Social Media Advertising
Article | July 14, 2022
Did you know that there are over three billion smartphone users globally? While browsing through varied content, they see ads relevant to things they explore in their downloaded apps and games. In addition, they receive offers through SMS and see banner ads on websites they visit. These ads are a part of mobile ad campaigns specifically targeting a certain demographic.
Some examples of mobile ads include carousel ads, image and text ads on Facebook, Snapchat filters and ads, video ads on YouTube, notifications from downloaded apps, ads that play between videos or games, and Instagram Story ads.
Why are advertisers so keen on utilizing mobile ad campaigns?
Mobile Ad Campaigns Speak the Revenue Language
Marketers understand the power and impact of mobile phones on users’ lives. As a result, U.S. marketers spent a record 120 billion U.S. dollars on mobile promotion in 2020. (Statista).
Mobile ad campaigns can achieve tremendous results and bring in revenue for you by creating a connection with the user through personalization and by catering to all kinds of online audience on-the-go.
“The mobile device has become our communications hub, our diary, our entertainment portal, our primary source of media consumption, our wallet and our gateway to real-time information tailored to our needs. The revolution is now!”
- Nihal Mehta, Founding General Partner at Eniac Ventures
Mobile Advertising Covers All the Bases
Companies engage in mobile advertising for objectives like lead generation, customer retention through new offers, brand engagement activities like contests, and creating awareness about a product or a service. Mobile ads are the preferred channel for advertising because:
They are cost-effective
Allow geo-targeting
Get a quick response
Can be easily tracked
Let us look at all the tricks that can help you optimize your mobile ad campaigns.
Grab the Users’ Attention
Imagine mobile users aggressively scrolling on their phones. Your ad should make them stop and grab their attention enough to make them read it. The goals of your ad campaigns should be clear. If you are looking to redirect the user to your website or want them to click on the ad, your campaign execution should align with these goals.
Adding Value Through Your Messaging
Pushing your message effectively to the user can ensure the success of your campaign. Your text should be crisp and sharp, interesting yet simple to comprehend. Use popular phrases or buzz words to create a connection with the users.
Don’t Underestimate Visual Appeal
Visual appeal plays a vital role in the way users react to ads. The image size of your ad, the moving flow, and the options for interacting with the ads can impact your ad’s performance. Ensure that you never interrupt your user’s reading flow when they are browsing and that the visuals of your ad are pleasant and appealing to the eye.
Remember, Brevity is the Soul of Wit
The content of your ad should be impressive enough to make the users engage with it. Users will respond to clear copy, visuals and your message’s simplicity. Furthermore, make sure that your landing pages are bug-free, load quickly and relate to your display ad so that the users can form a tangible connection between them.
Wrapping It Up
Mobile advertising helps brands remain connected to their customers around the clock while on the move. It is a personalized and flexible type of advertising that can help advertisers understand the lifestyle of targeted customers to offer them just what they need.
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Ad Networks
Article | September 1, 2023
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 Campaign Management
Article | August 12, 2022
Mobile media usage in the US will reach 4 hours 29 minutes per day in 2022, according to Statista. In a mobile-first world, advertisers are understanding and adapting to the changing habits of your target demographic. They are switching to using 6-second video ads to address the decreasing individual ad session times.
Let us look at how 6-second ads are changing the game:
6-second ads increased ad recall by 11%, ROI by 12%, and video completion rate by 271% (Adaptly Campaign)
There was an incremental lift across several key metrics, such as conversion rate, average purchase value, and click-through rate (Adaptly Campaign)
6-second ads quickly communicate the message and grab people’s attention
They allow break-through with meaningful placements and influence buying decisions
Netmarble’s Lineage2 Revolution Video Ad Campaign Broke Records
Netmarble enlisted the assistance of Wisebirds, a Facebook Marketing Partner, to promote and drive downloads for its new mobile game. Wisebirds ran a test with 6-second, 15-second, and 30-second ads for a mobile ad campaign. The 6-second ad performed the best. Netmarble’s video ad campaign for the Lineage2 Revolution game broke records as the massively multiplayer online role-playing game with the most downloads in the App Store and Google Play in five Southeast Asian countries. The campaign highlighted the importance of delivering short, impactful messages to drive results efficiently and at a lower cost.
“In terms of branding, 6 second videos showed the best performance in all branding effectiveness measurements. We found that exposing short videos repeatedly and leaving a strong impression on the audience produced an unforgettable branding message.” – Dong Gyeong Kim, Senior Campaign Manager, Wisebirds
“In terms of branding, 6 second videos showed the best performance in all branding effectiveness measurements. We found that exposing short videos repeatedly and leaving a strong impression on the audience produced an unforgettable branding message.” – Dong Gyeong Kim, Senior Campaign Manager, Wisebirds
Tips to Create an Impressive 6-second Video Ad
Keep your ad narrative short. Create a solid punch line and figure out how to express it with the tools at hand.
Don’t treat the time constraint as a hindrance but as a creative challenge to deliver a great customer experience.
Ensure that your ad transformations are effective.
Keep your ad simple, relatable, and visually appealing and make all the elements work together.
Put 6-second Video Ads to the Test and Learn
Advertisers like you must experiment and learn how to capture viewers' attention quickly and deliver memorable key messages using 6-second video ads. Shorter video ads could be a great solution to address the dip in individual ad view session times and the viewers’ lowered attention spans.
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Ad Networks
Article | September 1, 2023
Every business understands that brand marketing is the name of the game. In fact, the brand is a business’s best asset. It can help a business stand out amongst its competitors in the most authentic way possible. It can also act as a bridge and connect a business to its target audience.
When it comes to brand marketing, many businesses do not struggle with the concept. They struggle with the application. Marketing techniques are changing every few months. New platforms are being introduced in the digital world. It’s easy for businesses to lose themselves and their identity while adapting to change. Unfortunately, this is one of the common issues that businesses face while marketing their brand.
5 Common Branding Problems for Businesses
Every business has encountered at least one of these problems:
• Lacking an established identity. An undefined brand is just as bad as not having a brand
• Consistent messaging across various platforms. Some businesses struggle with remaining true to their brand values as they navigate new channels
• Possessing a creative marketing strategy. Without a direction or guide, it’s hard for businesses to discover their target audience and where to market to them
• Staying true to a target audience. Many businesses have lost their core audience while trying to gain a new one
• Lack of scalability. Some businesses struggle with discovering which marketing techniques can take them to the next level
Fortunately, there’s a solution that can solve all these problems. That solution is multimedia content.
How Multimedia Content Can Help Maximize Brand Marketing
What is multimedia content?
Content that incorporates a variety of different elements for its consumers. These elements could be audio, text, or graphic images. Each of these elements can be used separately to market content. But when used together, they can enhance the brand marketing experience for businesses and its customers.
What are some examples of multimedia content?
• Landing pages that include videos and images
• Blog posts with video clips from podcasts
• Infographics that include text
•Social media posts that include text and images
Multimedia content also allows new marketing possibilities for businesses. Digital marketing includes a vast array of content, from blog posts and website pages to videos and infographics.
Businesses can take advantage of these elements and create new marketing content for their customers. A software company, for example, can create an installation guide with infographics and post it on their website page. Businesses can also create storyboards to explain difficult concepts about their products or services. Discovering new content to produce for their customers is another way that businesses can stand out amongst their competitors.
Consistent Branding with Variety
Businesses can use different media elements to add a little variety to their content. Audio and visual elements can be used to enhance blog posts or FAQ pages and increase the engagement for readers.
Adding these new elements can help businesses stand out amongst the competition while remaining authentic. Maintaining a consistent brand identity makes it easier for businesses to establish trust with their target audience.
Exposure to a Wider Audience
At the same time, businesses always want to think of ways to expand themselves. This is what makes multimedia content so beneficial for businesses. They can use different multimedia elements to introduce their content to a different audience. Take an IT service company, for example, who wants to market their services to customers outside of their local area. They can create a blog post on cloud storage, repurpose it into a video and post the video on the business’s YouTube page, with the link to the original blog post in the description box of the video.
This type of content is marketable to every type of consumer. Businesses can provide audio content like podcasts to customers who may not yet be subscribed to their websites. They can create visual content for customers who are more drawn to striking images.
Incorporating these different elements allows businesses to reach customers that they may not have reached through just text-based or audio-based content.
Creative Possibilities for Digital Marketing
Multimedia content also allows new marketing possibilities for businesses. Digital marketing includes a vast array of content, from blog posts and website pages to videos and infographics.
Businesses can take advantage of these elements and create new marketing content for their customers. A software company, for example, can create an installation guide with infographics and post it on their website page.
Businesses can also create storyboards to explain difficult concepts about their products or services. Discovering new content to produce for their customers is another way that businesses can stand out amongst their competitors.
Established Brand Identity
Each business wants to be viewed as unique by their customer base. They do not want to be compared to every other business in their industry. With multimedia content, businesses can add a unique touch to their content marketing. Different multimedia elements and the way that they are embodied throughout the content can help businesses to stand out amongst its competitors.
Using these elements can also help a business remain in the creative stages of marketing. When a business remains in the creative phase, it makes establishing a creative marketing strategy easier.
Consistent and Creative Marketing Strategy
Like every other aspect of business, marketing is easier when a strategy is in effect. Multimedia content helps answer many marketing questions for businesses. Instead of spending additional time wondering what marketing platforms are effective, multimedia content can be used for every type of platform.
This allows businesses to use many interactive elements in their content and become more proactive in their marketing strategy. Businesses can create effective marketing systems by scheduling specific times to post different types of content across several platforms. By leveraging these methods, businesses can remain consistent with their brand marketing.
Greater Opportunities for Growth
Creating multimedia content also leads to increased productivity for businesses. Multimedia content gives businesses several options for content marketing. They can choose to create original content or repurpose their current content and add something new and refreshing.
These options help businesses reduce the amount of time they would spend on creating content. With the additional time, businesses can brainstorm opportunities for growth. They can spend additional time generating leads and catering to their current audience.
Taking The Next Steps with Multimedia Content
For businesses that want to transition into multimedia content, the best place to start is with the business’s vision. Consider what goals want to be achieved with the use of multimedia content. This type of content is so multifaceted that it can help any business achieve its core objectives.
Software companies can use multimedia content to educate their core audience about a particular product. They can use different interactive elements to illustrate how their product or service helps solve their audience’s problems.
Next, consider the needs of the target audience. Conduct some research and discover the audience’s responses when it comes to different types of content. Keep track of the different types of formats and platforms the audience is visiting.
Once the goals and needs of the audience are clearly defined, think about the different types of multimedia content that can be created. Businesses can incorporate different types of audio, visual, and interactive elements into their marketing content.
Lastly, remember to track the results of the multimedia content once it’s been created and distributed. Taking these next few steps can help businesses maintain a consistent brand marketing strategy.
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