Ad Tech and Martech
Article | May 14, 2024
The world is changing every minute and so is the structure of business and marketing tactics. Digital advertising has changed drastically over a period and is growing at a break neck speed. Although native advertising is at a nascent stage, it is a popular, creative, authentic, interactive, and engaging form of advertising.
Native advertising is also called paid content or sponsored content. Gone are the days when native advertising was just a buzz word. Today it is the new marketing reality. Native content marketing has winged its way into emails, e-commerce platforms, social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram), video sites. Social media ads, recommended ads, and promoted search results are a few examples of well-known native ads. Native ads are cohesive with the content on the page and ingest themselves very well with the design and look of the page.
Many online marketers are turning to native advertising that eases the opportunity of connecting to their users in the format they are comfortable with, such as articles, videos, and infographics. Native ads normally do not look like ads. They look like a part of the content in a user’s viewable area.
Media companies like The New York Times, BuzzFeed, The Atlantic, and The Wall Street Journal are few examples that invest in native content advertising.
Native advertising is the driving force leveraging advertising strategy. As per the Native Advertising Institute, by 2021, the revenue from native advertising is expected to increase by 46%.
Types of Native Advertising
There are various types of native advertising that publishers may offer on their sites. They may offer a few or all of these:
In-stream
In stream ads are the ads put in before, during or after the streaming of any video, music, and animation that the consumer has requested. In-stream ads termed as pre-roll, mid-roll, and post roll. In-stream ads are most commonly visible on YouTube.
In-article
In-article are the ad formats that helps you to put native ads between the paragraphs of the pages. These articles are optimized by google for better performance. They blend well and provide a better experience of the readers.
Content recommendation
Content or product recommendation provide you with personalized content or product recommendation based on data collected about user’s online behavior. Offering better effortless customer journey.
Commerce
Native video
Native videos are the in-feed videos that are created and uploaded on various social networks. Facebook, , YouTube, and Twitter are most widely used platforms for native video.
Custom formats
Custom native ads are developed by brand itself. Custom ads are user-defined allowing you to define your variable.
In-mail
There are two ways of In-mail native advertisements, they are one-off long-form and programmatic. Native email marketing will boost KPIs.
Sponsored content
Sponsored content naturally blends in with content on the webpage but is marked as “sponsored” within the ad.
What Does Native Advertising Look Like?
In Feed Ads
In Feed native ads are slipped between the content allowing the readers to view them easily and with less effort. Example of in-feed ads are the ads that appear in your newsfeed on social media and news sites (Facebook, Buzzfeed)
Search & Promoted Listings
Search and promoted listings appear at the top of your Google search results or in the side bar increasing the product visibility and sales. Search and promoted listings are fee-based advertising services.
Content Recommendations
These are the articles that appear at the bottom of the webpage. This is a great way to increase the audience and attract new leads. Content recommendations are the personalized articles keeping the target audience in mind.
Best Practices of Native Advertising
Content is King
Content plays a key role in native ads for engaging the audience and comes in different shapes and sizes. Developing an innovative format for delivering quality content such as short snappy text, animations, infographics, videos, carousels of images, will earn you higher ROI. Customers are likely to return to your site without any native medium advertising. Successful native ads are colorful, easy to read, and stand out among other content around the same page.
Keep Native Advertising Programmatic
Partner with a top-notch premier content house to stand out. Keep native advertisements programmatic. Programmatic help brands make the most of micro-moments. In Programmatic advertising, automated technology is used for buying advertising space allowing advertisers to make native ads more relevant to potential customers. In the traditional buying media process, advertisers have less control over buying the placement. Native advertising can achieve higher engagement and conversion with the programmatic platform.
Native Ads Placement Smarter
Native ads are embedded onto the webpage much like the publisher's editorial. It is best practice to let the ad be on the same page for several days so that the potential customers come back to the website to have a look at it.
Keep it Personal
Keep your ad copy simple, interactive, and direct to connect with the audience. Try to call out the problem-solving content to make people feel identified and easily relatable with the solution. Keep content personal and relevant to increase engagement. The copy that is simple is more persuasive. Write ad copy as though you are speaking to your audience.
The Rise in Video Popularity Trend
Generating high-quality content that educates and entertains at the same time is far more effective in building long-term customer relationships. Video happens to be one of the successful formats of native content marketing. Video content accelerates the engagement of customers and the revenue earned from native video advertising. One of the successful ad trends is interactivity. Video content being interactive creates a sense of personal touch and leads to word-of--mouth marketing.
Targeting the Right Way
The success of any campaign largely depends on sites, audiences, and gadgets. Gather your user’s information through tools and analytics to decide your audience. Emphasizing the need of the audience is important to maintain the foundation of native advertising. Knowledge about the audience will ensure you target the right audience on the right native advertising platform. According to a recent study, click-through rates on native ads are higher on mobile devices.
How Does Native Advertising Work?
The most inevitable question arising to any advertiser’s mind is whether there is sustainable growth for native content marketing? Well the answer to this is very positive. Native advertising works in terms of demand and supply. Publishers fall under the supply category looking out for ads to monetize their site and advertisers fall under the demand category reaching an audience to generate promotion, sales, and lastly leads. The brand pays on a native advertising platform of their choice for the placement of their content. Selecting the right platform is an essential step of native ads. Once the content is created and approved, it will be tagged by saying something like, “Advertisements”, “Paid advertisement”, “Sponsored”, or “Recommended” to create transparency within native advertising platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is native advertising?
Native advertising is a paid content that mimics the design of the platform upon which it is published. Native ads are commonly visible on most of the social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn) but are also seen on websites. They function differently from advertorials. Native advertisements blend perfectly with web page organic content therefore are not jarring.
Why native advertising is important?
Native advertisements bring brands and customers together on a single page by better targeting and using personalization technology, making it more engaging. Native advertising content has a longer shelf life and reaches the target audience through trusted channels. It generates higher CTR, boosts conversions, and creates higher sales for your website and company.
What is an example of native advertising?
Media companies like BuzzFeed, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Instagram filter, Nickelodeon, and social media ads are a few popular examples of native advertising that have invested in the creation and distribution of native advertisements on their respective platforms on behalf of the brands.
Why is native advertising so successful?
The success of native advertising heavily depends on the relevant and engaging content, better received by target customers. Native ads are viewed 53% more than other banner ads. Native content is cohesive, blends smoothly with the organic content so they do not appear as ads, making people inclined to view them more and consume them. Native ads are worth the hype provided used correctly and created and promoted the right way.
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Advertiser Platforms
Article | March 12, 2024
Embark on a historical journey charting CRM’s capability in businesses from organizational tools to a central strategic force in driving business innovation and deepening customer connections.
Contents
1. The Evolution of CRM: From Customer Records to Strategic Business Tool
2. Advanced CRM Technologies and Innovations
3. Data Management and Security in CRM
4. Top Provider Companies of CRM
4.1. SuperOffice
4.2. Teamleader
4.3. ePROMIS Solutions
4.4. Keap
4.5. HighLevel
4.6. Miles IT
4.7. FranConnect
4.8. CAS Software AG
4.9. SoftPro
4.10. Rapidops
Final Thoughts
1. The Evolution of CRM to Strategic Business Tools
The transition of customer relationship management (CRM) from an elementary collection of customer data to a strategic business tool signifies a notable change in how firms communicate with customers and make strategic decisions. The initial purpose of early CRMs was to facilitate the organization of customer information and enhance service quality, thereby establishing the foundation for a more individualized customer experience. Nevertheless, the emergence of digital marketing and technological progress revolutionized CRM, making it a formidable force in marketing with the ability to do intricate data segmentation, tailored interaction, and seamless connections with many digital platforms.
Notwithstanding the technological developments, the efficacy of any customer relationship management system is contingent upon the human factor, encompassing crucial aspects such as proficient user training, efficient data management, and a customer-centric organizational culture. The ongoing development of CRM highlights the significance of integrating technology with a strategy focused on providing outstanding customer value. The continuous evolution of CRM from an essential instrument to a fundamental business ideology promises CRM capabilities in contemporary businesses and can potentially alter the field of customer relationship management in the foreseeable future.
2. Advanced CRM Technologies and Innovations
- CRM evolution from basic data repositories to key drivers in enhancing customer experience (CX), marketing automation, and business growth.
- CRM systems now serve as integral assets, unifying customer interactions and increasing the efficacy of sales, marketing, and service operations.
- Cloud-based and AI technologies have advanced CRM functionalities, offering scalability, mobility, and actionable analytics.
- Modern CRMs enable predictive insights and proactive customer engagement strategies.
- Introduction of chatbots and virtual assistants to CRM, providing immediate support and freeing human staff for complex tasks.
- Rise of conversational CRM, leading to more natural and mutually beneficial customer interactions.
- Use of omnichannel approaches powered by cloud technology ensures consistent, informed communication across all customer touchpoints.
- These innovations lead to a unified brand experience, strengthening customer relationships.
3. Data Management and Security in CRM
CRM systems have evolved beyond their initial purpose as simple storage of customer data in the digital era. They have become advanced platforms that play a crucial role in creating business strategies and enhancing customer experiences. The effectiveness of CRM systems heavily relies on the efficient administration and rigorous protection of the data they store.
Efficient Data Management in Customer Relationship Management:
An essential foundation of a strong CRM system is its capacity to effectively handle data. To accomplish this, it is essential to precisely establish the goals of the CRM data, such as improving customer satisfaction or increasing sales. Efficient data management involves the CRM implementation like implementing accurate data collection methods and the preservation of data integrity. To maintain the quality and relevance of CRM data, it is crucial to implement regular data cleansing and updating procedures due to the fast rate at which information can become outdated.
Sophisticated Security Protocols:
Securing CRM data is crucial in an era characterized by frequent data breaches. Robust levels of security are provided by advanced methods such as role-based access control (RBAC), data encryption, and tokenization. These procedures are implemented to guarantee stringent control over data access and to render the data incomprehensible to unauthorized entities in the event of a breach.
The convergence of management and security:
The integration of data management and security within a comprehensive data governance framework is necessary, as opposed to operating in isolation. The provided framework delineates the policies, duties, and standards that are imperative for the efficient management and safeguarding of CRM data. Regular training for staff on data best practices, continuing audits, and adherence to data protection requirements are essential components of a robust governance approach.
4. Top Provider Companies in CRM
CRM has emerged as the central focus of contemporary company strategy. An effective customer relationship management system optimizes essential client data in a manner that is customized to the many facets of an organization's activities. It can assist in monitoring a customer's purchasing patterns, preferences, and apprehensions. In a time when each encounter can indicate the extent of a customer's commitment to a brand, selecting the appropriate CRM supplier can determine whether the firm succeeds or faces difficulties.
Choosing the most suitable CRM supplier for any company's specific requirements might be challenging due to the abundance of options available. Here’s a list of the top ten providers in CRM:
4.1.SuperOffice
SuperOffice, a premier CRM software provider, has been at the forefront of promoting meaningful business-to-customer relationships and driving revenue growth for medium-sized European B2Bs for over 30 years. With a steadfast commitmentto fostering meaningful relationships and driving revenue growth, SuperOffice distinguishes itself by offering a holistic CRM solution that unites marketing, customer care and sales teams. Key to its success are features such as integrated email and document management, AI-powered insights, GDPR compliance, and an extensive App Store. These elements, combined with customizable workflows and real-time dashboards, empower teams to achieve greater alignment, efficiency, and productivity, solidifying SuperOffice's position as the CRM partner of choice for businesses aiming for sustainable, customer-centric growth.
4.2.Teamleader
A CRM tool Teamleader Focus provides CRM solutions for contemporary businesses, integrating advanced features to streamline customer relationship management. This platform excels in centralized customer management, providing a unified repository for all customer-related data and facilitating immediate access and management efficiency. Its visualization of the sales pipeline demystifies the journey from prospect to customer, enabling precise monitoring and nurturing of potential leads. Unique in its capacity to manage multiple businesses within a single account, it adeptly caters to entrepreneurs running diverse ventures, simplifying complexities with ease.
4.3.ePROMIS Solutions
ePROMIS Solutions has been at the forefront of providing innovative enterprise management software for over three decades. Catering to a broad spectrum of industries, ePROMIS has carved a niche for delivering futuristic solutions that transform business operations. The ePROMIS FutureGen Enterprise Platform exemplifies an all-encompassing business solution, integrating over 100 applications across ERP, HCM, and EAM. It offers advanced automation, customizable workflows, and a potent analytics and BI engine, enhancing operational efficiency and facilitating insightful decision-making. Designed for global scalability, the platform supports multi-entity, multi-industry, multilingual, multi-currency, and multi-channel operations, making it an ideal choice for global expansion and innovation businesses.
4.4.Keap
Keap, formerly Infusionsoft, is a paradigm of innovation in sales and marketing automation for small businesses. Keap is committed to simplifying growth for small businesses, aiming to empower 1 million enterprises globally by 2030. Its comprehensive CRM platform is engineered to capture, organize, track, and nurture leads, amplifying sales and revenue. Keap distinguishes itself with expert coaching, extensive training, robust support, and a vibrant community of entrepreneurs. Its automation engine offers personalized features and strategic guidance to maintain business health, customer engagement and satisfaction, and team vitality during scaling.
4.5.HighLevel
HighLevel, is a revolutionary all-in-one marketing platform designed to empower agencies with the necessary tools, resources, and support to excel and surpass their marketing objectives. With over 60,000 customers and serving 1.4 million businesses, HighLevel facilitates the capture of leads through diverse means like landing pages, forms, and inbound phone systems. It automates engagement across multiple channels, including voicemail, SMS, and email, and offers built-in tools for payment collection, appointment scheduling, and analytics tracking. HighLevel's suite stands out for its comprehensive capability to consolidate marketing tools in one place, enabling users to enhance customer acquisition, retention, and business scaling through streamlined processes and a community-supported ecosystem of digital marketing strategies.
4.6.Miles IT
Miles IT, has established itself as a vanguard IT company, offering comprehensive services to bolster businesses nationwide through technological innovation. This array of services spans managed IT, software development, digital marketing, e-commerce, and dynamic websites, all tailored to meet the unique needs of each business. Positioned as a conduit for business growth, Miles IT promises expert support, coaching, training, and an engaging community of entrepreneurs, ensuring clients meet and exceed their business aspirations. Operating with a commitment to deliver cost-effective, efficient solutions, Miles IT is the technology partner of choice for businesses aiming to scale and retain potential customers while maintaining the integrity of their customer service and team morale.
4.7.FranConnect
FranConnect, is the quintessential partner for franchise management, offering an unparalleled suite of solutions that cater to the sales, operations, and marketing needs of over 1,500 brands and multi-location businesses globally. FranConnect's clientele experiences an average growth rate of 44% faster than the broader franchising market, a testament to the efficacy of its cloud-based solutions in fostering scalable and optimized business operations. The platform's robust offerings are designed to accommodate the diverse needs of franchisors and multi-location brands at every stage of growth, from emerging entities to established conglomerates. FranConnect's solutions are meticulously crafted to enhance unit sales, revenue, operational efficiency, franchisee engagement, and employee training, all while ensuring rigorous security and compliance standards.
4.8.CAS Software AG
CAS Software AG, has emerged as the premier provider of CRM solutions tailored to the unique demands of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany. Renowned for delivering superior ergonomics, integration capabilities, and exceptional value, CAS Software AG's offerings are designed to cater to a wide array of industries. Its portfolio, which includes the flagship CAS genesisWorld, offers a 360° view of all customer interactions thanks to intelligent, AI-assisted processes (AIA®), and is notable for adhering to the highest standards of data security and digital confidence.
4.9.SoftPro
SoftPro, a distinguished leader in the real estate closing, title, and escrow software industry, is celebrated for its comprehensive suite of products. Renowned for its commitment to innovation and excellence, SoftPro's solutions are meticulously designed for scalability and customization, offering process automation, secure communication portals, robust reporting, analytics, and myriad integrations. This ensures a streamlined closing process, enhancing volume and revenue for businesses. SoftPro remains committed to providing award-winning support, facilitating efficient residential and commercial closings, and empowering users with technology solutions tailored to their needs.
4.10.Rapidops
Rapidops, is an acclaimed technology, transformation, and analytics company recognized for driving digital innovation and delivering impactful digital products and platforms. Operating across retail, manufacturing and supply chain, healthcare, and technology industries, Rapidops has empowered clients, including Dassault Systemes and Harris Teeter, alongside launching platforms like Salesmate.io. Renowned for rapidly translating complex visions into market-leading digital solutions, Rapidops boasts comprehensive expertise in strategy, design, engineering, analytics, AI/ML, IoT, and DevOps. Rapidops’ commitment to excellence is reflected in its holistic approach to solving critical CRM challenges and fostering sustainable growth.
Final Thoughts
CRM capabilities in modern businesses are progressing towards a greater future. In the future, CRM is expected to become increasingly essential to business operations as artificial intelligence and machine learning improve its ability to make accurate predictions. As organizations adjust to remote and hybrid work arrangements, customer relationship management solutions will evolve to accommodate mobility and cloud-based capabilities, guaranteeing uninterrupted accessibility and performance across various work settings.
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Advertiser Platforms
Article | April 5, 2024
Many marketers today don’t know what OOH stands for, though it’s been a highly used marketing medium for decades. Out-of-home advertising consists of anything from billboards, blimps, and bus signage, to street furniture, event advertising, and connected TV, and can be as small as a window poster or the back of a street bench or larger than life, covering a wall or wrapping an entire building. OOH is now being seen as an emerging technology channel, but why?
For starters, during the surge of online advertising over the last 15 years, Facebook and Google ads have seemingly gotten all the attention. Today, many marketing teams have been so focused on online marketing they no longer have much time to spend thinking out-of-the-box. But OOH is upping its game with a technology lift that is allowing marketers to highly target their audiences as well as improve the impact of their online advertising campaigns.
And we’re not just talking about Pepsi and McDonalds. OOH advertising has long been effective for countless brands, known and unknown, and the possibilities are endless. We are seeing everything from wrapping an ice cream truck with your message and parking across the street from an event to highly targeted ads on TV screens in bars, restaurants, banks, and hotels.
People take action after seeing OOH advertisements, doing online searches and visiting websites. In fact, Nielsen’s Out-of-Home Advertising Study 2019 edition reported that 66% of smartphone users took some type of action after seeing a OOH advertisement in the past year, and over four in 10 used online search to look up information. OOH drives more social and digital interactions than any other medium.
If you aren’t in the OOH game, here’s why B2B marketers should be considering it as part of their marketing mix:
1. Build brand trust
According to a survey conducted by Freeman, CMOs, brand managers, and event planners are putting more stake in in-person brand experiences. Billboards and OOH real world advertising are not only for the big brand names. If someone doesn’t know you, you can add significant trust and credibility to your brand as well as add more impact to your online Facebook and Google ads. And, OOH advertising is always there for audiences to see. It’s not invasive, block-able or frustrating as digital ads can be.
2. Hyper-target your audience
Tech advances are allowing marketers to hyper-target out in the real-world. For startups, challenger brands, and anyone looking to target a specific group of people, it’s possible to zero in on the roads people drive on every day for work or the bars and restaurants they go to afterward. Mobile devices pinged at various locations are looked at like inbound links, as if coming from your website. If you want to reach people who work at a certain place, in a certain location, you can identify who’s driving by your billboard.
3. Generate leads
You can then get that feedback, like who’s driving by, of those driving by, who went to your website? What are they searching on? Who converted to a lead?
4. Endless use cases
With technology advancements, the possibilities in OOH are endless – mobile billboards on LED trucks, wall murals, TVs in countless public facilities and arenas, and billboards of all kinds that can be enhanced digitally.
5. OOH advertising is always “on.”
Your OOH advertisement is there 24/7, delivering your message to every passerby during peak target times and all other times, broadening your reach without additional cost. And unlike digital advertising, OOH does not appear and then quickly disappear. It has staying power, displaying your message constantly and consistently around the clock.
6. Stand out at events:
Though in-person conferences and events are coming back to life, the days of “host an event and they will come” are long gone. There is fierce competition for the hearts and minds of attendees. To dominate the competition, OOH is a great way to give you visibility, driving traffic to your event, to your booth, to your website – to network, make real-life connections, and generate leads.
While online advertising has its place, we have taken a break from being creative. OOH allows an opportunity to get back into exercising your creative muscles. The challenge for marketers is to take their years of internet marketing experience and figure out how to create interesting brand experiences offline.
From a tracking standpoint, OOH advertising today is looking more like online advertising. However, instead of tracking people, we are watching places as groups of people move through and pass by billboards or other signage. It’s a powerful “old” tool that marketers can combine with new tools to generate brand awareness and drive inbound interest from highly targeted specs.
During the online advertising surge, while we have been wrapped up in tracking and measuring performance clicks, many companies have under invested in their brand. Plus, when integrated with digital marketing, OOH extends both reach and frequency, allowing you to leverage other marketing, online and offline, for maximum results and ROI. Marketers should now be thinking of OOH as one of their viable performance channels.
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Advertiser Platforms
Article | December 15, 2021
PALM SPRINGS, Calif.—Let’s clear up some likely misconceptions about what happens at a cannabis convention: No, they do not shoot weed out of T-shirt canons. And they don’t give it away for free—that’s illegal, even in the most permissive states.
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