Brand Ranch Media Marketing & Advertising Agency News

2021 Digital Marketing Predictions: Update

In early December of 2020 we made some bold (but calculated) predictions for future marketing trends as well as set forth some marketing goals and resolutions that advertisers should focus on in 2021. With all the challenges that 2020 brought to the marketplace, businesses were forced to adapt to the changes in order to stay afloat. Consumer behavior also shifted and marketing strategies that once worked had to be adjusted to cater to the evolving customer.

As a recap, here are some of the trends and goals that we predicted would be major focuses of brands both large and small:

Trend 1: Companies will continue to improve their customer’s digital buying experience.
Trend 2: SEO will continue to stay relevant.
Goal 1: Focus on mobile site speed.
Goal 2: Focus on SEO to help fill the funnel for longer sales cycles.
Goal 3: Adopt a winning social strategy.

Fast-forward to six months later and we are nearing the halfway point for 2021! It feels as though this year has been shot out of a cannon and refuses to slow down. It’s been reported that consumer confidence in the US sharply increased in April after the previous increase in March indicating that consumer attitude, buying intentions, and fiscal expectations have reached pre-pandemic levels. Marketers seem to be taking note. In a worldwide survey conducted in March 2021 by research firm, Ascend2, marketing professionals were asked, “Which areas of the digital customer experience will you focus most on improving in the year ahead?” The top three responses were website optimization, social media, and personalization all reporting at about 45% for each response.

Overall, brand marketers want to improve customer experience through website optimization by making it easier for customers to purchase products using mobile devices, adding more ways for customers to reach a sales representative directly on the digital platform, and adding more content that helps the customer to make more informed buying decisions. Increasing the speed of a mobile website will not only improve the customer experience but it will also help with Google index rankings and eliminate a reason why a customer might leave the website and opt for a competitor. Adding content that answers common customer questions will help fill the sales funnel, especially for goods and services with longer sales cycles.

Marketers also want to focus on the social media experience of their customers. This can be achieved through personalized messaging, ad content, and providing multiple ways for customers to interact with the business without having to leave the social media platform. Facebook has pioneered social media advertising and has brought the same technology to Instagram. By personalizing the messaging and content of an ad, marketers can “speak” to consumers depending on where they fit into the sales funnel. Customers can also directly interact with businesses via Facebook Messenger Ads which can also help the business to pre-qualify shoppers through automated messaging options. With the changes released in the most recent update to iOS14, tracking user behavior offsite is going to be very difficult for social media apps such as Facebook. If marketers can interact with customers while offering seamless ways to conduct transactions directly on the social media platform, ROI (return on investment) will be much easier to prove.

So, how did our predictions hold up? We think very well.

A marketing team with the foresight to predict future behaviors and trends in the market is an invaluable asset to any business. At Brand Ranch Media, our experience and expertise in the broad spectrum of advertising can help position your business towards increased revenue while placing your brand in front of customers that have the highest intent to purchase. Give us a call at 713-309-6380 or send us a message to discuss how we can help drive your business to success!

New Search Engine: What is Neeva?

Are you tired of ads that seem to follow you around whenever you go online? If you’re a habitual online shopper then you may sometimes feel like the ads are stalking you! A team of former Google executives agree and are in the process of developing Neeva, a new search engine that is completely ad free. Instead, Neeva plans to offer use of its search engine for a monthly subscription similar to streaming video platforms such as Netflix. Curious as to how a search engine without ads would function, we requested early access to beta test Neeva and were given the opportunity to get a sneak peak of the platform. We especially wanted to see how it would show organic results on search engine results pages (SERPs)

So, what is Neeva?

Neeva is a new search engine currently in development that promises an ad-free search experience. In an email from Sridhar Ramaswamy, Neeva’s CEO, he states that “you should be able to find information without having your searches used to target you with never-ending ads. We are committed to building an awesome product that finds the results that matter to you, not the content that advertisers want you to see.”

Neeva’s landing page opens with a search bar, local weather forecast, and news stories. In the settings, you can customize your preferred news providers and connect other services such as your email, calendar, and file management providers such as OneDrive. By connecting your accounts, Neeva can scan your emails, calendar, and other files to gain a better grasp on your interests so that it can show you search results that it feels might be most important to you.

A (Somewhat) Brief Critique

After fiddling around with Neeva to see what type of results it brings up for searches related to small and medium sized businesses (SMBs), we noticed that if you are looking for local businesses such as HVAC providers, map results appear to be based off of proximity to your current location (via, surprisingly, Google maps) as well as Yelp pages and Yelp reviews. The location targeting seems wonky, at best, as even when we try to set our zip code as our location, Neeva broadly sets our location to Harris County. As for Yelp listings/reviews as indications of the best results, Yelp is traditionally known for restaurant reviews. It is also rumored that if companies who would pay to have featured listings on Yelp cancelled their paid service plan, Yelp would only feature the bad reviews on their pages! If you click one of the map locations that appears on the SERP, you will be directed to a full-page map view as well as a list of businesses on the left side of the screen. However, the business that we clicked on the SERP did not even appear on the full-page map view or corresponding list.

As we scroll to the next section of organic search results (the type that shows meta data such as page titles and descriptions), we are served 4 results for ac companies, two that include “Harris” (presumably due to the faulty location targeting) while the other two are lists of AC companies in Harris County. The next organic listings were not related to anything closely related to an AC repair company. There were results for car dealerships, the Harris County Tax Office, and even the top 10 best countertop kitchen installers in Santa Fe, Texas from the Angie’s list website.

Neeva provides you with a demo of some of their search engine features when they send your account invite. They feature searches for a retail product and a recipe. This is likely an indication of where their focus on development has been and in the online retail space, most searches on other search engines bring up a slew of ads on SERPs. Overall, Neeva has a long way to go so a D+ might be a generous grade and they might consider a trip to Summer school. However, if you’re interested in an ads free search experience, Neeva might be a great option in the future.

There are plenty of search engine ranking factors to consider no matter the stage of website development you are in. We have developed and executed many successful SEO campaigns for our clients and would love the opportunity to discuss your SEO goals. Give us a call at 713-309-6380 or shoot us a message.

What Happened to Facebook Analytics?

This week, Facebook sent out an email regarding a retirement announcement of one of its measurement products: Facebook Analytics. As of June 30, 2021, you will no longer be able to access Facebook Analytics so if you are a small or medium-sized business (SMB) that manages your own Facebook page and ad account, you might find the following information helpful. If you are new to Facebook advertising and page management, you will want to avoid using Facebook Analytics all together. Marketers and Advertisers that utilize this tool should also read on!

What is (or was) Facebook Analytics?

Facebook Analytics is to Facebook Pages as Google Analytics is to websites – or at least in theory. It provides data and insights into user behavior and how they interact with a Facebook business page and then tracks conversion data that occurs on a website or app. One of the main differences is that Google Analytics is much more robust in features and AI-reporting, but also provides first-party data (data that is collected directly from a website). Facebook Analytics looks as though it was abandoned far in the past. Many of the available tools are customizable yet still take time to configure. It also tracks website data through the Facebook pixel however, this method of tracking behavior data is considered 3^rd party data which will be eliminated this year when Apple completes its updates to the iOS14 platform.

Why is Facebook Shutting Down its Analytics?

With the elimination of 3^rd party cookie data, Facebook Analytics won’t be able to adequately track conversion data from a website or app – losing one of its main functions. In addition, with the lackluster of options available in Facebook Analytics, it may leave you wanting more. That’s the feeling many people have regarding Facebook Analytics, so much so that many advertisers seek page analytics elsewhere through 3^rd party analytics software. Product intelligence platforms, such as Amplitude, integrate with Facebook and provide data analytics far more in depth and insightful than Facebook Analytics was ever able to achieve.

What Do I Do Now?

Don’t panic! If you use Facebook Analytics as a main source of data for your Facebook marketing initiatives, there are a few other tools available within Facebook that you can turn to. Facebook Business Manager is a great product that allows you to manage your Facebook page, Instagram, and Facebook Ads in one place. Insights are also available that can help measure user behavior and trends. Facebook Ads Manager is another great source for data. There, you can measure ad performance and create customized reports. Facebook also has an Events Manager where different tools track website and app activity.

If this all sounds a little overwhelming, no need to worry. Brand Ranch Media has you covered! Our marketing experts are well versed in all Facebook advertising tools and have a direct contact at Facebook to collaborate with to achieve advertising success. Give us a call at 713-309-6380 or shoot us a message to discuss!

How to Prepare Your Facebook Ads for iOS14

We are approaching the end of Q1 2021 and as advertisers anxiously await the full release of security and privacy updates for iOS14, we are closer to understanding how Apple’s plan to block user tracking for online apps is going to affect Facebook Ad’s ability to track performance metrics, especially pertaining to conversions. While we don’t know the exact date when Apple will release the update, there are a few action items to address within the Facebook Ads platform to prepare for in the meantime. So, let’s dive on in!

Verify Web Domain

Facebook suggests, as a best practice, to verify your web domain on the ad’s platform. There are a few different reasons why this is necessary. The one specifically related to the iOS14 changes applies if you want to have full control over what conversion events are reported. It’s also important if you want to assign access to multiple users who may manage different aspects of both ads and your related business pages. For those of you that rely on an advertising agency for Facebook management, they should already be familiar with domain verification.

Configure Conversions

There are limitations to the number of conversion events that you can assign utilizing the Facebook website pixel when the iOS14 update is complete. Moving forward, you will only be able to assign 8 conversion events per website domain. You can specify which conversion events you’d like to track through the Events Manager section of Facebook Ads and can assign them by order of importance. When running ads that focus on optimizing for conversions such as obtaining more contact form fills, you will need to assign that specific event as a top priority over all other events in order for the campaign to be successful. Ads may still take other events into consideration; however, the reporting will be based on the conversion event that you have specified.

Other Considerations

There are some other items to keep in mind with the iOS14 update regarding your Facebook Ads. If you are actively running ad campaigns with website pixel conversion events that you do not specify in the Events Manager, those ads will be automatically turned off and will no longer run. It’s important to work with your marketing team to narrow down those conversion events that are most important for your goals. You may notice that the delivery status might change for these specific campaigns if the ad has an unsupported event, contains a setup error, or if the event is currently updating after making changes. Changes to events take 72 hours to update.

You should also note that target audiences that were once robust may decrease in size and reach. One requirement of the iOS14 update is that apps must allow users the decision to opt out of ad targeting. If users opt out of targeting, this will affect both custom and retargeting audiences as they will decrease in size.

At Brand Ranch Media, we work directly with Facebook Marketing Experts on a weekly basis. They keep us informed on all of the latest developments within the Ads platform and the best practices to follow regarding campaign management and the latest updates. There are other considerations to make regarding the iOS14 updates. Feel free to reach out to us to discuss!

Best Practices for Content Writing

If you have ever had a conversation about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), then I’m willing to bet money that you have heard the phrase, “Content is king”. As cliché as it may sound, it’s 100% true. A website is only as good as its content. Website content falls under multiple categories including the elements you can see (such as the copy text and imagery) as well as the elements you don’t see (such as the code and meta data). When it comes to writing content for a business, there are many best practices to follow depending on the many different types of content. Today, we will provide some insight on best practices for Blog Post writing.

What is Content Writing?

Content writing is defined as creating content for online marketing purposes. It can refer to all different types of content such as articles, product content, newsletters, press releases and more. In 2020, 92% of marketers polled said that blogging was the main type of content they produced making it the number one type of content produced for marketing. Blog articles are a great way to expand upon the products and services a business provides. They can help drive more traffic to a website as well as nurture leads through the sales funnel.

Answer a Question

One of the most important functions of a blog article is to answer a question. When researching a blog topic, it’s good practice to think of who the audience is and what types of questions they might ask about products or services provided. Think of how the user might perform an internet search and what they might type into the search query. In the case of this article, a user could perform a search for “What are the best practices for writing blog content?”. As long as the content in the article answers the question, it is more likely to appear in search results. The question can also be very similar to the title of the blog. This will help entice the user to click on the search result for their query.

Choose a Keyword Focus

When writing content for a blog, it is important to choose keywords related to the overall topic and utilize them throughout the article. As this article is about content writing, it should be noted that the keyword phrase “content writing” is used throughout. Secondary keywords that are related to the focus keyword should be used as well. This article uses the phrase “blog article” throughout and could potentially rank on search engines for queries such as “How do you write a blog article?”.

Link to Outside Sources and Inside Content

All blog articles should contain links to outside sources. Linking to a reputable source can help provide relevancy to the information contained within the article. It can also help to build relationships with the site owners of the website you link to and could earn you a backlink if they notice traffic coming from your website. It is also important to link to internal content on your own website. Content marketing is all about SEO and should link internally to the main SEO services page. Internal linking lets search engines know that “hey, this is important content” and should be included in the search index.

We have just provided you with some of the basic best practices for content writing but there are more to consider when engaging in a content marketing strategy. We love talking strategy with our clients. If you want to learn more about best practices for content writing give us a shout at 713-309-6380 or shoot us a message.

Display is NOT Dead

When talking with business owners and managers about Display advertising, there is often a disconnect or lack of understanding of current day digital display campaigns, their capabilities, and how they are best utilized. Many folks generally think that display ads are simply banner ads placed on news websites and sold directly from that news outlet such as the local NBC or ABC affiliates. By nature, these are definitely display ads, however, with this type of business structure, a business is charged a fixed price per 1000 ad impressions, the ad targeting is limited, and your audience is limited to those that browse the affiliate’s news website. These types of display campaigns underperform with regard to bringing in value to the ad purchaser, and as a result, we often come face-to-face with those that think display advertising simply does not work. However, display is NOT dead and in fact is far from it!

What is a display ad campaign?

A display ad campaign combines two different creative elements, copy and imagery, into ads that are shown across the internet on websites, videos, apps, and email platforms. Utilizing an ad platform such as Google Ads, display ads can target very detailed audiences based on demographics, interests, locations, types of products and services they are currently in-market for, and websites or topics they have previously browsed. Another key feature is that these platforms allow an advertiser more cost controls and eliminates the need to pay 3^rd party pricing which is often marked up 3 – 5 times the actual cost. Display ads can also target consumers who are more likely to interact with ads in a specific way such as website visits or lead conversions.

But wait, there’s more…

What are responsive display ads?

Responsive display ads allow for the use of multiple different combinations of ad copy and imagery to show the consumer a more personalized ad based on their related online activity. This helps drive increased click-through-rates (CTR) as the consumer is likely to see ad copy that is customized to their own interests. Different imagery is tested by the platform and via AI machine learning, platforms can determine which perform better to achieve the campaign goal. Utilizing responsive display ad creative often times increases ad engagement by 100% – 200%!

Using Display to Target Competitors

There are a number of different custom audience targeting methods to include in a display campaign aimed at better defining a potential customer. A custom audience can be created based on interests and behaviors, similar websites, and similar apps. For example, Tom owns a local store that sells authentic sports jerseys and wants to use custom audiences to help narrow down a very specific audience. He might want to target people that have visited his competitor’s websites, so he compiled a list of their URLs and creates a custom audience. To be even more specific, Tom wants to sell Houston Astros jerseys, so he creates a custom interest-based audience utilizing the keyword “Houston Astros Jersey”. He may consider targeting users of apps similar to MLB.com in order to reach Baseball fans in general. Through this type of custom targeting, an advertiser can reach consumers who have visited competitor websites and who also have a high intent to purchase.

How Display Can Drive Leads

No matter where a consumer fits into your sales funnel, display can help drive leads through the awareness, interest, decision, and action stages. Utilizing general audience targeting combined with interests and in-market segments that qualify buyers, display helps to build awareness and interest in brand and product. By generating remarketing audiences, you can reach buyers who have already interacted with your ads and explored your website. Ads targeted at these audiences help drive decisions and purchasing actions.

The bottom line is that when used in a strategic way, display campaigns can be very beneficial and can play an active role in your overall advertising strategy. If you don’t see the benefit in display advertising, perhaps you have never worked with a fully knowledgeable team of experts that can help steer you to marketing success. At Brand Ranch Media, we are those experts, and we want to prove to you that display is most certainly NOT dead. We want to hear from you so please reach out and contact us or give us a call at 713-309-6380 so we can discuss how to put display advertising to work for you!

How to Advertise on Hulu

Hulu is the 3^rd largest streaming platform behind Netflix and Amazon. Hulu has hundreds of TV shows to choose from in its library including major network and primetime programming. One of its unique features is providing new episodes of currently aired shows 24 hours after their original air date. It also boasts a subscription for college students for just $2 per month making it the most cost-effective streaming option by far. These lower tier subscriptions are ad-supported. In the past, Hulu viewers were shown repeat ads multiple times per viewing session due to the limited number of advertisers that were able to access Hulu ads. In an effort to provide its users with the best viewing experience, Hulu recently announced the beta launch of its self-service ads manager. Advertisers will be able to create an ad account and place their own ads on the streaming giant. Buying advertising for streaming media definitely got a little easier…and cheaper.

Hulu Ads Manager

Hulu not only wants to provide its users with a great viewing experience, but they also want to allow more advertisers the opportunity to buy and place ads. At a minimum price of $500 per campaign, this cost is much easier for smaller businesses to afford. In turn, viewers will be served more of a variety of ads rather than over served with the same ad on repeat. Using the Hulu ads manager (currently in beta), an advertiser can create an account, upload their video ad, and choose placement settings such as locations and audiences. You can also target users by age, gender, and interests making ad placement similar to digital marketing platforms.

Currently, advertisers must request access to the Hulu ads manager in order to be considered for inclusion in the beta test. Prior to launching the ads manager, Hulu stated that they only had 200 different advertisers across its streaming app. With the addition of the self-service ads manager as well as lowering the minimum campaign amount, this will allow many other advertisers an easy and affordable way to advertise through an OTT (over-the-top) ad outlet.

Brand Ranch Media provides a full-service and customized marketing experience for each of our clients. Many clients choose OTT advertising as a part of their marketing strategy. To speak with one of our OTT experts, please give us a call at 713-309-6380 or contact us today!

Best Advertising Jingles of All Time – Brand Ranch Media Picks

Best Advertising Jingles

If you have ever turned on a radio or TV you’ve heard advertising jingles… and NO… it wasn’t because you slipped back in time to the 1950s!

Jingles may not seem as prevalent today as they were in the ’50s & ’60s in part because they have become a common caricature of the times for video and TV producer’s flashbacks, time hops, or period pieces. Just look at the Marvel Series Wanda Vision, for instance…

Did the “ole timers” who used music in their marketing know something we didn’t know about effective marketing and how it cuts through the clutter? No, it’s just difficult to make a quality jingle that defines what you have to offer with a catchy tune, that speaks to your audience, and represents your company authentically. Many successful brands and marketers still use jingles today to weave music, emotion, and entertainment into their brand and value propositions. In fact, as our culture continues to accelerate its “on-demand” pull consumption of media, punchy jingles may be just the thing we need more of to capture audience attention in a snap across media platforms.

A jingle has a way of quickly resonating in your mind… it’s the emotional side of the brain connecting the dots with the logical side. Whether it’s got musical instruments or just a few sung syllables, with logic and emotion together, brand recognition and recall rates soar. This recognition and recall can last longer than standard marketing ads and messages.

With that in mind, here are a few of the Jingles we here at BRM love best! A few are relatively new, and a few seem to live on forever and never die!

Disclaimer: Careful now… some of these may get stuck in your head, others may bring back memories, and some will do both!

Let’s start with a local Houston favorite first!

Thunderbolt Transmission

“We put the Yeeee-haw back in your motor and transmission!” – Its upbeat classic western sound has been stuck in my head for decades! Decades! It may have been created when the country music style was in its prime, but when my transmission went out on my truck in the early 2000’s I called Thunderbolt first… even though I hadn’t seen the ad in years!

Toys “R” Us

“I don’t wanna grow up” – It’s a classic melody that appeals to the kid in us all, and it’s one of our favorites! This longstanding jingle became the soundtrack to our childhood for many who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s. This catchy tune is easy to sing, especially for children, and appeals on an emotional level. Adulting is hard, and nobody “wants to grow up.” While the music was refreshed a time or two, the original jingle is what lives on in the hearts and minds of every one of us grown-up kids.

State Farm

“Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!” – Clean, simple, to the point… and unforgettable. It’s been used successfully for years now with interchangeable spokespersons and celebrities, and interchangeable Jakes.

JG Wentworth

“877-Cash-Now!” – This one has been loved and hated… and successful! If you’ve ever taken a sick day and been caught up in daytime TV, or stayed up late watching a network TV marathon, JG Wentworth’s Opera Jingle has probably come across your screen. It’s a catchy, totally un-alienating opera melody has us pretending we’re all opera singers too! The show isn’t over until the fat lady sings and we get our cash!

Kit Kat

“Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat Bar!” – I don’t remember exactly when this came out, but I was a kid and it stuck for a loooooong time! Sure, the hard count on the last 3 syllables, sung as “Kit Kat Bar,” could be replaced by anything funny, crude, or downright weird, and my childish family and friends and I replaced the words over in over in good humor through the years. Perhaps that’s part of the fun that created the longevity. It’s even being made fun of in sitcoms like The Office.

Oscar Meyer

“I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner” … It’s so catchy! And its sister Jingle for B-O-L-O-G-N-A taught generations of Americans how to spell the lunch meat’s name correctly! Both versions of this Jingle have been sung by children and adults for years, and the Oscar Meyer brand is forever famous and successfully lives on, selling lunch meats and weiners today.

It’s even been referenced and made fun of by the longest-running TV show in history The Simpsons!

ACE Hardware

“Ace is the place with the helpful hardware folks” – It’s true to who they are! It defines exactly where their value is for consumers. It’s easy to remember, and when I need help with something “handy,” that’s exactly where I go.

Mentos

This one is a little different… it’s not your standard jingle. The jingle’s lyrics and sung storylines changed from ad to ad, but the optimistic upbeat music always had the same tune playing. There were no scripts for the actors. Hearing the songs now instantly reminds me of sit-coms from the 90’s and takes me back… It’s like a theme song for overcoming life!

Band-Aid

“I am stuck on Band-Aid cause Band Aid’s stuck on Me.” – It’s memorable and catchy! Cute kids singing don’t hurt either. This brand became so popular that it’s almost universally used to reference a bandage! Can a jingle work too well?

Huggies

“I’m a big kid now.” – It’s hard not to love a cute kid, especially with an excited look on their face as they achieve something.

Folgers Coffee

“The Best Part of Waking Up” – Although too young to drink coffee, I’ve been craving a cup of joe since I first heard the melody in 1984. Not only is it the best coffee jingle ever created, but the branding is so strong that it’s the only coffee jingle I can think of. I think most people will agree that when it comes to coffee jingles, “the best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup.”

Honorable mention: Subway

“5, $5, $5 Foot Long” – because it’s been around for a decade now, and I hate it, but still remember it every time I try to figure out what I want for lunch ????

Brand Ranch Media’s Tricks of the Trade and Some of Our Local Favorites

There are a few tricks of the trade to remember when thinking about a new jingle for your brand. Keep the target audience in mind. You want the tone and attitude of the ads and music to appeal to your audience and also reflect your brand accurately. If your voice isn’t authentic, it likely won’t last the test of time.

If you liked those jingles, check out a few of our own BRM created Jingles in the links below!

Nutrition Depot “Vitaman”

Northwind Air Conditioning, Heating & Mechanical Services

Edge Weight Loss & Fatigue: (This campaign may not be a traditional Jingle, but its focus on music is hilarious!)

Houston Trane

For help with your own custom advertising jingle, or marketing guidance in general, the team here at Brand Ranch Media is here to help. Please reach out to us at 713-309-6380 or contact us through our contact form.

By Dana Banks II, Director of Brand Growth

2021 Marketing Goals and Resolutions

Stick a fork in 2020. It’s not only done – it’s overcooked. As we gear up to ring in the new year, marketers are reflecting on the past year, what worked, and changes to make moving forward. In our last article we discussed marketing trends that we expect to see in 2021. For today’s topic, we will set forth some marketing goals and resolutions that every advertiser should strive towards next year.

Mobile Site Speed

Google’s core algorithm update will go into effect early in 2021 with a focus on website speed as a ranking factor. Google will also index websites based solely on their mobile version. As more users turn to mobile as their device of choice when searching the internet, Google wants to make sure that they continue to provide the most relevant content that provides a great user experience. Fast mobile websites that provide great content will be rewarded with better rankings. Marketers and brands must ensure that the websites they promote provide the most optimal mobile user experience. There are many auditing tools available to help identify site speed and mobile usability issues. Doubling down on mobile, Google will also only index mobile websites. Any outdated websites that are not mobile-friendly will not be included in Google’s index and will therefore become completely obscure. Make sure that your website is fully optimized towards these very important ranking factors in 2021.

SEO or PPC?

Filling the sales funnel is important for every business. In the digital-heavy marketing landscape, it can be tricky to fully understand different tactics, how they work in the sales cycle, and when they are best utilized. Depending on whether you provide B2C or B2B products or services, the sales process may be shorter (B2C) or much longer (B2B). With a shorter sales process, you might find success with more of a focus on PPC ad campaigns and less focus on SEO. You will want to still have great content on your website to help the buyer decide to purchase. In a longer sales cycle, a little more focus on SEO can help at the top of the funnel when buyers are typically in the research phase. They have a need that they must fulfill and are likely wanting to learn more about a solution to their need. At this phase, having content that can answer specific questions that a buyer might ask is very important and can take the form of branded whitepapers, case studies, or blog articles. Quality, robust content on the main product or services pages will also aid in filling the top level of the funnel. Even traditional marketing platforms such as radio and television can be used to help drive direct or branded organic traffic to a website. As buyers get closer to the point of purchase towards the bottom of the funnel, PPC campaigns can be used as a decision-centric marketing tactic designed with calls-to-action that drive potential buyers and convert them into customers. Having a diverse marketing plan will help drive buyer decisions at whatever stage they are at in the sales funnel. Be sure that your marketing plan covers each of these stages in the funnel to ensure success.

A Winning Social Strategy

Social media platform strategy planning should be approached differently in 2021 than is has been over the past few years. In the past, a lot of focus has been based on a social selling strategy where hard sales tactics try to immediately convert the buyer. Ad platforms such as Facebook have also built-in conversion-based tools that focus on driving conversions directly on Facebook so that the buyer doesn’t even have to leave to go to the seller’s website. The social sales tactic slowly saw less conversions in 2020 and moving forward, advertisers will need to shift towards social commerce tactics. Where social selling focuses on the bottom levels of the sales funnel, social commerce focuses on the top level of the funnel and is meant to generate more interest in the brand and build trust with the buyer. The average modern user of social media has grown to distrust ads and advertisers alike, always feeling as though they are being sold something. A softer approach to social advertising will help regain the trust that was lost in 2020 and should focus on top-funnel strategies.

The New Consumer

A new generation of consumers has entered the market and advertisers should pay attention. Generation Z (Gen Z) are a much different type of buyer than the older Millennials (who are now turning 40) and Generation X (who are in their mid-40s and older). What has worked when marketing to Millennials and Generation X will not work with Gen Z. Advertisers will need to adjust their strategies if they want to reach the younger consumers. It is important to note as well that 40% of the consumers in the US fit into the Gen Z category so it is unwise to leave this largely untapped consumer out of your marketing strategy. Marketers and brands should research how Gen Z thinks, how they use the many different technologies available to them, and the best ways they can reach this audience and provide value to their everyday lives. This is a huge opportunity for advertisers that they simply should not ignore.

Share some of your thoughts in the comments section. We would love to hear about your marketing resolutions for 2021. Wishing everyone a great holiday season and a very happy new year!

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!

Marketing Trends in 2021

It’s December 2020 – finally! We are less than a month away before we wave goodbye to this rollercoaster year. While we “deck the halls” and “keep our spirits bright,” we eagerly await 2021 and hope for somewhat of a return to normalcy in the new year. Digital Marketing Agencies, as a whole, actually fared well in the uncertain economy. The Facebook Ad Boycott in June had little effect on Facebook’s bottom line. Overall spending on search advertising didn’t take the hit that was forecasted as retailers turned to more online marketing strategies to make up for lost in-store revenue. Looking through our shades at the hopefully brighter future ahead, we have identified some marketing trends in 2021 that brands and advertisers can expect as we transition into a new calendar year.

No more 3^rd party cookie targeting.

Utilizing 3^rd party advertising cookies to track user behavior on websites throughout the internet is a practice this is slowly being burned to a crisp and tossed down the disposal. Search engines and device makers have already eliminated or banned 3^rd party cookie tracking or have plans to do so in 2021. Brands that are not properly prepared for this will have a gap in their digital ad audience targeting. It will be important to start implementing data collection tools and methods in order to serve ads to the most engaged users who are likely to convert into a sale.

Google Analytics has a new face.

The future of analytics is now and in the form of Google Analytics 4. GA4 utilizes an event-based tracking method that features AI learning designed to help advertisers make smarter marketing decisions based on specific actions users take when visiting a website. Though not quite 100% fully developed, it’s best to set up and configure a GA4 analytics property along with the global site tag property and configure custom conversion tracking. As 2021 rolls along, we can expect to see more features added to GA4 to make it the analytics powerhouse that it’s promised to become.

Companies will continue to improve their customer’s digital buying experience.

As shoppers were locked out of retail stores in 2020, brands shifted their dollars and strategies towards improving the customer’s online buying experience much sooner than previously forecasted. Improvements to the mobile buying experience were a large focus as well as virtual customer services. It is unknown how long it will take for retail shoppers to feel comfortable in a traditional shopping environment, however we could eventually learn that more and more shoppers actually prefer a digital shopping experience. Amazon is now where more that half of consumers begin their search for products surpassing search engines, retailer websites, and brand websites.

Search Ad spending will continue to increase.

Despite forecasters’ predictions for 2020 search ad spend, the reality is that rather than taking huge losses now and in the foreseeable future, search ad spend will be on par with the original 2021 predictions and actually surpass forecasted estimates in 2022 and beyond. This comes as large retail brands shifted their marketing efforts to enhanced digital strategies during the lockdown caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

SEO will continue to stay relevant.

Google continues to make core adjustments to their search algorithm and announced in May that the next update was going to focus on page load speed and mobile-friendliness. SEOs will need to adapt to these new guidelines in order to maintain site rankings and competitiveness in the organic search environment. Google tools, such as Lighthouse and Page Speed Insights, will assist in identifying site speed issues. It will be up to the SEOs to make the proper site adjustments. Mobile web experience adjustments will also be worth the investment. Websites will refine their mobile versions to enhance user experience and more sites will invest in development of AMP encoded mobile site versions designed to load faster on mobile platforms. All of these proactive measures will positively contribute to site ranking.

Ad revenues will increase for streaming devices and apps.

As more households cancel their cable services and switch to one of the many streaming options, more ad dollars will be spent trying to target these customers. Devices such as Smart TVs and Chromecast show video advertisements on free streaming apps that provide viewers with television shows and movies. One YouTube ad option (managed through the Google Ads platform) is to target Smart TV screens as well as streaming apps downloaded to those devices. Expect this feature to continue to gain momentum as it provides advertisers a streamlined option to publish video ads without directly going through paid media reps.

Facebook Ads will be limited.

Starting in February of 2021, Facebook will start to limit the number of ads that a page can concurrently run. According to Facebook, “running too many ads at once can hurt performance.” SMBs (small and medium sized businesses) are not likely to see their ad account affected by the limitations, however larger businesses that utilize widespread regional advertising will find themselves having to identify and focus on the most successful types of ads for their business goals.

TikTok Advertising spend will increase.

The newest social media platform has taken the US by storm after already leading Asian countries such as China and India in total downloads and daily users. TikTok has not only attracted the younger generation – it has become popular with those between the ages of 30-50 which opens opportunities for more advertisers to join in on the craze and reach consumers through another medium. TikTok should be included in any brand’s marketing plan in 2021.

Podcasts and Music Streaming Ad revenue will increase.

More people are working from home and companies are offering this option as part of an employment perk. As more people ditch their long commutes to work, they are turning away from traditional radio broadcasts and switching to Podcast programming and streamed music apps. There is a big market for advertising on these platforms as most users opt for free streaming versions that are ad supported.