Epic Fails: Top Reasons Why Ad Campaigns Fail

Let’s be honest, epic fails are only funny when no one gets hurt and in the advertising business, if your ad campaign flops, your brand suffers. There’s definitely no single recipe for an ad campaign to succeed there are some top reasons that it won’t. Don’t fall victim to an ad that falls short of the mark. Do the research and understand what to do and especially what not to do. Here are our top reasons that we believe some ad campaigns fail epically. While, this list is nowhere near exhaustive, it’s a place to start.

1.     Budget. If the budget is too small, the campaign won’t run for very long and won’t build up enough frequency. It also may not get enough traffic to generate sales. Sometimes budget may be out of your control so you will have to do the best you can with what you have. Make sure to take on an objective that fits that budget. A great example would be to use user generated content in your ad campaigns since it is much less costly than traditional advertising.

2.     Missing the mark with your audience. Chances are if you are still in business you have a good idea of your target audience. However, you may be new in the space or trying something different. Make sure to do the research to see what kind of people buy your products or use your services. Look at their social media, do customer surveys, use Google Analytics from your website and social media channel insights.

3.     Relying on a single channel. Out attentions spans are short and they are getting even shorter. I’m surprised you’re still reading this blog honestly. Just kidding but seriously, we constantly bounce back and forth between things on the web as our focus is pulled from one thing to the next. Sometimes, as brands, our audience can miss something if we only post on a single channel. It’s important to have an omnichannel approach to our strategies. It’s also important since different generations spend time on different social platforms. Knowing your audience’s demographics will help you know where to target the bulk of your advertisements.  

4.     Unrealistic expectations. Remember that story about the bears and the girl with the porridge. Yea, it’s like that. Not too hot, not too cold, just right. The goals must be realistic. If it’s too small, then you aren’t going to see any significant results but if it’s too big then you are setting yourself up for failure.  

Take a look at these red flags and set them as markers to avoid. Let’s be honest, some of it will be trial and error. Sometimes we learn more from our mistakes than our successes. Chances are, if you’re new to this then some will be made. If you’re a vet, then you’ve probably already made yours. No matter where you are in your business journey it’s always important to keep learning to grow and to stay successful.

Creative Ways to Advertise

Did you know that it typically takes 5-7 brand interactions before a consumer remember the brand? (Start Up Bonsai) We’ve written articles in the past on how to make your advertisements stand out from the crowd with the use of Interactive Advertising. We’ve also talked about what contributes to the effectiveness of an advertisement. Creativity will always win in advertising campaigns so why should the way that you advertise be any different? Not only should the advertisements themselves stand out, the way that you advertise should as well. Here are some creative and not so creative, but tried and tested, ideas to get you started.

1.     Magazines. This type of advertising is one of the oldest. Ads began in newspapers so this is similar. This can cost your brand anywhere from $500-$20K depending on which publication it is as well as the placement within the magazine. Ads in the back are typically better so they are going to cost your brand more. Cost will also be affected by the size and colors you choose.

2.     Sponsor local city maps. This one is a bit old school but tested to work. This will work especially well if your brand is located in a tourist destination.

3.     Use the space creatively. Put an ad on the celling of a building. On the floor or the staircase. Use the space creatively to draw attention to the campaign.

4.     Swag. Everyone loves free stuff and it helps your brand advertise. Think pens, tee shirts, reusable water bottles, stickers, bottle openers, etc. Keep costs low by ordering early, buying in bulk, shopping around for the best deals and also negotiate pricing.

5.     Vehicle wraps. We’ve all seen the bus side ads. It’s dynamic since the vehicle is always in motion. Many people will see the ad but make sure that it legible to read in motion. This type of advertising is also a bit costly ranging anywhere from $3K-5K. That being said, this type of ad generates 2.5x’s more attention than static billboards according to Sign Post. You can easily find companies in your area that specialize in vehicle wraps with a simple Google search. 

6.     Banner Ads. Banner ads are a great way to get your brand to the eyes of those that potentially are interested in what you have to offer. These are placed on specific websites that have similar interest to your business through publishers. This can help grow your audience big time. They should be animated to get the viewers’ attention immediately. Costs of this type of advertising varies. Some do 50cents per 1,000 impressions. Meaning that it will be displayed 1,000 times. Some charge one-time fees for a specified span of time.

These are some fun ways to mix up the ways that your brand is advertising. Not only should your advertisement be creatively sound, the way that you choose to advertise that campaign should be as well. We hope this helps give you some ideas to add diversity to your advertising strategies.

Top Reasons to Adopt UGC Into Your Advertising Strategy

It’s no secret that we love user generated content pieces. We’ll scream it to the mountain tops and swear by its effectiveness. We’ve written articles on the cost effectiveness of UGC, building brand trust with UGC and overall UGC statistics for making our case. But…just in case you aren’t sold yet, we’ve decided to put a list together to show you just why you should incorporate it into your advertising if you haven’t already.

1.     Increased customer engagement. People are more likely to share content created with UGC. Millennials share more UGC as well. There is a “28% increased engagement rate when UGC and product videos merge” (Comscore). 

2.     Brands are focusing on UGC. 16% of brands have an effective UGC marketing strategy already and 86% of companies understand the importance of it according to an article in Taggbox.

3.     Increases return visitors. Digital Information World Brands claims that brands featuring UGC on their sites have a 20% return rate.

4.     High impact. People spend more time watching UGC than produced content and it has a higher impact on the viewers.

Do you believe us now? We hope we’ve made you a believer as we fully trust what UGC has to offer in the advertising space. Contact us now for your consultation to get started! 

Neilson Global Marketing Report 2022

The 2022 global annual marketing report was released recently. This report surveys marketers across various industries in media globally to understand the behaviors with data. Here are the key pain point take aways from the report.

1. Expected budget changes:

   1. High increase of social media to 53% of budget

   2. 50% increase of display online/mobile budget

   3. 49% increase of video on online/mobile

   4. 37% increase on OTT-TC/connected-TV

2. Top marketing objectives:

   1. Brand awareness as most important

   2. Customer acquisition falling in second

   3. Customer retention third most important

   4. Customer advocacy

   5. Competitor conquest

   6. Churn reduction last

3. Beliefs on what positively influences campaign performance:

   1. Audience targeting comes in at the top

   2. Ad creative second

   3. Audience reach is third

   4. Data quality

   5. Personalization

4. Importance of diversity and CSR initiatives:

   1. 67% of DEI in marketing efforts

   2. 65% in content where ads are purchased

   3. 65% in vendor selection

   4. 68% in marketing effort as a company

   5. 68% environmental and social governance in marketing efforts

Brand awareness efforts, social media spend increases, DEI/CSR initiative importance and audience targeting are the ley take aways from the report. To read the full report click HERE.

The Power of Email Marketing

Here’s a question for you… do you think that most people check social media or their email first in the morning? We’ll give you a second to think about what it is that you do…

If you said check your email you are correct. Most people check their email first in the morning before anything else. This is one of many reasons why email marketing has the top ROI of any marketing strategy or channel. A study done in 2015 showed that for every $1 spent an email has an ROI of $38 according to DMA. Therefore, it’s important to draft a great email campaign for your readers. Not only can it be great return on investment it can help your business grow. Here are just a few ways that it can do just that.

1.     Increase your brand recognition and awareness. Every time someone sees your brand logo in their inbox their recall will improve. Talk about things that your company values, its products/services, its mission. Help your audience understand who you are. Help them connect with you as a brand.

2.     Customer engagement and retention. Add interactive content such as videos, infographics, etc. Feature some of your customers in your email marketing. For example, perhaps you have worked with an influencer or done an affiliate program. Extend your thanks by featuring them in your email marketing campaigns.

3.     Customers are enticed to act. Put call to actions in the emails. Make them stand out with brightly lit colors. Keep them short and send them to a landing page rather than your home page.

4.     It’s personal and builds relationships with customers. Everyone hates mass emails. They feel spammy. Personalizing emails to your customers so that it resonates with them. Create connections that will build relationships that last by giving them information they want.

5.     Increased website traffic. This one is a given. Your email should have links to your website listed for a number of reasons. It could be to a blog on your site. Some work you’ve recently done. A sale you have going on. You get the idea. People may not always be looking at your site so this is a way to drive traffic.

6.     Optimized time and budget. As stated above, ROI is insane for email marketing. Email marketing is cheap and some is even free. By putting effort into the emails and using the 80:20 rule you will increase your revenue with little budget spent. The 80:20 rule states that roughly 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients. Focus your energy on that 20%. This is where personalization can come into play as well.

Now that we know why email marketing is a powerful marketing tool, do you have the proper criteria to create a stand out email marketing campaign? Here are some basic rules of thumb to follow to create a killer email.

1.     Personalize, personalize, personalize! Same as we stated above and this couldn’t be more important.

2.     Make it visual! This increases engagement and motivates people to take actions.

3.     Promote action! Make sure there are plenty of calls to action in your email. This will also allow you to track how the email is doing.

4.     Write a catchy subject line. We would say that this is second most important next to personalization. This is where you have one chance to hook your audience into reading. Also, email marketing should have short excerpts so make every word count!

Email marketing is one of the most efficient ways to grow your business and see great returns. It can help build your audience and increase sales if done correctly. To sum it up, don’t slack on your email marketing. The benefits far outweigh any cons.

Performance Marketing vs Affiliate Marketing

A hot topic right now is performance marketing. It’s somewhat similar to affiliate marketing but has a lower risk involved and encompasses a wider umbrella that includes affiliate marketing as its sub category. It’s not something that is new but is now rising to the top as a new way to market. Let’s define each for some more clarity. Affiliate marketing is where a relationship is set up between a brand and an individual or organization where partners will receive a percentage commission of the sales they help create. Performance marketing where brands only pay when a certain objective has been met, such as clicks, leads or a sale. Here, advertisers connect with agencies, publishers or influencers to design and place ads on their company channels. Similar to that with affiliate. This is done instead of traditional advertising and now the advertisers pay based on how their ad performs and is measurable in number of impressions, clicks, shares and sales. It’s “performance based,” hence the name. Let’s now talk about the ways in which your brand’s performance-based marketing can be tracked. Here is where you see the difference in payment structure from that of affiliate marketing.

1.     Cost Per Click (CPC): as the name implies, advertisers only pay when their ad is clicked on.

2.     Cost Per Sale (CPS): the advertiser only pays when the sale was driven by the ad. This is what is used for affiliate marketing.

3.     Cost Per Impression (CPM): advertisers pay for every one thousand views. For example, if your ad gets 30K views then they pay their base rate 30x’s.

4.      Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): advertisers pay when consumers complete a specific action, such as giving their contact information, getting a sale, etc.

5.     Cost Per Lead (CPL): advertisers pay when someone signs up for something such as an email newsletter, webinar, etc.

Now that we’ve discussed the ways that advertisers pay for performance marketing let’s talk about some of the benefits. The most important one is that is tends to be lower risk since advertisers only pay after a desired action takes place. This will leave more budgeting wiggle room. Second, it’s very trackable. Performance marketing can be measured to where advertisers can watch the entire journey of their audiences’ buying path. It shows which channels are showing better results. Lastly, it increases brand awareness and increased ROI. This is a way to reach new audiences’ brands have not already tapped into. The pros are the same for affiliate marketing. However, there are some down sides to this style of marketing. Brands will have less creative control, they risk putting their brand’s reputation at jeopardy with an affiliate and most programs rely on third party cookies to measure performance, which will no longer be available when Google phases out 3rd party cookies. In summary, having both marketing strategies in your brand’s back pocket is good. Both have benefits but with the phase out of 3rd party cookies soon performance marketing will be taking a front seat. It’s honestly surprising that it took this long to come to the forefront with all the pros it produces. They both assume the risk of overpaying versus how much sales it generates but with performance marketing the risk is lessened. Could performance marketing be the marketing strategy of the future?

Advertising Effectiveness Contributors

What makes an advertisement effective? Take a second to think about it. We’ll wait…. Now that you’ve thought about it, we’re going to give you a hint. It’s not a cut and dry answer. As we’re sure you’ve guessed, it’s not just one thing that will make an advertisement effective, it’s multiple aspects. That being said though, turns out that creativity is still the most important part of advertising effectiveness. There are 5 other important contributors to advertising effectiveness. According to a study done by Nielson Catalina Solutions, creative lands on top at 47% but the other 5 include reach at 22%, brand at 15%, targeting lists at 9%, recency at 5% and lastly, context at 2%. It’s interesting to note that creative is still the top driver of advertising effectiveness, but this does not mean that brands can neglect the other 5 contributors. Let’s take a look at recency. Recency is a theory stating that advertising will have a greater sales impact when exposure occurs close to a purchase. Determining when your audience will buy will determine when to run your ad. If they buy on the weekend, then the ad should be run on Thursday or Friday right before their purchase. This article only touches on the topics that increase advertising effectiveness and each contributor could have an article of their own. It’s crucial for brands to understand what drives their advertisement effectiveness in order to increase sales.

Emotional Advertising

Of course, we all buy things out of necessity or want! However, as it turns out a lot of us buy things driven by emotions. A study done showed that “70% of viewers who experienced an intense emotional response to an ad were very likely to buy the product” (Unruly). This brings to mind that overly drawn out commercial for the SPCA. In the ad you’re shown sad faced, pitiful looking animals while Sarah McLaughlin sings in a melancholy tone the background. Yea, you know exactly which one I’m talking about. They’re really selling it home hard with triggering the emotional response here. This is the text book example of an emotional ad. Makes sense to advertise this way. IPA Research showed that, “ads with purely emotional content perform twice as well (31% vs. 16%) compared to those with only rational content.” It appears we are emotional beings rather than rational. Side note, Italians are the most emotionally engaged with brands at a whopping 65%. We thought this fact was interesting. Although very effective, it can be somewhat risky. There’s really no predicting if it will beseech the emotional response intended from your audience. This is why we believe user generated content should be a big part of every brands advertising strategy. UGC is one of the best ways to create emotional connections from brand to audience using the lens of the customer experiences. With an array of emotions and reactions through UGC video, it’s not a surprise that it is the most engaging. When you can sympathize with another “real” human who isn’t a paid actor, you build an authentic relationship with the brand and its mission. But don’t take our word for it, Frontify showed a statistic that 85% of people find UGC to be more influential. If your brand hasn’t already tapped into the infinite potential of UGC or sourced content marketing contact us to learn how.

Multicultural Advertising

Gen Z is the most multicultural generation to date and it’s expected that multicultural advertising budgets are going to increase in the coming years. It’s estimated that the white population in the U.S. will actually be the minority by 2043 according to the U.S. Census. Large cities all across America are now enmeshed with loads of diversity and with the social justice movements during the pandemic, inclusion is now necessity in conducting good business. Yesterday we wrote an article on cross-cultural advertising, so today we’re going to focus on the importance of  multicultural advertising. As essential as it is today, it is still no easy feat to create multicultural ads that resonates with its audience and does not offend or alienate them. Thus, we thought we would put together a tips list to help you get started.

1.     Research and analyze data. Look at multicultural campaigns that have worked. What did they do? A prime example would be Coca-Cola’s “America’s Beautiful”. Also, don’t forget to make sure to do research into specific cultures that you’re trying to reach as well. Understanding the culture will help you know the motivations of the audience as well as what triggers them to buy something.

2.     Have a diverse multicultural marketing/advertising team. Of course, someone from a particular region will understand that place better than anyone. This can help you contextualize your campaigns through your team who has, quite literally, been where your audience is or has been. This diverse team can help you check for accuracy of campaigns.  

3.     Triple check accuracy and authenticity of campaigns. As stated above it’s important to check the accuracy of the multicultural campaigns. Aside from having your diverse team, your brand can run it by colleagues that may also represent that cultural group. Get their feedback. What emotions did it invoke? This can also be done through A/B testing to see what appeals to the group(s) you’re targeting. Whichever way you shake it, having a cultural expert look at your campaigns is a must before they hit the market.

4.     Create empowerment in multicultural communities. How can your campaign create a sense of empowerment? How can you shed some light on issues or diversities that a particular culture has faced? People will trust your brand if you’re authentic in your support to give representation to underrepresented groups!

5.     Overcome preconceived cultural beliefs. This could be thought of as research listed at bullet point number one above. Make sure to study the culture and beliefs are your target audience. Even following influencers in that culture can help you understand the mood of target cultures. Keep an open mind and a humble heart while you learn about new cultural groups.

Overall, in the coming years it will be important to develop deeper and stronger understanding of different cultures. A new ecosystem of advertising space is coming to light and it’s right around the corner. It’s crucial to stay up to date with cultural trends and keeping your work space diverse. We’re excited for this new multicultural advertising space and embrace it with open arms. As a business who holds high DEI standards we couldn’t agree more with the increasing importance of multicultural advertising. To see more great examples of brands that got their multicultural advertisements right click HERE.  

Cross-cultural Advertising

First off, let’s note that cross-cultural and multi-cultural advertising are not the same. Multi-cultural advertisements are created with a specific ethnic group(s) in mind where cross-cultural advertising is created in order to reach many different cultures simultaneously. Although it may seem straight forward, multi-cultural advertising is a little easier to achieve than the broader spectrum audience of many cultures. Specific ads that may do well in one country may not always do well in another and in countries that are melting pots, such as the U.S., you want to make sure your message gets across the way you intend. Thus, cross-cultural advertising brings with it certain challenges. That being said, cross-cultural advertising has never been more important in today’s global society. Different cultures are more accessible in every part of the world with technology and transportation. It’s imperative that agencies adopt a cross-cultural approach to their advertising strategies. It’s not straight forward but the work will be worth it! Here are some things to consider when creating cross-cultural advertisements.

1.     Know your market. Do some research on different cultures that are within the target audience(s). There are so many sub cultures within a country, such as rural areas, southern towns, west coast culture versus east coast culture, etc. You get the idea. Therefore, it’s important to research each and know what strategies to take for your advertisement campaigns to tailor to all and not just one. Make sure to look into what cultures may consider taboo as well.

2.     Understand cultural norms within that market. Cultural norms are important when designing your advertising campaign. Avoiding missteps here can save you a lot of headache later. More research here is required. Think about whether a certain culture is more conservative than another. Thai culture believes that the head is a sacred space and that you patting someone on the head is disrespectful. It’s understanding these subtle cultural nuances that will keep your head above water for your cross-cultural advertising campaigns.

3.     Consider language. Sometimes particular words do not translate across cultures. There may not be a translation for a word. Also, avoiding particular jargon or slang may be necessary to advertise cross-culturally. For example, hella is a word used in the northern part of California and other parts of the country may have no clue what this word is meant to be used for.

4.     Know the values of your audience. Does the target culture(s) stress the importance of collectivism or individualism? Do they promote selflessness for the good of the whole or applaud having a strong personal identity?

5.     Pay attention to visuals. Colors invoke specific reactions and have powerful effects. Each culture is different. Certain colors can have meaning in one and a completely different in another. The same can be said for numbers and superstitious objects, such as black cats. In America, black cats and the number 13 are considered unlucky whereas in other cultures they are thought to be signs of good fortune.

There is an art to taking multiple cultures and connecting them together by commonalities. Brands that have great advertising in essence should already have good cross-cultural advertising strategies. However, they will need to branch out to untapped cultures in order to grow if they haven’t already. A brand will need to make sure to stick to their instilled brand culture and find commonalities with the cultures they wish to branch out to. This will ensure that they remain authentic to themselves and their original mission. They will also come off as being “real” to their new cultural audience. Innovative brands should have no problem with this since they are used to being at the intersection of multiple cultures at once. In short, for cross-cultural advertising, research will be required, time will be required and cultural preconceptions may change as a result. Expanding and learning about new cultures will help you understand the world overall much better, reduce stereotypes, enhance communication skills effectively and prevent ethnic/racial divisions.

The Rise of Interactive Advertising

Did you know that there is a term called ad blindness? It is a term to explain the phenomenon in response to how people have begun to cope with being subject to constant advertising. People have developed a coping mechanism to subconsciously and sometimes consciously tune out advertisements. In fact, 82% of Gen Z skip or ignore ads completely according to A List Daily. You can check out our article from yesterday on tips to make your advertisements more engaging but there is another kind of ad emerging that seems to increase engagement; interactive advertising. Actually, interactive advertisements have been shown to increase consumer attention by 47% and 32% more memorable according to a study conducted by Magna Global. So, let’s talk about some different types of interactive advertisements.

1.     Playable ads. This type lets the viewer get a taste of what it is like to use their product. Examples can be viewed HERE.

2.     Interactive films. A few movies on Netflix have done this now. It gives the users the options to make certain choices for the narrative giving them control of the how they experience it. Bandersnatch is a great example. We have actually participated in this interactive film.

3.     Interactive display. These expand when clicking or rolling over when viewed on a website. When it is expanded it will reveal the interactive advertisement. Visit this website for some examples.

4.     Augmented reality. Think of filters in social media apps. A great example of this is Taco Bell’s Cinco de Mayo lens on Snapchat that allowed users to turn their heads into tacos. Here’s an interesting take on it.

5.     Interactive voice. These literally speak to the user and engage with them verbally. It allows the user to respond to their voice activated device. You can read more on this HERE.

6.     Interactive video. This can be prompted through polls or trivia, such as on Facebook and allows for real time interaction with the brand audience. People love trivia and they love answering questions about themselves. Wieden + Kennedy created a beautiful ad in this type of interactive space.

Interactive ads might be the advertising of the future. With this new and creative way to engage consumers, marketers have unlimited possibilities to generate higher brand recall, increased engagement and ultimately generation of conversion rates will go up. These ads will keep your audience guessing what type of crazy ad you will come up with next. Encourage your creative team to expand their minds in order to create interactive advertisements that will keep your target audience coming back for more for years to come!

Social Media Stats 2022

Upon all our blog research here at Locomotive, there is always a recurring theme in advertising with social media. It’s now one of the most important parts of an advertising strategy in today’s world. We found some really interesting stats that we wanted to share with all of you. We know it helps us see a clear picture of who is watching what and where. It’s important to know where your target audience is to better serve them.

Pew Research Center:

• In 2005 only 5% of American adults used at least one social platform. In 2021 that number was 72%

• Percentage of adults that say they use at least one social media site by age in 2021:

  • 18-29: 84%

  • 20-49: 81%

  • 50-64: 73%

  • 65+: 45%

• More women typically use social media (78%) than men (66%) in 2021

• YouTube and Facebook are the top most widely used platforms

  • YouTube: 81%, FB: 69%

  • Instagram comes in third at 40%

• 70% of people use Facebook daily

• 59% of people use Instagram daily

These are only some of the current social media stats but in our opinion are extremely useful when looking at where to target your ads. For more interesting statistics visit: Insider Intelligence, Sprout Social and Influencer Marketing Hub.

Ways to Engage Consumers for Advertisements

Whether on a streaming service, online or when watching a video, at some point we’ve all been just waiting for the “skip ad” button to pop up so we can click on it to get to what we’re there for. It occurred to me that I do this almost 100% of the time and I’m not alone. A study done by IPG showed that 65% of people skip video ads as soon as they get the chance. Some even stated that it is purely habit at this point. So, how do advertisers get people engaged to view their advertisements? What makes someone stop what they are doing and watch the ad or forget that the skip button is even there? We decided to do some research to find out the best ways to engage an audience with campaigns and this is what we found.

1.     Know where to advertise. This is number one in our opinion. Putting ads that are similar to content being viewed will most likely pique the interest of a consumer. For example, if someone is reading a running blog an ad for Brooks running shoes would be placed on the site. Programmatic advertising can assist brands with this and increase efficiency. Knowing where your target audience is most engaged is key.

2.     Get straight to the point and keep it short. You’ve got 8 seconds to hook, line and sink er’. That’s the average attention span of Gen Z and it’s still only 12 for Millennials. As we keep saying, attention spans are getting shorter, so don’t lose your audience by creating a 3-minute advertisement.

3.     Throw in something different. Attract immediate attention with something funny, odd or by pointing something important out. You may ask a thought-provoking question or show a compelling image. We know that always gets us to stop and watch. We always appreciate a creative campaign that stands out. Take the recent Liquid Death ad for example.

4.     Tell a story or share a personal experience. Telling a story can be done very well through the use of user generated content in your spots. It will help your audience connect with your brand. Look at our past campaign for Oreo “Stay Playful.” It asks their audience to stay playful and uses shots of UGC of regular people shooting basketballs during March Madness to connect with them.

5.     Be slightly mysterious. A study found that brands who introduced themselves too early look pushy and it will not go over well with your audience. Try to throw it in after the hook in order to help keep them watching until the end.

6.     Don’t be overly positive. This one is odd we know, but it has been shown that people tend to get annoyed when they see an ad that’s seemingly too happy. Although that may seem weird, when someone may not be in a great mood themselves, the last thing that they want to see is overly artificial happiness. Honestly, we’d be bothered by it.

7.     Put the brand logo next to the skip button. This is a little trick. Since people tend to skip video ads, this is to help ensure that they will still remember your brand name after they skip your ad. Although, it’s been disputed that it may not have a high impact, it can’t hurt right?!

There are many types of video ads to promote your product or service such as outstream, instream and social media video. Whatever advertising avenue you choose make sure to get the most eyes on your videos.

UGC Stats

We’ve all heard it a million times now. People trust people more than paid actors. It’s for this reason and many others that user generated content is now at the forefront of digital advertising. The purpose of this blog is to shine some light on some statistics about user generated content, otherwise known as sourced content.

·      79% of people are strongly influenced by UGC when making purchase decisions (Rachna & Khajuria 2017).

·      71% of people have positive attitudes toward UGC in digital advertisements (Rachna & Khajuria 2017).

·      73% of people believe that the presence of “real people” is the most important component of sourced content (Olapic Survey).

·      Consumers are 3x more likely to say content created by a consumer is authentic compared to content created by a brand (Stackla).

·      Roughly 70% of advertisers believe that sourced content is more cost effective than traditional advertising (Catch & Release Survey).

·      90% of consumers say that UGC influences their decision to make a purchase (Cision PR Newswire).

·      Demographically, Gen Z YouTube viewers prefer UGC to professional videos more than older generations (YouTube 2020).

·      Ads that feature UGC garnered 73% more positive comments on social networks than traditional ads (IAB Study).  

·      UGC generates a 25% higher ad performance than traditional advertisements (AdAge).

·      85% of companies incorporate UGC in their marketing strategy (Semrush).

·      Almost half of customers say that UGC is a way for them to discover new products (Forrester.com)

·      UGC is 35% more memorable comparable to other media (Mediapost).

·      92% of consumers trust UGC more than traditional marketing (Marketing Insider).

This is reason enough to make sure your brand is incorporating sourced content into the advertising strategy. Of course, we will always believe it is one of the best ways to connect with your audience but don’t just take our word for it, let us show you. Contact us today for a free brief evaluation!

Programmatic Advertising

Some of you may already know what programmatic advertising is but just in case we thought we would explain it for those who may not. Programmatic ads are done through the use of software or AI to buy digital advertising space. This connects publishers who own website domains with advertisers and takes the arduous task away from people having to manually do it. The software uses an algorithm to determine where the ad space is best for your target audience in order to increase your ROI. The brand gives the information of audience specifications, key performance indicators and information on the ad campaigns. The program will then create the algorithm to fit and find the perfect placements for your digital ads. After the ads go live, it will monitor and look for areas of improvement. This type of advertising couldn’t be more critical with the Google phase out of thirds party cookies. We are entering a digital era of personal information confidentiality and it’s only going to get harder to find your online audience with privacy at the forefront. This will be one of the best ways to get your ads in front of the right consumers. Here are some other reasons why it is important.

1.     Real-time adjustments. Since it is being monitored, it can show how the ad is doing based on impressions and can be adjusted as needed.

2.     Larger audience reach. Since there is purchasing power from any ad space, this increases the audience it will reach. Advertisers have a large pool of publishers, which will increase ROI as well.

3.     Efficiency. Budget is better spent. “More relevant ads are served through targeting” (Publift). Taking the human out of the equation who has to search for, inquire, and purchase the spaces makes this more efficient. It is so much faster with software and will save the company money in the end.

The future is digital! Making sure your company is up to date on the newest software and techniques for their advertising is going to be a key component to their success. Taking advantage of software that performs programmatic advertising will save your brand money, streamline your digital ad space buying process and help you reach a wider audience than before. Why wouldn’t your brand want to take advantage of this when it seems like a no brainer right?! Happy advertising! 

Understanding Purchasing Motivations

We all buy things… but why? What is the reason you bought that new pair of shoes? Well, actually there are really only 6 reasons that we buy things. It’s important as a business to understand these motives in order to align your product or service to your audience. You will need to define what problem your product or service solves for the customer in order to define what motive they will have in purchasing from you. Let’s take a look at the 6 buying motivations.

1.     Buying for profit/gain. Marketing for this type of motivation requires showing the benefits of buying. How does it improve someone’s life? Does it have high ROI or great reward? What can one achieve from buying this service or product? The type of products and services that come to mind are investments and education but it is not limited to this type of product or service.

2.     Fear of loss. This type of consumer is not a risk taker… obviously. This will help the consumer hold on to something they already have, such as their home. Products and services that come to mind are home owner’s insurance or further training for employee customer service.

3.     Comfort, convenience and pleasure. This one really speaks for itself. It’s that new blender you bought for smoothies or that newest laptop for work. These purchases make someone’s life easier or more convenient.

4.     Security & protection. This one is similar to fear of loss. Think of home security, cyber security or just the safest decision over another. For example, choosing one brand over another because WOM (word of mouth) recommendations.

5.     Pride of ownership. Remember that time you bought those nice Gucci sunglasses? Was it because you really liked them and they were far superior to others? Probably not 100% true. Sometimes buying something that comes with grandeur due to their reputation can be something we feel we deserve for our hard work. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Marketing to this group of consumers will come with giving them feelings of gratification, dignity as well as a feeling of “high class.”  

6.     Satisfaction of emotion. This stimulates some type of an emotional response. Marketing for this type of audience is probably the easiest in our opinion. Most people are emotional buyers and will then justify their decision with some logic. Let’s look at an example though for clarification. Imagine that someone purchases a repurposed dining room table from a local, small business. This can create a feeling of personal satisfaction from supporting local business as well as feeling a sense of pride from choosing more sustainable options.

Understanding buying motivations is key to your marketing and advertising strategies. Knowing what category your brand falls under in terms of buying motivations will help deepen your understanding of your customer base. Why will your customers be buying your products or services? Will it create convenience or will it be purely for pride of ownership? If your brand understands where it will fall for buying motivation, sales & retention will inherently increase as a result.

Tapping Into Gen Z for Advertising

Who’s ready for some changes? We know we are and Gen Z is proving to be new type of market when it comes to the advertising world. They are like no other that came before them. Let’s talk about the biggest difference between Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z. Millennials remember a time before social media whereas Gen Z does not know a world without it. Even more, their Gen X counterparts grew up on MTV with zero social media. I don’t think it really comes as a surprise that Gen Z is a unique group who can’t imagine a world without tech. Actually, 45% of Gen Zers say that they are online almost constantly according to Rolling Stone. Since the insurgence of smartphones, people can watch anything from anywhere and that’s what this generation does. They rely on social media platforms for almost everything. There are a couple of questions to ask yourself when considering how to market to this new breed of consumers.

1.   Can they trust your brand? They want transparency and they want it now. Since this generation can and will find answers to information they have questions for, make sure your brand is be honest. They will also build a relationship with your brand if they feel that they can relate to what your company stands for.

2.     Do you stand for something? Brand neutrality is a no go for this generation. They want brans that stand up for social injustices. They want brands that aren’t afraid to take a stand for what’s right even if that means offending some of their audience.

3.     Are you influencer savvy? They don’t care about celebrities! Relatability takes the driver seat with them. They want people that they can relate to not paid actors. This is another reason UGC is extremely affective to connecting with them!

4.     Can you make it fast? 8 seconds to be exact. That’s the average attention span of this generation according to iab.uk! Are you really that shocked? And before you getting too cheeky, just know that Millennials are right behind them with a whopping 12 seconds.

5.     Do you know how to use each social media platform differently and accordingly? Not only should you diversify your content across each platform it needs to be tailor fit!

Gen Z harnesses the power of $143 billion since they comprise 40% of the U.S. population according to Forbes. If your brand wants to uncover ways to tap into their market it’s important to understand what they value in a company. They’re different. Changes are coming and we think that they’re honestly for the better. Who doesn’t want to support a brand that takes social stances, is trustworthy and transparent?

Silent Video

“Silence is a source of great strength”

-Lao Tzu

Imagine that you’re in a quiet work environment. You get on your phone to look something up. As the page finishes loading, a loud blast of sounds starts coming through and you fumble to get your volume button pressed down to zero. We’ve all had this happen to us. It’s disruptive and it affects people negatively. Turns out that 66% of people hate it when ads automatically play with sound on according to an article by Teads. In response, advertisers are trying to mitigate this by producing ads that begin to play automatically without sound. Since outstreamed videos are going to become a thing of the future, advertisers should focus on silent plays with captions. According to Facebook, captioned video ads increased views by 12%. Ads should be able to convey an emotional message without the use of sound. This can be done with the use of motion graphics and text within the campaign. This new trend will be a way for advertisers to use their creative license to make videos impactful despite not having any sound.  We’re certain your team has the creative abilities to do this but here are some quick tips to get you started on ways to make your silent spots stand out and perform well.

1.     Use bold visuals and/or animations. This will help catch the viewers eye and keep them engaged. It’s also very visually striking to see good fonts and animations that blend well together within your brand’s signature look.

2.     Use Call to Action buttons. Make sure to insert in a way that it is natural flowing. You can even run tests before it launches to see where it receives the most clicks. CTA buttons are imperative to getting conversions. Using a download button seems to yield the best lead results (HubSpot).

3.     Subtitles. If your brand feels it won’t be able to get its point across 100% without sounds then subtitles can offer a lot of relief. Facebook now offers a feature where you can automatically add captions to videos.

4.     Write unconventional scripts. This is always a fun way to entice viewers to keep watching your campaigns. They’ll want to know what is about to happen next. I know I always appreciate a good creative ad that keeps me on my toes or just completely blows me away with how unconventional it is! A prime example would be the recent OutHorse Your Email Campaign for Visit Iceland.

5.     Share your offers/discounts early in the ad. Since attention spans are shorter and shorter each year, you want to get the most important message out first. Research suggests that you have about 10 seconds to hook, line, and sink em’!  

6.     Be short and concise. Again, for those in the back who didn’t hear. Attention spans continue to lessen so it’s important to make your campaigns shorter than 60 seconds. The ad must also grab the attention of the audience immediately in order to keep them engaged in watching.

7.     Don’t ditch the audio. Sometimes people do still listen to ads with sound on. Be able to convey your message without it but really drive the point home with the audio on. Make that emotional connection deeper with your audience.

In the words of the infamous Will Rogers, “Never miss a good chance to shut up!” This is definitely one of those times! A time for advertisers to harness the opportunity to creatively grow through the rise in popularity of silent ads is here. Let your campaigns say a lot through saying nothing at all! Happy creating!

The Importance of Marketing Research

Research shows that businesses are 60% more profitable when they are customer-centric according to an article written by Lucid.  Market research is one of the best ways to do this by getting to know your customer base. This is done through gathering data to learn more about demographics and marketing trends as well as other important aspects of business goals. First, there are many subcategories of marketing research and I will only touch on a few in this article. Let’s first look at branding research. The point of this type of research is to understand what type of impressions your brand is making on the consumer. Do they know who you are and will they buy what you are selling? What qualities are associated with the brand and how it is performing in relation to competitors? This can be conducted through surveys, focus groups, or one-on-one interviews and it will help the brand understand areas that need improvement. Second, let’s talk about customer research. The top three points of this research is to see how satisfied your customers are, what level of loyalty do they have to your brand and who exactly are your customers are. That last one is done through customer segmentation that divides your customers into different subgroups based on their behaviors and preferences. This research is done through looking back at purchasing histories, demographics of client base, customer satisfaction surveys, NPS and customer journey mapping.  A third type of marketing research is competitor research. It’s important to see what your competitors are doing. Where are they succeeding? Where are they lacking? How can you stand out from them as a unique business? This is done by simply finding your competition and doing simple research on them. Let’s also talk about marketing campaign evaluations and research. This is taking data from single campaigns to see how effect they are in the advertising space. How many people have seen your ad? What is the click-through rate? What is the ROI of the campaign? You can use website traffic to track figures from ads run on webpages. You can use social engagement figures, such as clicks, shares, comments and likes. There are many ways to track the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. Now that we’ve discussed a few know that there are many types of marketing research we didn’t touch on and so many ways to obtain the data you need. You can read more about them here. So, why is it important to conduct marketing research? Well, knowing your customers on a deeper level will help you build trust and connect with them more effectively. It will also help you see where you need to improve as a business. Most importantly it helps minimize your risks through understanding what customers want and need. Overall, this will keep your business afloat and on top of trends in the years to come. Not only that, it will help you strive and succeed to the best of your abilities!

Google 3rd Party Cookie Phase Out & Advertising

What are third-party cookies? Well, think about it like this, you’re thinking about buying yourself a new pair of work boots. You research on the internet with search engines and end up on some of your favorite boot makers websites. Now every time you open up your browser you’re seeing ads for work boots everywhere. This is no coincidence and there is a reason you are now seeing these ads. It’s called third-party cookies. Third-party cookies are set by another website, not the one you are currently on. They are stored under a different domain than you are visiting (Cookie Script). This is how advertisers track website visitors to collect data in order to send people targeted ads. This data includes what websites people frequently visit, their purchases, and overall interest, etc. (Hub Spot). That being said, the recent Google announcement of their third-party cookie phase out has the advertising industry a little shaken. Some advertisers rely on third-party cookies to make large sums of their revenue, but not all. Browsers such a Safari and Firefox have blocked third-party cookies since 2013 so it’s nothing quite new and first-party cookies will still be allowed. Advertisers are now seeking solutions to fill this gap in a cookieless-ish environment. But how and what does that mean? One option is being given by Google itself with their Privacy Sandbox. This is something that will target groups of people with similar interests instead of individuals. This way the users are individually protected and results from testing show this could be an effective replacement for third-party cookies. Chrome has also proposed technologies to measure campaign performance without third-party cookies. It will be useful to bring back contextual advertising, which places ads on certain websites based on the contents of that website. This makes sense. If someone is looking at a hiking blog then they could benefit from a good backpack so an ad from, let’s say REI, backpacks would be appropriate. There will be more ideas coming out in the coming months on how advertisers can deal with this new cookieless ad space. We recommend getting a head start on brainstorming ideas now for ways to keep revenue up without the reliance of the digital space. Digital marketing isn’t going anywhere and it will increase confidence on sales when online policies change.