Advertiser Platforms
Article | March 18, 2024
As a marketer, your goal is to create ads that stick in the minds of your audience. You devote extra time and resources to creating memorable graphics, engaging CTAs, and interesting copy that works. You also buy just the right ad spots. But, what happens when your potential customer scrolls right past your ad? Your costly video ad never creates a difference and your campaign fails. Combat this video ad fatigue with audio advertising to effectively influence your target demographic.
After the audio content boom driven by podcasts, audio advertising is rising and becoming marketers’ new favorite. Nielsen Catalina Solutions’ 12-month-long study of audio ads on Spotify versus video and display ads found that audio ads were up to 25% more effective than other ad formats.
Mostly, audio ads are delivered through podcasts. We’ll dive into this shortly. First let’s look at how audio advertising can influence the buying decisions of your target audience:
Audio Advertising: Superpowers Explained
Audio advertising uses a broad content category such as background scores, jingles, and branded content apart from audio ads. By fusing audio ads into audio experiences such as ad-supported music streaming or podcasts, marketers can position relevant products and services in front of customers. Here are more of its advantages:
Audio Ads Offer Immersive Experience
A study done by Lightwave and iHeartMedia showed that one of the biggest benefits of audio advertising was its ability to connect with the audience on a deeper level. Remembering catchy jingles is also a part of this connection. Audio ads communicate emotions, capture the attention of the listeners within seconds and engage them enough to paint a picture in their minds. They achieve this without a big budget or production crew. A strong script and an audio booth are all you need to create an immersive audio ad.
They Have a Greater Reach
Primarily, audio ads are delivered through podcasts because they can be easily categorized and are widely consumed. According to Statista, almost 60% of all U.S. consumers older than 12 listen to podcasts. Interestingly, 70% podcast listeners do not multi-task while listening to a podcast, so you are catering to alert listeners who might end up retaining your ad (Edison Research). Apart from podcasts, audio ads are also run in locations such as radio, music, and news streams.
They Are Insightful and Creative
Marketers can use 3D and 8D audio to create soundscapes that offer an immersive experience. Additionally, audio ads create a 1-to-1 relationship. With the help of programmatic advertising, they also collect many layers of data that provide buying insights. Integrating audio ads with voice assistants is a creative approach to entice customers while being interactive.
Nars Cosmetics UK used Spotify to offer its customers voice commerce. Upon hearing the ad on Spotify, they could order samples and set up delivery using their smart speakers.
Smart Speakers Are Changing the Game
Smart speakers are contributing to screen-less moments in American homes. This means your video ad campaigns won’t get the kind of response you expect, but your audio ads just might. The Edison Infinite Dial report found that there is an average of 2.3 smart speakers in each home in the U.S. This number shows that a wide range of people use voice search and will listen to audio ads as a result.
Summing It Up
Audio advertising drives engagement and conversion through immersive storytelling, catchy jingles, and longer ad retention. It can be a great addition to your digital marketing strategy and refine the way you influence your audience’s buying decisions.
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Advertiser Platforms
Article | March 12, 2024
You have countless ways to promote your content online, but one of the most effective is Facebook ads. With over 1.8 billion daily active users, you can almost guarantee your audience is there. You just need to learn how to get your content in front of them.
Given a Facebook post’s organic reach is in the single digits, your time is best spent making the advertising side work for your content.
In this guide, I detail three of my most effective ways to promote content using Facebook advertising (without ever touching that boost button.)
1. Create a “content bucket” campaign to reach new fans
Many content creators are focused on more. They want more fans, more readers/listeners/viewers. With that in mind, focus first on growing your audience by reaching people who are unfamiliar with your brand or your brand’s content – but who would be interested in your topic.
My “content bucket” campaign idea works so you don’t have to spend too much time creating big Facebook campaigns for every piece of content you publish.
The concept is simple: You create one campaign. Every time you publish a new piece of content, add it to that campaign.
Let me walk through how to set this up: Head into your Facebook ads manager and click on “create new campaign.”
Pick an objective based on the content. If it’s a Facebook video, pick video views. If it’s a blog, podcast, YouTube video, or other non-Facebook content, select traffic.
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Ad Tech and Martech
Article | May 14, 2024
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.
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Advertiser Platforms
Article | April 5, 2024
Step into the era of data-driven sales excellence with this article on the leading sales intelligence tools and elevate sales strategies for unmatched customer engagement and strategic growth.
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Impact of Intelligent Tools on Sales Outcomes
3. Top Sales Intelligence Tools for Thriving Enterprises
3.1 Salesken
3.2 Revenue Grid
3.3 QuotaPath
3.4 Scratchpad
3.5 Keap
3.6 People.ai
3.7 Dealfront (formerly Echobot & Leadfeeder)
3.8 Seamless.ai
3.9 Owler
3.10 BoostUp.ai
4. Closing Remarks
1. Introduction
In the growing commercialization, the infusion of intelligent technologies has brought a profound transformation within the sales domain, marking a transformation to a strategy rooted in data and analytical rigor. CRM systems, now augmented with machine learning and advanced analytics, have become pivotal in decoding complex customer behaviour to predict their preferences and future purchasing patterns. Such advancements enhance the precision of predictive analyses and elevate the quality of customer interactions through personalization without compromising the human touch that remains essential in sales.
Intelligent technologies facilitate market analysis, forecasting demands and revealing best practices in sales intelligence with an accuracy that allows businesses to analyze market dynamics proactively. This positions their offerings more strategically as automation and optimization of sales processes bolster operational efficiency, enabling sales professionals to prioritize value-driven engagements over routine tasks.
2. Impact of Intelligent Tools on Sales Outcomes
The ability to anticipate market trends and understand consumer behavior is indispensable for achieving competitive superiority. Sales intelligence trends and technologies represent a pivotal advancement, providing sales teams with a comprehensive array of tools designed to enhance decision-making and increase conversion rates. This suite, which includes data aggregators, customer relationship management systems, analytics platforms, and artificial intelligence for predictive analytics, facilitates a nuanced, data-driven sales approach. By enabling a personalized engagement strategy based on in-depth insights into customer preferences and behaviors, these tools are instrumental in optimizing resource allocation and focusing efforts on high-potential leads.
Sales intelligence technologies play a crucial role in aligning sales and marketing events, promoting a cohesive strategy that is essential for maximizing revenue generation. The application of predictive lead scoring and the analysis of opportunity insights allow for strategic prioritization, while the integration of continuous feedback loops supports the refinement of sales tactics based on empirical outcomes.
3. Top Sales Intelligence Tools for Thriving Enterprises
Sales intelligence solutions have flourished for enterprises aspiring to thrive in today's market. The top tools in 2024 listed below provide a methodology for deciphering customer experience and determining market dynamics, enabling sales forces to make data-driven decisions and escalate revenue growth.
3.1Salesken
Salesken's AI-powered conversation intelligence platform revolutionizes sales engagement by offering insights into customer interactions across calls, presentations, and webinars. Its analysis records, transcribes, and evaluates conversations, providing sales leaders with actionable intelligence to enhance sales performance and identify best practices for deal closures.
Features:
Empower sales teams with customized learning content to boost onboarding, productivity, and coaching.
Captures over 300K calls, yielding three million+ call minutes analyzed.
Integrates seamlessly with CRM systems, delivering real-time support and insights.
Utilizes AI sales assistants for deep conversation analysis and actionable feedback to improve sales engagement strategies.
A tool for organizations aiming to excel in sales effectiveness.
3.2Revenue Grid
Revenue Grid, a sales intelligence tool is recognized for its comprehensive solutions tailored for enterprises aiming to expand engagement and revenue at scale. It's celebrated for robust support and innovation, providing AI-driven valuable insights that streamline the sales process, alongside unique customization capabilities.
Features:
Entrusted by leading global enterprises across various sectors.
Offers enterprise-centric features including AI-driven insights and unique customization capabilities.
Ensures swift and effective onboarding and issue resolution with best-rated support.
Maintains data integrity without storing sensitive Salesforce or personal information.
Integrates seamlessly with Salesforce, SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft ecosystems to enhance CRM utilization and engagement response rates.
Saves significant time for employees while ensuring data capture and analysis that drive a substantial increase in CRM data volume and engagement.
3.3QuotaPath
QuotaPath is a commission tracking and sales compensation management software designed to automate and simplify the compensation process for revenue teams. Integrating seamlessly with major CRM, ERP, accounting, and data warehouse systems, QuotaPath offers accuracy in commission calculations, eliminating manual errors and streamlining compensation management processes. Its commitment to transparency and efficiency sets it apart, with a unique offering of a free trial and transparent pricing to ensure that sales teams can focus on what they do best.
Features:
Enhances commission visibility for sales representatives.
Promotes CRM data accuracy and aids managers in performance analysis.
Offers real-time attainment views, leaderboards, contests, and mobile-friendly dashboards.
Designed to motivate sales productvity and drive organizational growth.
3.4Scratchpad
Scratchpad introduces a revolutionary AI Sales Assistant, transforming pipeline management, deal inspection, and sales forecasting. Rated highly by RevOps, Sales Leaders, and Salespeople, this sales tool simplifies sales tasks by offering seamless Salesforce integration and automating updates to sales methodologies like MEDDIC.
Features:
Automates updating of sales methodologies like MEDDIC.
Provides custom AI prompts for capturing essential insights during sales calls.
Utilizes call intelligence and AI insights for deal inspection and performance tracking.
Offers a seamless experience that sales teams can adopt in under a minute.
3.5Keap
Keap is an all-in-one CRM and sales & marketing automation platform that accelerates business growth through advanced automation tools. Since 2001, Keap has facilitated a streamlined sales process from lead acquisition to conversion, with features designed to automate critical sales tasks.
Features:
Offers seamless automated follow-ups, appointment scheduling, and payment processing.
Features multiple sales pipelines, custom stages, and drag-and-drop functionality.
Supports custom ecommerce platforms with subscription services and payment processor integrations.
Provides a 14-day free trial without the need for a credit card.
3.6People.ai
People.ai stands at the forefront of the revenue operations and intelligence (ROI) arena with its AI-powered platform. This sales intelligence software transforms business activities into dynamic account and opportunity management solutions, enhancing sales rep productivity and propelling revenue growth.
Features:
Provides tailored business predictions and buyer insights from over 1 trillion sales activities.
Secures data while offering seamless integration with public generative AI tools.
Recognized by Gartner, Forrester, and featured on prestigious lists like Forbes AI 50.
Delivers comprehensive insights, deal summaries, and actionable intelligence for sales teams.
3.7Dealfront(formerly Echobot & Leadfeeder)
Dealfront, a sales intelligence software and a go-to-market platform designed for sales and marketing teams targeting the European market. With GDPR-compliant B2B data and a deep understanding of the European landscape, Dealfront offers targeted prospecting and comprehensive company profiles.
Features:
Utilizes over 100+ precise filters for targeted prospecting.
Features AI-driven algorithms to discover "lookalike" companies.
Integrates seamlessly with CRM systems, enhancing operational efficiency.
Fosters GDPR compliance without compromising on data quality or customer service.
3.8Seamless.ai
Seamless.AI revolutionizes sales prospecting with its AI-driven platform, providing sales teams with accurate and comprehensive B2B contact data. It automates list-building and prospecting, boosting sales rep productivity and facilitating rapid connection with ideal customers.
Features:
Features real-time data verification and AI recommendations for buyer discovery.
Includes premium offerings like Buyer Intent Data and AI-Powered Sales Copy.
Automates list-building efforts and maintains up-to-date prospect databases.
Trusted by over 700,000 companies, including Oracle and Wells Fargo.
3.9Owler
Owler, the sales prospecting tool is the world's largest community-based business information and insights platform, revolutionizing the prospecting process with Owler Max. It provides sales teams with the latest industry and company news, enabling personalized outreach and meaningful conversations.
Features:
Facilitates discovery of potential customers from an extensive database of over 15 million companies.
Delivers curated, real-time news alerts directly to users' inboxes.
Enhances the personalization of outreach efforts for sales teams.
Endorsed by professionals for its effectiveness in expanding prospecting bases.
3.10BoostUp.ai
BoostUp.ai is a revenue intelligence software designed to empower Chief Revenue Officers (CROs) and Revenue Operations (RevOps) leaders to scale revenue efficiently. It integrates advanced analytics, pipeline management, and forecast intelligence into a seamless platform, supported by an embedded data warehouse.
Features:
Recognized as a Forrester High Performer and a G2 RevOps & Intelligence Leader.
Trusted by industry-leading companies such as Cloudflare, Udemy, and Teradata.
Features AI-enhanced modules—RevBI, Pipeline Review and Management, and Forecast Intelligence.
Transforms complex data into strategic insights to optimize workflows, improve forecast accuracy, and elevate rep productivity.
Tailored to drive predictable revenue growth with its innovative approach.
4. Closing Remarks
Intelligent sales tools emerge as the game-changers in a world where understanding and anticipating customer needs becomes the key to business success. The exploration of top solutions in the sales intelligence space underscores the transformative impact of AI, ML, and analytics on sales strategies, offering a blueprint for enterprises aiming to thrive in performance management.
Sales leaders can be equipped with the right strategy to succeed in the market by providing the sales teams with sales enablement exposure, the required resources, and the necessary sales training. Stay ahead, stay informed, and let innovation drive sales success to new heights.
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