that moment could be massive • Brands see a 20% increase in conversions when combining Search and In-Feed Ads I can see this being huge for health charities especially. People search TikTok for symptoms for all sorts of conditions, looking for user generated videos of people who've been there and know what it's all about. Charities could reach them with ads directing them to medically verified advice and support. This no less than the collision of social media's demographic targeting with search's intent-driven approach. Google Ads and TikTok have basically had a baby.

Charity communicators, designers, and fundraisers - come meet each other in 3D and marvel that humans feature in more formats than Teams tiles! On Wed 2 October we'll be having an after work-ish early evening of intriguing talks, refreshing drinks and lovely other charity folk. We've got three amazing speakers lined up: 1️⃣ Deniz Tekkul from ONE Campaign on the "Make Naija Stronger" project in Nigeria 2️⃣ Fernando Cassani from Sightsavers on inclusive disaster comms in Malawi 3️⃣ Andrew Taylor Dawson from Liberty on audience-focused supporter engagement Here's our last event featuring the audience responding to questions with a show of hands, but placed on your head for yes and your behind for no. Tickets are going faster than those little minibites you get in tubs from M&S at a team day. So grab yours now! 🎟️ https://lnkd.in/eu8yW6Uq

Google's AI Overview is now live in the UK, and they’re dropping a bomb in the search engine results pages for charities - especially for health charities. When people search for health conditions, AI Overview is already surfacing summaries and answering questions the algorithm believes users will ask next. • Example: Search for "Apathy in Parkinson's" (a common symptom of the condition) • You'll see a one-sentence summary defining the condition • Bullet points follow, each with a link symbol • Clicking these symbols reveals the source (page title and URL) for each point • Many points often share the same source article • Without prompting, it provides tips to manage the symptom (again, with linked sources) But that's not all. As you scroll down, you'll find: 1. Sponsored links (Google Ads/Grants) 2. Featured snippets (often from research-based sources) 3. "People also ask" section 4. Traditional organic search results No.1 is huge. Organic results are now appearing *above* paid results in the form of AI powered results for certain questions. Who cares, I hear you indifferently whisper? It matters because it amplifies the importance of "boring" SEO. While Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic don't disclose their training data sources, we can be certain that ranking highly for targeted keywords means you're more likely to appear in these AI overviews. Google is clearly drawing from well-optimised search results for these AI overviews. We know that because they're linking directly to high-ranking sources in the organic results further down the page, not crappy Wordpress blogs from 2017 on p.29 of search results. So, what does this mean for your charity? 1. Take SEO seriously - it's no longer optional to invest in if you want to be part of the answers people are looking for. 2. Create detailed content addressing all questions about your focus area 3. Use the "People also ask" section and keyword research to guide your content strategy 4. Plan long term SEO work. No quick fixes. 5. Do regular technical audits to make sure your foundations are sound. 6. Do the fixes those audits recommend But if people get the overviews in the search engine results pages, will they ever click through to another website again? Nobody knows. Some think it will, others say hell no. Only time will tell. What a cop out eh? Don't panic if this sounds overwhelming. Your content team or a great SEO agency (like us cough cough COUGH) can help you navigate this rocky road to silicon heaven.

🎉 We’re excited to announce that Platypus Digital is hiring a new PPC Executive on our paid social team! 💼 You’ll work with amazing charities like Amnesty International, Young Lives vs. Cancer, and the Mental Health Foundation, creating campaigns that truly make a difference. 👥 You’ll join a supportive and talented team - Ruman H., Krislyn T., Chris Cottell, Alina Trucco, and Jamie Pitts, CMgr FCMI - where you’ll have the chance to learn and develop your skills. 💸 The role comes with a salary range of £34k-£41k, depending on your location. Plus great benefits like 35 days of holiday and the chance to take a five-week sabbatical after five years. ✌️ If you’re passionate about paid social for good, skilled with Meta Ads, and looking for a role where you can make a real impact, we’d love to hear from you. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/erDpvCv5 #Hiring #DigitalMarketing #Charity #Bcorp #PPC #PaidSocial

11 years ago, I was driving with my then-girlfriend (now wife) trying to name my soon to be new agency. I wanted something more than just my name - a separate brand. She asked what agency names I didn't like. I mentioned agencies with self-aggrandising names, who were clearly trying to sound innovative, daring and amazing. 🙄 When asked about names I did like, I mentioned Jellyfish - a huge, awesome digital agency with a fun animal name. We batted ideas around. Dogs and cats are nice, but you wouldn't name an agency after one. Then she suggested "Platypus". Unique, fun, friendly. Perfect! Diving deeper, I discovered: • It's got a sting in its ankle (what) • It's a mammal that lays eggs (why) • Scientists thought it was a practical joke when first discovered (love) While I hope people don't think Platypus is a joke, I do want them to see us as friendly and unique. 😄 If you named your organisation, how did you do it? Did it involve a road trip, a brainstorming partner and a load of "Ohhh no not that one" ideas? 🚗💡

The lovely team at Asthma + Lung UK are looking for a Digital Product Officer to join their team. Not only will you get to manage and improve the user experience of their user facing platforms and join the fight for everyone with a lung condition, but you'll get to work with our awesome SEO team as part of the role as well. And if that's not a big enough incentive to join an amazing charity, then honestly, I don't know what would be. Full details in the linky link 👇

For the first year ever, I've changed the Platypus Digital | B Corp social logos to rainbow colours for Pride Month 🌈 I've never felt able to do this before. Changing your logos and showing support in such a public way can just be performative. Not always, obviously - I know plenty of organisations are doing really substantive work too. But honestly, I didn't feel like we were doing enough at Platypus Digital | B Corp for the LGBTQIA+ community to justify it. If we changed our colours, people could assume we were making really substantive progress or doing meaningful internal work to make ours a positively inclusive workplace. Then linked up with Outvertising and went on one of their training sessions. We came back with a list of substantive recommendations and policy changes we could make, from making it very clear that all our benefits are available to everyone to ensuring compassionate leave policies cover chosen family as well as other kinds, and encouraging the formation of an employee resource group too. We ran through what we've done and what we still need to do in a session with the team yesterday. And now I feel confident enough to change the Platypus logos on our social media accounts to rainbow colours for Pride Month. 🎉 There is way, way more that we need to do, but I feel way more confident that we've made progress on internal things instead of just changing our logo without actually creating an inclusive environment. I'd love to hear if anyone else has ever felt this way.

🎈 From April this year, UK employees have been able to request flexible working arrangements from day one in their job. This is great news. Hopefully, it sets the expectation that a healthy work-life balance benefits everyone involved. I hope to connect with others on a similar journey of embedding flexible working practices (beyond the legal minimum) in their teams. 👀 To get things started, I've put together my reflections on what we've done well and not so well with flexible working at Platypus Digital | B Corp. I hope to hear about how some of you have gone even further than this in the comments! 💪