Digital Marketing Archives | Brand Ranch Media

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

FREE ADVERTISING!? Are You Utilizing Co-Op Advertising to Its Full Potential?

FREE ADVERTISING Are You Utilizing Co-Op Advertising to Its Full Potential

Most of us have heard the saying “Nothing in this world is ever free.” While Co-Op Advertising is certainly not entirely “Free”, it is a very beneficial program for many businesses across industries! So, what is co-op advertising, which industries use it, what are the benefits of co-op advertising programs and what things should you know?

What is Co-Op Advertising?

Co-Op Advertising (or Cooperative Advertising) is an advertising partnership, as the name implies, between two (or more) companies that are involved in the chain between manufacturing, distribution, and retail. Co-Op Advertising is a way to share ad costs between involved parties and can be beneficial when seeking to improve the sales of a specific product. Many times, a business will partner with the manufacturer (or distributor) to run ads for a specific brand they wish to increase sales revenue on. The manufacturer or distributor will then pay for part, or in some cases all, of the advertising that includes their product or brand. Most Co-Op Advertising Programs have very specific brand guidelines and rules for each type of media outlet. Co-Op Advertising Programs often include an array of choices for media ranging from traditional broadcast to digital marketing efforts and everything in between.

Which Industries Use it?

There are many industries that have and utilize Co-Op Advertising Programs. Basically, if there is a national brand that sells products via retailers to consumers, you can bet they likely have an established Co-Op Advertising Program. Common examples of industry specific co-op advertising include Automotive (car dealerships), Powersports (ATVs, UTVs. Etc.), Lawn and Garden (lawn equipment, power tools, etc.), Farm and Ranch (tractor dealers, etc.), Marine (boats, watersports, etc.), Sporting Goods, HVAC Equipment (Trane, American Standard, Lennox, RUUD, Mitsubishi, etc.), Furniture, Mattresses, Electronics, and the list goes on.

What are the Benefits of Co-Op Advertising Programs?

The main benefit of Co-Op Advertising is the ability to offset your marketing costs. With a Co-Op Advertising agreement, businesses can advertise more and spend less money out of pocket because the advertising costs are either shared or covered in full by the manufacturer or distributor. This practice can increase ROI (Return on Investment) in a big way for many businesses.

In addition to the cost savings, many Co-Op Advertising Programs have marketing assets that are already created, can be used, and tweaked to meet your campaign goals and needs. This can save both time and money with production costs for advertising assets and creative, making these resources an efficient way to create co-op ads.

Co-Op Advertising campaigns often result in reinforcement of a strong brand yet creates a custom, localized feel for business retailers. Manufacturers are able to increase brand awareness and local businesses are able to advertise their products and services while marketing their own brand, resulting in a win-win situation.

What Should You Know About Co-Op Advertising?

First, you should do the research to determine if you may have Co-Op funds available to your business through a Co-Op Advertising Program. Once you determine the funds available, it is time to create a game plan for the best utilization of the Co-Op Advertising funds. You will want to work with an experienced media partner that can guide you on the best usage of your Co-Op Advertising dollars and incorporate it into your overall media plan. Strategy is very important. You will want to maximize your ad spend, be able to negotiate the best media rates, properly plan your campaign flight depending on your business and industry trends, and then plan an effective campaign with proper messaging and branding to compliment your existing campaigns.

Secondly, before planning your campaign it is important to be aware of the specific guidelines that are in place for your Co-Op Advertising Program. Most programs have standards for branding that you will have to follow. Additionally, there are often detailed rules for each media outlet (television or cinema, radio, print, Over-The-Top Television/OTT, billboards, websites and landing pages, uniforms and apparel, social media, email marketing, online banner ads, digital video/pre-roll, search engine marketing, etc.). Once you are aware of the rules, you can work on the creative. Most Co-Op Advertising Programs require submission of all creative for pre-approval prior to running your ads.

At the end of the day, you will want to work with a trusted partner who knows your business, your brand, and can maximize your Co-Op Advertising Program benefits to ensure your success.

As a leading marketing and advertising agency, Brand Ranch Media has many years of experience running Co-Op Advertising Campaigns across industries. We know how to maximize your marketing dollars by utilizing Co-Op Advertising to its fullest potential to meet your goals and increase return on investment. If you are looking for assistance with how to best utilize your Co-Op Advertising Program, give us a call at 713-309-6380 or contact us and we can gladly assist you!

“Do You Even TikTok, Bro?”

If you haven’t seen TV ads for it, you might have heard about it in the news as either the fastest growing social media platform in the world or as a target for President Trump, saying that the Chinese-owned app was a potential security risk. Either way, TikTok’s exponential growth rate in the US alone creates a fascinating case study for advertisers who are looking to expand their brand’s reach as we all inch closer to the “oh, we cannot wait for it to be 2021” new year.

“Bro, what is TikTok?”

TikTok is a social media platform and mobile app where users basically share videos. Users can choose from all sorts of song clips or sound bites to use as soundtracks or effects for the videos they create. If this sounds childish, you might be right considering that about 33% of all US TikTok users are between the ages of 10 and 19. However, that leaves another 66% of the US TikTok users to be distributed amongst the age groups of 20 to over age 55 with 30% of those age 30-50. According to global data provided by TikTok, there were over 100 million monthly active users in the US with 50 million of those using the platform every day.

“What Should You Do About it, Bro?”

If you’re an advertiser, you may want to consider TikTok as a legitimate advertising platform to reach specific targeted audiences. When targeting the teenage demographic, brands such as apparel, gaming, entertainment, and food and beverage industries (aside from alcohol) could benefit greatly with focused ads on TikTok. The adult market is also a targeted demographic that advertisers should consider now as well as in the future. Pre-COVID pandemic demographic statistics show that of all adult users of TikTok in the US, 66% were between the ages of 18 and 34. In addition, 40% of all adult users had a household income of over $100,000 per year. Industries such as travel, automotive, electronics, apparel, mobile carrier services, internet and television providers, streaming services, and more could benefit from a marketing plan that includes TikTok. Of course, music is also a huge part of TikTok’s platform. Promotion of musical artists, album and single releases, upcoming tours, concerts, and festivals would be ideal for targeting the average TikTok user.

“Wrap it up, Bro!”

TikTok’s future in the US is still a bit uncertain. There have been discussions and legal battles to block the Trump Administration’s proposed ban of the app which claims that the data of all US users will be available and utilized by China to the detriment of the United States. It should be noted that popular apps and websites blocked by the Chinese government include Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, just to name a few. US-based companies have been in discussions to purchase all or a large portion of TikTok’s US operations. More will be revealed in the coming months regarding the fate of TikTok in the US. While it might not be the best time for advertisers to go “all in” on the platform, it is definitely worth some serious consideration.

We love helping brands identify new avenues to promote their business. Feel free to call us at 713-309-6380 or contact us to start the process!

Apple to Block User Tracking for Free Online Apps

In our last article we discussed how the elimination of 3rd party cookies will affect digital marketing strategies. Internet browsers Safari and Firefox have already eliminated 3^rd party cookie tracking. Google’s Chrome browser will block 3^rd party cookies by 2022. With all of these browsers eliminating 3^rd party cookies, tracking customer behavior for digital advertising purposes will become a thing of the past and advertisers will have to adapt to new targeting methods, perhaps even creating breakthrough techniques.

The next major change to better protect user privacy regarding ad targeting was supposed to come to Apple devices, including the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Announced in June, Apple stated that privacy is a “fundamental human right” and the release of iOS 14, the newest software upgrade, would require apps to ask user permission before they can collect and share data, often used for advertising purposes. This would most likely have a larger effect on apps that are within an overall “audience network” versus apps, such as Facebook, which have the ability to utilize their own targeting within their specific apps. Facebook and Google’s audience networks include app partners (other apps where ads are shown that can collect revenue by providing ad space for Facebook and Google ads).

To better illustrate, analyst Michael Pachter describes:

“…investors clearly think that the competing ad networks run by the likes of Snap and Twitter are going to be put at a disadvantage while titans like Google and Facebook charge ahead.

Currently, if an iPhone user looks at an item on the Amazon app, then looks it up on the Best Buy app, advertisers know that someone is shopping around. So they could deliver a promotion to that user, Pachter said. Once iOS 14 is released, that won’t be possible unless users opt in.”

Because Facebook has its own network of systems, they will not likely be affected by the Apple update.

Apple announced a delay in the release of the anti-tracking update in iOS 14, instead saying that portion of the update will be released in early 2021. Though, this is not a sign that Apple is having second thoughts about anti-tracking, it will give Facebook and other app advertisers more time to evaluate and determine their next steps to work around this update. One recommendation from Facebook is for app advertisers to create a separate ad account devoted to iOS users. From a general business standpoint, we can probably expect that ads will be limited on audience networks and therefore will heavily rely on the direct networks of Facebook and Google. Advertisers also might want to set up different campaigns that target specific devices moving forward.

iOS 14 was released today (September 16, 2020) without the privacy update. Since there is still some time before this portion of the update is released, everyone is just going to have to find a way to adapt.

If you have a concern about the future of your digital marketing efforts, especially as it pertains to upcoming system and policy changes, our marketing experts and Brand Ranch Media want to speak with you! Our phones are open to your calls at 713-309-6380 or go ahead and reach out through our online contact form.

How Will 3rd Party Cookie Elimination Affect Your Digital Marketing Strategy

Cookies follow us throughout our time spent on the internet. They track every movement, every behavior, and it’s just plain scary sometimes. Have you ever been online looking at a t-shirt to buy and then navigated to another website only to find an ad for that same shirt? That’s the work of a 3^rd party cookie.

By definition, a 3^rd party cookie is a piece of code embedded into a users’ web browser that tracks their every move online. It tracks what is viewed, what is placed in shopping carts, purchases, and even non-purchases. However, 3^rd party cookies don’t just track behaviors on one website, but rather they track behavior throughout the entire users’ internet experience.

Since 2014, Safari has restricted 3^rd party cookies as well as Firefox following in 2019. These two web browsers combine for about 40% of all internet traffic in the US! Safari also accounts for over half of mobile internet traffic. This consists of millions of internet users that advertisers are not able to collect behavior data on, an advantage digital marketers have over traditional advertising methods such as television and radio. In an effort to further protect user privacy, Google announced that it will begin to phase out 3^rd party cookies on their Chrome browser with a target completion date sometime in 2022.

So, what does this mean for the future of digital marketing?

The ability to adapt to new targeting methods will be the key to future success in the digital marketing realm. If you work in the digital industry, then chances are that you are already familiar with adapting to changes in the marketing landscape. It seems as though advertising policies change daily and keeping track of all the changes can be a daunting thought considering there are so many different digital platforms to manage.

Moving forward, the data someone is able to collect first-hand (through 1^st party cookies) is likely to increasingly become more vital than it already is. One method of 1^st party cookie data collection is actually a Google product: Analytics. There are all sorts of user datapoints that you can collect to see how they interact with your website. This data can be combined in Analytics to create custom marketing lists that can be linked to and used by Google Ads to reach a specific audience. Since this data is collected directly from your website and not based off of user behavior across the internet, it is NOT considered 3^rd party.

Another example of 1^st party data collection is gathering customer data through newsletter sign ups, email lists, and past customer data. Not only is this beneficial for email marketing campaigns, but the data can also be used to create “lookalike” audiences which will target users based on the overall general profile similar to the demographics of the people included in the list. Instead of targeting people based on their personal internet history (3^rd party cookies) you can target them based on whether or not they “look like” your current customer profile.

Social media platforms, such as Facebook, have revolutionized user data and how it can be used to target a specific audience. Millions of users freely provided their personal information, interests, and habits directly to Facebook which then can provide advertisers with enhanced targeting methods that they can use freely as long as the user is logged into Facebook. Google has similar targeting methods, but the user needs to be logged into their Google account in order for it to be fully effective and not everyone that uses the internet is logged into a Google account.

There are likely other methods for digital ad targeting not yet invented. The digital advertising landscape is likely to continue to change and adapt just as the policies that govern them. If you think your advertising efforts could be better targeted, our experts and Brand Ranch Media want to speak with you! Please feel free to give us a call at 713-309-6380 or reach out through our online contact form.