Controlling the Narrative Around Your Brand – It Begins at Home, on Your Website
How do you ensure your brand’s voice is heard in a world where everyone is shouting, and everything feels on fire? How do you get your message if you live in a rural community where the nearest newspaper is over two hours away? When current or prospective clients are in search of the latest news related to your company or projects, where would they turn? In the ever-evolving media world, organizations must adapt to a landscape where traditional media outlets are no longer the sole gatekeepers of information. The concept of “earned media,” where coverage is secured through press releases and media outreach, is still valuable but no longer sufficient to cut through the noise by itself. Organizations must embrace a more comprehensive approach to media strategy that includes paid, shared, and owned channels. Paid Media: This involves using advertising platforms such as search engines, display, native advertising, and social media ads to reach specific audiences. It allows organizations to target their desired demographics and deliver tailored messages. Shared Media: This refers to content that is shared via networks on platforms that are not strictly owned by your company. Social media sites would be an example, where you may have developed an audience, but the platform is owned by others and controlled by an algorithm. Another example may be a blog or website owned by an influencer or channel partner. Shared media can be a powerful way to reach new audiences and build brand awareness. Owned Media: This encompasses all the content and platforms an organization controls, such as its website, blog, and email list. Owned media gives organizations a direct line to their audience and allows them to control the narrative. By integrating these four channels, organizations can create a comprehensive media strategy that reaches a broader audience, builds stronger customer relationships, and drives business results. The key is to develop a cohesive strategy that leverages the strengths of each channel and aligns with the organization’s overall marketing and communication goals. Considering all these approaches, it is critical that content central to a company’s lifeblood should have a home on its website. Ready to get started? Contact us today—Call 855-MKTNGCO or click here! GO DEEPER: The Media Landscape: A Crowded Party The Content Ecosystem: From Blog to Inbox to Feed Building Your Content Machine: 9 Tips for Success (AI Disclaimer: proofed by Grammarly and lightly edited using Claude)
6 Top Paid Media Trends to Watch in 2024
In today’s digital playground, change isn’t just happening—it’s hitting the gas! Gartner’s 2023 CMO Spend and Strategy Survey reveals that 25.6% of marketing budgets are now devoted to paid media, highlighting its star role in brands’ modern marketing strategies. With new tech, shifting consumer habits, and fresh regulations, it’s time not just to keep up but to lead the charge in new ways to reach your target customers. As we dive into media trends for 2024, innovation is shaking up advertising strategies like never before. Keeping up with emerging trends and aligning them with marketing objectives is crucial for brands and agencies to stay ahead and succeed. Whether you aim to boost brand awareness, increase website traffic, enhance customer loyalty, or improve conversion rates, aligning these trends with your business goals is key to an effective strategy. From location targeting to the rise of AI and machine learning, each trend offers unique opportunities and challenges for marketers eager to stay ahead of the curve. Let’s explore these trends and their implications for advertisers in the ever-evolving digital ecosystem. Trend 1: Location-Based Targeting Location targeting is taking the advertising world by storm, allowing marketers to deliver highly relevant content based on where their audience is. Here’s how it works: Geofencing: Draw a virtual fence around a specific location and serve ads to mobile users within that area. Geoframing: Collect mobile device IDs from users who have been in a predefined location at a specific time, allowing you to target them even after they leave. Geolocation Targeting: Pinpoint your ads to countries, cities, neighborhoods, or even postal codes. These tactics help increase brand visibility, compete with bigger brands, and capture your audience’s attention at the right place and time. The ad platforms MKTNG utilizes excel at location targeting and deliver impactful results. Trend 2: Ad Optimization With AI and Machine Learning AI and machine learning are revolutionizing the paid media landscape. These technologies bring unparalleled precision and efficiency to ad targeting, bidding, and personalization. They use algorithms to predict audience behavior and optimize campaigns in real time, significantly boosting ROI and campaign effectiveness. AI streamlines processes, enhances scalability, and provides deeper insights into performance, making data-driven decision-making easier than ever. Trend 3: Better Branding With Interactive and Immersive Ad Formats Interactive and immersive ad formats, such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and interactive video, are changing the branding game. These formats offer deeper, more engaging experiences that capture consumers’ attention like never before. Brands are using these technologies to create compelling interactions that resonate with their audiences. Trend 4: Driving Sales With Social Commerce and Shoppable Ads Social media platforms are evolving into shopping destinations, integrating e-commerce directly into ads. Shoppable ads turn engagement into revenue, transforming social platforms into valuable sales channels. Brands are leveraging these trends to drive sales and build stronger customer relationships. Trend 5: Increasing Reliance on Third-Party Cookie Alternatives With Google phasing out third-party cookies by early 2025, marketers face uncertainty about future tracking, targeting, and measurement. However, this shift also opens doors for innovative strategies. We see this as a significant opportunity for industry collaboration and innovation to utilize different ways to collect and use first-party data to market brands more strategically. Trend 6: Increased Ad Competition Due to Market Consolidation The media industry is experiencing significant consolidation, with major mergers like Disney’s acquisition of Twentieth Century Fox reshaping the landscape. This trend centralizes control, creating larger media conglomerates with enhanced bargaining power and strategic capabilities. However, it also means fewer independent media outlets and more competition for ad spaces, leading to higher prices and less negotiability. Advertisers must build strong relationships with these conglomerates and leverage their integrated advertising solutions to reach wider audiences effectively. As we’ve explored the changing world of paid media in 2024, it’s clear that your brand’s success hinges on spotting key trends and using them effectively. Matching these emerging trends with specific business goals allows brands and agencies to uncover fresh avenues for growth and interaction. Whether using location targeting for precise audience reach or adopting AI and machine learning to boost ad performance, strategically integrating these trends is crucial for driving outcomes. Navigating the dynamic realm of paid media requires staying innovative and adaptable. Embracing change and trying out new strategies enable marketers to keep up with the evolving digital landscape and even shape the future of advertising. If you’d like to explore how to utilize paid media best to reach your target audience and grow your brand’s reach, the MKTNG team is here to help. Call 855-MKTNGCO or contact us today to get started!
Accelerating Growth: Leveraging the Strategic Power of Paid Media
Paid media isn’t just another item to tick off your marketing checklist; it’s a powerful strategy that drives growth and boosts your brand’s influence. Here’s why paid media is crucial for any well-rounded marketing plan: Elevating Your Brand Beyond Organic Reach Paid media helps amplify your brand’s message beyond what organic efforts can achieve alone. Think of it as boosting your brand’s volume, ensuring it reaches a wider audience. When your organic reach reaches its peak, paid media ensures that your content and messages are seen by the right people at the right moment. According to data from Techjury, PPC traffic has a 50% higher conversion rate compared to organic site visitors. Amplifying Brand Reach with Targeted Paid Media Picture having a super precise tool for your marketing campaigns. Well, that’s what paid media gives you. You can target specific demographics, behaviors, and interests with super-detailed options. Forget about wasting resources on people who aren’t interested. With our awesome strategy team supporting you, your message hits just the right audience your brand wants to connect with. Paid Media Drives Brand Growth Paid media isn’t just about increasing impressions; it’s about driving action and conversions. It drives traffic to your landing pages, products, or lead forms. When a user clicks, subscribes, or makes a purchase, that’s where the magic happens. Paid media is a direct catalyst for conversions and revenue, turning interest into tangible results. If you’d like to explore how to utilize paid media best to reach your target audience and grow your brand’s reach, the MKTNG team is here to help. Call 855-MKTNGCO or contact us today to get started!
Evolution of Paid Media
In the ever-evolving realm of digital marketing, paid media has undergone a series of transformative changes, reshaping how brands connect with their audiences. From the dawn of the internet to the current era of advanced analytics, the strategies and technologies driving paid media have continually adapted to meet the needs of both advertisers and consumers. Understanding this evolution is crucial for anyone looking to harness the power of paid media effectively. Let’s take a closer look at the key milestones in the journey of paid media over the years. Early 2000s: Keyword-Centric Approach Remember the days of intense keyword bidding wars? Advertisers fiercely competed for top spots in search engine results, trying to outbid each other for visibility. 2010s: Segmentation and Personalization Enter the era of targeted ad placements. Thanks to more sophisticated platforms, advertisers could now tailor their campaigns based on demographics, behavior, and interests. It was all about getting the right message to the right person. 2010s-2020s: Mobile and Video Dominance As smartphones took over, so did mobile-optimized content and video ads. Platforms like YouTube became key for engaging audiences with video. Meanwhile, streaming giants like Netflix and Disney+ rose to prominence, offering a vast library of TV shows and movies. Connected TV (CTV) emerged as the technical core for programmatic TV (PTV), enabling precise audience-based targeting. Present: Data-Driven Optimization Today, it’s all about using advanced analytics and machine learning to fine-tune campaigns in real time. Every click, impression, and interaction informs adjustments. CTV ads are now streamed through smart TVs, connected devices (Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, etc.), and gaming consoles. Advertisers are leveraging CTV’s flexibility to communicate with customers throughout their buying journey. With CTV ad spending projected to reach over $41 billion by 2027, it’s clear this trend is here to stay. If you’d like to explore how to utilize paid media best to reach your target audience and grow your brand’s reach, the MKTNG team is here to help. Call 855-MKTNGCO or contact us today to get started!
Navigating Digital Paid Media
Paid media revolves around strategic promotion with specific goals or key performance indicators (KPI) in mind. Those specific goals utilize particular marketing mediums as ways to achieve them efficiently. Brands invest in exposure and visibility across various digital platforms such as search engines, social media, display networks, Connected TV (CTV), and more. The primary objective? Targeting the appropriate audience, driving traffic, and converting leads. Now, let’s dissect paid media into five fundamental components: Display Advertising: You’ve seen those eye-catching banners or videos that pop up on websites, right? That’s display advertising in action. They’re designed to grab your attention and entice you to click for more information. Google runs the biggest display ads network, reaching a significant portion of internet users worldwide. This vast network spans over 35 million websites, apps, and properties owned by Google. Native Advertising: Have you ever been reading an article online or watching a show on your favorite streaming platform, and you suddenly see a recommendation for a product or service that fits perfectly with what you’re already enjoying? That’s native advertising. It seamlessly blends into the content you’re engaging with, making it feel like a natural part of your experience. And guess what? It’s effective. According to the 2024 Gitnux Marketdata Report, native ads can boost brand awareness by as much as 82%. Content Promotion Advertising: At times, brands aim to reach a wider audience with their content. That’s where content promotion steps in. Whether it’s a blog post, a video, or an infographic, companies can invest in promoting it to ensure more people see and interact with it. This practice is on the rise. According to Zippia, in 2024, 45% of content marketers anticipate an increase in their content marketing budget. Search Engine Advertising (SEA): Have you ever spotted those ads right at the top of your search results? That’s what we call paid search at work. When you look for something online, like “best pizza near me,” those businesses have paid to show up there. Platforms like Google Ads let companies bid on specific keywords to make their ads more visible. And guess what? It’s a big deal. According to eMarketer, a whopping 42% of all digital marketing spending is dedicated to search marketing. Why? Because it works really well. Social Media Advertising: You’ve likely come across sponsored posts on your Facebook or Instagram feed, right? That’s social media advertising in action. Advertisers can tailor their campaigns based on factors like your age, interests, and even your online conversations. And here’s an interesting fact: according to a recent report from Datareportal, more folks discover new brands, products, and services through social media ads than through word-of-mouth recommendations, brand websites, or consumer review sites. If you’d like to explore how to utilize paid media best to reach your target audience and grow your brand’s reach, the MKTNG team is here to help. Call 855-MKTNGCO or contact us today to get started!
Google Display Network vs. Programmatic – What’s Best for Your Brand?
Marketers are set to spend more than $460 billion on digital advertising in 2024, and with automated advertising now making up over 80% of the total digital display ad spend in the U.S., the landscape is buzzing with opportunity! But choosing between programmatic advertising and Google Ads can feel like navigating a maze. Fear not—we’re here to demystify these two powerhouses and help you determine which suits your business best. A Fresh Approach to Online Advertising Gone are the days when advertisers had to negotiate directly with website owners and bloggers to place their ads transactionally. That old-school method was time-consuming and often inefficient. Enter programmatic advertising and the Google Display Network (GDN)—these tools automate the process, making it a breeze. Set your parameters, and the system does the rest! Unleashing the Potential of Google Display Network The Google Display Network is like having a backstage pass to the internet. Partnering with millions of websites, YouTube, emails, blogs, and mobile apps, GDN allows your ads to reach up to 90% of internet users worldwide. Imagine the reach! GDN uses your specified criteria—like age, gender, and interests—to display your ads to the right audience at the right time. Decoding Programmatic Advertising Like Google Display Network, programmatic ads are automated but with a broader reach. They cover multiple ad networks, including Google Display Network and native ads. Advertisers use Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) to buy ad space, while publishers use Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs) to sell it. This seamless connection between advertisers and publishers, facilitated by real-time bidding (RTB), ensures your ads reach the right audience at the right time for the right price, ensuring ROI for your marketing investment. Behavioral Advertising and Its Evolution Programmatic ads initially relied heavily on behavioral data—showing ads based on online activity. However, with privacy regulations like GDPR, this method is evolving. Now, ads are increasingly based on the content of the websites you visit, offering a more privacy-conscious approach. Inside the World of Programmatic Ads Programmatic campaigns are more expansive than GDN campaigns, incorporating various platforms through DSPs and SSPs. Real-time bidding allows advertisers to bid for ad space dynamically. Here’s a rundown of the types of deals you might encounter: Open Auction: The most common RTB model. Private Auction: Limited to selected advertisers. Preferred Deal: Fixed-price ad space for premium spots. Programmatic Guaranteed: Direct deals between advertisers and publishers. Comparing Google Display Network and Programmatic Advertising While both GDN and programmatic advertising automate the ad placement process and offer extensive targeting options, there are key differences: Pricing: GDN offers CPC, CPM, and CPA models, which can be more budget-friendly. Programmatic advertising primarily uses the CPM model, potentially increasing costs. Cost-Effectiveness: Both methods are efficient, but programmatic’s real-time bidding can reach a wider audience, albeit at a higher price. Video Advertising: Programmatic advertising excels in video ad placement, providing more options outside YouTube. Choosing Between Programmatic Advertising and Google Display Network Both programmatic advertising and GDN have their unique strengths. Google Display Network can be good for advertisers looking to stay within Google’s Network. At the same time, programmatic advertising offers broader reach and sophisticated targeting for those ready to ensure their campaign effectiveness. MKTNG is here to help you choose the best way to leverage these tools to enhance your digital marketing strategy and grow your brand significantly. Give us a call at 855-MKTNGCO or contact us here today to get started!
Why Hiring a Full-Service Digital Marketing Agency is a Game Changer for Your Brand
When it comes to digital marketing, there are many ways to boost your business! However, how your brand chooses to approach digital marketing can impact your ROI. Picture this: an in-house marketer bogged down with internal timelines, a narrow skillset, multiple vendors, and a lack of a cohesive, integrated marketing strategy. Or imagine a paid advertising consultant who attempts to properly allocate your marketing budget and reach your target customers. Now, consider hiring a full-service marketing agency to handle all your digital marketing needs. This might seem a bit daunting initially, especially with the thought of entrusting your business to strangers. But fear not! Agencies like MKTNG are packed with experts who will dive deep into understanding your company and craft a custom plan to supercharge your digital presence and profitability. Below are some essential services a full-service digital marketing agency should offer to elevate your brand. Brand Strategy First and foremost, you need a partner who understands brands. How they look, how they speak, their voice and how they express themselves. One of the largest advantages of an integrated, full-service agency is that it can touch all of your marketing assets. If your print, website, and social media don’t all tell the same story, your brand will be in a world of hurt. Digital Ad Management A digital marketing firm is like a savvy detective for your ads. They dig deep into your advertising traffic to uncover sneaky ways to save money. They don’t just set up your ads and walk away—they’re constantly monitoring, tweaking, and optimizing in real-time. The boost in profits from these clever adjustments can often cover the agency’s fees, making this a win-win for your business! Creative Services Many marketing agencies include a creative services branch to provide continued optimization for your digital advertising campaigns. Whether you are looking for video, display, native, or any other marketing medium, having an expert in-house creative services team allows agencies to be even more of an asset to their clients. Plus, agencies that have access to high-quality creative services help ensure that their campaigns run more efficiently since any revisions are all handled within the same organization. Content Marketing Marketing firms can handle all your content needs. Imagine having a team of skilled professionals manage your social media accounts, engage with your current audience, and reach new demographics and geographic areas you hadn’t considered. A reputable firm will create an engagement calendar to maintain high levels of brand interaction. Website Services Agencies can manage your website, freeing you to focus on what you love about your business. They handle the front-end aspects like design and user experience (UI/UX) and back-end coding. Additionally, they provide ongoing maintenance to ensure your site is always up-to-date, preventing any loss of sales due to technical issues. Email Automation Full-service marketing agencies have email specialists who can craft a custom lifecycle email campaign for your business. They’ll handle everything—from designing and writing weekly newsletters to managing acquisition and retention campaigns and special promotions. These specialists will handle the design and copywriting, set up automation, and deliver the emails to your customers. Public Relations Marketing agencies can craft compelling press releases, manage media relationships, and handle any PR crisis with finesse. Imagine having a team of experts spreading the good word about your brand, pitching your stories to top media outlets, and ensuring your company shines in the public eye. They’ll keep your brand’s reputation sparkling and help you navigate the sometimes tricky world of public relations with confidence and style. Now that we’ve outlined the services a full-service digital marketing agency can provide, it’s time to look at the benefits that adding a dream team of marketing specialists to your business roster brings to you as a business owner. Time Savings Instead of juggling SEO tweaks, social media posts, email campaigns, and website updates, you can focus on the parts of your business you’re truly passionate about, whether developing new products, connecting with customers, or enjoying a bit more work-life balance. It’s like having a personal assistant for your digital presence, providing less stress and more efficiency. Experience and Expertise Professionals in digital marketing live and breathe digital marketing trends, algorithms, and strategies. They’ve got their fingers on the pulse of the ever-changing online landscape, ready to pivot and adapt quickly. These expert marketers will lead your brand to success and help it grow. A Professional Perspective An external marketing team can provide fresh insights and develop practical solutions to optimize the customer experience. They’ll dive deep into your marketing practices, uncovering hidden gems and untapped potential you may have overlooked. With their keen insights and outside-the-box thinking, they’ll create practical solutions to turbocharge your growth. Ongoing Support Agencies don’t just set you up and leave you hanging—they’re in it for the long haul, offering ongoing support every step of the journey. Whether navigating new trends, tackling unexpected challenges, or fine-tuning your strategies for success, they’ve got your back. With their unwavering support, you can rest easy knowing that your brand is in good hands, ready to conquer whatever the future holds. A full-service digital marketing agency offers a range of expert services that can significantly enhance your brand’s online presence and profitability, allowing you to focus on what you do best. MKTNG is ready to help your brand reach new heights. Give us a call at 855-MKTNGCO or contact us today to start crafting your custom brand strategy.
