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Shopping On Social Is Boosting e-Commerce

SAHAIL ASHRAF | March 12, 2019 | 222 views

Social media and shopping became bedfellows right at the very start. As soon as brands realised that people would search social media for stuff to buy (which was probably about five minutes after Facebook went live) the landscape became one that was worth advertising to.

Spotlight

The Archer Group

We create digital experiences that make a difference. To fulfill that promise we recruit some of the brightest digital thinkers from our region and beyond in a broad range of disciplines spanning design, development, brand and content strategy, account planning, social media, UX, marketing strategy, and QA to name a few. We offer more than a promise of full service, we offer full capability. Everything we say we can do, we’ve already done, for a growing roster of Fortune 500 clients.

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Advertiser Campaign Management

Multimedia Content: The Key for B2B Brand Marketing

Article | August 12, 2022

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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Advertiser Platforms

Google’s and Facebook’s Grip on Digital Advertising Markets

Article | August 2, 2022

Since July 2019, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has been conducting an extensive investigation of the digital advertising market. In its preliminary report on the investigation, the CMA expresses concerns that Google and Facebook have grown so “large and have such extensive access to data that potential rivals can no longer compete on equal terms.” 2019 marked the year in which digital advertising finally took the crown from TV and other legacy media both in the US and worldwide. Estimates point out that digital ads now account for 51 percent of the almost $600 billion spent globally on advertising, a percentage that should only rise with time.

Read More
Social Media Advertising

Which Online Advertising Strategy Is Right For Your Business?

Article | July 14, 2022

Part of running a business in this era of technology is establishing an online presence. This does not only mean having a well-put-together website and being active on social media, which are both a big part of what online marketing means. In order to reach audiences and turn them into customers, you also need to invest in online advertising. Sometimes, finding the best-suited advertising strategy for your business can be quite daunting, especially given the fact that you have so many options to choose from in the sea of digital marketing. The accessible costs of digital advertising, especially when compared to traditional advertising, may make it tempting for you to what to invest in as many types of ad campaigns as you can find, but keep in mind that they may not all work for your business.

Read More

Alex Webb: More kids with smartphones spells advertising bonanza

Article | February 10, 2020

The revelation that, by the age of seven, 53% of British kids will own a mobile phone, will come as good news to one group in particular: advertisers. By the time U.K. youngsters are 11, the ownership ratio reaches a whopping 90%, according to a report published last week by the research consultancy Childwise. And as the penetration of smartphone usage rises, it creates more opportunity for advertisers to get in front of young eyeballs. Parents need to get clued up if they want to stop that from happening. For now, advertising targeted at children has been slower to migrate online than in the broader industry. Whereas more than half of the world's $614 billion of ad spending is now online, less than a third of the outlay for ads targeting children is digital, according to a 2019 study by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Read More
Advertiser Campaign Management

How Campaign Health Metrics Can Help You Streamline Ad Campaigns

Article | August 12, 2022

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.

Read More
Advertiser Platforms

4 Ad Performance Metrics You Should Track

Article | August 2, 2022

Since July 2019, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has been conducting an extensive investigation of the digital advertising market. In its preliminary report on the investigation, the CMA expresses concerns that Google and Facebook have grown so “large and have such extensive access to data that potential rivals can no longer compete on equal terms.” 2019 marked the year in which digital advertising finally took the crown from TV and other legacy media both in the US and worldwide. Estimates point out that digital ads now account for 51 percent of the almost $600 billion spent globally on advertising, a percentage that should only rise with time.

Read More
Social Media Advertising

Ghost Ads and Bidding to Measure Incrementality

Article | July 14, 2022

Part of running a business in this era of technology is establishing an online presence. This does not only mean having a well-put-together website and being active on social media, which are both a big part of what online marketing means. In order to reach audiences and turn them into customers, you also need to invest in online advertising. Sometimes, finding the best-suited advertising strategy for your business can be quite daunting, especially given the fact that you have so many options to choose from in the sea of digital marketing. The accessible costs of digital advertising, especially when compared to traditional advertising, may make it tempting for you to what to invest in as many types of ad campaigns as you can find, but keep in mind that they may not all work for your business.

Read More

Alex Webb: More kids with smartphones spells advertising bonanza

Article | February 10, 2020

The revelation that, by the age of seven, 53% of British kids will own a mobile phone, will come as good news to one group in particular: advertisers. By the time U.K. youngsters are 11, the ownership ratio reaches a whopping 90%, according to a report published last week by the research consultancy Childwise. And as the penetration of smartphone usage rises, it creates more opportunity for advertisers to get in front of young eyeballs. Parents need to get clued up if they want to stop that from happening. For now, advertising targeted at children has been slower to migrate online than in the broader industry. Whereas more than half of the world's $614 billion of ad spending is now online, less than a third of the outlay for ads targeting children is digital, according to a 2019 study by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Read More
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Spotlight

The Archer Group

We create digital experiences that make a difference. To fulfill that promise we recruit some of the brightest digital thinkers from our region and beyond in a broad range of disciplines spanning design, development, brand and content strategy, account planning, social media, UX, marketing strategy, and QA to name a few. We offer more than a promise of full service, we offer full capability. Everything we say we can do, we’ve already done, for a growing roster of Fortune 500 clients.

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Ad Networks, Ad Tech and Martech

Businesses Increase Spend on Digital Advertising But Shift Platform Priorities

Business Wire | July 17, 2023

Emburse, the global leader in spend optimization, released new information today about corporate online advertising spend in May 2023. The data reveals that despite macroeconomic concerns, companies are on track to spend more on search and social advertising in 2023 than in 2022. As companies seek ways to be more efficient with their budgets, they are shifting which platforms they prioritize with their ad dollars, but have not slowed ad spending overall. According to the data released in an infographic today, the top three vendors by share of advertising spend, in order, are Google, Meta, and LinkedIn. Spending on Twitter declined 54% from May 2022 to May 2023, while companies are putting more money toward Gen Z-oriented social media platforms. ByteDance, which owns Tiktok, saw a 55% increase, and Snap, which owns Snapchat, a 41% increase from May 2022 to May 2023. Companies invested 6% more in digital advertising in the first five months of 2023 than in the same period in 2022. Emburse also reported increased investment in newer business applications like chat-based AI tools. For example, the amount spent on OpenAI increased 3,266% from May 2022 to May 2023. Although many people expected companies to reduce spend overall this year, instead the company has seen an effort to better align business values with their budgets. “Online advertising is an essential business function, even as companies look to establish lasting efficiency with their budgets and better manage spending practices,” said Emburse’s Chief Experience Officer Johann Wrede. “Many of our customers entered 2023 ready to make changes with a shifting economy, and found that concentrating their ad dollars on platforms that are giving them high value with little tumult is the way to make a longer-term impact on their bottom line.” More than 18,000 companies trust Emburse for its corporate card and spend management solution, Emburse Spend, representing over $80 billion in spending transactions a year. Emburse tracks corporate financial trends, such as the SpendSmart Travel Trends report, which in Q1 2023 revealed that the number of domestic and international flights, hotels, and car rentals increased year-over-year. Investments also increased across all measurements, with the amount spent on flights increasing by 85% domestically and 178% internationally. Emburse will continue to track the shift in corporate expenses as the year goes on. To view the full infographic and learn more about the data, visit emburse.com/learn/digital-ad-spending. About Emburse Emburse is the global leader in spend optimization. Our expense, travel management, purchasing and accounts payable, and payments solutions are trusted by more than 12 million business professionals, including CFOs, finance teams, and travelers. More than 18,000 organizations in 120 countries, including FORTUNE 100 corporations, high-growth startups, public sector agencies, and nonprofits, count on our intelligent automation, sophisticated analytics, and unmatched spend control to streamline processes, increase spend visibility, enhance compliance, and deliver positive financial outcomes. Our mission is to humanize work by eliminating manual, time-consuming tasks, so our customers and their teams can focus on what matters most in their personal and professional lives. For more information on Emburse, visit emburse.com, or follow our social channels at @Emburse.

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Ad Networks

Smartly.io Announces Smartly.io AI Lab at Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity

Business Wire | June 19, 2023

Smartly.io, one of the world’s largest SaaS digital advertising platforms, today announced the launch of Smartly.io AI Lab. This innovation hub serves as a meeting point for artificial intelligence and marketing expertise, driving advancements in Generative AI and other AI technologies to simplify campaign management and enhance creative scalability without compromising marketers’ brand governance. For the past ten years, Smartly.io has been at the forefront of AI-powered creative and campaign innovation, transforming digital advertising through its unified, AI-enhanced campaign management platform and creative automation solutions. In 2021, Smartly.io acquired Stanford-graduate founded Viralspace.ai, an industry leader in AI-driven creative optimization. The combination of Viralspace.ai’s custom AI models and Smartly.io’s Workspaces platform has resulted in an unrivaled approach to social advertising, integrating creative, media buying and intelligence seamlessly. “We’ve only just begun to see AI technology, specifically generative AI, unlock value for marketers. From enhanced campaign efficiency, creativity, and effectiveness, AI technology has the potential to make creative the most powerful performance lever of our time,” said Arto Tolonen, Head of Smartly.io AI Lab. “Our mission is to empower marketers to take ideas to ads with intelligence while maximizing their return on investment.” From scene generation that enhances a brand's product photos with new backgrounds and text iteration that powers translation, personalization, and iteration in natural language, to image generation from scratch and video ad assembly and iteration, the Smartly.io AI Lab is equipping marketers with the tools to get to use cases faster and transform their creative quality and time to campaign. “In this way Generative AI serves as a co-pilot to marketers and platforms. What Smartly.io AI Lab is building is already feeding the infrastructure that marketers, creators and even designers use, and increasing simplicity without sacrificing ideas and quality,” said Laura Desmond, CEO, Smartly.io. “The companies that seamlessly adopt generative AI into their platforms will be the early winners in a decades-long race. Smartly.io is poised to be among them.” The Smartly.io AI Lab launch represents the company's commitment to empowering marketers to unlock greater value from their digital investments without sacrificing their brand governance. By advancing the state-of-the-art in Generative AI and other AI areas, the company is poised to provide marketers with a significant advantage, simplifying creative scale while enabling agile campaigns and unified workflows across the evolving social and digital advertising landscape. About Smartly.io Smartly.io is one of the world’s largest SaaS digital advertising platforms, managing nearly $5B in ad spend with 700+ brands worldwide. Our leading end-to-end technology and outstanding customer service help brands such as Walmart, FanDuel, L’Oreal, Warner Bros. Discovery, Nestle, and Disney/ESPN to better reach audiences, engage creatives and learn what performs best—consistently driving scale for brand and performance across the largest media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Snap, Pinterest, TikTok, and Google. Visit Smartly.io to learn more.

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Advertiser Platforms

Creator Guided Shopping Platform LTK Launches Social Media Advertising for Brands

Business Wire | April 03, 2023

LTK, the global creator marketing platform, today launched social media advertising for brands to further leverage LTK Creator content to drive business outcomes. The new LTK Boost™ advertising solution allows brands to amplify creator collaboration content directly from the creator’s social media handles – leading to higher engagement and conversion. Brand investment in LTK Creators continued to increase last year with brand campaigns growing nearly 50% in the second half of the year. In a recent study, LTK found that Gen Z and Millennials rank influencer content over brand and even user-generated content when making a purchase decision. With LTK Boost, LTK can now run social media ads directly from creator profiles on behalf of brands -which creates a more authentic message, reduces the cost of content production and drives higher engagement and conversion versus traditional social media advertising. In an initial offering, LTK worked with several brands across multiple categories to run LTK Boost ads from creator profiles, which led to an increase in traffic to the brands’ sites, as well as a significant lift in sales with some brands seeing nearly 4X sales growth. All brand results outpaced social media ad industry click through averages by 80%. In addition, creators that participated in the trial saw significant impact with increases in audience reach, outsized gains in new followers and incremental sales and commissions for each creator. Participating creators saw nearly 200K new audience views per post and reached a near 30% increase in retail sales. “Creators are undoubtedly having an impact on consumer shopping behaviors. 92% of Gen Z – a group that will make up the largest consumer segment in a few years - rely on creators to inform their purchases across virtually every category. And, creators are the number one most trusted source to help with purchase decisions for Gen Z and Millennials – beating social media ads and celebrities. That’s why we continue to introduce solutions like LTK Media Boosting to help brands to fully harness the power of creators and reach their customers efficiently and effectively,” said Kristi O’Brien, General Manager of the LTK Brand Platform. LTK Boost is available now in the LTK Brand Platform. For more information, please visit https://company.shopltk.com/en/brands. About LTK As the founder of creator guided shopping, LTK is the trusted and effective platform for creators and their businesses by powering the connection between content and commerce. Founded in 2011 by Amber and Baxter Box, the LTK mission is to empower creators to be as economically successful as possible. World premium lifestyle creators in 150+ countries drive more than $3.6 billion in annual retail sales through their LTK Creator Shop profiles. Today, more than 18 million consumers turn to LTK Creator Shops in the LTK shopping platform each month to find inspiration and instantly shop the styles recommended by their favorite creators. And, more than 6,000 brands partner with LTK to gain access to its global creator network for content that converts against performance-driven, cross-channel KPIs. A three-time honoree on Fast Company’s list of Most Innovative Retail Companies, LTK is headquartered in Dallas, TX and currently operates on five continents. To download the LTK shopping app, search for LTK in the App Store or Google Play. For the latest shopping trends and updates from LTK, follow Shop.LTK on Instagram and TikTok.

Read More

Ad Networks, Ad Tech and Martech

Businesses Increase Spend on Digital Advertising But Shift Platform Priorities

Business Wire | July 17, 2023

Emburse, the global leader in spend optimization, released new information today about corporate online advertising spend in May 2023. The data reveals that despite macroeconomic concerns, companies are on track to spend more on search and social advertising in 2023 than in 2022. As companies seek ways to be more efficient with their budgets, they are shifting which platforms they prioritize with their ad dollars, but have not slowed ad spending overall. According to the data released in an infographic today, the top three vendors by share of advertising spend, in order, are Google, Meta, and LinkedIn. Spending on Twitter declined 54% from May 2022 to May 2023, while companies are putting more money toward Gen Z-oriented social media platforms. ByteDance, which owns Tiktok, saw a 55% increase, and Snap, which owns Snapchat, a 41% increase from May 2022 to May 2023. Companies invested 6% more in digital advertising in the first five months of 2023 than in the same period in 2022. Emburse also reported increased investment in newer business applications like chat-based AI tools. For example, the amount spent on OpenAI increased 3,266% from May 2022 to May 2023. Although many people expected companies to reduce spend overall this year, instead the company has seen an effort to better align business values with their budgets. “Online advertising is an essential business function, even as companies look to establish lasting efficiency with their budgets and better manage spending practices,” said Emburse’s Chief Experience Officer Johann Wrede. “Many of our customers entered 2023 ready to make changes with a shifting economy, and found that concentrating their ad dollars on platforms that are giving them high value with little tumult is the way to make a longer-term impact on their bottom line.” More than 18,000 companies trust Emburse for its corporate card and spend management solution, Emburse Spend, representing over $80 billion in spending transactions a year. Emburse tracks corporate financial trends, such as the SpendSmart Travel Trends report, which in Q1 2023 revealed that the number of domestic and international flights, hotels, and car rentals increased year-over-year. Investments also increased across all measurements, with the amount spent on flights increasing by 85% domestically and 178% internationally. Emburse will continue to track the shift in corporate expenses as the year goes on. To view the full infographic and learn more about the data, visit emburse.com/learn/digital-ad-spending. About Emburse Emburse is the global leader in spend optimization. Our expense, travel management, purchasing and accounts payable, and payments solutions are trusted by more than 12 million business professionals, including CFOs, finance teams, and travelers. More than 18,000 organizations in 120 countries, including FORTUNE 100 corporations, high-growth startups, public sector agencies, and nonprofits, count on our intelligent automation, sophisticated analytics, and unmatched spend control to streamline processes, increase spend visibility, enhance compliance, and deliver positive financial outcomes. Our mission is to humanize work by eliminating manual, time-consuming tasks, so our customers and their teams can focus on what matters most in their personal and professional lives. For more information on Emburse, visit emburse.com, or follow our social channels at @Emburse.

Read More

Ad Networks

Smartly.io Announces Smartly.io AI Lab at Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity

Business Wire | June 19, 2023

Smartly.io, one of the world’s largest SaaS digital advertising platforms, today announced the launch of Smartly.io AI Lab. This innovation hub serves as a meeting point for artificial intelligence and marketing expertise, driving advancements in Generative AI and other AI technologies to simplify campaign management and enhance creative scalability without compromising marketers’ brand governance. For the past ten years, Smartly.io has been at the forefront of AI-powered creative and campaign innovation, transforming digital advertising through its unified, AI-enhanced campaign management platform and creative automation solutions. In 2021, Smartly.io acquired Stanford-graduate founded Viralspace.ai, an industry leader in AI-driven creative optimization. The combination of Viralspace.ai’s custom AI models and Smartly.io’s Workspaces platform has resulted in an unrivaled approach to social advertising, integrating creative, media buying and intelligence seamlessly. “We’ve only just begun to see AI technology, specifically generative AI, unlock value for marketers. From enhanced campaign efficiency, creativity, and effectiveness, AI technology has the potential to make creative the most powerful performance lever of our time,” said Arto Tolonen, Head of Smartly.io AI Lab. “Our mission is to empower marketers to take ideas to ads with intelligence while maximizing their return on investment.” From scene generation that enhances a brand's product photos with new backgrounds and text iteration that powers translation, personalization, and iteration in natural language, to image generation from scratch and video ad assembly and iteration, the Smartly.io AI Lab is equipping marketers with the tools to get to use cases faster and transform their creative quality and time to campaign. “In this way Generative AI serves as a co-pilot to marketers and platforms. What Smartly.io AI Lab is building is already feeding the infrastructure that marketers, creators and even designers use, and increasing simplicity without sacrificing ideas and quality,” said Laura Desmond, CEO, Smartly.io. “The companies that seamlessly adopt generative AI into their platforms will be the early winners in a decades-long race. Smartly.io is poised to be among them.” The Smartly.io AI Lab launch represents the company's commitment to empowering marketers to unlock greater value from their digital investments without sacrificing their brand governance. By advancing the state-of-the-art in Generative AI and other AI areas, the company is poised to provide marketers with a significant advantage, simplifying creative scale while enabling agile campaigns and unified workflows across the evolving social and digital advertising landscape. About Smartly.io Smartly.io is one of the world’s largest SaaS digital advertising platforms, managing nearly $5B in ad spend with 700+ brands worldwide. Our leading end-to-end technology and outstanding customer service help brands such as Walmart, FanDuel, L’Oreal, Warner Bros. Discovery, Nestle, and Disney/ESPN to better reach audiences, engage creatives and learn what performs best—consistently driving scale for brand and performance across the largest media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Snap, Pinterest, TikTok, and Google. Visit Smartly.io to learn more.

Read More

Advertiser Platforms

Creator Guided Shopping Platform LTK Launches Social Media Advertising for Brands

Business Wire | April 03, 2023

LTK, the global creator marketing platform, today launched social media advertising for brands to further leverage LTK Creator content to drive business outcomes. The new LTK Boost™ advertising solution allows brands to amplify creator collaboration content directly from the creator’s social media handles – leading to higher engagement and conversion. Brand investment in LTK Creators continued to increase last year with brand campaigns growing nearly 50% in the second half of the year. In a recent study, LTK found that Gen Z and Millennials rank influencer content over brand and even user-generated content when making a purchase decision. With LTK Boost, LTK can now run social media ads directly from creator profiles on behalf of brands -which creates a more authentic message, reduces the cost of content production and drives higher engagement and conversion versus traditional social media advertising. In an initial offering, LTK worked with several brands across multiple categories to run LTK Boost ads from creator profiles, which led to an increase in traffic to the brands’ sites, as well as a significant lift in sales with some brands seeing nearly 4X sales growth. All brand results outpaced social media ad industry click through averages by 80%. In addition, creators that participated in the trial saw significant impact with increases in audience reach, outsized gains in new followers and incremental sales and commissions for each creator. Participating creators saw nearly 200K new audience views per post and reached a near 30% increase in retail sales. “Creators are undoubtedly having an impact on consumer shopping behaviors. 92% of Gen Z – a group that will make up the largest consumer segment in a few years - rely on creators to inform their purchases across virtually every category. And, creators are the number one most trusted source to help with purchase decisions for Gen Z and Millennials – beating social media ads and celebrities. That’s why we continue to introduce solutions like LTK Media Boosting to help brands to fully harness the power of creators and reach their customers efficiently and effectively,” said Kristi O’Brien, General Manager of the LTK Brand Platform. LTK Boost is available now in the LTK Brand Platform. For more information, please visit https://company.shopltk.com/en/brands. About LTK As the founder of creator guided shopping, LTK is the trusted and effective platform for creators and their businesses by powering the connection between content and commerce. Founded in 2011 by Amber and Baxter Box, the LTK mission is to empower creators to be as economically successful as possible. World premium lifestyle creators in 150+ countries drive more than $3.6 billion in annual retail sales through their LTK Creator Shop profiles. Today, more than 18 million consumers turn to LTK Creator Shops in the LTK shopping platform each month to find inspiration and instantly shop the styles recommended by their favorite creators. And, more than 6,000 brands partner with LTK to gain access to its global creator network for content that converts against performance-driven, cross-channel KPIs. A three-time honoree on Fast Company’s list of Most Innovative Retail Companies, LTK is headquartered in Dallas, TX and currently operates on five continents. To download the LTK shopping app, search for LTK in the App Store or Google Play. For the latest shopping trends and updates from LTK, follow Shop.LTK on Instagram and TikTok.

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