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Master the Google Display Network & Expand the Reach of Your Brand

BRAD SMITH | March 20, 2019 | 74 views

There are more than 2 million websites on the Google Display Network. According to Google, that reaches more than 90% of the entire internet population. But one of the best aspects of the Google Display Network is that it lets you specifically target your audience based on a whole mess of different criteria.

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Impact Social Media

Impact Social Media is a Kansas City based creative digital marketing agency. We’re a full service advertising firm offering modern and effective digital marketing for search engines, social media, websites, videos and email. We know how to advertise and promote your branding, products and services to the precise target market you desire. Our focus on return on investment (ROI) will provide you with a diversified campaign that gives you the best possible results for your total available budget. Our range of advertising services are a best fit for small to medium sized businesses and organizations that desire to become actively engaged in business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) branding and marketing. If you’re ready to get creative, modern and effective we can help.

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Combat Video Ad Fatigue with Audio Advertising

Article | June 1, 2022

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

Power up Your Mobile Ad Campaigns with These Four Tricks

Article | May 20, 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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ADVERTISER PLATFORMS

Podcast Advertising: A Promising Avenue for Result-oriented B2B Ad Campaigns

Article | May 19, 2022

Marketers in the B2B domain have a multi-channel approach to marketing because they target companies as buying groups. B2B marketers are leveraging podcast advertising with the help of advertisers, creators, and publishers for brand building and generating leads. They leverage up-and-coming avenues of advertising, most of which are a part of digital media channels. One such avenue is podcast advertising. Podcast advertising is emerging as one of the fastest-growing digital media channels for advertising. It is estimated to grow to more than $2.13 billion in 2022, according to a study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PwC. But, what is driving this growth? Engagement. People are finding podcasts more engaging than ever. Consequently, the demand for podcast ads across all categories is growing. Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI): The Rise of Automated Ad Tech Dynamic ad insertion is a form of programmatic advertising that uses first or third-party data. This data comes from the device playing a podcast, a device user agent, the device’s IP address, and what episode is requested, to serve ads to a target demographic. The ad server of the podcast hosting platform decides which ads should be stitched into a particular podcast episode. If done well, the audience will never know the difference between a dynamically inserted ad and a baked-in ad, which is a permanent part of the audio of the podcast. Podcast hosting platforms, advertisers, and publishers adopted DAI because it helps brands win contextual relevance and efficiency through granular advertising opportunities. Through custom audio ads that appeal to the target audience, dynamic or seasonal geo-targeted ads, measurable variables, and performance data, DAI gives advertisers good control over podcast ad campaigns. This control allows them to tailor the campaigns based on the marketers’ demands. DAI is evolving and has great potential in transcription-based targeting using AI and machine learning. It also has greater creative interactivity to make audio ads engaging through voice interactivity, personalization, and mobile phone engagement. A podcast advertising example using DAI would be a brand creating multiple versions of pre-recorded audio ads that are served to target audiences on any podcast that meets the campaign criteria. Podcast Advertising Anchors Digital Marketers for Effective Outreach Edison Research’s Podcast Consumer 2017 report found that:  24% of people between the ages of 18 and 54 listen to podcasts monthly  Listeners are almost evenly split between men and women  Listeners tend to be affluent, mainly educated consumers  In the 25-54 age bracket, monthly listening has grown year over year for the past four years These stats demonstrate the growing market for podcast advertising and a very stable demographic that B2B marketers would want to target. Marketers rely more on podcast advertisers and platforms to tap into the potential of podcasts as a media channel. Here are some of the ways in which podcast advertising can enhance B2B marketing plans and bring in more conversions: Listener behavior expansion− By understanding what kinds of podcasts the target audience listens to, marketers can create ads that appeal to them, and advertisers can help them get the perfect spot for the ad campaign to make it more successful. Pivoting messaging is easier− Using different voiceovers, marketers can deliver the same message but elicit a different reaction from their target audience. Recycling old ad files is also a viable option to save time and resources. Human connection− Hyper-personalized targeted ads relevant to the podcast content create a human connection with the audience and can influence their opinion about a brand. Personal influence− Podcast hosts create a personal influence on the listeners so they keep tuning in to the podcast and even listen to the episodes again after a period. Ads on such podcasts receive stronger engagement and response. Additionally, hosts can also relay brand messages to listeners and influence their buying decisions. Regional marketing− Podcasts are a great way to connect with a target demographic residing in a certain geographical area. Geo-targeting is a boon for region-specific marketing endeavors. Effective storytelling− Podcasts can fuse autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) for immersive storytelling to impress listeners. The continuity and power of an engaging narration keeps the listeners subscribed and attached, ensuring that any kind of advertising on such podcasts can reach a wider audience. Advertisers Are Helping B2B Marketers Generate Revenue According to a forecast by IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau), podcast advertising revenue will exceed $4 billion by 2024. Marketers are dependent on advertisers to tap into the podcast advertising potential to generate revenue in the following ways: Demand Generation An estimated 62 million Americans (Source: Edison Research) listen to podcasts, and this number is expected to grow. An interview by a product expert on an industry-relevant podcast can help get leads without wasting any budget on creating awareness, making it cost-effective. It’s no wonder LinkedIn and HubSpot have started their own podcast networks to host business and career-related content. Brand Building & Customer Retention Apart from using podcasts to generate leads, it can also help with brand building. Sponsoring a popular and relevant podcast episode can create a brand’s reputation and trust. It can also help retain existing customers as sponsorships demonstrate a continuous commitment to industry growth and development. Ad Effectiveness 75% of podcast listeners were happy with the purchase they had made from podcast ads (A Study by Voices, the #1 voice marketplace). This goes to show that podcast advertising brings out expected results and conversions without compromising the customer experience or opinion. Podcast as a Medium for Thought Leadership Podcasts are a great medium for B2B thought leadership. They are a free space to express expert industry opinion, talk about the current industry trends, address the pain points of the customers, discuss tech advancements, and create a personal connection with the listeners. Tailored thought leadership content can fuel brand engagement and bring in leads that convert because of brand trust. Feedback gathered through interactive content can help B2B marketers create personalized marketing plans to align their goals with ad campaigns better. Podcast Ads: Taking the First Step Before you step into the world of podcast advertising, make sure you consider aspects like target demographic, podcast ad pricing, industry/brand relevant podcasts, ad purchasing, the reputation of the podcast advertising network, and podcast advertising platforms. Policygenius, a New York-based insurance agency, invested early in podcast advertising through Ad Results Media, an ad agency. Policygenius achieved its ROI goals, and its media spending increased by 10x in two years. You can buy podcast ads directly, through a podcast advertising network, or programmatically. To track the success of your ads, use KPIs like unique listeners, ranking and reviews, subscribers, social sharing, and episode-by-episode metrics. Wrapping It Up Podcasts can be a great advertising avenue for B2B companies to influence their buying groups and create new customers. Its monumental growth as a media channel and its ad revenue over the past couple of years indicate that it is here to stay and should be harnessed for a wider reach and bigger sales numbers. FAQ What is the role of podcast advertising networks? A podcast advertising network is a full-service podcast advertising solution that maintains podcast ad inventory and manages ad campaigns for marketers. How is podcast advertising different from traditional advertising methods? Podcast advertising uses automated ad tech to create dynamic ad campaigns across relevant podcasts, while traditional advertising methods focus on print ads, outdoor billboards, and cable television. Which are some popular podcast advertising platforms? Some popular podcast advertising platforms are Midroll, AdvertiseCast, PodGrid, and Archer Avenue.

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SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING

Netflix Opens Doors to Ads After Subscriber Count Takes a Nosedive

Article | May 11, 2022

Netflix Takes an Unexpected Route Popular streaming giant Netflix’s subscriber count plummeted for the first time in a decade. After it announced the loss of 200K subscribers in Q1 of 2022, its stocks dipped more than 35%. In addition, a shareholder recently sued the platform for violating securities law after its subscriber growth reached an all-time low and the stock value crashed, making the picture bleaker. It’s not surprising that the platform had a change of heart about bringing advertising to its platform. The decision puts the platform in the same category as its competitors, HBO Max, Amazon’s Freevee, and Disney+, who want to offer cheaper, ad-enabled content to consumers. It also addresses the company’s issue of slow revenue growth. “Those who have followed Netflix know that I’ve been against the complexity of advertising and a big fan of the simplicity of subscription, But as much as I’m a fan of that, I’m a bigger fan of consumer choice.” co-CEO Reed Hastings What Do Advertisers Think? The advertising community had mixed reactions to the announcement. Long commercials are not an option on streaming platforms like Netflix. The ads run only for a few minutes every hour to retain the viewer experience. Despite this, advertisers are excited to target Netflix’s rich audience of over 200 million. There is no clarity on who will sell the ads and how the campaigns will be managed. Only time will tell how Netflix’s move will affect its subscribers and the advertising market. The company will keep ad-free tiers for subscribers who wish to enjoy high-quality ad-free content. It may change its subscription plans to offer low-cost plans with ads and minimize password sharing. There is no set timeline or regions decided for implementing these plans. The company hopes that this “consumer choice” to choose a cheaper plan will revive its subscriber growth graph. What Comes Next? Though Netflix has done the unexpected, it is giving well-established ad-funded broadcasters and streaming platforms a reason to worry. As of now, the potential for a low-cost VOD service equipped with ads is huge for advertisers. Once the plans are introduced, new audience profiles will emerge. Advertisers will want to understand and target them. As an ad platform, Netflix’s performance will only be understood through testing and learning.

Read More
ADVERTISER PLATFORMS

Combat Video Ad Fatigue with Audio Advertising

Article | June 1, 2022

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.

Read More
ADVERTISER PLATFORMS

Power up Your Mobile Ad Campaigns with These Four Tricks

Article | May 20, 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.

Read More
ADVERTISER PLATFORMS

Podcast Advertising: A Promising Avenue for Result-oriented B2B Ad Campaigns

Article | May 19, 2022

Marketers in the B2B domain have a multi-channel approach to marketing because they target companies as buying groups. B2B marketers are leveraging podcast advertising with the help of advertisers, creators, and publishers for brand building and generating leads. They leverage up-and-coming avenues of advertising, most of which are a part of digital media channels. One such avenue is podcast advertising. Podcast advertising is emerging as one of the fastest-growing digital media channels for advertising. It is estimated to grow to more than $2.13 billion in 2022, according to a study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PwC. But, what is driving this growth? Engagement. People are finding podcasts more engaging than ever. Consequently, the demand for podcast ads across all categories is growing. Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI): The Rise of Automated Ad Tech Dynamic ad insertion is a form of programmatic advertising that uses first or third-party data. This data comes from the device playing a podcast, a device user agent, the device’s IP address, and what episode is requested, to serve ads to a target demographic. The ad server of the podcast hosting platform decides which ads should be stitched into a particular podcast episode. If done well, the audience will never know the difference between a dynamically inserted ad and a baked-in ad, which is a permanent part of the audio of the podcast. Podcast hosting platforms, advertisers, and publishers adopted DAI because it helps brands win contextual relevance and efficiency through granular advertising opportunities. Through custom audio ads that appeal to the target audience, dynamic or seasonal geo-targeted ads, measurable variables, and performance data, DAI gives advertisers good control over podcast ad campaigns. This control allows them to tailor the campaigns based on the marketers’ demands. DAI is evolving and has great potential in transcription-based targeting using AI and machine learning. It also has greater creative interactivity to make audio ads engaging through voice interactivity, personalization, and mobile phone engagement. A podcast advertising example using DAI would be a brand creating multiple versions of pre-recorded audio ads that are served to target audiences on any podcast that meets the campaign criteria. Podcast Advertising Anchors Digital Marketers for Effective Outreach Edison Research’s Podcast Consumer 2017 report found that:  24% of people between the ages of 18 and 54 listen to podcasts monthly  Listeners are almost evenly split between men and women  Listeners tend to be affluent, mainly educated consumers  In the 25-54 age bracket, monthly listening has grown year over year for the past four years These stats demonstrate the growing market for podcast advertising and a very stable demographic that B2B marketers would want to target. Marketers rely more on podcast advertisers and platforms to tap into the potential of podcasts as a media channel. Here are some of the ways in which podcast advertising can enhance B2B marketing plans and bring in more conversions: Listener behavior expansion− By understanding what kinds of podcasts the target audience listens to, marketers can create ads that appeal to them, and advertisers can help them get the perfect spot for the ad campaign to make it more successful. Pivoting messaging is easier− Using different voiceovers, marketers can deliver the same message but elicit a different reaction from their target audience. Recycling old ad files is also a viable option to save time and resources. Human connection− Hyper-personalized targeted ads relevant to the podcast content create a human connection with the audience and can influence their opinion about a brand. Personal influence− Podcast hosts create a personal influence on the listeners so they keep tuning in to the podcast and even listen to the episodes again after a period. Ads on such podcasts receive stronger engagement and response. Additionally, hosts can also relay brand messages to listeners and influence their buying decisions. Regional marketing− Podcasts are a great way to connect with a target demographic residing in a certain geographical area. Geo-targeting is a boon for region-specific marketing endeavors. Effective storytelling− Podcasts can fuse autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) for immersive storytelling to impress listeners. The continuity and power of an engaging narration keeps the listeners subscribed and attached, ensuring that any kind of advertising on such podcasts can reach a wider audience. Advertisers Are Helping B2B Marketers Generate Revenue According to a forecast by IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau), podcast advertising revenue will exceed $4 billion by 2024. Marketers are dependent on advertisers to tap into the podcast advertising potential to generate revenue in the following ways: Demand Generation An estimated 62 million Americans (Source: Edison Research) listen to podcasts, and this number is expected to grow. An interview by a product expert on an industry-relevant podcast can help get leads without wasting any budget on creating awareness, making it cost-effective. It’s no wonder LinkedIn and HubSpot have started their own podcast networks to host business and career-related content. Brand Building & Customer Retention Apart from using podcasts to generate leads, it can also help with brand building. Sponsoring a popular and relevant podcast episode can create a brand’s reputation and trust. It can also help retain existing customers as sponsorships demonstrate a continuous commitment to industry growth and development. Ad Effectiveness 75% of podcast listeners were happy with the purchase they had made from podcast ads (A Study by Voices, the #1 voice marketplace). This goes to show that podcast advertising brings out expected results and conversions without compromising the customer experience or opinion. Podcast as a Medium for Thought Leadership Podcasts are a great medium for B2B thought leadership. They are a free space to express expert industry opinion, talk about the current industry trends, address the pain points of the customers, discuss tech advancements, and create a personal connection with the listeners. Tailored thought leadership content can fuel brand engagement and bring in leads that convert because of brand trust. Feedback gathered through interactive content can help B2B marketers create personalized marketing plans to align their goals with ad campaigns better. Podcast Ads: Taking the First Step Before you step into the world of podcast advertising, make sure you consider aspects like target demographic, podcast ad pricing, industry/brand relevant podcasts, ad purchasing, the reputation of the podcast advertising network, and podcast advertising platforms. Policygenius, a New York-based insurance agency, invested early in podcast advertising through Ad Results Media, an ad agency. Policygenius achieved its ROI goals, and its media spending increased by 10x in two years. You can buy podcast ads directly, through a podcast advertising network, or programmatically. To track the success of your ads, use KPIs like unique listeners, ranking and reviews, subscribers, social sharing, and episode-by-episode metrics. Wrapping It Up Podcasts can be a great advertising avenue for B2B companies to influence their buying groups and create new customers. Its monumental growth as a media channel and its ad revenue over the past couple of years indicate that it is here to stay and should be harnessed for a wider reach and bigger sales numbers. FAQ What is the role of podcast advertising networks? A podcast advertising network is a full-service podcast advertising solution that maintains podcast ad inventory and manages ad campaigns for marketers. How is podcast advertising different from traditional advertising methods? Podcast advertising uses automated ad tech to create dynamic ad campaigns across relevant podcasts, while traditional advertising methods focus on print ads, outdoor billboards, and cable television. Which are some popular podcast advertising platforms? Some popular podcast advertising platforms are Midroll, AdvertiseCast, PodGrid, and Archer Avenue.

Read More
SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING

Netflix Opens Doors to Ads After Subscriber Count Takes a Nosedive

Article | May 11, 2022

Netflix Takes an Unexpected Route Popular streaming giant Netflix’s subscriber count plummeted for the first time in a decade. After it announced the loss of 200K subscribers in Q1 of 2022, its stocks dipped more than 35%. In addition, a shareholder recently sued the platform for violating securities law after its subscriber growth reached an all-time low and the stock value crashed, making the picture bleaker. It’s not surprising that the platform had a change of heart about bringing advertising to its platform. The decision puts the platform in the same category as its competitors, HBO Max, Amazon’s Freevee, and Disney+, who want to offer cheaper, ad-enabled content to consumers. It also addresses the company’s issue of slow revenue growth. “Those who have followed Netflix know that I’ve been against the complexity of advertising and a big fan of the simplicity of subscription, But as much as I’m a fan of that, I’m a bigger fan of consumer choice.” co-CEO Reed Hastings What Do Advertisers Think? The advertising community had mixed reactions to the announcement. Long commercials are not an option on streaming platforms like Netflix. The ads run only for a few minutes every hour to retain the viewer experience. Despite this, advertisers are excited to target Netflix’s rich audience of over 200 million. There is no clarity on who will sell the ads and how the campaigns will be managed. Only time will tell how Netflix’s move will affect its subscribers and the advertising market. The company will keep ad-free tiers for subscribers who wish to enjoy high-quality ad-free content. It may change its subscription plans to offer low-cost plans with ads and minimize password sharing. There is no set timeline or regions decided for implementing these plans. The company hopes that this “consumer choice” to choose a cheaper plan will revive its subscriber growth graph. What Comes Next? Though Netflix has done the unexpected, it is giving well-established ad-funded broadcasters and streaming platforms a reason to worry. As of now, the potential for a low-cost VOD service equipped with ads is huge for advertisers. Once the plans are introduced, new audience profiles will emerge. Advertisers will want to understand and target them. As an ad platform, Netflix’s performance will only be understood through testing and learning.

Read More
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Impact Social Media

Impact Social Media is a Kansas City based creative digital marketing agency. We’re a full service advertising firm offering modern and effective digital marketing for search engines, social media, websites, videos and email. We know how to advertise and promote your branding, products and services to the precise target market you desire. Our focus on return on investment (ROI) will provide you with a diversified campaign that gives you the best possible results for your total available budget. Our range of advertising services are a best fit for small to medium sized businesses and organizations that desire to become actively engaged in business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) branding and marketing. If you’re ready to get creative, modern and effective we can help.

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Ted Sarandos Talks Netflix’s Potential Ad Partners and More at Cannes

Netflix | June 24, 2022

Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos was honored as the Cannes Lions 2022 Entertainment Person of the Year award. He took the main stage on June 23 in Netflix’s festival debut. He talked about questions about Netflix’s stock decline and more-is-more content approach while carefully sidestepping ad deal rumors and platform competitors. Sarandos brushed off the specifics on any rumored ad deals and said that Netflix was talking to all potential ad partners. However, he did add that an ideal ad partner had to make it easy for Netflix to enter the ad market. He talked about how Netflix’s initial ad integration is not what he envisaged for the company and that the platform would look at ad operations internally to give it more control. Ultimately, Netflix wants to offer creative ad products ‘better than TV’. He referenced his past life in merchandising for the physical media company West Coast Video, specifically the original release for Top Gun. “If you really love ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel, Disney’s probably the service for you. Our key is, can we have the engagement with consumers such that they will complement it with other subscriptions" -Ted Sarandos co-CEO Netflix Besides the ad deals, Sarandos talked about content and how Netflix looks at it. According to him, Netflix’s advantage is in not just providing content for one person but every subscriber. “If you really love ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel, Disney’s probably the service for you. Our key is, can we have the engagement with consumers such that they will complement it with other subscriptions,,” he said. “People's tastes are so diverse,” he said. “So, every time people say, ‘That's a lot of content,’ I say, ‘It's not all for you.’ And we’re really trying to make your favorite show, my favorite show—they probably don't line up. We do well at that, and then the UI is used to kind of personalize so I find my favorite show. That scales infinitely.” He dispelled the rumor that Netflix was trying to buy out Roku to cover device integration and data capabilities. He stated that Netflix is already ubiquitously distributed on internet-enabled devices and that “we would be better off getting Netflix embedded in every device than we will be competing in the device world.” He discussed Netflix’s support for Dave Chappelle. “We're programming to people with a real variety of tastes and sensibilities and how they were brought up and what they think is offensive, or what they think is damaging to themselves, or their children,” he said. “So the variety of how you can plan the same thing for everybody—it's an impossible feat.” Sarandos said that Netflix’s queer content receives the same support. “I do think supporting expression is really important,” Sarandos said. “I think it's almost impossible for me to censor Dave in the U.S. and then I've got people from all over the world who are super offended by our LGBTQ+ content—they want to take it down and they think it's super harmful; they think it's destroying their society—And not only do we fight for it, we fight it all the way to the Supreme Court and have never take it down anywhere in the world.”

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DISPLAY ADVERTISING

Quantcast Launches Brand Advertising Solutions to Maximise the Impact of Every Marketing Dollar

Quantcast | June 18, 2022

Quantcast, a global advertising technology company, announced the launch of a suite of new solutions for digital marketers who demand more from their brand advertising. With these new products, marketers can seamlessly plan, activate, and measure video, native, and display brand campaigns across the web and on connected TV (CTV). Building on Quantcast’s widely adopted cookieless technology, marketers benefit from access to their entire audience, today. “As programmatic brand advertising has grown so has the complexity for marketers. Siloed systems and data detract from marketing intent, limit marketing innovation, and lack real-time, actionable feedback,” said Konrad Feldman, co-founder and CEO of Quantcast. “As programmatic brand advertising has grown so has the complexity for marketers. Siloed systems and data detract from marketing intent, limit marketing innovation, and lack real-time, actionable feedback,” said Konrad Feldman, co-founder and CEO of Quantcast. “We’re excited to introduce our streamlined take on integrated brand advertising, with automated optimisation and timely measurement of impact.” Now, with the Quantcast Platform, marketers can measure and optimise brand advertising as effectively as their direct response campaigns. These new easy-to-use solutions build on Quantcast’s leadership in data and machine learning to deliver planning against scalable audiences and premium inventory, hi-fidelity audience activation across screens, automated campaign optimisation, and comprehensive measurement of brand advertising’s impact on consumer preference and downstream business outcomes. “We were thrilled with the results that Quantcast delivered for Lancôme. Their brand solution was instrumental in engaging customers and prospects and driving awareness with different user groups,” said Yin Hong, senior product manager, Lancôme. “The results that they drove surpassed our targets and expectations, and demonstrated that programmatic advertising can really play a role within a brand campaign.” Introducing Brand Lift Live by QuantcastTM At the heart of this new product suite is Brand Lift Live, an integrated, real-time survey solution that enables marketers to optimise campaigns continuously against the brand awareness and consideration metrics that really matter, rather than limiting substitute metrics such as viewability and click-through rate (CTR). Within the Quantcast Platform, Brand Lift Live uses statistically controlled survey groups to measure the real-time impact of ads throughout a campaign, allowing for refinement of campaign audiences and delivery characteristics to maximise the impact of every marketing dollar. A new measurement approach for the open internet, Brand Lift Live complements traditional research methodologies similar to the way a fitness tracker complements an annual medical checkup. “We started with a simple question ‘how can we make brand budgets work harder?’ and since improvement requires measurement, that’s where we started,” said Peter Day, chief technology officer, Quantcast. “We found that practitioners relied on poor proxy metrics like viewability and CTR because assessing what they really care about - recall, awareness and consideration - in a timely and precise enough manner to support campaign optimisation was simply too hard. Brand Lift Live solves this problem.” The advantages of Brand Lift Live include: Actionable Campaign Data: View lift data in real-time and take action on campaigns in flight to adjust frequency, creative, messaging, and audience to maximise brand lift. Simple Setup: Brand Lift Live is easily configured alongside campaigns, allowing for the design, surveying and response capture without the need for any third-party integrations. Flexible Survey Options: Marketers can easily measure the impact of brand campaigns with multiple survey options that will best fit their campaign’s branding objectives. “Brand Lift Live helped to take our brand campaign learnings to the next level, by giving us real world insights that can be implemented quickly and effectively,” said Grace Bailey, senior marketing manager at Auto Trader. With these new capabilities, advertisers can use the Quantcast Platform to plan and validate custom audiences and discover compelling supply for their audiences across CTV, desktop, and mobile. Campaigns can be configured in minutes and the intuitive features greatly aid marketers in diagnosing issues to promote consistent performance and delivery. Alongside Brand Lift Live, additional platform insights examine the incremental reach of campaigns across web and CTV and the downstream contribution these brand activations deliver to performance campaigns and conversions.

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SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING

Kargo Acquires StitcherAds for $64 Million, Increasing Kargo’s Media Spend to a Combined $550 Million

Kargo | October 19, 2021

Kargo, the leader in digital high impact advertising, today announced the acquisition of the commerce-driven paid social advertising powerhouse StitcherAds. StitcherAds’ paid social commerce platform expands Kargo’s robust integrated omnichannel product suite, providing a comprehensive set of solutions for advertisers looking to execute digital campaigns across multiple screens to drive Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). With the addition of StitcherAds, Kargo is able to bring performance-marketing to retailers across multiple platforms, effectively “collapsing the traditional customer journey” and reducing the complexity in a brand’s marketing strategy. StitcherAds is a commerce-centric marketing platform that drives online and offline sales for retailers and brands within the walled gardens. The technology uses real-time product feeds and consumer data to generate personalized, dynamic product ads, including a digital circular experience. Its product discovery ads are delivered across Facebook, Instagram, Snap, TikTok, and Pinterest. With the acquisition of StitcherAds, Kargo will have $550 million in total media spend under management, coming from major retail advertisers including Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bed Bath & Beyond, Finish Line, JOANN Fabrics & Crafts, and Calvin Klein. Kargo also expands its physical footprint substantially, growing from 220 to 350 employees across 13 offices worldwide while maintaining StitcherAds’ headquarters in Ireland. “I’m excited to welcome StitcherAds into the Kargo family at such an exciting time in our history. The StitcherAds platform offers powerful advertising capabilities for our retail and CPG clients. We can now provide a true multi-platform product portfolio that expands our footprint into paid social,” said Harry Kargman, Kargo Founder and CEO. “This acquisition is another step towards our strategy to offer a full suite of solutions for our clients.” StitcherAds and Kargo are a fantastic match, bringing together Kargo’s premium advertising marketplace with our commerce-driven approach to social media marketing. We’re thrilled with the new opportunities to offer full-funnel solutions that this acquisition affords us, and the depth of omnichannel capabilities we’ll bring to the market.” Declan Kennedy, Chief Executive at StitcherAds About Kargo Kargo is a mobile-first, editorial-led global marketplace of unique multi-channel advertising and commerce opportunities for brands. Our advertising partners fill the ranks of the Fortune 500 and our invitation-only editorial marketplace sets the standard for quality and reach, including 100% of all U.S. smartphone users. With a focus on innovation, our creative team designs exclusive new ad formats that drive breakthrough performance and win industry awards. Kargo is 250 diverse employees strong with offices in NYC, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Auckland, Sydney, and Singapore. About StitcherAds Founded in 2009, StitcherAds helps advertisers and agencies scale full-funnel performance marketing campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and TikTok. Since conception, StitcherAds has empowered some of the world’s largest eCommerce and retail businesses worldwide, using data-driven automation to increase the revenue impact of their ad spend. The company works on a hybrid service model, onboarding clients from fully managed service to self-serve to ensure long-term success with their software. StitcherAds is a leader in both speed and achievement in direct response innovation on social media publishers.

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AD NETWORKS,BRAND MARKETING

Ted Sarandos Talks Netflix’s Potential Ad Partners and More at Cannes

Netflix | June 24, 2022

Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos was honored as the Cannes Lions 2022 Entertainment Person of the Year award. He took the main stage on June 23 in Netflix’s festival debut. He talked about questions about Netflix’s stock decline and more-is-more content approach while carefully sidestepping ad deal rumors and platform competitors. Sarandos brushed off the specifics on any rumored ad deals and said that Netflix was talking to all potential ad partners. However, he did add that an ideal ad partner had to make it easy for Netflix to enter the ad market. He talked about how Netflix’s initial ad integration is not what he envisaged for the company and that the platform would look at ad operations internally to give it more control. Ultimately, Netflix wants to offer creative ad products ‘better than TV’. He referenced his past life in merchandising for the physical media company West Coast Video, specifically the original release for Top Gun. “If you really love ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel, Disney’s probably the service for you. Our key is, can we have the engagement with consumers such that they will complement it with other subscriptions" -Ted Sarandos co-CEO Netflix Besides the ad deals, Sarandos talked about content and how Netflix looks at it. According to him, Netflix’s advantage is in not just providing content for one person but every subscriber. “If you really love ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel, Disney’s probably the service for you. Our key is, can we have the engagement with consumers such that they will complement it with other subscriptions,,” he said. “People's tastes are so diverse,” he said. “So, every time people say, ‘That's a lot of content,’ I say, ‘It's not all for you.’ And we’re really trying to make your favorite show, my favorite show—they probably don't line up. We do well at that, and then the UI is used to kind of personalize so I find my favorite show. That scales infinitely.” He dispelled the rumor that Netflix was trying to buy out Roku to cover device integration and data capabilities. He stated that Netflix is already ubiquitously distributed on internet-enabled devices and that “we would be better off getting Netflix embedded in every device than we will be competing in the device world.” He discussed Netflix’s support for Dave Chappelle. “We're programming to people with a real variety of tastes and sensibilities and how they were brought up and what they think is offensive, or what they think is damaging to themselves, or their children,” he said. “So the variety of how you can plan the same thing for everybody—it's an impossible feat.” Sarandos said that Netflix’s queer content receives the same support. “I do think supporting expression is really important,” Sarandos said. “I think it's almost impossible for me to censor Dave in the U.S. and then I've got people from all over the world who are super offended by our LGBTQ+ content—they want to take it down and they think it's super harmful; they think it's destroying their society—And not only do we fight for it, we fight it all the way to the Supreme Court and have never take it down anywhere in the world.”

Read More

DISPLAY ADVERTISING

Quantcast Launches Brand Advertising Solutions to Maximise the Impact of Every Marketing Dollar

Quantcast | June 18, 2022

Quantcast, a global advertising technology company, announced the launch of a suite of new solutions for digital marketers who demand more from their brand advertising. With these new products, marketers can seamlessly plan, activate, and measure video, native, and display brand campaigns across the web and on connected TV (CTV). Building on Quantcast’s widely adopted cookieless technology, marketers benefit from access to their entire audience, today. “As programmatic brand advertising has grown so has the complexity for marketers. Siloed systems and data detract from marketing intent, limit marketing innovation, and lack real-time, actionable feedback,” said Konrad Feldman, co-founder and CEO of Quantcast. “As programmatic brand advertising has grown so has the complexity for marketers. Siloed systems and data detract from marketing intent, limit marketing innovation, and lack real-time, actionable feedback,” said Konrad Feldman, co-founder and CEO of Quantcast. “We’re excited to introduce our streamlined take on integrated brand advertising, with automated optimisation and timely measurement of impact.” Now, with the Quantcast Platform, marketers can measure and optimise brand advertising as effectively as their direct response campaigns. These new easy-to-use solutions build on Quantcast’s leadership in data and machine learning to deliver planning against scalable audiences and premium inventory, hi-fidelity audience activation across screens, automated campaign optimisation, and comprehensive measurement of brand advertising’s impact on consumer preference and downstream business outcomes. “We were thrilled with the results that Quantcast delivered for Lancôme. Their brand solution was instrumental in engaging customers and prospects and driving awareness with different user groups,” said Yin Hong, senior product manager, Lancôme. “The results that they drove surpassed our targets and expectations, and demonstrated that programmatic advertising can really play a role within a brand campaign.” Introducing Brand Lift Live by QuantcastTM At the heart of this new product suite is Brand Lift Live, an integrated, real-time survey solution that enables marketers to optimise campaigns continuously against the brand awareness and consideration metrics that really matter, rather than limiting substitute metrics such as viewability and click-through rate (CTR). Within the Quantcast Platform, Brand Lift Live uses statistically controlled survey groups to measure the real-time impact of ads throughout a campaign, allowing for refinement of campaign audiences and delivery characteristics to maximise the impact of every marketing dollar. A new measurement approach for the open internet, Brand Lift Live complements traditional research methodologies similar to the way a fitness tracker complements an annual medical checkup. “We started with a simple question ‘how can we make brand budgets work harder?’ and since improvement requires measurement, that’s where we started,” said Peter Day, chief technology officer, Quantcast. “We found that practitioners relied on poor proxy metrics like viewability and CTR because assessing what they really care about - recall, awareness and consideration - in a timely and precise enough manner to support campaign optimisation was simply too hard. Brand Lift Live solves this problem.” The advantages of Brand Lift Live include: Actionable Campaign Data: View lift data in real-time and take action on campaigns in flight to adjust frequency, creative, messaging, and audience to maximise brand lift. Simple Setup: Brand Lift Live is easily configured alongside campaigns, allowing for the design, surveying and response capture without the need for any third-party integrations. Flexible Survey Options: Marketers can easily measure the impact of brand campaigns with multiple survey options that will best fit their campaign’s branding objectives. “Brand Lift Live helped to take our brand campaign learnings to the next level, by giving us real world insights that can be implemented quickly and effectively,” said Grace Bailey, senior marketing manager at Auto Trader. With these new capabilities, advertisers can use the Quantcast Platform to plan and validate custom audiences and discover compelling supply for their audiences across CTV, desktop, and mobile. Campaigns can be configured in minutes and the intuitive features greatly aid marketers in diagnosing issues to promote consistent performance and delivery. Alongside Brand Lift Live, additional platform insights examine the incremental reach of campaigns across web and CTV and the downstream contribution these brand activations deliver to performance campaigns and conversions.

Read More

SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING

Kargo Acquires StitcherAds for $64 Million, Increasing Kargo’s Media Spend to a Combined $550 Million

Kargo | October 19, 2021

Kargo, the leader in digital high impact advertising, today announced the acquisition of the commerce-driven paid social advertising powerhouse StitcherAds. StitcherAds’ paid social commerce platform expands Kargo’s robust integrated omnichannel product suite, providing a comprehensive set of solutions for advertisers looking to execute digital campaigns across multiple screens to drive Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). With the addition of StitcherAds, Kargo is able to bring performance-marketing to retailers across multiple platforms, effectively “collapsing the traditional customer journey” and reducing the complexity in a brand’s marketing strategy. StitcherAds is a commerce-centric marketing platform that drives online and offline sales for retailers and brands within the walled gardens. The technology uses real-time product feeds and consumer data to generate personalized, dynamic product ads, including a digital circular experience. Its product discovery ads are delivered across Facebook, Instagram, Snap, TikTok, and Pinterest. With the acquisition of StitcherAds, Kargo will have $550 million in total media spend under management, coming from major retail advertisers including Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bed Bath & Beyond, Finish Line, JOANN Fabrics & Crafts, and Calvin Klein. Kargo also expands its physical footprint substantially, growing from 220 to 350 employees across 13 offices worldwide while maintaining StitcherAds’ headquarters in Ireland. “I’m excited to welcome StitcherAds into the Kargo family at such an exciting time in our history. The StitcherAds platform offers powerful advertising capabilities for our retail and CPG clients. We can now provide a true multi-platform product portfolio that expands our footprint into paid social,” said Harry Kargman, Kargo Founder and CEO. “This acquisition is another step towards our strategy to offer a full suite of solutions for our clients.” StitcherAds and Kargo are a fantastic match, bringing together Kargo’s premium advertising marketplace with our commerce-driven approach to social media marketing. We’re thrilled with the new opportunities to offer full-funnel solutions that this acquisition affords us, and the depth of omnichannel capabilities we’ll bring to the market.” Declan Kennedy, Chief Executive at StitcherAds About Kargo Kargo is a mobile-first, editorial-led global marketplace of unique multi-channel advertising and commerce opportunities for brands. Our advertising partners fill the ranks of the Fortune 500 and our invitation-only editorial marketplace sets the standard for quality and reach, including 100% of all U.S. smartphone users. With a focus on innovation, our creative team designs exclusive new ad formats that drive breakthrough performance and win industry awards. Kargo is 250 diverse employees strong with offices in NYC, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Auckland, Sydney, and Singapore. About StitcherAds Founded in 2009, StitcherAds helps advertisers and agencies scale full-funnel performance marketing campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and TikTok. Since conception, StitcherAds has empowered some of the world’s largest eCommerce and retail businesses worldwide, using data-driven automation to increase the revenue impact of their ad spend. The company works on a hybrid service model, onboarding clients from fully managed service to self-serve to ensure long-term success with their software. StitcherAds is a leader in both speed and achievement in direct response innovation on social media publishers.

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