Brand Ranch Media Marketing & Advertising Agency News

Marketing Trends in 2022

It’s that time of year again. The final three months of the year are marked with back-to-back-to-back holiday celebrations and most companies already have their holiday marketing plans set. Business owners and marketing professionals alike start setting up marketing initiatives and budgets for the new year. At the end of 2020, we made a few prophetic insights into marketing trends to expect during their 2021 campaigns. Now, we shuffle and flip our tarot cards of advertising and read into the marketing trends to look for in 2022.

Digital marketing automation will continue to evolve.

Google has slowly introduced automated ads into their search and display ad types. These responsive ads take different ad copy and creative input in the platform by the advertiser and use machine learning to show the best performing combinations of the ad assets available to users based on the individual’s preferences. Budget strategies have also become fully automated and are aimed to get the best results based on the goal of each campaign within specific budget parameters. Other digital ad platforms such as Microsoft Ads, Facebook, and LinkedIn utilize similar automation concepts. Expect to see marketing automation continue to improve with new features and better results allowing marketers to focus on other ad management aspects while the automated systems provide support in some of the ad optimization work.

Google’s search algorithms will continue to get smarter which will change website SEO.

In June 2021, Google released an algorithm update it calls, “MUM”. MUM has the ability to translate user searches into different languages as well as go beyond providing results that only answer the original search query. One practical use is utilizing search when in different countries. An English-speaking user on vacation in Italy might want to find fun places to visit in Rome. MUM will bring up local results and translate them from Italian into English so that the user receives localized web results rather than results from an English-language website. MUM can also serve web results that go beyond the initial search query. Using the same travel scenario, when the user is planning a trip, they usually have many questions such as air travel, where to stay, things to do, and how to get around. The MUM update seeks to show results that can answer all of these related questions through only one query. The bottom line for content creators is that keyword placement within content is going to become less and less relevant while focusing on providing well-rounded, quality, and informative content is going to be much more sustainable in the long run.

Image optimization is going to become more vital for SEO.

Image optimization has evolved. Not only do images need to have a descriptive file name and a descriptive alt img tag, they also should be uploaded to websites using proper image formatting and file sizes. Without proper image formatting, websites can load much more slowly which can cause ranking issues. Some companies may have to go back and reformat their website images in order to keep SEO compliant. It might be an expensive process but well worth it considering the amount of business you may lose because of a slow-loading website and a drop in search engine rankings.

Core Web Vitals will find a happy medium.

Launched this past Summer, though announced in 2020, Google provided ample time for website owners to prepare for their Core Web Vitals update. The update added some additional ranking factors to the search algorithm regarding website performance related to site speed in three categories: loading, interactivity, and visual stability. Google also provided a tool to indicate and troubleshoot Core Web Vitals issues through its Chrome Browser called, “Lighthouse”. Our experience working with optimizing for Core Web Vitals and utilizing Lighthouse has shown that the ranking signal is evolving and will likely continue to do so until Google finds a happy medium on just how much ranks will be affected.

Small and medium-sized businesses will invest more into First-Party Data collection and usage.

This one is not only a prediction but also a suggestion. With the almost near extinction of 3^rd party cookie tracking, it is going to be much more difficult (if not nearly impossible) to retarget website visitors in digital marketing campaigns. Facebook’s ads platform is even saying don’t bother with trying to retarget, and if you do, don’t expect to gather very accurate results data (but more on that next). Instead, focusing on collecting first-party data from users is the best method for targeting audiences specifically interested in the services a business provides. The easiest way to start a first-party marketing list is to download and format your customer list so that you can upload to various marketing platforms. There are many different target audiences you can create using this list. If you haven’t already worked this strategy into your marketing plans, do so now.

Facebook ads tracking will get better in a world without third-party cookies.

With the rollouts of iOS14.5 and iOS15 this year, Apple has officially changed the digital advertising game revolving around 3^rd party cookie tracking. With this type of cookie tracking eliminated on iOS devices (or rather, the ability to opt out of this method of tracking), Facebook has been racing to figure out alternative tracking methods to keep their revenue stream, Facebook Ads, relevant and effective. Working within Facebook’s Marketing Expert program, we gain first-hand, direct access to the newest updates within Facebooks ad platform. Thus far, Facebook has done a good job adapting to a cookie-less world and they will continue to improve upon their systems moving forward.

Advertising spend on connected TV will increase.

The 2020 pandemic helped cause a shift in consumer behavior. One of those shifts was viewership of ad supported YouTube video content. Stuck at home, many viewers switched from the smaller phone and tablet versions and started to watch videos on connected TVs. More than half of all YouTube viewers now watch YouTube on TV screens. The cost of advertising on YouTube is much cheaper than cable or broadcast TV and you can still reach a massive audience with better targeting capabilities. Advertising on connected TV is a great marketing strategy that businesses should not ignore.

Email marketing strategy will need to evolve.

Changes in cookie-based tracking has also brought upon changes in the way that email platforms will allow reporting data. Email providers will no longer allow for email marketing platforms to utilize custom tracking code to record click data that occurs within the email itself. Marketers will have to become more creative in bringing users to their website through emails in order to record activity data. Expect marketing emails to be a little more vague while they try to lure you to learn more on their website.

As a full-service marketing agency, Brand Ranch Media develops and manages diverse marketing strategies that can propel your business into solid year-over-year revenue growth. Our experienced marketing experts bring diverse skillsets and understand all components of successful marketing campaigns. There is always time to adjust your marketing goals and that’s where we come in! Call us at 713-309-6380 or contact us to discuss!

Targeting Your Audience with Streaming Radio Ads

A growing trend in advertising is to tap into the thousands of people listening to online radio streams with Streaming Radio ads. Almost every traditional radio station now offers listeners an online “stream” option of their broadcast via computer or mobile device. Traditional radio advertising does not offer the audience targeting options available through streaming radio ad platforms. Most streaming listeners opt for the ad-support models, meaning they can stream for free – this is where we come in! Statistics show that online listeners stay tuned to the same station for longer periods of time, which means you have a captive audience, so your ad will not only be listened to, but it will be heard!

There are several options for streaming radio ad services, offering a variety of benefits and features. For today, we are going to focus primarily on two of our favorite platforms, Spotify and Pandora. Most of the ads within these two platforms are not skippable, and the number of ads played are limited, which increases engagement.

Spotify

Spotify offers the best all-around service for users, with both ad-supported and subscription-based ad-free versions available. As the most popular music streaming app, with over 70 million tracks, it also boasts over 2 million podcast titles and has over 345 million users worldwide every month, with approximately half of them using the ad-supported (free) version. With this many listeners, you can use content targeting to reach listeners based on their habits, activities, interests, and even narrow it down to a single zip code. Spotify users are logged in – with all day connectivity across multiple devices, which gives you confidence your message will be delivered at the right time on the right platform. Some of the targeting capabilities Spotify offers are listed below:

Country, city, or Designated Market Area (DMA) – based on the users’ IP address
Age, gender, language, genre, playlist, behavioral segments
Sponsored Session – allows the user 30-minutes of ad-free listening on mobile or tablet after your ad in played at 100%.
Audio Ad – a 30-second ad is played every 15 minutes
Display Ad – 30-second clickable ads. 100% visible and will not play if Spotify is minimized
Video Takeover – (Companion Display Unit) Served only on Desktops during commercial breaks. 100% viewable and 100% share of voice

Pandora

Pandora offers a cross-platform dynamic with audio, video, and display availability for advertising. With over 115 million unique listeners each month, Pandora is also integrated into over 200 auto models and over 2,000 connected home devices. With the diversity of ad options offered, your creative is woven seamlessly into the listener’s experience. Pandora also offers several options for targeting your desired audience with over 2,000 categories to choose from including genre, ethnicity, household income, education level, lifestyle, shopping habits, and marital/parental status – just to name a few! Ads can also be personalized based on genre of music, weather, or location. So your ads will display or be heard by someone in your target audience at the right time, on the right platform, and it will be relevant to their interests and activities. Pandora targeting options are listed below:

State, Designated Market Area (DMA), or Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) targeting
Targeting based on age and gender (demographics)
For display and audio, targeting for county, zip code, music genre, or audience segment
Display banners are offered for web/mobile/tablet standard web and mobile banners. These ads are served on user interaction with high viewability and 100% share of the screen until the next interaction
For increased engagement, audio ads stream concurrently on web, mobile, tablet, connected home, and connected car devices.
Video ads offer a full-screen experience and stream on web, mobile, and tablet devices during a station change or a song skip – while listeners are anticipating the next song

As you can see, Spotify and Pandora each offer features and options to help you reach your target audience and achieve marketing goals with streaming radio ads. These two platforms are just a few of the many options available!

Whether you are in the market for streaming radio ad platforms, or any other form of advertising, we are here to help you reach your goals! Our professional team can help you sort through the many options and platforms available to you. To speak with an expert, give us a call at 713-309-6380 or send us a message on our website.

For more information about Streaming Radio ads, see our Blog, “How to Make Streaming Radio Ads Work for Your Business”.

Top 5 Ways to Collect First-Party Data

Collecting first-party data to help drive marketing campaigns has become the hot topic over the past year. Businesses have long relied upon third-party marketing data to hone in on their targeted audience and that practice has left some scrambling to find other ways to reach a more captivated buyer. As search engines have slowly blocked websites and advertising platforms from collecting third-party data on consumers, marketers are having to devise new ways to reach targeted audiences more likely to purchase the products they sell. There are many ways to build a first-party marketing list. In this article, we will discuss our top 5 ways to collect first-party data.

First-Party Data vs. Third-Party Data

Before we dive into some of the best ways to collect this data, it’s important to understand the difference between first-party and third-party marketing data, how it’s collected, and the benefits they provide to digital marketing campaigns. First-party marketing data is contact information collected directly from the customer. This information usually consists of, but is not limited to, an email address, first name, last name, and phone number. First-party data also tracks user behavior collected directly from your website or web application. This data can be uploaded to various digital advertising platforms which will match with digital user profiles allowing advertisers to directly show ads to these users not only based on their contact information, but also based on the various ways they interact with your website or web app.

In contrast, third-party data provides information about a users’ behavior across the internet on other websites they visit. This includes, but is not limited to, purchase behavior such as specific products and product categories, general interests, types of actions they take such as lead generation form fills and phone calls, and much more! Advertisers use this data to create different audience profiles and target their digital marketing efforts towards them.

Goodbye, Third-Party Cookies

In the name of user privacy, search engines and internet browsers are slowly killing off the collection of third-party cookie data leaving many advertisers scratching their heads trying to come up with alternate audience targeting practices. The best type of data to use for audience targeting is your own first-party data. Whether you’re promoting your product to those who have signed up for your email list or retargeting a list of your current or past customers, these types of audiences are going to be your most valuable as they have already expressed interest in your business.

Collecting First-Party Data

Data intelligence software provider, Claravine, compiled a list of various ways to collect first-party data but you have to provide them with your personal first-party information in order to view. We’ll save you the trouble and share our top 5 favorites.

Newsletter Sign-Ups

Most company websites provide a blog to highlight industry-related information, showcase customer success stories, and even share their involvement in community events. Companies can repurpose their blog content and create a newsletter that they periodically send via email. Most people are willing to sign up to receive a newsletter if they feel that they will benefit from its content. This is a great way to advertise promotions and offers as well.

Write Expert Content

Similar to a company blog, creating whitepapers, videos, or eBooks is a great way to collect first-party customer data. The content should go a step further than a typical blog article and provide higher value to the user in order to entice them into giving away their information. This works particularly well in the B2B sales model and can help fill the marketing funnel to target decision-makers more specifically at various stages in the purchasing process.

Discounts and Rewards Programs

Offering a membership-based rewards program will definitely help build first-party data. Consumers are always looking for ways to save money and love the feeling of getting something for “free”. A discount or rewards program will also allow you to collect more information other than just a name and an email address. The more information you can collect from customers, the more targeting capability you will have for your digital marketing campaigns.

Events

Hosting an informative industry event will not only allow the opportunity to collect information from potential customers but it will also provide you valuable face time with key decision-makers. By attending the event, you already know these buyers are serious about your product and the data you collect can be used to focus remarketing efforts or create audience profiles of individuals that share similar traits. An event doesn’t have to be 100% business-centric either. Why not host an old-fashioned cookout and label it as a community social event?

Collaborate with Other Businesses

Partnering with similar businesses can be a win-win situation for the involved parties. For example, a local HVAC company could team with a local Plumbing company and share contacts to include in each of their digital marketing efforts. Businesses can also co-host an event where interested customers can leave their contact information for future follow-up. A business might also consider influencer marketing where they team up with an individual who has a large following such as on social media or a video platform like YouTube. The leads generated by the influencer can be used as first-party marketing data.

Regardless of where your business stands with first-party data, it’s never too late to take strides towards compiling it. A great place to start is with your own customer list. This data can be uploaded to various digital marketing platforms for immediate use in campaign targeting.

At Brand Ranch Media, we love helping clients just like you come up with creative ways to utilize available marketing data to create custom audience targets. To speak with an expert, give us a call at 713-309-6380 or send us a message on our website.

Video Advertising: Targeting the Streaming Audience with Scalable Results

Video Advertising; Targeting the Streaming Audience and Scalable Results

There are so many different streaming platforms available these days! They are like the online versions of traditional radio and television, and almost everything is “on demand.” With all the customizable programming, users create a more personal experience where they can watch and listen to what they want, when they want. As a result, the streaming platforms can collect valuable data about watching and listening behaviors of their users, which can be leveraged to reach target audiences using video advertising.

Nielsen says streaming across all TVs now has a 26% share of total day usage among people age 2+. US total spending on video subscription services grew 21% in the first 6 months of 2021 to $12.2 billion according to Digital Entertainment Group. This is after 2020, a year full of pandemic home viewership increases.

That is no small amount of screen time. Consider the scale of change from a couple of decades ago, when someone would ask, “What’s your favorite TV channel?” Now that question is more likely to be, “What’s your favorite show to binge?”

If media strategies are based on staying in front of enough of the target audience’s eyeballs, it’s safe to say those eyeballs have migrated to media content that’s more, “what we want, when we want it.” It’s also more mobile, as consumers maximize those moments of down time utilizing their smart phones and devices for everything, including entertainment on-the-go.

With large streaming audiences splitting time between paid subscription models, ad supported models, and OTT network streaming services, it’s important to realize that the overlap between platforms and streaming models for all consumer segments is sizable, scalable, and continually growing. With this in mind, video ad content needs to be adjusted accordingly so that it can serve across multiple screens and platforms. Ads need to be edited into multiple lengths and optimal aspect ratios for each platform.

Streaming audiences seem to have no real loyalty to one platform or screen. Favored content wins viewer attention. Ad supported TV platforms like Roku, Tubi, Pluto, Vudu, & IMDb TV make up about a 4% share.

Subscription-based platforms like Prime Video, Disney +, Netflix, & HBO Max take up more viewing time, but that time is divided between multiple services as users often subscribe to more than one paid service. Some platforms like Hulu give you the option of using an ad-supported plan at a discounted rate, or an ad-free, full subscription. There are also platforms using models that blur the lines in between ad- supported and subscription services, with some free streaming content that is ad supported programing, and some featured content requiring a paid membership or direct purchase for access.

With an overlap of streaming services successfully serving audiences on demand content, it’s interesting to note that according to YouTube, about 1 billion hours of video are watched every single day, with 8 out of 10 viewers being 18-49 years of age. Ampere Analysis reports, 55–64-year-old audiences are growing faster on ad supported TV platforms. Perhaps that’s because the content is often from an older library of network tv shows, as opposed to newly produced original content produced for subscription platforms like Amazon Prime and Disney +.

Streaming video platform ad targeting also offers more nuanced and advanced capabilities than traditional broadcast TV, similar to what we have become accustomed to in digital marketing targeting.

Serving video ads across multiple devices and screens has become more effective. And the data provided by the platforms is invaluable for advertisers when it comes to audience behavior.

With so many streaming options on the rise, advertisers shouldn’t feel like they need to pick “one right platform.” Instead, we should follow our target audience beyond individual platforms and use an integrated media approach across multiple screens and interactions throughout the day to achieve the best overall results.

If you’re wondering how to get the best ROI from your streaming video campaign let Brand Ranch Media help you with a more wholistic approach to influencing your target audience. Our expertise will ensure you’re reaching the right audience, at a scalable volume, with measurable results. Please give us a call at 713-309-6380 or reach out through our contact form on the website.

B2B Marketing – How to Successfully Market to Millennials

B2B (business-to-business) marketing is not a new concept. Businesses have been advertising their products to other businesses heavily since the ad boom of the 1920s. In the 1870s, farmers made up over half of the population in the US and Montgomery Ward’s Mail-Order Catalog allowed those with limited access to dry goods and clothing the opportunity to have these products shipped to remote areas via the railroads. Talk about snail-mail! In our current society, organizations have become reliant upon each other to provide products and services needed to complete tasks and ultimately grow. The generation that comprises the modern-day “millennial” has become more and more important to the operation and success of organizations.

Millennials in Business

Depending on who you ask, a millennial is defined as someone born between 1980 and the mid-1990s. This puts them between the ages of 26-41 with the average age of 34. Studies have shown that about two-thirds of millennials are decision-makers when making large purchases for their organization. This is a group that B2B marketers cannot afford to disregard or to assume that the type of marketing tactics successful with the previous generation will continue its success with millennial decision-makers. In the ever-evolving modern business world, marketers must constantly adapt their strategies in order to reach and engage their target audience. In order for B2B marketers to successfully market to millennials, it’s important to understand this group, what’s important to them, and their common values, as well as how they access their information.

Where to Reach Millennials

Millennials are very tech-savvy and tend to gather information through omnichannel resources. For example, 33-year-old Suzie is a department manager for a financial institution. She’s listening to a podcast episode on her iPhone about financial advice for people in their 30s and hears an ad for some financial software that could solve her company’s need for improved reporting analytics. The next day, she’s at work and does a Google Search on her desktop to learn more about this software. She gets served an ad for the software and watches a 4-minute video on the landing page that shows a demo of the software, all of the data that it provides, and how easy it is to use. She then posts on her LinkedIn page asking if any of her peers have used this particular software and learns that her college classmate, John, highly recommends this solution as it has worked wonders for his company’s finance department. Suzie presents all of the information she has gathered to the head of her department, and they decide to purchase the software.

In this example, the marketing department for the software company was able to reach Suzie on multiple devices (mobile and desktop) via a podcast, search ad, and a video. This omnichannel marketing approach successfully leads to a purchase. If the software company decided to only invest in a search ad, Suzie might never have known there was a solution to the reporting issue her department was facing.

Millennials Want to Learn at Ease

In our example above, Suzie is looking for a solution. When she visits the software company’s landing page, the video she watches is very informative and shows actual screenshots of the software functioning. The video provides added value for Suzie because she is able to learn how it works. Watching a video with great visuals and a well-written script makes learning easy. It’s also a very efficient way to provide more information about their product. The ability to learn about a business solution in an efficient and easy-to-understand manner is very appealing to millennials. This approach not only provides added value, but it also avoids the “hard sell”. Most millennials feel bombarded by ads on all media platforms they use. This bombardment has caused this generation to distrust many of the brands that use the hard sell approach. If a business can’t show added value through its marketing efforts, they may as well just set fire to their ad dollars.

Suzie also looked to her peers to see if anyone she was acquainted with had experience with using the software she was looking into for her company. Social media was invented right around the time the oldest millennials were in their early 20s. Those that went to college were either finishing up or had just graduated. Social media made it easier to stay in contact with friends, especially those that had moved on to other cities. It continues to be a way for millennials to keep in touch with friends, obtain information, and ask for recommendations.

Millennials and Values

Corporate responsibility, transparency, and authenticity are values millennials look for when making purchasing decisions. In the consumer world, about 75% of millennials are willing to pay more for a product if it is sustainable. Cruelty-free, Fair Trade, and environmentally friendly are all buzz words that are appealing when buying a product. The same can be said in the B2B model. If Suzie learns that the data software company gives 5% of its profits for research into solar energy, this might help sway her decision over competitors with similar data solutions.

Transparency and authenticity speak to millennials in a B2B environment as well. Similar to the concept of avoiding the hard sell, a company that can pitch their products based on transparent and authentic practices will be more appealing to the millennial generation. The corporate millennial buyer doesn’t want to feel taken advantage of and can tell when they are being sold. A direct and authentic approach will ultimately result in a more comfortable situation relieving any stress or ambiguity to the purchasing process.

B2B marketing will continue to evolve and the millennial buyer is likely to adapt to changes in advertising technology. It will be important for businesses to follow suit and deliver relevant marketing strategies that speak to and are effective with this generational group.

Need help with devising an omnichannel marketing campaign to reach the decision-makers for your B2B needs? Brand Ranch Media can help with a winning strategy! Give us a call at 713-309-6380 or reach out through our contact form on the website.

How to Make Streaming Radio Ads Work for Your Business

Music streaming has gained extreme popularity, listenership and has evolved into a massive industry with billions of dollars going into this market each year. Music (or audio) streaming has become an essential part of everyday life for many of us and the COVID-19 pandemic has helped boost this industry with many staying home regularly listening to music and podcasts. Audio streaming is convenient, has a vast array of music and podcast options, millions of on-demand songs, and ways to discover new choices and genres – all from your mobile device. The key reason for music streaming market growth is driven by the expansion of mobile, specifically mobile advertising spending, use of mobile apps, and increased subscription services (such as Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music to name a few). Even video platforms such as YouTube are also very popular for music fans. According to Business Wire, the global music streaming market is estimated to grow at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 7.4% from 2020 to 2027, to reach $46.9 billion in 2027! There’s absolutely no doubt this media is exploding, but how can streaming radio ads help you grow your business?

Benefits of Advertising on Streaming Radio

With a strong and steadily growing listener base, streaming radio offers many significant benefits and features for advertisers. To start, many users subscribe to the free/unpaid versions on their platform of choice – and consumers are aware they will be receiving ads in exchange for free music, therefore ads are expected. Advertisers can reach their target audience whether they live in the local community or across the nation- wherever they are. So, how many people are listening? Around 176 million people (62% of the U.S. 12+ population) are now weekly online audio listeners – which is an all-time high for this media category. What makes these platforms so popular? According to Music Tech, for example, Spotify is considered the world’s most popular music streaming app with 70 million tracks, 2.2 million podcast titles, and 345 million users worldwide (Music Tech, May 2021). As of February 2021, Pandora reportedly has 70 million active listeners and 6.8 million paid subscribers. In addition, Apple Music has over 72 million premium subscribers. In addition to the number of users, most streaming platforms allow advanced targeting options. These targeting options enable you to reach the audience you want to speak to within your target demographic. Depending on the platform, advertising capabilities include country, city, state, DMA or MSA, and zip code targeting, age, gender, language, weather, genre, playlists, sponsored sessions, video, and display/clickable ads – you won’t miss your target audience! Additionally, streaming radio ads allow businesses to advertise affordably, making them a beneficial compliment to your overall media and marketing plan.

How Streaming Radio Ads Work

The main benefit of streaming radio ads is that you can reach listeners anytime, on any device (mobile, tablet, desktop, web, gaming consoles, connected TVs and cars, and even connected speakers), wherever they go – and they work! Streaming radio ads are effective because they engage the listener rather than interrupt them. Audio ads are served between songs/content while there are no distractions- so you have a captive and engaged audience ready to focus on the message being delivered. In addition, you can complement audio ads with display banner ads that entice users to act (such as visit your website, for example).

Streaming Radio Ad Formats & Best Practices

There are many different streaming radio ad formats and lengths. Examples include pre-roll (before the content), mid-roll (during the content), post-roll (after the content), live playback (often used in podcasts), audio sequencing (based on audience retargeting information) and branded audio streaming (sponsored web radio program). Recommended ad lengths vary depending on the message, advertising objective, and placement and can range from :05 – :60 seconds in length. To have your message received in the manner it is intended, it is important that your radio ads are high-quality and are produced with messages that are personal to the listener. Radio ads must be creative, memorable, and entertaining while establishing attractive offers that elicit easy purchase decisions or user interaction. One important criterion for radio ads is to remember that listeners may not have their screen on and therefore calls to action need not rely solely on screen activation or companion banner interaction. Ultimately, the bottom line is the radio ad needs to stand out and resonate with the listener you are trying to engage so that it is both memorable and effective! The end game: High-quality streaming radio ads paired with a well thought out media plan and placements can bring advertisers the results they are looking for.

If you have questions about or need help with streaming radio campaigns for your business, let Brand Ranch Media help! We have a state-of-the-art production studio and years of experience in the radio industry. We would love to give your marketing efforts a little boost and help you obtain the results you are looking for! Please feel free to give us a call at 713-309-6380 or reach out with our online contact form.

Google Delays 3rd Party Cookie Phase Out

Advertisers can breathe a little easier as Google recently announced that they are going to delay the elimination of 3^rd party tracking cookies on its Chrome browser until late 2023. If this topic sounds familiar, you might have read our previous article where we discussed how 3^rd party cookie elimination would affect digital marketing strategies. In it, we suggested some alternative ways that advertisers could track online user behavior once 3^rd party cookie tracking got the ax. Cookie tracking is a practice utilized in most online ad platforms. By placing a “cookie” on a user’s web browser, advertisers can better understand that person’s online behavior and can therefore show them more relevant ads.

Why the delay?

Google received heavy pushback from other ad platforms and digital marketers alike. Many were left scrambling to develop alternative tracking methods to ensure that marketing efforts weren’t completely spoiled once Google made the switch. Many of the alternatives suggested didn’t sit well with online privacy advocates. Extending the cookie phase out will allow more time to find an alternative that satisfies Google, advertisers, and privacy advocates.

A Monopoly in the Making

In the UK, Google’s plan raised the eyebrows of antitrust authorities. Their main concern was that Google’s plan to eliminate 3^rd party cookie tracking on Chrome would put other advertising platforms at a severe disadvantage thus causing advertisers to move their marketing dollars to Google’s ad platform. One of these advertising competitors is Facebook, which makes the majority of its revenue through selling ads on social media and apps. Facebook utilizes a piece of website code (or pixel) to track its ad performance metrics. Most notably, the pixel enables the Facebook ads platform to track conversion data such as leads and sales and attribute them to ads. Without this trackable conversion data, it would be difficult to prove any kind of return on advertising spend. Digital marketing has typically benefitted advertising firms because it is much easier to prove returns versus traditional forms of marketing such as television, radio, and print. Google has stated that they are more than willing to work with the UK’s antitrust authorities in order to appease.

What’s Next?

From an advertiser’s standpoint, Google’s delay provides a welcomed extension. It gives other ad platforms a chance to finetune their current solutions and marketing professionals time to put those solutions in place. There was also an indication that perhaps Google wasn’t quite ready for its own update. It looks like we are all going to have to wait another couple of years for the next era of digital ads tracking.

Worried that your digital ads might not be up to snuff? We love helping businesses optimize their online presence and develop successful campaigns! Give us a call at 713-309-6380 or fill out our contact form to discuss!

The Best LinkedIn Ads for Business-to-Business (B2B)

LinkedIn Ads have become synonymous with B2B marketing over the years due to the vast and ever-expanding targeting options that are available to digital marketers.

Through vast improvements to the ad platform, LinkedIn now provides many of the same custom targeting characteristics that Google and Facebook/Instagram have provided for years…but with the addition of detailed, employment specific targeting (experience, education, company, professional interests, etc.). The combination of custom audiences and highly defined employment data make LinkedIn the “holy grail” for many B2B Digital marketers that drives real, measurable conversions to your business.

Before diving into what ad format works best for your specific business, it is important to first define the following:

What are your goals for a LinkedIn Ads campaign?

Do you have a specific video that you want people to view, a website that you want them to visit, or a lead generation form that you would like them to fill out to gather contact information? Knowing the end goal is the first step in deciding what ad format works best. Think Big Picture.

*Pro Tip: Many times, multiple ads are used to accomplish one end goal and campaign data provides good feedback for campaign improvement. Don’t be afraid to test the waters but know your long-term end goal for LinkedIn as a marketing tool. It will help build your roadmap.

Who is your target audience?

Maybe you are wanting to reach people with a specific job title, who work for a specific company, or have a specific education or interests? Maybe you have a list of prospects or customers that you would like to engage with about a new product or service? Maybe you have a rockstar agency like Brand Ranch Media and have integrated your CRM to use your company database as a custom audience? Regardless of who you are targeting, it is important to clearly define who you specifically want to reach with your ads.

*Pro Tip: It is okay to reach different audiences (In fact, we encourage it!), but you want to make sure that each audience is clearly defined, and separate campaigns are used for each audience.

What is your budget?

Like most social media platforms, LinkedIn ads are sold on auction, where you are bidding with other companies to compete for that same audience. You must determine how much you are willing to spend as the platform will distribute the ads accordingly. Depending on the goal of the ad, your pricing structure may vary between CPM – Cost-per-thousand, CPC – Cost-per-click, or CPS – Cost-per-send.

What is the objective of your ad?

Now that you know the overall goal (If not, scroll back up and start over you slacker), you can begin to define your objective for each ad. Is the purpose of your ad brand awareness, consideration (website visits, engagement, video views, etc.), or conversions (lead generation form, website conversion, job applicant, etc.)? The answer to this question will help define what type of ad you will use.

LinkedIn Ads Formats

There are multiple LinkedIn ad formats to choose from, each with their own characteristics and specific functions based on the overall objective of your ad campaign.

Sponsored Content: (Single Image, Video, Carousel Ads) – These ads run directly in the News Feed and have an organic feel that can raise awareness, generate website traffic, or generate leads.

Sponsored Messaging: (Message, Conversation Ads) -These ads appear directly in the message center of a user’s inbox and tend to get high open rates.

Right-rail: (Text, Spotlight, Follower Ads) – These ads appear on the right-rail of the LinkedIn page and appear like what you would see with search engine results.

Lead Gen Forms – For message ads and sponsored content, you can utilize LinkedIn’s seamless, pre-filled forms to gather leads and improve campaign conversion rates.

What targeting characteristics should I use?

LinkedIn ad campaigns should include obvious targeting characteristics including audience location (based on profile or IP address) and language, then further broken down into more specific targeting characteristics based on your campaign goals.

Some more specific examples of LinkedIn targeting characteristics include:

Demographics

Experience

Education

Company

Interests

Age

Gender

Job Function

Job Title

Job Seniority

Years of Experience

Skills

Schools

Degrees

Fields of Study

Company Name

Company Industry

Company Growth Rate

Company Category

Company Size

Interests

Member Traits

Groups

…Or maybe you’re just more confused than you were before this article? If so, we won’t begin to tell you how often the digital marketing landscape continually evolves.By now you should have a better understanding of what the best LinkedIn ads may be for your business-to-business (B2B) campaign. If not, at least you’ll have a better understanding of what the world of LinkedIn advertising may provide for your business.

No need to fret! Brand Ranch Media is here to help.

If you think your LinkedIn marketing campaigns could use expert care, let Brand Ranch Media’s digital marketing teams help! We would love to speak with you! Please feel free to give us a call at 713-309-6380 or reach out with our online contact form.

3rd Party Call Tracking & Marketing ROI

If you’re struggling to understand which of your marketing efforts are really converting into leads, appointments, clients, and sales, you’re not alone. Maybe it’s time for the help of a 3^rd party call tracking platform? There is an entire industry built around helping businesses attribute prospect activity back to marketing efforts to get a better ROI. Digital ad platforms and dashboards can help inform you how your campaigns are performing based on virtual signals. Analytics tools can help you understand how users are functioning within your website and their activity on-page. But measuring the real-world impact of your marketing efforts could be simplified and more accurate with the help of a 3^rd party call tracking platform.

If ultimately, what you really want your marketing investment to do is drive real-world interaction with a prospect, like a call for service or a completed contact form for a product installation, or piece of equipment, then it makes sense that a program that tracks and measures those real-world interactions may simplify how you judge which marketing efforts are doing the best.

How many lead phone calls did you get last month?

Would it help if you could tell where they came from?

3^rd party call tracking platforms can often tie digitally sourced calls back the keywords used in search campaigns and call extension ads.

By using unique tracking phone numbers for each media or campaign you want to measure, you can better attribute calls and leads back to the appropriate campaign source. 3^rd party call tracking programs can help you set up and track lead responses by phone number for each call source you use. Set up a unique number for search, another number for TV, or radio, and another for print, social media, or YouTube…and keep your main/prime phone number for organic calls.

Easy to remember phone numbers may be a big benefit for mass media like Broadcast TV & radio ads, or billboards. Vanity numbers can be ported over to be tracked as well. If you count how many times that phone line rings, and it has only been dispersed to the public via that one media/campaign, it’s easy to count the leads that came from that source.

If you find yourself asking, “Well what if they called from my website?” 3^rd party tracking can help you there too. A pixel placed into your site can update the phone number that displays on your website according to where the user traffic originated from. For example, a user who comes into your site from a paid search ad may see the pre-determined phone number ending in “1010,” while a user who came to your site from a social media ad would see the number ending in “0000.” A user who clicked on the organic search results would see the number ending in “2000.”

We often see that with video, TV, radio and billboard campaigns, consumers remember your brand but not your specific phone number (even if it was a vanity number). Prospective customers may then turn towards search to find your brand online, and you may see them come in as organic leads. Asking them the question, “How did you hear about us?” during the conversation, or asking it on the contact form, can help determine if the “First Touch” that influenced the contact was truly another specific media.

How does call tracking help track that first touch, or attribution?

At Brand Ranch Media, we utilize 3^rd party call tracking software for all digital marketing clients to track advertising return-on-investment and improve the customer experience for our clients. Our software is well integrated with many ad platforms, analytics programs, and CRMs, and it offers a form of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that “listens” to the recorded calls & conversations, and then analyzes them for pre-selected keywords that can offer further insights. This additional layer of insight into your calls may sound a bit like “big brother” listening to your calls, but the AI technology is very helpful. By setting up and then listening for pre-determined keywords and phrases you can track and categorize your leads into categories or buckets that have value to you.

For instance, in the above question, “How did you hear about us?” The answers may be a keyword that verifies if the caller sites a second source for the call/lead… a response of “TV” could be tracked and measured.

Would it help to know which calls were “good” qualified calls?

If a caller mentions the specific product or services you offer and advertise, that’s probably a sign that they are qualified (not an accidental call). If the AI detects the keyword “appointment” in the conversation, then that may help measure leads that took the next step to become a customer or client and scheduled a consultation, quote, or service.

Listening to the recorded calls can also offer some additional valuable insights. If you aren’t converting phone call-based leads into appointments at the rate you anticipated, perhaps it’s time to “check the tape” (Although 3^rd party call tracking is 100% digital now ????). After listening to a few calls, patterns may emerge. Sometimes we hear opportunities for improvement by the call center or receptionist, and with a little coaching, we can improve those appointment rates. We often learn that prospects ask similar questions when they call. This type of insight can help you craft your best response and be better prepared for the next conversation to close the deal or set the appointment.

Some consumers just don’t like phone calls… they prefer to avoid real-life interaction with its uncertainty. Those prospective customers may be more likely to respond via a form fill, messenger communication, or text message. Brand Ranch Media’s call tracking technology offers “form tracking,” which can help source where contact forms, messenger communications, and text messages are coming from. When you combine form tracking, text, and messenger data with your call tracking all in one place it’s a very helpful way to validate your lead data, review trends, and make improvements on where your marketing budget is being allocated.

Would it help to track and know which leads you still have scheduled and which you need to follow up on?

Another benefit of Brand Ranch Media’s call tracking technology is that we can help you track which calls, messages and text leads you still need to reach back out to. You can integrate this with your CRM in some cases or take notes regarding what you need to do to follow up and advance the opportunity within the call tracking platform.

3^rd party call tracking can be a huge benefit. It can take a little time and effort to set up the tracking for optimal information and insight across your campaigns and media, but it’s worth it. The insights and the validation gained can make it easy to see where your qualified leads and appointments are really coming from, all the way down to the keywords. When paired and integrated with existing CRMs, ad platforms, and analytics, tying this 3^rd party data back to media and campaign performance can help make campaign analysis fast and convenient, quickly paying off through improved performance and ROI.

If you need a hand setting up a way to track the real-world impacts of your marketing efforts don’t hesitate to reach out to us at Brand Ranch Media via phone at 713-309-6380 or through our contact form on our website. We can make it easy to track the ROI for your marketing investment!

OTT: Expand Your Reach Now

OTT, which is short for Over-The-Top, is a rapidly growing streaming television experience via the internet that has seen consistent growth over the years. OTT viewing is changing the way in which we consume television and, more importantly, how we purchase television advertising.

You’ve heard the saying “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” This could be true for you if you add OTT to your traditional linear television campaign. There is a recent trend of consumers cutting the cord, foregoing cable bundles, and opting for a more personalized viewing experience with streaming devices. While many advertisers are slow to adjust to these trends, it opens the door for competitors to capitalize on the opportunity to increase brand awareness and gain a piece of market share.

The difference between OTT and Linear TV

Linear television is a traditional viewing experience, where the consumer tunes to a specific channel at a designated time to watch a program. Most linear TV is accessed through a subscription to cable or satellite services. Targeting your audience on traditional TV is based on ratings and time of day – so the advertiser pays based on viewer ratings, which sometimes are unclear or “projected” by the ratings system. It is dependent on viewers tuning in to a specific station to watch the scheduled content. The viewer’s location can also be unclear, so the reach may be too broad for the goals of your campaign.

OTT, which is short for Over-The-Top, is a rapidly growing viewer experience via the internet. Common OTT devices are Roku, Hulu, FireStick, YouTubeTV, and Apple TV. Viewers of OTT are usually watching content when it’s convenient for them – not at a “scheduled” time. OTT platforms allow advertisers to engage with their audience when and where they are watching. Targeting your audience on OTT can be a lot more specific. Because the content is being viewed digitally, the targeting can be based on location, needs, interests, demographics, and even past experiences, allowing for sequential messaging. Advertisers pay based on the number of impressions or views (not ratings and projections), and performance can be tracked in real time – allowing for optimization if needed. Ads can also include a call-to action so the consumer can interact with the ad immediately from their viewing device.

Is OTT right for you?

If you are utilizing broadcast television advertising and want to increase your brand awareness, reach a more targeted audience, and maintain growth, then OTT is right for you! Changing campaign strategies to coincide with consumer trends is key when growing your business. OTT allows you to reach consumers wherever they are! According to Effectv, adding OTT to traditional TV campaigns can boost brand awareness by 86%. Their research shows that viewers were 3x more likely to interact with the ad when seen on TV and OTT, brand recall more than doubled, and purchase intent increased by an average of 15%. Consumers are increasingly spending more time using OTT services as a benefit – allowing them to watch their favorite content whenever and wherever they want.

Publisher vs. Platform

There are two main sources for accessing OTT advertising – publishers and platforms. Publishers distribute their programming through apps on different devices and platforms. Some of the largest publishers include Hulu, ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC, YouTube, Effectv and Xfinity. Platforms are operating systems or devices that sell advertising to their publisher partners. Examples of platforms are smart/connected TV’s (Sony and Samsung), video game consoles (Xbox, Playstation), and streaming boxes (Chromecast, Roku, Firestick, Apple TV). Combining your target audience with campaign goals can help you decide which option is best for you.

In Conclusion

If you are currently utilizing traditional television and not including an OTT platform simultaneously, you may be missing out on a huge audience. OTT audiences are more targeted and add a highly engaged consumer to your advertising reach. As most consumers watching traditional television may change the channel during advertisements, an OTT user is watching content that they chose, so they are invested and more likely to interact with your ad – especially if they’ve seen it on traditional TV and create a connection through brand recall.

Achieve your marketing goals and increase brand awareness by combining the targeting and measurement of OTT with the reach and impact of traditional TV.

If you want to stay on top of the fast-changing audience trends and the capabilities of new marketing tools, contact us today about your campaign goals and OTT. Call our offices directly at 713-309-6380, or leave your comments below.