Most Improved Brands Among Millennials

In the results of a recent survey released by the public-perception research firm, YouGov BrandIndex, millennials reveal which brands were the most successful in gaining their patronage. Although some of the brands are not so surprising, others, including brands considered to be traditional, stand out from the list.

The rise of the sharing economy puts Uber at the top of the list, despite public relations woes plaguing the company. Chase also occupies the list at No. 13, prompting Ted Marzilli, CEO of YouGov BrandIndex, to say, “ethics are good, but price and convenience carry the day”.

Traditional brands can also be found in the top 20. The presence of Puma, Delta Airlines, Visa, Adidas, and Ace Hardware show the value millennials place in adaptability. However, it’s important to realize why these brands make the list. These “graybeards” so to speak, aren’t popular for their nostalgia but rather for their ability to stay relevant and adapt to current times.

Another head scratcher on the list is number five, TLC, which dates back to the 1970’s. However, the network has gone through several facelifts to evolve from an education-oriented channel to a source of entertainment filled with Honey Boo Boo and shows like, “My Fat Saved My Life”. 

Elements of an Effective Hispanic Marketing Campaign

Even as the U.S. Hispanic population growth is increasingly driven by U.S.-born Hispanics, a recent “Facebook IQ” study found that marketing in Spanish is still important. The study reports that 80% of U.S. Hispanics say they do not feel the need to give up speaking Spanish in order to assimilate into American culture.

This contradicts a recent trend of replacing Multicultural Marketing with an all-encompassing message delivered in a single language. As the number of bilingual Hispanics continues to grow, so do the opportunities for marketers to deliver culturally relevant messages.

When consuming media online, the majority of bilingual Hispanics use Spanish at least half of the time. This stands in opposition to the idea that Spanish becomes less relevant as a Hispanic consumer becomes acculturated.

It is important to note, however, that there is a gap between the ROI of TV ads in English and in Spanish. A Nielsen study found that the ROI of English ads were $0.30 higher than those of Spanish ads.

After an in-depth analysis of these results, Nielsen found that 54% of the Spanish ads actually had equal or higher ROI than the English ads. Several factors were found to increase the effectiveness of these ads:

·        Original Spanish language rather than translations from English ads or voice-overs

·        Humor relevant to Hispanic culture

·        Relatable settings

Ads that incorporated the above elements saw significantly higher ROI than English-language ads.

In order to effectively reach the growing population of U.S. Hispanics, campaigns not only need to incorporate the Spanish language but also culturally relevant messaging.

Digital Tops TV Despite Some Specific Struggles

Ad Age reports that US digital advertising sales surpassed television ad sales for the first time in 2016. Digital sales pulled in $70 billion compared to $67 billion on the more traditional television medium.

Magna, a strategic media forecasting company, reports that television saw a 4.7% increase in 2016 due to the Olympics and the presidential election. However, that growth is expected to settle back into the 3.7% range for 2017. Meanwhile, digital sales are projected to increase 14% in 2017. Magna believes that by the end of 2017 digital advertising sales will pass television in not only the United States, but globally.

With this, digital vendors are under the microscope more than ever before. Big brands like JP Morgan Chase are pulling the plug on their programmatic to avoid their ads being placed on unwanted sites.

Other large companies have had it with video hub, YouTube, as they are unhappy with the videos their ads are paired with. While advertisers understand that ads are placed with algorithms, formulas, and data, users are not quite as informed. Many users believe that the ad aligned with the video they are viewing is purposefully done.

YouTube isn’t taking a front row seat to their slow destruction though. The Google owned company is taking steps to allow advertisers to proactively avoid undesired content. Previously, YouTube had two preventative options to avoid, “sensitive social issues” and “tragedy and conflicts”. Now, YouTube has rolled out options to stay away from content that is, “sexually suggestive”, “sensational and shocking” and “profanity and rough language”.

While this may help advertisers, YouTube seems to be stuck between a rock and a hard place as they’re receiving push back from content creators. YouTube states in a blog post that, “There’s a difference between the free expression that lives on YouTube and the content that brands have told us they want to advertise against”. With this setback, YouTube could potentially lose $750 million this year.

Even with upset brands and algorithm tweaks, digital advertising has a bright future as king of the castle. 

Cinema Advertising Stands Strong

Cinema advertising is often overlooked by many marketing departments and booted from their media mix. Video Advertising Bureau released some data that might make marketing managers change their minds about the big screen.

According to VAB, box office ticket sales saw an eleven percent increase from 2014 to 2016. Perhaps this is due to the rising median household income amounts. From 2010 to 2015, the median HHI has increased from $53,569 to $56,516. With an increase in HHI comes an increase in disposable income which has grown from $11,515 in 2010 to $14,281 in 2016 (referring to personal disposable income).

Demographically, heavy movie goers tend to be young, multicultural, affluent, educated, and professional. The majority of these people are ages 18-44, employed, home-owners, college educated, and making over $50k per year.

So, what’s so special about cinema advertising? Well, beyond the fact that you’re speaking to a captive, engaged, willing audience; cinema advertising drives consumer action. Many steady cinema advertisers like Vans, Shazam, esurance, LG, Infiniti, and Hotels.com see an increase in website activity when cinema is a part of their media mix verses when they’re not on the big screen.

On top of that, consumers are choosing to spend leisure time watching movies at a theater more often than other activities like attending a sporting event, going to the zoo, or having a picnic.

It might be time to rethink that marketing mix and see how your brand on the big screen can make a difference.

Dominate Digital Forces Look to Continue Their Growth

As eMarketer projects digital ad spend/revenue for the next few years, Facebook and Google look to hold onto their top ranks. Ad spend in the United States looks to grow by 15.9% equaling $83 billion in revenue. Both Facebook and Google look to increase their ad share percentages by 32.1 percent and 14.8 percent respectively.

Overall, Google wins the gold by owning 40.7 percent of the US digital ad market with Facebook settling for silver with 19.7 percent. However, when that’s broken down by search and display the tables turn just a bit.

Google still takes home the prize when it comes to search with an estimated $28.5 billion in ad revenue for 2017 (77.8%), but Facebook comes in on top when we’re talking about display. Facebook brings in $16.3 billion in US digital display ad dollars making up 39.1 percent of the market. Both Google’s search and Facebook’s display revenues are expected to continue growing through 2019.

When looking at mobile, the two digital powerhouses combined accumulate for 57 percent of mobile spend with Google acquiring 32.4 percent and Facebook earning 24.6 percent.

The below chart shows multiple digital providers and their ad share percentage projections through 2019 while focusing specifically on digital mobile ad revenue.

Snap Inc., the inventors of Snapchat, is expected to see the most dramatic increase over the next few years. However, their share is still small and far from the dominating digital forces.

Other platforms like Twitter, Yahoo, and Yellow Pages are expected to decline in the near future. 

Making the Most of Email Marketing

Email marketing – when executed correctly – can be a huge success for any marketing campaign. Seamas Egan, Associate Director of Revenue Operations at Campaigner, digs into the art of email and provides three tips to making the most of your email marketing.

1.     Subject line

Subject lines of an email provide a teaser to the recipient and is ultimately what makes them decide to open or delete your email. In fact, thirty-three percent of recipients report the subject line to be the only factor in deciding whether they will open a marketing email or not. Subject lines should be personalized with either the recipient’s name or the words “you” or “your” to establish a personal connection. Numbers can also be used to help your subject line stand out and create a sense of urgency. Subject lines should also be under 30 characters as sixty-six percent of emails in today’s society are opened via mobile device.

2.     Past purchasers

Segment your email lists based on purchase behavior and target specifically those who have converted with your business on prior occasions. This information will help you send emails that are not only personalized, but directly targeted at the recipient’s interests.

3.     Frequency

Just remember the Goldilocks and the Three Bears – too hot… too cold… just right! You don’t want to annoy your customers with too many marketing emails, but you also don’t want them to forget your brand. It’s important to strike the right balance to keep your product at the top of customers’ minds while not overwhelming them. A good way to test your frequency is by some A/B testing; compare separate emails lists with different frequency levels to discover a happy medium.

When email marketing is done right, it’s a huge success. In fact, 91% of Americans say they like receiving marketing emails. Consumers frequently complain about marketing and how advertisements “obstructs their task”, but in the email space, marketing is actually welcomed. 

Back to Basics with Generation Z

As Generation Z grows into young adults who hold a little bit of spending power, marketers are eager to see how their path to purchase compares to the generations preceding them. Since Gen Z is technology savvy, one would assume that their behavior would revolve around the digital world.

However, a study conducted by Accenture shows something a little different.

Older Gen Z consumers (ages 18-20) actually prefer purchasing at physical brick and mortar locations. In fact, 77% of older Gen Z consumers would rather purchase in-store.

When compared with Millennials, Gen Z shoppers lead the way with in-store and mobile shopping while Millennials still lead when it comes to desktop and tablet.

The difference being, Generation Z consumers are influenced greatly by social media on what to purchase. In fact, 72% of US Gen Z survey participants said they want to make purchases directly from social media. Half of the participants said that social media inspires them to purchase products, and one third of respondents have increased their use of social platforms specifically to inform their decision-making within the past year; as shown by the chart below.

Going beyond social media, Gen Z consumers are open to developing shopping methods like voice-activated ordering (45%), curated subscriptions (77%), and automatic replenishment (66%). 

Jill Standish, senior managing director at Accenture, says, “I think the key takeaway for marketers is you have to be listening in social media. You’ve got to be there, and you’ve got to be inspiring.”

The Back and Forth of Marketing Strategies

When I was a kid, my favorite piece of equipment on the playground was the teeter-totter. My goal was always to find someone who could balance the scale so that we would both be elevated a foot or two above the ground. In an interesting way, the world of marketing mirrors that playground activity.

Andy Sippel writes an article for AdWeek titled, “Reach is the New Black: Advertising’s Mass Reawakening”. Sippel looks at two sides of marketing: mass reach and precise niche targeting of specific people.

While specifically targeting the single soccer mom with two kids aged 7-10 who brings in $80k per year in the Kansas City DMA might sound perfect for your advertising plan, it shouldn’t be the only strategy for your campaign. In fact, Procter & Gamble CMO, Marc Pritchard, announced that his brands “were stagnant due to targeting too narrowly on Facebook”.

Big picture being: throwing all your eggs in one basket won’t work. Advertising doesn’t flourish as we would like when it’s limited to one medium. Sippel reports that, “in 2011, there was nearly a 100-point difference in net ‘plan to spend’ optimism between the highest and lowest media” however, advertisers are seeing the flaw in that thinking and, “last year, the difference compressed to only 42 points.”

Along those lines, the digital world is unable to form a regular audience build comparable to that of television or even radio. When people routinely tune-in to their favorite programs, a loyal audience forms amongst viewers that is unique to the delivery method of your ad.

Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) recommends three “smart-spending action steps” for advertisers who might find themselves stuck on the uneven teeter-totter.

1.      Invest in multiple platforms rather than shifting money from one to the next

2.      Add traditional media to your digital investments to maximum ROI

3.      Spend to reach millennials on traditional and new media – and not just mobile

ARF even recommends spending roughly 71-78% of budget on traditional media and 22-29% on digital (based on a $15 million budget).

So, don’t get caught on the high or low end of the advertising teeter-totter; instead, return to the media mix and reach your audience in more ways than one. The more roads your deliver your message on, the more your brand will succeed. 

New Emotions Brought to Marketing in 2017

What’s one thing that the recent election, inauguration, and Super Bowl all have in common? Empathy. That’s right; all three events have given the people of the United States a feeling of empathy or a desiring to receive empathy. But how are they connected exactly?

Kevin McKeon puts it this way, “The election fueled it, the inauguration sealed it, and the Super Bowl was its first big state, offering a $5 million shot to put your brand’s empathy on display for all America to see and admire.” Sure enough, the Super Bowl hosted many more politically driven commercials than in previous years. Brands took a stance on today’s hot topics and let their opinions be known thus kicking off the newest trend in marketing for 2017: empathy.

Empathy is defined as: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

McKeon, author of the article, “A Brand’s Guide to Empathy: Marketing’s Latest Buzzword”, gives advice to advertisers as they strive to be empathetic in order to win customers for their brand.

You don’t own empathy

That’s right, empathy isn’t something you have; it’s something you give. Empathy isn’t about you; it’s about the person you’re relating to. In a business worldview, empathy isn’t about your company or how great you are, it’s about the customer feeling understood and welcomed.

Empathy isn’t just something you feel – it’s something you do

While empathy may begin as a feeling, it has the ability to grow into action. Businesses have the resources to make action out of feeling. Let empathy be shown through your company’s deeds.

Think like people, not like marketers

Why would people care? Would people want this? How is this delivering real value? If I were in their shoes, would I buy it? Think like people who are in search of something, not like marketers trying to sell something. Understand what people want and provide that for them.

Empathy should also be fun

Let’s face it; Super Bowl 51 lacked some “laugh until your stomach hurts” commercials. But empathy and humor don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Ikea (Sweden) reminds the world that life should be fun and provide laughter with their “Retail Therapy” campaign. They’ve got a whole website (ikearetailtherapy.com) filled with products renamed to match Google search results regarding relationships in Sweden. Some of my favorites being a mattress wedge titled, “She Doesn’t Want to Cuddle”, a floor length mirror called, “World’s Most Beautiful People List”, and a pair of scissors named, “My Son Plays Too Much Computer Games”.

Empathy isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution

Remember your audience, your brand, and your message.

While 2017 may be the year of empathy, remember that your customer is the most important part of the equation. 

The Secret to Great Content Marketing: Storytelling

To many advertisers, “content marketing” sounds strange, bizarre, and maybe a little too confusing of a task to tackle. However, there’s no need to fret, content marketing is not near as challenging as it may seem. The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as, “the marketing a business process for creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action”.

Toby Nwazor’s interpretation of content marketing is that it’s simply good storytelling, and who doesn’t love a good story? Nwazor clarifies in his article, “5 Reasons Businesses Shouldn’t Keep Ignoring Content Marketing”.

Everyone reacts to a good story – whether that story is in video form, words on a page, or told directly from the storyteller’s mouth; good stories bring out emotions that incline listeners to react in some way. For businesses, their job is to make their audiences emotions encourage them to react in a way that is profitable for their business.

Everyone likes a storyteller – and when everyone likes the storyteller they’ll begin to be aware and like your business as well; since the storyteller is in some way or another a part of said business.

Great storytellers can put you before the right audience – and keep you away from the wrong audience. Moment of truth here: I like cats and baseball. Because of this, I am prone to engage with stories regarding cats and baseball (or better yet, both). I am not a fan of the Kardashians or MMA fighting so if I come across an article on either of those topics, I’ll probably ignore it, but that is okay. Advertisers don’t want to be in front of an audience that doesn’t care about their product, they want to be seen by people who will interact and convert. This target audience is also likely to share a story they enjoy with other like-minded individuals, boosting your brand for free.

A great story is cheaper than a news article – and has the potential to be more creative. News articles definitely have their place and purpose, but stories have the ability to go above and beyond your traditional news article for a fraction of the cost.

Everyone can get hooked into a great storyteller – so let’s make sure it’s your storyteller. Get consumers hooked on your stories means getting them hooked on your brand. Top of mind is huge when it comes to consumer decision making and with consistent and relatable stories, your brand will be the first thing to come to mind.

Get personal, get creative, and get in front of your desired audience. Tell a story, trigger emotions, and drive consumers to react. Stop worrying about the unknown “content marketing” and remember the great stories you heard as a kid. Now, revamp those stories, connect them with your brand, and build a loyal customer base. 

Long Live Radio

The casket may have been built by skeptics in anticipation of broadcast radio dying off, but that casket is far from being put in the ground. In fact, traditional AM/FM radio remains the number one medium in terms of reach across the United States reaching 93% of the population according to Nielsen.

Radio remains relevant for a variety of reasons including the fact that listeners are usually on the go. According to Edison Research, 86% of Americans drive to work and broadcast radio accounts for 70% of in-car audio. This means, drivers are consistently listening to AM/FM stations on their daily commute giving advertisers a reliable medium to reach them through.

On top of that, Americans listen to the radio when they’re driving for reasons beyond going into the office. With more leisurely drive times, advertisers can entice listeners with timely, local, and influential messages.

Radio is also changing on the back end of things that remains a mystery to your everyday listener. The push of programmatic buying has begun and companies like iHeartMedia and Jelli are jumping on board quickly. Jelli has created a platform for the radio giant, iHeartMedia, giving them the ability to sell inventory across all 858 network stations reaching a quarter of a billion people.

“Smart Audio Audience” buys have some obvious pros and cons. Pros consist of the ability to reach a large amount of people, targeting an audience rather than a daypart & demo, and the data to conduct more sophisticated buys to name a few. On the flip side, with such a large geographic, programmatic lacks the ability to buy locally eliminating the option for advertisers to promote local deals.

Digital support has also immerged in efforts to keep broadcast radio alive. Entercom, a broadcast radio company, created 120 websites for each of its 120 broadcast stations giving listeners the ability to interact socially, engage with DJ’s, and be connected like never before. In fact, Kansas City’s own 96.5 The Buzz doubled their station listenership when they added a streaming component.

All of that to say, radio isn’t ready to wave the white flag. In fact, radio isn’t even close to calling it quits, and neither are advertisers who take advantage of the successful media outlet. 

How Millennials Didn't Live Up to Expectations in 2016... In a Good Way

We’ve all read blogs, seen news stories, and heard comments about how Millennials are changing the world; sometimes for the better but usually it’s the opposite. eMarketer has compiled a list of six things that weren’t true of Millennials in 2016; a list that provides some light on the typically negative viewpoint of these young adults.

Millennials will never become homeowners

False- according to a Navient survey in May, 71% of Millennials aged 31 to 35 own their home and most of these homeowners living in the suburbs.

Millennials barely watch any traditional TV

It’s true that Millennials watch less traditional TV, but they haven’t cut out “the tube” all together. eMarketer estimates that nine in 10 Millennials watch non-digital TV at least once a month in 2016.

Millennials have stopped listening to traditional radio

Not the case! Yes, with options like Pandora and Spotify, traditional radio usage has declined but it is not extinct. The trend is similar with that of television; there are more convenient options that Millennials are taking advantage of, but they’re not completely leaving traditional methods in the dust. In fact, younger Millennials (18-24) average 10 hours and 24 minutes per week with AM/FM radio. That number jumps to 11 hours and 20 minutes when talking about Millennials aged 25-34.

Millennials are moving their social presence from Facebook

With the addition of new social sites, the options are much broader, but Millennials are still actively on Facebook. Buzz Marketing Group asked Millennials to list their daily activities and 85% of respondents reported that one daily activity was posting or reading posts on Facebook. According to Roth Capital Partners, Facebook is the most frequently used social network by millennial mothers.

Millennials always ignore marketing emails

Nope! Millennials might frequently ignore said emails, but always is a bit drastic. A survey by Fluent shows that 12% of 18 to 29 year olds find marketing emails to always be useful. Averagely, 30% said marketing emails are sometimes useful.

Millennials have no intentions of getting married

That is just not true.  Today’s young adults are getting married later in life than their parents and grandparents did, however that doesn’t mean they won’t marry at all. Census Bureau data for 2016 shows that 62.2% of 25-29 year olds have never married, 38.6% of 30-34 year olds have never married, and only 24.1% of 35-39 year olds have never married.

Millennials might be different than the generations they follow, but they don’t seem to be living up to all the negative expectations. As for marketers, there are still tons of ways to reach these young adults from traditional TV to internet streaming radio, social media to wedding magazines, even real estate flyers and e-newsletters. 

Younger Generations and Social Sharing are Changing Tourism

Take a second and think about your family. Consider yourself, your children, your parents, and grandparents. Pinpoint which generation each member is a part of. Now that you’ve got that down, think about their travel habits: How often do they travel? Where do they go? Do they consider traveling a luxury or a priority? Etc.

Chances are, the older generations traveled less, traveled for different reasons, and didn’t expect to travel as a part of life.

In 2013, nearly 290 thousand American students studied abroad for academic credit. That number has since jumped to over 313 thousand in 2016! On top of that, there’s a rise in American young adults who travel for volunteer and internship positions worldwide.

If I think about my life, the first time I went out of the country was my sophomore year in high school. Since then, I have traveled to 6 different countries on three different adventures. My parents on the other hand first left the country on a cruise back when they were newlyweds. My mother now has no desire to travel outside the US and my dad visits to Scotland solely for golfing excursions.

So why is that? Well, there are a number of reasons as you can imagine. Millennials and Gen Z might have more disposable income than the Boomers had at our age; they definitely spend it differently. Younger generations tend to be stuck in a “right here right now” mindset instead of planning for the future. Traveling is easier than it was when our parents and grandparents were young adults. Alongside all of those easy to assume reasons is the less obvious answer of social media.

Yep, that’s right. Social media fills people with wanderlust. In fact, Millennials and Gen Zers are more likely to choose a travel destination from what they see on social media than any travel ad they may view. For younger generations, the word of another carries much more weight than an advertisement. Eighty-four percent of Millennials and Gen Zers will even make travel plans based off what their friends or influencers post online.

Comparing my dad’s travel plans verses my own shows firsthand the vast differences: he uses a travel agent; I use Pinterest and online blogs. He communicates directly with the hotels he will be staying at; I book online. He takes pictures to keep to himself; I take pictures to post on social media.

With this, how do advertisers get in front of these young travelers? Like in all areas of advertising, they have to adapt and evolve with the changes. Continuously put paid media in front of viewers without them thinking they’re viewing an advertisement. The use of social media is vastly important as well as native content, influencers, and user generated content. 

Click-Thru Rates Compared Across the Globe

Billions of impressions are delivered each year across the world. Sizmek, an Open Ad Management company, decided to sift through those billion impressions and provide some detailed data on who clicks the most.

Regional Banner Ad Engagement (1st Half 2016; 1.3MM Individuals, Billions of Impressions.)
Region	Standard Banner CTR	Rich Media CTR	Rich Media Unique Interaction
Global	0.16	0.27	1.19
North America	0.14	0.21	1.13
Latin America	0.25	0.17	0.84
Europe	0.14	0.35	1.47
East Asia	0.12	0.36	0.76
South Asia	0.28	0.35	1.47
Data Source: Sizmek, November 2016

As you can see from the chart above, standard banners have a CTR of 0.16% globally across all industries. North America falls slightly shy of that with an average CTR of 0.14%.

Without much surprise, rich media ads have a higher CTR globally at 0.27%. Again, North America falls shy with a 0.21% average.

However, these numbers are for all industries. It would be foolish to think that an ad for the latest and greatest smartphone holds the same CTR as an ad for dentures. Of course, Sizmek knows this and took a look into industry categories as well.

For standard banners, apparel, telecom, and retail ads held the highest rates at 0.24%, 0.21% and 0.20% respectively. Falling in last were careers at 0.10%, corporate at 0.08% and sports at 0.07%.

Surprisingly enough, the script is flipped for rich media ads with corporate leading the pact with an average CTR of 0.53%. Bringing up the rear are gaming (0.13%) and medical (0.12%).

Sizmek reports that, “rich media CTRs outperformed standard banner CTRs in 19 of the 21 sectors analyzed, with standard banners holding a slight edge only in the gaming and medical verticles.”

Growth in Email Shows Growth in ROI

In a world full of emerging technology some might be surprised that the “email users” category is growing. Not only is email continuing to grow, but it’s continuing to perform with high success for marketers.

eMarketer estimates that there will be 240.1 million email users in the United States in 2016 accounting for nearly 89.8% of internet users and 74.1% of the US population. On top of that, eMarketer expects there to be 258.9 million email users by 2020.

With the growth of people using email, the ROI (return on investment) for email advertising has surpassed other mediums by a long shot. 

The chart above shows an astonishing 122% ROI for email marketing! Other platforms like social, direct mail, search, and display don’t even come close with their success stories.

Don’t hear me wrong, I’m not saying 100% of ad dollars should be spent through email marketing; but if email isn’t a part of your media mix, maybe it should be! 

Multitasking TV Watchers on the Rise

Have you ever been watching a television show when your mind wanders so you pick up your smartphone only to lose focus on the show causing you to rewind your show to re-watch what you just missed due to your smartphone distraction? I know I’m guilty!

Turns out, I’m not the only one. Ericsson, a communications technology company, conducted a survey concluding that a growing amount of people are multitasking while watching television programs. Ericsson surveyed over 30,000 internet users ages 16 to 69 and found the following insights:

eMarketer also looked into this trend and found that most people are multitasking during live television programming (53%) with time-shifted television following (28%) and third being streamed content (19%).

So how do marketers adjust to this trend? I have a couple ideas. One is to have a presence on a variety of mediums. Television, pre-roll video, display, etc. to reach people while their watching, but also email, outdoor, radio, print, etc. to reach people when they aren’t watching.

Another idea is to take advantage of the dual screens. Encourage viewers to visit your website, search for a video, login for a discount, etc. This way, you’re embracing the shifting behaviors instead of trying to ignore or reject them.

One thing that’s always been true is that in marketing, things change. All. The. Time. So embrace the changes and explore new opportunities. 

How Much Appreciation is Too Much Appreciation?

Businesses are always aiming to have better relationships with their customers. One way of doing this is by customer appreciation. You know what I’m talking about, that awesome time once a year when your favorite food joints have “customer appreciation day” and give out free food. Yeah, those days are the best!

However, there are other ways to appreciate your customers than handing out free lunches. Researchers from Duke University, University of Pittsburgh, and Vanderbilt University came together to determine if a simple “thank you” is enough to ensure that customers feel appreciated after consuming a business’ product or service.

 Jumping to the conclusion, the study found that, “the inclusion of a financial benefit can actually subtract from, rather than add to, customer goodwill.”

So why is that? Why do customers sometimes feel more appreciated when they’re given a “thank you” without a monetary incentive? Well, as Lance A. Bettencourt puts it, “like many things in life, we compare what we get to norms of what we expect rather than nothing.”

One study tested the ways of “appreciating” people after taking an online survey in a hotel lobby. Some people were given a letter of thanks from the hotel and the others were given a letter of thanks in addition to a financial gift (worth $0.05). In the end, participants with the simple thank you letter felt significantly more appreciated. Most likely because a financial gift so small is lower than expectations resulting in disappointment whereas a simple “thank you” is sometimes more than expected all on its own.

Another study looked at financial acknowledgements in the form of a certain percentage off of a future purchase. In this case, consumers felt less appreciated when they received a 5% discount (compared to receiving nothing), equally appreciated with a 10 to 25% discount, and more appreciated when they received a discount of 30 to 40%.

In the end, a simple “thank you” can go a long way while sometimes monetary gestures can backfire. If a monetary gesture is the plan for appreciation, make sure it’s substantial enough to go above expectations.

Facebook Fights for Their Ads

In recent months, Facebook announced that they would begin blocking ad blockers and pushing ads through to users with the blocking software.

In a gist, it’s a back and forth battle: ad blocking engineers develop software to block ads – Facebook engineers develop software to block the ad blocking software – Ad block engineers develop new software to block ads – Facebook develops newer software to keep pushing ads through. You get the point.

The goal of blocking the blockers was to first and foremost to grow their ad revenue from advertisers. After all, that is how Facebook receives money to keep the business running and free for users. Second, Facebook created a setting allowing users to tell Facebook what type of ads they do and do not wish to see. Basically, they made ads user friendly. Not interested in Chinese food? Fine, we won’t show you that ad. Not only does this make ads more relatable to users, it also assures less waste for advertisers.

So is the consistent battle of fending off ad blockers worth it? After seeing desktop ad revenue increase by 18%, I would say their approach thus far has been a success. 

How to Make Video Marketing More "Do-able"

Digital video is a new and intriguing opportunity for many advertisers. However, the first obvious roadblock in a video marketing campaign is the cost of production. Common sense tells us that creating a video is more expensive and time consuming than creating an image, however I’m here to tell you to not mark it off your list of opportunities just yet.

Forbes recently published an article titled, “How To Master Video Marketing On a Budget” and listed several tips to get the job done.

First, do your research. With any marketing campaign, you want to make sure you’ll stand out, be noticed, and be successful. Make sure to nail down the purpose of the video. Are you trying to get people to purchase a product, visit a new place, or simply become aware of your brand? Once you’ve figured out your goals, make sure you research your competitors to avoid creating a look-alike ad causing consumers to get déjà vu when they view.

The next suggestion is to ask your audience. Consider using user generated content to increase engagement and authenticity.

Third is to cut back on actors. Let’s face it, actors are expensive. If budget is an issue, try going for animation or only using a few faces to get your message across.

Which leads me to the next recommendation, get to the point. Think about a child telling you a story, you know how it takes forever for them to build to the climax? Well, we don’t want that (usually). On average, “your audience’s attention span is just eight seconds” so we want to deliver the message before they get distracted.

Promote Promote Promote! Put some targeting behind your message. Use tags and keywords to give your video higher rankings. Make sure it’s on YouTube! YouTube is the second largest search engine by volume only falling behind Google, so make sure you’re where the audience is.

Also, feel free to repurpose your video content across a multitude of platforms. Share it on social, send it in your email marketing, post it with a blog, etc.

Lastly, be sure to keep quality high. Never sacrifice the quality of your content. If budgets are tight, look for other ways to make due. Lowering the quality of your content will only lower the viewers opinions of your brand.

Mothers Mindfully Manage Their Role as Household CFO

Take a minute to think about who holds the spending power in your household, your friends’ households, or the household you lived in while growing up. While no family operates in the exact same way, it wouldn’t surprise me if most of the money spenders were the mothers.

Consider this, who is the person that buys groceries, goes back to school shopping with the kids, and purchases the household necessities like shampoo and laundry detergent? Chances are it’s the mother who is often referred to as the “chief financial officer” for their household by marketers.

It’s important for marketers to define their target audience but more importantly they need to know their behaviors. eMarketer released a study claiming that mothers tend to be bargain hunters. There are more single mothers in today’s society than in the past which means more women are living in a one paycheck household. For these women especially, good deals are important.

This chart shows that mothers are more likely to shop around, wait for sales, and cut coupons than women without children.

In order to reach mothers, marketers must know their priorities, and for most moms out there, price is at the top of the list.