Author: Jessica Lee

Advertisers: Prepare for the Digital Future with Omnichannel

by on 2 April 2018in Advertising

Every now and then, it’s good to assess your place in the vast and changing world of online advertising. Today we’ll take look at the wide digital landscape, and how it’s shifted in the past year. Hopefully, it will help you more easily envision your future as an advertiser.

How is the Digital Landscape Evolving?

Recently, comScore released its 2018 Global Digital Future in Focus, which looks at device use in 2017 to learn how audiences and content consumption changed during that year.

Around the world, people are still using multiple devices. In the United States, this is the habit of nearly 70 percent of the total digital audience.

Mobile use sees twice as much time as desktop use does. In the United States specifically, mobile is seeing more than twice as much time as desktop at about 5,500 minutes.

More than 80 percent of those mobile minutes are spent with apps. In the United States, apps take up 88 percent of users’ time with mobile. Small businesses and advertisers have a great opportunity for expansion in this space.

While Google and Facebook continue to dominate when it comes to top apps, Snapchat has now jumped into the top five in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

Although mobile gets more use time in the U.S., the desktop audience is still larger. The group of desktop unique visitors is still 10 percent larger than the group of mobile unique visitors.

Certain content categories capture the bulk of users’ time with digital media. In 2017, it was multimedia, social networks and instant messaging occupying well over a third of digital time in the U.S.

For apps specifically, the top content categories are entertainment, social media, instant messaging and games, which together account for nearly 80 percent of app time in the U.S.

At the same time, these are not the categories with the fastest growth in use. It seems that the growth of mobile, as well as users’ comfort with using it for finances, might drive the growth happening in financial categories.

These days, video is being watched primarily on mobile. In the U.S., almost 70 percent of video views happen on mobile.

Video growth in the U.S. is happening mostly on mobile, but notably on desktop as well. As we recently discussed, video will be very important in 2018, but will come with challenges involving fraud and return on investment (ROI) measurement.

The key takeaways for advertisers in comScore’s report include:

  • People still use multiple devices, though mobile is gaining ground. Note that while mobile gets more time in minutes and hours, the desktop audience remains a bit larger; that ad audience is very much present.
  • Growth is happening outside of the usual top apps and content categories, and advertisers can look to places like Snapchat and financial content as viable platforms.
  • Entertainment showed the most growth when it came to app minutes spent. Check out our post on advertising to Millennials within their preferred entertainment platforms.
  • Video is growing on both mobile and desktop, but mostly on mobile. As you’ll see on the post we linked to in the previous paragraph, there are numerous ways to prepare for the challenges and opportunities in this space.

Are You Using Omnichannel to Put Your Digital Future in Focus?

One of the striking things about that report from comScore is a reminder of the importance of an omnichannel approach.

Quick refresher: Omnichannel is so much more than simply advertising on multiple channels (analog, digital, desktop, mobile, web, app, social media, etc.). It is using the multiple channels for a well-crafted, consistent message, and also creating a seamless, positive user experience through them.

When we see the continued use of desktop and mobile devices, various apps and content categories rising to the top and the popularity of video, we must recognize that potential consumers use all of these and more to learn about brands.

Last autumn, MarketingProfs offered an infographic on maximizing ROI with omnichannel advertising. Highlighting the fact that most users switch between a range of devices every day, it encourages broadening reach through data, consistency, monitoring and a customer-centered strategy.

Hubspot takes a step back, and presents the successful omnichannel marketing strategies of seven well-known brands, including Disney, REI and Chipotle.

At SearchForce, we revisited omnichannel in December, exploring how the auto industry can use it for great advertising. As the technology of automobiles themselves moves rapidly forward (think self-driving cars), the retail side needs to keep pace. Focus on the digital journey of auto shoppers, as well as local trends to make the most of your omnichannel approach.

The digital future is full of devices on which people use apps to enjoy a wide range of content. Continue focusing on a customer-centered, omnichannel ad strategy to ensure your brand has a place within that future.

Digital Video Ads: What are the Challenges for 2018?

by on 26 March 2018in Advertising

Thinking about digital ads? So are we. This is an important place to channel your efforts in 2018, and that includes protecting yourself against fraud and learning how much video ads drive your bottom line.

The State of Digital Video Advertising

According to the latest YouAppi CMO Mobile Marketing Guide, video is the leading opportunity for marketers in 2018. Eighty-five percent plan to increase video investments this year, which is a 10 percent increase over last year.

For advertising specifically, video is also on the rise. Forty-five percent of marketers asked by YouAppi reported using, or planning to use, brand video advertising in 2018. Video is also growing in popularity for social media, apps and the mobile web.

Video advertising and its future don’t come without concerns, however. Participants reported that fraud and measurement are the main challenges they’re facing at the moment. For example, nearly half of advertisers are worried about fraud on the ad networks delivering their videos. On top of that, effectively measuring the impact of video ad investment is not easy. Both of these concerns have grown since 2017.

Other growing video advertising concerns include whether or not people actually watch the videos, balancing user privacy with marketing goals and trust in tracking and reporting. On the upside, targeting is less of a concern for video advertisers than it was in 2017.

As marketers increase investments in video overall, advertisers must stay alert to these challenges, and the potential solutions that can keep them in check.

In reporting on the YouAppi findings, eMarketer provides its own estimates for video viewing habits in the years to come. Video viewing has increased year-over-year, but that growth is slowing down. Still, almost 229 million people are expected to watch videos this year in the United States, and that number is expected to approach 250 million by 2022.

In the last months of 2017, Digiday published a couple pieces on the top concern as we move into an era of video saturation: ad fraud.

In the first article, they discussed how old fraud tactics still work despite current efforts to suppress them. They also cite the fact that video ad fraud is twice as common as display ad fraud, and how fraudsters manage to steal video-level dollars on cheaper display ads.

In the second article, Digiday goes in to more detail about video ad fraud. Just as marketers and advertisers turn to video more often, so do fraudsters. In fact, they actually become a form of competition for legit advertisers, selling bot traffic at reduced costs. The result is that some advertisers and buyers prefer a private market over an open exchange.

Prepare Your Video Ads for 2018: Challenges and ROI

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about video advertising at SearchForce. Let’s take a look to see how you can create great video advertisements, protect them from ad fraud and ensure they’re working for your bottom line.

Video Advertising

In September, we learned that teens (Generation Z), have little patience for ads on YouTube. They seem to have more tolerance of ads on Instagram and Snapchat, but since YouTube is the overall preferred social network, advertisers ought to pay attention to teens’ ideals for the platform. The right approach can go a long way toward acceptance in the long run.

In October, we explored the State of Video Ad Viewability, which was about ads not only being served, but actually being seen. Once again, YouTube is the place to be when it comes to actual eyes on your video ads, and Google offers tools for measuring how viewable your ads are on the platform.

Very recently we talked about the wide use of ad blockers among Millennials, as well as their willingness to pay for particular content. The major takeaway for video advertisers: Video and music streaming and downloading platforms are where Millennials pay for content, and where they’re more open to relevant advertising. Pay attention to trends and relationship building in these spaces.

Video Ad Fraud

Last fall we discussed the need for increased attention to digital ad fraud. The automated process of buying and selling video ads in real time is especially vulnerable to fraud, and leads to wasted spend and effort on the part of advertisers.

Video ROI

Last year, we discussed ad return on investment (ROI) for auto brands, and presented video ads as a sure-fire way to reach consumers early in their journey. YouTube is the place to try this, especially if you want to connect with Gen Xers and Millennials.

Finally, in February we addressed advertising opportunities and ROI. Not surprisingly, Google and Facebook are your best bet when it comes to spend, targeting and RIO. Just remember to make the most of those targeting options if you want to get the most bang for your buck.

Video is going to dominate digital advertisement, and fraud is going to be the greatest challenge advertisers face in the process. Ramp up your video ad strategy and protections to stay competitive in 2018!

Advertise to Encourage Impulse Buying Online

by on 19 March 2018in Retail

We’ve all done it – bought something we didn’t intend to when beginning a shopping task. How much do these impulse buys contribute to sales, and how can advertisers encourage them in the e-commerce and mobile landscape?

Impulse Buys are Big Business

Last month, Slickdeals released findings of its survey on impulse spending, which revealed some interesting things about American consumers’ habits. On average, these shoppers spend $450 a month, or $5,400 a year, on impulse buys. That adds up to $324,000 over a lifetime of shopping.

Respondents reported that 20 percent of what they purchase is bought on impulse and is usually obtained in a store or restaurant. The items most commonly bought this way are:

  • Food and other groceries.
  • Clothing.
  • Household items.
  • Takeout.
  • Shoes.

For example, 75 percent of respondents buy candy in checkout lines, 32 percent decide to buy food after passing a restaurant and 25 percent buy shoes when they see them in the store.

As we’ve discussed before, mood can impact consumers’ willingness to engage with a brand. While we already knew that “upbeat” moods make consumers more likely to click on digital ads (see previous link), Slickdeals tells us that happy/excited consumers are more likely to buy on impulse than are sad/stressed shoppers. Advertisers can use this knowledge when setting the tone of creative content.

In addition, impulse buyers are slightly more likely to be buying for themselves (54 percent), which could also color the way advertisers present their products.

Certain things, beyond instant gratification, do drive impulse buying. Among Slickdeal’s respondents:

  • Sixty-four percent impulse shop because of deals.
  • Forty percent went out to buy something after getting a coupon in the mail.
  • Thirty-three percent bought something after getting a coupon via email.
  • Twenty-one percent tend to impulse buy while online.

The power of suggestion seems to go a long way here, driving the desire for instant gratification. In a landscape where consumers have constant access to coupons and deals as well as buying opportunities, it’s important for advertisers to make solid offers that encourage swift action.

Slickdeals supports this idea by saying:

“… equate impulse purchasing with saving money … It’s an effortless way to save money on products you will need in the future – why wait until you run out of something, only to pay full price, when you can anticipate your needs in advance and save money in the process?”

It’s just one more guide for advertisers speaking to upbeat shoppers who are ready to grab something for themselves or someone else.

How Mobile Has Changed Impulse Buying and Advertising

AdAge took an interesting look at how impulse buying has changed in recent years, and drew a line between the rise of smartphones and the drop in impulse buys of products like chewing gum.

Items that traditionally relied on impulse buying (chewing gum, magazines, etc.) also relied on shoppers’ boredom as they waited in line, for example. Now that shoppers have a source of entertainment in their pockets and purses, that kind of boredom simply doesn’t happen as often.

At the same time, those shoppers now see plenty of ads on their phones. So, advertisers are in a new position: Don’t frame impulse buy items as cures for boredom, but for the spectrum of mobile users, who are somewhere between “on-the-go” (in line, peeking at a phone during a meeting, etc.) and “leaned-back” (scrolling while lounging on their patio, perhaps).

Bring Impulse Buying Online with Design, Location Data and Social Media

Driving impulse buying is a different process for e-commerce than it is for brick and mortar stores. Unlike a pack of gum or a magazine in the check-out lane, an online purchase won’t satisfy that desire for instant gratification. Yet, we know from Slickdeals that impulse buying online is a common activity.

User Interface Engineering (UIE) did a white paper on What Causes Customers to Buy on Impulse, citing the stat that 40 percent of e-commerce money comes from impulse buys. UIE goes on to say that this has less to do with price (as shoppers might assume) and more to do with site design elements, such as category links (which make it easier to find items shoppers truly want).

For advertisers, this could mean highlighting great deals and promotions and then ensuring that ads direct consumers to the site’s distinct categories.

Location data also has a role to play in this mash-up of impulse buying and mobile use. When advertisers use it to better understand customers and how to reach them, they might drive some unplanned purchases. For example, if you can share a coupon for coffee with someone on your shop’s street, they’re more likely to impulsively stop in than someone who’s a mile away.

Finally, if you want consumers to purchase impulsively, go where they already are. Social media is a great place to advertise to those leaned-back consumers we mentioned earlier, and you can learn how it influences the path to purchase in our post from last year.

Even though impulse buying online might look different than impulse buying in the check-out lane, consumers are still open to unplanned purchases. If your ads make the opportunities timely, targeted and simple, many of those purchases could be from you.

Small Businesses: Developing and Advertising in Mobile Apps

by on 14 March 2018in Mobile

Thinking it might be time to create a mobile app for your brand? It’s more important for small businesses than you might think. Beyond that, there’s the option to advertise on mobile apps, both your own and someone else’s. Today, we’ll discuss why you should be spending more time with the mobile app movement.

Mobile Apps: Significant Investment, Great Return Value

It’s safe to say that apps will be a widely used and accepted tool for brands of all sorts in the years to come. According to Clutch’s 2018 Small Business Survey, younger business owners are developing and implementing them at far greater rates than are older business owners, which suggests that apps as a branding feature are here to stay.

Business owners of the Millennial generation specifically are highly likely to offer apps. While Baby Boomer and Generation X business owners do so only 13 and 42 percent (respectively) of the time, 55 percent of Millennial business owners now give their brands mobile apps.

Interestingly, the rate of mobile app adoption by small businesses is stagnant at the moment. For Clutch’s 2017 survey, 25 percent of small businesses reported plans to build an app before 2018, yet the amount of small businesses actually having an app in place is exactly the same as a year ago – 42 percent. Further, 23 percent report plans to build an app before 2019.

Experts aren’t surprised by the flatness of mobile app adoption. For smaller businesses, the cost requirements and employee needs involved can be obstacles, and may not be initially realized.

Still, you may want to consider the benefits of having one, and if those potential benefits align with your business goals.

For example, almost 30 percent of small businesses surveyed by Clutch built apps to attract new customers, which is misguided. Users don’t browse apps, but instead seek them out as particular solutions – which is why advertisers and marketers should concentrate on getting the word out on channels other than the app stores.

One of the best things a mobile app can do is build on existing client relationships with loyalty programs, rewards points and notifications about new deals. Said mobile app developer WillowTree Inc.’s vice president, Woody Zatzinger:

“When I think of a mobile app, companies with a lot of repeat customers benefit the most. If you’re going to have an app that lives ever-present on someone’s phone, it provides businesses with new marketing opportunities to reach out to customers again and again.”

Here are some points to examine as you consider maintaining your own app:

  • Would certain touchpoints in your customers’ journeys be enhanced by a mobile app?
  • Will an app truly impact your business by boosting sales, customer loyalty, etc.?
  • Can you define the success of an app with metrics, such as how many customers will take a particular action after using the app?
  • Can you deploy a simple, cheap app version first to delay over-investing in something that might not work out?

Building an app to keep up with competitors or just look good from the outside is not the wise move, Clutch says in closing. Yet, apps developed for the right reasons can go a long way toward growing customer relationships. If you decide to move forward, prepare to make a great investment, and anticipate significant value.

Time to Advertise in Mobile Apps?

Mobile apps aren’t just a place to enhance your brand and relationships with consumers. They’re also a viable option for digital advertising. So, should you start advertising within apps that are relevant to your brand and industry? Let’s dig a little deeper.

First, check out this mobile app advertising guide from Singlegrain. The major takeaway is the big options of owned or paid app advertising.

If your brand has its own app, you can advertise in it. When you own the advertising platform, you have a lot of freedom in every aspect of your advertising. And if you do have an app, you might still want to put some paid app advertising in the mix, as it’s a way to reach new customers (which can be tough, we as mentioned) and reconnect with existing ones.

Before you can benefit from advertising on your own app, you have to get that app installed on users’ devices. Last year we discussed how to Propel Mobile App Growth with Universal App Campaigns (UAC). The idea behind UAC is to simplify app advertising (a very competitive space) by generating ads for a range of platforms and automating targeting and bidding.

Wondering how in-app advertising differs from advertising on the mobile web? Check out this dive into user interactions with apps and the mobile Web to see which is right for you. Spoiler alert: In-app advertising might cost more, but the benefits range from targeting to visibility to conversion rates.

Finally, since we all want our advertising to be effective, read through our post from January on the 2017 Mobile Consumer Index, and learn how to get users to click on ads intentionally.

You have decisions to make about maintaining a mobile app and advertising on your own app or others’. Taking on mobile apps might mean an investment of time, money and people, but it’s likely to be well worth it in the years to come.

Advertise to Millennials on Platforms They Willingly Pay For

by on 5 March 2018in Advertising

Plenty of Millennials implement ad blocking tools on their computers and mobile devices. At the same time, they happily pay for their favorite types of content.

As a part of the constant appeal publishers make to users for whitelisting, advertisers should focus on areas where Millennials are most receptive to ads. Further, they must create the kinds of ads that respect Millennials’ user experiences, and also be open to new advertising models.

Advertisers: Reach Ad-Blocking Millennials on Music and Video Platforms

For advertisers, the thought of ad blocker users likely brings up images of people who are frustrated with ads and not ready to engage with your content. However, according to a chart from GobalWebIndex, Millennials who use ad blockers are a group to whom advertisers should pay particular attention.

These 21- to 34-year-olds are more likely than Millennials who don’t use ad blockers to purchase digital content on a monthly basis. They may want to control their online experiences, but perhaps there is room for advertisers to gain a little exposure – at least on the kinds of content Millennials buy most.

Notice that the chart below includes two major factors about Millennials’ preferred content:

  1. Type of content (music, video, game, ebook, etc.)
  2. Format of content (download, streaming, app, etc.)

According to the chart, if they want to appeal for whitelisting, advertisers should focus on reaching this group in music, movie and television platforms that offer downloads and streaming.

Make no mistake – even though Millennials may be more accessible to advertisers in certain spaces, reaching them is not a guarantee or easy task. According to an eMarketer study from 2017, advertisers are very much reliant on the publishers showing their ads to get that exposure.

For example, publishers employ a variety of tactics when it comes to ad blocking, including asking users directly to disable ad blockers and addressing the negative user experiences that lead to ad blocking in the first place.

They use special scripts and software to determine who’s using an ad blocker, then serve messages that highlight the importance of ad revenue for quality content. In some cases, they put up walls, which only let users see content once the site is whitelisted.

Yet, as eMarketer goes on to say, research suggests that 74 percent of ad blocker users in the U.S. simply leave the site rather than whitelist. On the upswing (for those marketing to Millennials), younger users are less likely to leave when met with these walls.

We’ve discussed what advertisers are up against with ad blockers before. Last summer, we anticipated Google’s New Ad Blocker and What It Means for Advertisers, sharing that it was marketed as an improvement for user experience and actually not fully hated by ad blocker providers.

Now that the new Google Chrome ad blocker has launched, it’s even more important for ads to respect user experience by not being intrusive. Follow the link for more detail on the Better Ads Standards.

More recently, we looked at online trackers and advertisers’ reliance on them. That piece also touched on the rise in ad blocker use, which seems partially related to users’ annoyance with online trackers.

Advertising Tips for the Platforms Millennials Love

As we said above, advertisers can boost chances for whitelisting by concentrating on efforts within platforms that offer music and video via download or streaming. Let’s check out some tips on how to do that.

First, learn about The Popularity of Streaming Video and Where Advertising Fits In. We’ve reached the point where adults (especially Millennials) are more likely to stream video than watch cable television, mainly because of cost and convenience.

While ad-free Netflix is the leader on this scene, many services offer cost-free streaming with ads (though they show ads far less than cable stations do). These sites (think YouTube) are a great place to try out your well-crafted campaign (just beware of ad overkill when it comes to teens).

Is advertising on music-streaming sites a viable option for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs)? ADP thinks so, and talks about how Spotify and Pandora are changing up their revenue models. Consider options like sponsored playlists, where you can create playlists that reflect your brand’s voice and objectives to boost following.

Checking in once again with the GlobalWebIndex chart, we see that Millennials are also willing to pay for gaming content online. During the holiday season, we talked about targeting mobile gamers with video ads, and included the following tips for advertisers:

  • App stores, YouTube and Facebook are great places for connecting with gamers.
  • Influencer marketing is a great option for attracting gamers. Work to find the right influencers and create the content their audiences want.

Millennials don’t want to see ads, and readily block them on all devices. However, they’re willing to pay for content they really want, and this is where advertisers may be able to reach them. Pay attention to the content types and formats this age group prefers, and the current ad trends in those spaces, and keep building relationships with Millennials for years to come.

Advertisers: Millennials Are Compelled to Spend on What They See in Social Media

by on 28 February 2018in Social Media

If consumers don’t have spending power, the entire economy takes a hit. Right now, Millennials and younger generations have reasons to feel good about their financial future, which bodes well for advertisers and brands of all sizes.

However, young people have a few things working against their long-term spending power, and one of them is social media. Today, we’ll explore how Millennials spend on social and how advertisers can incorporate that knowledge in their campaigns.

Millennials Are Financially Confident, but Social Media Encourages Spending

Early in February, Allianz Life Insurance Company released findings from its Generations Ahead Study. As we might expect, the study focused a great deal on Millennials.

The study found that 77 percent of Millennials feel financially confident and, more importantly, they have solid reasons for that confidence:

  • Forty-one percent set aside money each month, compared with just 36 percent of Gen Xers.
  • Seventy-one percent use tools to make saving easier, such as multiple savings accounts for various needs and wants (daily expenses, loans, vacation savings, etc.).

Further, Millennials are less likely than Gen X to rack up credit card debt or take out loans for housing and auto needs, according to a report from TransUnion.

Yet, Millennials (and those coming behind them – Generation Z or the Pivotals) face a challenge to financial progress that older generations didn’t at their age: social media. Social media is like a constant, incredibly alluring advertisement, not only for physical products and commercial services, but also for experiences.

Millennials are bombarded daily with friends’ fun experiences on Facebook and other channels, and report the following reactions to that exposure (from the Allianz study above):

  • Fifty-five percent say they have a fear of missing out (FOMO).
  • Fifty-seven percent spent money they hadn’t planned to after seeing something in their feeds.
  • Eighty-eight percent think social media makes it easier to compare one’s finances and experiences with others’.
  • Sixty-one percent feel inadequate after looking at social media.
  • Fifty percent admits spending more on going out than on the mortgage or rent.

Allianz Life speculates that Millennials are acting on two major forces in this space of social media and spending: greater confidence due to responsible saving habits and liberal spending due to FOMO.

So, while Millennials aren’t spending on things like homes, cars and children the way previous generations did, they’re still influenced by what their peers are buying.

According to reporting from Forbes, 72 percent of Millennials have purchased beauty and fashion products after seeing an Instagram post. Seventy-one percent are more likely to buy something online if someone recommends it (which often happens through social media).

Influencers – the best influencers – are a big part of this. Forbes goes on to report that just 5 percent of social media influencers drove 45 percent of social influence. This is especially true in the fashion and beauty industries, where social media posts heavily drive Millennials to make purchases.

Including Millennials in Your Advertising Strategy

Millennials are a force to be reckoned with in terms of consumer spending power. This Forbes article cites that in 2018, Millennials will have the most spending power of any generation.

Adweek offers some advice when it comes to overcoming the challenges of reaching this generation on social media:

Use videos and images rather than text. Millennials don’t want you to tell them about your brand; they want you to show them who you are. Video is far more inviting in this respect.

Scale up on Snapchat as you scale down on Facebook. Younger Millennials often choose social media that isn’t used by their parents and grandparents.

Ignore Pinterest and Google+. Despite both sites having respectable numbers of users, they aren’t places attracting large swaths of Millennials.

Pay for social media advertisements; don’t leave it to organic searches. This is a way to get specific with targeting and reach beyond your followers.

To learn even more about how to tap into this special segment, check out articles we’ve written previously on the topic:

Millennials have confidence in their earning and saving power, but are vulnerable to the endless spending opportunities presented on social media. If the ad industry promotes experiences and true Millennial values in its content, and partners with the right influencers to develop it, the results can be great for advertisers and consumers alike.

Google and Facebook Offer the Best Advertising Opportunity

by on 19 February 2018in Advertising

Like it or not, the internet has a small list of places that are very popular, and this means undeniable opportunity for digital advertisers.

Today, we’ll get the latest numbers on digital ad return on investment (ROI) and refresh ourselves on how to find success with targeting in the busiest online ad spaces.

Google and Facebook: Still the Leaders in Ad Spend and ROI

Recently, eMarketer reported on a December 2017 ad buyer survey from Cowen and Company. The survey sought input from senior ad buyers in the United States on where they see the best ROI online.

According to participating ad buyers, Google Search offers the best ROI – 48 percent named it as the most lucrative platform. Facebook came in second at 30 percent. This is an improvement for each of them with a boost of 16 percentage points for Google and three percentage points for Facebook.

No other platform comes close to these two. Although they’re considered major outlets, Instagram and YouTube only scored top ROI ratings from 4 percent of respondents each.

The findings of this survey align with the widely held position that Google and Facebook dominate the digital advertising landscape, not only in the U.S. but also around the world. In fact, eMarketer estimates that 65 percent of 2018’s digital ad revenue will come from Google and Facebook (about $40.1 billion from Google and $21.6 billion from Facebook).

At SearchForce, we’re also not surprised by the Cowen report findings. Last October we discussed Google and Facebook’s tightening grip on the digital ad market, seeing ad dollars concentrate with the two media giants and expand into the space of ads targeted toward children.

Then, in November, we explored eMarketer’s global ad spending report. The main takeaways included:

  • Global ad spend is skyrocketing (both digital and traditional).
  • Investments in mobile advertising are driving ad spend growth.
  • Google and Facebook together captured 64 percent of global ad spend growth.
  • Clean, engaging approaches and awareness of publisher tactics can support ad revenue.

Why do Google and Facebook continuously come out on top when it comes to digital ad spend and revenue? According to eMarketer’s senior director of forecasting, Monica Peart:

“Advertisers are increasingly demanding more granularity in targeting capabilities to reach consumers. Google and Facebook have positioned themselves at the front of this demand curve by being the ad publishers with some of the best-in-class targeting abilities in the digital ad market.”

It seems targeting is one of the major keys to success with Google and Facebook advertising. We’ll look into that next.

Make the Most of Google and Facebook Ads with Targeting

Both Google and Facebook offer advertisers a range of targeting options to get your ads in front of the users more likely to positively respond.

Google

With Google AdWords, you can target ads on the Google Search Network and the Google Display Network. Both of them allow for keyword, audience, language, location and device targeting. The Display Network also allows for topic and placement targeting. Placement targeting does not require keywords, and advertisers get to specify targeted websites, or even subsets of websites.

The targeting tools on Google AdWords are categorized as contextual or audience. While contextual ad targeting is about being matched with websites where your ads would be relevant (such as automobile-related websites for your body shop ads), audience ad targeting is about putting ads in front of specific users (such as local sports car enthusiasts who might be interested in your body shop ads).

In the Display Network, setting up your targeting is relatively simple, as are determining where your ads will show and refining your bid strategy. Advanced targeting combinations (combining tools like keywords with the placement or topic tool, for example) are available to meet your specific goals.

Facebook

Facebook for Business helps brands connect with the ideal users through audience targeting tools like Core Audiences, Custom Audiences and Lookalike Audiences.

Core Audiences helps advertisers reach consumers based on demographics, location, interests and behaviors. Custom Audiences is about existing customers who already buy or simply visit your website or app. Lookalike Audiences is a way to find users who resemble your existing customers in some way. Additional tools – Audience Insights, Facebook IQ and others – further support your targeting.

Facebook offers additional ad targeting tips for reaching new customers with Audience Insights, specific targeting and advanced targeting.

Google and Facebook are behemoths of the digital advertising space, and advertisers go there to get the most bang for their buck. But to compete in this busy space, you need to dig into targeting and connect with the consumers who will keep you moving forward.

How Small Businesses Can Make the Most of Social Media Advertising

by on 12 February 2018in Social Media

Social media channels are great platforms for small business advertising – they’re easy to set up and don’t have to break the bank. However, a few trends suggest that smaller brands aren’t making the most of these platforms. Let’s see how we can improve.

3 Digital Trends from the Small Business Sector

Each quarter, social marketing app Ripl conducts a U.S. Small Business Social Media Marketing Research survey to learn about small business trends, and get a sense of the bigger picture for this segment of the marketing industry.

According to the 2015 U.S. Census, the country has more than 30 million small businesses, and the vast majority of them employ fewer than 10 people. Devices and social media have made it easier for these brands to market themselves, advertise and develop relationships with customers new and old.

For Q3 2017, Ripl dove into this shift, and examined more than 345 survey responses from local businesses, nonprofits, professional services, online businesses and others, most of whom are running the marketing efforts for organizations with 10 or fewer employees.

Three major trends emerged from the responses, as well as the finding that small businesses favor digital strategies as well as marketing activities directly in their control.

1. Attracting New Customers is Prioritized Over Keeping Existing Ones

Small businesses put far more emphasis on getting new customers than maintaining relationships with the ones they already have. While 92 percent focus on bringing in new customers as their top goal, only 8 percent make that commitment to existing customers (when Ripl asked them to choose between the two).

The thing is, that focus seems misplaced. It’s generally accepted that customer acquisition is far more expensive than customer retention in the long run, so why would these small businesses take that risk? Ripl speculates that small business either don’t know about the cost differences, or simply see more customers as the answer to their problems.

2. Social Media is the Preferred Tool for Consumer Communication

Social media is the clear winner in terms of preferred methods for communicating with customers, specifically Facebook and Instagram. Email comes in next, though only 65 percent prefers it, compared with Facebook’s 98 percent.

Facebook Messenger and text messaging are top customer communication choices for approximately 40 percent of small businesses. Interestingly, the more traditional phone call remains just as popular at exactly 40 percent.

Ripl wasn’t surprised by the preference for social media, as it’s relatively simple for new and small businesses to get set up on the platforms. Further, tools for direct connection with consumers are built into the systems. Email was also an expected favorite, since it’s such a universally used method.

Interestingly, according to reporting from eMarketer, the communications with consumers on these channels are often one-sided. Plenty of people leave ratings and reviews of small businesses on platforms like Facebook, yet about half of U.S. small and medium businesses don’t consider this feedback critical to their business.

However, as searches for “reviews” has inched up in recent years, those organizations may want to reconsider.

Text messages and phone calls, Ripl speculates, have a personal nature that could appeal to small businesses, and can be effective – the vast majority of text messages are read within just a few minutes.

3. Digital Advertising Now Outweighs Offline Analog Advertising

In 2017, Ripl began asking how much participants spend on various marketing efforts, and discovered a shift to software tools and digital advertising. In the Q3 survey, participants reported upping digital marketing spend and decreasing analog efforts.

More than 75 percent of participating small businesses spend up to $500 each month on digital marketing tools, such as software or apps. Almost 70 percent of participating small businesses spend up to $500 each month on online advertising on Facebook, Google or some other platform.

At the same time, well over half of participating small businesses spend no money on analog methods, such as print, broadcast, mailings and events.

Social Media Advertising for Small Businesses

Whether you’re trying to bring in new customers, maintain relationships with your existing ones or both as a small business, social media is likely the route you’ve chosen. From ads to direct communication, these increasingly popular channels provide ways for brands to become established and interact with users in a range of ways.

Forbes offers 12 ways for small businesses to improve their social media presence, including:

  • Goal identification.
  • Planning.
  • Selecting the best networks for you.
  • Automation.
  • Content calendars.
  • Internal management.
  • Monitoring channels.

Sprout Social highlights the difference between having a social media presence and having an effective social media presence, and that the latter is not always easy when running a small business. The section on value and cost may be of particular interest to advertisers, covering budgets, value and ROI.

Last December we discussed Social Media, E-Commerce and the Customers’ Path to Purchase. For advertisers, we focused on the top social e-commerce retail categories (fashion and food), emphasizing the importance of the overall experience your ad content creates, from influencers to aesthetics.

Social media is on track to become one of the most important aspects of small business marketing and advertising. Keep focusing on existing customers, the feedback they provide and the experience you create, and you can make the best of current trends in the social media ad space.

Online Trackers are Everywhere – Do Advertisers Rely on Them Too Much?

by on 5 February 2018in Advertising

We’ve never claimed that digital advertising is easy, but at least there are plenty of tools out there to help ads provide more bang for your buck.

But, what happens when the very tools meant to help advertisers are being blocked by browsers and users? Let’s talk about one issue in that space: trackers.

Trackers are Present on More than 75 Percent of Websites

In 2017, Ghostery released the findings of a study on the pervasiveness of online trackers, and how that impacts user experience and privacy. The study was international, looked at hundreds of thousands of users across all major browsers and examined nearly 150 million page loads.

Of the tested page loads, 77.4 percent had at least one tracker – a script that hangs out on popular sites, attaches itself to users and follows them around the internet to record their behavior. The resulting data helps advertisers target their ads to users most likely to convert.

Nearly half of the sites contained two to nine trackers, and more than 16 percent had 10 or more.

While trackers provide valid data for statistics and advertising purposes, users (and even the website owners themselves) rarely have any idea who’s monitoring their movements.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the entities most commonly following users around as tracking scripts are Google and Facebook. Of the top 10 most widely used trackers, Google operates five. Facebook operates three of the top 11 trackers. Twitter and comScore each operate an approximately 11 percent share of the top trackers.

Google Analytics, for example, was the most widely used tracker, and found on more than 46 percent of tested pages. Facebook Connect came in second with a presence on almost 22 percent of sites.

The obvious concern for users when it comes to trackers is privacy. According to Ghostery, trackers can follow users to their most intimate of searches, whether we’re talking financial data, health concerns, politics or sexual interests. Further, tracker operators could, theoretically, obtain login information to a user’s bank account.

Of course, for advertisers, trackers support targeting and retargeting, which are integral to the advertising process. At the same time, just as users aren’t generally thrilled about seeing the ads themselves, they’re even less thrilled by feeling stalked around the internet by the ad creators and publishers.

Advertisers must be aware of the ramifications of over-reliance on trackers. Ghostery mentions blocklists, which stop specified trackers from loading along with a web page and thereby reduce load time and data usage.

Because trackers can find ways to bypass blocklists, Ghostery has developed an artificial-intelligence-based anti-tracking that gives trackers random, rather than identifying, information. This will be a much more difficult obstacle for trackers, and chip away at the information advertisers use to target their ads.

Separately, eMarketer reminds us of the wider steps taken against online ads – ad blockers. In fact, eMarketer estimates that the use of ad blockers in 2018 (30 percent) will nearly double the use of them in 2014.

Last summer we provided a heads up about Google’s plans for a new Chrome ad blocking tool, which was expected in 2018. Now, Google has just released a new version of the Chrome browser with its own protections against shady ads, and the more stringent ad blocking is expected to begin mid-February.

Beyond Ad Blockers

It’s not just ad blockers that advertisers should be aware of. Major players are employing tools to go the route of Ghostery, and stop the trackers in their, well, tracks.

Mashable recently reported on the new DuckDuckGo app, which provides protection during both searches and browsing by combining tracker blocking, smart encryption and private search across all major platforms. DuckDuckGo is already known for selling ads based on search terms rather than specific tracking, and this new app lets users see which trackers are getting shut down, and even blocks some display ads.

Apple is also in the anti-tracking game. According to reporting from Digiday, Apple prioritizes customer experience well over ad sales (it makes most of its money on devices, not advertising), so brands that rely on ad targeting are the ones taking the hit.

The thing is, users already have the option to opt out of personalized ads, though they might not be aware of the option. Activating this setting means users can affect the ads within Google’s services and on the millions of websites with which Google partners.

More than ever, advertisers must work hard – not just to get their ads served at the right time to the right people, but to keep them honest, attractive and relevant. If your campaigns aren’t offering enough in the way of information and entertainment (because it’s all about the user experience), you’re only going to contribute to the demand for ad blockers, anti-tracking tools and other obstacles to effective targeting.

Martech is More Accessible, but SMBs Still Struggle to Adopt It

by on 29 January 2018in Social Signals

Near the end of 2017, ActiveCampaign released findings from its SMB Martech Report: Beyond Email Marketing. In recent years, martech has evolved rapidly, and become more accessible thanks to cloud software and improved tool integration.

For small to medium businesses (SMBs), this means a chance to be on equal footing with brands that have historically enjoyed the benefits of greater budgets, resources and access when it comes to marketing technology and advertising.

Based on the research, ActiveCampaign thinks marketing automation technology will be the tool small businesses use as they “graduate” from email marketing. Of course, those brands will have a lot to learn, and this report is designed to help SMBs succeed as they advance beyond email marketing.

SMBs: Ready for Martech, but Will Face a Learning Curve

The four key findings in the report illustrate where SMBs are along the path to martech and marketing automation adoption:

  1. Seventy-six percent of SMBs use multiple marketing software tools. Yet, almost half remain unfamiliar with the concept of marketing technology stacks (the group of tech tools a brand uses to execute marketing strategy). At the same time, more than one-third of SMBs think marketing software provides benefits, and plan to increase investments in it. Thirty percent of small businesses have struggled with marketing software, and 16 percent find martech intimidating.
  2. Sixty-four percent of SMBs using email marketing will incorporate automation within two years (only 30 percent are doing so right now). Eighty-two percent of SMBs already using email either use marketing automation now, or plan to within the next five years.
  3. Forty percent of SMB marketers see automation as out of reach. Just over one-quarter of current software users find it too complex. Interestingly, 85 percent of SMBs using marketing automation think they’re leveraging its full capabilities, yet more than half only use its most basic functions.
  4. Companies with 10 to 49 employees are where marketing automation really begins to take root, with an adoption rate of 30 percent. Companies with 100 or more employees are seeing adoption rates of nearly 50 percent.

Small and Medium Businesses are Ready to Graduate from Email to Marketing Automation

A certain level of fear and tension is understandable when expanding beyond email marketing. Even when SMBs see the value of incorporating marketing automation, they see several solutions as out of reach.

Still, many of these brands are building martech stacks without even realizing it (as stated earlier, over three-quarters use more than one martech tool). Fortunately, the more tools a brand adopts, the more familiar it becomes with the concept of a martech stack.

Brands using more tools also have an easier time describing their martech stacks – overall, about 75 percent of SMBs know how to describe what they’re using. So, what are they using? All-in-one solutions and integrated best-of-breed stacks are used at about the same rate, while fragmented stacks are somewhat less popular.

Over 90 percent of SMBs track the return on investment (ROI) of their martech solutions. As they continue to see the added value of these tools, ActiveCampaign predicts greater adoption of the integrated best-of-breed stacks.

SMBs can ease their fears of martech adoption by planning for future integration. An investment roadmap breaks adoption into more digestible tasks. Despite the learning curve, smaller brands can be confident that martech will become easier the more they dive into it.

It makes sense that SMBs would begin with email marketing, figuring out a basic strategy before trying more advanced options. Right now, 47 percent of SMBs using email marketing also use customer relationship management (CRM) software, and 30 percent of them use marketing automation.

ActiveCampaign sees this as a natural progression, especially considering that only 7 percent take on email marketing and marketing automation at the same time.

Fortunately, 85 percent of SMBs who do incorporate marketing automation into their martech stacks see results within a year. Sixty-one percent say it’s contributed to moderate growth. While only 40 percent of email-only SMB marketers rate their strategy as “good” or “excellent,” a full 80 percent of those using marketing software feel their strategies are that beneficial.

It’s wise for SMBs to not bite off more than they can chew, but email marketing and marketing automation must be seen as a package deal for the future. This becomes more realistic when brands look for best-of-breed tools for integration, rather than all-in-one solutions.

As mentioned earlier, 40 percent of SMBs feel marketing automation is out of reach. Unfamiliarity, cost and not knowing where to start are among the main reasons.

Much of this is validated by the brands already using marketing automation. Complexity is a primary obstacle to getting the full value out of chosen solutions, along with a lack of time. These things hold marketers back from moving beyond email automation to customer service, content and mobile efforts.

To build confidence and ROI, brands should take advantage of support offered by martech vendors. They should also test and experiment internally to work out the kinks of individual tools. Finally, seeking out tech-savvy new hires means finding ideal candidates for mastering the martech stack.

What Moves SMBs from Email to Marketing Automation?

Customer acquisition and revenue growth drive SMB martech adoption, but they aren’t the only things leading to this advancement. Company size is an important factor as well.

Solo entrepreneurs tend to use just one marketing software tool, and 30 percent don’t even use the email marketing software they have.

SMBs with 10 to 49 employees, however, use marketing suites at a rate of 41 percent, adopt marketing automation at 29 percent and are familiar with the concept of martech stacks at a rate of 61 percent.

Companies with 100 to 499 employees are 40 to 50 percent likely to use four or five tools, adopt marketing automation and create best-of-breed martech stacks.

The same goes for marketing departments – the larger they are, the more likely they are to adopt marketing automation.

ActiveCampaign wraps up with these recommendations for SMBs looking to move beyond email marketing:

  • Select tools that understand how you work and provide appropriate guidance and recommendations.
  • Add one tool at a time, which allows you to look for tailored solutions of quality, rather than an all-in-one.
  • Find marketing automation that integrates with your other platforms – choose native integrations over third-party integration tools.
  • Don’t be enticed by latest and greatest tools, unless they can truly provide the outcome you need.

Get Comfortable with Automation

If your SMB needs a little more encouragement before diving into martech and marketing automation, check out these tips on helpful tools from MarTech Today.

Can martech and adtech (advertising technology) converge to create even better consumer insights? Find out in our discussion on the topic from last summer.

Marketing technology, including the automation variety, is going to continue marching forward. It’s easier than ever for small to medium businesses to keep pace, and now’s the time to start building your toolkit.