4 Tips For Creating A Smart Video Marketing Strategy https://ift.tt/2v3O31O No one’s asking anymore whether their marketing plans should include video. What they’re asking is, How many different ways can we use it? and How do we do it right? Companies aren’t just considering social media, websites, online ads or vlogs, either. We’re also seeing a remarkable shift to video among the Fortune 500 in their internal communications — some going so far as to replace written memos with videos. They recognize the power of video’s visceral impact, whether they’re telling a brand story or explaining a new policy. Think about it: Who gets the business, the insurance company whose ad simply reminds us that we should buy life insurance, or the company whose video makes us feel the raw emotional strife of losing our home or business? Backed by thoughtful strategy, video can be the most compelling element of your marketing mix. Here are a few tips for getting it right: 1. Assess your audience and objectives. advertisement advertisement The most effective videos connect immediately with their intended audience. Who are you targeting? What are they interested in? Which type of approach — serious, humorous, quirky, sassy — is most likely to appeal to them? Evaluate this information in the context of what your objectives are, whether building brand awareness or spurring your audience to action. 2. Evaluate your video choices. Determining which types of video you’ll use — product demonstrations, customer testimonials, tutorials, etc. — is a creative endeavor in itself. Become a storyteller in the truest sense, combining various types of videos to ensure that every chapter is fascinating and memorable. 3. Keep versatility and searchability in mind. One of the most wonderful things about video is its potential for repurposing. Shoot more footage than you need so you have enough B-roll to create a variety of materials for multiple audiences — Facebook and Instagram posts plus a trade show loop and an employee how-to, for example — and test a variety of lengths. Versatility also counts as you appeal to the senses: A 2016 report said that 85% of Facebook videos were being watched without sound. We haven’t seen an update on this figure since Facebook changed its mobile news feed default from silent to sound in 2017, but our hunch is that video viewers still prefer the silent treatment in many settings: when they’re watching at work or on the bus, for example. Your video needs to work with or without spoken narrative. 4. Know what to look for in a video partner. Demo reels are essential to your evaluation of a video partner. Look for not only beautiful quality but also work that reflects relevance to your needs. No short-cutting here: Look at enough samples to identify which agency conveys messages in a manner your audiences would embrace. Also, choose a firm known for its consultative capabilities. In the extremely challenging creative environment, you need a hands-on strategic partner. When vision, strategy and execution align, video has the power to lift your marketing performance to new heights. Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH July 25, 2018 at 12:16PM
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Opt-In Data Haul: Fluent Trades Content For Information https://ift.tt/2v3NWTW How do marketers get email addresses and other data points? One way is to ask for them. That’s what Fluent, a publicly traded marketing company with roughly 150 employees, does on its many web sites. It offers content in return for data, then uses that to help brands send personalized campaigns. To get a handle on how this works, Email Insider spoke with Daryl Colwell, head of strategic accounts for Fluent. MediaPost: What is Fluent? Daryl Colwell: Fluent specializes in large-scale acquisition for direct-to-consumer marketers. We own and operate a couple of dozen consumer-facing websites where we collect a great amount of first-party data -- not just demographic data but a great deal of interest data as well. Between 800,000 and a million Americans will register on our properties on any given day: They complete a marketing survey to get access to content. We capture full registration— name, gender, date of birth. Roughly 80% are mobile, so we capture the carrier and mobile. We can match consumers with the right marketers and offers. MP: That sounds like a lot of data. Colwell: We maintain a database of 180 million Americans — all self-reported, first-party data. One of our specialties is acquisition of opt-in email addresses. MP: What kind of insights can you provide to brands? Colwell: We have some really great sites, whether career sites or more content-driven sites. We have evergreen survey questions, whether around presence of children, moving plans, travel plans, financial plans, employment plans, or car ownership. But it’s completely dynamic based on market and client demands. We also have the capability to optimize campaigns with lookalike marketing. MP: Do you enhance this with third-party data? Colwell: We capture many insights on our sites — again, it’s first-party data. That being said, we do rely on certain third-party to help validate the data we are collecting. MP: How do you square all this in the era of GDPR? Colwell: Consumers are more cautious. We are pretty direct with the consumer in forms of additional opts in and disclosures. It’s pretty clear what they’re registering for — we’re collecting the data so the marketer has the ability to send as personalized and relevant a message as possible. When consumers get offers tailored to their personal behavior, they’re going to meet those ads with open arms, more so than a generic untargeted campaign. MP: How are your services priced? Colwell: Going back to our heritage, we specialize in large-scale acquisition campaigns on a performance basis. we can increase an email subscriber list and help them acquire their best targeted prospects on a cost per-opt-in basis, and provide a targeted scalable solution. Our clients are focused on driving results — vanity metrics simply don’t cut it. We love it when opt-ins turn into customers. We’re closely aligned with our clients—our business grows with them. MP: What do you advise brands to do when they have an email address? Colwell: We coach our clients to send an initial welcome email as close to point of opt-in as possible. Offer a call to action — X percent off, buy one, get one free. Those sorts of emails generate higher opens, clicks, engagement and conversion rates. There’s nothing wrong with sending content, but when you can include some kind of offer, it helps drive conversions. MP: How do you see the future of email? Colwell: A couple of years ago, all of us were concerned about email going away with the proliferation of social channels. While those are important, email is still very relevant. It drives sales across multiple devices and channels, including offline. Our 2018 Inbox Report shows that 50% have purchased through mobile websites, 35% on computer, 27% in-store and 24% through a smart-phone app after receiving an email.
Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH July 25, 2018 at 12:16PM
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Pioneer of Humanability: Amanda Parkes https://ift.tt/2LPHNlo In an interview with PSFK, working in collaboration with Verizon, Amanda Parkes discusses how she is using technology for good with her work for FT Lab In a special series brought to you with the help of our partner Verizon, The Pioneers of Humanability is directing the spotlight onto the people, organizations, and companies who are using technology to do more new and do more good in the world. The fashion world has undergone many attempts to improve its environmental friendliness. From recycling programs to anti-plastic initiatives, nothing has been as revolutionary as the work that Amanda Parkes, one of the Pioneers of Humanability and Chief Innovation Officer of FT Lab, is doing, however: fostering the creation of sustainable fashion technology for positive environmental effect. In this interview, Amanda describes how her hybrid investment company—part multinational accelerator, part experimental laboratory, part philanthropic organization—aims to empower the fashion industry to improve its social and environmental footprints. PSFK: In what ways do you think technology has the potential to impact humanity, making a positive social difference? Amanda: Generally, there’s been a perception that technology and sustainability seem at odds with each other or that they naturally have to be, with natural materials on one hand and technology and devices on the other. I think that now with the fourth industrial revolution, we have a convergence between the physical, the digital and the biological. We can start to see how these things can actually come together. Using high-tech processes and high-tech innovation can help to create more sustainable materials and processes. For example, you can have things like synthetic biology. We’re involved with a company called Bolt Threads, which is producing lab-grown spider silk. They’ve taken the DNA from a spider and transposed it into yeast cells. When the yeast cell grows (you can think of it as similar to beer brewing), you feed the yeast sugar, but instead of having it create beer, it creates silk protein. This is a very high-tech process with the DNA transformation, but you get completely naturally occurring silk, which can then be extruded. Using the tools of both digital kinds of technology mixed with biological technologies really can make our materials streams be a lot more sustainable in various ways. I think that’s one way that we can have better sustainable material culture, which obviously directly impacts humanity, climate change and the environment. I think that the most important thing is that we consider how these technologies are employed. It’s not just, “Can we do this?” It’s, “Why are we doing it and what exactly are we doing?” and thinking of the longer-term effects. Questions of ethics and process and all of the human angles of developing new technologies come into what we’re developing. That could be from the corporate perspective. It could be from a government policy perspective. There’s a lot of different ways that those situations can be structured. PSFK: How does your work create a positive impact on the local and global world? When we’re talking about the kind of high-tech development around materiality, obviously there’s impact around the global supply chain, around what materials are available and what price points they can meet. When you talk about having more sustainable materials developed at a more affordable price, that naturally means that everything else along the fashion supply chain can be more sustainable, both in terms of environmental sustainability, but also in terms of the human piece of sustainability, the ethical piece of sustainability, so around labor and transparency. PSFK: You describe the work that you do as being at the intersection of design, manufacturing and technology. Could you elaborate on that? First of all, I don’t at all believe these are disparate practices, and that’s maybe one of the biggest problems that exist. Designers have somehow been traditionally educated in a way that they’re cut off from manufacturing processes and the supply chain. You can actually go through design school and — for example, if you’re doing something in industrial design — never understand how injection molding works at a factory level. I also think there’s a lot of process technology that often gets ignored, as well as enabling technologies. Of course, what’s of public interest is consumer products. That’s what we see as the output. For example, the enabling technologies of components and things like the design of interactive fibers and the internal chemistries of batteries, all these things are going on on the back end. The companies are not consumer-facing brands. All that stuff is really, really important to be addressed. Without that level of deep attention and investment into those layers, we’re not going to move forward. That’s something that I’ve seen that has been very skewed about how Silicon Valley works in terms of their investment structure. They’re very focused on these things that have immediate consumer results and less focused on things that have global, world-changing implications in terms of materials and processes. That’s because they’re not as sexy as investments. What inspired you to do more new and do more good? Future Tech Lab is working on the future of sustainable and interactive fashion through a hybrid model based on different pillars – an investment fund, an agency and an experimental lab for research and product development. Our company in itself is an innovative and experimental business model to try to move the entire fashion industry forward. We see each pillar as necessary for this development. Those elements working together and simultaneously is what allows us to create change and be a bridge- builder. That’s essentially what our company is: a bridge-builder between fashion and tech. I can’t say that there was one sort of ‘aha’ moment that shifted my career into doing more good. It seems to have come from subtly building a life of doing things that people told me I’m not supposed to be able to do- maybe starting from being good at art and physics, while also being a girl. It wasn’t on purpose or coming from some deep sense of rebellion but if you have a sense of humor and humility about yourself, it works to walk the line. It has made me simultaneously highly optimistic and equally irreverent, more like a soft, dreamy rebel. I aspire to the charm offensive. No one ever directly says no if your ideas seem to be floating in the clouds. They just don’t know that there is actually a ground plan formulating around them… Also, perhaps ironically, it comes from a deep sense of pragmatism. I just don’t like things that don’t make sense. This is the scientist in me. Look at plastic – why is the one material that lasts forever used to make everything that is intended to be disposable? Or why the structure of high heels, which has been damaging women’s bodies for the last century, has never been addressed as a contemporary engineering problem (we are doing that). And the situation with the irrationality of our energy infrastructure – don’t get me started – absolutely bonkers! It comes down to the fact that every design failure is just an opportunity in waiting and it’s way more exciting to pursue these than work on the status quo. It is harder, for sure, but not harder than being bored. I’ve been really lucky to build a community around me – intellectually, socially and personally- that supports and inspires this kind of thinking. If I had to pick one thing that inspires me to do more good, it’s the people around me, and that community continuously grows and compounds on itself. Sometimes I can barely believe the kind of people I get to interact with! Luck favors the prepared, and I’m not diminishing the work I have done, but I also know I have been inordinately lucky and I now see that as a responsibility to do everything I can to do better, make better. Which is not to say I am trying to be a martyr or not interested in being financially successful. That thinking is flawed, it doesn’t help to get good ideas and solutions out into the world which is what we desperately need. Money is the power to realize opportunities, especially important to recognize as a woman. It took me a long time to fully embrace that idea. It’s now become kind of a cliche, but doing well by doing good is the only way forward. PSFK: Could you describe the FT Lab facility and the resources it provides to the community? We have an investment fund. We obviously are focused on some of these hard tech, biotech, with pieces of material science, the things that you would not normally think of as direct fashion investments, but that are very, very crucial for the future of the industry. Then we have an agency, where we work with big companies, such as fashion companies or tech companies. We help them with innovation and sustainable strategy. That’s as much about thinking about how their business works and understanding fashion traditionally does not have any internal R&D. They don’t own the means for their own production. I think this is a big cause of a lot of the roadblocks in the industry. Apple and Google will buy the companies that they need for the hardware and software and have this 5-year, 10-year plan and research going on inside of their companies. We’re trying to merge a lot of the things that are on the bleeding edge and get them to work together. The research comes from not the fundamental development of the fabric but getting it through a manufacturing supply chain and combining it with other technologies, which is a difficult thing for the industry to solve, especially when we’re talking about scaling up on processes. It’s also under-explored and invested in. A lot of what we’re doing with our product development is to work through all those kinks and show how a new, innovative, very high-fashion product can get made. We also do incubation and outreach, working with programs like Fashion for Good. We also work with universities and do project challenges. We call it our incubator, but it’s not a physical space incubator. It’s more about trying to incubate all the best ideas and the best communities to try to combine and create new projects that are maybe less defined. PSFK: Could you talk to us about FT Lab’s creation and what needs or gaps you were trying to fill? Our CEO and founder, Miroslava Duma, came from the traditional fashion industry. She had built a big media company called Buro 24/7. She became really well-known as a fashionista. As she was getting to know the traditional industry more, she was noticing how much damage they were doing, finding out that fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world. All of the major brands were ignoring this. There was a lot of glamor in the runway shows, but on the back end, it was incredibly destructive. She switched her focus because she wanted to do something about this. She used her influence inside of the fashion industry to get people to listen. We connected last March when what she was doing was still all very secret. PSFK: What are a few of the companies that FT Lab is excited about? We’re excited about Dropel Fabrics, which is hydrophobic nanotech process coating, and Diamond Foundry, which does above-ground sustainable diamonds. We’re invested in Reformation, which is a brand that’s sustainable. It’s mostly enabling material tech. There are also a lot of secret things I can’t tell you yet, which is frustrating! Resolving the challenges facing the fashion industry from the ground up with sustainable materials is possible with those that FT Lab is fostering. For more about how innovators like Amanda are using technology to serve progressive goals and better the community for all, see the Pioneers of Humanability, brought to you by PSFK with Verizon. Verizon’s Pioneers of Humanability list honors the people, organizations and companies that are using technological innovations to bring about good things for the world. These are the pioneers, keeping food safe and water clean, cutting pollution, saving energy and enabling doctors to treat patients a county or a country away. They’ve stopped asking “What if?” or “Why isn’t?” and started doing and leading. These are the people, organizations and companies you need to know about now—because they’re building the future. Mobile Marketing via PSFK http://www.psfk.com/ July 25, 2018 at 07:01AM
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Google Game Changers: 5 Recent Updates and How They Affect Marketers https://ift.tt/2A7iUjI Since the inception and rise of digital marketing, marketers have been keeping a watchful eye on Google — the ruler of the kingdom of search. From research project to technology giant, over the last two decades Google has cemented itself as the dominating force in internet search. And while there are other rising contenders in the space, as of June 2018, Google owned 72.21% of all desktop searches. And the domination continues if you look at mobile, with Google owning a whopping 90.20% of searches. Of course, Google's market (and marketing) domination isn't because of their speed to market in the late 90s, but rather the company's dedication and investment in evolving the platform. And some of the latest evolutionary tweaks and new features are hitting soon — or have just recently arrived. What are those changes and how will they affect your marketing plan? Below, we break down the latest and greatest game-changing updates from Google, what they mean for marketers, and how marketers can adapt. #1 - HTTPS Warnings are In-EffectWhile we’ve been talking about this for a while now (just see our Security as SEO post from August 2017), Google Chrome’s non-HTTPS pop-up warning went live in July 2018. Instead of serving non-HTTPS pages with just an information icon in the URL bar, Google will now serve users with a warning and potentially a pop-up alerting them that the website they’re on isn’t using a secure connection. Image credit: Google Of course, this shift towards site security isn’t new. In fact, back in January of 2016, Google announced that they were indexing HTTPS pages over HTTP pages, signaling to marketers that the security of your site will soon impact your rankings. The past algorithm changes coupled with the new warnings in Google Chrome means that leaving your site with an unsecure HTTP connection will likely cause traffic loss both organically and direct, as well as losing those hard-fought rankings. To make sure that your site doesn’t take a hit to traffic or rankings, make sure you’ve upgraded to HTTPS. As an extra measure, check Google Search Console’s Security Issues tool to check for other potential security threats.The Key Takeaways
#2 - Need for SpeedOver the last several years, Google has altered its algorithm to prioritize the user experience. Back in 2010, Google announced that desktop page speed was a ranking factor as poor load times create a bad user experience, which is something we covered in an interview with former Developer Programs Tech Lead Maile Ohye. Their latest update, which went into effect July 9, 2018, continues that trend as the algorithm will also account for mobile page speed as well. But what pages are affected and how will it affect you? According to Google, only the slowest pages will be affected. And to help you see if that includes you, they’ve launched their PageSpeed Insights tool where you can see how fast your pages load on mobile and how you can improve your load times. With this new change, you need to make sure that your mobile page speed is up to par by entering your site URL into the PageSpeed Insights tool. Then, download your free report to see what improvements you can make to your site. For example, the report may recommend that you optimize or compress your images to reduce the data consumption needed to load the page. Or, the report may suggest that you leverage caching. Whatever suggestions are made, implement them as soon as possible to ensure that your mobile rankings don’t suffer.The Key Takeaways
#3 - No More AdWordsThat’s right, AdWords is no more. Instead, Google is merging all of their advertising products under one brand umbrella: Google Ads. Why the change? Google says it’s to reduce the complexity associated with digital advertising. They want simpler products that make it easier to advertise on their platforms. And they’re rebranding shows their commitment to simplicity. Google Ads isn’t just a rebranding, though. They’ve also announced new products, all focused on automation, including:
The Key Takeaways
#4 - Introducing: Smart CampaignsPaid search advertising is a complicated business. From ad creative and copy to setting the right bid and objective, there are a lot of moving parts that impact the effectiveness of your ads. Well, Google wants to change that. To continue their commitment to simplified digital advertising mentioned above, Google Ads is launching a new advertising type: Smart Campaigns. Smart Campaigns are automated ads that take care of ad creative and delivery based on the products, services, and goals that advertisers set. Through automation and machine learning Smart Campaigns will show ads to the right audiences using signals like behavior, location, devices, and others. If you’ve ever struggled with your paid search campaigns or they just suck up too much of your time, this news is music to your ears. An automated ad campaign with the ability to optimize on the fly means you can create your Smart Campaign, monitor the performance, and watch Google make optimizations on your behalf. And this new ad type works. Google’s Small Business Ads Lead, Kim Spalding, says that Smart Campaigns are three times more effective at reaching a target audience than AdWords Express campaigns. So, give Smart Campaigns a try. You just might find more success than with traditional Google Ads products. And as always, be thoughtful about your goals and KPIs to determine if Smart Campaigns works for your business. Furthermore, we’d never recommend “setting and forgetting.” You need to monitor and ensure that the automated suggestions being served up are a right fit for your product/service, industry, and audience.The Key Takeaways
#5 - There’s More Data to LoveWith GDPR in effect in the EU, Google and other software vendors have made changes to ensure their compliance (they also love letting us know that they’ve updated their privacy policy). But more importantly, GDPR stipulated new regulations around data retention, stating that companies cannot store data longer than necessary. As a result, Google, Mixpanel, and other analytics tools updated the amount of data is tracked and saved on their platforms. And a few months ago Google updated their data retention controls to 14 months, 26 months, 38 months, and 50 months with no options lasting longer than 50 months. This is a big change as Google Analytics previously tracked data for the entire history of the site. Luckily, the latest announcement from Google is a data increase, not decrease. Previously, Google Search Console's search analytics only tracked the past 90 days. However, Google Data Studio (Google’s really cool and free dashboard builder), the search analytics API, and the Google Search Console beta now have 16 months of historical search analytics data. With more data to analyze, this update allows marketers to better track historical trends and patterns in their search rankings and performance. If you want to see your expanded search analytics data, the update is currently live in Google Data Studio, the search analytics API, and the beta Google Search Console Search Performance report. Not sure how to access the beta? Click on the link in the upper left-hand corner of the Google Search Console menu circled in red below:The Key Takeaways
Up Your Google GameWith the most popular internet browsers and the No. 1 site in the world, marketers need to stay up to date on new updates in Google in order to make sure that their content, ads, and site are being served effectively. This latest round of updates means marketers need to make sure their sites are secure and load fast on mobile devices. In addition, Google has introduced new ad products and data to help you make the most of your digital advertising and search performance. For more digital marketing news, subscribe to our YouTube channel or visit our digital marketing news archive for weekly news updates.The post Google Game Changers: 5 Recent Updates and How They Affect Marketers appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®. Mobile Marketing via Online Marketing Blog – TopRank® https://ift.tt/faSbAI July 25, 2018 at 07:00AM
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Google Game Changers: 5 Recent Updates and How They Affect Marketers https://ift.tt/2A7iUjI Since the inception and rise of digital marketing, marketers have been keeping a watchful eye on Google — the ruler of the kingdom of search. From research project to technology giant, over the last two decades Google has cemented itself as the dominating force in internet search. And while there are other rising contenders in the space, as of June 2018, Google owned 72.21% of all desktop searches. And the domination continues if you look at mobile, with Google owning a whopping 90.20% of searches. Of course, Google's market (and marketing) domination isn't because of their speed to market in the late 90s, but rather the company's dedication and investment in evolving the platform. And some of the latest evolutionary tweaks and new features are hitting soon — or have just recently arrived. What are those changes and how will they affect your marketing plan? Below, we break down the latest and greatest game-changing updates from Google, what they mean for marketers, and how marketers can adapt. #1 - HTTPS Warnings are In-EffectWhile we’ve been talking about this for a while now (just see our Security as SEO post from August 2017), Google Chrome’s non-HTTPS pop-up warning went live in July 2018. Instead of serving non-HTTPS pages with just an information icon in the URL bar, Google will now serve users with a warning and potentially a pop-up alerting them that the website they’re on isn’t using a secure connection. Image credit: Google Of course, this shift towards site security isn’t new. In fact, back in January of 2016, Google announced that they were indexing HTTPS pages over HTTP pages, signaling to marketers that the security of your site will soon impact your rankings. The past algorithm changes coupled with the new warnings in Google Chrome means that leaving your site with an unsecure HTTP connection will likely cause traffic loss both organically and direct, as well as losing those hard-fought rankings. To make sure that your site doesn’t take a hit to traffic or rankings, make sure you’ve upgraded to HTTPS. As an extra measure, check Google Search Console’s Security Issues tool to check for other potential security threats.The Key Takeaways
#2 - Need for SpeedOver the last several years, Google has altered its algorithm to prioritize the user experience. Back in 2010, Google announced that desktop page speed was a ranking factor as poor load times create a bad user experience, which is something we covered in an interview with former Developer Programs Tech Lead Maile Ohye. Their latest update, which went into effect July 9, 2018, continues that trend as the algorithm will also account for mobile page speed as well. But what pages are affected and how will it affect you? According to Google, only the slowest pages will be affected. And to help you see if that includes you, they’ve launched their PageSpeed Insights tool where you can see how fast your pages load on mobile and how you can improve your load times. With this new change, you need to make sure that your mobile page speed is up to par by entering your site URL into the PageSpeed Insights tool. Then, download your free report to see what improvements you can make to your site. For example, the report may recommend that you optimize or compress your images to reduce the data consumption needed to load the page. Or, the report may suggest that you leverage caching. Whatever suggestions are made, implement them as soon as possible to ensure that your mobile rankings don’t suffer.The Key Takeaways
#3 - No More AdWordsThat’s right, AdWords is no more. Instead, Google is merging all of their advertising products under one brand umbrella: Google Ads. Why the change? Google says it’s to reduce the complexity associated with digital advertising. They want simpler products that make it easier to advertise on their platforms. And they’re rebranding shows their commitment to simplicity. Google Ads isn’t just a rebranding, though. They’ve also announced new products, all focused on automation, including:
The Key Takeaways
#4 - Introducing: Smart CampaignsPaid search advertising is a complicated business. From ad creative and copy to setting the right bid and objective, there are a lot of moving parts that impact the effectiveness of your ads. Well, Google wants to change that. To continue their commitment to simplified digital advertising mentioned above, Google Ads is launching a new advertising type: Smart Campaigns. Smart Campaigns are automated ads that take care of ad creative and delivery based on the products, services, and goals that advertisers set. Through automation and machine learning Smart Campaigns will show ads to the right audiences using signals like behavior, location, devices, and others. If you’ve ever struggled with your paid search campaigns or they just suck up too much of your time, this news is music to your ears. An automated ad campaign with the ability to optimize on the fly means you can create your Smart Campaign, monitor the performance, and watch Google make optimizations on your behalf. And this new ad type works. Google’s Small Business Ads Lead, Kim Spalding, says that Smart Campaigns are three times more effective at reaching a target audience than AdWords Express campaigns. So, give Smart Campaigns a try. You just might find more success than with traditional Google Ads products. And as always, be thoughtful about your goals and KPIs to determine if Smart Campaigns works for your business. Furthermore, we’d never recommend “setting and forgetting.” You need to monitor and ensure that the automated suggestions being served up are a right fit for your product/service, industry, and audience.The Key Takeaways
#5 - There’s More Data to LoveWith GDPR in effect in the EU, Google and other software vendors have made changes to ensure their compliance (they also love letting us know that they’ve updated their privacy policy). But more importantly, GDPR stipulated new regulations around data retention, stating that companies cannot store data longer than necessary. As a result, Google, Mixpanel, and other analytics tools updated the amount of data is tracked and saved on their platforms. And a few months ago Google updated their data retention controls to 14 months, 26 months, 38 months, and 50 months with no options lasting longer than 50 months. This is a big change as Google Analytics previously tracked data for the entire history of the site. Luckily, the latest announcement from Google is a data increase, not decrease. Previously, Google Search Console's search analytics only tracked the past 90 days. However, Google Data Studio (Google’s really cool and free dashboard builder), the search analytics API, and the Google Search Console beta now have 16 months of historical search analytics data. With more data to analyze, this update allows marketers to better track historical trends and patterns in their search rankings and performance. If you want to see your expanded search analytics data, the update is currently live in Google Data Studio, the search analytics API, and the beta Google Search Console Search Performance report. Not sure how to access the beta? Click on the link in the upper left-hand corner of the Google Search Console menu circled in red below:The Key Takeaways
Up Your Google GameWith the most popular internet browsers and the No. 1 site in the world, marketers need to stay up to date on new updates in Google in order to make sure that their content, ads, and site are being served effectively. This latest round of updates means marketers need to make sure their sites are secure and load fast on mobile devices. In addition, Google has introduced new ad products and data to help you make the most of your digital advertising and search performance. For more digital marketing news, subscribe to our YouTube channel or visit our digital marketing news archive for weekly news updates.The post Google Game Changers: 5 Recent Updates and How They Affect Marketers appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®. Mobile Marketing via Online Marketing Blog – TopRank® https://ift.tt/faSbAI July 25, 2018 at 07:00AM
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Introducing The Occasion-Based Marketing Debrief https://ift.tt/2JTxzyy Announcing the launch of PSFK's latest report, providing a framework for brands and retailers to use relevant occasions and events to build long-term consumer engagement Traditionally, occasion-based marketing has centered on promotions around major holidays and occasions, such as Valentine’s Day. However, as consumers start to feel holiday season fatigue, these advertising strategies are becoming less engaging—shoppers are growing tired of being told to buy something just because it’s Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day. Today’s consumers have a new set of events and occasions that they celebrate—in both small and personal and big and social ways. Social media has enabled consumers to form niche communities around their passions and identities, allowing them establish their own meanings and create their own traditions. There are still universal human needs and behaviors, but the manifestations of these needs has become more specific and individualized. Marketers who don’t understand this new paradigm run the risk of disconnecting with consumers. Even though occasion-based marketing has evolved, it remains crucial. By connecting a brand to these new experiences and times of heightened emotion, marketers can create a powerful personal connection with consumers, one that has an impact 365 days a year, not just on holidays. Although new retailer-driven occasions, such as shopping holidays, have sprung up and are driving record sales, we believe that occasions that center around personal identity, not commerce, have the most potential for lasting impact. People want brands to connect with them as complex individuals, not just consumers. In order to connect with consumers and foster memorable experiences, it’s crucial to understand your brand, its values and your audience. Mismatched campaigns can lead to a swift backlash, thanks to social media. It’s better not to do anything than to jump on the bandwagon or pay lip service to an occasion that is a questionable brand fit. The most effective occasion-based initiatives are authentic extensions of the brand’s core values that connect with the events and occasions in people’s lives. They are invitations for consumers to take part in a meaningful experience with the brand, not directives to purchase something from them. They show consumers that a brand truly understands them and what is important to them. In this report, PSFK outline a new framework for occasion-based marketing, highlighting new opportunities for not only generating excitement and sales but also creating positive brand associations that last well beyond the occasion itself. Mobile Marketing via PSFK http://www.psfk.com/ July 24, 2018 at 08:18PM
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Mobile Biometrics To Authenticate $2 Trillion By 2023 https://ift.tt/2Ofp5Wb Mobile phones are commonly referred to as "digital wallets," but new estimates from Juniper Research suggests it isn't just a metaphor. The estimates, which come from Juniper's new Mobile Payment Security report, projects $2 trillion in mobile payment transactions will be made seamlessly via mobile biometrics by the year 2023. The report also estimates the number of biometrically-verified mobile commerce transactions will grow to 48 billion by 2023. "This will be around 57% of all biometric transactions, up from an estimated 28% in 2018," the Juniper report projects. Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH July 24, 2018 at 05:51PM Snail Mail Makes the Race: How Email And Direct Mail Work Together https://ift.tt/2NIkCu0 Not to utter heresy, but did you know that direct mail can be more effective than email in some campaigns -- and that both channels work better when used together? Those are among the core beliefs of Ron Jacobs, CEO of Jacobs & Clevenger, a Chicago-based agency, and author of Successful Direct Marketing Methods, the book series started by the late Bob Stone, now in its eighth edition. Email Insider interviewed Jacobs to get his input on how the channels differ, and how they can be used in tandem. MediaPost: Is snail mail really as useful as email? Jacobs: There’s a perception that direct mail is obsolete. But there are now a variety of tools to capture intent and incorporate that into direct mail moments: automation, QR codes, on-demand printing. You can go beyond basic demographic and psychographic personalization to things like weather changes and sales. For example, we do a program for an auto company where we have a VIN number and can graphically show the interior of the owner’s car in the brochure. MP: Can’t you achieve that level of personalization in email? Jacobs: Sure. The key difference is that email has a limited amount of real estate to use. I look at a lot of emails, and they’re little more than calls to action, with maybe a few bullet points, not even benefits. I still like the traditional direct mail package, with a letter, a buck slip and a brochure to tell the brand story in a way you never can tell it in email. MP: What about videos and web links in email? Jacobs: In direct mail, you don’t have to click on an email to go to a landing page to get more information. Research shows that people spend more time with physical mail than they do with digital messages. Direct mail is more tactical — it’s a lot harder to ignore. MP: How would you use the two media together? Jacobs: I still like direct mail for acquisition. You can’t use email in the traditional sense for acquisition because you don’t have the third-party data. I’m not a fan of emailing people who haven’t raised their hands and given permission. Initiating a relationship with people whose email addresses you don’t have makes complete sense as a starting point. Email is great for lifecycle marketing. But if you’re doing search or email, why not add direct mail as a retargeting tool to tell a more relevant brand story? MP: What about the cost of direct mail? Jacobs: Of course, direct mail is more expensive, between printing and postage. You have to factor in the costs and use it where it will do the most good. You typically use email for a welcome or onboarding campaign, and for winback, upsell and cross-sell, with marketing automation. Why not include direct mail in a campaign like that or test where the results are good enough to make direct mail profitable? Email has limitations that can be complemented by direct mail, whereas direct mail has limitations — like its cost — that are complemented with email. MP: How would you ensure brand consistency? Jacobs: Start with the most obvious thing: use type fonts that are easily readable in these various email clients. Don’t use fonts that can’t be rendered well if they’re not on someone’s computer. There are a dozen or more fonts that people have on computers, so we limit our direct mail and emails to those fonts to keep image consistency. As for graphics, I love to illustrate letters, but don’t tend to do this as much in email because they don’t render well, or because certain email clients don’t allow it. We used to be able to use the right rail in emails for bullet points, with the copy in the middle. You can’t do that in mobile — everything is in one single, long column. MP: And the copy? Jacobs: There are so many similarities. We test teaser copy in direct mail, and in email you test subject lines or pre-headers — they’re pretty closely related ideas if you think about it. I lament the fact that so many digital marketers think they’re reinventing the wheel or inventing the wheel in the first place, not knowing that many of these concepts have been around for over 100 years.
Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH July 24, 2018 at 02:46PM Top 5 Out-Of-Home Advertising Trends https://ift.tt/2mEBhD9 Out of home is the only traditional media seeing ad spending growth right now, and for good reason. It remains relevant despite continued development and deployment of new media that have drawn eyeballs away from newspapers, magazines and linear television. That has led a lot of advertisers to want to explore this promising format. But what trends in OOH should they be following to ensure their ads get noticed and gain traction? Here are five things to watch for in 2018 and beyond. 1. Digitization of all outdoor inventory Digital billboards have exploded on the scene — some 1,400 were erected in just the past two years. But that’s only part of the picture. Digitalization has hit all forms of OOH media. Digital networks are increasingly common in malls, airports, subways, bus shelters and more, notes Stephen Freitas, chief marketing officer at the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. advertisement advertisement “There is certainly a continued trend toward building out more of that footprint. It’s that broader trend of seeing more movement to digital inventory in all silos, across all segments,” he says. 2. Integration of mobile into outdoor ads Mobile phones allow OOH ads to communicate directly with you and deliver more pertinent messages. For instance, a billboard might allow you to opt-in with a text to receive a digital coupon or send offers to customers with a certain type of phone. Great advances have been made in targeting, too, which means more agencies and vendors will deploy those techniques. 3. Increasing interest from digital brands Netflix recently purchased nearly three dozen billboards on Sunset Strip that it will use exclusively to advertise its own programming. Netflix is on the cutting edge of technology, and it has chosen to invest heavily in OOH, reflecting the vitality of the medium. 4. Employing real-time data and information for targeting It’s 90 degrees outside, and you’re in your car on the way to the pool — but you forgot to bring sunscreen. At that moment, you see a billboard advertising sunscreen. It’s almost as if the billboard read your mind … and that’s not far from the truth. More and more, billboards sync to weather conditions, time of day and other real-world variables that make ads resonate with the people who see them. “When it’s raining, they advertise umbrellas and raincoats. When the pollen count is high, you see pharmacy and hay fever meds,” Freitas says. “They have a chance to change the messaging because they have that nimbleness with digital.” 5. Raising the bar on creative Over the past few years, OOH advertising has really come into its own creatively. We have seen campaigns so clever that they gain instant buzz and long-term traction — thinkSpotify’s holiday ads that mined user data for clever insights into human behavior. Technology will drive many of the new trends in OOH over the coming years, but don’t underestimate the importance of good old-fashioned ingenuity. Grabbing attention remains the name of the game, no matter how you manage it. Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH July 24, 2018 at 12:28PM Greyhound Appoints Rightpoint As Digital AOR https://ift.tt/2LwsC3D Greyhound is awarding digital AOR responsibilities to Rightpoint following a formal review. The Chicago-based agency's remit includes the full scope of digital services across web and mobile channels, specifically aimed at "elevating" the Greyhound digital experience throughout the entire travel process, including in-terminal and on-bus experiences, and post-trip loyalty programs. Last year, for instance, Greyhound began allowing riders to board using e-tickets via their mobile phones. "Rightpoint will help us to understand each individual experience to better target new customers and improve the journey for our current customers in both digital and physical spaces," says Kerry Kennedy, Digital and Ecommerce Lead of Greyhound. There are more than 18 million passengers that rely on the national coach bus services each year. Greyhound has been attempting to revitalize its image to entice new travelers. In June, Greyhound and creative shop BSSP introduced a new campaign that returned the company to TV for the first time in 20 years.
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