Made famous among SEOs by Rand Fishkin’s zero-click posts and presentations, analytics firm Jumpshot is being shut down by its corporate parent Avast. Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek said in a blog post that the subsidiary’s operations would be immediately terminated, following critical articles about Jumpshot’s data-collection and sales practices, Jumpshot data from Avast installations. Jumpshot analytics were based on Avast data. Avast offers anti-virus protection and other services. Avast says its software is installed on roughly 435 million active devices, while Jumpshot claims it collected data from more than 100 million devices. Jumpshot promised marketers the ability to “understand consumers’ entire path-to-purchase online.” The company’s customers included Unilever, Microsoft, IBM, Google, Yelp, Condé Nast and TripAdvisor. Articles from Vice, PC Mag and Motherboard claimed that Avast and Jumpshot were “secretly harvesting” users’ browsing behavior, packaging it and reselling without their full knowledge. The company has always said the data is aggregated and anonymized, but the PC Mag article asserted it could “be linked back to people’s real identities, exposing every click and search they’ve made.” Defending Jumpshot’s methodology. SparkToro founder Rand Fishkin, who regularly used Jumpshot data in his widely circulated Google search-click analysis, defended the company on Twitter and faulted the publications for what he said was incomplete and biased reporting. Fiskin said, “A) The tool does protect [users]. Avast is high quality, free AV software. B) their contributions to anonymous, aggregated web data creates a good business, but also does a huge amount of public good. Congress has even cited JS data to hold the tech giants to account for their lies.” He added, “And when you install Avast, they tell you this and ask and then they asked again via email. It’s like calling out the organic grocery store for carrying GMO products, i.e. Creating fear and doubt for no particularly good reason other than clickbait & outrage-bait.” Jumpshot’s methodology isn’t that different from other companies aggregating and reselling user-behavior data. The central question is: did Avast’s users understand they were opting-in to the company’s “panel”? Fishkin asserts Jumpshot used a double opt-in process and that the data is sufficiently anonymized to prevent user identification. Protecting the core business from fallout. Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek says in his post that closing down Jumpshot “is absolutely the right thing to do” and adds, “I firmly believe it will help Avast focus on and unlock its full potential to deliver on its promise of security and privacy. And I especially thank our users, whose recent feedback accelerated our decision to take quick action.” In all likelihood, Avast took the action to protect its core business, as multiple articles, including from Consumer Reports, called out the company for its data collection practices, while some called for the uninstallation of the Avast software. This is probably as much PR damage control as it is driven by any principled position. Why we care. SEO and digital marketing consultant Joe Youngblood raised a question that must now be on many marketer’s minds: how deeply integrated is Jumpshot data into SEO tools that many rely on? More broadly, the Jumpshot controversy raises larger issues around data collection and analytics tools that the industry uses on a daily basis. The PR fallout and damage control were immediate in this case. Other data tools that similarly rely upon “anonymized” user data, collected with ambiguous consent, are now potentially vulnerable. All companies that are collecting and reselling aggregated data will need to be extra careful about user opt-ins. With regulatory initiatives such as GDPR and CCPA, consent by default, buried in terms and conditions, is no longer going to fly as a practical matter — even if it still is technically legal. The post With Jumpshot shuttered, where will SEOs get their ‘zero-click’ fix now? appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3aUXtkq
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If you wanted to see a Google ad exec’s eyes light up last spring, you just had to bring up the Discover feed, the personalized news feed perched right on the Google mobile home page. The company announced ads were coming to this whole new surface that reaches some 800,000 monthly mobile users. It’s still too early to know if the company, which watched Facebook’s News Feed ads skyrocket as Google+ fizzled in the last decade, has a mobile feed winner this time around, but advertisers who have been testing ads in the feed with new Discovery campaigns tell us they’re impressed with the initial results. The level to which the feed is actually driving that satisfaction is not entirely clear, however. You may not have even seen ads in your own Discover feed yet, much less run Discovery campaigns, which remain in closed beta. The ads are still elusive more than a year after initial testing (since at least October 2018) and the official introduction of Discovery campaigns at Google Marketing Live (GML) in May. Discover is personalized to show topics, stories and news items based on a user’s search, browsing and app behaviors, as well as their location history and location settings and stated topic interests. The native Discovery ads are image-heavy and closely resemble social creatives. Few qualms about lack of controls, visibilityThe hitch is there is no way for advertisers to distinctly target ads to the feed alone. Discovery campaigns are among the slate of Google’s machine-powered campaign types that run ads across multiple properties automatically. In addition to the Discover feed, Discovery ads serve in Gmail and on YouTube’s homepage. With that combined slate, Google says Discovery ads can reach a universe of “hundreds of millions” of people. Advertisers said Discovery campaign results compensate for control and visibility limitations. “We are OK with the lack of channel reporting right now since the benefits outweigh the lack of transparency,” said Moses Chang, group media director at MMI Agency. “Right now we look at performance at the campaign and ad group level and decide what we will and will not keep running,” said Duane Brown, founder and head of strategy at the digital agency Take Some Risk, who will be speaking on Discovery ads at SMX West next month. Who should test Discovery campaigns?Advertisers have tested Discovery campaigns for clients with a range of goals, from awareness to acquisition and sales. “We are heavily focused on our e-commerce clients for Discovery Ads,” said Brown, “but I think there is an opportunity for tech and SaaS brands to use the channel.” At Seer Interactive, PPC Associate Molly Quinn, tested a Discovery campaign for a client looking to raise brand awareness and increase site traffic. “For this particular situation, we chose to leverage Discovery because our client was seeing a drop in sessions to their homepage year over year,” said Quinn. For this effort, the lack of visibility and targeting control were not a concern due to the clients’ goals and the performance of the campaign, she added. “Discovery is a high volume, low CPC channel that has the added benefit of generating awareness for the brands,” said Chang, “and as long as the CPAs are in-line with client goals, we are OK running the campaigns knowing channel breakout/negation functions are not there.” Audience targetingBrown has run Discovery campaigns for remarketing as well as top of funnel initiatives but said his agency starts with remarketing. “Then we look at targeting affinity and in-market audiences for a top of funnel campaign,” said Brown. “We run pretty focused ad groups with one audience (or targeting) in each ad group. That way we can understand how that targeting does for each piece of creative. We will try different pieces of creative for each ad group.” Quinn used in-market and similar audiences targeting in her client’s brand awareness and traffic campaign and says she saw the greatest success with in-market audiences related to the client’s vertical. Chang, too, has seen strong volume and efficient cost-per-acquisition with in-market audiences, and has also tested affinity, Google Analytics tag-based audiences and customer match audiences. Not surprising, “Tag-based audiences tend to be more targeted and thus [have a] lower CPA — the volume is much lower than the general audiences, though,” said Chang. Creative repurposingDiscovery campaigns support carousel and single image ads like the ones advertisers may already be running on Facebook. That makes it easy to repurpose existing ad creatives, as Quinn did with her client’s Discovery campaign. “We typically re-purpose best-performing Facebook creatives and then create new ones based on learnings,” said Chang. Sometimes some slight sizing adjustments are needed. He suggests using multiple images in both landscape (1.91:1: Minimum size: 600×314. Recommended: 1200×628. 5MB max file size) and square (1:1: Minimum size: 300×300. Recommended: 1200×1200. 5MB maximum file size). “We’ll make new creative when we can,” said Brown. “Otherwise, we reuse creative from other social channels. We adjust the creative format as the Discovery Ad format can be small image-wise. In either case, our goal is to maintain a consistent brand for the client across channels. Try to make your ad look native to the platform, especially for the Discovery Feed.” Measuring successAdvertisers say they focus on the key performance indicators (KPIs) tied to their client’s goals and evaluate effectiveness at the campaign level while also looking at the impact of Discovery campaigns on the broader customer journey. “If we’re doing remarketing then we look at CPA and ROAS. If we’re doing top of funnel, we look at impression vs. sales and customer path in Google Analytics,” said Brown. “We try to understand if we are adding new people to the journey to becoming a customer. This ad format can lead itself to high first touch and the first time someone is seeing your brand.” Chang uses maximize for conversions bidding and waits to set a Target CPA that’s in line with the client’s goals until enough data has been collected. What’s next?For now, you still have to get into the beta, which can be tricky if you don’t have a Google account manager. But once in, Brown says you can start small — think $50 a day — and scale from there. There are still some kinks in the setup process (this is still in beta, after all) and “the fact that your assets don’t get saved somewhere for you to use in the future means you’re re-uploading some assets months later,” he warned. The verdict is out on whether Discover will prove to be yet another vein in the Google goldmine. The company is treading slowly with this initial effort, as indicated by the rare ad sighting and little chatter in the industry since Discovery ads launched. (Google pulled the other splashy format announced at GML, Gallery Ads, back out of beta within months.) How much weight the Discover feed is pulling in these campaigns overall isn’t known, and at the individual campaign level, it can vary widely. Advertisers can see channel data in Google Analytics source/medium reporting, and Chang, for example, has seen instances in which half of a campaign’s traffic shifted to YouTube — where there is both volume and proven success. “Google, I’m sure, is constantly testing on their end,” he said. The post Will the Discover feed be Google’s next cash cow? What advertisers are saying about Discovery campaigns appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2uGYmwr The post SEL 20200130 appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3aTlLv9 The proliferation of digital channels and devices can make it difficult for marketers to accurately target prospects with the right messages, on the right devices, at the right times. Faced with these challenging market dynamics and increasing ROI pressure, marketers at companies of all sizes can gain benefits from using a marketing automation platform. MarTech Today’s “B2B Marketing Automation Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide” examines the market for B2B marketing automation software platforms and the considerations involved in implementing this software in your business. This 48-page report is your source for the latest trends, opportunities and challenges facing the market for B2B marketing automation software tools as seen by industry leaders, vendors and their customers. If you are a marketer looking to adopt a marketing automation software platform, this report will help you through the decision-making process. Visit Digital Marketing Depot to download your copy. The post Choosing a marketing automation platform appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/36Ge6wK While we wait for Amazon’s Q4 results to come out to see how high they climbed in 2019, I want to share seven expert views on who is winning on Amazon right now. As a merchant on Amazon, you can have two different roles. One is as a vendor working with Amazon in a retail partnership. This is when products are sold to Amazon to be commercialized on the platform and does all the marketing for you. Or, as a third-party seller on the marketplace that uses Amazon as a platform for marketing the product. There is also a hybrid model to be a seller but benefit from Amazon’s fulfillment solution. We expected experts to respond to our Amazon Marketing Report research to say there is a slight advantage to being a vendor over a seller (or the opposite). But, responses were a lot more varied and with some interesting angles. Nils Zündorf from factor-a gave us this surprising, but also completely justified angle on the question: Amazon is obsessed with the customer experience and always makes sure the price is right, so the end-user is the winner.
More in line with what we had expected to hear, but with an interesting perspective of how the winner of yesterday is not the winner of tomorrow, was the response we got from Megan Harbold of Kenshoo:
Adam Palczewski from Philips insisted on learning to adopt Amazon’s customer experience focus:
But there is competition everywhere, and Nich Weinheimer from Kenshoo uncovered a new dimension we really hadn’t expected to see:
Are brand-holding companies preparing for this new world of digital commerce? Absolutely, as Benjamin Spiegel from P&G could testify:
Trish Carey of TC Max Marketing provided a simpler answer that is more based on the dynamic growth statistics of the moment:
Indeed, sales from third-party sellers in the Amazon marketplace represented higher sales figures than Amazon e-commerce by 15-20% and are growing at a higher rate. There are also movements from one form of sales to the other: vendors becoming sellers, losing certain data access and service levels and gaining others, making people wonder whether perhaps there could be some kind of homogenization of the two merchant models on the horizon to level the playing field. From Tanner Schroeder of Hanapin Marketing comes a different view, but also totally justifiable:
Prime, an out-of-the-ordinary loyalty program you actually pay to be a member of and which actually provides the member with real benefits, is changing the rules of the e-commerce game as it affects user behavior on one hand and becomes a product characteristic that was not previously a criteria at the moment of buying. And, thanks to Amazon leading the way in e-commerce and having the power to influence user behavior, the final quote from Evan Facinger totally makes sense:
So, we have third-party sellers winning over vendors, bold marketers winning over traditionalists, algorithm-driven metrics over traditional knowledge, service and price winning over brands, and end-users simply winning, especially via Prime, which they, of course, pay Amazon for. In 2020 there will likely be many new winners on Amazon. But the competitive space is becoming fiercer, and understanding how the ecosystem works and where to bet becomes essential. The post Who’s winning on Amazon right now? appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2S2n3Lt So far we’ve covered the top 2 areas of mastery to become a network marketing pro along with my associated book recommendation The next area of mastery involves mastering mindset in network marketing. If you forgot the first 2 areas of mastery… 1) Network Marketing – https://www.mattmorris.com/network-marketing-books-to-read/ 2) Communication Skills – https://www.mattmorris.com/communication-skills-network-marketing/ Let’s tackle belief/mastering mindset in network marketing. Simply put, if you can’t master the inner-workings of your mind, you will be highly unlikely to master building a network. Another way to put it is this… Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world. If your inner world is consumed by scarcity, lack, dis-belief, lack of confidence and negativity in general, your outer world will be consumed by the same. Conversely, if your inner world is consumed by abundance, faith, determination, confidence and positivity in general, your outer world will be consumed by the same. This is an area you must master not only for yourself but also for those you end up mentoring along the way. The “inner game” is not something most of us ever learned in school and likely the most important category for us to master to have a happy, healthy and abundant life. Top book recommendations for mastering belief in network marketing#1.) Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill One of the best selling personal development books of all time. Napoleon Hill was commissioned by Andrew Carnegie, likely the wealthiest man alive at the time, to interview the wealthiest leaders of the time. It would have been the equivalent in today’s world of interviewing Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffet and the like to interview them on what their biggest keys to success were as it relates to their mindset. I’ve read this more times than I can count and it was, in fact, the first personal development book I ever read. #2.) As a Man Thinketh by James Allen This one is a super quick read. It’s not exactly written the same way we speak today, but nonetheless, it’s one of the most solid books ever written on the mindset that it takes to become successful. #3.) The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz This is one that no matter how many times you read it, you’ll continue to get new insights that will trigger an ah-ha moment for you. There are some very specific principles here that directly relate to network marketing. In fact, my mentor had me memorize a quote in this book when I first started working with him. In the first 30 pages or so, you’ll know why when you read the quote that starts with “It’s good to honor the leader.” #4.) What to Say When You Talk to Yourself by Shad Helmstetter This has been my #1 resource for understanding the science of the mind. By understanding behavioral psychology which you’ll learn in the this book, you’ll be able to much more effectively lead your teams to produce. Don’t read this like a regular book… read it like you’re going to have to give a book report when you’re done. This book is gold! #5.) Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by Harv Eker Harv Eker built one of the largest seminar companies in the world. After reading this book, it was no surprise to me as to why he experienced such tremendous success. Make sure you have a notebook and highlighter ready because this book is filled with golden nuggets. There are a ton of other books, but there’s are my favorites. I’ve read each of them multiple times and they’ve all been a key to my success. I’d love to hear your thoughts after you’ve read them! I’ll be back with the 4th category you will want to master to become a network marketing professional. If you want to discover the 7 specific strategies I’ve used to go from being a broke swimming pool salesman to creating 7-figure results in my network marketing organization…Head over to 7strategiesbook.com. I just released my new book that acts as the starting ground… The FOUNDATION necessary for achieving a high level of success. If you want some advanced training on leadershipFeel free to hop over to LeadwithMatt.com. I’ve got some strategies there on becoming a powerful leader and recruiting powerful leaders. I’d love to hear what your biggest takeaway was out of this in the comments below. If you feel like this can add some value to some others, feel free to share it. Take care. If you’d like to learn how to impact others, check out this blog post. Go Make Life An AdventureBe sure to check out my Facebook and Instagram accounts for daily motivational and inspirational content. Matt Morris The post Mastering Mindset in Network Marketing appeared first on Matt Morris. via Matt Morris https://ift.tt/37yNZsW URLs shown in featured snippets that appear in the right rail of Google desktop results will continue to be included in the main organic listings, for the time being, anyway. Why we careGoogle still plans to remove featured snippets from the right rail and move the feature to the main listings. URLs for pages that earn the right-sidebar featured snippet currently appear twice on the first results page. Since this is temporary, site owners should monitor their traffic and click-through rate. When the format gets pushed into the main column, those URLs will only appear once within the organic results, as they do for regular featured snippets. More on the news
The post Google has stopped deduplicating right-sidebar featured snippets appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/36AWySI This week, Darrell interviews Brennan Dunn, the founder of the popular online course Double Your Freelancing Rate, and the software... The post Increase Your Conversions by Using the Right Message, with Brennan Dunn appeared first on Copyblogger. via Copyblogger https://ift.tt/2U6XXxG It was so much fun to sit down and chat one-on-one with Lisa Barone, a former SEO blogger and now the Vice President of Strategy at Overit. Some of you may remember Lisa from her days as an SEO blogger at Bruce Clay. The two of us spent many hours sitting in the front row of SEO conferences “live blogging” the sessions back in the old days. Now, while she has moved on to crush bigger problems as a VP at a successful full-service digital agency, I am still writing stories about search. But you can tell from the interview that Lisa is still super passionate about SEO and the SEO community. She spoke about her entry into the SEO space and why she felt the SEO community enjoyed her writing. She wrote, and wrote incredibly well, in a way that connected with many in our industry. She felt it was because she was new to SEO and had to write from that perspective. But we all know that how Lisa writes, how she communicates with the reader, is what sets her apart from other writers. We spent a lot of time chatting about the older days of SEO and then moved on to how her career has changed over the years. She has realized a lot of success and it was just awesome chatting with her. Oh, you can still follow Lisa on Twitter @lisabarone. A warning, the video is really the two of us giving each other a hard time. We both had fun with it and I hope you enjoy the humor. I started this vlog series recently, and if you want to sign up to be interviewed, you can fill out this form on Search Engine Roundtable. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking here. The post Video: Lisa Barone on the early days of SEO blogging appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2GyyNQU While Google and Facebook both have distinct advantages, they aren’t the only platforms to promote your brand online. There are plenty of alternatives out there and it may be time to look at a few of them. Remember, some of the folks in your target market will see ads hosted by those other networks. Even better, they might be more receptive to ads that aren’t displayed on the usual sites. You’ll also increase brand-name awareness when people see your company name on multiple locations. Below are 17 additional ad platforms to consider. 1. Microsoft AdvertisingIf you want to reach folks on Bing, you’ll have to use Microsoft Advertising (formerly Bing Ads). There are a couple of free options because Microsoft Advertising runs ads not only on Bing, but also on two other search platforms: Yahoo and AOL. Here are a few stats about the total audience you can reach with Microsoft:
Microsoft also offers a variety of advertising goals to help boost your business. Using the platform, you can:
Additionally, Microsoft also offers an assortment of ad products that include:
So if you’re familiar with the typical features offered by Google, you’ll find it easy to transition to Microsoft Advertising. Virgin Australia, for example, adopted Microsoft Advertising and saw an 18% year-over-year revenue growth. The company used its own first-party data to target potential customers. According to David Rossi, one of the leaders of Virgin’s digital marketing team: “Virgin Australia applies models based on the likely propensity for users to buy flights to certain destinations.” Rossi’s solution involved feeding data gathered by websites and apps directly into Microsoft Custom Audiences. He also set different bid modifiers for increased flexibility. Overall, the company only increased investment in Microsoft Advertising by 18%. 2. QuoraThere are a few advertising platforms that really stepped up their game in the last year. One of them is Quora. If you’re unfamiliar with Quora, it’s a “Question and Answer” platform. People log on, ask a question (anything, really), and then other users in-the-know provide the answer. Multiple people can answer, however, there’s often a single answer highlighted as the “best” and makes it easier for others to find. Part of the challenge when running a business is to reach people who need digital marketing services right now. Quora enables you to do that by running your ad to folks who are asking questions about online marketing. For example, if someone logs on to Quora and asks, “Which ad platform is best for e-commerce sites?” You can get your ad in front of that person. Quora also offers the same kinds of sophisticated targeting options you’ve seen on other platforms, such as lookalike audiences, website match audiences, and list match audiences. You can also target Quora users based on their history on the platform. 3. AdRollAdRoll’s platform employs a solution called IntentMap that tracks 1.2 billion shopper profiles with trillions of intent data points and makes more than 80 billion AI predictions every day. It’s designed to reach potential shoppers who are most likely to convert. You can also use AdRoll to create the ultimate cross-platform experience for folks in your market. Run online ads, email marketing campaigns, and website promotions to lead people through the customer journey. You also get a healthy reporting feature that includes multi-touch attribution. If you’re running an e-commerce shop, AdRoll integrates with some of the most popular platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce. 4. AmazonAs much as you might think that your product is unique and you can set up a virtual shop alongside Amazon that’s effectively competitive, more than you likely you’ll learn the hard way that it just won’t work. When that happens, you’ll need to sell your products using Amazon’s platform. And then you’ll need to run ads on Amazon as well. Why do you need to run ads? Because the competition on Amazon is cutthroat. There are simply too many players in the game. The bad news is that your margins will take a hit when you sell and advertise on Amazon. So you may have to make some adjustments to your business model. Still, Amazon is a great place to land if you’re looking for a way to increase brand-name awareness and land more sales. Amazon also offers targeting features and a rich reporting system so you can fine-tune your strategy. 5. TaboolaTaboola stands out from the other advertising options because it’s a native advertising platform. If you’re unfamiliar with native advertising, it’s a way to promote content on somebody else’s blog. The format of the ad looks like content on the hosting website. Oh, there’s usually some kind of disclaimer making it clear to careful observers that the content is an ad. But the disguise is still effective. Taboola recently announced a merger with Outbrain and together form a powerhouse of an online advertising option that will help you target the right people, gain more exposure and offer reporting that enables you to adapt your strategy. Taboola also allows you to use a variety of creative formats, including video, social or content ads. There is also a smart bidding feature so you can automate your optimization strategy. 6. RedditReddit is an online forum for user-generated content. People who like what other folks post will “upvote” it by clicking an up-arrow next to the content headline. Folks who don’t like what they see will “downvote” it by clicking a down-arrow. Unsurprisingly, content with lots of upvotes tends to surface towards the top of people’s feeds. What kind of content can you find on Reddit? The answer is yes. Seriously, Reddit offers forums (called “subreddits”) for just about every subject imaginable. It also offers forums for some subjects you can’t imagine. But that’s a subject for a different article. Reddit enables you to create your own post on the platform and then run it as an ad. It will, of course, show up with an “Ad” disclaimer next to it, but people will still see it. If your headline is catchy enough, people might view your content. If your content is worthwhile, you might snag a few additional customers. And lest you think that Reddit is an ad platform only for up-and-coming marketers desperate for attention, keep in mind that well-known brands such as Audi and L’Oreal have used the platform effectively. Reddit, by the way, is another one of those platforms that has heavily improved its feature set in 2019. You’ll appreciate the results. 7. BuySellAdsBuySellAds is a self-serve platform that enables you to target developers, designers and niche tech audiences. In other words, if your business model involves reaching people in high-tech, you should put BuySellAds on your short list of alternative ad platforms. One of the more attractive features of this platform is that it enables you to reach people with a variety of ad formats, including:
The company website includes several success stories from brands such as Hello Sign, Rollbar, Circleci and Storyblocks. Storyblocks used the BuySellAds platform to identify designers when they were seeking inspiration and resources. That’s how the company reached an audience at the lower end of the sales funnel. 8. InfolinksIf there’s one word that defines the Infolinks ad platform it’s this one: Smart. Infolinks gives you the ability to reach people in your market when they’re most likely to convert. It does that with a sophisticated algorithm that presents only relevant ads to netsurfers. You can also use the platform to reach an international audience. Infolinks boasts of a billion users worldwide. Additionally, the tool enables you to:
The platform’s customer list includes Digitas, Starcom Mediavest Group, Mediacom, McCann Worldgroup, and MEC. 9. LinkedInLinkedIn ads are practically a cost of doing business if you’re in the B2B space. Simply put: there is no place online where you’re more likely to find business owners and leaders who are part of your potential customer pool. As of now, there are about 630 million active professionals on LinkedIn. Of those, 180 million are senior-level influencers, 63 million are decision-makers, and 10 million are C-level executives. In other words, the people you’re trying to reach are there. With LinkedIn, you have several advertising options, including:
Additionally, the platform offers many of the features you’d expect to find on state-of-the-art ad solutions, such as:
Companies such as Lenovo, Marketo, Intel, AIG, and American Express have used LinkedIn Ads to successfully promote their brands. Finally, keep in mind that LinkedIn is now owned by Microsoft. So you get the advantages of the Microsoft big data platform, and the targeting possibilities that accompany it, when you run ads on LinkedIn. 10. PinterestPinterest is another one that has significantly improved its ad offerings this year. If you haven’t looked at its rich feature set lately, you should check it out. That’s especially true if women are a significant part of your target market because they are the vast majority of Pinterest users. Also, if your brand places a high emphasis on image marketing, Pinterest is a great option because it’s all about sharing images. Keep in mind: your “ad” on Pinterest will be a Pin. So you’ll start by uploading an image that promotes your business and then make it an advertisement. You can choose to pay for engagements or website visits. In either case, you’re only paying when people show interest. Pinterest also offers a robust tracking platform so you can see which strategies are paying off. 11. SnapchatIf a sizable chunk of your target audience skews younger, you should consider advertising on Snapchat. That’s because more than 70% of Snapchat users are between the ages of 18 to 24. According to the Snapchat advertising page, more than a third of the app’s user community can’t be found on Facebook and Instagram. So you stand to gain market share with Snapchat ads. The platform enables you to pick one of three goals for your ad:
Also, Snapchat makes it easy to get your ad up and running in minutes with its self-serve platform. Finally, the tool offers tracking tools so you can measure and optimize your campaigns for maximum impact. 12. TikTokTikTok is a short-form video platform that boasts over 1.5 billion users worldwide. More than 60% of those folks are between the ages of 16 and 24. So, once again, it’s where you want to be if you’re looking to reach a younger crowd. Unlike Vine, TikTok also offers an advertising platform to reach people in more than 20 markets around the world. The platform also enables a way to create ads in a variety of formats and plenty of targeting capabilities. Guess Jeans, Universal Pictures, and Clean & Clear have used TikTok advertising to promote their brands. 13. YouTube“In an average month, 18-plus year olds in the United States spend more time watching YouTube than any television network.” That’s the claim you’ll read when you visit the YouTube Ads home page. It’s a compelling reason to consider advertising on the platform. YouTube Ads offers a targeting platform called Find My Audience that enables you to reach only the viewers who are most likely to become customers. You can go beyond simple demographics to identify the folks by habits and interests. As is the case with other advertising options, YouTube Ads also allows you to create In-Market Audiences and Affinity Audiences to broaden your reach even more. And here’s where YouTube TrueView Ads shine above and beyond traditional TV commercial ads: You only pay when someone watches at least 30 seconds of your ad. Of course, you’ll have to put some money into producing high-quality video ads. That’s an added cost you’ll need to discuss with your accountant. Finally, YouTube offers some great analytics tools so you can track your campaign performance and get the most bang for your buck. 14. Propel MediaYou can reach folks in your target market with a website lightbox or a TextLink with Propel Media. The platform employs a “DeepIntent” algorithm that’s designed to find high-value audiences in real-time. How does it work? According to the company website, it combines AI with natural language processing to understand the relationships between 300 million people, places, products and events. The targeting technology can reach your next customers with lightboxes, TextLinks and pre-roll video ads. Here’s another selling point: the company formed a partnership with streaming brands Roku, Apple TV and Chromecast. Those platforms give you access to people you might not find with traditional web advertising. Finally, Propel Media even offers native advertising options for both national and international audiences. 15. RevcontentRevcontent is another native advertising platform that offers the goodies you’d expect from any native ad service: granular targeting options, real-time reporting and flexibility with creatives. One thing you get with Revcontent that you might not get with some other platforms – dedicated account management. That kind of expertise can make the difference between profitable and unprofitable campaigns. Revcontent is used by plenty of well-known brands, including Forbes, Ziff Davis, Bank of America, Wayfair and NASDAQ. 16. SpotifyIf you want to reach people in your target market in a way that your competitors might have overlooked, consider going with audio advertising on Spotify ads. The production cost for audio ads might come in a bit higher than traditional image ads but the Spotify ad platform includes a feature to make your own audio ad, which includes a voiceover. So it might not be expensive at all. Beyond that, the potential to reach your core audience shouldn’t be overlooked. Millions of people use Spotify to discover their favorite music and listen to the podcasts they love. Spotify advertising also gives you the ability to target potential customers at unusual times, such as when they’re working out, driving to work, relaxing, cooking or cleaning. 17. PandoraPandora is a competitor to Spotify so the advantages of running ads on the platform are similar. Pandora boasts an audience of 118 million listeners. You can target a segment of those folks using the platform’s first-party data as well as Pandora-provided third-party data. The first-party data includes segments such as:
The third-party data includes offline habits such as shopping behavior and media interests. When combined, the first- and third-party data give you laser-like targeting capabilities so that you only reach people who are likely to show an interest in your brand. With Pandora, you have the option to run 10-, 15-, or 30-second ad spots. The platform also includes an Audio Everywhere product that integrates your message seamlessly with the listener’s preferred experience. You can even launch a campaign that combines your audio ad with a persistent visual component that runs across the web and mobile platforms. Wrapping it upHere’s your assignment: go through the list of alternative ad platform options above and select the one you think is best for your business. For example, if you’re running a B2B shop, you’d probably choose LinkedIn. Then, follow a common-sense approach to advertising on that platform. Run ads that highlight the benefits of your brand. Do some split-testing so you can optimize your campaigns. Double down on what works. When you’ve successfully fine-tuned a strategy for one platform and it’s giving you a positive ROI, pick a second option from the list above and start the same process with that platform. Rinse and repeat until you’ve saturated your market profit-producing ads. The post Beyond Google and Facebook advertising: 17 ad platforms you should try appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2uIZGyy |
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