Author: Jessica Lee

Artificial Intelligence and Advertising Efforts

by on 26 July 2017in Social Signals

Advertising, and the larger world of marketing, is heavily reliant on data. Yet, as we know, leveraging that data for effective campaigns is a complicated task. Could artificial intelligence be the practical, and ethical, answer?

The Current State of Marketing and Advertising

In its latest State of Marketing report, Salesforce emphasizes the fact that the current frontline of brand competition is customer experience. Almost 70 percent of companies agree with this, but are all over the board when it comes to their progress toward improving the customer experience.

What do consumers want in that experience? In a word, personalization. Both individual consumers and business buyers favor consistent experiences across channels.

This is where data comes in. Historically, advertisers and other marketers walked a thin line between creating a personalized experience and going too deeply into consumers’ personal data. These days, 52 percent of Gen Xers and 58 percent of Millennials are willing to share their data if it means a better shopping experience.

Data is a Challenge to Developing the Customer Experience

Turning that data into great customer experiences, however, is tougher than it sounds. One challenge is taking data from multiple sources and generating a single and complete picture of the consumer from it. Budgets make this difficult, as do insufficient internal resources.

Using the data across advertising channels is also difficult, though the top performing brands see such coordination as key. Coordination goes beyond consistent messaging across channels – it’s about ad messaging that evolves across channels based on consumer actions. Right now, although leading brands strive for this, only 43 percent accomplish it.

Roles Change to Fit a Customer Experience Strategy

As focus shifts to the customer journey, 89 percent of the top performing companies’ teams and departments are restructuring around that strategy. New roles, such as customer experience analyst, have emerged within marketing teams.

Stepping back, Salesforce finds that the whole concept of marketing, and advertising as a part of that, is changing its place within organizations. The positive result is increased collaboration between departments.

Technology Evolves to Orchestrate the Customer Experience

Top performing companies use data management platforms and customer identity access management platforms to set up touchpoints along the customer journey.

Those companies also tend to use a range of technology tools, in some cases as many as 15, to gather the data they need. Of course, it’s important to ensure that data from multiple sources can be integrated (see first link in this article) to provide that single picture of the consumer, as we discussed a couple sections back.

Emerging technologies are expected to develop and grow as a customer-centered approach becomes more standard. Of those technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to have the most growth.

Artificial Intelligence Seen as a Key to Data and Personalization

AI is expected to grow in the coming years, but what exactly will it do? Specifically, it can make advertising more efficient and personalized.

Of those companies already using it, 64 percent say it’s increased overall efficiency, and 57 percent say it helps create 1-to-1 marketing experiences. Leading companies are more than three times as likely as underperformers to use AI extensively.

Better yet, AI is expected to positively impact automated social interactions with chatbots and interfaces.

Thoughts from the Industry on AI and Advertising

Artificial intelligence is poised to play a larger and growing role in marketing as a whole. How does it play into advertising as a specific aspect of marketing? The industry has a few things to say.

One piece from AdvertisingAge discusses the ethics of using AI in advertising. The article brings up the fact that advertisers can learn so much more than demographics, and may even be able to understand individual consumers’ motivations and vulnerabilities. Could advertising thus move from persuasion to behavior control?

More practically, what about the potential for biased data, flawed decisions and privacy violations?

The piece goes on to describe a possible code of ethics based on data, algorithms and consumer choice. This code is designed to remove moral guesswork for advertisers, and make the consumer a sort of partner in determining the marketing they receive.

Adweek takes another track, questioning the possibility for AI to replace human advertisers. Can algorithms compete with human creativity?

This article looks at four companies already incorporating AI with their creative advertising processes. At the moment, a successful formula involves taking human ideas and using AI to personalize them for audiences.

Over at MarTech Today, we hear about using AI in display advertising. Ethics aside, marketers overwhelmingly feel consumers are ready for AI and think it can solve problems. Like the Salesforce report, MarTech sees artificial intelligence as a means to making advertising more efficient and personalized.

Here at SearchForce we’ve talked about using AI to fuel customer loyalty. Once again, the ultimate key seems to be using the tools available to create a personalized consumer journey.

The pool of data digital marketers and advertisers encounter has grown beyond comprehension, but it continues to hold immeasurable value. When used ethically, creatively and efficiently, artificial intelligence might be the solution we’ve been waiting for.

Developing an Approach of Integration for Advertising Success

by on 24 July 2017in Advertising

It’s easy to allow digital data to become siloed within strategies and departments. Yet, breaking down some of those walls might be just what you need to find true advertising success.

Integrating Data, People and Technologies

In June, Think with Google shared its research on integration in data, technology and teams, and how that integration can bring companies success.

With all the data available today, advertisers know a lot about their consumers’ purchasing journey. Of course, they can’t improve journey experiences without understanding what all that data means. This can become a challenge when they try to integrate the data with teams and technology.

Still, the companies that exceed their business goals say being a data-driven organization is essential to their success, and two-thirds say it’s more reliable than going on gut-instinct. Support from the C-suite is important for this, but cooperation across teams is a must.

Following are three ways to integrate your company’s approach and become more data-driven:

1. Integrate Data: Combine First- and Third-Party Resources

This is an effective way to get a more complete picture of your audience. If you’re only looking at data captured on individual channels and devices, or on specific interactions with ads, you’re missing pieces of the puzzle.

Begin by defining your top business goals, and then identifying the data sources that can answer the questions related to those goals. Next, figure out how to integrate those key data sources for a holistic view of your audience. Don’t only know if they clicked on ads, but if they reacted to the ads in some other way, or instead made an in-store purchase.

If you don’t own some of the data you need to address those top goals, figure out how to connect data points with partnerships, purchase lists and APIs.

2. Integrate People: Share Data Across Company Teams

Isolating various company teams in different silos keeps data from moving efficiently between them.

You could certainly reorganize the teams to make them more integrated, but opening access to the data might be even more crucial. This so-called democratization of your data can make it easier for teams and departments to work together.

Once you’ve opened access to the data, ensure that individual team members know what to do with it. Yes, analysts and data scientists are critical to the team. However, according to Think with Google’s data, 75 percent of marketers think a lack of data and data analytics education is the greatest barrier to becoming more data-driven.

For example, when everyone on your digital ads team understands what your data means, they are better equipped to make educated decisions in real-time about tweaking messaging.

3. Integrate Technologies: Link Marketing and Advertising Stacks

Complement the complete view of your audience by identifying consumer segments, and customizing your remarketing for better customer experiences.

Integrating your analytics and advertising technologies allows you to take actions on the insights you gain from more unified data. Once you’re using these “full-stacks,” you can act with:

  • Audience-level data to personalize customer experiences
  • Digital analytics for optimizing user experience in real-time
  • Customer-level data for segmenting and reaching individuals
  • Attribution for evaluating how channels work together and allocating budgets

We recently discussed this very concept in our post on the convergence of adtech and martech. While some in the industry don’t think it will work, many others agree with what Think with Google says – integrating data, teams and technologies is key to mastering the customer journey.

Getting Started with Integration

Understandably, many companies aren’t at the cutting edge of data integration, because it’s hard. One of the first things you need to do is focus on developing a data strategy.

The Harvard Business Review offers a general framework for developing a data strategy:

  • Know if you want to use data defensively (to minimize risks) or offensively (to support business objectives), and strike a balance for how your company takes on both tasks at the same time.
  • Have single, inviolable sources of data, but recognize that they can feed multiple versions of the truth, such as figures that differ according to user needs.
  • Organize your data management to be centralized (ideal for defensive data), or decentralized (ideal for offensive data). Funding is an important factor to consider while doing this.

Switching gears a bit, let’s consider another area that could benefit from integration. According to Kissmetrics, SEO and PPC teams often have difficulty communicating with each other. How can you utilize data from both to increase conversions and decrease costs?

To address that, Kissmetrics discusses how to proceed when Google owns a great deal of your data. Then, they lay out ways to integrate paid and organic traffic, using PPC to understand user intent and Display ads to hack SEO terms.

Advertisers have access to so much data nowadays, and need to know how to translate it into effective campaigns. Integration of data, as well as people and technology, is key to understanding the customer journey, encouraging collaboration between teams and driving your top business goals.

Brand Habits on Social Media: Cool vs. Annoying

by on 19 July 2017in Social Media

Social media is an easy place to create a cult of personality. However, unless you do it just right, your ads will annoy rather than engage.

Sprout Social Index

Sprout Social recently released its Q2 index, which focused on the impact of brands trying to be “cool” or snarky on social media. Do consumers really want this from brands, and does it actually lead to sales?

When it comes down to it, what consumers want is authenticity. Sure, 72 percent of them might appreciate brands’ humor on social platforms, but only 33 percent want true snark. What consumers crave most is honesty (86 percent) and friendliness (83 percent).

Adopting an outlandish personality may work for certain brands who invest in pushing the boundaries, so to speak, but not all brands are ready for that. For any brand, it’s best to first focus on quality, customer experiences and the favored traits in the above graph.

Which social platform brands choose is also important. Facebook is the preferred outlet of 83 percent of consumers for getting to know a brand’s personality, and YouTube and Twitter come in next at 48 and 40 percent respectively.

When consumers are segmented into age, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram are a much hotter spot for brand personality, at least among Millennials. Of course, these social platforms resonate better with their demographic anyway, so it’s not a complete surprise.

The takeaway for brands and advertisers is to understand your audiences on the different social platforms. Know what they do on the platforms, and how they respond to advertising on those platforms, before diving into a certain brand personality.

Be aware that for brands, the line between cool and annoying is thin. Referring to cultural events is cool, as long as you do so in a genuine way. Once you veer into using slang, talking politics and (especially) making fun of customers, you run a far greater risk of being annoying.

Here again, we see a difference when we segment out the Millennials. This younger generation is more tolerant of behavior that older generations see as annoying, such as using slang and making fun of competing brands.

Yet, traits like friendliness and helpfulness still win out. If a brand is mentioned in a conversation, 68 percent of consumers want those brands to participate, and 83 percent want brands to respond to them (and those numbers are even higher among Millennials).

The point is, to stay cool and not become annoying, brands must know what they stand for and be able to differentiate between conversations that need them and conversations that don’t.

Understand that dipping from humorous to annoying is a threat to the bottom line. While over 70 percent of consumers might enjoy brand humor, less than 40 percent make purchases based on that. Further, brands that become irritating (say, with tired humor) could lose more than half of their following.

Once again, fostering a good customer experience is a good alternative to relying on being hilarious. Nearly 50 percent of consumers will follow up responsiveness with a purchase. Only 10 percent will do so after brands trash-talk competitors.

If you’d like to be funny but aren’t ready to make it your advertising strategy, incorporate humor into your conversations with individual customers. If that works, consider using small doses of humor more widely. Remember, though, well-received humor doesn’t necessarily translate into more sales. A solid customer experience is always your best bet.

Stepping further back, we’re reminded that, for many industries, personality doesn’t matter at all. Consumers don’t want to see personality from the government, banking or utilities industries. They’re far more open to it from the media, consumer goods, travel/hospitality and auto industries.

Interestingly, consumers don’t necessarily get personality from the places they most expect it. The entertainment industry might be a place personality is expected, but it’s terrible when it comes to responding to consumers. Utilities, expected to be more stoic, are actually better than other industries at responding to consumers.

So, whether you peddle comedy or electricity as your product, humor and personality aren’t always an optimal ad strategy. Stick to being honest and helpful and offering quality above all else.

Support from Hootsuite and Tips from Top Performers

If you want a quick guide on how to avoid being annoying as a brand on social media, check out these top “Don’ts” from Hootsuite:

  1. Self-promotion prioritized over engagement
  2. Jumping on all trends, even non-related ones
  3. Overuse of hashtags and emojis
  4. Lack of posts and response, especially to critical engagement
  5. Poor customer support

Hootsuite also highlights what the most successful brands are doing on social media, and it sounds like a good plan for being not-annoying to us:

  • Post regularly, but put quality above volume.
  • Use engaging visuals.
  • Post photos for likes and videos for shares.
  • Share DIY guides and recipes.
  • Display corporate responsibility initiatives.

For a little more information on reaching younger audiences while nurturing their trust (and not their annoyance), check out our post on teens and trust in ads. Also remember that consumers in positive moods are less likely to find ads annoying, and try to reach them at ideal times.

Established brands might delight consumers with snark, but for most of us, a strategy of honesty and good service is the better way to go. Test the waters of humor carefully, and never put your personality ahead of the customer experience.

Social Video Ad Spend Increase and Other Trends to Watch

by on 17 July 2017in Social Media

Everyone is paying attention to video ads on social media, and it pays to know what viewers want and where ad spend dollars go. Let’s explore the state of social video ads, as well as some tips for advertisers.

The State of Social Media Video Ads

Recently, eMarketer highlighted findings from video creator Animoto, showing that Facebook and YouTube secure more video advertisers (at 67 and 51 percent respectively) than Twitter or Instagram (each at only 25 percent).

The reason for this is advertisers’ greater confidence in Facebook and YouTube to drive views, engagement and sales. For example, confidence in Facebook to drive views and engagement nears 90 percent, while confidence in Instagram to do the same hovers around 70 percent.

However, advertisers do plan to increase their video ad spending on all four platforms, especially Twitter and Instagram. According to Animoto’s data, the number of advertisers planning to increase Twitter and Instagram is double those who already advertise on them.

Pulling back to see the wider findings from Animoto, we see the state of social media video in general, which can inform advertisers in the space:

Consumers and marketers are both paying attention. Sixty-four percent of consumers, who tend to watch in the afternoon and evening, say Facebook marketing videos influence purchases. Nearly half of marketers create four or more videos each month, and most use assets they already have.

The focus is on mobile. Facebook reported 1.74 billion mobile monthly active users earlier in 2017, and marketers are responding by optimizing videos for mobile and creating both square and vertical videos.

Viewers prefer to watch silent videos with text overlays. Eighty-five percent of viewers watch Facebook with the sound off, and 39 percent finish videos with subtitles. Video creators get the hint – 67 percent usually or always use text overlays, and 51 percent usually or always use closed captioning.

Platform spending is diversifying for video advertising. Of course, Facebook and YouTube retain the lead (as discussed above).

Branded videos get views and engagement every day. Both span the various platforms, and preference for pre-recorded and live videos is pretty evenly split.

Consumers know what they want from social media videos. The top liked and shared videos are behind-the-scenes, educational, funny and emotional.

Attention spans are short. Seventy-three percent of viewers decide whether to stick with a video in the first 30 seconds, and 43 percent decide in less than 15 seconds. Videos most likely to get watched for more than a minute contain educational, current event and entertaining content. Mobile attention spans are, unsurprisingly, shorter.

Social Video and Ad Trends to Watch

If you’re on Facebook, you’ve likely noticed how much video is in your feed. Last year, in an interview with Buzzfeed News, Mark Zuckerberg said:

“We’re entering this new golden age of video. I wouldn’t be surprised if you fast-forward five years and most of the content that people see on Facebook and are sharing on a day-to-day basis is video.”

Facebook has long been onto making videos better for users and possibly upping the payouts for advertisers. Back in March, we talked about some big opportunities for Facebook video advertisers, including updates to video ad delivery and mid-roll ads.

Video advertisers on Facebook should recognize that, as videos in general improve on Facebook, the opportunities for advertising will increase. Further, as things become more lucrative for publishers, the advertisers they partner with can benefit as well.

Aum talks about a couple areas to watch as you increase advertising though social media videos:

  • Consider what kind of video you want to create. For example, will live video on Facebook work better with your audience, or should you stick to more traditional, pre-recorded videos?
  • Look to other social media platforms, such as Snapchat, if your audience is younger. Like with Facebook, you have the option to do more casual videos or develop more formal ads.

Tips from the Leading Social Platforms

To encourage your success with social media video ads, the leading platforms offer some tips for getting started.

Facebook frames video ads as a way to show off your personality, display products and features and let an audience know who you are.

  • A mobile camera, creative apps and inspiration are all you need to begin.
  • Upload directly to Facebook, as links to external videos won’t necessarily work as efficiently or attractively with Facebook’s user interface.
  • Create video ads with mobile in mind, making them square or vertical for the most screen real estate.
  • Get and keep attention with videos under 15 seconds that include your brand/product early on and feature great visuals.
  • Cater to those with the sound off by including text and images that communicate the full message.

YouTube provides step-by-step info for getting started, as well as these tips for before creating TrueView video ads:

  • Ad groups can only contain videos of one format (in-stream or video discovery), so if you want a campaign to contain multiple formats, you need separate ad groups.
  • TrueView videos must be hosted on YouTube.
  • TrueView video campaigns can’t contain text, images or other video ad formats.

Bumper video ads are also an option, though they are only six seconds or shorter and can’t be skipped by viewers. Bumper ads work well as complements to TrueView ads and in mobile environments.

Video is a primary form of online communication, and different forms will work for different advertisers. Find your niche and start uploading to the leading platforms!

Comparing Mobile In-App and Mobile Web Advertising

by on 12 July 2017in Mobile

When you advertise in mobile environments, you have the choice between doing so on the mobile web or in mobile apps. Let’s explore what might be best for your mobile campaigns.

Mobile Web and Mobile Apps: Similar Use and Ad Experience

IAB recently released some new device research – a global perspective on consumer experiences with mobile. A significant portion of the report focuses on the mobile web, mobile apps and advertising on both platforms.

Smartphone owners use mobile web and mobile apps with similar frequency across the regions and countries of the world. More than half of users access the internet with each platform once daily or more.

For daily users, about six sites or apps are accessed each day.

Users access the internet on the mobile web and in apps for a wide range of reasons.

Mobile websites are preferred for:

  • Finding information
  • Purchasing products and services
  • Booking services
  • Reading article and blogs

Mobile apps are preferred for:

  • Finding locations
  • Navigating
  • Paying bills
  • Online banking
  • Watching short videos, TV shows and movies
  • Listening to music
  • Social networking
  • Mobile gaming
  • Email
  • SMS
  • Making calls/video calls
  • Instant messaging

Users might opt for mobile apps for more activities, but when it comes to the type of content accessed, they enjoy the mobile web as well.

The vast majority of users, as much as 90 percent, remember seeing ads on both the web and apps within the first couple of days after seeing said ads.

Nearly half of those users then acted on the ads they saw. Whether they saw the ads on the mobile web or mobile apps, they took action in almost equal measure. In North America, each platform was equally influential at 43 percent.

Specifically, users either recalled a brand or clicked on an ad. Mobile web ads prompt brand recall slightly better, while mobile app ads score a little better on ad clicks.

When IAB looked at North American user actions specifically, those actions after mobile web ad and mobile app ad exposure were in line with the global rates.

Smartphone users feel ads on both the mobile web and mobile apps have improved in terms of loading speed, relevance and creativity over the past year. However, they also feel ads are more frequent and intrusive.

Keep in mind that users still spend more time with mobile apps. According to eMarketer’s predictions, just under 90 percent of adult smartphone use time in the United States (just over two hours a day) will be spent in apps this year, while they only spend 16 minutes a day with the mobile web.

Mobile Web Ads and Mobile App Ads: Pros and Cons

We’ve seen that mobile web ads and mobile app ads are quite similar in their effectiveness. Yet, they remain two different concepts, even as spending for each doubles (see next link). App Samurai provides a side-by-side comparison to help advertisers decide which is best for their campaigns.

Mobile Web Advertising

The benefits of mobile web ads are:

  • Accessibility – Users don’t have to download apps, and anyone using the internet can see mobile web ads. Responsive design scales content to fit smaller screens, allowing advertisers to concentrate on the ads themselves, rather than mobile-first design.
  • Audience size – Unlike the “walled garden” of apps, the mobile web is available to anyone. The overall audience is thus significantly larger.
  • Affordability – Mobile web advertising costs less than mobile app advertising because only one ad must be created to reach all types of devices.
  • User cookies – Since mobile web advertisers can use cookies for visitors, ad targeting can improve, boosting the user experience overall.

The disadvantages of mobile web ads are:

  • Competition – With that larger audience, advertisers are not reaching out to the targeted market that they are in apps. Further, web pages are likely to show more ads than are apps.
  • Fraudulent traffic – In the more open mobile web environment, it’s harder to protect your ads from fraud.

Mobile App Advertsing

The benefits of mobile app ads are:

  • Brand safety – When an ad is aligned with a particular app, advertisers can be confident that it will have a particular presentation style.
  • Conversion rates – These more personalized apps in more targeted environments mean that engagement, and thus conversion, is more likely.
  • Engagement – People come to apps intending to engage, so doing that with an ad is easier once users are inside the app.
  • Limited Competition – Fewer ads are displayed in apps, so users are more open to the ones they do see. Analytics can also help to improve performance.
  • Targeting options – It’s easier to learn about user preferences in an app. With location and other data, advertisers can reach a specific group.
  • Visibility – Fraudulent attacks are harder to carry out in an app, so it’s more likely your ads will be seen by real people, not bots.

The disadvantages of mobile app ads are:

  • Expense – All of the advantages of in-app advertising make it more expensive.
  • No cookies – Not being able to tell who’s seen your ads before makes targeting more challenging.

State of Mobile Advertising

To learn more on the current state of mobile advertising, check out our earlier post on mobile apps and advertising, as well as Digiday’s reporting on mobile advertising in general.

Whether you choose to advertise on the mobile web or in mobile apps, continue to weigh the pros and cons of each as the market, and the technology, grow and evolve.

Viewer Mood Impacts Digital Ad Receptivity and Purchasing

by on 10 July 2017in Social Signals

We talk about reaching the right people at the right time with your digital ads, but what does that mean? In part, it means reaching them in the right mood.

Upbeat Moods Increase Ad Effectiveness

New research from Yahoo shows that the right viewer moods can boost ad effectiveness by up to 40 percent.

According to the research, “upbeat” is the most common mood, and it can make people 24 percent more receptive to advertisements and 40 percent more receptive to digital advertising.

Viewers prefer certain types of digital ads when they’re feeling upbeat, and engage at greater rates with:

  • Native video content (3o percent)
  • Content marketing (28 percent)
  • Direct marketing (21 percent)

A viewer’s mood carries almost as much weight as what they’re doing at the moment. While 71 percent click on an ad if it aligns with their activity, 67 click on an ad if they’re in the right mood.

According to Yahoo’s data, viewers in the United States and the United Kingdom are most likely to be in “upbeat” moods between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. These also happen to be the hours when they’re more likely to look for answers, inspiration and general life management.

For mobile advertisers, the news is even better. Upbeat smartphone users are 15 percent more likely to quickly follow up on digital ads than those in other moods. They’re also 25 percent more likely to say mobile digital ads provide inspiring prompts.

Viewers Prefer Hulu Ads to Television Ads in Every Mood

Going a little deeper, we see how mood impacts not only ad receptivity, but how it impacts platform choices. Remember, viewers in a good mood are even more receptive to digital advertising than they are to ads in general.

Recently, Hulu partnered with Leflein to build on research they’d completed previously on ad receptivity.

In the two waves of earlier research, Hulu and Leflein learned that:

  • Ad receptivity is psychological.
  • Few people are not at all receptive to ads, and those with low receptivity are a better focus for advertisers.
  • Viewing with purpose means greater ad receptivity.
  • A change in ad options can make a significant difference.

That earlier research (Phase I) was a statistical analysis showing that relaxed situations lead to greater ad watching on Hulu. The new research (Phases II and III) worked with participants who subscribe to both Hulu Limited Ads and regular television, examining their feelings on both platforms. These samples included a hypnosis focus group and participants in an online survey.

When it comes to comparing Hulu Limited Ads with television, participants appreciate viewing experiences that give them control, suit their moods and keep commercials to a minimum. Hulu scored better than television on all of these by more than 50 percentage points.

Hulu offers control in several ways. For 71 percent of participants, the greatest example of this is their ability to watch old seasons of newly-discovered shows. Seventy percent of participants save shows to watch only on Hulu. Others like to savor the shows or use them to kill time between other shows.

Hulu is much more popular than television for purposeful viewing, which we know from earlier research can positively impact ad viewership. If viewers are distracted or even indifferent, they’re more likely to switch on the television.

Now we get to the heart of the matter – how mood impacts platform choice. Both relaxed and agitated moods favor Hulu over television, but relaxed moods do so by a much greater amount.

Whether they’re watching Hulu or television, participants are more willing to watch commercials during their favorite shows – as much as 46 percent more willing during their most favorite show. Of course, since viewers feel they have more control over Hulu, perhaps such a situation is more likely there.

Further, even viewers with low ad receptivity are more likely to watch Hulu ads when feeling relaxed.

All of this comes together to tell us not only that positive moods make people more likely to watch ads on Hulu, but also that Hulu can actually contribute to positive moods. It beats television by 28 percentage points in participants’ ratings for improving their mood.

We can assume it’s user experience that boosts viewers’ moods. Among the top-rated Hulu features are:

  • Auto play
  • Commercial count-down timer
  • Search bar
  • Video timeline/scrubber
  • Watchlist

Your ads are more likely to be seen on Hulu than regular television. Viewers appreciate that the platform shows fewer ads, and presents them less disruptively. Hulu’s ads are also thought to be higher-quality, more entertaining and more relevant than those on television.

Using Emotion in Ads

Once you catch people in the right mood, your ads can elicit emotions that encourage them to buy. In fact, emotions can be even more powerful than facts in this regard.

In an article on using feelings to drive sales, Hubspot discusses four basic categories of human emotion:

  • Happy
  • Sad
  • Afraid/surprised
  • Angry/disgusted

While successful brands don’t necessarily want these emotions directed at them, they find a way to make the emotions work for them.

The bottom line is, moods and emotions are powerful tools when it comes to getting people to watch your ads and act upon them. If you reach your audience in the ideal mood, and then draw out certain emotions, you’ll create a frame of mind that drives more sales.

The Latest comScore Insights for Digital Auto Advertisers

by on 5 July 2017in Advertising

In May, comScore released its latest monthly digital topic data, this time concentrating on the automotive industry in the digital space. Let’s explore what they had to say about online auto consumers, their habits and how best to reach them.

How are People Shopping for Autos Online?

The internet has changed how people buy vehicles. What used to be a months-long process of considering multiple cars might now take only days and the consideration of just one or two cars.

Instead of doing research in libraries and at dealerships, buyers find information online (including customer reviews) and know what they want by the time they make those few dealership visits. What hasn’t changed is the purchase itself, which still happens at the physical dealership.

It seems that automotive sites are central to the process. With over 130 million monthly visitors, they reach more than double the audience of auto manufacturer sites. An average person spends more than 28 minutes a month on auto sites, and most people use mobile to do it.

Although mobile is the preferred device for most digital auto shoppers, desktop still sees more time on auto sites – 68 percent of it. Because auto research is complex, comScore speculates that screen size, keyboards and tabbed browsers are behind this trend.

Even as auto-related time on mobile doubles, desktop time still dominates, and even grows. Among Millennials, mobile time on auto sites actually dropped by 8.5 percent.

Still, a rise in mobile minutes indicates the advertisers’ need for a multi-platform strategy, especially on auto resource sites. This means reaching shoppers on-the-go and even while they’re shopping at dealerships.

At the same time, advertisers must understand that consumers don’t readily adopt multi-platform habits when it comes to large investments requiring physical visits (such as home and auto purchases). Most people will focus on one platform, which in this case is mobile (remember, that’s most people, but not the majority of overall shopper time).

Who is Shopping for Autos Online?

The serious online auto shopper looks a certain way and has certain habits.

Most likely, the people spending a lot of time looking at autos online are male, make $60,000 or more a year and consume a lot of retail, news and business content.

The people who are very likely to buy (according to comScore’s data) also have a profile. They’re active on social media, spending more than eight monthly hours on mobile Facebook. Half of them share their opinions on the network, and 40 percent read opinions on social media.

Half of likely buyers also consistently strive to be healthier, with habits like sometimes or always checking food ingredients.

Finally, likely auto buyers in digital spaces consume culture in the form of movies (multiple times a month), music (classical/ballet/opera/other concerts) and art more than the general population.

These likely buyers lean certain ways in terms of their ideal product. Most are looking for new cars. Those opting for new cars are more likely to:

  • Own a hybrid vehicle
  • Use Apple Music
  • Buy luxury vehicles or vans

Those opting for used cars are more likely to:

  • Have satellite radio
  • Have GPS
  • Own a Ford
  • Buy sedans/coupes or pickup trucks

The likely buyers shopping for new vehicles do their online research across both manufacturer and resource sites, with Autotrader being the most popular resource.

Interestingly, despite the growing use of mobile and desktop among auto shoppers, television is still the primary way auto advertisers reach out to consumers. In 2016, 86 percent of auto advertising dollars were poured into TV, while only 4 percent was put into digital advertising.

Auto advertisers should note that the most likely car buyers are connected well beyond their TV screens. Fifty-five percent subscribe to online video streaming services, and just under 100 percent get news and information on their phones. Sixty percent have no magazine subscriptions and haven’t read a Sunday paper in a month.

Still, 58 percent prefer watching live TV, so it’s nowhere near time for auto advertisers to abandon television advertising.

Capturing Your Mobile Audience and Driving Auto ROI

The internet and expansion of mobile use have changed the way consumers research and shop for cars, though reliance on TV ads and in-person purchases are still strong.

For auto advertisers, this might feel like a long transition. In the meantime, take these tips from our posts on capturing mobile audiences and driving ROI with digital auto advertising:

  • Remember that auto consumers shop in five major micro-moments, where they ask which cars are best, which is right for them, if they can afford it, where they should buy it and whether or not they’re getting a deal.
  • It’s important to know what your local competitors are offering, because shoppers may leave your lot after seeing a better deal on their phone. Highlight how you can do better than the competition.
  • Invest in capturing attention in those early micro-moments, when shoppers are narrowing down their selection. YouTube is a great platform for doing this.
  • Ramp up your mobile efforts to encourage foot traffic during peak visiting hours, then track your progress with analytics.

No one strategy will work for every digital auto advertising campaign, but an awareness of what’s changing, and what’s staying the same, can help you evolve with your audience and ultimately attract them to your ads, site and lot.

Potential and Challenge for the Convergence of Adtech and Martech

by on 3 July 2017in Resources

Consolidation and streamlining are efforts most companies want to make toward efficiency.

Right now, there’s an ongoing conversation around the possibilities and challenges of doing just that between the marketing technology (martech) and advertising technology (adtech) stacks. Can they truly marry and create better consumer insights and satisfaction, or is the wedding off?

The Current State of Adtech and Martech Convergence

In May, Forrester released findings on the current state of adtech and martech convergence in the United States. At the moment, true convergence is still more of a talking point than a reality, and many people are working to master each space individually before consolidating them.

The idea of convergence is getting an increasing amount of attention. Fifty-eight percent of companies are discussing how they’ll go about merging adtech and martech. Yet, only 35 percent have taken steps to implement a plan or complete the process. A remaining 7 percent aren’t even talking about convergence.

Among the noted hurdles are the perceptions and capabilities of team members. More than half of the participating marketers felt 25 percent or more of their colleagues don’t grasp the difference between adtech and martech. Marketers also doubt the capabilities of measurement and analytics.

How Some Companies Approach Adtech and Martech Convergence

Among the companies discussing merging their adtech and martech, the propositions are usually medium- to long-term. Only about 25 percent plan to implement convergence within the year, while about 75 percent are in the one- to two-year or more range.

To move forward, companies know they must consolidate consumer data for insights and engagement across devices and touchpoints. Yet, this is a barrier because it’s not only about collecting and consolidating the data, but also about doing so in a way that allows the data to be used and activated.

Another challenging aspect to the approach is coordinating across advertising and marketing silos – both internal company departments and external vendors and agencies. The cost of convergence is also a concern.

Areas of Opportunity for Adtech and Martech Convergence

A couple specific areas provide opportunity for companies to consolidate and use consumer data: email and a focus on the benefits of convergence.

Email is a great starting point for consumer data consolidation because:

  • It’s familiar and includes data marketers have collected for years.
  • It persists across sites, time and consumers’ digital footprints.
  • It’s tied to people, not devices or even households.

Keeping focus on the benefits is encouraging to companies just getting started with adtech and martech convergence. As there isn’t much to look at in terms of performance yet (for most), tangible benefits include new capabilities, such as improving customer satisfaction, more personalized content and better consumer insights.

The Industry’s Thoughts on Adtech and Martech Convergence

The marketing and advertising industries certainly have thoughts on the convergence of adtech and martech – some more positive than others.

MarTech Today columnist Chuck Moran says martech data should drive adtech by integrating the two stacks together and using consumer data as the engine for it all.

Moran describes an ideal world in which:

Data is the engine that gives marketers the 360° consumer view. It enables a marketer to identify and enhance all the trigger points in their relationship with consumers, powers their ability to build macro- and micro- consumer target profiles and provides specific direction for media placement, messaging and media types.

By focusing on how data flows through the stack and impacts marketing programs, a CMO gets a much clearer path forward for their integration efforts.

He goes on to discuss using first- and third-party data sources to learn about target consumers and their behavior, and bringing what you learn from that martech stack into the adtech stack. Like Forrester, he points to outdated silos as a major culprit.

CMO takes a more positive angle, saying the silos are no longer separate, allowing a “natural marriage” between adtech and martech. What’s needed now are platforms offering a holistic approach to digital strategy.

With the right adtech software linked to just one good marketing database, marketers can shape a prospect’s journey before he even shares personal details, such as an email address … Linking adtech and martech into a seamless system also makes for more cohesive campaigns and leads to economies of scale.

As a counterpoint, we’ll include the thoughts of Gartner’s research VP, Martin Kihn, who once predicted martech and adtech would come together but has now changed his mind. He believes the two will grow in parallel, meeting only at identity and analytics:

“The business models are different. Marketing tech works on a subscription model, which means it’s predictable. The media model [in adtech] is high-risk and difficult to predict … The nature of the customer data is different. In martech, it’s PII [personally identifiable information] around a handful of people. In the adtech space, it’s anonymized and extended to many more people.”

We’re still in the early days of adtech and martech convergence, but plenty of people feel positively about its future, even if they’re not yet invested. Whether you’re among them or you’re more of a naysayer, you’ll likely often hear about efforts to make martech and adtech work together in one consolidated, effective stack.

The Popularity of Streaming Video and Where Advertising Fits In

by on 28 June 2017in Advertising

How we watch shows and movies has changed greatly over the past decade, and that means big changes for video advertisers.

Adults Prefer Streaming Video Services to Cable

We’ve reached a tipping point – people now use streaming video services more than cable subscriptions. As of May 2017, 67 percent of internet users in the United States use (or at least have access to) streaming services, while only 61 percent have cable at home.

Among Millennials, the numbers are even more extreme: 77 percent opt for streaming services and only 57 percent have cable. Among those older than Millennials (35 and over), streaming service use is still at 65 percent, though cable subscriptions hang on at 62 percent.

Unsurprisingly, Netflix is the reigning streaming video service provider with 48 percent of viewers. Generally, streaming providers were significantly more popular among Millennials than older generations, though Amazon Prime holds 16 percent of all adult viewers. Hulu is more popular among Millennials, but is as popular as Amazon Prime overall.

Why are video streaming services overtaking cable? For 34 percent of viewers, cost was the main reason for signing up with Netflix or another provider. For 29 percent of Millennials, and 21 percent of older generations, the convenience of watching on any device was the reason. Original content was another reason given by 18 percent of viewers, while syndicated content is a draw for only 7 percent.

Interestingly, while cost drives many to opt for streaming video over cable, a surprising number of people are managing to not pay for streaming services at all. About half of adult views in the United States share streaming video service passwords, meaning they use someone else’s service or let others use theirs. Among Millennials, the rate jumps to 60 percent.

Consider also how streaming services have changed our viewing habits. With cable, viewers must wait until a show is on to watch it, and then wait another several days to watch the next episode. With streaming video, viewers receive entire seasons at once and can watch their favorite shows at any time, day or night. Many of us now expect this instant gratification, and wouldn’t think of going back to cable.

Advertising Options on Streaming Video Services

Perhaps one of the reasons Netflix is so popular is its lack of advertisements. Of course, not all services operate on this model. The major streaming video service providers offer options for seeing no ads (for a fee), limited ads (for a lesser fee) or all ads (free viewing).

Some of the folks at USA Today decided to check out these varying degrees of ad exposure on the top streaming video providers, and determine if paying less for limited ads was worth it.

After sitting through 15 commercials in one show and 29 in another, they decided it was well worth the extra monthly dollars to watch ad-free. Of course, they also noted how much better streaming limited ads are than regular television ads: The show with 29 “limited” commercials had 50 ads in the broadcast version.

Over the years, rumors have circulated about Netflix introducing ads to their service. Obviously, this hasn’t yet happened, and Netflix itself gives us no reason to think it might happen in the future.

Just for fun, Exstreamist.com ran numbers and polled viewers to speculate about what would happen if Netflix did decide to show advertisements. Turns out the company would make about $2.3 billion – a nice boost to their annual revenue of $8.8 billion.

Then again, would it be? Exstreamist also learned that 79 percent of Netflix subscribers prefer the fees to seeing commercials, including parents who are happy to avoid the countless ads aimed at their young kids. How many of them would leave (and drain Netflix’s revenue) if commercials interrupted their shows and movies?

Targeted Advertising on Streaming Services

So, we’ve established that users of streaming video services aren’t fond of ads, and are willing to pay extra to avoid them completely.

However, people like free things as well, and services like Crackle and YouTube aren’t likely to go anywhere anytime soon. Knowing this, how can advertisers make the most of opportunities in the streaming video space?

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), ad tech company BrightLine is partnering with Nielsen Marketing Cloud to help advertisers tap into data that can improve ad targeting on connected TVs and other devices.

BrightLine has had this data for years, and some streaming video service providers already use it in their advertising. Until now, the data worked mainly to tell which ads worked best on which devices. With Nielsen, BrightLine will know more about the people using those devices – for example, which of them have kids, or which of them might be in the market for a new car.

Of course, this is going to be great for advertisers, who will be able to reach consumers with more relevant and effective ads. Yet, the consumers may have demands of their own. From WSJ:

Peter Naylor, senior vice president of advertising sales at Hulu, said that it will be key for advertisers testing these ads to make them simple for consumers to interact with while delivering something valuable. He noted that it took a while for both consumers and advertisers to grow accustomed to mobile touch screens, and he thinks TV ads will go through a similar evolution.

How receptive will viewers be? Only time will tell, so stay tuned!

Advertisers: Be Internet Awesome

by on 26 June 2017in Google

We are raising a new generation that won’t know a world without digital everything. Most elementary students weren’t around before Google, social media and smartphones, and will experience digital interaction almost as frequently as real-world interaction.

One response to this is to teach young people that their online social behavior should mirror proper face-to-face interactions with not just civility, but kindness. How can advertisers and brands prepare to fit into this growing movement for online kindness?

Be Internet Awesome

Google is now offering an educational program called Be Internet Awesome. Designed for parents, educators and children, Be Internet Awesome is about helping kids confidently make smart decisions online by teaching the fundamentals of citizenship and safety – just as we do in the physical world.

Five Key Lessons

Be Internet Awesome focuses on five key lessons to guide young people as they learn to navigate the internet:

1. Be Internet Smart: Share with Care

Anything online can spread fast, whether it’s good or bad. To avoid the potential consequences, kids must learn to use forethought, and determine if what they’re considering sharing online is something they’d say out loud in a group. An example of something to share with care is personal information about friends and family.

2. Be Internet Alert: Don’t Fall for Fake

It’s not always easy to tell what’s true and what’s not, especially online. Kids need to learn that people, stories and situations aren’t always what they seem.

3. Be Internet Strong: Secure Your Secrets

Just as we keep our bodies safe in the real world, we need to protect our sensitive information in the digital one. Kids must know how to protect their devices, reputation and relationships, as well as location and financial details.

4. Be Internet Kind: It’s Cool to Be Kind

In an era of books and shows like 13 Reasons Why, this is a big one. Digital content is powerful, and that power can be used positively or negatively. Kids are taught to treat others as they’d like to be treated, and disempower, rather than fuel, online bullying.

5. Be Internet Brave: When in Doubt, Talk it Out

Kids must feel comfortable approaching trusted adults with anything questionable they find online. Adults can encourage this openness by being open themselves about social and safety issues in general.

Tools for Kids, Educators and Parents

Google has designed different tools for the various segments that will encounter Be Internet Awesome.

The Game

Kids can play the free game Interland, which features four virtual lands in which they can practice good digital citizenship. Opponents include hackers, oversharers, bullies and phishers.

The Curriculum

Educators can promote the five key lessons of Be Internet Awesome with a curriculum developed in partnership with the Internet Keep Safe Coalition. The curriculum concentrates on safety, and teachers can use activities, worksheets and Interland to support their efforts.

The Challenge and Pledge

Parents and guardians may not always know where to start when talking to kids about digital safety and respect. Google teamed up with YouTube creators for the Be Internet Awesome Challenge video series to offer guidance for adults. Further, the Be Internet Awesome Pledge is something families can sign as a commitment to being smart, alert, strong, kind and brave on the Internet.

How Brands Fit In: Planning for Future Consumers

As advertisers, our job is to sell things. Historically, successful advertising hasn’t centered around ideas like kindness, but instead attractiveness, convenience, fun and affordability. How can advertisers shift their thinking to gain the interest of future consumers?

In 2015, the Kleenex brand launched a campaign of commercials centering on the idea that someone, somewhere needs a tissue, and offering them a Kleenex is a symbol of help, connection and kindness.

Kleenex knew how their products were used to spread kindness, and created a commercial that encourages consumers to do just that.

Of course, Kleenex’s product is perhaps more associated with care than, say, shoes or power tools. It might be harder for other brand types to promote kindness in a way that is authentic, and authenticity is key.

AdAge discusses authenticity in marketing to Millennials, and it’s likely that following generations will demand it even more if programs like Be Internet Awesome are successful. Here are three tips from the article:

  1. Don’t name “authenticity” as a brand attribute. Work on being authentic, not saying you’re authentic. Authenticity is better expressed as a nuanced aspect of creative advertising.
  2. Use content marketing in core communication strategy. Have real people who actually love your brand advocate for it. Give your audience content it wants from people it trusts.
  3. Expand your brand’s comfort zone. Be encouraging, but don’t tell people what to do. Stand your product up, but don’t be salesy. Be willing to take criticism and even attacks, and continue to let real fans talk about your brand in their own voice.

Let’s be honest – kindness is becoming a business strategy. However, if you’re going to use it, you must have the business culture to match, because consumers will detect phoniness right away. Programs like Be Internet Awesome are meant to promote genuinely good citizenship online, and future consumers will know when brands aren’t following suit.

If you want to adopt kindness in your advertising strategy, ensure you can back it up, and watch today’s trend become tomorrow’s standard.