9 Viral Ecommerce Marketing Tips To Break Through Your Competition

Going viral is one of the ways to achieve overnight success. Many brands want it and have tried creating viral marketing success, but so many are not getting it.The chances are that even if your campaign is marketing gold, it doesn’t get any buzz. Viral marketing is any technique that generates epic content that so many people share and spread as fast as a virus. When done right, it’s often cost-effective, builds trust, and can push online shops to huge success and ROI.

Spotlight

HeBS Digital

Founded in 2001, HeBS Digital helps hoteliers drastically increase direct bookings and lower overall distribution costs by deploying industry best-of-breed digital technology, consulting and marketing. (www.HeBSDigital.com). HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the “best practices” in hotel digital marketing, social and mobile marketing, and direct online channel distribution. The firm has won over 375 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, and IAC Awards.

OTHER ARTICLES
Ad Networks

Our Promise: Content to Count on During Uncertain Times

Article | September 1, 2023

There is no doubt that we are experiencing times of tremendous change and uncertainty. Yet Univision's mission remains the same -- to inform, empower and entertain U.S. Hispanics.With a strong programming lineup, due to exceptional content partners and a proven strategy, we are focused on super-serving our audience, especially now when they need us most.

Read More
Social Media Advertising

Ad Networks for Publishers & Advertisers: Efficient Ad Buying & Selling

Article | July 14, 2022

When print publishers transitioned to online publishing, they were keen to find a way to generate revenue. Their revenue model in the print world was advertising, so they needed to monetize their content online. Display ads were a great start for them. They sold their advertising space to interested advertisers directly. Even then, there would always be some ad inventory that remained unsold. The need of the hour was a platform that could help them sell this inventory. That is when ad networks for publishers and advertisers came into the picture. Let us take a deeper look into how ad networks are helping both publishers and advertisers optimize their selling and buying processes. Ad Networks: Simplifying Ad Buying and Selling An ad network is a technology-backed platform that acts as an intermediary between a group of publishers who want to sell their ads and advertisers interested in buying them. Ad networks for publishers and advertisers first appeared in the mid-nineties as the earliest advertising technology to support online advertising. They helped advertisers buy ad space across multiple publishing platforms. The primary purpose of an ad network was to collect unsold ads from different publishers and put them up for offer to advertisers at a lower price than what a direct sale would cost. This kind of ad inventory was mostly referred to as remnant, non-premium ads that publishers struggled to sell directly. Today, ad networks for publishers focus on offering advertisers exclusive ad deals at premium prices. They pre-buy inventory from different publishers and then resell it to advertisers at premium prices to help advertisers get the impressions they expect. Types of Ad Networks Based on your audience, industry, topics, and formats, you have four main types of ad networks to choose from: Inventory-specific networks: Such networks have ads of a specific type, such as mobile or video. Vertical advertising networks: These are ad networks that focus on a specific topic, such as fashion, automobiles, or business. Premium networks: These are the networks that offer premium inventory, mostly from popular publishers. Targeted networks: These networks offer specific targeting capabilities through a built-in ad server. How do Ad Networks Work? Ad networks for publishers and advertisers keep on evolving with technological advancements. To understand how the best ads network works, here are the dynamic steps they follow to benefit publishers and advertisers: Ad networks compile multiple publishers with available ad inventory. Advertisers create campaigns using the ad network’s campaign panel, keeping in mind their budget, target audience, and any other special attributes. The publishers install relevant ad network tags on their websites. When there is a match between an ad campaign set by an advertiser and the publisher’s ad inventory, ad information is sent to the publisher. The ad network provider gets a share of the ad revenue generated from the campaign or by selling the inventory at a higher price than the publisher. Using the ad network’s campaign panel, the advertiser tracks and manages the ad’s performance. Ad Networks in Programmatic Advertising Ad networks for publishers and advertisers are a part of programmatic advertising, which is the process of automatically buying and selling digital advertising space. In this space, demand-side platforms (which help advertisers) and supply-side platforms (which help publishers) streamline the buying and selling process through real-time bidding (RTB). Businesses and enterprises rely on programmatic advertising for their digital advertising needs because publishers are adopting native ads on their websites. Thanks to native ads, ad blockers don’t affect advertising, and marketers can optimize and improve their ads with programmatic techniques for campaign success. It's no surprise that programmatic digital display ad spending is expected to increase by 25.8% this year (Source: Brand Equity). In conjugation with ad networks, an ad exchange connects DSPs and SSPs autonomously. An ad exchange came into the picture in 2005 when ad networks were not enough to solve the cumbersome problem publishers were facing ─ selling unsold ad space. Automation in the open marketplace for buying and selling digital ads was the solution. An ad exchange offers a streamlined platform for advertisers, publishers, ad networks, and other parties to connect their ad serving technologies for efficiency. Ad Network and Ad Exchange: What is the Difference? In the programmatic advertising ecosystem, the ad network and the ad exchange are two important components that are often mistaken to be the same because of their role in media buying. Let us take a look at the factors that separate the two. Attribute Ad Network Ad Exchange Function Intermediary between publishers and advertisers Open marketplace for everyone Identity Company Technology Key Users Publishers, advertisers and agencies Publishers, advertisers, agencies, ad networks, DSPs, SSPs and ATDs Important Characteristic Pre-segmented ads for particular audience. Promotes bulk buying and selling. Pool of various types of ad inventory. Based on an impression-per-impression trade Ad Quality Top-tier ad inventory, often sold for the first time All available inventory on sale including remnant ad slots Optimization Time consuming Optimization possible on-the-go Cost Stable and determined by the ad network Dynamic pricing based on real-time bidding by advertisers Impact on Advertiser Ad prices are higher Advertisers can define the pricing Impact on Publisher Low control over inventory pricing and optimization More control over value per impression Buyer/Seller Information Advertisers are unaware of the placement of their ads Publishers don’t know who the advertisers are Both advertisers and publishers have each other’s information Why Advertisers and Publishers Rely on Ad Networks? A Wider Range of Options With the help of top ad networks, advertisers and publishers can buy or sell more ad space. As a part of monetization strategies for publishers, they can rapidly increase their revenue through premium or remnant inventory because ad networks bring them the highest paying bids. Advertisers, on the other hand, can easily find any type of ad inventory that matches their budget for ad publishing. Higher Return on Investment Top ad networks bring in more revenue from advertising. The better the quality of ads, the higher the revenue for advertisers because they get precisely matched with their targeting needs and they can choose the most profitable deals. Increased Efficiency Automation in matching publishers and advertisers is the biggest advantage of advertising networks. It saves the time of manually looking for suitable deals or favorable pricing. The best publishers that bring the best impressions on ads can easily be approached. Publishers can get their inventory sold for the best price thanks to digital advertising networks. Features of an Ideal Ad Network for Publishers & Advertisers Here is a list of features you can refer to while choosing an ad network that caters to your needs: Size: The size of the advertising network matters because it facilitates a steady traffic. The more traffic it can deliver, the higher your ROI will be. Quality: Identify the quality of the inventory that an ad network offers. It should match the kind of inventory you need. Audience Targeting: Your ad network should support different audience targeting options so that ad campaigns work perfectly well. Format Support: Your ad network should support different formats like responsive, call-only, animated GIF or simple banners so you can diversify into different formats without any hassles. Reliability: Depending on your requirements, ensure that the network doesn’t go down and provides consistent service so your business remains unaffected. The interface should also be easy to use, clean, and rich with data to help your marketing team optimize their personalization efforts. CTV Streaming Platform Used PubMatic to Bump its Revenue by 400% Future Today, a premium CTV streaming platform, used PubMatic’s platform to drive its ad revenue. PubMatic helped Future Today partner with a leading CTV DSP and achieve a lucrative private marketplace (PMP) agreement to create incremental demand through direct integration and optimized engagement. “PubMatic has been one of Future Today's fastest growing demand partners in the last 6 months. The entire team has been a pleasure to work with and they genuinely understand the value of CTV in the market.” – Katya Shkolnik, Head of Partnerships, Future Today Inc. Key Takeaways Display, native, and banner advertising campaigns are critical for marketers like you to scale your business, so understanding how and what an ad network for publishers and advertisers does is important to creating the best, most effective advertising campaigns that bear results.

Read More
Social Media Advertising

Verizon’s new marketing tool sets emails to arrive when you look at your inbox

Article | July 14, 2022

Verizon quietly introduced a new email marketing feature yesterday that it calls “View Time Optimization,” which the company says automatically times emails from companies to arrive the moment you’re looking at your email inbox, so it sits at the very top as a new message. The service is part of Verizon’s suite of email and web advertising properties, which includes AOL and Yahoo, and well-known programmer David Heinemeier Hansson (the inventor of the Ruby on Rails web application framework) called out Verizon on Twitter on Friday for what he calls an “Orwellian” ad placement tool.

Read More
Advertiser Platforms

As a B2B Marketer, Is Out-of-home Advertising (OOH) Part of Your Mix?

Article | November 23, 2021

Many marketers today don’t know what OOH stands for, though it’s been a highly used marketing medium for decades. Out-of-home advertising consists of anything from billboards, blimps, and bus signage, to street furniture, event advertising, and connected TV, and can be as small as a window poster or the back of a street bench or larger than life, covering a wall or wrapping an entire building. OOH is now being seen as an emerging technology channel, but why? For starters, during the surge of online advertising over the last 15 years, Facebook and Google ads have seemingly gotten all the attention. Today, many marketing teams have been so focused on online marketing they no longer have much time to spend thinking out-of-the-box. But OOH is upping its game with a technology lift that is allowing marketers to highly target their audiences as well as improve the impact of their online advertising campaigns. And we’re not just talking about Pepsi and McDonalds. OOH advertising has long been effective for countless brands, known and unknown, and the possibilities are endless. We are seeing everything from wrapping an ice cream truck with your message and parking across the street from an event to highly targeted ads on TV screens in bars, restaurants, banks, and hotels. People take action after seeing OOH advertisements, doing online searches and visiting websites. In fact, Nielsen’s Out-of-Home Advertising Study 2019 edition reported that 66% of smartphone users took some type of action after seeing a OOH advertisement in the past year, and over four in 10 used online search to look up information. OOH drives more social and digital interactions than any other medium. If you aren’t in the OOH game, here’s why B2B marketers should be considering it as part of their marketing mix: 1. Build brand trust According to a survey conducted by Freeman, CMOs, brand managers, and event planners are putting more stake in in-person brand experiences. Billboards and OOH real world advertising are not only for the big brand names. If someone doesn’t know you, you can add significant trust and credibility to your brand as well as add more impact to your online Facebook and Google ads. And, OOH advertising is always there for audiences to see. It’s not invasive, block-able or frustrating as digital ads can be. 2. Hyper-target your audience Tech advances are allowing marketers to hyper-target out in the real-world. For startups, challenger brands, and anyone looking to target a specific group of people, it’s possible to zero in on the roads people drive on every day for work or the bars and restaurants they go to afterward. Mobile devices pinged at various locations are looked at like inbound links, as if coming from your website. If you want to reach people who work at a certain place, in a certain location, you can identify who’s driving by your billboard. 3. Generate leads You can then get that feedback, like who’s driving by, of those driving by, who went to your website? What are they searching on? Who converted to a lead? 4. Endless use cases With technology advancements, the possibilities in OOH are endless – mobile billboards on LED trucks, wall murals, TVs in countless public facilities and arenas, and billboards of all kinds that can be enhanced digitally. 5. OOH advertising is always “on.” Your OOH advertisement is there 24/7, delivering your message to every passerby during peak target times and all other times, broadening your reach without additional cost. And unlike digital advertising, OOH does not appear and then quickly disappear. It has staying power, displaying your message constantly and consistently around the clock. 6. Stand out at events: Though in-person conferences and events are coming back to life, the days of “host an event and they will come” are long gone. There is fierce competition for the hearts and minds of attendees. To dominate the competition, OOH is a great way to give you visibility, driving traffic to your event, to your booth, to your website – to network, make real-life connections, and generate leads. While online advertising has its place, we have taken a break from being creative. OOH allows an opportunity to get back into exercising your creative muscles. The challenge for marketers is to take their years of internet marketing experience and figure out how to create interesting brand experiences offline. From a tracking standpoint, OOH advertising today is looking more like online advertising. However, instead of tracking people, we are watching places as groups of people move through and pass by billboards or other signage. It’s a powerful “old” tool that marketers can combine with new tools to generate brand awareness and drive inbound interest from highly targeted specs. During the online advertising surge, while we have been wrapped up in tracking and measuring performance clicks, many companies have under invested in their brand. Plus, when integrated with digital marketing, OOH extends both reach and frequency, allowing you to leverage other marketing, online and offline, for maximum results and ROI. Marketers should now be thinking of OOH as one of their viable performance channels.

Read More

Spotlight

HeBS Digital

Founded in 2001, HeBS Digital helps hoteliers drastically increase direct bookings and lower overall distribution costs by deploying industry best-of-breed digital technology, consulting and marketing. (www.HeBSDigital.com). HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the “best practices” in hotel digital marketing, social and mobile marketing, and direct online channel distribution. The firm has won over 375 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, and IAC Awards.

Related News

Display Advertising, Ad Networks

Nextech AR 3D Swirl Ad Achieves Breakthrough With Over 1 Million Ad Views

Nextech AR Solutions | December 07, 2022

Nextech AR Solutions Corp. (“Nextech” or the “Company”) (OTCQB: NEXCF) (CSE: NTAR) (FSE: EP2), a Metaverse Company and leading provider of augmented reality (“AR”) experience technologies, wayfinding technologies and 3D model services is pleased to announce a record-setting number of views for a single 3D/AR ad. The client, Hearst UK who publishes 21 brands including Good Housekeeping, Esquire, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan used a 3D model created by Nextech’s technology of a Dr. Martens Boot for an ad campaign, which garnered over 1 million 3D model views on the site. The ad used Nextech’s ARitize Swirl, a swirling (rotating) 3D asset on the header or page of an ecommerce website. In a few simple steps, any customer can create a fully interactive ARitize Swirl 3D/AR banner using their existing 3D models and embed them into their ecommerce website to create 6X higher purchase intent, increase conversions and click-through rates. This successful client use by a major brand and agency paves the way for another revenue stream tied to ecommerce advertising by offering a simple no-code integrated way for the Company’s 3D models to be used for immersive ads on the web or on social sites, Tik Tok, Instagram, Snap and Meta. Nextech AR CEO Evan Gappelberg commented, “ 1 million 3D model views on a single 3D model is HUGE!. By comparison Nextech has served up 6.2 million 3D model views for over 20,000+ 3D models without the swirl ad." Nextech AR CEO Evan Gappelberg commented, “ 1 million 3D model views on a single 3D model is HUGE!. By comparison Nextech has served up 6.2 million 3D model views for over 20,000+ 3D models without the swirl ad. The ability for our 3D model clients to easily create web banners and social media swirl ads using their existing 3D models is yet another competitive edge for Nextech and further positions us as the leading global 3D model company” He continues “Our ARitize 3D platform provides our clients with the one-stop solution for everything 3D. Today’s breakthrough swirl-ad news is yet another indication of the revenue potential of our 3D solutions and further sets the stage for a breakout year in 2023”. ARitize 3D ARitize 3D’s patent-pending technology leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance the building of quality 3D models from simple 2D photos at scale for ecommerce websites. It is a disruptive end-to-end solution for the Augmented Reality (“AR”) industry. Through a simple JavaScript tag integration, product photos are automatically onboarded, and 3D models are created for each product and then hosted on ARitize 3D’s cloud. With a 3D model, clients can interact with the product to see every detail: turn it, spin it, zoom in, zoom out, leading to 40% lower product returns, 93% higher click-through rate and a 90% reduction in product photography costs. The Company believes that this value creation and ROI are leading to the rapidly growing demand for the Company's 3D technology. Transform your online store into a dynamic virtual showroom. 3D models allow customers to see products from every angle and position them in their own space prior to purchasing. It's an exciting, immersive shopping experience that keeps customers more engaged, and better informed and helps your brand stand out from the competition. ARitize 3D is the One-Stop-Shop 3D + AR solution for eCommerce that is:​ Affordable - ​lowest cost provider Scalable - fastest, seamless ​, high quality Frictionless - requires low implementation effort ​ AI & ML powered - automated 3D model creation End to End - from model creation to CMS & AR visualization To learn more, please follow us on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, or visit our website: https://www.Nextechar.com.

Read More

Scottish cinema goers to be forced to watch pro-Union ads

thenational | February 09, 2020

PLANNING a trip to the cinema in the near future? You'll soon have to sit through pro-Union propaganda before you get the chance to enjoy the movie. The upcoming cinema ads are part of UK Government campaign to boost support for the United Kingdom in Scotland, using adverts that list the so-called "greatest hits" of the Union. Early reports indicate that as much as £5 million of taxpayer's cash will be hammered into a year-long media blitz that aims to tackle rising support for Scottish independence. The ads will highlight shared success stories across areas such as sport, culture, green energy and humanitarian aid. The showreel for the "awesome foursome", as Boris Johnson calls the Union, will likely run until the 2021 Holyrood elections - an electoral battle that the Scottish Tories believe will be a "gloves off" fight for the Union. The ad campaign is expected to start ruining trips to the pictures from spring.

Read More

Amazon Advertising net sales grow 41 % year over year in 2019

ppc.land | February 09, 2020

Amazon last month released the financial results for its fourth quarter, which ended on December 31, 2019. Amazon Advertising is the business with more growth. The percentage of growth, year over year, of online stores was 15%, third-party seller services was 30%, subscription services was 32%, AWS was 34%, while Amazon Advertising was 41%. Amazon Advertising is catching up the subscription services. On the Q4 2019, Amazon Advertising had 4,8B USD in net sales, while subscription services had 5,2B USD in net sales. On the news release nothing was mentioned about Amazon Advertising, and the business unit still appears as Other accompanied with a note saying that Other “primarily includes sales of advertising services, as well as sales related to our other service offerings.”

Read More

Display Advertising, Ad Networks

Nextech AR 3D Swirl Ad Achieves Breakthrough With Over 1 Million Ad Views

Nextech AR Solutions | December 07, 2022

Nextech AR Solutions Corp. (“Nextech” or the “Company”) (OTCQB: NEXCF) (CSE: NTAR) (FSE: EP2), a Metaverse Company and leading provider of augmented reality (“AR”) experience technologies, wayfinding technologies and 3D model services is pleased to announce a record-setting number of views for a single 3D/AR ad. The client, Hearst UK who publishes 21 brands including Good Housekeeping, Esquire, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan used a 3D model created by Nextech’s technology of a Dr. Martens Boot for an ad campaign, which garnered over 1 million 3D model views on the site. The ad used Nextech’s ARitize Swirl, a swirling (rotating) 3D asset on the header or page of an ecommerce website. In a few simple steps, any customer can create a fully interactive ARitize Swirl 3D/AR banner using their existing 3D models and embed them into their ecommerce website to create 6X higher purchase intent, increase conversions and click-through rates. This successful client use by a major brand and agency paves the way for another revenue stream tied to ecommerce advertising by offering a simple no-code integrated way for the Company’s 3D models to be used for immersive ads on the web or on social sites, Tik Tok, Instagram, Snap and Meta. Nextech AR CEO Evan Gappelberg commented, “ 1 million 3D model views on a single 3D model is HUGE!. By comparison Nextech has served up 6.2 million 3D model views for over 20,000+ 3D models without the swirl ad." Nextech AR CEO Evan Gappelberg commented, “ 1 million 3D model views on a single 3D model is HUGE!. By comparison Nextech has served up 6.2 million 3D model views for over 20,000+ 3D models without the swirl ad. The ability for our 3D model clients to easily create web banners and social media swirl ads using their existing 3D models is yet another competitive edge for Nextech and further positions us as the leading global 3D model company” He continues “Our ARitize 3D platform provides our clients with the one-stop solution for everything 3D. Today’s breakthrough swirl-ad news is yet another indication of the revenue potential of our 3D solutions and further sets the stage for a breakout year in 2023”. ARitize 3D ARitize 3D’s patent-pending technology leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance the building of quality 3D models from simple 2D photos at scale for ecommerce websites. It is a disruptive end-to-end solution for the Augmented Reality (“AR”) industry. Through a simple JavaScript tag integration, product photos are automatically onboarded, and 3D models are created for each product and then hosted on ARitize 3D’s cloud. With a 3D model, clients can interact with the product to see every detail: turn it, spin it, zoom in, zoom out, leading to 40% lower product returns, 93% higher click-through rate and a 90% reduction in product photography costs. The Company believes that this value creation and ROI are leading to the rapidly growing demand for the Company's 3D technology. Transform your online store into a dynamic virtual showroom. 3D models allow customers to see products from every angle and position them in their own space prior to purchasing. It's an exciting, immersive shopping experience that keeps customers more engaged, and better informed and helps your brand stand out from the competition. ARitize 3D is the One-Stop-Shop 3D + AR solution for eCommerce that is:​ Affordable - ​lowest cost provider Scalable - fastest, seamless ​, high quality Frictionless - requires low implementation effort ​ AI & ML powered - automated 3D model creation End to End - from model creation to CMS & AR visualization To learn more, please follow us on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, or visit our website: https://www.Nextechar.com.

Read More

Scottish cinema goers to be forced to watch pro-Union ads

thenational | February 09, 2020

PLANNING a trip to the cinema in the near future? You'll soon have to sit through pro-Union propaganda before you get the chance to enjoy the movie. The upcoming cinema ads are part of UK Government campaign to boost support for the United Kingdom in Scotland, using adverts that list the so-called "greatest hits" of the Union. Early reports indicate that as much as £5 million of taxpayer's cash will be hammered into a year-long media blitz that aims to tackle rising support for Scottish independence. The ads will highlight shared success stories across areas such as sport, culture, green energy and humanitarian aid. The showreel for the "awesome foursome", as Boris Johnson calls the Union, will likely run until the 2021 Holyrood elections - an electoral battle that the Scottish Tories believe will be a "gloves off" fight for the Union. The ad campaign is expected to start ruining trips to the pictures from spring.

Read More

Amazon Advertising net sales grow 41 % year over year in 2019

ppc.land | February 09, 2020

Amazon last month released the financial results for its fourth quarter, which ended on December 31, 2019. Amazon Advertising is the business with more growth. The percentage of growth, year over year, of online stores was 15%, third-party seller services was 30%, subscription services was 32%, AWS was 34%, while Amazon Advertising was 41%. Amazon Advertising is catching up the subscription services. On the Q4 2019, Amazon Advertising had 4,8B USD in net sales, while subscription services had 5,2B USD in net sales. On the news release nothing was mentioned about Amazon Advertising, and the business unit still appears as Other accompanied with a note saying that Other “primarily includes sales of advertising services, as well as sales related to our other service offerings.”

Read More

Events