Every successful business owner knows that marketing is the key to expanding a business and gaining new customers, but not all types of marketing are equally effective. Multiple marketing techniques exist; each of which are helpful for reaching different age demographics. Knowing which type of approach to use to target various generations is essential for a successful marketing campaign.
Youth
Children are easily targeted through television. Commercial advertising to young people during popular television shows can bring in sizeable revenues. The key is advertising during after school hours and on the weekends when children are most likely to be watching television. Another way of marketing to children is through strategic store displays and product placement. Noise and Bright Colors are always great ideas to catch their attention. Mobile apps are also a great way to reach children and generate familarity with a brand, Rovio’s Angry Birds is a great example of how mobile apps are reaching the youthful market.
Teenagers
When they are not in school, teenagers spend a lot of time on social networks. That means hours perusing Facebook and reading Twitter updates from friends. Every business — regardless of whether it is marketing to a teenage demographic — should have Facebook and Twitter accounts. This is an easy way to keep potential customers updated on special deals, sales and information pertaining to a particular business. Retailers, for example, can post pictures of the season’s new inventories, and Twitter is a viable way to respond directly to followers. One of the important aspects to consider is the right mix of organic marketing on the social networks with advertising models. Facebook is particularly useful remarketing specific ads to those teenagers that have already connected to your brand, product or service.
Young and Middle-Age Adults
Young and middle-age adults are one of the most profitable demographics for business owners. Marketing trends for this generation are directly connected to digital media. Online banner ads and pay per click marketing, for example, are profitable ways of reaching the millions of people who use the Internet to get their news, socialize with friends and conduct business. The introduction of remarking tools have made these even more effective as you can target audiences that already are familiar with the brand, product or service. One of the top things to consider is if remarketing is a part of the banner campaign and what that looks like compared to your standard banner campaigns.
Another increasingly popular way of marketing to young and middle-age adults is by using mobile marketing. Mobile marketing companies help business owners take advantage of the rising number of cell phone users who access the Internet using their Smartphone devices. Mobile marketing companies help serve business owners by teaching them which customers to target and how to gain the most financial return on their marketing investments. While mobile apps are great for youth, mobile SMS campaigns have also become very successful, with success rates in the high 90’s SMS is a must for targeting this generation.
Seniors and Baby Boomers
Senior citizens and baby boomers are less likely to take advantage of digital media. Traditional marketing methods are still the primary way of reaching senior citizens and baby boomers. For example, according to StateOfTheMedia.org, individuals over the age of 55 are significantly more likely to subscribe to newspapers than individuals under age 35. As of 2011, approximately half of Americans over age 55 and six in every ten Americans over age 65 read a newspaper on a daily basis. With this age range being the fastest growing user base on social sites it shouldn’t take long before they become a viable audience for other digital campaigns but for now you might find a higher rate of success with email marketing. While email is prone to low open rates, developing loyalty programs with email marketing can be extremely successful with the generational group.
Alex Nieland provides editorial on the mobile marketing industry. Mr. Nieland has written several publications relating to the latest tips, trends, and statistics within the mobile advertising sector.
advertising
Google AdWords, Part 2 [Internship]
As you read in the Google Adwords part one, pay per click (PPC) is one of the options Google offers as an advertising feature. However, PPC is not the only feature. Cost Per Impression (CPI) is another online advertising tool that Google offers. CPI usually is in the form of a banner ad on a website and advertisers pay for every time their ad is displayed. CPI is different from PPC because CPI is only when the ad is displayed on a website, not clicked like PPC. Cost Per Mille (CPM) is the most common marketing practice used on the internet. CPM advertising is the way a marketer can be more certain about the revenue they generate from their website traffic. When the amount paid for every thousand earning impressions served, this is said to be CPM or CPI.
Some of Google Adwords advanced features include location options. In the previous Google Adwords article, it talked about setting your location to make your ads visible to a certain area. Advanced location options allow a marketer to reach people viewing pages about your targeted location. This will help because you will not only be seen in just your targeted area anymore. The only catch is that this feature is only available for certain campaign types that have “all features”. The good news is that you can switch your campaign type whenever you like.
Google had recently been trying out a new feature called Google Email Subscription Ads. This allows companies to buy ads that automatically fill in a newsletter slot. This allows users to sign up more easily for email subscriptions or other free newsletters. A cool feature on this allows your Google email address to be displayed next to your ad.
A new revolutionizing feature that Google Adwords set up is calling Pay Per Call (PPC). Pay Per Call is simply the process of an advertiser paying the publisher every time their phone number is clicked off a Google search page. This is another good way a marketer can establish their advertisements and see how their PPC option really works.
Google offers many different features for businesses to choose from. Google Adwords is a great beneficial step for your business to take. The set up is easy, and Google is kind enough to show you a step by step process. Even though Google is testing out some features, it’s easy to see that they are thriving and will go into good use.
Read: Google AdWords Part 1
Sources:
http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing/advertising-internet-advertising/2646-1.html#axzz29NUBY4iJ
http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1722038
http://www.crunchbase.com/product/google-adwords-2
http://paypercallexchange.com/mobile-marketing/google-mobile-adwords/
The content in this article is part of Digital Ethos’s Digital Media Education in the Higher Education Internship Program, the content was created by @KaylaMarzo, a Student at Suffolk County Community college, intern at Digital Ethos.
How Can Pinterest Help your Retail Store
When brands like JCPenny, The Gap, Honda, McDonalds, and Banana Republic make it to Pinterest, you know that Pinterest means business. And it does, although Pinterest was not intended to be a business venture, but like other social networking sites, it has found a niche. It is rapidly growing and provides a visual delight to its visitors, and now features a platform for businesses and retail stores to display their products.
Pinterest for Retail
Well it’s no secret, Pinterest is pretty. It is a visual delight and provides that ultimate virtual experience of window shopping. Your retail store too can become a part of the ever growing retail community.
According to the 2012 Social and Mobile Commerce Study released by Shop.org, Pinterest users follow an average of 9.3 retail companies whereas Facebook users only follow 6.9. This is reason enough why more and more retail brands are making sure that they keep up with the new trends in e-commerce. And you can do the same, here’s how:
1. Product Marketing
You can put pictures of your products which link back to your websites. Pinterest has a high click through rate, so pinning those pictures will lead to visitors, who may find your product appealing enough to visit your website to make a purchase. Even if a visitor does not intend to buy the product but finds it visually appealing, chances are he or she would re pin it, which will market your product free of cost.
2. Know what’s Trending
By following your followers or even your competition you will know what’s trending. Especially in case your product is related to fashion e.g. clothing or accessories, see what’s making the news and pin pictures which relate to it. For instance if a certain celebrity is trending or a certain color or silhouette then pin or re pin pictures of your products that reflect those trends. By following your followers you will also be able to get a better idea about their tastes and preferences. It will provide that much needed feedback and insight into your customers or potential customers tastes.
3. Picture Perfect Sales
Any sale via the web requires serious selling techniques, with Pinterest it’s the visual tactic. And it has been known to work. So even if you do not sell products but services, then pin pictures that relate to it. For instance if you are an event management company then pinning pictures of your completed projects or pictures that display themes or ideas will attract potential customers.
4. Links
Don’t forget to link your website with Pinterest with a “Find us on Pinterest” link on your website. Also link your website with other social networking sites, especially Facebook and Twitter, this will let your pins then appear on the newsfeed of those sites. This will mean more traffic and will attract customers from other social networking sites too.
Pinterest is only 2 years old and it already has millions of users and a profitable retail presence. So it’s about time that you jump on the bandwagon and make the most of it.
Pantelis Vladimirou is the Co-Foudner of Webarts, which is using Pinterest and other Social Media as part of its Cyprus Digital Marketing strategy for its clients.
Seth Godin’s “All Marketers Tell Stories” [Internship]
Seth Godin made a valuable point when stating, “Marketing is about spreading ideas, and spreading ideas is the single most important output of our civilization.” Godin has made several other valuable points in his book, “All Marketers Tell Stories”. He focuses on a person’s “worldview” which is someone’s own rules, values, beliefs, and biases. Even though it is very tough to change someone’s worldview, it is possible with the correct kind of marketing.
Worldviews are both beneficial yet tricky at the same time. Worldviews are the reason why our world is a diverse place. However, it is hard for a marketer to target so many people with different points of views. According to Godin, “Worldviews are the reason that two intelligent people can look at the same data and walk away with completely different conclusions.” Marketers have found a way “around” worldviews that allow them to still market their products or services. Marketers tell stories. “Consumers are used to telling stories to themselves and telling stories to each other, and it’s just natural to buy stuff from someone who’s telling us a story. People can’t handle the truth.” Seth Godin was one hundred percent right when he wrote this in his book. People cannot handle the truth, and they will do anything to go around it. In order for a marketer to truly succeed, which doesn’t happen often according to Godin, there are five steps that they need to follow.
The first step in Godin’s “All Marketers Tell Stories” is “their worldview and frames got there before you did.” He explains that the world is full of all kinds of different people with different worldviews. If everyone was the same, marketing would be a piece of cake. However, that’s not the case. Marketers need to make their advertisements accustom to everyone and their different values, biases, and assumptions. Frames are also part of the big picture. They are elements of a story painted to leverage the worldview a consumer already has. If a marketer frames their story in terms of a person’s worldview, they will be heard and noticed.
The second step Godin points out is “people notice only the new and then make a guess”. He makes a great comparison to ideas and viruses. Viruses can spread through a community by jumping host to host. Scientists study how a host interacts with the virus. The same thing goes for an idea; ideas can spread through a community person to person. Instead of seeing how a host and virus interact, we try to understand how our brain responds to the ideas and inputs we encounter.
The third step is “first impressions start the story”. People make judgments within a fraction of a second. A marketer needs to grab the attention of their audience as soon as they start telling the story or else they will lose the persons attention. A marketer should always start with something exciting and interesting, not boring. First impressions are always key.
Godin’s fourth step in his book is “great marketers tell stories we believe.” First, you have to believe in your story, or else you will not come off believable. Sounding confident and knowing what you’re talking about will draw in a bigger audience. The story sells the product and pleases the customer.
Finally, the last step is “marketers with authenticity thrive.” Godin said, “If you commit to a story and live that story, the contradictions will disappear.” No one likes a phony person because then no one will take their time to listen to your advertisement, or even buy your product or service. When a marketer is authentic, it shows, and people will stop and listen. People like hearing stories when it involves a shortcut, money, safety, fun, and belonging. These are all factors of their worldviews, and Godin said persuading someone to switch their worldview is the same as making him admit he was wrong. People hate admitting that they are wrong, and therefore will not listen to your story.
In the end, it doesn’t matter whether something is actually better or more efficient, what matters is what the consumer believes. As a marketer, it would be impossible to be noticed without studying your audience’s various worldviews. Products and services have gotten more and more complex, so there is a lot of teaching for marketers to do. Seth Godin’s “All Marketers Tell Stories” is a step in the right direction when you want to succeed as a marketer.
Sources:
http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1591841003/permissionmarket
http://digitalethos.org/a-day-at-google-new-york-opinion/
The content in this article is part of Digital Ethos’s Digital Media Education in the Higher Education Internship Program, the content was created by @KaylaMarzo, a Student at Suffolk County Community college, intern at Digital Ethos.
10 Ways to Use Foursquare for Business
Foursquare is a location-based smartphone application which offers check-in service to customers, marketers and businesses alike. You can use this mobile application to check-in to venues and share with your friends where you are, and obtain info about those places. Based on your updates, the application might assign you merit badges. It’s an interesting social concept for consumers and at the same time, a strong business tool that can be potentially used for creating brand awareness and profits. Hence if you want to leverage your business, this platform platform is worth looking at for several reasons. To do this, you’ll have to understand how it works. There are 10 ways to use Foursquare for business. To help you get an idea about promoting your own business through this platform, there are a few tips discussed below.
How to use foursquare for business
To begin with, check your business on Foursquare. If your business is not there, add it and then, claim it on the listing. Connect your Twitter account with the listing. This process is quite simple. Once this is done, you can proceed further to use Foursquare for business promotion. In this endeavor, following things can be done:
- Create interesting deals to draw in customers. Deals can easily be created if you have claimed your business on this platform. You can give special discounts to those users who checks in to your business, for instance – announce to give 10% off on one’s next merchandise shopping. However, just ensure that your deals are special and creative so that new customers get attracted and keep coming back to you.
- Design reward-based programs on Foursquare for loyal customers to retain them. If deals help you draw new customers, rewarding those who are regular visitors to your business is useful in winning their loyalty. It can create a bond between your customers and the business and entice them to come back to you. Your reward-based programs should be smart and intelligently devised, for instance – a program asking one to check in 5 times in 15 days and win a surprise gift.
- Use Foursquare to collect demographic details of your customers. Through this platform, you can know the average check-in rate of a customer, his/ her age and gender, check-in timings and where he or she is sharing the check-in details – on Facebook or Twitter.
- Another interesting way to use Foursquare for business promotion is to get feedback from your customers about your business. Customers can leave their comments or tips about a particular venue they visit. You can use their feedback to bring improvisation in your business.
- Foursquare is a powerful medium to advertize your business for free. When you claim your business and optimize the listing by adding authentic contact details and website, you increase the chances of promoting your business across various social networking sites which are used by millions.
- If your business doesn’t have a physical presence, you can use Foursquare to set up a page instead of claiming a venue. Foursquare page is not much different from a Twitter page. Those who follow your business on Foursquare can obtain information about you from there.
- You can enter a partnership with other brands which are physically present to derive optimum benefit. For instance if you are a book publisher, join hands with a local bookstore to increase the reach of your business.
- Design Foursquare event at your venue to boost massive check-ins and brand consciousness.
- You can encourage your staff to join Foursquare and check-in at your venue there whenever they report to work. This will also help spread awareness about your business among their friends and followers.
- You can also share useful tips on Foursquare to engage with your customers and thereby, attract their attention to your business.
These are few ways to use Foursquare for business. You can use these and other innovative techniques as well to make success out of your business.
Edoardo Piccolotto, is an Internet Marketing and Strategic Consultant that provides specific strategy advices to business that want to use internet to generate new business opportunities. Follow him on twitter @epiccolotto.
Why use Google AdWords? – Part 1- [Internship]
Ever search something on Google and wonder what makes the first search result better than the next? With a little help from AdWords it can help you achieve a higher rank in the search results. AdWords bid on keywords that will help trigger their sponsored ads. How much they bid is one of the things that determines their position on the page of search results. The more their ads are clicked, the less they have to pay for each click.
Google AdWords is Google’s pay per click (PPC) advertising platform. This tool is used to direct traffic to your website. Every time your ad is clicked in the PPC option, the advertiser pays the website owner on the terms that the agreed on. The budget can determine how often ads can appear on Google. PPC’s content usually takes form in advertisements such as sponsored links or ads. They appear either above your search results or along the side.
There are many beneficial factors when taking using the AdWords tool. When someone clicks on your ad, this will take them to your website where they can learn more about your business and make a purchase. Advertising on Google can direct more traffic to your website as you are using the most widely used search engine in the world.
When you first come across Google AdWords, you’ll want to narrow down your audience and attempt to target just your customers. Google AdWords allows you to narrow down your audience by choosing from hundreds of languages, and specific cities and regions. For example, if you own a furniture store in New York City, you don’t want your ads to be seen in Colorado. Set your campaign ads to be read in English throughout the New York City area. Making your ads visible within a ten miles radius of the city or using the zip code targeting can’t hurt either.
After you targeted your audience, you then want to create your ad that will appeal to them. You want your ad to stick out like a sore thumb. In a world full of furniture stores, you want someone to click on your website instead of your competitors. In order for the searcher to click your ad, you want to be able to provide them with the one they think provides the most beneficial information or drives the highest value. In order to make an ad the most effective for your website, you want to choose keywords that are relevant. Choose keywords that relate the most to your site, service or offer. For example, if you are a business that sells furniture, your keywords might include couch, futon, or recliner. You’ll also find it useful to create long tail keywords, like NYC furniture store, or park slope furniture store. The long tail keywords use more terms to narrow your target and often have less competition.
There are a couple of types of keywords, one being negative keywords. A negative keyword is a phrase or word that prevents ads from appearing when a searcher types it in. For example, if your business sells furniture, but doesn’t sell bed frames, you would add the negative keyword but put a hyphen before it like so –bed frames. This eliminates your ads from appearing on irrelevant searches. Another type of keywords include exact match. You want to use exact match when you are using keywords that are exactly what a customer would be looking for when searching on Google. Exact match means that the ad shows for searches only when the search query is exactly the same as your keyword. When using exact match, chose your keyword and put it in square brackets. When someone is looking to buy a love seat, and you own a furniture company, you may want to use [love seat] as an exact match.
After you created your ad, you want to set a pricing. Set your daily budget and cost per click up. You can spend to as much or as little as you want. The average cost per click with Google AdWords is around $3.50 per click but in some cases skyrockets to $20. A useful feature on AdWords lets you change your budget at any time. When you are finally all done with setting up your ad, you want to launch the campaign.
Signing up for Google AdWords can be a good move for your business. It can direct traffic straight to your website which can mean more purchases. Google AdWords generates more visitors, followers, and customers. When you have an effective ad on Google’s search results page, your website will see a whole new world. The tool is one of the best advertising options when you want to track ROI and be able to reduce or grow on the fly. While there is still a lot of other options, using the PPC campaigns in Google AdWords can be a great source for new business.
Coming In Part 2 – Google AdWords, Advanced Options, CPM, Newsletter, Calls, DisplayNetwork
Sources:
- http://www.googleadwordsgrader.com/?src=AdWords&kw=google%20adwords%20tips&fromppc=yes&ref=GGLGraderCampaign&gclid=CM_OsJzc2LICFUmd4AodOCwAbw
- http://www.amazon.com/AdWords-For-Dummies-Lifestyles-Paperback/dp/0470152524/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348850958&sr=1-2-fkmr1&keywords=adwords+basics+for+dummies
- http://www.wordstream.com/how-to-use-google-adwords
- https://www.google.com/intl/en_us/adwords/select/steps.html
- http://www.optimum7.com/internet-marketing/search-engine-marketing/average-adwords-pay-per-click-ppc-costs.html
The content in this article is part of Digital Ethos’s Digital Media Education in the Higher Education Internship Program, the content was created by @KaylaMarzo, a Student at Suffolk County Community college, intern at Digital Ethos.
What Type of Marketing Job is Right for Me?
You want to get into marketing, but aren’t sure where to start. Maybe you’ve just graduated or are looking around for an internship, but are having trouble narrowing down your options. The fact of the matter is that marketing is a vast industry, and it has many different types of careers to offer in numerous fields. The key is finding the one best suited to your particular strengths and passions.
The marketing sector can be broadly divided into five primary fields or branches. They are all interrelated and interdependent, but each is unique and all involve very different job descriptions. You can choose from careers in advertising, media, brand management, market research, and PR. Here’s what each has to offer:
Advertising
If you’ve ever seen an episode of HBO’s Mad Men, you probably have a general idea of what this work involves. Of course, it’s not nearly so glamorous or dramatic as that, but a career in advertising means becoming an expert in rhetoric, persuasion, and psychology. You’ll need to have a sharp aesthetic sense, be well versed in typography and design, and, most importantly, be able to create concise appealing images and expressions that will sell products.
Media
Technically, media falls under the blanket of advertising, but it deserves it’s own space because of the specialization it involves. While advertising, as characterized above, refers to the generation of concepts and strategies, media refers to the communication of those ideas. These jobs demand technical skill and involve getting the ad concepts circulating at maximum exposure on the Internet, television, in print, on billboards, and wherever else they will be most effective.
Brand Management
Brand Management accounts for a large part of marketing. It is also a largely conceptual field that requires an intimate understanding of a specific company and the products it sells. Brand managers must find ways to capture the essence of a company or product and translate it into a concise image, name, and marketing strategy––all while anticipating public reactions, carving out a niche market, and combating competitors.
Market Research
To sell a product, one must first understand the people it is being sold to. Market researchers conduct polls, organize focus groups, analyze statistics, recognize and anticipate consumer trends, and gain insights into the habits and psychology of the buyer.
Public Relations (PR)
Public relations jobs require strong social skills and fast-talking. PR departments are intermediaries between the media, consumers, employees, investors, and the public. They write press releases, appease angry parties, promote products, keep investors informed, and deal with journalists.
As long as products are being sold, there will be a demand for people who can market them. This is why there are so many employment opportunities in the marketing sector, and usually a strong degree of job security. Slumps in the economy rarely put marketing firms out of business. Rather, they make companies who are desperate to sell their products even more reliant on advertising and creative marketing. Hopefully this guide has helped you narrow down your options. Best of luck in finding the type of career you’ll pursue in your job hunt!
Thanks to Agency Central for contributing this guide. If you fancy your hand in any of these roles, you can find wide range of marketing recruitment agencies at AgencyCentral.co.uk.
Facebook Declares Sponsored Stories Their Primary Ad Unit
Traditionally, Facebook has been reluctant to fill up its social content feeds and streams with ads. However, they have rolled out Sponsored Stories for ad units. This new option will open up a viable new ad inventory that can include placements on the home page.
Facebook’s Platform for Marketers
Although Facebook is just past it’s 8 year mark since launch, it is still a rather new platform on which marketers can share their message, products or 
services. Until recently, the method for spreading that message was the same as usual, create your message and share it with your most targeted audience. This seems to have left the medium and the message itself, out of sync. Expected results ensued. Most folks do not sign onto Facebook to be advertised to, or to look for places to purchase items of interests. Those who used conversion tracking were given a clear picture, the standard Facebook ads did not work. Shortly afterwards, social metrics were introduced in place of conversion tracking.
Many believe that if marketers can learn how to leverage the unique opportunity offered by Sponsored Stories, that they can thrive on Facebook.
Facebook’s Social Content Streams
While Facebook has traditionally be averse to filling their social content stream with ads, they recently began offering their Sponsored Stories ad units in the fully site wide ticker that includes real-time social activities and stories. The thoughts behind the benefits are that this will open up a valuable new ad inventory that includes placements on the users home page. So while they do remain as paid ads, the Sponsored Stories actually display your ad in a friends or your page users’ “Likes” which avoids the less invasive and annoying standard ads.
There may be the unintentional side effect that some viewers and users are not expecting advertisements to escape the confines of the lowly right sidebar, but in general, so far, the ads have proven to be quite effective for social advertising. Current ad units allow brands to purchase additional exposure, however, beginning in August, Facebook began blending the Sponsored Stories in with things like the game apps friends are using, or specific content they are following using other canvas apps.
How Do I Use Sponsored Ads to My Advantage?
There are several ways that marketers can take advantage of the ad units offered in Sponsored Stories. This includes several ad types where marketers 
or small business owners with Facebook pages can select from the type of ad that works best for their product or services.
Marketers will now be able to customize Facebook ads to their specific needs with only a few basic restrictions. The ad content must still complete with Facebook guidelines. Any images must be properly sized and formatted, and ad text must be 90 characters or fewer.
The marketer will get to target the perimeters that will determine the overall reach of the standard ad. With zero perimeters set that would mean that all of Facebook’s almost 1 billion users could see it. However, that would also be a phenomenal waste of money when highly detained perimeters can be set to target the exact demographics that are relevant to your product. The ad can be targeted so specifically that marketers can choose settings that will enable their ad to reach anywhere from 1 user to the over 850 million now on Facebook.
The 6 Types of Facebook Sponsored Stories
There are six different types of Sponsored Story ads to choose from.
Page Like Story
Page like ads are those where a user has “Liked” your page directly from the box on your website or from Facebook.
Page Post Like Story
This is where one of your fans has “Liked” one of your post in the past seven days.
App Used and Game Played Story
This means someone has played your game or used your app at least twice for a minimum of ten minutes in the past month.
App Share Story
This means that someone has shared a story from your app in the past seven days.
Check-In Story
A check-in story is where a user checked-in or claimed a deal in the last seven days at one of the Facebook claimed places.
Domain Story
A domain story means that a user shared a piece of content from your website using the Share button, shared a piece of your content using the “Like” button, or pasted a link to your site in their status window, in the last seven days.
Author:
@BasilPuglisi is the Executive Director and Publisher for Digital Brand Marketing Education (dbmei.com). Basil C. Puglisi is also the President of Puglisi Consulting Group, Inc. A Digital Brand Marketing Consultancy that manages professional and personal branding for Fortune 500 CEOs, Hedge Fund Managers and Small Business Owners.
Sources:
Display Ads and Tumblr [News]
Technically, display advertising, or banner ads, are graphical advertisements on the web that pop up next to, above, blended into or under content on emails, web sites, or even IM applications. This video is very short but provides a great overall understanding of what display ads are and how they work.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUT5H723Ii4]
What Benefits Will Display Ad Networks Have on Your Business?
Just like magazines or newspaper ads, you can expect to receive the same type of benefit from display ads in exposure for your business and hopefully in an obviously increasing customer base. However, unlike magazines and newspaper ads, the flexibility of the internet lets us advertise to a worldwide community, expanding a business’s horizons endlessly. Display advertising also has distinct advantages over the more traditional formats.
- Businesses can target specific options such as behavioral targeting options or direct choices in demographics allowing them to expertly direct ads only to their most vital audiences.
- Performance of your ads can be tracked as part of your daily marketing campaign to allow you to measure metrics such as clicks, conversions, and impressions which will allow you to calculate your ROI.
Top Display Ad Networks
Although the list is constantly changing, some of the top display ad networks in the country include:
- Yahoo Network
- Google Ad Network
- ValueClick Networks
- Turn Media Platform
- 27/7 Real Media
- Adbrite
News in Ad Display – Tumblr
A couple of years ago, CEO David Karp of Tumblr was asked what his feelings were on display ads. At that time he shared that they turned his stomach. Not something he wanted for his blogging platform. Very recent news shared that he may have found himself eating those words a bit when he shared that Tumblr plans to begin selling ad display units to advertisers. So far, the platform has survived without any ads but users will soon begin to see them displayed on their Tumblr “Featured” section of the dashboard.
Advertisers should be able to pay for ad space beginning May 2nd. Tumblr currently hosts over 52 million blogs with a growth rate of approximately 50 million posts per day.
Author:
@BasilPuglisi is the Executive Director and Publisher for Digital Brand Marketing Education (dbmei.com). Basil C. Puglisi is also the President of Puglisi Consulting Group, Inc. A Digital Brand Marketing Consultancy that manages professional and personal branding for Fortune 500 CEOs, Hedge Fund Managers and Small Business Owners.
Sources:
Improved Facebook Advertising Campaign Performance
Social media marketing, research has shown, is the fastest growing platform for advertisers. With promises of increased customer engagement and low marketing costs, advertisers flocked to this platform in droves. 76% of companies in the US use social media. Over three quarters of marketing officers believe they will increase their ROI this year through social media and plan to increase their budgets. But ROI is not easy to measure with social media. The different metrics will yield different results. Are you doing whatever it takes? Are there some things you don’t know about?
Facebook is the most valuable platform, statistic shoes, with over 15% of the social media marketing business, while rating and reviews, Twitter, LinkedIn and Youtube are there as well starting at about 10%.
Last month, a company called Techlightenment unveiled its new product called Alchemy 2. The company which is a leading provider of Facebook marketing technologies, helps solve traditional Facebook challenges of scale and performance, and has features that reduce the time spent on manual processes because the platform does it for you so you can focus your attention on higher value decisions.
The company promises that marketers will get 80% higher CTR and 50% lower CPC using their platform compared to the average Facebook campaign. Alchemy 2 allows user to take advantage of what Facebook has to offer; timeline, Sponsored Stories and Custom Action ads.
Here is what this platform includes:
Create a campaign fast and easy. You can create hundreds of ads in a few minutes.
- Combine location, target audience with your creativity.
- The system allows you to dynamically insert keywords and locations.
- Analytics will tell you how many end users you will reach.
- Easy re-posting of campaigns in one click.
Optimize and track. About 70% of what used to have to be done manually can be done by alchemy 2.
- Optimize by setting up rules based on which actions are taken.
- Track multiple conversion points.
- Control your budget by targeting groups and locations.
- Optimize to CPA with tracking solutions and analytics.
Manage and Report.
- Drag and drop the data you have to see how effective the campaign is.
- You can easily change the metrics, and have complete control of how the budget is being allocated.
- You can see CPA and conversion data at the ad level. The platform will calculate your margin and optimize accordingly.
Will Ashton, Managing Director of Alchemy 2 at Techlightenment said: “Alchemy was the first Facebook advertising platform to market in 2010. We have redesigned the platform for the release of Alchemy 2 to make it even more sophisticated and agile. As Facebook makes updates to its platform, Alchemy 2 is well positioned to be updated as near to real-time as possible, allowing users to make near immediate use of new features and ad formats.”
Techlightenment was bought by Experian in January 2011.
Author:
@BasilPuglisi is the Executive Director and Publisher for Digital Brand Marketing Education (dbmei.com). Basil C. Puglisi is also the President of Puglisi Consulting Group, Inc. A Digital Brand Marketing Consultancy that manages professional and personal branding for Fortune 500 CEOs, Hedge Fund Managers and Small Business Owners.
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