‍Yahoo! DSP stands out as a platform that offers advertisers a unique blend of technology, scale, and customer relationships. Here's why advertisers should consider Yahoo! DSP for their campaigns:

The Best of Both Worlds

Yahoo! DSP combines the benefits of a walled garden with the transparency of an independent platform. This means advertisers get the advantages of a massive scale, proprietary inventory, and unique data without feeling restricted.

Identity at its Core

In a post-cookie world, identity becomes crucial. Yahoo! DSP's best-in-class identity graph and first-party data ensure advertisers can connect the dots seamlessly. Even without IDs, Yahoo! DSP has got you covered.

Performance You Can Trust

With the power of machine learning, Yahoo! DSP drives performance without hidden fees or pricing inefficiencies. This ensures advertisers get the most out of their campaigns.

Exclusive Premium Content Access

Advertisers get exclusive access to Yahoo's premium inventory, which includes one of the largest premium native marketplaces. This ensures ads are placed in high-quality environments that audiences trust.

Attention-Based Advertising

Yahoo! DSP, in collaboration with MarinOne, allows advertisers to buy high-attention pre-bid segments. This move focuses on attention-based advertising, aiming to make ads more effective and improve the overall user experience. This can lead to higher revenues for publishers and better engagement for advertisers.

Direct Access to Owned and Operated Media Properties

Yahoo’s DSP provides advertisers with direct access to its owned and operated media properties. This means advertisers can buy inventory directly from Yahoo, ensuring better control and quality.

Unique Demand and ID Matching

Through its Connect ID, Yahoo’s DSP offers ID matching against deterministic first-party audience graphs derived from its owned sites, Yahoo Mail, and fantasy sports. This ensures advertisers can target their audiences more effectively.

A DSP Tailored to Your Needs

From planning and targeting to optimization and measurement, Yahoo! DSP is built to cater to the diverse needs of advertisers. Whether it's Advanced TV, Digital-Out-of-home, Audio, Native Ads, Video, Mobile, or Commerce, Yahoo! DSP has a solution.

A Shift Towards Direct Connections

Yahoo! DSP is part of a broader industry trend where DSPs are creating direct connections to publishers. This ensures better transparency, control, and efficiency for advertisers.

A Cautionary Tale for SSPs

Yahoo's decision to focus on its DSP and move away from its SSP is a clear indication of where the industry is heading. Advertisers need platforms that provide value, transparency, and direct connections. Yahoo! DSP is positioned to offer just that.

In conclusion, Yahoo! DSP offers a unique blend of technology, data, and content that makes it a compelling choice for advertisers. Whether you're looking to target specific audiences, access premium content, or leverage attention-based advertising, Yahoo! DSP has the tools and capabilities to drive success.

Meet with a MarinOne advertising professional today to seamlessly incorporate Yahoo! DSP ads into your marketing strategy.

According to DemandSage, Instagram is one of the most popular social media channels available, with over 2.35 Billion monthly active users. With such an extensive use case, especially for those in crucial customer demographics such as millennials and Gen Z, it's not surprising that many businesses try to harness the power of Instagram to facilitate growth. 

One way that businesses try to grow on Instagram is through partnering with influencers. These are individuals with a large or highly-engaged audience, and often both. Companies can use influencers to promote their products, pages, and more, and it has many benefits to implementing this marketing tactic. 

However, with things like costs and brand perception to consider, many people still question if using Instagram influencers to advertise your business is effective. Here's a deeper dive into the practice and why it can be a good idea for you. 

What is Instagram Influencer Marketing? 

Influencers exist on all social platforms, including Instagram, often serving similar functions and purposes. An influencer would have built a following by posting about a particular niche, lifestyle, or aspect of their life, with users engaging with the content because they find it entertaining, educational, or memorable. 

Over time, these influencers have built credibility and trust by being authentic and, for many, a source of inspiration. This reputation makes them perfect for businesses to partner with, as soliciting a promotional post with an influencer can get your product recommended by someone with a huge reach and genuine influence over the followers. 

One of the most famous influencers on Instagram is Kim Kardashian. With millions of followers, brands often pay for her to post content featuring their products in the hopes that some of those followers will be inspired to use the same products. You can follow a similar principle when partnering with an Instagram influencer. 

Mark Pierce, CEO of Colorado LLC Attorney, says, "Influencers have already done the hard part and built an engaged audience that trusts them. Advertising with influencers allows you to borrow their influence to promote your products." 

There are many different types of influencers you can use. They are broken down into: 

• Nano-influencer - 10,000 followers or fewer
• Micro-influencer - 10,000 to 100,000 followers
• Macro-influencer - 100,000 to 1 million followers
• Mega influencer - 1 million or more followers 

Regarding the different types of influencers, Stephan Baldwin, Founder of Assisted Living, says, "Don't disregard the potential of nano-influencers. Despite their small audience size, those followers are usually highly engaged and focused on that influencer's niche. Partnering with the right nano-influencer can help you find the best leads."   

Does Advertising With Instagram Influencers Actually Work? 

The states show that advertising with influencers can help your brand grow in audience size and revenue. Civic Science reported that 14% of Gen Z social users and 11% of millennials bought a product after seeing it promoted via influencer marketing. This may sound small, but it offers great potential when you remember that over 2 Billion users are on Instagram. 

The benefits of influencer marketing can be huge. As influencers have built up a trusted persona, having your products featured and advertised on their content can make your brand appear more genuine, helping to boost your reputation. Furthermore, partnering with the right influencers that work well within your niche can position you as an essential brand among your target audience. 

For example, if you run a sports equipment business, you can position yourself as an industry leader by having your products showcased by influencers within the sport niche. 

By using Instagram influencers to build trust, your reputation will soar. Managing your brand's online reputation is critical for business growth, and working with influencers can help with that. 

As well as that, influencer marketing can help you reach audiences you may not have been able to reach organically. Gerald Lombardo, Head of Growth at Popl, says, "It can be hard to penetrate a new market or demographic, especially if you want to expand in a new country. Using influencers can help you get a strong foothold."  

The best-performing type of influencer content on Instagram is videos. Ironic for an app that started by focusing on image sharing, reels see the most use on Instagram. This means you can pair your Instagram influencer marketing with Instagram Video Ads to capitalize on and maximize your campaign's reach.

How to Effectively Use Instagram Influencers

Using influencers is one of the best strategies for sponsoring products on Instagram, but you have to use them effectively and in the right way. Here are a few things to do to make sure that your campaigns are the most effective they can be: 

Know your audience 

You need to do market research on your brand to determine the type of Instagram users you should target. Certain brands and products appeal to specific individuals, so to ensure you work with the right influencers, you need a good grasp of the demographic that best suits your product. 

After that, you must research potential influencers to see if their audience suits your brand.

Jesse Hanson, Content Manager at Online Solitaire & World of Card Games, says, "We target a specific audience with our advertising. It can be a waste of effort and resources marketing to the wrong individuals, so fully understanding the type of audience influencers have can be super helpful." 

Pro tip: Studying your competitors' Instagram audience can provide valuable insights about your target demographic. Analyzing their followers and post types can help shape your audience profile and identify any overlooked segments.

Sprout's Competitive Analysis Report allows you to track your competitors' Instagram performance, engagement, audience growth, and compare it with yours. This enables you to identify key competitors and scrutinize their audience composition.

Follow the rules

When working with influencers, there are clear rules that both of you need to follow. The main thing is that when an influencer posts content featuring your product that they're being paid or compensated for, they must disclose that it's an ad clearly. Usually, an influencer will showcase this by adding '#ad' to the content. 

Although this is the influencer's responsibility, your business can get flack if they fail to follow these rules. That's why it's a good idea to draft up some guidelines and include this disclosure requirement in your contract so that they're more encouraged to do it. 

Pro tip: Launching an influencer campaign may draw your attention to vanity metrics like likes and comments. However, the true measure of a campaign's success lies in its return on investment. One effective method is using UTM parameters to track website visitors and engagement from each influencer. By assigning unique UTM-coded links to each influencer, you can accurately assess the campaign's impact on your revenue.

Follow the three R's 

The three R's principle can make choosing the right influencer easier for your business. The three R's represent Relevance, Reach, and Resonance. You want to make sure that your business is relevant to the influencer. For example, a home design influencer won't be relevant to a Crypto business and could alienate the audience. 

The reach needs to align with your goals. This isn't just about trying to get an influencer with the most followers; those followers need to be engaged and suit your product. Resonance is all about ensuring that your product offers a solution many followers experience. For example, a male grooming business will resonate well with an influencer with a predominantly male audience.

Tim White, Founder of Milepro, says, "The three R's govern most businesses' approach to influencer marketing. The more that aligns with your business, the more effective the campaign will be.  

Pro tip: Leverage an Influencer & Creator Database Solution – Without the appropriate resources, identifying the perfect collaboration can seem like a daunting task; but remember, you don't have to shoulder all the burden. By utilizing a dedicated platform such as Mavrck's influencer marketing solution, you can effortlessly find and establish connections with creators and influencers for your upcoming campaign.

Integrate Influencer Marketing into Your Advertising Strategy

Instagram influencer marketing can give your business a massive boost when done correctly. Influencers can get more eyes on your product and use their unique relationship with their audience to get them to trust your brand, making you more credible. 

Not every influencer marketing campaign will work, and you will need to put the effort in to see results, but they can become an effective way to advertise on the platform. If you’d like to get into the weeds with an expert consultant on how to make your influencer marketing plan effective, or to tackle any advertising question, the team at Marin is ready to help you get started.

‍

Roman Shvydun is a guest contributor to the Marin Software blog.

It’s safe to say a lot has changed in the digital marketing space over the last year. We entered an AI renaissance, gained not one but two new social media platforms (hello Lemon8 and Threads), and while personalization is trending, third-party cookies are on their way out. For good. 

Keeping up with the latest trends and best practices with so many drastic changes on the table can be tough, which is why we love marketing conferences. They condense wisdom, experience, and research from industry experts into keynote presentations and breakout sessions that help marketers regroup and re-evaluate their strategies according to top-tier insights.

Without further ado, here are the best marketing conferences to attend in 2023 and 2024:

DigiMarCon

Date: Multiple

Location: Multiple

Ideal for: Digital marketers, marketing managers, SEO specialists, and professionals interested in overall digital marketing strategies and trends.

DigiMarCon is a comprehensive digital marketing conference series that takes place in 40 cities across 18 countries (and one international cruise), making it arguably the largest digital marketing conference in the world. 

Attendees can expect to learn about social media marketing, SEO, content marketing, data analytics, and customer experience via the event’s expert insights, best practices, real-world case studies, interactive workshops, panel discussions, and networking sessions.

MozCon

Date: August 7 & 8, 2023

Location: Seattle Convention Center Summit in Seattle, Washington (two livestream pass options available)

Ideal for: SEO specialists and digital marketers

MozCon is a hub for SEO enthusiasts. The conference features presentations from leading SEO experts. Attendees can expect the latest on search engine optimization and ranking strategies, complete with guidance on how to make data-driven marketing decisions and future-proof your business. This year’s conference is all about the future of search, with a special focus on ChatGPT, E-E-A-T, and TikTok.

Digital Summit

Date: August 16-17, 2023

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota 

Ideal for: All digital marketers

Digital Summit is a series of conferences held throughout the United States. The conferences cover digital marketing, content marketing, and social media topics. Dates and locations vary per conference. View the full schedule for 2023 here.

Digital Summit is also holding an online conference titled “Deep Dive into Social 2023” on September 7, 2023. The one-day virtual conference is jam-packed with a masterclass, breakout sessions, and how-tos with actionable resources.

2023 AMA Summer Academic Conference

Date: August 4-6, 2023

Location: San Francisco, CA

Ideal for: Digital marketers, business leaders, and content creators

The 2023 AMA Summer Academic Conference features research that highlights the role of marketing in the broader business ecosystem. 

AMA is also holding virtual content marketing conferences on August 23-24 and October 18-19 of this year. Register for free to access this two-day conference packed with all the tools and strategies you need to build a compelling content strategy in 2023.

Inbound

Date: September 5-8, 2023

Location: Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Boston, MA

Ideal for: Marketers, sales professionals, and business leaders

Inbound 2023 by HubSpot offers three curated agendas to help attendees maximize their experience– one for marketing, one for sales and business development, and one for growth acquisition marketing. The conference features inspiring keynote speakers, educational breakout sessions, networking opportunities, and hands-on workshops. 

Digital Marketing World Forum Global

Date: September 14-15, 2023

Location: Miami, FL

Ideal for: Digital marketers, marketing managers, content creators, and professionals interested in the latest digital marketing trends and best practices.

The Digital Marketing World Forum Global is an international event series that explores the future of digital marketing technologies through keynote presentations and interactive sessions. The conference features the following content tracks:

• Content and digital brand strategy
• Data and insights
• Digital experience and e-commerce strategy
• Influencer marketing world
• Social media and community marketing 

AdExchanger's Programmatic I/O

Date: September 26-27, 2023

Location: Hilton Midtown, New York, NY

Ideal for: Programmatic, data-driven professionals from brands, marketing agencies, publishers, and technology companies. 

AdExchanger's Programmatic I/O is a conference centered around advertising and ad tech. Attendees can look forward to educational discussions on programmatic buying, data-driven marketing, and the future of advertising technology.

MarTech (Marketing Technology Conference)

Date: September 26-27, 2023

Location: Online

Ideal for: Digital marketers and business leaders interested in MarTech. 

If you’re interested in learning more about the intersection of marketing and technology, the MarTech conference will be right up your alley. Attendees will explore the latest tools, technologies, and techniques in marketing strategy, including advertising automation. It’s also completely free to register.

Content Marketing World

Date: September 26-28, 2023

Location: Washington, D.C.

Ideal for: Content marketers, writers, editors, and marketing managers

Content Marketing World is the place to go for all things content. Event attendees will learn the newest best practices for content marketing strategy, creation, distribution, and measurement. 

LavaCon Content Strategy Conference

Date: October 14-17, 2023

Location: Manchester Grand Hyatt, San Diego, CA

Ideal for: Content strategists, content marketers, technical writers, and content creators

LavaCon covers all things content. Attendees can expect in-depth sessions on content planning, storytelling, content SEO, and best practices for delivering valuable content to target audiences. The conference also explores emerging content marketing trends like interactive content, visual storytelling, and AI.

Advertising Week New York

Date: October 16-19 2023

Location: New York, NY

Ideal for: Advertising professionals, brand marketers, media buyers, and marketing executives

Advertising Week New York hosts a hefty lineup of 12,000+ industry peers, 600+ speakers, 400+ sessions, and 20+ content tracks. The event unites the brightest minds in marketing, advertising, media, and tech. Attendees will learn from industry leaders, uncover new trends, and network with peers from all over the world. Virtual sessions are available online for 30 days post-event. 

Social Media Strategies Summit

Date: October 25-27, 2023

Location: Online

Ideal for: Social media managers, content creators, digital marketers, and business owners interested in optimizing their social media presence and campaigns.

The Social Media Strategies Summit is a virtual conference designed to help senior-level social media marketers audit and revitalize their social media strategies to promote brand awareness and customer loyalty. Pre-summit workshops take place on October 25, 2023, and the General Summit will happen in the days that follow.

Attendees can expect keynote presentations, panel discussions, case studies, and interactive workshops on subjects like content creation, influencer marketing, community building, and social media advertising. 

SMX (Search Marketing Expo)       

Date: November 14-15, 2023

Location: Online

Ideal for: Search marketing professionals, SEO specialists, PPC managers, and digital marketers.

SMX is a conference on all things search engine marketing, both SEO and PPC. Attendees can expect in-depth sessions on search engine marketing with valuable insights into top advertising platforms. 

Traffic & Conversion Summit

Date: January 9 - 11, 2024

Location: Caesars Forum, Las Vegas, NV

Ideal for: Digital marketers, growth hackers, and e-commerce pros

Known for its emphasis on digital advertising and conversion optimization, the Traffic and Conversion Summit teaches digital marketing strategies specifically designed to drive traffic and convert.

Expect sessions covering new traffic channels, customer-centric marketing, new conversion breakthroughs, and ultra-current breakout sessions. 

Social Media Marketing World

Date: February 18-20, 2024

Location: San Diego, CA

Ideal for: social media marketers, content creators, community managers, and business owners

Social Media Marketing World features top-notch social media marketing strategies, expert-led sessions, case studies, and networking with fellow social media professionals. Attendees can expect to learn the latest on creating successful social media advertising campaigns.

LeadsCon

Date: April 8 – 10, 2024

Location: Paris Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV

Ideal for: Lead generation specialists, digital marketers, sales professionals, and business development managers interested in improving their lead acquisition strategies

LeadsCon is a conference for marketers interested in improving their lead generation and customer acquisition strategies. The event bundles the latest trends, tools, and techniques for converting leads into expert-led sessions, case studies, and interactive workshops.

Los Angeles eCommerce Summit

Date: May 16, 2024

Location: JW Marriott LA LIVE, Los Angeles, CA

Ideal for: e-commerce marketers, online retailers, and digital marketing professionals in the e-commerce industry

The Los Angeles eCommerce Summit is a local gathering of LA’s top ecom experts and decision-makers. It focuses on e-commerce strategies, digital advertising, user experience, and customer retention for online retailers. Attendees can expect to hear industry experts share insights into website optimization, digital advertising campaign implementation, and data analytics.

Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo

Date: June 3-5, 2024

Location: Denver, CO

Ideal for: Marketing leaders, CMOs, marketing strategists, and professionals responsible for marketing technology decisions and customer experience optimization

The Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo features new research and actionable insights on topics like AI, marketing strategy, multichannel marketing, and brand strategy. Attendees can expect keynotes from Gartner analysts, expert-led sessions, workshops, and networking opportunities. 

Gartner Data & Analytics Summit

Date: March 11-13, 2024

Location: Orlando, FL

Ideal for: Data analysts, marketing analysts, data-driven marketers, and marketing strategists

The Gartner Data and Analytics Summit is a conference tailored to challenges faced by data and analytics professionals. It covers topics like data management, predictive analytics, customer segmentation, and data visualization. Attendees will learn from Gartner analysts, industry leaders, and case studies. The most recent summit prioritized the following topics:

• Delivering digital business success 
• Attracting the right talent and skills 
• Dispel the myths of AI 
• Understanding data ecosystems 
• Optimizing intelligent decisions with competitive differentiators

Wrapping up

The marketing conferences above are great opportunities for learning and networking, but they aren’t the only way to learn about new advertising technologies. MarinOne’s experts can help you supercharge your paid search, social, and e-commerce advertising efforts. Book a personalized demo to get started.

Email automation is the way to go in 2023. But don’t just take our word for it. Take Hubspot’s. They say that 71% of B2B marketers use it to grow their business. And they are not alone. Statistica says that by 2025, there will be 4.6 billion people using email. That means a lot of opportunities for you to connect with your audience. You can also use automation to deliver your messages at the right time, increase conversions, analyze their behavior, and optimize the customer journey across different channels and touchpoints.

In this blog, we will show you how email automation can help you align your email campaigns with your customer journey-mapping strategies and how that can lead to more trust, loyalty and action from your customers.

What is Email Automation?

Email automation is like having a magic wand that lets you send emails to your customers without lifting a finger. It uses smart rules that tell your emails when, how, and to whom to go to based on what your customers do or don’t do. Plus, you can save time, make your customers happy, earn more money and customize your messaging for each point of the nurturing funnel.

Email Automation Campaigns You Ought to be Running

When it comes to email automation techniques, there are different types of campaigns or automation series that are simple to execute and very effective for virtually any industry, such as: 

Welcome Email Campaign: A series of emails introducing new subscribers to your brand.

Standard Promotional Campaign: A single or multiple emails that offer discounts, deals, or incentives to your subscribers.

Seasonal Campaign: A series of emails that aligns with a specific season, holiday, or event.

Triggered Email Series: A series of emails sent based on specific actions or events your subscribers take.

Post-Purchase Drip: A series of emails that follows up with your customers after they purchase.

Connect-Via-Social Campaign: A series of emails encouraging subscribers to follow you on social media platforms.

Newsletter: A regular email that provides valuable content, updates, or news to your subscribers.

Cart Abandonment Followup: A series of emails reminding subscribers of the items they left in their shopping cart.

Re-Engagement Campaign: A series of emails that tries to reactivate inactive or unresponsive subscribers. 

High Level Phases of Email Customer Journey Mapping

Before we dive into how email automation works in customer journey mapping, let’s understand what customer journey mapping means. It may sound fancy, but it’s just a way of showing how customers interact with your business. We can break this down into three steps: How they discover you, buy from you, and get your support.

To connect your email automation campaign to customer journey mapping, you need to focus on the following phases of user engagement:

Onboarding

Onboarding is the first step of an email automation campaign. You can “Greet and Welcome” your new customers, show them what you offer, and help them get started. For instance, if they signed up for a free trial, email them tips and resources.

Nurturing

Create a nurture campaign that increases trust between you and your customers and converts them from potential customers to customers. For instance, if they download a brochure, email them exclusive content and a special offer related directly to that brochures' content.

Retention

Retention is the last phase of your email automation funnel. Customer retention relies on customer satisfaction and engagement. A retention email, or series of emails, is sent to existing customers to maintain their loyalty. These emails vary in form but share the goal of enhancing education about your brand and deepening customer loyalty. Moreover, they aim to minimize effort for the customer over time and provide exceptional service with easy calls to action. 

Know the Difference Between Customer Personalization and Marketer Segmentation

Though the terms are often used interchangeably, personalization and segmentation are different concepts. While segmentation is all about marketers, personalization is about the customer.

Segmentation refers to dividing your customers into smaller groups, while personalization means tailoring your messages to each customer’s needs, preferences, and behavior. Here’s how it can help you transform your email automation strategy to address both your needs as the marketer and the users' needs as the customer:

• Email automation tools can be used for personalizing triggered email sequences, cart abandonment emails, and re-engagement email series to grab your customer’s attention.
• Personalization helps you create a better customer experience and loyalty by expressing to your customers that you know, value, and care about their needs.
• With properly personalized and segmented emails, you can reduce your costs and increase your return on investment by sending your customers fewer but more effective emails.
• When emails are relevant, users engage. A majority of marketers agree that subscriber segmentation (78%), message personalization (72%), and email automation campaigns (71%) are the most effective strategies for email marketing campaigns, based on a recent Hubspot survey.

Some ways you can personalize and segment your email automation campaigns are:

Dynamic content

Dynamic content is a game-changer for email marketing, adding a special touch and increasing conversion rates. With dynamic content, you can personalize your newsletters, delivering exclusive information tailored to specific subscribers. This customization improves click-through rates as people engage with content relevant to their interests. Additionally, by utilizing subscribers' shopping behaviors, targeted cross-sales campaigns can be created, boosting sales. Not only does dynamic content save time by consolidating multiple marketing messages into a single email, but it also enables the sending of ultra-personalized emails that drive conversions. Change the email content based on the customer’s data, such as name, gender, interests, etc.

Merge tags

Merge tags are placeholders that represent contact data in your CSV file. These customizable variables, such as First Name, Last Name, and Company, allow you to personalize the emails you send in your campaigns. By utilizing merge tags, you can increase customer engagement and improve email open rates. These tags are automatically created from the column headers in your CSV file, ensuring that each contact in your campaign receives a personalized email. 

Behavioral data

Create your email based on the recipient’s actions or inactions, such as clicking a link, visiting a page or opening an email, etc. Once you've collected and organized behavioral data, you can create segments of subscribers based on their behavior. Segment options include purchase behavior (frequency, recency, value, product category), website behavior (pages visited, time spent, bounce rate, conversions), and email behavior (opens, clicks, replies, unsubscribes). Utilizing this data, you can send targeted offers like loyalty programs to frequent buyers, re-engagement campaigns to inactive customers, content offers to engaged blog visitors, or win-back emails to unsubscribed subscribers. These segments provide valuable insights for improving email campaigns and informing stakeholders.

Buying history

Order history provides valuable insights for boosting sales and making informed decisions. By analyzing data and trends, you can accurately manage inventory, ensuring stocked shelves and avoiding missed sales opportunities. Understanding what sells well allows you to plan promotions and feature popular products both in-store and online, while discontinuing less popular items. Additionally, order history enables targeted marketing campaigns by allowing you to send relevant messages and offers to specific customer groups based on their past purchases. Segment and personalize your email based on the recipient’s previous purchases, such as product category, price range, frequency, and more.

Location

Location-based email marketing utilizes customer location data to send targeted and personalized emails. While mobile marketing focuses on real-time location using GPS, email marketing relies on broader location information such as zip codes. Location-based email marketing takes advantage of static data points like city, state, country, and zip code to create region-specific content, zip code-centric emails, and city-based emails. These emails can provide personalized experiences based on the customer's location and can be combined with location-based mobile marketing for a seamless customer journey. By leveraging available location data creatively, marketers can deliver highly relevant and engaging location-based email marketing messages that enhance the customer experience. 

Why Timing and Triggers are Essential for Successful Email Automation Campaigns

‍

“#1 — TIMING. Timing is everything when it comes to email marketing. If you send too many promotional emails or run too many sales…..You’ll burn out your list.” ~ Vlad| Direct Response on Twitter.

Timing and trigger-based automated emails are sent to your customers at the right time and based on the right action or event. According to SmartInsights, general trends indicate that Tuesdays and Thursdays are the most popular days for trigger emails, and one should send them at 10 AM and 2 PM for the best results.

To measure the effectiveness of your email automation triggers, and the timing thereof, several metrics can be used. Take a look at the total number of emails sent, open rate, click-through rate, unsubscribing rate, site traffic, and conversion. 

Common mistakes marketers make when executing email automation triggers include buying third-party email lists, not syncing the right triggers, sending too many emails, and not analyzing performance metrics continually over time. 

If you want to do it the right way, and we assume you do, utilize opt-in forms to collect interested users' emails, add value to messages, provide clear call-to-action buttons, keep messages personalized and humanized, and check triggered email performance against set metrics that align with company objectives. 

How to Measure and Optimize Performance for Email

The phrase "Data is King" holds true, emphasizing the importance of measurement and optimization for your email campaigns. To ensure success, it's essential to analyze email performance effectively. Here are some compelling reasons why measurement and optimization matter and how you can approach them with excellence.

• You can track how your clients interact with your emails. Use Google Analytics to measure email traffic, bounce rate, and conversions.
• It is easy to find out the loopholes in your customer journey. For instance, surveys, feedback tools, or heat maps can help you find pain points and opportunities to keep contacts moving through the sales funnel.
• The use of interactive email marketing tools can help you assess how campaigns affect consumer behavior, loyalty, and satisfaction. 
• You can use data analysis to experiment with different email elements over time, such as design, content, and personalization. For instance, use multivariate testing to find the best design version of an email.

The right blend of all these steps can help you enhance the customer experience and boost your email revenue. Many email automation providers, like MailModo, have templates available for email design, automation funnels, and common audience segments to help you get started. Customize these elements for your company in a few clicks and you'll have boosted conversions and retention in no time at all. 

How to Craft the Ideal Email

Email automation campaigns are some of the best ways to deliver personalized and timely messages to your customers based on their actions and preferences. Here's how you can create great email funnels that nurture and convert:

Pay Attention to the Structure

Crafting a perfect email requires attention to various elements. Starting with the "from" name, it's crucial to choose a familiar and recognizable name for better open rates. Creating an engaging subject line that focuses on the benefits and has around 28-39 characters can significantly improve open and click-through rates. Utilizing a cohesive preheader that complements the subject line adds value and provides a snippet of the email's content. Clearly explaining the purpose of the email establishes trust and helps readers decide whether to continue reading. Keeping the email short, concise, and visually appealing is important to capture and maintain readers' attention. 

Visualize and personalize your audience

Design and write your email with a picture of your target audience in mind. Use catchy subject lines, compelling copy, strong Calls-to-Action(CTA), and attractive images. DemandSage claims that emails with personalized subject lines increase open rates by 35%. Personalized subject lines show that you care about your audience and their interests, and they can help you stand out from the crowd. 

Test your email campaigns regularly

A/B testing is a crucial practice in email marketing to improve campaign performance. It involves sending two different variants (A and B) to your email list and analyzing which one performs better. A/B testing allows you to make evidence-based decisions. Common elements to test include subject lines, preview text, sender name, email timing, call-to-action text, landing pages, email length, design, subscriber greetings, and new ideas. By consistently testing your campaigns, you can maximize engagement and drive better results. With user-friendly email apps available, conducting A/B tests is convenient and highly recommended.

Key takeaways

Despite being the oldest digital marketing channel with a long history, email marketing is going strong and continues to deliver great performance for marketing teams across the globe. With the right email marketing strategy, companies are improving their customer journey mapping  and getting the best ROI on all their omnichannel efforts. To sum it up, here’s a reminder of how you can leverage email automation to improve your customer journey mapping:

1. Segment your customer based on their behavior and interests.
2. Create personalized and interactive email campaigns for each audience segment you have.
3. Measure and optimize your email performance.
4. Use customer feedback, heatmapping, and unsubscribe rates to know if you're on the right track.
5. Execute proper implementation of different types of campaigns to build rapport, satisfaction, loyalty, and business amongst your customer base.

Email automation can be complex and challenging, with multiple campaigns needed to nurture contacts throughout the customer journey. Simplify this process with the right combination of AI assistance, best practices as outlined in this guide, and content that captures your target audience. This combination has the potential to grow your business exponentially. 

The right email strategy is an important part of any company's omnichannel marketing efforts, but we know you have much more than just email to worry about. Work with MarinOne today to streamline your advertising and make sure all your marketing channels are working together effectively.

‍

Aquibur Rahman is a guest contributor to Marin Software.

‍

In a world where traditional advertising methods abound but struggle to capture audiences, it becomes crucial for businesses to remain authentic and unique in their prospect-facing messaging. Native advertising offers a professional and authoritative approach to engage and convert your target audience. This article will delve into the 5 key benefits of native advertising for businesses, uncovering how this marketing tactic can revolutionize your approach and amplify your success. 

‍

What Are The Benefits Of Native Advertising?

Non-disruptive and Can Encourage Users To Engage With Content

Running native ads as a media buyer or entrepreneur brings significant benefits, and one standout advantage is their non-disruptive nature. Native ads smoothly blend in with the surrounding content, adopting similar visuals and context, resulting in a less intrusive and more natural advertising experience. This seamless integration makes it challenging for users to differentiate native ads from regular content, maintaining a cohesive and uninterrupted browsing experience.

The success of these ads lies in their ability to match the form and function of the platform on which they are displayed. By doing so, native ads become an organic part of the user's content consumption journey, providing valuable information and enhancing engagement. 

One successful example of this approach is Spotify's partnership with Netflix to create playlists for every Stranger Things character. By integrating these playlists within its platform, Spotify effectively combines the worlds of music and entertainment, offering users a unique and immersive experience. 

This collaboration not only enhances engagement for both companies but also demonstrates the power of native advertising to seamlessly blend content and advertising in a way that adds value to the user.

As a result, businesses that utilize native ads can expect improved click-through rates and increased time spent on content, leading to higher conversions and overall campaign success.

According to Meetanshi, native ads boast a click-through rate of 0.16% on desktop and 0.38% on mobile, which is a significant improvement compared to the 0.11% click-through rate for traditional banner ads. 

Drive brand awareness

You need a powerful solution that delivers exceptional results to drive brand awareness effectively. Native advertising, combined with market analysis, is precisely that solution. What sets native ads apart is their ability to target specific audience segments. With precise targeting options encompassing demographics, devices, geography, customer intent, etc., native ads empower you to enhance brand awareness or boost sales strategically.

According to a 2015 study, native ads generated 9% more brand affinity responses when compared to banner ads. This finding underscores the effectiveness of native ads in fostering positive brand connections.

You can utilize the flexibility of native ads to create upper-funnel content that educates your audience about your brand or lower-funnel content that drives action, seamlessly aligning with your marketing funnel.

By delivering tailored content that resonates with your customers' unique interests and identities, you can effectively reach them at the right moment with the right message.

Cost-Effectiveness and Efficiency

One major advantage of native advertising is its scalability, which sets it apart from platforms like Facebook. Scaling campaigns on Facebook often comes with increased costs, making it challenging to maintain profitability. However, native ads offer a much smoother scaling experience without drastic cost increases. 

You can significantly increase your daily budget, and the cost per action (CPA) remains consistent. Whether you spend $1,000 or $10,000 per day, the impact on CPA is minimal.

This scalability significantly transforms businesses. It allows you to expand your advertising efforts and reach a larger audience without sacrificing profitability. By leveraging native advertising's smooth scaling capabilities, you can effectively and efficiently achieve your growth objectives. It provides flexibility and cost-effectiveness that can significantly impact the success of your campaigns.

Improve Reach to Your Target Audience

Ad-blockers have become increasingly popular as users are actively seeking ways to avoid intrusive and irrelevant ads. This poses a significant challenge for businesses trying to reach their target audience. In fact, globally, 42.7% of internet users use ad-blockers.

Fortunately, native ads offer a solution to this problem. By blending into the user experience, native ads bypass ad-blockers and ensure that brand messages successfully reach the intended audience.

Two highly effective native ad formats are in-feed ads and sponsored content. In-feed ads naturally fit into content feeds, looking like regular posts, while sponsored content provides valuable information with subtle brand promotion.

Real Alternative to Other Traffic Sources

When it comes to online advertising, companies often turn to popular platforms like Facebook and Instagram. However, there's a growing frustration among users with the structure and controversies surrounding these platforms. 

Many people are deleting their Facebook accounts or choosing not to create them in the first place. This is where native ads offer a significant advantage. Unlike Facebook or Instagram, native ads are not tied to a single dedicated traffic source. They encompass the entire internet, leveraging various players and traffic sources. 

While you may be familiar with big players like Taboola, Outbrain, or Microsoft Advertising, there are numerous smaller and larger traffic sources scattered throughout the web. Let's take the example of a clothing brand that wants to reach fashion-forward millennials who are passionate about sustainable fashion.

While Facebook and Instagram are popular choices, the brand can also consider exploring alternative traffic sources such as fashion blogs, eco-conscious lifestyle websites, or niche fashion communities. By advertising on these platforms, the brand can effectively target a specific audience that aligns with their values and interests. This approach allows them to expand their reach beyond the major social media platforms and connect with individuals who are more likely to be interested in their sustainable fashion offerings.

What Are The Disadvantages Of Native Advertising?

While native advertising offers numerous benefits, it's important to be aware of its potential drawbacks. Here are three key disadvantages to consider:

Disclosure and Transparency

Native advertising can sometimes blur the line between editorial content and advertising, causing confusion among consumers. 

When there is a lack of clear labeling, it becomes difficult for users to differentiate between sponsored content and organic editorial content. This lack of transparency erodes trust and credibility. Failure to disclose sponsored content properly not only leads to negative brand perception but also carries potential legal consequences. 

To avoid these issues, you must prioritize clear and conspicuous labeling, ensuring transparency and fostering trust with your audience. Transparent disclosure helps consumers make informed decisions and demonstrates a commitment to ethical advertising practices.

Ethical Concerns

One significant risk associated with native advertising is the potential for biased or misleading information. When native ads prioritize brand messaging over objective reporting, publishers compromise their integrity and credibility. 

This prioritization of brand promotion over providing unbiased information erodes the trust that consumers place in publishers as reliable sources of content. These ethical concerns highlight the importance of careful consideration and balance in native advertising practices. 

Advertisers and publishers should prioritize maintaining the integrity of their content and ensure clear differentiation between promotional messages and editorial content. By doing so, businesses can preserve audience trust and uphold ethical standards in native advertising.

Limited Control over Placement

In native advertising, you often have limited control over where your ads are placed as publishers determine specific ad placements within their platforms. You may have little say in the exact placement of your ads, which can lead to unintended association with unrelated or controversial content. 

This lack of control poses a risk to brand image and reputation. To mitigate these risks, you should carefully select publishers and platforms that align with your brand values and target audience, and maintain open communication regarding ad placements and content guidelines. By doing this, you can minimize the chances of unintended associations that may harm your brand.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the benefits of native advertising are abundant, offering businesses seamless integration, precise targeting, cost-effectiveness, ad-blocker resilience, and an alternative to traditional platforms.

Despite challenges such as disclosure and limited control, native advertising remains a powerful tool for engaging audiences, increasing brand visibility, and driving meaningful results in today's advertising landscape.

‍

Millie Pham is a guest contributor to the Marin Software blog.

Data continues to be an increasing driver for businesses of all sizes and the need to effectively manage and organize that data has grown almost exponentially. Data taxonomy provides a framework for understanding how different types of data are related. It's then used to improve decision-making, strengthen the customer experience, and minimize costs.

All of this adds up to making it a critical tool for any company that wants to maximize its data asset value. New insights, analysis and actual business intelligence rely on data structures and models that are clean, accurate, and logical,

This growing role has increased the importance of having effective strategies for organizing information. A proper taxonomy helps to better understand customer requirements and preferences. This is accomplished by grouping similar pieces of information into coherent categories. Both from an internal perspective (i.e., categorizing sales leads) as well as from an external one (i.e., segmenting users).

By taking into account the various relationships between different types of information, valuable insights are gained. Additionally, having a clear structure makes it easier to find specific data. This helps conserve resources while also improving accuracy across multiple teams.

In this post we will explore the role of data in business and offer some best practices for structuring data in the future.

The Big Picture of Data in Business

Data plays an increasingly important role in helping organizations achieve their strategic initiatives. Different types of data can be utilized to inform and guide such initiatives. This includes customer demographics and behavior, market trends, financial indicators, performance metrics, and competitor activity.

Customer data can help companies understand their customers and how they behave. This can then be used to zero in on new customers and track the performance of existing ones. Market trend data can provide insights into the broader industry landscape. Financial and performance metrics can inform strategies around budgeting and resource allocation.

Competitor activity is also an important factor in business decision-making. Knowing what they're doing and how well they’re doing it allows you to adjust your strategy accordingly, either by leveraging their strengths or exploiting their weaknesses.

By having a clear taxonomy in place, companies can get the most out of their data. They can also ensure that they're using the data to effectively drive the continued growth of the business. Successful data taxonomy requires careful planning, thoughtful organization, and ongoing maintenance.

The Importance of Data Taxonomies

Data taxonomy helps companies understand their customers and the market, track their performance, and compare what they do with competitors. 

What is a data taxonomy?

A data taxonomy is a system of organizing data into categories. It helps to structure information so that it can be located quickly and easily understood. Data taxonomies are made up of terms, which can be hierarchical or related in some way (such as “customers”, “leads”, and “opportunities”). 

By structuring data in this way, companies can gain insight into the behavior and preferences of their customer base and betting insight into current market trends.

The positive impact of well-categorized data

Data taxonomies help with data governance. They provides a framework for how information should be collected, stored, and accessed to ensure it remains secure and compliant with regulations. Having an established taxonomy makes it easier to keep track of where data is located and who has access to it.

This practice also makes it easier to understand customer needs and preferences. By segmenting customers into different categories, companies can hone their marketing efforts and improve the overall customer experience. This can increase engagement and loyalty, which helps drive revenue growth. Additionally, data taxonomies help reduce costs by streamlining processes such as inventory management.

The negative impact of poorly categorized data

Having a poor data taxonomy can have damaging consequences. Without proper categorization, important information or insights may go unnoticed. This could lead to inaccurate predictions or decisions, which in turn could result in losses for the company.

In addition, having an inadequate data taxonomy can make it difficult to find information quickly and accurately. This increases time spent on tasks and can lead to errors or delays. It can also be difficult to track the origin of data when there’s no clear structure in place.

Finally, a lack of data taxonomy can make it hard to monitor access and ensure regulatory compliance. This could have serious legal and financial consequences if confidential customer information is mishandled or exposed.

Data Taxonomy Best Practices

When implementing a data taxonomy, there are some best practices you need to be aware of.  Following these guidelines will put you and your organization on the way to clean data sets that are accessible, usable and capable of powering your business towards its strategic initiatives.

Start with desired outcomes and goals

You should work hard to craft specific criteria for what you want to achieve, both with your data and how it will be used. Develop a framework that fits your needs and tailor it to meet your unique goals and objectives.

Additionally, you should involve stakeholders in the process. Make sure everyone who is involved in data management is on board with the taxonomy. This will help get everyone familiar with the structure and that it works for all departments.

Determine how to measure against those goals

Metrics and goals are essential when it comes to developing a successful data taxonomy. When planning your taxonomy, it's important to determine how metrics will be used to measure its success. 

Are you looking for data sets that integrate easily with tools and applications? Are you structuring data to be used cross-functionally without much hand holding?  Whatever goals you set at the start of your taxonomy journey, it is crucial to measure progress and, ultimately, success.

Evaluate data integrity and completeness

It’s important to keep data integrity and completeness in mind when creating a taxonomy. This means making sure you have the necessary information to accurately categorize your data, as well as regularly checking to ensure that your categories are up-to-date. The data set itself should be qualified for both accuracy and completeness. A gap in either will ultimately render the insights provided by the data unreliable or even inaccurate.

Decide how you will categorize the data

Next, you need to decide which categories and subcategories will be used. Choose the ones that align with your plan and are easy to understand. Consider using industry standards if possible, as this can help ensure consistency across departments.

Apply the categorization to each data set

Applying categorization to data sets involves more than simply assigning labels. It also requires understanding the context and meaning behind each piece of data. Each data set should be thoroughly analyzed and categorized based on its purpose, source, format, and other relevant factors. This ensures that the taxonomy is accurate and complete.

Choose functionality over everything else

Functionality should be a primary focus. It’s important to keep in mind that your categorization will be used by people, so it needs to be intuitive and user-friendly. Consider the language and terminology you use, as well as how easy it is for users to find what they need.

Implement in stages

Creating a taxonomy for an entire company or organization can be a daunting task. To make the process easier, it’s best to break it down into smaller chunks and implement it in stages. This allows you to focus on one area at a time and adjust as needed based on feedback from stakeholders.

Test along the way, course-correct as needed

Testing is key to ensuring your taxonomy is effective. Gather feedback from stakeholders and test the categorization over time to make sure it meets all of your goals. If necessary, course-correct and refine your categorization as needed.

Finally, document each step in the process. This includes creating a detailed record of all the categories, sub-categories, and overall structure. This will help ensure that everyone is on the same page and familiar with the taxonomy when changes need to be made.

Conclusion

Developing a successful data taxonomy requires careful planning and consideration. It's important to:

• Involve stakeholders
• Determine metrics for success
• Evaluate data integrity and completeness
• Decide how to categorize the data
• Implement in stages 
• Test along the way

Documenting each step in the process is also essential for ensuring everyone is familiar with the structure of the taxonomy when changes need to be made. With a well-structured plan in place, businesses can leverage their data more effectively to drive better decisions and long-term success.

Marin Software enables businesses to manage and optimize their online campaigns across search, social, and display networks using advanced analytics tools. We will ensure your data taxonomy is well utilized by tying categories to real business outcomes within your advertising initiatives. 

With our powerful platform, marketers can easily measure the performance of their campaigns, identify areas for improvement and make informed decisions quickly. This helps to maximize returns on advertising investments while improving customer engagement and satisfaction. Marin also provides training resources to help users get the most out of their software products. With our comprehensive suite of services, we provide a complete solution for all your digital marketing needs. Contact us today to learn more about how Marin Software can help you take your digital marketing efforts to the next level.

Accurate sales forecasting is key to the success of any business. Companies have been using traditional sales forecasting techniques for years, but are they as effective as they need to be?

The truth is accurate sales forecasting is difficult to predict and achieve under the most favorable of circumstances. A report by Korn Ferry revealed that only one-fourth of sales teams are able to attain 75% accuracy in their sales forecasting.

Thankfully, times have changed and sales forecasting has seen a great improvement with the introduction of CRM analytics tools. These tools provide you with reliable predictions that are highly accurate, making it easier to get the desired outcome for your business.

This article provides insight into how CRM analytics can be leveraged to make accurate sales forecasts. It aims to help you by outlining a winning strategy for your business, through executing CRM analytics in sales forecasting. 

What is Sales Forecast Accuracy?

Firstly, let us define sales forecast accuracy. This is the accuracy of your projection tools to predict forecasted sales for a given period of time. Accurate sales projections are essential to ensure adequate resource allocation, production forecasts, insights into customer behavior and a better understanding of market trends not only for the coming quarter, but ideally for several quarters ahead. Such data is vital for businesses to make well-informed decisions.

Here are some common outcomes if a sales forecast goes wrong. 

• Overproduction
• Underproduction
• Stockouts
• Excess inventory
• Customer dissatisfaction
• Hindrance in profitability

A reliable way to measure sales forecast accuracy is by looking back at the percentage difference between actual and forecasted sales performance. A smaller gap indicates that the prediction was more accurate, while a larger gap would mean the projection was not accurate. Businesses can use this information to refine their sales forecasting models, improve their forecasting processes, and make better decisions.

The Role Of CRM Analytics In Sales Forecasting

In the final two decades of the 20th century, sales and marketing achieved some significant milestones. Way back in 1987, the first automated CRM - Automated Contact Tracking (ACT) - was released. Over time, sales forecasting has been incorporated as a feature within this software and is used by many businesses today.

Let's dive into some of the key roles of CRM analytics in sales forecasting.

Customer Segmentation

By segregating customers based on common characteristics or behaviors, your business can tailor their sales forecasting strategies to each group. This can lead to higher customer satisfaction and increased sales. 

E.g., your business can create segments based on demographic data, including gender, age, and location. The segments might also include purchase behavior, such as frequency or value of purchases.

Perform Predictive Modeling

CRM analytics use data and statistical models to predict future customer behavior, like plausibility to purchase or churn. This way, your business can anticipate customer needs and proactively address issues. 

Using CRM analytics, you can analyze historical data and identify which campaigns and promotions have successfully driven sales. This can help your business focus the resources on the most effective strategies, improving your return on investment and overall profitability.

Identify Opportunities For Scalability

Using CRM analytics, now you can identify overlooked customer segments and new markets by the data acquired. These are budding opportunities to reach out to the needs of your customers by launching new products and services, which in turn boost sales revenue and scalability. 

Monitor Sales Performance

Using CRM analytics, you can monitor sales performance in real time. As a result, you can always be updated with the correct implementation of the current strategy, identify areas of improvement, and adjust your sales strategies accordingly.

Forecast Customer Lifetime Value

CRM analytics can help you predict the potential lifetime value of customers. So next time, you can prioritize and invest in the customers adding more value to your organization. 

Identify Cross-Selling And Upselling Opportunities

Forecasting accuracy is achieved by identifying the singular opportunities that add to increased revenue. Cross-selling and upselling are some critical points for potential revenue you wouldn’t want to miss without having to drastically increase lead volume. CRM analytics can analyze customer data and provide business-driven insights to pinpoint the places your business could be better optimizing your cross-sell and upsell strategies. 

Importance Of Accurate Sales Forecasting For Businesses

Although we have covered CRM sales forecasting as a successful method for getting accurate results, there are several significant reasons why accurate sales forecasting is critical for businesses. Here are a few: 

Resource allocation

Sales forecasts are used to allocate resources such as personnel, equipment, and inventory. If a company overestimates sales, it may invest too much in these resources, resulting in overproduction, waste, and unnecessary costs. Conversely, if a company underestimates sales, it may not allocate enough resources, leading to stockouts and lost sales.

Financial planning

Accurate sales forecasts are essential for financial planning, budgeting, and cash flow management. By accurately forecasting sales, businesses can plan their expenses and investments to optimize their financial performance including overhead and new hires.

Production planning

Sales forecasts play a critical role in production planning, as they help businesses determine how much product to produce and when to produce it. Accurate forecasts can help businesses avoid stockouts and excess inventory–issues that often lead to reduced profits and increased costs.

Marketing strategy

Sales forecasts give businesses insights into consumer behavior and market trends, which can inform marketing tactics. By accurately forecasting sales, businesses can adjust their marketing efforts to maximize their return on investment.

Investor confidence

Investors rely on accurate sales forecasts to assess a company's performance and growth potential. Investors may view a company that consistently misses its sales targets negatively, which can impact its ability to secure funding and grow.

In a nutshell, accurate sales forecasting is essential for businesses to make informed decisions, optimize resources, and improve their financial performance. By investing in accurate forecasting methods and tools, businesses can gain a competitive advantage and position themselves for long-term success.

Understanding CRM Analytics

CRM analytics refers to the process of analyzing data from a company's customer relationship management system (CRM) to gain insights into customer behavior, preferences, and needs. This data can then be used to increase sales, improve customer engagement, and boost customer satisfaction.

Let’s dive a bit deeper and understand what CRM does and how its analytics benefit you. 

A CRM is a powerful database system that stores information on:

• Company customers’ contact information
• Customers’ purchase history
• Customer service interactions 

Companies can unleash patterns and trends in their customer data by using tools like data visualization, predictive modeling, and machine learning algorithms. 

For example, they might discover that customers who purchase certain products are more likely to make repeat purchases or that customers who interact with customer service through social media are more likely to give high satisfaction ratings.

Likewise, companies can make informed and data-driven decisions on how to engage with their customers. Another way to utilize customer data would be to send personalized recommendations to customers based on their purchase history. This creates a sense of customized experiences contributing to customer trust and retention. 

Implementing CRM Analytics for Sales Forecasting

Depicted above is how CRM and sales forecasting are linked. Let's walk through four easy steps to execute accurate sales forecasting using CRM analytics :

Identify The Data Sources

The first step to implementing CRM sales forecasting is identifying the data sources. Here are some data points of which you ought to be mindful:

• Customer Interactions
• Purchase Histories
• Website Traffic
• Social Media Activity

The data from these sources can help your business understand customer behavior and preferences comprehensively. 

Develop a Data Model

The next step to successful sales forecasting is to develop a data model. 

A data model will help you structure the facts and figures to pave the way for a successful analysis. This step may involve creating segments on customer characteristics or purchase behavior. You will also be able to develop a predictive model to forecast the customers’ future behavior. 

Analyze the Data

Now that you have a well-versed data model, you can now identify patterns and trends through the data model analysis. E.g., using statistical models to identify correlations and patterns or using machine learning algorithms to predict future behavior.  

Generate Reports And Insights

The final step in implementing CRM analytics for sales forecasting is to generate reports and insights. With this final step, you will be ready to make informed business-winning decisions. 

You can see your insights in KPI dashboards and monitor real-time data on sales performance. You can also get a hold of reports providing insights into customer behavior and preferences. 

The Road Ahead of Accurate Sales Forecasts

Summing up how CRM analytics affects sales forecasts, here are a few key takeaways:

‍

• By using CRM analytics, you can leverage customer visibility by quickly accessing accounts, tasks, contracts, and events of individual users leading to higher performing marketing actions.
• With customer segmentation, you can get a better identify opportunities for scalability, monitor sales performance, forecast customer lifetime value, and more. 
• With a concrete plan to integrate CRM analytics into sales forecasting, you are ready to take business-winning decisions with a map to guide you.  

Initially implementing CRM analytics requires a significant investment in data infrastructure and expertise. But this investment paves a long road to greater ROI. 

To learn how to optimize your sales process end-to-end, get in touch with the professionals at Marin Software. We're ready to help you make the most of your advertising investment leading to a more consistent CRM lead funnel.

‍

Shweta is a guest contributor to the Marin Software blog.

The growth of the mobile industry in recent years has been tremendous, and this trend is expected to continue in the future.

According to a report, about 86% of the global population owns a smartphone, which is about 6.9 billion people. That's huge, right?

Due to this extensive coverage, many businesses now use mobile marketing as a powerful tool to reach and engage with their customers. As technology continues to evolve, new trends and technologies are emerging in the field of mobile marketing that are worth keeping a close eye on. In this article, we will explore the future of mobile marketing, highlighting some of the most exciting trends and technologies that businesses should keep an eye on. 

From the rise of 5G to the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, this article will provide a comprehensive overview of the most important mobile marketing trends and technologies that will shape the industry's future. Let’s dive in.

Emerging Trends in Mobile Marketing

Location-based marketing

Location-based marketing is an innovative trend in mobile marketing that uses a person's device location to deliver tailored and relevant content or offers. It is made possible through location-based services and GPS technology, which allows businesses to track a device's location and send targeted messages to users within a specific area.

For example, a business can use location-based marketing to send a special offer or coupon to customers near their store. This type of marketing can also be used to deliver relevant content or promotions to customers at a specific event or location, such as a sports stadium or concert venue.

There are many benefits businesses stand to gain from using location-based marketing. One of the most important is reaching customers at the right place and time, increasing the chances of converting them into customers.

John Gardner, Co-Founder & CEO of Kickoff, adds, "Location-based marketing allows businesses to gain insights into consumer behavior and preferences by tracking their interactions with various types of content and offers."

There are a multitude of channels through which location-based marketing can be delivered, including SMS, push notifications, and in-app messages. It can also be integrated with other types of mobile marketing, such as social media marketing and mobile advertising, to create more effective and personalized campaigns.

Personalization 

Personalization is another fast-emerging trend in mobile marketing. It refers to how businesses tailor marketing messages, content, and offers to the individual preferences and needs of a specific customer. Marketers use data and insights about the customer, such as their browsing and purchase history, demographics, location, and other relevant information to increase advertising personalization.

For example, a clothing retailer might use personalization to send targeted promotions to customers based on their previous purchases. If a customer has previously bought a lot of athletic clothing, the retailer might send them a promotion for a new line of workout clothes.

Another great way to use personalization is through mobile advertising. It allows businesses to target a specific group of customers with tailored ads. For example, a business can use personalization to target ads for a new product to customers who have previously shown interest in similar products.

Mobile video marketing

In today's world, more and more people are using their mobile devices to watch videos online. And businesses have to take advantage of this by promoting their products and services through videos on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

Since businesses now know that their target audience is spending most of their time on their mobile devices, they can use mobile video marketing to target on-the-go consumers, such as those commuting, waiting in line, or even during lunch breaks.

Another advantage of mobile video marketing is that it is a highly engaging form of content. According to a study, video content is 1200% more successful than other content forms; viewers absorb 95% of the message while watching videos.

According to Tom Golubovich, Head of Marketing & Media Relations, Ninja Transfers, "Videos are more likely to capture the attention of viewers than text or images, and they also tend to be more memorable. That makes mobile video marketing an effective way to increase brand awareness and drive conversions."

There are several ways to implement mobile video marketing, such as creating short video ads that can be placed on social media platforms or creating longer-form videos that can be shared on a company's website or YouTube channel. 

Businesses can also use live streaming to connect with their audience in real time and create a sense of immediacy.

Technologies to Watch in Mobile Marketing

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Let's face it. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are taking over the world. These technologies now have applications in many parts of our daily life. In mobile marketing, businesses can use these advanced technologies to analyze data from mobile devices to create personalized and targeted marketing campaigns. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are powerful technologies that allow businesses to create more effective and personalized mobile marketing campaigns.

According to Anthony Martin, Founder, and CEO, of Choice Mutual, "These technologies can help businesses target the right users with the right message at the right time, which can lead to higher conversion rates and better ROI. As such, they are certainly among the technologies to watch in mobile marketing."

5G and edge computing

Regarding mobile marketing, it is possible to use 5G and edge computing now to provide faster and more reliable connections for things like mobile ads and location-based marketing.

For example, with 5G, an ad can be delivered to a customer's phone almost instantly, and with edge computing, businesses can personalize ads based on the customer's location. It can lead to more effective and targeted advertising, resulting in better business outcomes for the companies involved.

Voice-enabled technology

Voice-enabled technology allows users to interact with their devices using only their voice rather than typing or touching the screen, thus making using a mobile device more effortless and convenient. In mobile marketing, businesses can use voice-enabled technology to create more interactive and personalized advertising experiences.

For example, a voice-enabled mobile ad could allow users to ask questions, receive information about a product or service, or even purchase using only their voice. That can make the advertising experience more exciting and convenient for users and help businesses target and convert potential customers better.

Another potential use of voice-enabled technology in mobile marketing is in the creation of virtual assistants. These software programs can be programmed to understand and respond to a wide range of voice commands and can help users with various tasks, such as scheduling appointments, making reservations, or even ordering products and services. This can make mobile marketing more interactive and personalized and help businesses engage with their target audience better.

There's no doubt that voice-enabled technology is an exciting and rapidly-evolving area of mobile marketing that can create more engaging, personalized, and convenient advertising experiences for users and help businesses reach better and convert potential customers. For these reasons it is considered one of the technologies to watch in mobile marketing.

Conclusion

Mobile marketing is becoming an increasingly important aspect of digital marketing as more and more people rely on their mobile devices for everyday tasks. The emergence of new technologies is helping businesses create more effective and personalized marketing campaigns for mobile users.

As these technologies continue to evolve and become more mainstream, businesses must stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies to stay competitive in the mobile marketing landscape. However, it's also important to note that while technology is advancing rapidly, the key to successful mobile marketing will always be understanding the customer.

As such, businesses should be aware that data and technology should be a supplement, not a replacement, to understanding their target audience and tailoring their mobile campaigns to meet their needs.

‍

Rachel Melegrito is a guest contributor to Marin Software.

Overcoming challenges from recent changes and resetting your sights on scaling centers on the common themes of simplicity and increasing liquidity. We’re sharing actionable and accessible changes you can make in your accounts today to improve your outcomes. 

These changes are fairly universal in application, but if you’re a current Marin Software client you can also get personalized recommendations from your dedicated expert account team.

Simplify Account Structure

All new ad sets, or those that are treated as new by the system because their learning phase has been reset by a significant edit, start out in ‘Learning’. This isn’t necessarily a bad stage to be in - all ad sets will spend some time in learning, and typically anything less than 20% of spend (overall) being in learning is fine and won’t negatively impact performance. However, we want to spend as much of your campaign budget in an efficient way, and reduce time in Learning as much as possible. Simplification and consolidation are key to improving liquidity, in particular by moving spend past the Learning Phase more efficiently.

There are four key levers that impact the learning phase:

• Campaign and Ad Set Volume

• A simplified account structure will maximize signals in the auction to get you out of the Learning Phase faster. Ad Sets and segments that exist more for reporting over value or receive less than the 50 conversions/week threshold (88 installs/day for SKAN campaigns) should be consolidated.

• Manual Edit Frequency

• Each time you make a significant edit (such as to budget, bid or targeting, at campaign, ad-set or ad level) the Learning Phase is reset. As a result, hourly and daily performance metrics will be noisy and incomplete due to restricted and delayed reporting.
• Meta recommends waiting 72 hours to evaluate performance to allow for the reporting delay in opt-out conversions and to avoid editing an ad-set or ad until it has exited the Learning Phase.

• Targeting and Placement

• Gone are the days of over segmentation, especially in retargeting campaigns. Since user opt-outs from tracking will reduce the potential reach of retargeting campaigns, Meta recommends broadening placements and targeted audiences for more effective optimization over time. The “expanded interest” option is another great way to increase liquidity.
• In retargeting specifically, Meta also recommends monitoring for audience saturation and considering shifting more budget to Lookalike Audiences and Broad Audiences.
• When deciding on placements, Meta recommends taking advantage of their machine learning system, that will place your ad in the most optimal surface for you. Including more placements often helps you find a wider audience because our audience targeting works the same across all available placements. The more places your ad is displayed, the more chances your target audience has to see it and take the desired action.
• Bidding and Budget

• Ensure that your budgets are set high enough to reach 50 conversions per week. If you’re launching a net new campaign, take a look at the average account CPA for a good starting point, then multiply that number by 50 to get your ideal weekly budget.

• Conversion Event Frequency

• Are campaigns/ad sets failing to hit 50 conversion events per week? A quick analysis could be: “Of the X number of ad sets you are currently running only Y are hitting the requisite 50 events per week (or Z hitting 100 per week. Learning doesn’t stop at 50!)”. Watch out for very new campaigns/ad sets!

With all of this talk of simplification and liquidity, you may be wondering, can I simplify things too much? The answer is yes! 

Sometimes consolidating activity too much can do more harm than good. Generally speaking you shouldn’t consolidate when:

• The ad sets have different objectives
• The ad sets are targeting audiences with different values that the auction cannot detect
• There are differences in franchises obligations or shipping costs
• There are significant differences in performance - we don’t want to drown out good performing ad sets.

When considering scaling strategies for the new normal, our common theme is to increase liquidity. Take these steps to get your accounts to a place to scale:

• Simplify account structure

• Do you often see your ads stuck in the “Learning” stage? This could be a sign that it’s time to simplify. If the adset doesn’t reach the 50 conversions threshold needed (or is predicted to not reach this threshold), it will display as “Learning Limited” and won’t hit optimal performance. If this is the case, check for audience overlap using the “Inspect” tool in ads manager. If you have overlapping audiences in your account, learning will be split between multiple ad sets. This means you could be missing out on potential opportunities! If you don’t have overlapping audiences but still have ads stuck in the Learning stage, pick your strongest performers and pause the rest to allocate budget more effectively.

• Reduce frequency of manual edits

• Manual edits, while sometimes necessary, can push your ads back into the learning phase and prevent your ad sets from reaching optimal performance. Even if there is enough conversion volume to exit the learning phase, repeated manual edits will reset the learning process and keep your ads in learning longer. Try to limit manual edits post-launch or group together necessary edits, and find a list of manual edits that trigger the learning phase here.

• Broaden audiences

• Our inclination can be to be extremely refined in our audience targeting, but this can work against us by limiting the reach and thereby learning of our ads. Test out an expanded lookalike audience or even broad audiences to discover new scaling opportunities.

• Utilize CBO

• CBO, or Campaign Budget Optimization, is when you set one overarching campaign budget instead of setting budgets individually at the ad set level. This helps simplify campaign setup and helps reduce the number of budgets to manage manually, since the budget at the campaign level is flexible across all ad sets and prioritizes top performers. If you prefer to have more control over ad set budgets and leverage manual bidding, Marin customers can enjoy Social Rules that automate bid changes based on your internal KPIs to similarly automate with more granular control.

• Prioritize events with the largest, most diverse audiences

• If you’re looking to scale, you’ll find that growth in event optimizations that are further up in the funnel. For example, if you typically optimize for Sales you might test a Leads or Engagement objective in order to broaden your reach, then nurture those users to drive additional scale in your ultimate goal of Sales. Learn more about different Campaign Objectives in Meta here.

If you’re a Marin customer and would like more tailored recommendations, please reach out to your account manager for assistance. Our team members are seasoned experts in social advertising and can help you create a personalized scaling strategy. 

Marin social customers also enjoy time saving tools such as bulk uploading, bulk ad creation, and unified reporting. If you’re interested in learning more about Marin’s social capabilities, please reach out to us today.

In today's customer-centric world, User Experience(UX) plays a crucial role in determining the success or failure of a product. With a singular focus on the target audience and their experience, an expertly-designed UX ensures that users have a seamless, enjoyable, and immersive experience with a product. This, in turn, leads to a steady stream of satisfied and loyal customers. This is why industry giants like Google and Amazon have made UX a fundamental aspect of their business operations.

To stay competitive in today's market, successful companies continually test and iterate their products to align with the evolving needs of their users. Investing in UX has become an essential component for achieving success. Furthermore, UX plays a critical role in elevating the return on investment (ROI) for organizations. This article delves into the ways in which UX design can impact customer satisfaction and boost ROI.

UX and CX: Are they the same? 

The customer experience (CX) covers a customer’s holistic interaction with a brand across multiple touchpoints such as customer service, advertising, brand reputation, sales process, pricing fairness, and product delivery. In short, it is concerned with all the user touch points including social channels. Analyzing CX helps companies to know where their brand is positioned. 

On the other hand, user experience (UX) relates to how a user interacts with a specific product and it focuses mainly on the digital touchpoints of the user like website, applications, and devices. UX primarily focuses on areas such as usability, interaction design, visual design, information architecture, content strategy, and user research. 

CX is a more holistic initiative for customer retention whereas UX design aims at providing a pleasurable and easy experience for the users while using the product. UX is a subset of CX and is essential to enhance ROI. 

Both UX and CX have to be in tandem to boost customer loyalty and customer retention.   Let’s see an example of purchasing a product from an online store to illustrate this. 

• A user logs into the website to search for the product with the desired specification. If the navigation is seamless and product recommendations and customer reviews are personalized, the user can quickly arrive at a decision. 
• Then, within a few clicks, he can complete the payment. This is a positive user experience. Such an experience will make the user come back as the customer experience was great. 
• Imagine the package will be delivered to the user on time but the product was defective. 
• The next step for the user will be to contact customer service to figure out whether the product can be exchanged or not. 
• If the customer service team promptly responds to the user and resolves the issue, it is a positive customer experience. 

Thus we see how both UX and CX are essential for customer loyalty which is a determining factor of the profitability of the business. 

UX Strategies to Improve CX and ROI

Eliminating the risks of product failure is the main goal of UX to improve customer satisfaction. For this, certain principles of UX have to be focused on. 

• Usefulness: The design needs to have a purpose, and only user research can help in finding what is useful for the users.  
• Usability: Valuable insights and feedback have to be gathered from the users to measure the usability of the product and iterate the design accordingly. 
• Speed: The product design must ensure that it can cater to the fast interactions of the users on the web page/mobile app. 
• Trends: The UI/UX design has to be relevant and empower users to buy more. 
• Simplicity: Users like to have simple, accurate, and user-friendly solutions for their pain points. So keep the design as simple as possible. 

A good UX and CX are the pillars of a great ROI. Investing in UX enhances customer satisfaction which directly affects the company’s ROI. Following these core UX strategies will help to create a flawless user-centric design.

User Research to Create a Customer Persona

Before getting into UX design, UI UX designers need a firm understanding of the user types, their needs, and their pain points. For this, designers interview people who are using similar products, gather feedback from them to identify the pain points, conduct one-to-one meetings or launch online questionnaires to gain valuable insights into customer needs, motivations, and concerns. Keep in mind that the user needs may vary with demographics, interests, and purchase behavior. To summarize, knowing the exact target audience will help tailor user-centric designs that eliminate pain points and deliver the best customer experience. 

Mapping Customer Journeys

The data from customer personas can be applied to design a flawless customer journey. The key touchpoints that customers have with the product are identified and difficulties faced by the customer while interacting with the product are mapped. Using these maps, UI UX designers ensure that every interaction of the customer with the product is seamless. Such customer journey maps eliminate the errors that can arise due to assumptions made by designers. In addition, these maps are a great tool to understand where the customer needs are not met and then iterate the design to serve them better. 

Prototyping and Wireframing 

The design team creates a layout to demonstrate how the key interface elements look and work in a digital product. The layout can be low-fidelity wireframes or high-fidelity wireframes, also known as rapid prototypes. The choice of wireframes depends on the purpose of the design of the product and the requirement of the team members. Such basic skeletons of the design help designers prioritize all the elements with customers at the center point. The high-fidelity prototypes are close to the ultimate version of the product and developing such prototypes helps to gather feedback from the customers at an early stage. 

Testing the Usability 

Usability testing is performed to evaluate the design or prototype with real users. It helps UI UX designers to make corrections and modifications at an early stage of the design process. As discussed earlier, prototyping is the best way to find out the bottlenecks of the UX design and fix them before it goes on a large scale. Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer conducts permanent A/B testing to redesign the product that caters to user needs. 

Why should you calculate ROI for UX? 

UX/UI  improvements in design will deliver brands more positive product reviews, enhanced brand loyalty, considerable reduction in user errors, and better conversion rates. There are many success stories of companies that had an indirect increase in profits due to improvements made in their UX design. 

• Humana, a health insurance company performed A/B testing on their homepage banner. The first design was good but the company felt that it had to be improved to increase click-through rates ( CTR). Simple changes were made in the design and copy. These small changes in the UX design of the homepage banner resulted in a 433% increase in clicks. 
• Virgin America wanted to make its website more usable for modern travelers. So in 2014, they decided to make minor changes to their website to give a pleasurable digital experience for their customers. After successful A/B testing, they released a responsive website. As a result, they observed a 14% increase in conversion rates and 20% fewer support calls. 
• Rev, online transcription and captions service, completely redesigned their website to give it a modern look. Initially, the website had a carousel as the main design element to highlight the value propositions of the company. In the new design, the carousel was replaced with a simple bold value proposition with call-to-action(CTA button). This resulted in an increase in conversion rate by 19% in 9 months. 
• Vocier, a luxury suitcase brand found out that their website lacked usability. They made A/B testing pages. After implementing the changes, the conversion rate of the final version was 75% higher than the older website. 

These real-life examples show that simple changes in the UX design can have a positive effect on the conversion rate and dramatically impact your company's bottom line. So it stands to reason that investing in UX can contribute to the growth trajectory of the company, and already has for many brands. 

How can I Calculate the ROI for my Investments in UX/UI services?

It's quite challenging to get raw data on return on investment(ROI) in UX/UI services, as the result of the changes has an indirect impact on the profitability of the company. But these observations can help in determining the impact UX has on ROI. 

1. Cost-benefit analysis: In this method, the costs of the UX/UI services, including the development and test of the design, are calculated. Then the value is compared to the benefits, such as increased productivity, improved user experience, and reduced support costs. This analysis gives the net benefit of the investment.
2. Return on assets (ROA): Here, the return on the UI/UX services is calculated as a percentage of the assets invested. To calculate this, divide the net benefit of the investment by the total cost of the services and multiply by 100. 
3. Net Present Value (NPV): The present value of the future cash flows of the UX/UI services are assessed by considering the time value of money. 
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) measurements: Track the before and after key performance metrics such as the task completion rate, error rate, and task completion time. 
5. Cost of rework: Compute the cost and effort of UI/UX design services at the beginning of the project. Then compare the data to the cost of rework after software implementation to analyze the total cost savings. 

A solid UX design enhances CX and boosts ROI

A pleasurable user experience greatly influences the customer experience. Research by Deloitte and Touche reveals that customer-centric companies were 60% more profitable than companies that were not focused on the customer. And a good UX is inevitable for a positive user experience. Therefore, investing in UX is a smart move due to the following reasons: 

• Greater ease of use boosts overall revenue/conversion as the customers get emotionally attached to the brand. And this results in customer loyalty. 
• A well-designed product enhances customer satisfaction along with business-to-business satisfaction. 
• UX techniques preempt user issues in the development stage of the product. This lowers the company’s expenditure for support calls. 
• A product backed with comprehensive user research is less likely to fail to eliminate the risk of a wrong thing. 

Now that you know how to get started with improving CX and UX, increasing overall on-site conversions, you can also start the process of bringing higher quality traffic to your website in the first place…through effective advertising and targeting. With MarinOne's paid media management platform, you will be able to see what ads perform across all paid media channels you're running, and invest wisely accordingly. Get started with our expert consultation team today to learn more about improving your customers' brand experience.

‍

Aparna K.S. is a guest contributor to the Marin blog.

‍

Advertisers know how important optimization is, whether it’s major changes or several small changes throughout the week. With Marin Insights, making these regular optimizations is easy. Our Insights are designed to save you time and to catch important details that may have been missed. 

Many advertisers are used to looking through multiple publishers and making adjustments within each of them. With the recommendation engine in Marin, you can easily make adjustments to multiple publishers at once. Whether that is downloading the Insight and re-uploading with the desired changes or using the one-click implementation that will seamlessly adjust each publisher included in the Insight. Leveraging data from multiple publishers can be useful for advertisers as well. 

How Various Marin Insights Work

In Marin's “Duplicate Keywords” Insight, the MarinOne tool will look through your account and find keywords with the same text, publisher, match type, location target, and audience. Instead of looking through the account to find these, they will automatically be searched for every day and show up in the Insights section. We have now made the process of this Insight and several others easier by adding a one-click implementation. Saving more time with the click of a button, rather than manually updating these. 

In the “Keyword Expansion” Insight, artificial intelligence technology looks at top-performing keywords across publishers and recommends adding them to other publishers. If Microsoft has great performance with a specific keyword, our Insight AI will pick up on that and suggest it be added to Google as well.

About the Insights Algorithm

We have years of digital experience that we’ve applied to perfect these algorithms. Every day automated machine learning will search your publishers, seeking out new opportunities for performance improvement. Using the Insights tab can save advertisers time, effort, and money. There are also separate sections of the Insights page that divide the Insights by category. Insights are a key initiative, and we are continuously working on creating new Insights and finding the best way to implement them. 

One-Click Implementation

Our one-click implementation Insights have been created for ease of execution, you click the button and we’ll do the rest. The one-click implementation Insights currently include;

• Amazon Keyword Expansion - Add high performing search terms as exact keywords to gain bid control and improve performance.
• Amazon Keyword Match Type Expansion - Add missing phrase and exact match keyword variations for high performing broad and phrase match keywords.
• Apple Keyword Expansion - Add high performing search terms as exact keywords to gain bid control and improve performance.
• Apple Keyword Match Type Expansion - Add missing exact match keyword variations for high performing broad match keywords.
• Keyword Expansion - Add high performing search terms as exact keywords to gain bid control and improve performance.
• Keyword Match Type Expansion - Add missing phrase and exact match keyword variations for high performing broad and phrase match keywords.
• Negative Keyword Expansion - Add negative keywords for non-converting search terms to reduce wasteful spending.
• Amazon Negative Keyword Expansion - Add negative keywords for non-converting search terms to reduce wasteful spending.
• Budget Capped Campaigns - Increase budgets on high performing campaigns to improve overall efficiency. If spend needs to be maintained, reduce bid targets.
• Ad Optimization - Pause or replace underperforming ads to drive more traffic to top performing ads.
• Duplicate Keywords - Pause or delete duplicate keywords, keeping the keyword with the higher quality score or spend, to improve performance and make more informed bid decisions.
• Landing Page Errors - Pause keywords directing traffic to broken landing pages until the issue is resolved.
• Landing Page Errors (enhanced) - Resolve landing page errors or replace with functioning URLs.
• Keyword Bid Overrides - Remove keyword bid overrides to allow Marin Bidding to optimize towards the bid strategy goal.
• Bid Caps - Remove or raise bid strategy caps to allow Marin Bidding to operate more efficiently.
• Bid Floors - Remove bid strategy floors to allow Marin Bidding to operate more efficiently.

• Bid Changes Preview - Review bid changes recommended by Marin Bidding and set Bid Strategies to Traffic.
• Bidding Reactivity - Prevent drastic daily bid changes by setting ‘Limit Bid Change under %’ to 25%.

The MarinOne Difference

There are many other Insights that we have within the platform as well. Some will eventually have one-click implementation, while others require more analysis. Advertisers have the ability to download any Insight on the page for a more thorough review if desired.  We have set up our tool to include complete transparency on how we define an Insight which allows you to understand why specific recommendations have been made; and you will be able to implement Insights to several publishers from one page.  By utilizing this tool, you will have more effectively optimized accounts and more time to focus on the real building blocks of your business.

To learn more about our automated paid media management Insights or any other campaign management quandary you may be facing, schedule a consultation with a MarinOne expert today.

Customers are interacting with brands more than ever, and they’re doing so across channels that can provide marketers with important customer insights. In a world where customer data has never been more important, marketers must navigate increasing scrutiny over data handling while collecting and processing data about their customers’ behaviors, needs, and preferences.

Approximately two-thirds of customers expect brands to know and understand their needs and expectations. With rising competition and amplified customer voices, businesses must find new and better ways to attract and retain modern customers. 

‍

Brand website analytics, custom applications, feedback forms, and cookies have empowered businesses to understand how customer interactions affect sales, marketing, and communication efforts. The extent to which businesses can extract actionable insights from behavioral data depends on their understanding of how customer behavior analysis can serve them, however. 

Businesses have also had to evolve to keep up with a rapidly changing regulatory landscape. Third-party cookies are being phased out around the world and businesses are constantly looking for new ways to collect and analyze critical customer data. 

Why businesses struggle to extract insights from customer behavioral data

Customer information is stored across operational silos

While most businesses collect customer information in some form, they struggle to build a coherent and complete image of their customers—especially when departments don’t collaborate and share the data they have. When fragmented data is scattered across departments in the organization, it can’t help businesses understand their customers and make informed choices about how to reach them.

Sales and marketing teams can benefit from knowing a customer’s communication preferences, social media teams can view a customer’s online interaction history, and finance teams can understand a customer’s payment preferences. In general, businesses can use this data to make sure they are making financially responsible decisions. 

Paid marketing campaigns can sometimes go under the radar or be under-analyzed because of this data fragmentation. 

Businesses fail to establish and integrate effective data processes into existing workflows

Data processes can be cumbersome and tedious for non-technical staff who are unfamiliar with complex data management systems. As a result, mistakes are made and data is not collected effectively and efficiently.

Businesses must find new ways to encourage widespread participation with data processes across the organization. This could include automating repetitive or tedious tasks or improving education on data processes and how they can be conducted without excessive disruption to non-technical staff. This data also needs to be funneled effectively to marketing teams who can then use it to strategize future initiatives and outreach. 

Data processes are not aligned with business objectives

Even though data processes can confer significant benefits to businesses from reduced costs to increased efficiency, these benefits have to be targeted. Business leaders must design and implement processes to align with their data strategy goals. Marketing campaigns can vary wildly in their objectives, from increasing visibility to changing customer perceptions of the brand, to improving conversion rates. The metrics used to analyze customer data change significantly depending on the priorities of the business. 

A haphazardly planned data strategy can lead to significant time and resources being wasted in service of a poorly defined plan. Poor planning during the data process design stage can also increase the likelihood of data errors caused by a lack of understanding of these processes within the organization, inconsistent participation with data practices, and more issues that could be costly and cumbersome to resolve. 

4 tips for transforming your data into truly actionable insights

Evaluate the data that has already been collected

The average person generates 1.7 MB of data per second. Businesses can sometimes collect insightful data without realizing it. Before designing and implementing widespread changes to existing data operations and workloads, business leaders must evaluate the data that has already been collected or is continually being collected unintentionally. 

Businesses that interact with customers on social media often have a base-level understanding of important metrics that the platform’s integrated analytics tool provides. That would be considered data that is already collected or being continually collected. Modern businesses have to go beyond that and analyze attribution data to optimize their presence on each platform.

Morgan Gelot, Director of AdTech Partnerships at Marin Software, revealed how marketers can use attribution data to receive insights that standard social media back-ends fail to provide. 

MarinOne provides marketers with “a collection of insights that are refreshed daily, that looks at things like search queries and performance trends. Advertisers can filter through this information to visualize the importance and the impact of certain sites and prioritize on the most impactful ads or platforms,” he shared. 

Modernize data collection strategies to receive a holistic view of marketing performance

Insightful data can be collected in a variety of ways. Some businesses set up data pipelines to directly collect data from the customer but most companies supplement that data with information that they receive from social media platforms and different marketing channels. 

In the past, companies could simply use cookies to collect the information they need to meet their business needs. However, platforms have recently “set up their own solutions to mitigate some of the risks that have appeared on the market with cookies being more limited,” Morgan explained. He also shares how MarinOne can combine insights generated from APIs across social media platforms to provide business leaders with a holistic view of marketing performance. 

Close the gaps between information silos and integrate data workflows into regular business processes

It’s not enough for businesses to collect and analyze data effectively to achieve marketing success in highly competitive markets. Marketers must be able to easily access these insights and integrate them into their daily activities. The first step to achieving this is to close the gaps between information silos and make sure information is collected from multiple sources and combined on a single platform. 

This information has to then make its way to crucial operational teams such as customer service. MarinOne empowers marketers by making marketing data easily digestible and providing them with the information they need to optimize interactions with customers across communication channels. 

How MarinOne can help businesses improve digital marketing performance by unifying customer data

Many factors influence a customer’s purchasing decision. Information about these factors exists across communication channels and social media platforms. MarinOne, Marin Software’s flagship product, allows marketers to easily consolidate performance data, customer behavioral data, generated insights, and more from multiple sources, platforms, and campaigns. A native automation engine allows marketers to simplify how they identify opportunities and tie them into existing customer journeys. 

To get started in understanding more deeply how your customers interact with your brand contact one of our MarinOne experts.

Modern businesses serve an increasingly diverse and demanding customer base. Between older customers who prefer traditional methods of outreach and younger customers who want a more personalized approach, marketing efforts must always be balanced to appeal to each target audience. 

The popularity and widespread use of social media also increases pressure on businesses to ensure that their marketing and messaging hits the right notes with every customer every single time. Attribution can help teams decide which messages resonate with their audiences and adjust tactics accordingly. Read on to find out how incrementality can help modern marketers conduct attribution research more effectively and accurately. 

3 Ways marketing strategies have changed in recent years

Data availability has increased significantly

Customers are engaging with businesses through digital channels more than ever. This allows businesses to monitor, measure, and adjust these interactions to yield the best marketing results. Social media interactions, engagement data from digital marketing tools, and many more systems are available for business leaders to learn about how their customers react to certain messages and marketing material over time. Modern marketers can combine this insight with effective targeting mechanisms to ensure that carefully crafted messages reach the customers that would resonate with them the most. 

Marketing campaigns are becoming more complex

In the past, marketing campaigns typically relied on traditional methods of outreach such as advertising or promotions to increase interest in their offerings. However, the rise of social media combined with the ease of e-commerce has changed the marketing landscape dramatically. Marketing collateral now has the ability to directly drive traffic to channels owned by the brand or to a landing page designed to convert customers. This has led to marketing material being spread over a wider variety of channels to increasingly targeted audiences. 

Rising marketing budgets come with higher pressure to deliver results

Modern marketers have cutting-edge digital solutions to help them reach their customers more effectively. They also have more data about their customers than ever. Business leaders understand the potential that this combination of marketing insight and strategy can realize for their organizations. This has led digital advertising spend to rise consistently in the past few years. Industry estimates show that worldwide spending on digital advertising will cross $500 billion by 2024. This increased spending also places significant pressure on marketers to deliver results and present these results in a compelling way. 

‍

What is incrementality?

Marketers must study their outreach efforts closely across channels, messages, and outreach types. This can make attributing business outcomes to a specific platform, tactic, campaign, or ad set challenging. While most social media and websites provide marketers with rudimentary data about their ads on their own site, these analytics are limited in the insight they can provide for omnichannel marketing efforts. 

Incrementality refers to the measurable increase in business outcomes as a direct result of specific activities. This measurement typically includes significant testing and experimentation with various test and control groups for maximum accuracy. 

“In the context of marketing, when there is a concerted action, what is the compounding action of that concerted action compared to if you take that concerted action away,” shares Supriya Shukla, Customer Engagement Manager at Marin Software. “It’s like a tap. You open the tap and water comes out - you assume all the water coming out is from you opening the tap - you took an action and there was an outcome but then you close the tap and there’s a leak - from where? - is it from you opening the tap or was the leak always there?”

Why incrementality is a powerful arrow in the modern marketer’s quiver

More businesses are employing data-driven marketing to improve the effectiveness of campaigns

Most businesses use data to effectively segment and target audiences. Social media platforms, sales sites, and owned marketing channels each provide marketers with significant data about their customers, marketing effort success, and the relationship between the two. Since this data is so easily accessible, the accuracy of this data and its ability to generate strategic insight often makes all the difference for successful marketers. 

Marin can help make the difference for businesses that operate in highly competitive marketplaces. Supriya shares an example of a financial services client who employed Marin’s solution:

“Financial services is a very competitive space known to have very high dollar CPAs. Over time, MarinOne has seen, because this client lead-scores their customers along their buying journey, various patterns and insights as they’ve tracked them incrementally as they move from one part of the funnel to the next that they wouldn’t have foreseen otherwise,” she says. “This has enabled them to formulate hypotheses that they’ve been able to test. This demonstrates how incrementality can play a huge role in sophisticated marketing measurement for customers in the digital age.” 

Multiple social media platforms with divergent user bases require unique marketing strategies 

Social media users have more options for online engagement depending on their unique needs. This has led to audiences being spread across multiple platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, and more. While this helps marketers reach their target audiences more efficiently, it also means that omnichannel marketers have to tweak their marketing material based on the formats that are most effective for each platform. 

Marin is able to adapt to the platforms that are most valuable to you. Supriya explains how Marin’s solution “can be highly customized in terms of the data you can pull into it through business intelligence connection tools, as well as the ability to bring in custom call-ins and calculations to display in a grid format. You can calculate custom metrics within a BI tool that brings the data in or you can manually set it up within Marin. This will enable you to attribute by seeing side-by-side campaigns to see how they’re converting when compared to custom conversion touchpoints.”

How incrementality gives marketers greater insight into campaign performance and business impact

Combine internal data with industry insights to benchmark campaign performance against key competitors

Marketing data can be received from a variety of sources but it is always important to put this information into the right context. Market conditions and customer preferences change and evolve regularly. Measuring internal marketing performance and comparing that insight with competitor data and industry benchmarks can help marketers keep track of these movements and ensure that they are consistently effective in rapidly changing marketing environments. 

Effectively target increasingly discerning customers with better messaging

Modern customers are always on the lookout for brands whose value sets align with their own. Value-based marketing is more popular and effective than it has ever been. It is important for businesses to choose the right words in their messaging and adjust them where necessary to better align with their customers. Incrementality allows marketers to measure the extent to which their messages resonate with their customers and adjust accordingly. 

Accurately determine the value of each lead generated through specific marketing efforts and optimize spending accordingly

Marketing efforts can generate significant rises in sales and interaction figures and are directly responsible for a measurable amount of revenue. Incrementality measurements allow business leaders to weigh the amount they are spending on each lead against the value they generate for the business. This measurement can also improve reporting and enable better decision making at all levels. 

Meet your marketing goals with accurate insights generated across complex omnichannel marketing campaigns

Marketing data comes in all forms and has to be consolidated from multiple sources and platforms. MarinOne allows marketers to access all their crucial marketing data on a single platform while still conducting attribution analysis at various levels. 

‍Get in touch with one of our experts to learn how MarinOne can help you plan, monitor, and adjust marketing activities to achieve optimal results every time.

‍Market segmentation is the foundation of a successful marketing campaign. There are likely many different types of consumers that could be interested in your products, and sending the right message to each type of customer is key to acquiring new users. Whether it be targeting customers based on their age, or understanding that different types of customers value different aspects of your product or service, you’ll want to deliver unique, personalized messages to different segments in order to foster enthusiastic brand loyalty.

Let’s run through the 5 different types of market segmentation in detail so that you can understand which is right for you.

Demographic Segmentation

This is usually the first type of segmentation we think of when starting to define our different customer personas. These are basic defining characteristics such as age, gender, race, income level and education level. Demographic targeting can be anything from advertising high end products to those with higher income levels, to a clothing company advertising gendered clothing to women and men separately.

This is mostly used in B2C marketing efforts, as these traits focus on the individual. The B2B counterpart is firmographic segmentation.

Firmographic Segmentation

Firmographic segmentation is the most basic form of market segmentation for B2B marketing efforts. Firmographic traits of a company include size, location, industry, structure and financial performance. For example, you’ll want to use different messaging when marketing towards a small business than when reaching out to an organization with hundreds of employees.

Geographic Segmentation

A subset of demographic segmentation, geographic segmentation entails segmenting customers by their location. You can segment by city, country, zip code or even language region. The most straightforward example of this is trying to drive foot traffic to a brick and mortar store by targeting people who live within a certain number of miles from the store. But even for online businesses, it’s important to analyze which geographic areas your website traffic is coming from. Sometimes these answers may seem obvious, like a company selling cowboy boots targeting states in the south. But you may be surprised what other regions are interested in your product, beyond the most obvious opportunities. Often market research brings about data that cannot be acquired by intuition alone. Who knows, there could be a lot of cowboys in Vermont…

Behavioral Segmentation

This is the most complex and arguably the most valuable type of segmentation. Behavioral segmentation is the ongoing process of tracking and targeting users’ behavioral trends. As you collect data about your target market over time, you’ll be able to segment your audience into groups based on things like purchasing habits, brand interactions, buying history, website visits and interactions with competing brands. This form of market research is very valuable because it brings to light users with intent to buy, allowing you to target your most interested audiences.

Psychographic Segmentation

This form of segmentation attempts to understand the consumers’ motivations. It’s not the what, or where, but the why that psychographic segmentation strives to make sense of. Why do customers buy your product, or choose your competitor's product over yours? Is it their values? Their political beliefs? Their interests? This sort of segmentation is extremely valuable for media companies, for example. News stations will market towards those with aligned political beliefs. Gossip magazines will target those interested in celebrity content. This form of segmentation can be difficult to nail down, but is very powerful.

Now that we’ve got an understanding of the different types of segmentation, let’s discuss how to begin segmenting your market. 

Start with testing

The first step is market research. You’ll want to cast your net wide with broad targeting, then see what content appeals to different segments of users. Once you’ve identified segments based on engagement with your different categories of content, you’ll understand what sorts of products or services they are interested in. Then you can hit those segmented audiences with more specific retargeting ads.

It’s important to set a measurable goal when testing. Let’s say you’re trying to understand if your products appeal more to women or men. Send ads to both groups equally, and measure performance with a metric such as click through rate or conversion rate. If women seem to drive a higher conversion rate for a particular product, break men and women out into separate audiences and allocate proportionately more ad spend to the female audience. This is one simple example; but there are countless ways to run this same sort of test based on the segmentation factors you believe could apply to your particular campaign.

Never stop analyzing

It’s important to continually analyze these different sorts of user trends, as things can change over time and new segments may emerge. Moving forward, allocate a small portion of your marketing budget to testing ongoing so that you can make sure you're capitalizing on emerging segments and keeping your audience fresh.

Streamline analysis with MarinOne

If you create strong audience segments and send the right message to each segment, you’re sure to win in performance marketing. With so much data to navigate when analyzing the unique performance of your various market segments, it's best to bring it all together in a powerful tool like MarinOne. MarinOne makes your life easier by enabling you to optimize campaigns in bulk, pivot bidding types on the fly, and get a holistic view of all your paid media campaigns in one place. Start your journey to better market segmentation and great advertising performance with MarinOne today. Our team of experienced marketers is ready to help you achieve your goals.

Apple Search Ads is a powerful acquisition tool for app marketing that has been around for several years. It’s a proven method that connects advertisers with a relevant target audience to increase conversions. Using Apple Search Ads, app developers can drastically improve their visibility in the App store, thereby gaining an edge over competitors. And with two different solutions offered—basic and advanced—advertisers can implement either simple or complex campaigns, depending on their organization’s goals. 

While Apple Search Ads are a gateway for advertisers to convert more users, users are hyper-aware that companies are trying to glean as much information as they can to track them. Consequently, privacy settings in Apple’s mobile ecosystem are growing ever-more stringent. More and more users are tapping into Limit Ad Tracking (LAT), a simple but sophisticated feature that can be enabled on their mobile devices to prevent data collection by apps and to help maintain privacy rights. Limit Ad Tracking disrupted the advertising space simply by providing users the option to safeguard their personal data. 

iPhone devices now make up approximately 45% of the US smartphone market and users are turning on Limit Ad Tracking (LAT) to feel safer. This means advertisers face new challenges as they launch their App Store search ads to connect with iOS users. 

Share of Apple iPhone users in the U.S. from 2014 to 2021

What Is Limit Ad Tracking (LAT)?

Limit Ad Tracking (LAT) is a feature on Apple’s mobile OS that gives users a choice to opt out of having an ID for Advertisers (IDFA) and can be turned on from a user’s Settings app. When this setting is on, networks are unable to locate an identity associated with a device, and users who seek privacy protection do not receive unwanted targeted ads. While LAT doesn’t completely block ads, it prevents targeting users based on their behavior, and ad tech companies can’t collect as much data as they normally would if the setting is turned off. Rather, tracking is largely limited to contextual data points such as the device’s OS version, the app store subcategory, the version of the app, and so on. 

LAT was the predecessor to App Tracking Transparency, or ATT. Both iterations are Apple’s way of letting users choose to decline personalized ads. Essentially, the opt-out prevents Apple Search Ads from recognizing the user as a returning customer and using their information to serve more relevant ads. While previously referred to as the Limit ad tracking (LAT tracking) feature, Apple’s verbiage of choice is now “personalized ads”. Instead of turning on LAT tracking to prevent personalized ads, users with iOS 14+ can simply turn off the personalized ads feature. Users who choose to guard their privacy with either version of the feature prevent advertisers from targeting them through any aspects of their Apple ID. This includes demographic and search data. 

With so much riding on whether or not a user consents to personalized ads, you might be wondering if the initial ATT prompt is your only chance to acquire ATT consent. Users can turn off the “Allow Apps to Request to Track” option in their privacy settings. If they enable the requests, advertisers have one chance to request ATT permission. If the user denies the native ATT prompt, you don’t get another chance. 

At this point, your only option is to provide information in your app informing users on the benefits of tracking, as well as how to adjust the settings to enable it. 

Why It Matters for Advertisers

As more users enable the LAT feature on their devices, advertisers are being hit with a big challenge. Many users see LAT as a privacy-preserving tool. For advertisers, however, it reduces their ability to reach their target audience. The implications for marketers are not favorable; here are some of the reasons why. 

1. As the mobile marketing era shifts, user information will no longer be automatically collected. Rather, the user will have to provide it voluntarily, either willingly offering their information or denying it. While users feel more secure using the LAT feature, mobile marketers are unable to access as much information as they were able to previously.

2. The App Store may remove an app that uses an iOS ad identifier outside its intended purpose—and understandably so. A user's Limit Ad Tracking settings should be respected. 

3. If user privacy rights are violated, a developer's app risks its reputation, and users are likely to turn to competitors. The LAT feature has created new challenges for mobile marketers, urging them to step up their game or lose a user’s attention. 

4. For opted-out users, lack of attribution makes it harder for advertisers to measure the success of campaigns. 

Impact of LAT on attribution

Prior to iOS 10, companies did not have to honor the user’s LAT request. Apple also previously allowed companies to use permanent device identifiers (called universal device IDs or UDIDs) for frequency capping, attribution, conversion events, estimating the number of unique users, advertising fraud detection, and debugging. Once iOS 10 entered the picture, Apple began showing zeros in place of the user IDFA for those who selected LAT. IDFA stands for “identifier for advertisers” on Apple mobile devices. It’s like a web cookie, but for ad tracking. An IDFA notifies advertisers when an iPhone user takes a certain action on their ads or apps. 

iOS 14 changed the game by only assigning IDFAs to those who explicitly opt into tracking. IDFAs let advertisers know when a user takes an action as a result of an ad. They’re also used for fraud detection. Post-iOS 14, advertisers have to use Apple’s SKANetwork (StoreKit Ad Network) to get attribution data per campaign and marketing channel without device-level data for privacy safety. 

What to do about Apple’s App Tracking Transparency pop-up

After updating to iOS 15, users receive a prompt explaining what personalized ads are, equipped with buttons for the users to turn the feature on or off. Apple’s data on their first-part advertising efforts shows that when prompted, 78% of users opt to turn off the personalized ads feature. The same data revealed that the conversion rate between users with personalized ads on and off are practically identical. Advertisers report a 62.1% conversion rate for customers who opt in and a 62.5% conversion rate for those who opt out. In response to this data, Apple recommends developers target users with the feature disabled as they are far greater in number. Because there are more users with the feature disabled, bidding prices for that audience are lower. 

How does LAT tracking affect campaigns 

Advertisers who choose to target users based on demographic data like age or gender will not reach those who opt out of personalized ads. Those who don’t target using demographic information will automatically advertise to LAT-on users. 

• LAT-on users don’t share identifying information with Apple Search Ads. This includes age, gender, user behavior, etc. If you use these criteria to refine your audience, LAT-on users will be excluded.
• Targeting LAT-on users is not an option. Advertisers can target either LAT-off users or both LAT-on and LAT-off users. Geographic targeting doesn’t exclude LAT-on users. Discovery campaigns can target LAT-on users, but advertisers will get this data at the ad group level rather than the keyword level. 

Benefits of Limit Ad Tracking (LAT) 

Even with the limitations that LAT poses, Apple search ads enable app marketers to reach their target audience on a global scale. Apple search ads are a very effective channel of advertising with very high user intent, and so the ongoing ad-blocking evolution still has advantages for mobile marketers. 

• Limit Ad Tracking leads to a higher conversion rate. In fact, there is a 50% average conversion rate for search ads. 

• Limit Ad Tracking improves cost per taps and cost per download.

Challenges/Drawbacks of Limit Ad Tracking (LAT)

Although there are many advantages to LAT, there are some obvious downsides. Without IDFA, behavioral targeting becomes impossible, leaving advertisers to depend on contextual targeting criteria. As a result of IDFA opt-in rates ranging from 4–13%, many organizations are seeking solutions that can provide accurate analytics, reporting, and attribution. 

Worldwide Daily Opt-in Rates

For mobile marketers, tracking for LAT-on users is extremely limiting because a user’s data is off-limits unless they provide consent via App Tracking Transparency (ATT). Apple Search Ads ad groups with specific targeting (either age or gender-based) will be unable to reach users who have enabled LAT. Without a way to track LAT-on users, mobile marketers risk missing a quarter of the potential traffic. 

As a result, by only being able to obtain install data from LAT-off users, mobile marketers suffer from data discrepancies that lead to an incomplete picture with a lower number of attributed conversions. Furthermore, turning on LAT can negatively affect the functionality of certain apps by disrupting advertisers’ ability to track revenue and other post-install metrics.

How advertisers can adapt

Possibly the biggest step advertisers can take to adapt as privacy preservation becomes more prevalent is to transition advertising measurement away from deterministic, user-centric models and instead use a holistic model that incorporates variations in ad spend and revenue to attribute efficiency to channel-specific ad campaigns. 

Essentially, privacy preservation and ATT aren’t going anywhere. Workarounds are possible, however they are temporary. Eliminating the need to use extremely targeted ads simplifies the process of reaching target customers. 

How MarinOne can help

MarinOne can help your organization optimize your app campaigns to improve performance and gain efficiencies. So even with the limitations of LAT, you can drive mobile revenue as well as app installations by using MarinOne to get the most out of your Apple Search Ads campaigns. Learn how MarinOne’s Apple Search Ads integration supercharges already powerful Apple Search Ads campaigns.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can use cutting-edge software to reach your customers more effectively, contact us. We’ll be happy to schedule a no-strings-attached demo of our solution for you today. 

It’s hard to keep up with what’s new in the world of marketing with so many new strategies emerging every day. A decade ago, marketers focused on creating catchy ads and putting them in the right places at the right time. However, a lot of things have changed since then. For one thing, effective marketing now requires businesses to implement a more holistic approach. 

With more competition than ever before, simply creating an ad won’t yield the best results. In this day and age, customers are more in control and are more discerning. You must understand your buyer, learn what they want, and develop a strategy to meet their needs. One of the best ways to do that? Precision marketing. 

Read on to learn about precision marketing and gain meaningful insights and advice from one of our very own MarinOne digital advertising experts, Anu Adegbola, on how to create an effective strategy that will get your brand noticed and help you win your customers’ loyalty. 

What is precision marketing?

Precision marketing uses data and relationship-building to precisely target a brand’s customers. The technique involves nurturing relationships—specifically, prioritizing existing customers over new ones and connecting with them in a more relevant way. It’s about customer retention, upselling, and cross-selling. Using precision marketing, marketers rely heavily on market segmentation to analyze shopper habits, behaviors, and other patterns to help increase the success of their marketing efforts while providing a better and more intelligent customer experience. 

Why precision marketing is important

Marketing needs to be agile

The internet has made it easy for customers to respond to marketing campaigns and ads in real time. If you want to stay ahead of your competition, you need to be prepared to adapt quickly. 

Marketing is more complex than it used to be

To thoroughly understand your customer base, you need more than just demographic information. While it’s helpful to know the basics of where and who your customers are, it’s just as critical to know what’s important to them, how they communicate with one another, and more. When you have accurate data, you’ll be able to create messaging that resonates with your key audiences. 

Customers have high expectations

Customers expect their user experience to be frictionless. In this new digital age, they want what they want, when they want it. To ensure customer satisfaction it is critical to stay up-to-date with the latest marketing trends. If you don’t, your customers may look elsewhere, seeking out your competitors instead. 

Connections matter

Marketing is no longer about copy that sells. While engaging ads are still very important, success now requires social insight along with an understanding of psychology. When you understand why customers are making their purchase decisions, you can develop a more tailored marketing strategy. 

5 tips for an effective precision marketing strategy

Implementing an effective precision marketing strategy that produces results requires following a careful and comprehensive plan.

Engage with your customers

When promoting your product, don’t forget that commitment to your customer comes first, and their purchase comes second. Developing real relationships will help foster more brand loyalty along the way. 

“If all you’re focusing on is getting clicks, you’re not going to get the return you’re looking for. It’s not all about volume—it’s about the right volume. You need to make sure you’re showing things to the right audience,” says MarinOne marketing expert, Anu Adegbola. “Those who have focused on just the data and not building a relationship with their clients won’t succeed because they don’t have the whole picture.” 

Have a strong online presence 

Besides having had a profound effect on marketing, social media has proven to be an essential part of a successful marketing strategy. Old marketing strategies like live events and cold calls may have worked in the past, but not now. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media platforms give you a way to connect with customers more personally. 

Anu’s advice: “If you’re going to have a presence on a social platform, you need to do it well. Test the various platforms to see what’s working for your brand or company—if it’s not working for you, move on and find what does. Make sure you’re on the appropriate platform for your brand and your customers. If you’re in the wrong space, you may get a negative reaction.”

Offer real value to repeat customers

Customers respond well to brands that cater to their needs and consistently offer them real value. “It’s not just about targeting the single purchases, but it’s about building repeat customers,” Anu explains. Make lifecycle marketing an integral part of your precision marketing strategy by creating interesting and dynamic content that brings your precisely targeted customers back to your brand again and again. Personalized offers that relate to past products they've bought, birthdays, or unique interests are all great ways to get repeat purchases from the same customer over time. 

Be authentic

Customers appreciate authenticity. Understand where your brand sits in the market and what makes it unique. To be effective, know your brand values and make sure you represent those values through your marketing efforts. It also helps to have an approachable brand voice–test out multiple variants of landing page or ad copy when running a targeted campaign. Most likely the assets that will perform the best will be the most simple to comprehend; making things too complex increases the likelihood that you'll lose interest by those unfamiliar with your brand.

Create a desirable customer experience

Customers today live in a digital world with unlimited options. Give them a compelling reason to work with you. By delivering an exceptional customer experience, you can win their trust and expect that they will keep coming back. 

“You need to make things easy for the customer,” suggests Anu. “For example, if the return process is easy, they’ll come back to shop again, and hopefully buy something even more expensive the next time they shop with you.”

5 keys for success in brand loyalty

Here are some of the best ways to get in front of your customers and build their loyalty. 

Maintain a strong brand

Customers naturally gravitate towards brands they’re familiar with and can trust. Aim to align your brand with your values, mission, and your customers’ expectations.

Understand your audience’s habits

Use precision marketing to gain accurate insight into your audience’s behaviors. When used effectively, audience data can help you create content that is engaging and relevant. 

Stick to your goals

Setting realistic goals will make it easier for you to track the success of your marketing efforts. By measuring what’s working and what’s not, you can adjust your goals accordingly. Consider evaluating click through rates, the number of email newsletter subscribers, how effective CTAs are working, as well as ups and downs in website traffic. 

Make retention a priority

While it's good to attract new customers, it’s far more cost effective to focus on retaining your existing ones. The goal is to have people keep coming back. To drive more conversions, focus on creating personalized experiences and deals that your existing customers will find appealing. Segment your audiences, collect data about each audience group and their behavior, and you’re sure to be on your way to higher retention rates. 

Stay on top of trends

You may already be aware that marketing trends change frequently. Staying on top of trends—even if they come and go—gives you a competitive advantage and helps you maintain a close connection with customers. When a new trend pops up, assess whether it will be effective for your brand. To make sure you're in the loop, read current blogs and listen to your customers so you can meet their needs. 

Use MarinOne to boost your precision marketing efforts

The marketing industry is constantly evolving and it will continue to do so in the years to come. To remain responsive, marketers must use precision marketing to build solid relationships with their existing customers and attract the right audiences for new potential customers. 

MarinOne can help you streamline and amplify your precision marketing campaigns using the latest analytics and automation tools. We can also provide tactical and strategic advice, guide you on what strategies will work best for your specific needs, and much more. Learn more about MarinOne today. 

‍Get in touch with one of our experts to see how we can help you get the information and tools you need to increase the effectiveness of your precision marketing campaigns.

As most performance marketers will tell you, knowing your audience and how they interact with your brand is crucial to help you measure and optimize your campaigns. While advertisers used to rely on guesswork in devising strategies to reach more prospects, they can now confidently make informed decisions based on real-time data, thanks to tracking pixels.

Tracking pixels are crucial when you’re thinking about campaign planning, targeting, and optimization. Although pixels are simply small snippets of code on the backend of your website, they have the power to transform your entire marketing strategy. In this article, we’ll break down the basics of pixel tracking, how it works, the different types, and how you can start using pixels properly for any kind of marketing campaign. 

What is a tracking pixel?

Simply put, a tracking pixel is an HTML code snippet embedded in a site or email. Although it’s a nearly invisible component of the site, it contains a tag that tracks user behavior—things like the pages they’ve visited, the actions they’ve taken, and their purchasing history. This is powerful because it can capture important information that reveals consumer interactions with advertising and other marketing efforts. 

How does a tracking pixel work?

• A pixel code is added to your site’s HTML code or email.
• A user’s browser processes the HTML code when they visit your website.
• The browser then follows the link stored in the code and opens the graphic. 
• The server registers this activity within its log files.
• The data is then available to analyze.

What are the different types of tracking pixels?

There are a few different types of tracking pixels: 

• Conversion pixels focus on what happens once your targeted audience interacts with your ads. They inform you of the products customers added to their cart, which contact forms they completed and submitted, and what they bought, among other things.

• Impression pixels measure the number of times an ad unit displays on a customer’s screen. The goal of these pixels is to provide you with a precise number of impressions that have been served so you can determine whether an ad is successful.

• Retargeting pixels track the behavior of your site’s previous visitors so you can tailor ads to suit their particular interests.

• Click tracking pixels allow you to see the exact number of clicks on your URL, email links, ads, or text links, which helps you understand which sites are generating the most clicks. 

What’s the difference between a pixel, a cookie, and a tag?

We could spend a great deal of time on the distinction between various types of tracking codes. For those just trying to get a basic understanding, however, here’s a brief overview.

• Pixels allow you to follow users on all their devices, linking marketing efforts across your mobile ads and website. Because they don’t rely on an individual’s browser, users can’t disable them. Pixels are useful for tracking conversions on your landing pages, partner sites, and even affiliate networks.

• Cookies, on the other hand, are saved in a user’s browser. Unlike pixels, users can disable, block, or clear cookies as they choose. Cookies are most commonly used to create an easier login experience and also for adding multiple items to a visitor’s cart for a single checkout.

• Tags are often used interchangeably with pixels. Defined loosely, tags are the keywords that describe elements on a page and all their attributes.

While all three are different, they are all used to capture user information so you can deliver a more customized web experience for your site’s visitors. 

When I am planning a new campaign, which things should I pixel?

• Key landing pages: Adding a pixel to key landing pages such as a “contact us” page can make a difference to your conversion lifecycle. 

• Home page: A pixel here will help you figure out which visitors are coming to your site. 

• View product: This pixel will help give you insight into who is looking at your products but not actually purchasing them. 

• Add to cart: Adding a pixel further down the funnel at the “add to cart” phase of the lifecycle is intended to track your high buying potential audience. 

• Lead forms: Placing a pixel on the start button of your lead form will help you determine the percentage of users who complete the form. You can also add one to the confirmation page. This pixel placement will also help you understand any upper funnel interaction from your campaign or different tactics. 

Helpful tips 

Before getting started, here are some helpful tips to consider.

• Be intentional. Be selective with your pixel usage. You don’t need to attach a pixel to every single web page. Rather than casting a wide net with your tracking data, work on refining your focus, which will result in more accurate user data. Quality over quantity is key here. 

• Track pixel frequencies cautiously. They can make your site slower—and slow load times will make users more likely to leave. Keep in mind that users can’t see a tracking pixel, so if it’s the last item to load on a page, that’s quite okay.

• Don’t lose sight of your targeted campaigns. Stay focused on your target audience. Don’t waste tracking pixels on demographics you’re not aiming for.

• Respect users’ privacy. While you may not like the idea of users opting out of tracking, respect their choice. Even though you have good intentions, some users prefer that their movements go unwatched. 

• Monitor ad performance. Identify which ads are resonating best with your audience. Tracking pixels can help determine which ads perform well so you can create content that your audience responds to and optimize your online ad spend. 

• Use a platform that provides detailed reports. To track your marketing performance and analyze information such as digital ad impressions, email responses, social media conversion rates, and other types of activity related to your campaign, choose a platform that can do it all for you. Eliminating the guesswork from your tracking pixel strategy will enable you to see real-time results and also allows you to make adjustments quickly. 

• Set up tracking parameters. Implementing tracking parameters can help you discover which channels are producing high conversion rates, which campaigns are successful, which creatives are performing well, and much more. 

Ready to get started with pixel tracking?

MarinOne can help. Our Marin Tracker is a conversion tracking solution with optimization tools built into its platform to give you a better understanding of your buying cycle.

We help you make data-driven marketing decisions by unifying your campaign data with sales outcomes and machine learning. Our tracker makes it easy for you to measure your revenue impact from all of your digital marketing efforts. 

Save time managing tracking codes so you can spend more time on what matters most—driving your campaigns with rich insights.

Tracking pixels can give you the edge you need if you’re ready to take your online advertising or latest campaign to the next level. Get in touch with one of our experts about how we can help you set up, plan, execute, and optimize your campaigns.

This is a story about people doing bad things on the internet. It’s not the first and certainly won’t be the last. We decided to tell our story to help prevent others from becoming victims. Of course we don’t want people misusing our brand, but the people who have spent their precious time and lost money in this are the real victims and are the ones we are looking to protect.

It started with a DM

We started getting strange messages to our social media accounts and various company email addresses asking “is this project real?” The project: Translation work from somebody who is using a name very similar to ours and our company logo.

This has nothing to do with our company (if you look closely, you can see the misspelled name). We responded to these inquiries letting the email senders know the project was not real and that they should not communicate with these Scammers (I’d really prefer to use a stronger term here, but my editor would not allow it). We also let the platforms where these conversations originated know what was happening.

As we received more messages, some of them became more urgent. Some of these new Victims were panicked because they had done the work and then sent money to the Scammers. One of them had sent $1,500.

How does this work?

We believe that these scams start with a job posting on sites like Freelancer.com and Upwork. The Scammer then asks the Victim to move their communications off the original platform and to communicate directly through Telegram or another messaging platform, including email. 

The Victim is given work that seems legitimate, and completes the task. When the Victim seeks payment, the Scammer then requires the Victim to establish an account for payment, which requires the Victim to send an “account registration fee” to the Scammer. This advance-fee scam is not new. Similar scams have been around in various forms for decades or longer, including the Spanish Prisoner and Nigerian Prince scams.

The Scammer promises that the account registration fee will be refunded upon the Scammer’s payment for the Victim’s work. At this point, many of the Victims realize that they have fallen for a scam.  But some Victims, having already done some work and not wanting to walk away from a potential payment, go ahead and pay the account registration fee. A behavioral psychologist might refer to this as an escalation of commitment or sunk-cost fallacy.

In a few cases, the Scammer further escalates the commitment by asking the Victim to make an additional payment to link their account.

How can freelancers protect themselves?

According to HR statistics, freelance work in the US has been on the rise, with 53 million registered freelancers in 2014 versus 59 million in 2020. So how can these freelancers protect themselves? The first thing that people can do when working on freelance projects is to always work through the platforms. They have established policies in place to ensure that payment happens once the job is completed and that payment should happen directly through the platform. Being asked to move communication to email or another platform should be a red flag. 

Secondly, there is absolutely no reason that we can think of where a legitimate company would ask you to provide payment in order to get paid. If it sounds like it doesn't make sense, it probably doesn't.

Third: watch out for projects that look too good to be true. The pay for the projects that we've seen were quite generous and this of course gets people more interested. If it seems like you are being overpaid for the amount of work involved, keep your guard up. 

There are many articles and videos with additional advice on what to watch for.

What are you doing to stop this? What can other companies do?

We aim to work with the freelance platforms and relevant law enforcement to try to prevent these types of scams from happening. Below are some contacts and links that we used so you can use them if needed.   If you become aware of a scam online posting, please report the posting and/or the user to the relevant platform.

US Agencies

• US Federal Trade Commission Fraud Reporting
• US FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center

Online Platforms

• Freelancer   
• Upwork  

Also, provide a way for people to contact you. People who have lost money are very resourceful about getting in touch with someone who can help. We have seen direct messages on social networks, emails to every alias listed on our website, and well as personal telephone outreach to team members and their families. By posting a link on our Contact Us page, we have made it easier for people to connect with our legal team and get additional information.

Open request to freelancing platforms

As we discussed how to handle this internally, one of the things that we think could provide a significant Improvement in the freelance ecosystem would be to allow companies to become certified. This would be similar to the blue check on Twitter. This way, a freelancer would know that the job is legitimate and coming from the official company account. It seems like a step in the right direction. It appears there is something similar for individuals, but we couldn’t find anything for companies.

We are not experts in this area, so there may be other things in place or better ways to solve this problem. We'd love to start a discussion about how we can do that. For now, know that Marin's cyber security practices are strong. If we need any freelance assistance, we will not be contacting anyone through Telegram or Whatsapp.

As we live in a world with increasingly remote employees, we expect that we will all face more of these types of threats.  We all should keep our guards up.

If you’ve been considering implementing Meta’s Conversions API, there’s no time like the present. Meta is pushing advertisers to integrate Conversions API as a more robust tracking product than the existing Meta Pixel. While we won’t rehash the logistics associated with iOS 14, Conversions API is now the gold standard of tracking on Facebook (and beyond).

For those newer to Conversions API (CAPI), in essence it’s a server to server tracking system that works in conjunction (for now) with the Meta Pixel to improve data quality and campaign performance. Per Meta, CAPI was built to “honor people’s privacy and tracking preferences” while giving marketers a solution to share their internal data to improve advertising efficacy. It’s a win-win for both advertisers and platform users. But as with any new publisher solution, advertisers can be slow to adopt until they absolutely need to. 

Part of this hesitation likely comes from confusion around the options for CAPI implementation, of which there are several that vary in accessibility and cost. Meta has recently introduced some easier options for implementing such as CAPI Gateway and Commerce Platform Integration. You can find the best solution for your advertiser here.

Even considering the potential challenges in setup, CAPI is still undeniably part of the future of advertiser tracking and Meta’s top solution for performance optimization and measurement. There are many reasons we recommend that our social advertisers use Conversions API, but these are at the top of our list:

Want to Test on Facebook? You’ll Need CAPI  

• Meta is developing measurement and privacy enhancing tools that will be increasingly dependent on Conversions API. In case you missed it, Conversion Lift testing on Facebook now requires CAPI. It won’t be the last tool to transition to this requirement either. Per Meta, “we expect all advancement in our measurement solutions and signal improvement in the next several years to require CAPI.” Proactive implementation will lead to a seamless transition into the future of testing on Meta platforms.

You Can Use Lower Funnel Data to Optimize Ad Targeting

• Those who have worked with ads on Facebook pre-CAPI know the limitations of data that can be captured by the Pixel well. One of the major perks of Conversions API is the ability to send a wider array of data than the pixel, such as subscriptions, converted leads, and a variety of other custom events that happen post-purchase. This is especially impactful for ecommerce and lead generation advertisers, as this data can be used to better optimize your ads. 

Better Data, Better Measurement, Better Results

• Advertisers have been asking for a solution to reduced Pixel effectiveness, and CAPI is that answer. Conversions API improves measurement and attribution across the full funnel, giving more visibility into the impact of digital advertising on cross channel results. Currently, users can see Pixel and Conversions API data in Meta Events Manager with aggregation in the Aggregated Events Measurement tab. 

Lead Quality Level Up

• Lead generation advertisers know the struggle to obtain leads both in quality and quantity. By using a post conversion event with Conversions API, advertisers can factor in leads that have actually converted into a sale/subscription/etc to campaign optimization. CAPI gives advertisers the ability to use this additional converted lead data to improve the overall lead quality from their campaigns. Read a success story here!

Supercharge Retargeting and Custom Audience Effectiveness with CAPI

•  + Marin Tracker Conversions API enables better retargeting with two key components: Cross channel custom audiences and improved identity matching. Cross channel custom audiences are custom audiences that correspond with an action taken on the advertiser’s website or other sources. Improved identity matching is the ability to send hashed customer information along with Conversions API events to help attribute more conversions.

Integrating Marin Tracker with Conversions API means even better visibility into cross channel conversions and the impact of your Meta advertising dollars. Marin Tracker comes with an “always on” dashboard with near real time data, simple tracking link creation, attributes user behavior across the customer journey on mobile and web, and more. Reach out to your Marin rep or schedule a demo with us to learn more!

As a business leader, staying ahead of the curve is key to success. It can also be challenging trying to keep up with all the latest changes in marketing. 

To help you on your way, we've put together this comprehensive guide on display ads—complete with everything you need to know about this ever-evolving advertising format. Read on to learn more. 

What are display ads?

Display ads are a type of online advertising that use images, videos, or text to promote a product or service on websites and apps. These ads can appear in a variety of formats, including banner ads, interstitials, native ads, etc.

Display ads are an effective way to reach a wide audience with your marketing message. They can be used to raise awareness of your brand, drive traffic to your website, and generate leads and sales.

How do display ads work?

When a user visits a site with display advertising, a small piece of code called a pixel is placed on their browser. This pixel allows the ad server to identify the user and track their activity across different sites. Based on this data, the ad server will serve relevant ads to the user as they browse the web.

Display advertisers create a custom ad for a given site that includes relevant keywords about the site or offer. The ads are typically served by a third party based on the previous behavior of the user to increase relevance.

What are some examples of display ads?

Display ads can appear in many different forms including pop-up ads, side-banner ads, image ads, and more. You've definitely spotted them while clicking around (usually in the form of an ad for a site you've just visited that keeps following you around).

‍

Let's take a look at the most common types of display ads

Image ad: This is the most common type of display ad and usually includes a static image with some text.

Video ad: Video ads are becoming increasingly popular and can be used to grab attention and convey a message more effectively than an image alone.

Native ad: This type of ad is designed to blend in with the surrounding content on a website or app. It is often less intrusive than other types of display ads and can be more effective as a result. The CTA (call to action) associated with native ads are usually regarding some kind of longer content piece, such as “Read the article about X topic.”

Pop-up ad: Pop-up ads are those that appear in a new window or tab when you click on a website. They can be effective in getting your message across, but they're also a bit annoying for the user—so use them sparingly. Important: choose sites that deploy them in a user-friendly way, or you could end up irritating the user, appearing spammy as a brand, and losing a sale.

What are the benefits of display ads?

There are several reasons you might want to use display ads as part of your marketing strategy. Here are some of the most common benefits:

• They are eye-catching and familiarize your audience with your brand
• They allow for remarketing opportunities
• They make it possible to track and monitor the engagement and success of your campaign

What are the challenges of display ads?

Some things to keep in mind:

• They can be intrusive and annoying for users, and that’s not good for your brand
• They can be blocked by ad blockers
• It can be difficult to stand out from the competition

Despite these challenges, display advertising can be a powerful tool for reaching your target audience and achieving your marketing goals if deployed correctly. 

Important considerations to make before buying a campaign

Before you start your campaign, it’s important to first carefully research and weigh the pros and cons of the two main buying models.

CPM (cost per mille/thousand)

PROS:

• Can reach a large audience quickly
• Good for building brand awareness
• Ideal for targeting a specific demographic

CONS:

• Less effective for driving conversions
• Can be more expensive
• More difficult to track and measure results

Impression (CPC)

PROS:

• More effective for driving conversions
• Less expensive
• Easier to track and measure results

CONS:

• Takes longer to reach a large audience
• Not as good for building brand awareness
• Can be more difficult to target a specific demographic

If you’re looking to quickly reach a large audience and build brand awareness, CPM may be the better option. However, if you’re looking to drive conversions and sales, CPC may be a better choice.

When deciding which model to use for your campaign, don’t forget to consider your budget. CPM can be more expensive than CPC, so if you’re working with limited funds, you may want to consider using CPC.

Once you’ve decided which model to use, you can start planning your campaign. Take note of the following best practices:

• Create compelling ad copy that stands out from the competition
• Use attractive visuals that are relevant to your brand and product
• Target your ads to a specific audience
• Test different ad placements to see what works best
• Monitor your campaign closely and make changes as needed

How to measure the effectiveness of display ads

If you don't know how you're doing, you can't improve—which is why measuring your ads is non-negotiable.

‍

When measuring the success or failure of a display ad campaign, you'll need to track the appropriate metrics. Here are some of the key metrics to have on your radar, along with tips on how to measure each one:

Clicks: This metric measures how many times users have clicked on your ad. You can track clicks by using Google Analytics or another similar tool.

Click-through rate (CTR): This metric measures the percentage of people who see your ad and click on it. To calculate CTR, divide the number of clicks by the number of impressions. For instance, if your ad has been seen 1,000 times and clicked on 10 times, your CTR would be 1%.

Cost per click (CPC): This metric measures how much you're paying for each click on your ad. To calculate CPC, divide your total advertising spend by the number of clicks.

Conversions: This metric measures how many people who click on your ad go on to take the desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. You can track conversions by setting up conversion tracking in Google Analytics or another similar tool.

Cost per conversion: This metric measures how much you're paying for each conversion. To calculate cost per conversion, divide your total advertising spend by the number of conversions.

Once you've decided which metrics to track, you'll need to set up a system for tracking them. The best way to do this is by using Google Analytics or an ad management and analysis tool like MarinOne. By setting up event tracking, you can track how many people see your ad, click on it, and take the desired action.

Tips for making the most of your ad dollars

When spending money on display ads, there are a few simple things you can do to ensure your ad dollars are being spent wisely. 

• Use your chosen platform’s insights section to help determine your optimal times for posting on the platform
• Carefully research the specific target market demographics before purchasing an ad campaign
• Run split tests to identify what works best for your brand or product
• Experiment with new avenues to figure out the best days, times, and even types of content for your ads
• Use MarinOne’s advanced analytics tools to optimize and easily manage your ads 

The best times for running an ad campaign on social media

There's been a lot of research into the best times to post on social media. As you can see, it varies by platform:

‍

The most important thing to do is test your efforts and figure out what works for you. And remember to keep testing. 

FAQs about display ads 

• What is the difference between an in-stream video ad and a banner ad? In-stream video ads are those that show up before, during, or after a video. Banner ads are static or animated images that usually appear in the sidebars or header/footer of a website.
• What's the difference between an impression and a click? An impression is when your ad is seen by a user. A click is when a user clicks on your ad.
• What's a good CTR for a display ad? There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as it will vary depending on your specific goals and target audience. However, a CTR of 1% or higher is considered good.
• What's a good CPC for a display ad? Again, there is no one right answer to this question. However, a CPC of $0.50 or less is generally considered to be good.
• What is a pixel? A pixel is a small piece of code that allows you to track conversions, or specific actions people take on your website. Pixels can be used to track a variety of things, such as whether someone has added to a cart or initiated the checkout process.
• What is an ad set? An ad set is a group of ads that share the same targeting, budget, schedule, and bid type. Ad sets allow you to control how much you're willing to spend on a daily or lifetime basis, as well as who will see your ads.

Wrap-up

While it's always best to experiment with different strategies before making any major decisions, there are some criteria that your ads should meet to be considered successful. Meeting the criteria of your chosen social media platform, and using MarinOne’s ad management platform, is the best way to run a successful campaign. 

MarinOne is an all-in-one ad management platform that helps marketers create, manage, and measure their display ads. It's a powerful tool that provides insights into what's working and what's not, so you can make adjustments and improve your results.

Learn more about MarinOne’s automation tools today. Get in touch and speak to one of the team.

‍

Earlier this year, Apple expanded their Apple Search Ads portfolio on the App Store by offering a placement in the “Suggested” section of the Search tab. So while app marketers have always been able to reach customers in the results after they search for keywords, now you can get your ads in front of users even before they search. 

This functionality opens up “keyword-free” advertising, meaning your ads will show based on your target audience (location, age, gender, and device type), and the ad copy will be generated from App Store metadata. 

Search tab campaigns are an easy way to help users discover apps they may not have intended to search for, and it also helps app marketers drive visibility and awareness at the right time (versus an always-on approach), while also topping up your conversions and audience pools.

So, does it work? The simple answer is yes! So let’s have a look at some strategies you can use to get the most out of Search tab ads.

When is the best time to run Search tab campaigns?

1. Seasonal periods (Black Friday, Holiday, end of season sales)

For retail, entertainment, and any app marketer impacted by seasonality, running a Search tab campaign can be a really effective way to drive sales during a short time period. You will be showing your ads to customers in your target audience before they search. Tactics like these help gain a competitive advantage by giving you maximum visibility.

2. Key business events (product and app launches, new entertainment or gaming releases)

Similar to seasonal periods, any business event can benefit from an additional boost, especially in a saturated market. Let’s say you are marketing a streaming entertainment app, and you have a new season of a streaming series launching soon — leveraging Search tab ads can build momentum by driving downloads in anticipation of the release date. Follow this up with a search results campaign with the show’s keywords, and you’ve got a one-two punch to maximize conversions. 

3. Reaching specific audiences 

Because Search tab ads use target audiences, they are a great way to reach new users, returning users, or users of your other apps. In the example above, for instance, perhaps you have users who fell off after the last season ended. Search tab ads can complement your integrated media plan: once you’ve raised awareness in the market, you can reach returning users at just the right time, reminding them to re-install before the next season starts. 

4. Brand/awareness activity push

Of course, anyone can benefit from additional exposure, whether you are a well-known brand or just getting started. Most brands have budgets allocated towards competitor campaigns. These can be costly and quite often suffer from low conversion rates. By using Search tab campaigns to target specific audience types, you can drive added value, and help reach new customers. Think of them like an expansion pack to bidding on competitor terms.

How do I get started with Search tab campaigns?

Setting up a Search tab campaign is easy. The process is essentially the same as setting up a search results campaign, only you can skip the keyword miming and implementation step. Since there are no keywords in the campaign setup, Search Match is disabled. Apple Search Ads uses the assets you’ve already uploaded to your App Store product page (app name, icon, and subtitle) to create the ads, so there is no need to provide anything else.

As for pricing, ads are based on a cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) model. There is no minimum spend, and you can determine the maximum amount you’re willing to pay with an overall campaign budget as well as a daily cap. You’ll also be able to start, stop, or adjust campaigns any time.

MarinOne’s Apple Search Ads integration supercharges already powerful Apple Search Ads campaigns. From optimization to reporting, MarinOne offers unique advantages to app marketers. Advanced analytical grids provide flexible reporting within and across Apple Search Ads with unlimited data retention. MarinOne for Apple Search Ads also seamlessly integrates with BI Tools such as Tableau and Google Data Studio. Cross-channel reporting puts paid media metrics from search, social, display, and e-commerce all in one place, streamlining reporting workflows.

MarinOne also offers automated bidding leveraging advanced machine learning. Advertisers can also set custom bid modifiers for MarinOne Bidding to adjust to external signals, giving you more time saved on manually optimizing campaigns, better performance, and happier clients. Budget pacing, forecasting, performance insights, and recommendations make planning and management a breeze. Plus, cross-account edits and manual keyword bid overrides give marketers full control over their campaigns. Advertisers can also integrate MMP data and optimize toward post download metrics.

Final thoughts

As Search tab campaigns are best used to reach particular audiences and drive tap throughs during specific periods, any comparison to always-on activity is somewhat misguided. By incorporating both Search tab campaigns and search results campaigns into your overall media plan, you can reap the benefits of incremental growth, reach and additional exposure. 

Integrate your Apple Search Ads account with MarinOne and experience the difference. Reach out to your Marin Software rep to get connected.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably heard about Facebook’s announcement that certain detailed targeting options will be sunset in early 2022.

Here’s a quick review of the news straight from Facebook:

“Starting January 19, 2022 we will remove Detailed Targeting options that relate to topics people may perceive as sensitive, such as options referencing causes, organizations, or public figures that relate to health, race or ethnicity, political affiliation, religion, or sexual orientation.

Examples include:

• Health causes (e.g., ‘Lung cancer awareness’, ‘World Diabetes Day’, ‘Chemotherapy’)
• Sexual orientation (e.g., ‘same-sex marriage’ and ‘LGBT culture’)
• Religious practices and groups (e.g., ‘Catholic Church’ and ‘Jewish holidays’)
• Political beliefs, social issues, causes, organizations, and figures ”

While some are supportive of this change, other marketers are concerned about the implications for companies that leverage this targeting in light of an already rapidly changing advertising landscape. Cause-based organizations, political parties, healthcare brands, and many others will need to change tack in how they communicate with their audiences.

In the same announcement, Facebook also teased that they’re working on additional Ad Controls to enable users to see fewer ads related to gambling, weight loss, and other unspecified categories. They also reminded marketers that users currently have the ability to see fewer ads related to politics, parenting, alcohol, and pets.

So why’d they do it?

This latest announcement comes on the heels of escalating public scrutiny, FTC antitrust suits, and steadily increasing concerns around consumer privacy. Not to mention a huge rebrand. Facebook, er, Meta has had a busy few years.

In the announcement, Facebook states that they “heard concerns from experts that targeting options like these could be used in ways that lead to negative experiences for people in underrepresented groups.”  While this move might pose a challenge for advertisers who use these detailed targeting options benevolently, Facebook’s move also removes the possibility that they will be misused.

Especially in a time of heightened scrutiny, it makes sense why Facebook would prioritize reducing the possibility of perceived negative experiences on the platform. Continuing to make Facebook an attractive option for social media users works in advertisers’ best interests as well.

What Advertisers Can Do (And How Marin Social Can Help)

Facebook’s announcement comes with several suggestions:

• Leveraging Engagement Custom Audiences to capture relevant intent on Facebook-owned properties. Targeting users who currently like your page or users who watched one of your videos in the news feed are a few examples. Facebook also suggests using these audiences as a seed list to create a lookalike audience.
• Remember the 2-Second Video Viewer audience that is no longer available on Facebook? Marin Social still offers this option so you can get even more out of your Engagement Custom Audiences.
• Website Custom Audiences can still be used to target customers who interact with a company’s website (and can also be used as a seed list for a Lookalike Audience).
• Want to take your custom audiences to the next level? Marin Social offers Enhanced Website Custom Audiences, which integrates rules to automatically segment your audiences based on parameters you build. Save time and find your most valuable audiences seamlessly!
• Location targeting is suggested to help brick-and-mortar retailers reach customers around their locations.
• Marin Social offers “Location Clusters”, which lets you group together your target locations in one fell swoop for easy use in campaigns. All of the marketers who spend hours quality checking location groups can breathe a sigh of relief.
• Customer lists are a great way to connect with customers (if you have their permission to do so). Try segmenting your customer lists and customizing messaging to get the most out of using customer lists.

For marketers whose campaigns are impacted by Facebooks’ upcoming targeting changes, Marin Software’s social marketing experts are here to help you through the transition. Click here to schedule a demo with us and learn more about what Marin can do for you!

‍

Brands can now optimize Target Product Ads in MarinOne’s cross-channel ad management platform

There’s a reason so many consumers shop on Target.com and the Target app: the guest experience. Target has invested heavily over the last few years in making online shopping easy, convenient, affordable, and enjoyable for its millions of shoppers.

These investments have paid off. Target added 12 million multi-channel customers in 2020, and same-day services grew by 235%. Online sales grew 145% last year, driven in part by the pandemic, but they continued to grow by 12.5% in the first half of 2021, even as many consumers returned to shopping in-store.

Target Product Ads Help Brands Intersect Shoppers’ Line of Sight

With this kind of growth, brands cannot afford to miss out on one of Target’s retail media offerings, Target Product Ads, which provides access to so many high-intent shoppers.

Target’s native, cost-per-click product ads amplify brands’ visibility and discoverability on Target.com and the Target app, which is becoming increasingly important in a now busier-than-ever eCommerce landscape. With available placements on search, browse, and product detail pages, advertisers can connect with customers with tailored ads at every step of the buyer journey.

Target Product Ads may be the solution that advertisers are looking for to address a variety of objectives, from defending market share to increasing purchase frequency. Brands can reach purchase-ready customers while making their products more visible across search and browse placements. And the best part: sales can be attributed down to the SKU-level to provide you with a granular understanding on performance.

MarinOne Optimizes Target Product Ads to Drive Incremental Sales

Marin Software’s collaboration with Roundel™ means customers will now be able to analyze, manage, and optimize their Target Product Ads directly from the MarinOne platform.

MarinOne unifies Retail advertising like Target Product Ads with other Retail Media campaigns as well as paid search, paid display, and paid social, while simplifying reporting and management of advertising campaigns across channels.

MarinOne’s Insights module automatically identifies opportunities such as Product A/B Testing in your account with estimates of potential value and easy implementation.

The automation tools in Marin make it easy and efficient to manage Target Product Ads.  MarinOne’s unified optimization suite helps identify optimal levels of spend while MarinOne Bidding delivers the best possible performance.

With the addition of Target Product Ads, MarinOne offers a complete growth solution across search, social, display, and eCommerce advertising, delivering the maximum return on investment.

Click here to get started with Target Product Ads today.

‍

With increasing data privacy restrictions, it is becoming more difficult to reach your intended audience on Facebook. These updates have included the removal for Partner Categories, iOS14, and in 2023, the removal of cookies from Google Chrome. With each piece of the Facebook marketing funnel likely to see an increase in cost, finding a solution and ensuring the right eyes are seeing your ads has never been more important.

MarinOne Enhanced Social Audiences can help by increasing the size of your prospecting net and strengthening retargeting audiences during. Through a partnership with Experian, Marin Software can enable Partner Categories and pair it with our easy to use, large scale campaign management platform; allowing you to build campaigns rapidly and assure those most likely to convert are seeing your content.

How will this help me in navigating iOS14?

By asking users to opt in to data targeting from Facebook, this could drastically decrease audience sizes. Data file uploads (either customer lists or 3rd party options) are necessary to assure your entire Facebook marketing funnel is working as efficiently as possible. The MarinOne Enhanced Social Audiences available are a direct file upload to Facebook and will not be impacted by iOS14 and will provide another avenue to target customers.

How can this help in the cookieless world?

Similar to iOS14, this will disproportionately hurt Website Custom Audiences more than any other targeting method. Data file uploads are not reliant on cookies or pixels and can help combat audience degradation.

Will this save me time?

Yes, in a couple ways. First, by working with the Experian and Marin Social teams you will be able to combine efforts in determining the best audiences to target (or exclude) for campaigns and brainstorm the best mix for your needs. Secondly, there is no need for a separate contract with Experian. Audience costs will be included as a line item within your Marin Software bill, limiting the number of internal approvals necessary to begin running campaigns against these audiences.

How can I sign up?

If you are interested in learning more, click here to connect with a sales representative - Marin Software Social clients will have terms included within your current agreement. For existing Marin Social clients, reach out to your Account Representative to set up a call today!

Increasing the reach of your Facebook campaigns can be challenging due to a variety of factors outside of your control as a digital marketer, such as spending more money, changing your end goal, or altering the Facebook algorithm. Since updating campaigns based on those components is usually unrealistic, you can consider these five recommendations--all of which can be used immediately, and in any combination, but do not replace testing each element of your campaigns on a regular basis.

Expanding Audiences

It’s easy to get tunnel vision around your top performing audiences and run those until the wheels fall off. But when your remarketing audience and your favorite prospecting audience are fully taxed, you will eventually be unable to pull any more value out of them. When the reach of your campaigns grows stale and the cost for reaching that next potential customer is not sustainable, it’s time to find new relevant audiences.

There are three easy avenues for uncovering new audiences that have endless possibilities. First: lookalike audiences. Even if you are already running one lookalike audience, you can still adjust the percentage of similarity to find new prospects. If you are concerned about moving too far from that initial high-value seed audience, you can use banded lookalike audiences and combine multiple levels; for example, a 3-5% banded lookalike audience.

Second: brainstorming additional interests to include in prospecting. Don’t limit yourself to just one way of thinking. Set up audiences around competitor targeting, complimentary companies, or demographic specific interests.

Finally, Marin Software offers a program called Automatic Search Intent. By breaking down that barrier between Search and Social, we are able to automatically build campaigns based on similar keywords to expand your retargeting and lookalike options.

Auto-Placement

It is possible to be too hands-on with your campaign mix. Checking daily on performance-by-placement and making decisions to eliminate the lowest performing ads by clicks, spend, or impressions will take a negative toll on your reach. Facebook wants your campaigns to be successful because, after all, the better you perform, the more you’re likely to spend on new ads. Because of this, placements that are under-performing already receive a fraction of the stronger placements. Additionally, there’s a limited amount of ad space inventory available. The option for your ad to run isn’t necessarily a Right Column ad vs. a Newsfeed ad; it’s typically that Right Column ad vs. not serving at all.

Reducing Text in Images

Gone are the days of your ads being denied if text filled more than 20% of the image. However, that doesn’t mean you are free to fill the image of your ad with an overabundance of text. If your ad is more than 20% text, Facebook will reduce the reach of your ad, driving the cost of doing business up. Avoid this problem by using text sparingly throughout the image of the ad and fully utilizing the text fields available. If you really have a lot to say about your product or service, provide that on a landing page. Those who are interested in your offering will click to learn more.

Creating Relevant Ads

Last year, Facebook phased out its metric of Relevance Score and replaced it with: Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking, and Conversion Rate Ranking. These three rankings specifically factor in the audience used, comparing your performance to those targeting similar audiences. Ad relevance goes beyond these scores, since Facebook is often the first time a potential customer has heard of your business. Being vague or misleading to drive traffic to your website, or misrepresenting your offering on Facebook, will begin to limit the number of people you are able to reach. When building your ads, think about what solution you are looking to provide and whether every piece of your creative aids in that goal.

Include High Funnel Activity in Your Ad Mix

We recently posted a blog about how to build a social media marketing funnel. In that blog, we discuss the importance of including top-of-funnel objectives, so that not every ad is pushing for those more expensive conversion goals regardless of where the prospective customer came from. Including a top-of-funnel objective, like video views or engagement, can dramatically increase your reach. The average number of times a prospect needs to see an ad before becoming a customer, but regardless of what that number is, it’s rarely the first time your ad is served. By making the first couple touches a $0.01 video view instead of a $1.00 link click, you can build that reach without breaking the bank.

Conclusion

Using these five ways to improve the reach of your campaigns opens up the ability to thoroughly test your ads, reduce the cost of getting in front of your audiences, and maximize down-funnel events. Facebook campaigns reward innovation, and running the same ad to the same audience for any extended period of time begins to provide diminishing returns. Instead of waiting for your ads to dip in performance, start implementing these tips to add growth and longevity to your Facebook ads.

Finally, Marin Software has a managed service offering. Included in that, our team will review existing campaigns and set up new efficiencies to increase your reach. Learn more about our Managed Services offering and schedule a demo today!

“How can I improve the quality of leads for my sales team?” It’s a question I hear in nearly every conversation with a lead-focused marketer. Coupled with measuring ROI and longer sales cycles, difficulty obtaining enough quality leads is an ongoing battle for marketers in the automotive, real estate, B2B, insurance, and finance industries.

The balancing act between lead volume, lead quality, and lead cost is the triad we’re all trying to solve for. Each business is unique and needs to figure out the optimal equilibrium for these crucial metrics while, at the same time, focusing on optimizing them.

Whether your business is predominantly focused on Volume, Quality or Cost, Marin Software is equipped with solutions that can increase the performance of your B2B Lead Gen activities in each of these areas, so that you can generate a higher ROI and reduce wasted time and financial cost

Solving for Long Sales Cycles & Multiple Touchpoints

A study by Miller Heiman Group, leveraging data stretching back to 2014, comments on how three-quarters of B2B sales to new customers take at least 4 months to close, with almost half taking seven months or more. This timeline of course varies on industry, product, price and on-boarding cost for the product or service; however, the sentiment is there: the challenges with a longer decision-making process are much higher.

As a marketer, you are likely familiar with a purchase funnel and the various touchpoints in a customer journey. The stages vary per business, but typically include awareness, interest, desire, and action. So whether it’s the initial Contact Us or White Paper Download, the single or many phone conversations for additional information, or the final purchase, it can be challenging for marketers to combine these touchpoints into a holistic strategy.

Marin’s Full Funnel Bidding addresses this challenge. Marin’s full funnel approach allows for a bespoke bid strategy to accommodate the latency and multiple touchpoints we often see in the purchase cycle. This allows advertisers to dynamically set more aggressive CPA targets for leads that have higher propensity to convert to a sale.

Marketers are tasked with optimizing to the volume of leads coming into the top of the funnel while also managing the revenue or value of the lead. With MarinOne’s Full Funnel Optimization, touchpoints can receive revenue credit no matter where in the funnel.

Analytics to Action

If your business is not already capturing a Lead Score, I highly encourage you to start leveraging this methodology. This means ranking leads in order to determine their sales-readiness. You score leads based on the interest they show in your business, their current place in the buying cycle, and their fit in regard to your business. Understanding the quality of your leads by working on your internal metrics is pivotal.

In addition to that, it’s often the case that some PPC keywords or certain social creatives will drive a higher quality lead. Advertisers should be capturing this level of granularity, and then passing it into their optimization engine to capitalize on incremental lift and performance.

For example, an enterprise-level SaaS business may be leveraging two keywords: “ERP Software,” and “ERP Enterprise Solutions.” In this instance, both keywords are upper-funnel, and in many ways very similar. However, let’s imagine the term “ERP Enterprise Solutions” drives a higher revenue value per subscription and a higher renewal rate, thus increasing its Lead Score. Advertisers should be capitalizing on this granularity by applying agile modifiers. In this example, we recommend applying a Bid Boost Modifier to increase the bid value by 10%.

The lead generation game is fluid. The campaign structure we take today may not be successful tomorrow. Thus we need to be agile and flexible with the ability to automate optimization modifiers on the fly.

Marin Software can layer bid modifiers across any data point or signals, including Lead Score.

Budget Allocation & Forecasting

As marketers, we may often be tasked with “driving more calls” or “generating more downloads for the whitepaper.” Our partners in Sales & Operations often don’t understand the intricacies of simply driving more of a certain touchpoint.

On top of optimization modifiers, we at Marin Software have developed Budget & Forecasting techniques to support you during these demands for shifts. They help you evaluate new optimization opportunities before testing them out in the real world, and help you invest more of your marketing spend into campaigns and channels with increased upside potential. No more over-allocating to the wrong channels or tactics that don't produce qualified results. This information is not only helpful to us as marketers, but can also support advertisers’ conversations with internal stakeholders.

Conclusion

Understanding how to improve lead quality for your PPC campaign isn’t always obvious. Yet, there are simple ways in which Marin Software can provide support:

• Consulting on your internal Lead Scoring process and ingesting that into your Bid Calculations.
• Evaluating your consumer journey and feeding any latency expectations into the algorithmic engine to ensure total efficiencies across channels.
• Layering agile and bespoke modifiers across channels to optimize toward the areas of your campaigns that drive higher quality engagements.
• Leveraging advanced forecasting and scenario-planning tools to help you respond quickly to changing market conditions.

Ready to take action on generating higher quality leads? Schedule a demo with one of our account representatives today!

Setting up a funnel for your social media channels is a vital step for sustainable, long-term growth. For marketers, it's valuable to understand the path that your customers move through at each point of the user journey, from the moment they become aware of your brand, to their first purchase, to their evolution into a repeat and loyal customer. In this article, we will cover why you should build a funnel, what to consider while setting it up, and how to monitor the funnel’s success. The objectives referred to will be Facebook-specific, but this model can and should be implemented on any social channel that can incorporate retargeting.

Why You Need a Funnel

It’s convenient to build a set of campaigns to help achieve your ultimate goal of conversions or purchases. The strategy makes reporting easy to navigate and gives you a clear view of which campaigns are performing well, and which ones need to be fixed. But when performance begins to lag behind, there isn’t enough data available to make an informed decision, or your prized retargeting audience starts to outpace your organic traffic, a funnel can help change your trajectory.

The primary goal of a funnel is to feed your favorite retargeting audiences, while weeding out those unlikely to convert. Wasting money on clicks from those that don’t know who you are, who don’t trust your website, or have no intent to use your product or service, does not lend itself to growth. And while increasing social media spend exclusively for lower-funnel conversion campaigns is the obvious thing to do, you also need to think more strategically and guide prospects through a series of steps to get them to take the actions you want. A good marketing funnel will nurture its prospects with relevant messaging at every stage, resulting in incremental performance, more brand loyalty, and less wasted ad spend.

The Four Stages of a Funnel

In its early days, social media was primarily known as a brand awareness tool. However, more recently, and especially in light of COVID-19, its power to influence individuals and build their relationships with brands has become more apparent. After all, someone may become a brand advocate of your company through various touchpoints and interactions.

With today’s customer journey being more multi-dimensional, the marketing funnel is as applicable today as it has ever been. Social media’s ability to influence every single part of the funnel makes it a powerful tool for today’s businesses, particularly those in the consumer market.

Creating a Funnel for Your Facebook Campaigns

Facebook advertising presents a perfect example of how social media can be used throughout the customer journey. Facebook’s ad objectives are already categorized by the different stages we’ve highlighted above, and its ad types are specifically used for engaging users at the various stages.

Your social media funnel will likely start off as a simple structure with only 2-3 steps in the user journey. Things to consider when structuring your funnel are the difficulty and likelihood for the potential customer to complete an action. For example, watching a video on Facebook is easy and frequent, but taking out your credit card to buy a product on a website off of Facebook is difficult and rare (comparatively).

For this example, we will also include a step in the middle: Landing Page Views, which are less common than video views, but more common than website purchases.

So, we have our customer journey:

However, we don’t quite have that funnel shape. If we target the same audience for all three of our campaigns, the cost will be similar to if we never set up a funnel, and we may actually drive up costs by bidding against ourselves. To prevent this issue, we need to use Custom Audiences. The top of the funnel should be as broad as it can be, while still being relevant to your goal. The middle should be targeted to audiences that have shown some interest, like watching 25% of the video, while the bottom of the funnel should be reserved for those that have made it to your website and taken action.

Building these audiences take time and, in many cases, requires advertisers to start from scratch. You will also want to ensure that the potential reach of your audiences is sizable (Ads Manager provides audience summary information about the Audience Reach) and that you’ve set the right ad budget by evaluating product margins and monthly revenue goals.

Ongoing Success with a Social Media Marketing Funnel

Having diversified campaigns and audiences will now provide stability to performance and open a greater opportunity for testing. In addition to having a social media funnel setup, your reporting will likely change too. If your initial goal before was to increase revenue, that still remains the same, but remember to factor each step of the customer’s journey into your success metrics. The key to ongoing success is making sure your retargeting audience is always being updated and that you are always reevaluating your tactics to make sure they align with the objective of each stage.

Marin Software has an in-house Managed Services team that can help you create your social media marketing funnel, optimize your audiences, build a set of recurring reports to ensure your goals are met, and much more. Learn more about our Managed Services offering and schedule a demo today!

Audience targeting is much like cooking—with the right ingredients, a few adjustments, and seasoning to taste, you can create something hearty and enticing. Like any good online recipe, we’ll start broad and dive into the details, and cover the options you have for building an excellent mixture of audience-enabled advertising campaigns.

And, while you can look at the faces of your dinner guests to assess the success—or failure—of your culinary handiwork, we recommend a more analytical approach for your ad campaigns.

Read on.

What Is Audience Targeting?

Audiences are buckets of your users or customers, grouped based on your preferences. As an advertiser, you can create these buckets across every publisher where you sell your ads (Google Ads, Bing, Yandex, Facebook, etc.).

Once you build audiences, you can utilize them in different ways:

• Reporting: This allows you to better understand consumer behaviors, e.g., which web page is driving the most traffic/revenue.
• Bidding: Based on the data you’ve gathered, you can adjust your CPCs for advanced bidding.
• Prospecting: You can create similar audiences based on your existing lists to target new users.

In this article, we focus on Google Ads audiences—however, you can use this audience approach across all search publishers. The main difference is usually the naming convention across Google Ads, Bing, Yandex, etc.

Where Do I Start?

Option one—RLSAs

If you’ve never worked with audiences before, the best way to start is to create Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSAs) and add these to all or top campaigns in Observation mode. This will allow you to gather data on your audiences, while keeping reach open for everyone performing a search query on your keywords.

You can set up RLSAs for specific pages of your website and based on rules—for example, a customer added items to the shopping cart, but didn’t complete the transaction in the last seven days. Generally, it’s a good practice to retarget your cart abandoners with a slightly higher bid, to remind them about their incomplete purchase.

Another good set of audiences are ones based on your top/desired web pages, for example:

• New arrivals
• Sales
• Specific category / product line
• Blog sections like “what to wear,” ”inspiration,” or “what’s trending this season”

Look at your website structure to determine the audiences to create.

Option two—category audiences

If you don’t know which pages to target or your business is still very new, publishers have an option to use pre-created audiences based on user interests. These are called in-marketaudiences, and represent the people interested in something specific such as travelling, cars, a particular industry, etc.

There are also demographic audiences that allow you to focus on gender and/or age range.

Option three—Customer Match

If your business has been in the market for a while and you have a list of loyal customers you’d like to retarget, all you need to do is upload your CRM list to the publisher and apply these audiences to your search campaigns.

Note that for legal and confidentiality reasons, all publishers encode user data upon upload.

Okay, I Have My Data—What’s Next?

Once you’ve identified which audiences deliver the most revenue for your campaigns, you can:

1. Start using them in bidding: Based on the most successful conversion rates (CVR), you can add bid adjustments for these audiences proportionally in your campaigns/groups.
2. Create specific retargeting campaigns: You can duplicate your existing campaigns, while adding top audiences to your campaigns and setting them in Targeting mode instead of Observation. This will restrict who sees these campaigns to people who fall into your audience buckets.
3. Create similar audiences: The publishers generate these audiences—they include people whose behavior is similar to the one identified in your existing audiences (RLSAs or CRM).

Piece of Cake… Or Is There More?

There’s always more! ;)

You can create and retarget audiences based on the people who spend above your average order value (note that this requires additional analytics tools like Google Analytics or Yandex.Metrica). Or, you can retarget search users who interacted with your social campaigns. Yet another option is combining your audiences with “competitors” campaigns, to drive people back to your website when they enter a competitor’s search term.

Good luck! If you have any questions or want more information, reach out to your Marin CS team. Or, if you’re new to Marin, schedule a demo today.

The Marin Marketing team stays busy not only striving to deliver compelling, educational, and relevant content—we also spend time following the most interesting industry news. In this weekly series, we list the stories that are grabbing our team’s attention.

Consumers double their retailer apps

Shoppers are on the move, smartphone in hand. To keep pace, brick-and-mortar retailers with eCommerce sites must step up their mobile app game.

Read the article

Amazon is testing an attribution pixel

“My ads are better than yours,” said the online publisher to its competitors. Now, in an effort to drive more sales than its rivals, Amazon is testing a new attribution tool. (Not only that—it’s firmly focused on the $88 billion online ad market.)

Read the article

The state of advertising on Instagram Stories

With the Stories format growing ever more popular, advertisers are moving more of their spend to Instagram.

Read the article

Some marketers are cutting back on third-party data

With all the news around data privacy and “bad actors” in the social media world, some advertisers are changing their third-party tune.

Read the article

What’s next for net neutrality?

Lastly, while California is set to pass its Consumer Privacy Act and Congressional eyes are on the major online players, the public wants to maintain net neutrality.

Read the article

“Privacy” is a trending term in headlines and a pressing concern for the online public. With prominent news items like Cambridge Analytica’s data mining activities and third-party developers reading Google emails, people are increasingly concerned about the use and misuse of their personal information.

To address mounting fears, California passed the Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), following on the heels of the EU’s new GDPR guidelines. According to TrustArc, “the CCPA is set to be the toughest privacy law in the United States by broadly expanding the rights of consumers and requiring businesses within scope to be significantly more transparent about how they collect, use, and disclose personal information.”

How will the CCPA affect companies doing business with California residents?

The Background

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 passed through the California legislature on June 28, 2018 without opposition. Set to take effect on January 1, 2020, the current version will definitely be revised before this date, with prominent tech companies like Facebook looking to weigh in and provide feedback.

How did we get here? Back in 1972, the California Constitution was amended to state that its constituents have a right to privacy. That amendment afforded every Californian a legal and enforceable right to privacy.

Almost a half a century later—in a world of over 200 billion emails, three billion online searches, and two hours per person spent on social media a day—people’s privacy needs have increased exponentially.

To address this reality, the CCPA grants consumers the right to request that a business disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal information it collects, how they collect it, and what third parties they share it with. As the bill itself states:

“Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to further Californians’ right to privacy by giving consumers an effective way to control their personal information, by ensuring the following rights:

(1) The right of Californians to know what personal information is being collected about them.

(2) The right of Californians to know whether their personal information is sold or disclosed and to whom.

(3) The right of Californians to say no to the sale of personal information.

(4) The right of Californians to access their personal information.

(5) The right of Californians to equal service and price, even if they exercise their privacy rights.”

That’s quite a legal mouthful, but what does it all mean specifically for digital advertisers?

The Impact

Because of the GDPR, digital advertisers have already refined their processes to ensure compliance and consumer data safety. This includes mechanisms for fielding people’s requests for data access, deletion, and retrieval.

With the CCPA (notwithstanding AdExchanger calling it “GDPR-light”), there are a few additional things companies must do to make sure they’re protecting people’s data. Arguably the most significant part of the law for digital advertisers is a consumer’s ability to request deletion of their data and opt out of its sale—but the CCPA includes a definition of “personal information” that covers browsing and search history.

As far as scope goes, any company that does business with California residents—even if that company isn’t based in the state—must comply with the law. At the very least, this means many companies doing business in California will have to update their privacy policies and work practices to align with the new law when it comes into effect.

It’s important to note that companies have both a fix and an opportunity in front of them:

• They can apply the “Spotify exemption,” which lets them offer services based on the information consumers provide them.
• They can work with California lawmakers to influence the final legislation.

The law’s specifics are indeed likely to change by the time it’s rolled out on January 1, 2020. Despite an initial tech backlash, companies like Facebook are already weighing in on the changes. As Will Castleberry, Facebook's VP of state and local public policy, stated, Facebook is “working with policymakers on an approach that protects consumers and promotes responsible innovation.”

As other states frequently look to California’s outsized influence and precedents, there’s a good chance the CCPA could become the national gold standard through state-level legislation. (With the current federal administration going in the opposite direction and loosening data privacy rules, we don’t see it adopting anything like the CCPA or GDPR in the foreseeable future.)

The Upshot

Should digital advertisers be worried? We don’t think so, for a few reasons:

• The GDPR is here and the industry is successfully adapting. There may be legal hiccups but we don’t expect them to have a lasting impact on a robust and thriving market.
• From making data policies more transparent to changing third-party data access, the industry has proven itself to be highly adaptive and innovative, quickly implementing changes that new laws dictate.
• Both the GDPR and CCPA can be seen as positive steps for protecting consumer privacy, while still allowing brands to connect with their customers and prospects with relevant messages.

As for our team at Marin Software, as we’ve mentioned before, our core working processes don’t rely on or store any personally identifiable information for the activity on our platform. So, our customers can already depend on solutions that deliver superior campaign performance while ensuring true data integrity and privacy.

Our team understands the importance of the CCPA and can analyze your particular cross-domain, sub-domain, or retargeting requirements. Our advice: continue to focus on creating meaningful, engaging, and relevant experiences for your customers and prospects. Contact us today if you’d like to discuss further.

Additional reading:

• Full text of the bill on the CA Legislative Information site
• When it comes to privacy, California is out front. Will the rest of the country follow?
• California passes bill to move toward consumer privacy protection in a GDPR world
• Tech mobilizes against California privacy law
• Google doesn’t dispute claims that third-party developers may read your Gmail messages
• Despite marketers’ optimism about new privacy laws, massive data breaches continue to rock consumers’ trust
• California Passes Sweeping Consumer Privacy Act
• Should Ad Tech Panic Over The California Privacy Protection Act Now Or Later?

Amidst a shaky GDPR rollout, we saw a number of industry changes (in addition to big shifts earlier this year) that impact measurement and tracking:

• Apple announced Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) phase 2.
• Google will roll out Parallel Tracking this fall.
• Google deprecated the user ID field from DoubleClick Campaign Manager premium reports, complicating efforts to link a conversion to its ads. Google may even reduce the extra charge for these reports, since they will no longer have a primary key. :-)
• Facebook revoked floodlight tags from their ads.
• AppNexus, The Trade Desk, and AdForm created the Advertising ID Consortium, defined as “people-based interoperability for the advertising ecosystem.” This effort is aimed at creating a standardized ID large enough to offer marketers similar targeting capabilities that the dominant publishers like Google and Facebook provide behind their walled gardens. Bonne chance!

Wow! Using a redirect as a “party loophole” (first from third) will further fall away under Safari. Parallel Tracking will cause redirects to be treated as just another object on the page (and subject to the same first/third party rules). Unlike Facebook and Google, no RTB companies enjoy significant visitor traffic directly to their domains. (When was the last time you visited “adnxs.com”?)

What are the implications of these changes? What options do marketers have to implement an accurate, multi-touch attribution model to measure effectiveness across large publishers?

Goodnight, Floodlight!

According to Google, “Floodlight iframe and image tags are not able to observe all of your conversions.” Instead, Google will estimate Safari conversions by extrapolating results from other browsers—not exactly desirable, as iPhone users are generally more affluent and younger, and represent half of all mobile traffic.

Advertisers can opt to replace floodlights with global site tags. Big spenders can look at the new and complicated Ads Data Hub (ADH) for custom analysis and measurement. ADH data can only be queried in aggregated form, so it can’t be exported for detailed analysis.

And, since large publishers such as Facebook, Amazon, and Twitter don’t contribute, Google will deliver a Google-centric view. Impressions from Facebook, for example, won’t be present. This setup makes it impossible to achieve a transparent and complete multi-touch solution.

The Enterprise Approach

Enterprise multi-touch attribution solutions such as Visual IQ, Ipsos, or Convertro were never easy. Deployments often took a year to roll out and gain predictability. It’s not getting easier—these consumed the DCM log file and/or a pixel-based ID, both of which are increasingly problematic.

Marin’s Stack-Independent Answer to Multi-Touch Attribution Challenges

Marin Software is in the optimization business so our first priority is getting the right data, whatever the source. We integrate with all the Google tracking products, including GA, DCM, 360, and ADH, and have many customers on each. We integrate with enterprise attribution vendors such as Convertro, VIQ, and others, with multiple customers deployed. We integrate with Adobe measurement as well. A number of our larger customers have multiple integration techniques so that they can compare the numbers between different approaches.

Over the years Marin developed our own first-party tracking solution to support customers that had not deployed another system. However, it has evolved into a useful supplemental measurement technology, allowing us to compare numbers across vendors, audit order IDs, analyze converting paths, and better integrate with ad servers such as DCM, Sizmek, and AdForm (to include search and social clicks in those solutions’ reports).

Because Marin Tracker doesn’t do retargeting, it can be first-party. Marin Tracker can re-inflate DCM Data Transfer path to conversion reports back to their original glory, with a user ID present.

Data-Driven Attribution

Marin Tracker interleaves with Facebook-provided converting path data to deliver view-through and cross-device insights, a product offering called Marin TruePath. Because TruePath operates primarily on converting traffic, it’s not suitable for creating attribution models automatically.

However, advertisers can run their existing models against TruePath, or work with Marin to construct models using incrementality testing, also known as data-driven attribution. In our experience, an explicit test-based approach is transparent and more easily explained to senior leadership.

Marin TruePath is lightweight can be implemented quickly. To see our solution in action, be sure to request a demo and we’ll schedule some time for a test drive.

This is a guest post from Ashley Aptt, Account Director at 3Q Digital.

A marketer’s data is as good as gold. Certainly, there are number of ways to collect data via internal and external sources.

The most common data sources are first party and third party—first party data is essentially your data. It’s the information you collect directly from your customers or your website. In contrast, third party data comes from other sources—it’s data aggregated from a variety of sources.

Due to changes that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires, the future of third party data is uncertain. Under the GDPR, companies are required to inform consumers about the data they’re collecting, such as how they intend to use it and with whom they intend to share it. Given this change, there are concerns that this can lead to the end of third party data as we know it.

What Does This Mean for Marketers?

With all the shake-up around third party data, now’s the time to rethink your marketing strategy and utilize your first party data as much as possible. If your website is already tagged with a remarketing pixel for your various media platforms, then you’re off to a good start. Remarketing pixels are considered first party data since they capture the user’s behavior and activity while they’re on your website.

If you have a customer relationship management (CRM) system to help manage your customer information, then you likely have details about your customer’s past purchases and other interactions with your business. When used properly, you can leverage your remarketing audiences and CRM data to create targeted marketing lists to re-engage site visitors and past purchasers.

Incorporating First Party Data into Your Digital Media Strategy

Most advertisers are already familiar with the basics of remarketing and the importance of segmenting your data to re-engage users with relevant messaging across search and social platforms to increase conversion prospects. But by using your remarketing and CRM data, you can take your strategy to the next level by analyzing customer data and trends to home in on customer retention and repeat purchases, while also using that data to expand your reach to a targeted audience.

Here are some ideas to leverage your first party data and up your remarketing game across paid search and social:

• Push upsells and cross-sells: Once a visitor converts, leverage CRM data to determine complementary products they may be interested in. For example, if a customer purchases a swimsuit, follow up with ads to sell them a beach towel or swim cover-up.
• Re-engage seasonal shoppers: If you have a set of customers who only purchase during a certain time of year (such as holidays or summer), that’s okay! Create lists for these purchasers, and ramp up your marketing efforts for them during the time of year they’re most likely to convert. Also consider if there are other holidays or promotional events when it might make sense to re-engage these visitors.
• Don’t forget about video: Video advertising is becoming more and more popular and it’s a great way to reach your audience. Consider using a sequential messaging strategy to build a story and keep users interested in your brand.
• Expand your reach with lookalikes or similar audiences: Google and Facebook both have the ability to build a new audience based off your first party data. This is a great way to expand your reach and find users who are like your current customers.

Conclusion

While first party data may not offer as much opportunity to scale your marketing efforts as third party data, there’s still a lot of potential to leverage first party data to increase revenue and improve ROI. Put your customer data and insights to good use to refine your remarketing, retention, and acquisition strategies.

Audience optimization is one great way to ensure your social ad campaigns meet your goals. However, what’s involved with optimization, and what things should you keep in mind to maximize the effectiveness of your campaigns?

In this article, we discuss the main elements of audience optimization and how to set your social campaigns up for success.

Audience Fatigue

Every audience has a life cycle. Depending on its size, budget, and campaign length, an audience will eventually grow tired of a campaign’s ads (i.e., fatigue). Naturally, a smaller audience
(< 80,000) will fatigue quicker than a larger one.

The most efficient way to avoid audience fatigue is to keep things fresh and strategize for new audiences every seven to 14 days. In other words, understand audience fatigue and be able to optimize to avoid it. Audience fatigue is when an audience is overused, resulting in a high frequency, costly CPM, and declines in performance.

Audience Overlap

Audience overlap is another issue that social marketers face on a regular basis. This is a result of ad sets from the same advertiser ending up in the same auction, bidding against each other, and inevitably damaging performance. Having overlapping audiences can lead to poor delivery of your ad sets.

Additionally, averaging a high Ad Relevance Score can often be difficult, especially if you’re constantly trying to avoid overlap and fatigue. Facebook calculates the Ad Relevance Score based on the positive and negative feedback an ad receives from its target audience. In short, if your Relevance Score is high, your audience wants to see it, and if not—well, something’s wrong.

Ad Creative for Audiences

Facebook allows you to create Engagement Custom Audiences from four ad types:

• Canvas
• Video
• Slideshow
• Lead generation

An Engagement Custom Audience (ECA) is a Custom Audience made up of people who’ve interacted with your content on Facebook. “Engagement” refers to actions like viewing your video or opening your lead form on Canvas. These four variations of ad creative are also the most customer-friendly and engaging ad types. Where it’s relevant to your campaigns, use these ad types as much as possible.

Using ECAs, you can retarget ads to people who’ve shown intent by interacting with your video, canvas, or lead gen form. You can also use Engagement Custom Audiences as a source for a lookalike audience, which will let you find people similar to those who’ve engaged with content on Facebook.

Audience Strategy

There are a vast number of audiences available to advertisers. Start building these audiences and using an audience tracker (this can be a simple Excel spreadsheet; see example below) to understand how often and when they were last used.

For example, you may have audiences compiled from:

• The Facebook pixel
• Your CRM data
• Leads from Facebook content (videos, slideshows, etc.)
• And more

[caption id="attachment_11410" align="alignnone" width="500"]

A Sample Social Strategy (click to enlarge)[/caption]

With more insight into your audiences, you can more effectively build campaigns with the right targeting and ad durations. Keep experimenting and optimizing.

Lookalike audiences are the Facebook feature when it comes to audience targeting. If you’re looking to scale your campaigns and more, it’s a must-consider option.

The Basics: What Is It and How Does It Work?

You can use lookalike targeting to find similar users to your core audience based on interests, click behavior, and conversion habits. The smaller the percentage of your core audience, the more similar your lookalike audience will be.

A lookalike percentage says, “Give me x% of the selected country users who are most similar to my seed audience.” For example, if you create a 1% lookalike in the US, the output will always be around 2.1 million profiles, since this is more or less 1% of the total number of Facebook users in the US.

However, depending on the seed audience, the profiles may greatly differ—for example, a 1% lookalike of your most valuable lifetime users will be different from a 1% lookalike of all website visitors. Therefore, seed quality is the most important factor for success.

You have several options from which to generate lookalike audiences:

• Your custom audience (email lists, phone numbers, etc.)
• Website Custom Audience
• Page fans
• Campaign data (API-only feature)

A Few Size Guidelines

When segmenting/choosing seed audiences, think quality over quantity. Although quality can be subjective, there are a few generic size benchmarks (guidelines) for your seed audience.

• Keep it under 50,000, since anything above this may see a drop in performance.
• Keep it above 1,000.

For example, let’s take our previous 1% US lookalike. Our audience has 2.1 million people. When we create our lookalike audience, Facebook compares the people in this audience against how similar they are to our seed audience of less than 50,000. In other words, we’re magnifying the seed 40 times. If the seed isn’t high quality, then the magnification won’t produce the best audience.

As you can see, you have a lot of choices to test different audience types and associated performance. The key challenge is to segment and structure the audiences to avoid overlaps and achieve the best delivery.

Something to note: Since frequency caps limit the daily number of times you can deliver an ad to a user, lookalike audiences won’t increase your overall reach. And, you’ll have less predictability when it comes to which ad wins each auction.

There’s a way to overcome these challenges, however. Make sure your strategy includes nested lookalikes and smart exclusions. Let’s go into more detail.

Using Nested Lookalikes and Smart Exclusions

Let’s start with an example, where we exclude the next-highest percentage audience from our targeted lookalike audience. So, if you’re targeting lookalike 3% and lookalike 5%, then exclude the 3% audience from the campaign that’s targeting the 5% one.

Nested lookalikes:

Smart exclusions:

With smart exclusions, we exclude the targeted audiences that we’re already using in other live campaigns. For example, if you’re running campaigns with 1% lookalike and 3% lookalike and want to launch a broader targeting campaign, then exclude the 3% lookalike.

Avoiding Campaign Redundancies and Fine-Tuning

When you’re planning your targeting strategy, make sure you’re segmenting your lookalike thresholds according to the value of the user, and excluding the targeted audiences from campaigns to avoid overlap. This’ll allow you to use lookalike audiences from different sources, increasing the overall reach and scalability of your campaigns.

For example, if you’re running a retargeting campaign based on a Website Custom Audience of all your site visitors, exclude this campaign from all of your acquisition initiatives, along with the associated lookalike audiences.

Here’s another scenario. Suppose you’re a travel website and the user funnel includes two conversions—registration and booking. You would segment the audiences based on your goals—perhaps based on the custom audience of the previous month's bookers, conversion pixel data, and Website Custom Audience of people who registered but didn’t book. Your segmentation would look like this:

Custom audience segmentation:

You can use all of these audiences for your acquisition campaigns, along with interest-based and other targeting options.

Here’s the final campaign planning structure for this example. This takes into account that retargeting campaigns are running based on your Website Custom Audiences.

Fine-tuned campaign planning structure:

Putting It All Together

Creating effective lookalike audiences takes a bit of cunning and patience, but it’s not rocket science. With continued practice, refinement, and measurement, you can scale your campaigns to ensure you’re targeting audiences with the most relevant ads at the most relevant time, in a way that works the best for your business. If you haven’t yet implemented this feature, we strongly recommend you get started today!

Another year older and wiser, and the digital advertising industry shows few signs of slowing down. To understand the current landscape and get a sense of what lies ahead, we dug deep into industry data as well as the Marin Advertising Index—which represents billions of dollars of annual ad spend on the Marin platform.

I hope you enjoy the result—our list of 10 digital advertising trends that promise increasing opportunities and unique challenges for global advertisers.

1. Google + Facebook “Eat the World”

By the end of 2017, Google and Facebook owned 63 percent of the U.S. digital ad market and 54 percent of digital ad revenue worldwide, according to eMarketer. Nationally, Microsoft grew but remained a distant third place, claiming four percent of the total U.S. revenue share.

The numbers don’t lie—at the close of Q3 2017, Google reported ad revenues of $24B and Facebook reported $10B. All signs point to continued dominance of “the big two” in 2018.

The opportunity: Upping your cross-channel game stands to net you more customers and more revenue. Our own research indicates that brands who manage their search campaigns alongside social have almost 10% higher revenue per conversion.

2. Audience Targeting Takes the Stage

Digital marketers increasingly understand that a “one size fits all” approach doesn’t cut it anymore. They’re finding ways to go even further to meet customer expectations of greater personalization and map relevant ad campaigns to audience needs. Audience targeting fills this need.

Layering “Audiences” on top of keywords drives better results than using keywords alone. With this focus on more refined audience targeting, marketers will be able to more easily identify people interested in their products, set the right bidding rules, and create the right experience for millions of people. In fact, advertisers using Similar Audiences in conjunction with remarketing on Marin’s platform are seeing strong campaign results, including 40%+ increases in clicks and conversions.

The opportunity: Despite the advantage that combining audiences with keyword targeting provides, use of Audiences by advertisers remains low at just 21%. As a result, first movers stand to benefit the most. Add audiences to all campaigns, starting with “Bid Only” to measure without restricting your reach.

3. Press Play on Video Advertising

Cisco expects video will represent 80% of all internet traffic by 2019. Not only that—64% of users are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video, according to comScore.

YouTube has a secret weapon in the video battle: TrueView. TrueView has 93% ad viewability, plus you only pay when a viewer watches 30 seconds of your ad. As an advertiser, you can deliver big spikes in conversion with video advertising campaigns by evaluating your videos across a variety of variables, and then optimizing and adjust to meet your goals. We predict that TrueView will become a not-so-secret weapon for advertisers in 2018.

The opportunity: As video advertising continues to explode, marketers who master the game stand to drive substantial campaign performance improvements. Use YouTube and Facebook for your video ad campaigns to take advantage of 80%+ of the public’s attention in digital. In addition, be sure to use search intent to inform and drive your social ad campaigns. Then, measure, manage, and optimize to continuously improve results.

To see just a couple of examples of how businesses have crafted successful video ad campaigns, read our case studies and check out our recent webinar on video advertising tips:

• Meliá Revamps Performance on Facebook Thanks to Marin’s Cross-Channel Search Intent
• The Economist Uses Marin Social Multi-Objective Media Plans and Facebook Video Ads to Raise New Subscriptions by 66%
• Webinar: Press Play on Video Advertising

4. The (Amazon) Empire Strikes Back

Despite the dominance of Google and Facebook, Amazon is emerging as the next big player in digital advertising. But let’s be realistic here—Amazon’s current share of the digital ad market is just two percent nationally and less than one percent worldwide.

However—as The Wall Street Journal reported in December, GroupM’s parent agency, WPP, may increase its spending with Amazon by 50 percent this year from $200 million in 2017. This would help push total spending on Amazon ads by three of the world’s largest agencies to a collective $800 million a year.

As Amazon opens retail stores and ventures into the CPG space with its $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods, retail advertisers in particular will have to do double time to keep pace and take advantage. Additionally, Amazon’s self-service offering for retailers on Amazon Stores, with basic headline search ad capabilities, means retailers have yet another avenue for additional revenue and growth.

Consumers definitely now have a voice—and they’re using it to make purchases. Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant—inside millions of Echo virtual-assistant devices sold into U.S. homes—should give the company a powerful boost in an online advertising market driven by consumer targeting.

The opportunity: Keep an eye on Amazon. It remains to be seen whether it’s “too big to fail” or will be perceived as a competitive threat to retailers. In the meantime, advertisers would be wise to monitor Amazon’s evolution as an emerging powerhouse in the digital advertising space, and start to plan for future ad spend on that platform.

5. The “Next Big Thing” in Ad Tech

Voice search has taken the consumer market by storm and the numbers are staggering. Amazon has sold over 20 million Echo units, with Google Home gaining ground and gobbling up to 24% of market share since it hit the scene in 2015.

In addition to voice search, smart hubs and visual search will become firmly established in 2018. Innovative products like Google Lens, Pinterest Lens, and Amazon’s CamFind allow consumers to take a picture of an item and then search for that product to purchase online.

The opportunity: As voice and visual search technology matures, so will the advertising opportunities. Adapt to increased voice and visual search volumes and make sure your team is understands these technologies. A single-answer voice response is vastly different from the familiar world of typed search queries with multiple ranked results. Stay informed, knowledgeable, and ready to be an early adopter.

6. Changing Channels on Attribution

Because up to 90% of sales still happen in-store, marketers increasingly want to understand the full path to conversion and the impact of digital touch points to offline sales. To this end, the industry’s quickly moving away from the limitations of last-click attribution—rife with its inaccuracy, double-counted conversions, and poor reflection of the customer journey across devices and platforms. Advertisers are increasingly embracing a holistic view of measurement.

The opportunity: Unify attribution across channels. Assign reasonable and accurate value to all touch points along the customer journey to gain a full picture of performance and make better budgeting decisions to drive profitable return on ad spend (ROAS).

7. Offline Measurement Gets Connected

Speaking of offline sales—consumers continue to turn to mobile for all aspects of the shopping experience, whether it’s searching for products, finding the nearest retail location, or consulting their mobile device in-store. In other words, when it comes to mobile, shoppers are most often looking—and searching—to buy.

Additionally, it’s important to note that Google has access to 70% of all US debit and credit card transactions in-store through partnerships with companies that track that information. That’s a whole lotta data! To determine when digital ads contribute to an offline purchase, marketers will have to match this user data with other identifying information from merchants and credit/debit card issuers.

The opportunity: By matching ad clicks with in-store transaction data, Google has a treasure trove of information for merchants about which digital ads translate into physical store sales.

8. The Supreme Court of Privacy

Advertising is an industry in the crosshairs of consumer privacy, and the past several years have seen a substantial shift in attitudes towards protecting user identity and online activities. Many people are no longer content to share personally identifiable information (PII) without providing publishers with explicit permission and defining strict rules of engagement. Coupled with fresh legislation such as GDPR, many advertisers find themselves seeking practical advice on what marketing activities are permitted or prohibited.

The opportunity: GDPR will have a broad impact on all advertisers (not just those based in the EU), but programmatic ads will be most affected. Advertisers who adapt to GDPR will likely be forced to emphasize less ad volume and much higher quality data. Advertisers will be required to show far greater transparency around their data collection and targeting practices, but this presents an opportunity to build a much greater level of trust (and engagement) with users in the longer term.

9. Is Ad Blocking an Immovable Object?

Recent estimates from eMarketer predicted that over a quarter of US internet users would block ads in 2018, up from just under 16% in 2014. Also, research from PageFair shows that people are much more likely to leave your site if you ask them to disable ad blockers. Not only are ad blockers a reality on US desktop and mobile, but they’re also on the rise in developing countries.

This all means, of course, that ad blockers will continue to pose a significant threat to ad-funded business models due to their rising popularity with users globally.

What’s an advertiser to do? Large publishers have little incentive to intervene as their business booms, but small publishers still struggle with these ad blocker restrictions. In particular, recent Apple/Safari and Google/Chrome moves on privacy impact smaller publishers, given the potentially deadly impact of ad blockers on already limited revenue streams.

The opportunity: Despite the seeming doom and gloom surrounding ad blocker adoption, advertisers still have options to run successful campaigns. Be sure to focus on a positive user experience, so that users won’t be prompted to block your ads in the first place. Make your ads relevant and enjoyable. It’s essential that you deliver meaningful ads that don’t annoy users. Also, be sure to get fewer, higher quality ads via opt-in mechanisms, as advertisers will pay higher CPCs on these ads.

10. Messenger Ads: There’s an App for That

Messenger Ads represent one of the most exciting channels to come online as of late—although still a nascent offering, it’s being touted as “the new email” by some in the advertising industry. Despite its relatively recent arrival on the scene, Messenger itself now has 1.3 billion monthly users, up from 1 billion in July 2016. That’s the same count as Facebook’s other chat product, WhatsApp, showing massive advertising potential.

The opportunity: Advertisers are already reporting CTRs north of 50% (which is basically unheard of these days). Perhaps it'll decline with time, but Messenger Ads promise a huge opportunity for advertisers who jump on the bandwagon in 2018. Be sure to hop on.

Audience targeting gives marketers a powerful tool to tailor their message and build highly relevant ad campaigns for different customer segments. Layering “Audiences” on top of keywords drives better results than using keywords alone.

Consider a few results:

• eharmony averaged 220% ROI after adopting an advertising strategy based on personalization and audience segments.
• Ancestry’s smart audience utilization continues to increase its ROI and drive high-performance remarketing campaigns.
• MoneySuperMarket discovered that delivering the right message at the right time was key to keeping customers happy and retaining their business.

Breaking Down Barriers to Success

Most marketers underutilize audience products today. In our conversations, we hear a number of recurring themes when we explore why this is happening.

Many advertisers say that “We don’t have a retargeting pixel installed” or “I don’t know where to start or how to test audiences.” The good news: After you set a baseline with Google Analytics, audience targeting is easy to implement and test to find the best configuration for your organization.

Start Your Audience Targeting Efforts Today

To get started with audience targeting and ensure the largest yields from your advertising budgets, download our free guide, Finding Your Ideal Audience: Advertisers Get Smart About Customer Acquisition. With its practical advice and hands-on tactics, you’ll be able to begin using audience targeting right away.

Where did 2017 go? And can you believe we’re talking about 2018 already? I guess it’s never too early to plan ahead, especially in marketing. As conferences like DMEXCO 2017 revealed, topics such as influencer marketing, attribution, and data-driven advertising remain at the forefront of advertisers’ hearts and minds.

Based on current trends and industry activity, we have a few predictions on what digital marketers can expect in 2018.

1. Audiences

The quest to reach specific and precise online audiences is now a staple of any savvy marketer’s strategy. Still, the emphasis on audience targeting will kick up a notch in 2018. Digital marketers will increasingly understand that a “one size fits all” approach doesn’t cut it anymore. They’ll need to go even further to meet customer expectations of greater personalization and map ad campaigns to audience needs.

As marketers combine existing tools such as remarketing lists and lookalikes with strategies that identify the perfect rules for current and desired audiences, the coming year holds great promise. With a focus on more refined audience targeting, marketers will be able to more easily identify people interested in their products, set the right bidding rules, and create the right experience for millions of people.

2. Unified Paid Search and Social Campaigns

As we covered in our guide, Google + Facebook: A Playbook for Cross-Channel Advertising Success, in 2016, Google and Facebook represented 99% of revenue growth from digital advertising in the U.S. alone. Marketers have flocked to these channels, just as they’re chasing technologies that allow them to mine the search and social gold. In 2018, you’ll hear much about:

• Achieving a single view of cross-channel performance
• Driving incremental retail sales on Facebook using search intent signals
• Refining Google and Facebook retargeting
• Product feed optimization and cross-channel insights

With product feed optimization, the top marketers will focus on more than just bidding and budgets—they’ll extend their strategy to include successful Google Shopping campaigns. This will be the case across the board, whether it’s A/B testing to find the best product title, determining the best product groupings, or determining price competitiveness. Increasingly, those insights will fuel more dynamic and effective campaigns on Facebook.

3. Dynamic Ads

Speaking of dynamic campaigns on Facebook….

Dynamic ads are already well established for industries such as travel and retail—in 2018, other verticals will no doubt gain the benefit of feed-based ads with dynamically generated creative, driven by user intent. In fact, we predict that dynamic ads will become the norm for targeted digital marketing.

Not only will marketers focus on bridging the search and social divide—combining search intent signals with dynamic social advertising—they’ll also mesh the two channels to allow for seamless micro-targeting and creation of meaningful audience segments.

This will result in an even smoother customer experience, more conversions and incremental returns, and greater real-time audience insights. Now that’s a dynamic result!

4. Measurement Beyond Last-click Attribution

We know that up to 90% of sales still happen in-store. Next year, marketers will raise the bar on connecting digital touchpoints with offline sales and using in-store insights to inform their marketing campaigns. The attribution question of the year will be: How do my digital advertising campaigns affect offline conversions, in-store sales, and repeat trips?

Marketers increasingly want to understand the full path to conversion. Fortunately, post-impression and post-click conversion data will make this a cinch. In addition, a couple of practices will likely become the measurement norm:

• Linear conversion to equally credit each touchpoint to conversion, versus last-click attribution
• Automatically re-allocating budget between campaigns based on performance

The More Things Change….

If there’s one thing that won’t change in 2018, it’s the list of primary objectives for marketers: gain more customers, achieve higher revenue, and increase ROI. Along with that, we’d add the mantra, “measure, manage, optimize.” Here at Marin, we look forward to seeing what exciting developments and new challenges 2018 brings, and how marketers continue to make their mark in the digital advertising space.

Google research shows that if you’re a search advertiser, you may be missing over 70% of potential mobile shoppers by relying on demographic targeting alone. On the other hand, if users are already familiar with your brand, they’re 20% more likely to convert.

How do you get people to discover you in the first place? And, how can you move beyond demographics to reach existing and potential customers more precisely and efficiently?

To ensure the success of your search ad campaigns, it makes sense to adopt a combination of audience targeting and smart bidding.

Tools of an Evolving Trade

There are a number of search ad formats designed to deliver specific results based on your business goals and objectives. The key is knowing how to mix and match. For instance, according to Google, advertisers using Similar Audiences in conjunction with remarketing are seeing some pretty amazing results:

• 60% more impressions
• 48% more clicks
• 41% more conversions

Think of audience targeting as a toolkit—a set of ad types you can choose from to build performance-boosting campaigns. Audience targeting allows you to achieve several great benefits and capabilities:

• Identify people interested in your products at scale
• Reach new and existing customers across devices
• Set the right bidding rules for maximum ad exposure
• Use search intent to deliver ads to highly receptive target audiences
• Deliver the right message to build relationships and drive action

The name of the game is accuracy—building the right audiences, choosing who sees your ads, and optimizing based on performance.

Join Our Audiences Webinar

Sign up for our upcoming webinar, Finding Your Ideal Audience: Targeted Ads for Customer Acquisition, to learn how to effectively use your first-party data and insights on consumer behavior to drive profitable search ad campaigns. Mike Lerra from Google and Marin’s Patrick Hutchison will share practical insights, tips, and tactics for your advertising efforts.

To make it convenient for global teams, we’ve scheduled three different times:

• North America: Tuesday, November 7th @ 10am PST
• APAC: Wednesday, November 8th @ 10 am Singapore Time
• UK, Nordics, and Benelux: Wednesday, November, 15th @ 10am GMT

Speaker Bios

Mike Lerra is a lifelong Massachusetts native and the Global Product Lead for Search Audiences out of Google’s Cambridge office. Prior to this role, he was an Analytical Lead for Google’s sales teams in the Retail and B2B verticals. Mike came to Google from TripAdvisor, where he managed search engine marketing. Outside of work, Mike is an avid sabermetrician, always looking for the next great baseball statistic or analysis.

Patrick Hutchison has been on the Marin team for 10 years, filling roles as diverse as Search Manager, Solutions Architect, and Sales Engineer. In 2015 he became a Product Marketing Manager, and now helps create effective customer success stories and evangelize the Marin Brand. Patrick graduated from University of California, Davis, with a BS in Managerial Economics.

As the dust settles on Marin Masters 2017, we stepped back and reviewed the core themes from our annual customer summit in San Francisco and New York.

This is our first article in a two-part series.

Cognitive Marketing

Christopher Penn of Shift Communications, our keynote speaker in New York, addressed how AI is redefining marketing in fundamental ways. Gone are the days of “spray and pray” campaigns that lack scale, profitability, and agility.

Instead, we’ve entered a brave new world of cognitive marketing that leverages AI, algorithms, and machine learning to drive results. How will this impact marketing professionals? “If you do it with a template today, a machine does it without you tomorrow,” said Chris.

Increasingly, marketing organizations will seek out multidisciplinary skills—think about pairing data mining with mobile development—and algorithmic thinking, where machines do the heavy lifting. It’ll be interesting to monitor which job roles drive this revolution in marketing practices. In Chris Penn’s view, the future of marketing belongs to developers, data scientists, and marketing technologists. Do you agree?

To learn more, check out his fascinating Marin Masters presentation on Cognitive Marketing.

Getting Smarter with Data

At our San Francisco event, Google’s Todd Pollak gave an excellent presentation on the increasing role of data in marketing and advertising campaigns. In his role as Managing Director of Google’s US Product Specialist Team, Todd noted that CMOs are moving away from channel-focusedmarketing efforts with distinct silos for media buying, digital marketing, and data. Instead, marketing leaders are moving towards a customer-centric model that connects first-party data across websites, channels, and teams.

In New York, Dan Taylor, Managing Director of Global Display and Programmatic at Google, explored how Similar Audiences lets you find and reach people who share similar interests with your best customers. Reaching the right people is part of the equation, but capturing their attention with relevant ads at the right time completes the customer-centric approach. Dan’s session focused on putting the customer first and using audience data to rethink the customer journey. You’ll find more customer-first insights in the Think with Google collection of case studies and resources.

Making Social Content Resonate

At both our San Francisco and New York events, Emerson Spartz, the CEO of Dose, delivered a high-octane presentation about the death of website influence and the primacy of social. Applying a test-driven model to identify which social content will resonate is part of Emerson’s successful top-of-funnel methodology. Using a predictive approach consisting of bare-bones ideation, pre-testing, and production has allowed his team to deliver impressive results for brands heavily invested in social.

Emerson’s final point is simple—if you don’t use data to inform your creative, it’s like setting fire to your marketing budget. Check out Emerson’s thought-provoking presentation on The Future of Innovation, Data, and Attention.

That’s all for now, but stay tuned for our next post with more insights from Marin Masters 2017.

This is a guest post from Ashley Aptt, Account Director at 3Q Digital.

With Q4 right around the corner, the big question is, “How can I drive more sales this holiday season?” Everyone wants to increase revenue, plus look for new and efficient ways to do so. Today we’ll focus on how you can leverage AdWords Customer Match and Similar Audiences to meet your holiday goals.

Brief Descriptions

Customer Match is an AdWords advertising tool that utilizes your customer email file. By uploading a file with your customer emails, you can target these users when they’re signed into their Google account.

If your Customer Match audience meets eligibility criteria, Google automatically creates Similar Audiences. Similar Audiences allow you to reach people who share characteristics with the users in your Customer Match file.

Customer Match is currently available for Search, Shopping, YouTube, and Gmail campaigns (not the Google Display Network). Similar Audiences for Customer Match is available for YouTube and Gmail only.

There are several strategies and use cases for Customer Match and Similar Audiences to boost brand awareness and increase revenue. Here are several things you can do to get started.

Create Customer Segments

To maximize the benefits of Customer Match, create customer segments based on user behaviors. Depending on how much information you collect from users when they provide their email address, the segmenting possibilities are endless. A few list segmentation examples include:

• Prospects versus customers
• Customer purchase frequency
• Product or category affinities

Increase Bids for Past Purchasers

Use Customer Match as a remarketing list for search ads (RLSA) audience in search campaigns to adjust bids for users who’ve previously purchased from your site. Experiment with higher bids when your customers perform non-brand or competitor searches to stay top of mind and drive more sales during the holiday season.

Since past purchasers are familiar with your brand, it’s less risky to aggressively bid on non-brand search queries, because these users are more likely to convert compared to users who haven’t previously visited your site.

Target Broad/General Keywords

Explore targeting very broad or general non-brand keywords with your Customer Match list. This can be done with the RLSA Target and bid feature.

For example, a department store could test targeting general keywords such as ‘shoes’. This may be a risky move under normal situations, but using Target and bid limits the reach to people familiar with your brand. This lets you get in front of your customers again (when they may not be thinking of your brand) and potentially drive more revenue.

[caption id="attachment_10021" align="alignnone" width="500"]

(Click image to enlarge.)[/caption]

Develop New Ad Copy

Use Customer Match to implement unique ad copy that makes use of what you know about the people on your email list via RLSA Target and bid, Gmail Sponsored Promotions, or YouTube. Test different ad copy for frequent purchasers versus customers who haven’t made a purchase in over a year. A steeper promotional discount could entice old customers to come back and make another purchase.

Cross-Sell or Upsell

You can use Customer Match to cross-sell or upsell to existing customers to drive incremental revenue. For example, if a department store has a customer file segmented with a list of people who frequently buy children’s clothing, you can target that list of users with ad copy relevant to holiday gifts specifically for children. This could encourage customers to make another purchase to buy children’s shoes, backpacks, toys, etc.

Expand Acquisition Efforts

Similar Audiences is a great tool to expand your acquisition efforts with Gmail Sponsored Promotions or YouTube. When looking to acquire new customers, Similar Audiences is a great place to start, as it allows you to target users who share similar characteristics and traits with your most loyal customers. Google has a lot of back-end knowledge about users, and leveraging this feature can help advertisers get in front of a new audience and drive more sales.

In Sum

Customer Match and Similar Audiences present advertisers with many great targeting strategies. Get started on creating and segmenting your customer lists now. Then, build your strategy and get ready to drive more revenue this holiday season!

This is a guest post from Emily Hodges, Marketing and Public Relations Manager at Kiip.

We’re four months out from the holiday season. Yet, in the ad industry, we all know that brands are already plotting their marketing strategies and how they can effectively capture their targeted mobile audiences for the biggest shopping season of the year.

Kiip recently launched a survey tool to gather relevant mobile consumer data. US-based Kiip redeemers are surveyed about their demographics, behaviors, lifestyle, reward preferences, and buying habits. So far, Kiip’s surveys have received nearly three million user responses!

Below are the results specifically on holiday shopping habits. Check them out and see which category you fall under when it comes to your gift purchases.

This is a guest post from Dionte Pounds, Account Manager at
3Q Digital.

A few months ago, Google unveiled a new tool that allows advertisers to interact directly with an audience across the search, Gmail, and YouTube networks. That tool was Customer Match (See my previous post about setup tips).

With this feature, advertisers could submit a list of email addresses from past customers or email subscribers directly into the AdWords interface. Then, advertisers could target individuals who’d already expressed interest in their products, across channels, as long as they were signed in to Google.

With this update, Google strengthened the ability of advertisers to leverage 1st-party data. The move echoed Facebook’s Custom Audiences, which has been in the market for years and proven very effective. While it provides Google-focused marketers a great way to use 1st-party data, Google’s added another feature that uses that data to find and target new customers.

That tool is Similar Audiences.

Similar Audiences

Similar Audiences are made up of groups of people who have characteristics with a remarketing audience you’ve previously created. For example, if you have a remarketing audience created for people who’ve visited your website via a paid ad click within the last 30 days, Google will automatically generate a new pool of prospects you can target if the starting audience is large enough.

Because paid ad traffic is cookied, Google tracks the browsing habits of that cookied traffic over the last 30 days and uses that to find shared interests and behaviors. For a new Similar Audience to be created, at least 500 cookies with enough similarities and characteristics must be active. In theory, a larger remarketing list should yield a better Similar Audience in terms of relevancy, because it’s pulling from a larger set of data being sent back for Google to use.

So, a Similar Audience taken from a Customer Match list should be an extremely relevant pool of new users that you can target to grow a business. However, there are some features that are disabled for a Similar to Customer Match audience that must be taken into consideration when planning new advertising strategy.

The first is that, like all Similar Audiences, you can’t target a Similar to Customer Match audience across the Search Network. Because Similar Audiences are based on the webpage browsing history of the cookied user, you’re limited to targeting on the Display Network and YouTube Network.

The Display Network

Speaking of the Display Network, you can only target Similar to Customer Match audiences on the Google Display Network and YouTube. This is where the use of 1st-party data is somewhat limiting in Google. Because the uploaded customer lists lack the cookies needed to track browsing behavior, Google can’t use that data to find an audience with related interests on the Display Network.

Still, you can utilize a similar audience across Gmail and YouTube ads, because these are networks entirely owned by Google where the user is signed in to the network (at least most of the time for YouTube). Because the data Google receives from these channels are different from Display Network, where 3rd-party groups simply opt in to the network, the way Google finds these users and tracks characteristics greatly varies.

Even with these limitations, I still highly recommend testing all similar audiences, but especially a similar audience built from Customer Match. It’s a great way to engage a new audience of individuals similar to that of your past customers.

Global mobile trends all point to the same conclusion – operating in channel-specific silos no longer works, and now’s the time for marketers to implement a strong cross-channel marketing strategy.

If you subscribe to this blog (and if you don’t, see that second little box on the right), you already know we’ve been evangelizing the message of “cross-device, cross-channel.” There’s a good reason for that.

Data Are Fundamental to Consumer Engagement

As we approach the halfway point of 2016, it’s more important than ever that marketers not only use data to understand customer behavior, but also to act on that behavior to deliver engaging, personalized experiences.

On May 25, Nitin Rabadia – our Director of Audience Marketing EMEA, APAC – will explain how to use data to win the online battle for attention and revenue. Gleaning insights from our 2016 Global Mobile Report (available with webinar registration), Nitin will field your questions and discuss:

• How consumer behavior is affecting desktop and mobile spend
• Recommendations for optimizing advertising across channels
• Tactics to take advantage of customer signals
• How to improve budgeting, bidding, and targeting decisions with full transparency

Register for the webinar today.

When we looked at performance marketing data from the first quarter of 2016, one thing became clear: cross-channel, cross-device targeting remains the most powerful differentiator for profitable marketing strategies.

To create our quarterly benchmark reports, we sample the Marin Global Online Advertising Index, composed of advertisers who invest more than $7 billion in annualized ad spend on the Marin platform. We analyze data from around the world to create our report. For Q1 2016, key findings include:

• All mobile, all the time. Advertisers and consumers are continuing to shift towards a more mobile ecosystem.
• Cross-channel and cross device remain important. It’s important for marketers to adopt and maintain a more holistic and complete approach to digital marketing that targets across all channels and devices.
• Every channel has its strengths and weaknesses. Not only should marketers become adept at recognizing each channel’s weaknesses, but even more importantly, they should start using all three channels and devices to their best strengths.

For detailed information on Q1 2016 search, social, and display mobile performance – including detailed data charts with YoY performance and up-to-date recommendations – download our Performance Marketer’s Benchmark Report Q2 2016 – Vital Search, Social, and Display Performance Data by Device.

Mother’s Day is almost here! With flowers, cards, and family visits close at hand, many brick and mortar retailers are gearing up for the shopping spike. The season of maternal appreciation extends to online retailers, who are also gussying up their search, social, and display campaigns to attract consumers around the world.

How did online retailers do in 2015, and what to expect this year?

Mother’s Day 2015 – Clicks, Spend, and Conversions

In the week leading up to Mother’s Day 2015 (May 10th), clicks increased an average of 15% across retailers as click-through rates rose 6%. In addition, spend increased 9% during the same time period, peaking a few days before Mother’s Day.

Most notably, conversions saw a bump of 12%, peaking on the 5th at 18% above the monthly average. This noticeable bump for all retailers was more pronounced among those specialty retailers that Mother’s Day particularly impacts.

CPCs actually dropped slightly during this period, except for two days where they spiked, the 4th and 5th. The 5th proved to be a particularly important day for consumers and advertisers, showing abnormal surges along all metrics.

Perhaps consumers took account delivery times and the looming holiday date into account, giving themselves a few buffer days in case of delays in delivery and arrival.

These numbers dropped dramatically on Mother’s Day itself, and returned slowly to roughly average afterwards. Click-through rates remained elevated for Mother’s Day and a few days afterwards before returning to seasonal norms.

Recommendations for 2016

For retailers looking to maximize their Mother’s Day sales, here are a few key takeaways:

• Start campaigns at least a week before Mother’s Day to capture the online shopping market, especially those looking to have a gift arrive in time for the occasion.
• In particular, focus attention on five or six days beforehand, as this is when consumer interest peaked last year.
• Expect similar trends to 2015, as people power down for the actual day to celebrate a mom!

This is a guest post from Dionte Pounds, Account Manager at
3Q Digital.

Last month, I discussed how to use proper segmentation to optimize the performance of Dynamic Search Ads campaigns and why segmentation is vital for success. Segmentation also plays a large part in the success of shopping campaigns.

If you’re not already familiar, shopping campaigns promote your online inventory of products by matching search queries to ads that feature these products. These ads, known as product listing ads, can appear in Google search results or on the Google Shopping results page.

Shopping campaigns generally benefit from high click-through rates and low CPCs. With segmentation, the value of shopping campaigns increases. Reporting on specific product performance becomes even easier. Product bidding becomes more accurate. And, overall product management improves through better organization.

If you’re a digital advertiser new to shopping campaigns, the steps below can help you successfully leverage this campaign type.

1. Optimize the Data Feed

Proper segmentation doesn’t actually begin in the AdWords interface. The foundation of a highly organized and structured shopping campaign truly starts with the data feed. The data feed contains all the product data that’s uploaded to the Google Merchant Center. The Merchant Center essentially houses all the product data and makes it available to Google and Google Shopping.

To make sure proper segmentation within AdWords is possible, include as much data as possible for each product. For segmentation purposes, it’s vital to include the brand, condition, Google Product Category, and product type attributes. You also have the ability to include up to five custom labels that you can segment by. We’ll touch more on that later.

I strongly recommend having values for not only the required data attributes, but as many of the optional attributes as well. Google is more likely to reward products with rich data with a higher impression share and better ad position. So, there are incentives for fleshing out your data feed as much as possible, beyond just functionality.

2. Subdivide Properly

Once your foundation (accurate product data) is set, you first need to figure out what type of segmentation makes the most sense for your business. To go back to the online luxury jewelry store from my last article, if I’m selling different brands of jewelry, I know that select brands are more popular than others. Because of this, I want to be able to bid differently for each brand in my inventory.

So, for this example, it makes sense to first segment, or subdivide, my shopping campaign by the Brand attribute. Selecting the correct starting subdivision immediately improves my ability to bid better, as I now have organized product groups that provide insightful data that allow me to bid more accurately than if they were grouped together.

3. Further Subdivide By Relevant Attributes

Let’s imagine my online jewelry store sells Cartier, among other brands. After first subdividing all my products by brand, I now have a product group specifically for Cartier products. While this is great, I know that I get different returns from different product types, such as rings, bracelets, or necklaces. So, I want to be able to set bids for each individual Cartier product group.

What I would then do is segment that Cartier group by the product type attribute. Now, I have the ability to bid for Cartier rings separate from Cartier bracelets. Once you have your first subdivision completed, you can continue to subdivide until you believe you have the correct product organization for your business.

Keep in mind that each time you subdivide by another attribute, the bid will be placed at the resulting product groups. While this gives you improved bidding and a clear understanding of what products drive revenue for your business, you don’t want to subdivide too much. This could make the product group too small to get any valuable data from and optimize around.

4. Use Custom Labels

Earlier, I mentioned that in addition to the Google required data attributes, you have the ability to create up to five custom labels for each product. Utilizing these labels allows you to be a bit more creative with the segmentation of your shopping campaign than the standard parameters Google allows, and to better segment by attributes that make the most sense for your business goals.

For example, let’s say my jewelry store categorizes products by expected popularity. A product could be given a rating of High, Medium, or Low. By including this rating in the custom label column, I could then subdivide my initial brand segment by this custom label, and bid up for the most popular products and bid low for less popular items.

5. Strategically Exclude Products

Let’s say my jewelry store sells Cartier watches. Imagine these product listing ads have a great click-through rate but a poor conversion rate due to the high price point. Over time, these clicks result in wasted spend and drag down the efficiency of the account. To avoid a poor ROI moving forward, I can exclude Cartier watches from my shopping campaign.

Product exclusion is an effective way of improving performance by removing items from your shopping campaign that carry low ROI. Product exclusion can also be used to organize your shopping campaigns. To exclude products, click the max CPC column for that particular product group and then check Excluded.

Thank you, Google! Your announcement of the Google Analytics 360 Suite is industry-wide confirmation that enterprise level marketing tools are necessary in order to get the most out of your advertising dollars. Of course, Marin Software has known this all along and believes marketers of all sizes can benefit from these tools.

All marketers want efficient ways to reach new and existing customers and to understand what works and what doesn’t. As Forrester Research reports: “Sophisticated marketers who use analytics platforms are 3X more likely to outperform their peers in achieving revenue goals.” Organizations need this kind of sophisticated software to enable marketing teams to align around goals that help them optimize, compete, and drive revenue.

Cross-publisher, Cross-channel, Cross-device

At Marin, our focus is providing the technology and data needed for demand and revenue generation based steadfastly on our customer’s goals. We enable customers to make holistic creative, bid and budget optimization decisions across their campaigns, all from the same integrated platform.

Besides integrating well with Google, we have extensive experience working with Yahoo, Bing, Baidu, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many other leading partners, including 10 of the largest global exchanges. Our commitment remains the same - helping marketers reach their goals across publishers, across channels (search, social and display) and devices (desktop, tablet, mobile).

Accomplish Your Goals with 100% Transparency

Purpose-built to provide customers with complete transparency of campaign data and results, our mission aligns with Peter Drucker’s adage, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” We provide digital marketers superlative cross-publisher data and measurement including:

• Transparent reporting, bidding algorithms, and predictive modeling
• Advertisers’ intent data for better targeting and ROAS
• Cross-channel insights and metrics
• The true cost of media
• Data throughout the customer journey
• Quality and viewability metrics
• View-through or click-through attribution

Although Marin Software has had a legacy in search leadership, we’ve evolved our cross-publisher platform via industry-leading acquisitions to power digital marketing campaigns for the world's biggest brands and agencies. We look forward to continuing to provide our customers with the tools and insights to profitably compete and reach their goals.

Google AdWords now lets you upload both Identifiers for Advertising (IDFAs) and advertising IDs in bulk so that you can target your mobile app users using the Google Display Network. Although you can use this feature to solicit new users under the right circumstances, its chief use is re-engaging your mobile app users.

After all, your current mobile app users are your easiest source of IDFAs and advertising IDs, meaning you’re going to struggle making the most of this feature if you don't already have a user base.

Regardless, you shouldn’t see this as a limitation but rather a reminder of the importance of re-engaging your mobile app users.

This is mainly because re-engaging your mobile app users can boost the success rates of your mobile advertising – though it’s important to note that there are a number of reasons why Google AdWords is now particularly useful for this purpose. And, successfully re-engaging those users will contribute to creating a “consumable experience” that makes them want to keep coming back for more.

Existing vs. Potential Users

Generally speaking, you can convince your existing users with much greater ease than your potential users. In part, this is because you’ve accumulated goodwill with your existing users, meaning you’ll have a much easier time convincing them you’re trustworthy, likable, and reliable.

However, it’s also important to note that you have existing data on their purchasing patterns, meaning you can tailor your mobile advertising for the best results. Summed up, you should focus on existing rather than potential users because it costs you less time, effort, and other resources to convince them on average.

Lasting Usefulness

Re-engagement can be useful throughout an app's lifecycle, meaning that the resources spent on such mobile advertising can prove useful longer than otherwise possible.

For example, you can use it to solicit new users for a similar app, build loyalty in existing users by making them more invested in an app they’re already using, and even bring back past users by reminding them of the app's existence at an opportune time.

Simply put, re-engagement is so versatile that it can be used for all stages of an app’s promotion.

Expanding User Base

Finally, mobile advertising has become more important, with no signs of stopping in the foreseeable future. This is because the number of mobile app users is continuing to rise as mobile devices become more convenient and more powerful. As a result, you can expect a better rate of return by spending your dollars on mobile advertising rather than the other options out there.

Re-engaging Your Mobile App Users

With that said, just because you can count on this latest Google AdWords feature to be useful, it doesn’t mean you can slack off when it comes to creating your mobile advertising for re-engaging your mobile app users.

As always, if you want to convince your mobile app users to pay attention – and consider your brand a consumable experience – your advertising needs to show your app as useful and interesting. Furthermore, you need to use your existing data to figure out what will appeal the most to them before sending it out at the right times, which is where the rest of Google AdWords features will prove to be beneficial.

Every year, March Madness fever consumes millions of sports fans across America. Productivity plummets across workplaces, as employees catch a few minutes of the game on their computer or phone. In fact, it’s estimated that companies lose millions, if not billions, annually during the March Madness productivity dip.

For sports retailers, is there another story? How much does March Madness increase their sales, and can it offset losses in work output during this basketball-crazed month? To find out, we took a look at the retail vertical during 2015 and associated consumer behavior.

March Madness Means More Clicks and Spend

During March 2015, the retail industry saw a noticeable rise in clicks and advertising spend starting just before the 22nd – last year’s start of the regionals – through the end of the month and the finals.

During the regionals, there was a steady climb in clicks and spend, culminating and peaking near the end of March when the Final Four were decided. Click-through rates also almost doubled between the beginning of the month and the Final Four decision, showing that there was a strong correlation between US sports retailer and consumer activity, and when the games were decided.

In other words, the first small bump happened when the tournament began, and then rose and peaked close to the final four teams being decided, when consumers looked to buy products supporting their team of choice.

While these gains probably didn’t offset the productivity losses across employers nationwide, it’s clear that US sports retailers had a field day for interest in NCAA attire and merchandise.

General conversion metrics about your visitors only tell part of the story. In reality, there are many steps a visitor might have taken before converting on your site. How do you measure the value of your upper-funnel prospecting campaigns, and determine whether they’re providing incremental benefit and driving last-touch attribution and conversion?

What Are Assisted Conversions?

Assisted conversions help give you better insight for how other campaigns may have contributed to your final conversion. This insight is important, since it helps you make better decisions on your campaigns and immediately illustrates the value of your top-of-funnel marketing efforts.

How It Works

Suppose you’re running a campaign where you’re targeting people who visited your website. You have another campaign that targets people who looked at a specific product page on your website, a much more focused group. You’re probably measuring how well you’re targeting website visitors, but you may not be crediting this campaign with any conversions that come from your product page.

In other words, your website targeting campaign alone looks like it’s not providing any value, although it’s pushing customers along
the funnel.

Here’s another example: Suppose your visitor sees or clicks a Facebook News Feed ad, and then clicks a web ad to convert. With general standard conversion metrics, the web ad gets the credit for the final conversion. But, in this scenario, your Facebook News Feed ad should get an assisted conversion credit, since it contributed to the “slam dunk,” as it were.

To read more about assisted conversions and how they contribute to accurate attribution, see Understanding Assisted Conversions.

“It makes my job a lot easier, and now I don’t have to spend all day combing through spreadsheet after spreadsheet, trying to figure out where a booking value came from because it’s nowhere in
my system.”
– Kevin High / Digital Marketing Manager, IBC Hotels

IBC Hotels had a retargeting problem. Not only were they unable to easily attribute conversions – they were having a hard time even implementing their existing solution’s dynamic tracking code, and considered their vendor’s service team “unknowledgeable and nonexistent.”

IBC Hotels prides itself in introducing travelers to unique, locally owned hotels all over the world. Since IBC makes commission on each acquired booking, it’s crucial for them to accurately attribute the source of their conversions and revenue.

If they were going to lower cost and increase ROI, they needed a platform that would make their jobs easier, not more burdensome and clunky.

Enter Marin Display

IBC implemented Marin Display – with its Site Tracking Tag – to build audiences for retargeting across channels and devices. IBC found Marin Display’s tracking solution worked flawlessly and was easier to implement than their previous retargeting solution.

The Site Tracking Tag allowed IBC to automatically collect important information such as order ID and revenue, and to easily attribute conversions. IBC could then effortlessly access this data and
export it.

From here, they were able to optimize their retargeting funnel, attribute conversions accurately back to their own internal reporting, and ultimately lower CPM and improve ROI.

Learn more and see full results in our IBC Hotels case study.

With the steady rise in remarketing as a digital advertising strategy, audience segmentation and activation has become a key tactic for digital marketers. What are some things that display advertisers should take into account when defining and streamlining their strategy?

Understanding Audience Segmentation

Audience segmentation can be defined as a process of dividing people into homogeneous subgroups based on defined criteria such as product usage, demographics, psychographics, communication behaviours, and media use. Audience segmentation is now a major tool advertisers can use to tailor messages, improve targeting accuracy, and drive performance.

Defining the Strategy

For display remarketing, a sound audience strategy is the foundation for a successful campaign, and has three elements:

• A meaningful audience segmentation approach
• A clear feedback loop to validate this approach
• The ability to activate the segmented audience

To create a truly meaningful audience segmentation strategy, advertisers need flexibility in the tools they use to segment their audience. Segmentation methods also offer increased flexibility in what an advertiser can count as a user conversion, creating an extra dimension to audience creation.

Streamlining the Strategy

Let’s explore four key segmentation methods that allow advisers to go beyond path-based segmentation or a one-size-fits-all remarketing vendor approach.

Query string

Query string is part of a URL that contains data that doesn’t fit conveniently into a hierarchical path structure. The query string commonly includes fields added to a base URL by a web browser or other application. This opens up a huge number of possibilities when it comes to audience segmentation. For example, here’s a query string generated after a user searched on a fictitious travel comparison website.

http://www.example.com/searchresults.html?checkin_monthday=13&&checkout_monthday=27& year_month= current -2&dest_id=United%20Kingdom& group_adults=2&group_children=2&no_rooms=1

Looking at this query string, we know the user is:

1. Looking for a two-week holiday from February 13to 27, 2016

checkin_monthday=13&&checkout_monthday=27& year_month=current-2

2. Interested in a UK holiday

dest_id=United%20Kingdom

3. In a party of two adults and two children

group_adults=2&group_children=2

4. Looking for one room

no_rooms=1

Based on this information, we can now create audience lists based, grouping users based on urgency, demographics, and interests. And, our 1st party data set is fresh and reliable.

We can also count a conversion anytime someone visits a page with a specific URL query string: http://www.example.com?page=thank-you-new-user. In this case, we only count conversions from new users.

JavaScript event

Use the "event" remarketing audience method to add users to an audience when they perform an action triggering a specific JavaScript event on your site. These events could include but are not limited to number of clicks, partial form completion, time on site, hovering over a button, expanding an image, or filtering to view products (such as. from high to low).

For example, suppose a user filters to view products from high price to low. It’s normal for these users to have a higher average order value per product than a user who filters from low to high. This may affect not only the amount we’re willing to pay to acquire these users, but also the type of creative we want to show them and which publishers we might want to target.

Conversions can also be counted anytime a specific JavaScript event is fired in the browser. This allows huge flexibly when it comes to defining conversions and reduces the reliance on thank you pages as conversions.

Recency

Recency refers to how recently a user last left your website or app. Creating remarketing lists based on recency enables a range of remarketing tactics.

It’s common for conversion rates to be high when a user sees an ad in the first few minutes after they leave your website, so make sure you’re highly visible during this time. Recency segmentation also allows different creative, offers, or calls to action based on how long it’s been since someone last engaged with your website.

Recency also allows for interesting cross-sell tactics. Say a travel agent knows that certain users are most likely to purchase travel insurance 30 days after they’ve booked their flights. Advertisers could use recency targeting to show travel insurance ads around this time.

Regular expression (regex)

A regular expression is a special text string for describing a search pattern. This allows advertisers to set up complex audience lists, such as one that matches multiple web pages, query strings, or products. Regular expressions also allow you to set up complex conversions, for instance, ones that match multiple-goal pages.

Say for example you want to create a list for users that go to the Caribbean section of your website as long as the subdirectory is in the second position. You can’t use ends with, or starts with, or contains; however, you can create this list with a regular expression.

^/.*/ Caribbean/.*

^ A caret in a regular expression forces the expression to match only strings that start exactly the same way your regular expression does.

.* The dot could match any letter or digit. The star right after it matches the ability of the dot to match any single character, and keep on going so that it ends up matching everything.

Combining segmentation methods allows you to create sophisticated audiences that matter. By combining numerous segmentation methods, you can create an almost endless number of audiences to activate through remarketing.

Conclusion

To run the most successful remarketing campaigns, advertisers need segmentation tools that allow them to slice their audience in an almost unlimited number of ways. Currently, the number of advertisers using simple, path-based audience segmentation or a remarketing vendor’s standard segmentation approach is surprising. With tools that create and activate a meaningful audience segmentation strategy, you can build the foundation of a truly successful remarketing campaign.

This is a guest post from Dionte Pounds, Account Manager at
3Q Digital.

When building out a fully functional PPC account, it’s important to utilize remarketing lists in addition to your standard campaigns. Remarketing lists allow you to target individuals with ads that are already familiar with your brand because of a past interaction, generally an ad click leading to a visit.

These visitors are valuable because they’re usually further down the sales funnel. Remarketing is a great way to retain these past visitors, capture incremental volume, and shorten the gap between time of click and time of purchase.

If you’re advertising on a pay-per-click network (Google, Bing, Facebook, etc.), you’ve more than likely utilized remarketing lists to improve account performance. You can also improve your remarketing lists, specifically your Google and Bing lists, by segmenting your audience based on time of last interaction.

Why Segment by Time?

There are a few benefits to segmenting your audience by time. The first is that it breaks apart a very large audience into multiple audiences of very manageable sizes. This then allows you to bid more or less aggressively depending on the audience.

For example, you may want to bid very aggressively to get an audience of users that last interacted with your website one to three days ago back to the website. You may not want to bid as high for the people that last touched the site 25-30 days ago.

Using this method, you can place a bid on each audience that’s most appropriate. However, be conscious of the size of the main audience you’re trying to split. This practice is usually a better fit for more general touchpoints that generate larger audience lists. It isn’t always the best to break apart a very small audience pool because at that point, the lists can become too small to employ.

How to Create Your Audiences

1. Create a new remarketing list

2. Select who to add to your list

Generally, I select page visitors. But there are options to select page visitors who did/did not visit another page, visitors of a page during specific dates, and visitors of a page with a specific tag.

If you’re more advanced, definitely utilize the custom combination option. I’ve used this capability to refine my segmented lists even further in the past and to block past converters from my lists.

3. Set the rule

Enter the page URL that you want to build your audience around.

4. Set the membership duration

Here’s where you can get creative. Go to the Tools drop down, then select Conversions and take a look at your attribution data. How long is the time lag from click to conversion? Use this information to set your membership duration for your audiences.

If you’re unsure, just use common sense to create reasonable durations. For this example, let’s assign the first audience a five-day membership duration.

5. Repeat

After creating the first audience, repeat the process and extend the membership duration with each additional audience. Using the five-day example above as a starting reference, we can create three more audiences with membership durations of 10, 20, and 30 days.

In the end, instead of one very large audience, we have one broken up into chunks based on the account’s specific conversion history, which gives us more control over bidding and ultimately better performance. Using this method, we don’t bid the same amount for someone that last interacted with the website 30 days ago as a person who last interacted with the website one day ago. Try it out and see how it performs!