digital advertising

The 5 Digital Advertising Trends That Matter in 2020.

It’s funny how wide the gulf is between December and January. The final month of the year is often spent looking back, analyzing the good, the bad and the ugly, trying to predict what will come next, whilst in January we regularly yo-yo between being overly enthusiastic and looking shell shocked. New years are like that, but 2020 is more special than most; it’s a new decade, which means we all need to redouble our efforts to forecast far into the future to see what lies ahead. As much as I’d like to declare myself the ‘Digital Oracle’ when it comes to the big digital advertising trends shaping media today, much of what we see now is an evolution of the changing landscape. The digital media machine has been transforming at a rapid rate for the past 10 years, with video fast becoming the centerpiece for generating consistent engagement and a decent ROI. 

Clearly this isn’t exactly new news. We currently spend some 84 minutes a day consuming video content online and according to Cisco, by 2022 video content will account for 82% of all online content – so yes, this is not a medium we can afford to dismiss lightly. There’s always a knowing smirk whenever marketers declare that ‘video is the future’ but given these figures and the growing popularity of platforms like TikTok edging it further up the priority list, I’d say the video is firmly for the here and now as well.

Of course, video is only a part of the larger digital media story. Granted, it’s a fairly big piece of the puzzle, but there are other factors at work when it comes to deciding our priorities for the coming 12 months. So, with this in mind, here’s my take on what I think will be important for digital media in 2020…

1. Lights, Camera, Action! 

It won’t come as a shock to anyone that video content is rising up the ranks in terms of importance, winning the hearts and minds of advertisers and consumers alike. It’s already a medium we’re spending vast amounts of time and money on, with Zenith forecasting online video ad spend to reach $61 billion by 2021. World domination sounds inevitable, doesn’t it? What will be interesting to see is how platforms adapt to this, pivoting to focus more on long and short-form video content as standard, and not as an afterthought. TikTok has a huge advantage here given it started life as a video platform and will continue to capture market share on a global and regional level in 2020, leaving the likes of Facebook and Instagram playing catch up. We saw last year how TikTok created a much-needed point of difference to the online filtered reality we had become accustomed to, highlighting a growing trend for creative expression that focuses on users, and it is this ‘unpolished’ approach that will influence future brand content. Advertisers will now have to think about both mobile and video-first when it comes to executing their campaigns, which will prove a game-changer over time. And, as we all get more comfortable becoming amateur videographers, shooting quick and unedited content on our smartphone, the raw, unfiltered look will grow even further in popularity, challenging the influencer dominance still present across most digital mediums.

2. Playing The Influencer Game

Speaking of influencers…this kind of content has almost done a 360 in terms of how we have come to view it. Once upon a time, it was the golden goose of marketing, only to be challenged and criticized for lack of transparency in measurement and effectiveness, landing to where we are today; influencers are accepted, but with conditions. Given that this is a global industry said to be worth $8bn and growing, it’s clear that influencer marketing is going nowhere anytime soon, with brands keen to invest in the right kind of people. In 2018 there were 3.7million brand-sponsored influencer posts on social media and that number looks set to almost double this year. Transparency has been the buzzword of the digital advertising space for the past few years and this extends to the influencer market too; everything must be upfront and tagged as a paid promotion or advertisement if they are to get user buy-in and earn their trust. Brands in response are now shifting their strategies to work with a range of niche influencers that will resonate more with their target consumer, aiming to make an authentic connection above all else. This is part of a broader trend too; the move to relevancy over-reach – it’s no good hitting loads of eyeballs if they’re not the right ones. On the back of more influencer guidelines and accountability, I predict we’ll also see a rise in User Generated Content (UGC) appear in the marketing mix as standard. Anyone can now create content, be it written, visual or video through a touch of a button, so why not leverage this potential to create a viral campaign? We’ve seen it take off with YouTube in the past (cat videos, anyone?) or more recently though user-created filters on Instagram (I’m the Genie from Aladdin, how about you?) and of course, moving to TikTok, where the focus from day one was on real people, AKA, the ‘content creators’ of tomorrow. In 2020, we’ll see social media, and in particular platforms like TikTok, become more & more widely utilized by everyone, experimenting for fun whatever their age.

3. The Rise & Rise Of Social Commerce 

Last year was where social commerce really started to gain traction, with platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest linking awareness and consideration with the actual conversion. Since the explosion of social media, brands have been looking for a way to embed their products into a narrative, easing the consumer in with creative posts that have a shoppable element; in other words, an ad that isn’t an ad. If the goal is to engage with consumers on a platform and device that makes sense to them, then this could be the year that we see conversions start to happen in a big way through mobile. According to data from eMarketer, in 2020 the time spent on these devices will surpass time spent watching television, with social media referral traffic growing over 100% in the last two years – more than any other channel; if that isn’t a clear signal that we need to pay attention to the power of social mobility, then I don’t know what is. As online platforms begin to up their presence on key social channels, adding exploration and entertainment into the mix, brands will be able to deliver a more seamless and integrated experience overall, especially as visual search increases in popularity. From a business perspective, this new layer to social media helps underscore its value to the C-suite decision-makers, showing them how spending on these channels can generate leads and increase sales too.

4. Say Hello To Elevated AR/VR Experiences

There’s the filtered reality of carefully edited images and then there’s a different kind of reality that cleverly merges fantasy with our real life, making the online experience that much more enjoyable. Whether it’s Augmented, Virtual or Mixed Reality concepts, last year we saw this technology really begin to take off as brands leveraged custom filters and digital-heavy campaigns to place ‘the experience’ at the heart of their engagement and retention strategies. AR resurfaced, at least as far as the newer generation was concerned, within the gaming world thanks to the popularity of Pokémon Go, but it’s also now a very credible means to reach your consumers on various levels. Fun filters can go viral in seconds, but don’t discount how this technology can be useful too. Take IKEA’s AR-enabled app that allows consumers to ‘place’ furniture directly in their living room, giving a whole new meaning to ‘try before you buy’, or how about TikTok’s Diwali campaign? Successfully merging the online and offline experience, the platform gave its users a way to record interactive greetings in a mall setting, customize with different effects and then share to their network and family members. As this kind of technology becomes more widely available and adoption increases, we’ll see more ‘one-off’ experiences like this pop-up, largely guided by social trends, as creativity shifts up a gear with 5G enabling fast, fearless and on-the-go campaigns to be enjoyed at a time and place of a consumer’s choosing. By 2025, Statista estimates that the AR market size will be worth $198bn – so if you don’t already have plans for this, I’d suggest now is the time to make some inroads in understanding what this technology has to offer.

5. Brand Voice 2.0

 Try not to roll your eyes when I say this one word: purpose. I hold my hands up that this is so overused in brand communication today, almost eclipsing everything else that the industry stands for. Let me break it down. In the race to appear ‘conscientiously conscious’ (go on, try saying that 10 times) about everything that matters to the consumer today, brands have almost unwittingly backed themselves into a corner, trying to instil a sense of identity, and yes, purpose to set them apart from their competitors. Here’s the thing though, if you try to latch onto the latest trend without context, consumers will waste no time in calling you out publicly. Instead, brands need to rediscover their voice to cut through the clutter, producing content that is appealing, useful and engaging. Sounds easy right?! In essence, consumers don’t want convoluted campaigns. They don’t want to be preached or talked down to and they don’t want to be underestimated either – in short, they want something authentic and real. Brands have the unenviable job of balancing long-term loyalty with ‘in the moment’ quick wins that connect with users at any given time. To do this, they’ll need to listen to their audience, anticipate their needs and then create tailored 1-1 messaging that will resonate. The technology that will truly enable this kind of personalization is coming, giving brands the key to unlocking sustained success built on an authentic offering.

So, there you have it – my view in a nutshell, and full disclosure here: I’m not claiming to be a fortune teller of any kind, gifted with foresight on what will be an absolute certainty for years to come. Ultimately though, we live in a perfectly imperfect world and If we could accurately predict everything that’s ahead then we’d be laughing, but then again… where would the fun in that be?

Wassim Mneimneh

Business Director – DoubleVerify

Wassim Mneimneh is a Business Director at Double Verify, MENA specializing in Strategic Media Management, Digital Marketing Strategy, Mobile Marketing & Technology, Media Planning, Procurement & Sales.

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How Companies Like Snapchat Are Saying ‘NO’ To Targeted Ads

Do social media sites track you? In recent years, we have seen social media giants being fined multi-million dollars for breaching privacy.

A simple click, a like, a plain share, used in measuring the effectiveness of the advertising campaign kept users in the dark about how their data was being tracked. And all this began with the need for targeted ads.

Targeted Advertising is a means of advertising where consumers’ online activities are analyzed through cookies and data-mining, and in doing so, intrudes the privacy of the consumer.

Snapchat, the ‘on-the-go’ platform for users, started gaining in popularity amongst the top social network marketing platforms due to its organic, unfiltered, and real-life content.

(Image Credits: Michael Cohen/ Getty Images for New York Times)

Why is Snapchat is continuing to say NO to targeted Ads?

In October 2019 talks at GS, Snap Inc. Co-Founder and CEO Evan Spiegel aptly discussed how social media and digital marketing have transformed the way people communicate. He has rightly touched upon the debate surrounding the privacy of social media users.

In spite of NO targeted ads, why are companies keen to use Snapchat to market their products?

The answer lies in their statistics –

– By December 2019, Snapchat reached 218 million active daily users (Statista Report – 2019).

– Snapchat users, open the app over 20 times a day and spend an average of 30 minutes creating 3 billion snaps a day on the platform.

– Of the Snapchat users, the millennials and Generation Z, almost ¾ of them are under 25.

– Snapchat has more than 14 billion video views per day

– 18% of all social media users also use Snapchat.

– 76% of Snapchat users are also online shoppers.

 What Marketing goals do marketers aim with Snapchat?

1. Brand awareness

Almost 4 out of every 10 Snap chatters discover brands through Snapchat celebrity endorsements and online posts by expert bloggers or via vlogs (as per Global web index, July 2018).

2. Lead Generation

For those trying to expand the top of your marketing funnel, Snapchat advertising lets you create ads within Ad Manager to drive users to download, form fill, or register.

3. Driving local traffic to your website

Custom audiences are a success on Snapchat’s platform. The smaller the audience size, and the more specific the user types, it is easier to reach them. You can choose audience sizes and specific cities/countries to target.

4. Increase Video Ads

Since ads are video-based, Snapchat provides a platform on its site for creating and editing video ads. This means without expensive outside or third-party editing services you can utilize the budgeted amount to increase the number of ads on Snapchat.

5. New audiences

If your product can appeal to a younger demographic but you are unable to connect with them on other platforms, then Snapchat could be your best bet.

6. Website views and conversions

A Snapchat ad encourages the user to swipe up, read more, or check out the website leading to a direct conversion through Snapchat advertising.

7. App Installs and Engagement

Snapchat advertising is uniquely targeted to mobile users in a way that Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and others can relate to but never quite imitate. The target audience is only a touchscreen away from the app store – or a tap away from a deep link placing them right where you want them in-app.

What are the available ad formats on Snapchat?

Snapchat offers three different kinds of ad formats.

i. Snap Ads: Snap Ads appeal to the widest range of advertisers. They come in three forms. Long-form video, website traffic, and app install.

ii. Filters: Filters show up when you take photos on the app. They are designed for brick-and-mortar locations or for large live events.

iii. Lenses: Like filters, lenses show up on selfie shots and are best reserved for wide-spread brand-awareness campaigns.

How will my marketing campaign work on Snapchat if there are no targeted ads?

Like on every social media platform test the waters. The advantages of Snapchat are,

a. Assess if your target market uses Snapchat

Depending on your product/service and the profile of your users, you can have a fair indication, if your target audience uses Snapchat. Or how about asking your Twitter followers if they are on Snapchat? Don’t simply conclude basis demographics that your product/service may not be fit to be marketed on Snapchat. CNN would not be on Snapchat if it thought youngsters are not really interested in world news.

b. Compare Snapchat data to your own demographic data on current customers

According to eMarketer, 6.4% of Snapchat users are going to be between the ages of 45 and 54 which is up more than 2% from 2017 and will be growing in numbers. Further 70% of users are women. Of these, 71% are less than 25 years old, and 38% of them enjoy an income of over $50,000.

Once your product fits the age, gender and lifestyle demographics of your current audiences, Snapchat may turn out to be a good place for your product.

c. Spend a small amount

As per Hootsuite, filter-based Snapchat Ads are as low as $5. The price only increases with the size of the reach. For example, Hootsuite found that an entire city cost $3,000 for them, while the immediate area around their office was only $13 for two days. This gives a first time advertiser to try out the platform without major spending

Conclusion

One of the reasons for the stupendous growth of Snapchat is the position it holds in terms of augmented reality. (Just launched Snapchat’s AR filters that are turning the floor into lava). Universal Pictures wasn’t the first company to place an advertisement on Snapchat, but it was the first to pay Snapchat for an ad. Taco Bell recently told Adweek.com that about 80 percent of its followers open its snaps and 90 percent of those people view the messages in their entirety. It’s easy to understand why brands might be willing to overlook some of Snapchat’s weaknesses when you compare it to the low single-digit engagement averages for organic posts.

How disruptive Blockchain is for the Digital Advertising Industry?

If the Tata group has employed 1000 persons in its’ blockchain unit, it is time to sit up to ask what Blockchain is and is Indian advertising ready to embrace blockchain?

The global blockchain technology market has almost doubled from USD 1.2 billion in 2018 to 2.2 billion in 2019. Further by 2023, it is estimated to reach USD 23.3 billion

In keeping with this changing scenario, in 2019, the number of companies worldwide offering Blockchain solutions for ad-buying also rose to 290 from a mere 22 in 2018. With clients like Unilever, Toyota, Kellogg’s, Pfizer, Disney, and Kimberly-Clark exploiting ad-buying blockchain solutions to eliminate middlemen in advertising, these 290 blockchain companies are successfully offering Programmatic & Decentralized Advertising, Content Marketing, and Social Media Marketing. The trend continues to rise as advertisers who are spending millions have begun to recognize the wasted advertising dollar spending due to the current programmatic advertising that automates buying, selling and placing advertising.

What is a blockchain?

Blockchain stores and secures data to be shared across networks and users. It is a decentralized, distributed digital ledger used to record transactions across many computers so that the list of records (called blocks) linked using cryptography, cannot be modified retroactively, without the alteration of all subsequent blocks/consensus of the network majority.

How does blockchain work?

Every blockchain has three parts:

• people/ companies dealing with one other,
• a relationship/common interest between all parties, and
• rules that form the basis of all transactions.

The blockchain technology system:

i. Every new transaction generates a hash which is a combination of numbers and letters eg. 263fb1aa85489991a2ef832ef10308a0. A cryptographic hash function is an algorithm that provides a hash value to the data.

ii. Transactions get entered in the exact order in which they occur.

iii. Every new transaction hash depends on the previous transaction’s hash.

iv. Any transaction away from the rules will create a completely new hash.

v. The nodes (computers in the network of participants) check to make sure a transaction has not been changed by inspecting the hash.

vi. Every node has its own copy of the general ledger (the blockchain) and with consensus algorithms like Proof of Work and Proof of Stake that allow limited fault tolerance.

vii. Once the transaction is approved by the consensus mechanism of the nodes then it is written into a block.

viii. The Blockchain updates itself every 10 minutes.

Why blockchain in Digital Advertising?

Advertisers have now started to realize that programmatic digital advertising is not able to provide them with adequate and precise information on what they’re buying and how much they’re paying for the viewed ads. In this ad buying, the product/ brand advertiser pays an ad agency to create the ad content and to distribute it on different platforms to reach the target audience/customers. According to IAB Programmatic Fee Transparency Working Group, 55 percent of programmatic ad revenue goes to ‘ad tech’ services, while publishers receive only 45 percent. Which simply means,

i. The advertiser’s ad dollars are being transferred diminishingly

ii. The advertiser is not aware of how much is the cost at every stage in the system.

Image Credits: Craig Adeyanju

With the worldwide digital ad spending reaching close to $333.25 billion in 2019 (50% of the global ad market), the blockchain solution is being viewed as an intelligent answer to maximize the spending on digital advertising and to form a direct connection between advertisers and consumers.

Image Credits: eMarketer

Will blockchain reduce mistrust in digital advertising?

A digital ad campaign includes video ads, banner ads, social media posts, blogs, podcasts, influencer marketing, etc. Today there are at least 23 participants in the ad ecosystem that get an ad from the Marketer à to the Publisher à to the Consumer à to return data from the advertisement campaign à back to the Marketer. Each of these 23 points can pose a point of loss of data or potential fraud, making it difficult to measure the true effectiveness of the ad campaign.  Also, adding to the risk is leaving sensitive data open to misuse or theft.

As per Statista, digital advertisers have lost close to USD 19 billion in fraud in 2018 which is estimated to reach USD 44 billion in 2022 since the bulk of advertising ends up being served to bots instead of the targeted potential customers.

Blockchain’s core technology in digital advertising is a distributed digital ledger used by participants like the digital agency, ad networks/sellers, advertisers (with demand-side platforms like Amazon DSP, Spotad, Verizon Media DSP, Adobe Media Optimizer DSP, etc.) who collaborate together to measure ad impressions and related data. Blockchain runs algorithms called consensus mechanisms to detect any anomalies and do not record such data.

Advantages of Blockchain in Advertising:

(a.) To the digital advertiser

i. It reduces the markups as it cuts down the intermediaries in the advertising chain.

ii. Advertisers have access to shared pools of relevant data, already vetted by other participants and proven with the chain, making target ads more accurate and less expensive.

iii. Instead of paying for a general ad space basis user browsing history, the company can contract ad buying solutions for conditional space to show their ad specifically to potential buyers based upon their data-sharing preferences.

iv. Blockchain’s ledger-like system offers ad companies accurate key performance indicators like clicks and likes.

v. It separates bots (56% of all website traffic is bots) from genuine customers to publish ads directly in the users’ browsers than on the site.

vi. It offers complete transparency between advertisers and publishers.

vii. Since charges are on the block sheet it creates an ecosystem to reduce fraud

viii. Since every transaction is recorded, it provides complete transparency even with anonymity.

ix. Once a transaction is recorded and updated on the Blockchain it cannot be altered.

x. No one person or organization can turn off a Blockchain.

xi. Blockchain solutions are used for smart contracts where they automatically enforce obligations, rules, and penalties around the specific agreement.

(b.) To the Consumer

i. Since blockchain distributes shopping/search history data to the entire network and does not save it on a single company server, user information cannot be misused or sold to other parties.

ii. It facilitates target customers participation by rewarding them for viewing the ads (often in the form of tokens)

iii. Time stamping of date and location help certify the backstories are genuine.

iv. It provides complete anonymity to the user.

Conclusion:

The blockchain technology is setting new standards and changing the world of digital marketing. The decentralized peer-to-peer network platform between advertisers, publishers and users offer better opportunities to tackle excessive markups and ad frauds in the digital advertising industry. By tracking everything and eliminating middlemen, it simply means goodbye to confusing online ad spend and welcome trusted ad buying.

Digital Advertising v/s Digital Marketing: Know the Difference.

In this digital age, marketing is no more a choice but a prerequisite for businesses who are leaving no stone unturned to get their message across to the customers effectively and powerfully.

Then the question arises, in order to put forward the message in the right way to the right people, which one to go for? 

Marketing or Advertising?

Well, aren’t they both the same?  The answer is ‘No’.

There is a thin line of difference between them. This article will help you to understand it and justify the answer to the above question.

Know the basics-

Digital Advertising:

It is also called online advertising, web advertising or internet advertising

Digital advertising is defined as a form of marketing or advertising where businesses leverage internet technologies to deliver their promotional advertisements to customers.

In simple words, if you see an ad on the internet, it is called digital advertising.

There are three types of digital advertising:

1. Pay-per-click (PPC) ads: (Adwords search ads, bing ads, etc)

For example, the ads you see in search results.

                                Image Credit: Wordstream

2. Display ads : (Banners, video, mobile, pop-ups, etc)

For example, this ad by eBay is promoting its products. eBay is the biggest player in banner advertising and invests a lot of money in display advertising.

Image Credit: Bannernack

3. Social ads: (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc)

For example, A ‘suggested post’ on Facebook is a social ad.

Image Credit: Social Media Examiner

Digital Marketing:

Digital Marketing includes all the marketing efforts using the internet or digital technologies. Businesses leverage digital channels like emails, search engines, websites, social media, blog posts, logos, and everything else that is helpful in online promotion and connect with current and prospective customers.

There are six types of digital marketing:

1. Search engine optimization (SEO)
2. Social Media Marketing (SMM)
3. Content Marketing
4. Email and Mobile Marketing
5. Affiliate Marketing
6. Online advertising

The following infographic explains digital marketing in detail:

Image Credit: Smart insights

Now that we know the key processes in each segment, let’s look at the major differences –

• Digital Advertising is a part of Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing is a broader term whereas digital advertising is a part of it. This raises a question,

Is digital advertising necessary for your business?

Not really. Your business can survive without digital advertising. 

Why and How?

The definitions make it clear that digital advertising is a subset of digital marketing. When you start with a business idea, from that very moment you are involved in marketing and not advertising.

Product creation, Product Pricing, Packaging, Promotion, market segmentation, target audience are all a part of your business strategy and marketing mix.

  Image Credit: BBC UK

Digital advertising is part of the marketing mix. It comes into play when you use the internet to promote your product or service or to generate traffic. However, you can also choose from other tactics – a search engine, content management, social media, email marketing, etc to generate traffic.

It is not necessary to use digital advertising at the promotion stage to reach your target audience. 

For instance, DemandBase in one of the campaigns used white papers, infographics, Slideshare, and webinars to generate new leads. This helped the company to generate over $1 million in new revenue through content marketing resulting in 1700 new leads and connect with 125 webinar viewers.

You can run your business without digital advertising but not digital marketing. The purpose of all marketing techniques is to generate leads and generate traffic and so you can choose any tactic – SEO or PPC or both whichever helps to grow your business.

• Digital Advertising is an activity while digital marketing is a process: 

Digital marketing helps to build a strategy to market your business in the following way:

• Define your target audience,
• Ways to attract, engage, convert and retain the customers, 
• Evaluate existing and new digital channels like SEO, PPC, content marketing, etc
• Analysis and monitoring

In broader terms, digital marketing is a process that runs your entire business on the internet and it begins from the moment you start with the business idea.

       Image Credit: Abhiseo

The digital marketing process is continuous. It begins with the research phase and continues until the refining stage and the data from the refining stage is used again for the research to develop a new marketing strategy. It is a perpetual and never-ending process.

Digital advertising is an activity in the digital marketing process. It fits at Step 6: Promote- the purpose is to promote your primary digital identities (blog, website, app, product or anything else) via ads to relevant people in order to generate traffic. To do this, a digital advertiser will need inputs from a digital marketer on what to promote, who to promote, advertising budget, etc. An advertiser will accordingly create an ad to generate traffic.

• Digital advertising is tactics while digital marketing is strategic

A strategy is a long term and complex plan which involves decision-making at various levels while a tactic is a short-term plan or means to achieve the desired result. 

Digital advertising is tactical in nature as the promotion of a particular product or an offer to the target audience is momentary and short term. Subsequently, it can be easily replicated by competitors.

For instance, Facebook ads are short-lived. You might run an ad on Facebook to promote your product or an offer during Easter. Once you achieve the goal from the campaign, you will discontinue it and move on with another ad campaign or platform.

Whereas, digital marketing is strategic in nature that involves long term planning, projections, defined goals and objectives, budgets and resources to achieve the objectives.

For instance, Slack is a collaboration tool that allows teams to share files and communicate easily. They had an amazing rise at the launch with 15000 users in 2014 to over 500,000 in less than a year, and currently holds nearly one and a half millions of which are paid accounts.

Their strategy was clear from day one – focusing on the customer experience. They believe in selling solutions and not products. The company acknowledges to 8000 help desk tickets and up to 10,000 tweets every month.

This is what digital marketing plan does versus a digital advertising campaign that shows results instantly.

A digital ad campaign if fails will not impact the business overall but if digital marketing campaign fails it will affect the running of the business immensely.

• Digital advertising promotes the brand while digital marketing develops the brand image.

Digital Advertising promotes a brand, product or services. A compelling ad engages the customers, generates leads and creates brand awareness.

For instance, Typeform, a survey software company offers a freemium option with a condition that customers should include a thank-you page that includes its logo and message. It is a win-win situation that helps customers get to know the product for free and the brand gets free advertising. 

              Image Credit: ThinkIt Training Institute

Digital marketing builds a brand and brand image with a strategy in place. You plan the logo, design, taglines for your brand. You will develop a strategy on how your brand will be perceived by the target audience and what message your brand will convey to the target audience. It is a long term planning to build a robust brand image based on values and ethics that remain etched in the minds of the consumers.

• Digital Advertising is sales centred while digital marketing is audience psychology centred.

Digital marketing is not always sales-driven. The ultimate goal is to increase your ROI and sales but along with building a relationship with the target audience.

Let’s say you write a blog and publish it not only to increase traffic and revenue but build a relationship with your readers. This is what digital marketing does, it is based on audience psychology. To understand your target audience, their needs, and wants, it is essential to know audience psychology.

On the contrary, digital advertising focuses on a specific segment of the target audience that can be reached via ads. For instance, if you pay $50 for a $5 CPM slot, you are content as long as you get your 5000 impressions. In digital advertising, you are not much concerned about who sees it as long as the ad is performing and reaches out to the people.

Conclusion-

After reading this article, you may now have a clear idea about digital marketing and digital advertising. They are not the same and has an individual role to play.  Let’s have a short recap to have no doubts in mind.

Creating Stunning Visuals That Also Deliver Results Is A Science. Today, We Decode It.

Good advertising is not always about selling a product but creating a long-lasting impact and that is precisely what visual adverts do. An attention-grabbing image has been proven to increase engagement and performance. 

The world is now more visual than ever before.

The old adage ‘Picture speaks a thousand words’ is certainly true in this digital era. Check out the key findings below to comprehend the power of Visuals.

Image Credit: Mdg Advertising

However, visual creative advertising can fail if the various elements like the subject, color, lighting, focus, the text are not optimized. There is a reason why visuals are more compelling than text. It taps into the ‘consumer psychology’ and influences their buying behavior. This psychological effect can be created through colors, repetition, or call-to-action.

1. Color: There is a science behind how emotions react to various colors. When you create your visuals, you just don’t put colors but use them to create an emotional response. When your brain sees an image, it subconsciously decides whether the content is important or not. This is the impact of colors on the mood and where colors and creative advertising merge together.

The psychological effect of colors is used in branding and designing ads.

• Branding: Brands have always called on colors while creating their own identities. According to the infographic by Kissmetrics.com reveals color influences 85% of a customer purchasing decision. Some brands opt for bright and bold colors while some go for subtle colors pointing the emotions the product brings out. Brands like Google or Microsoft have multicolor accentuating that their product embraces any emotion anytime.

Image Credit: Blueberry labs

• Ads: While designing an ad knowing your target audience is essential to build the correct color scheme. For example, men and women have different color preferences. If your product is feminine and targeted for girls/ women then pink is the color to highlight.

                                                                  Image Credit: Kissmetrics

2. Call-to-action is heard and attended 

Naturally, CTA is an important element in your visual creative advertising. For example, a company found a 245% increase in leads after optimizing the landing pages. Make sure to keep your ad copy crisp with minimum textual content. Let your visuals do all the talking.

Ensure visuals take the center stage, followed by text to guide the users to take the next step and focus on optimizing it. You should end up with something like this:

                               Image Credit: Bannersnack

As you can see, the ad features the product image and call-to-action is in front and center to get attention immediately.

3. Repetition:

The trick of repetition works to build memories and equally, is an essential element of visual creative advertising. Repeated elements create easy brand recall but build variations to avoid fatigue.

Image Visme.co

4. Ownership of the Visual creatives:

Whenever someone looks at your ad and say, “Oh! I think to have seen this before”. This moment you lose the ownership of the ad. It is common to use images from the internet for ads but doesn’t help and loses its unique appeal.

Here, ownership comes into the picture and additionally helps to make brand memorable. For instance, when you look at BuzzSumo ad, there is the same character in all their visuals. Easily, you recognize the brand seeing the character. Three things in one creative: Repetition, Recognition, and Ownership. 

Image Credit: Buzzsumo

Choosing the right images is the key in Creative Advertising

While preparing for an advertising campaign, the right choice of images is vital. People are visual by nature. With shorter attention spans, images express ample of information with a quick glance and subsequently highly effective.

The target audience is drawn to images that are attention-seeking and compelling. The popularity of Instagram says it all. The image-sharing platform has 1 billion monthly active users and it is a fact that businesses are using it to run their ad campaigns. Do not undermine the power of images!

But, how effective is it to have a great image?  To answer this, here are the Instagram statistics and insights of businesses using IG for their creative digital advertising.

• ⅓ of the most viewed stories are from businesses – Instagram started with IG business Profiles to help businesses to grow and advertise. An estimated 71% of US business uses IG.
• Photos with faces get 38% more likes:  Adding faces to your image increases the scope of positive response, so include people in your campaigns.
• Instagram generates 4x more interactions compared to Facebook: IG engagement rate is on the rise and has increased by 29% between October 2017 and May 2018. With increased engagement, advertisers are spending more on Instagram.
• 83% of users discover new products and services on Instagram:  This implies that apart from being a discovery engine for brands, it has a strong impact on people’s shopping journey.    
• 65% of the most prominent posts feature product: The target audience wants to see the product and know what it has to offer.     
• Photos posts drive more engagement than video: The engagement rate of the image is more than videos,1.03 %. Videos attract more comments and images draw likes.

Examples of Visual in Creative Advertising Campaigns

• Powerful Images

Lemon and Line: The accessory maker has chosen the right image with the right color palette and the whole ad is compelling. Red, Blue and yellow are the right mix of primary colors, creating a high contrast but maintaining a strong balance. The highlighting point is the product is seen on the model’s wrist still it is a part of the whole image and not the focus.

Image Credit: Ad Expresso

• Visual Metaphor

It can be created by looking for the element to mimic the actual situation. Simple but out of the box concept to attract eyeballs and deliver a strong message.

Image Credit: Visme .Co

In this ad, the message is loud and clear whereas the human helmet becomes the visual metaphor. The elements like color, font, lightning can be tweaked.

• Video Advertising

Volvo Trucks: Videos supports explaining big messages in a few frames. Technically, you simplify the idea compared to an image or GIF. in this ad, Jean-Claude Van Damme performs a split. With this ad, Volvo trucks try to demonstrate the sturdiness and stability of the truck’s steering. Youtube responded that when an ad is successful, people search it online on Google and not when it pops out before any video.

This is what every ad should aim for creative space to visit again.

In Closing

Good design can help you to widen your reach and grow. Effective visual adverts are a combination of many elements like color, images, text, lightning or platforms. 

Focus and optimize the visual creatives for a positive impact. When advertising visually, ensure to use your own images as far as possible. Use attention-grabbing images to boost engagement.

Digital Advertising Industry Plans To Replace Cookies With First-Party Data

As the third-party cookies crumble and in the wake of privacy regulation coming into effect, the online advertising industry is facing an identity crisis. They are in search of a new identity and one possible solution is people’s email addresses and phone numbers.

At the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Annual Leadership Meeting in Palm Springs, California, on 10th February, the IAB wants to partner across brands, agencies, publishers and tech companies to develop new means to power digital advertising.

“Project ReArc”, a chosen name for re-architecture, a critical part of their multi-phase plans to build a replacement for the third-party cookies presently blocked by Safari and Firefox browsers and Google Chrome to follow soon.

IAB Tech labs proposed to build a new identity based on e-mail addresses or phone numbers, which provide a constant and rational way of recognizing someone than the third-party cookie did,  without giving up on user’s privacy. 

The IAB and all the involved entities are supporting the future of online advertising based on email advertising and phone numbers. They have witnessed Facebook and Google dominate the online ad world thanks to their platforms logged-in user bases and see e-mail addresses and phone number identifiers as a way for the open web to rival the walled gardens.

However, Megan Pagliuca, Chief Media and Data Officer at Hearts & Science says the people with signed-in users are going to win. If grounding the identifier on first-party data will create a disadvantage for long-tail and mid-tier publishers as they don’t have a sizeable number of registers. It is also unlikely to benefit the open web as a whole.

To protect the advertising business, if publishers are pressured to compel users to provide their email address or phone numbers, it is highly possible that many sites will put content open after registration so that only logged-in users can access it. While this can be a precarious situation for publishers to gain user registries, it could also lead them to lose a part of their audience. As a result, there is a  potential negative impact on the small and mid-sized publishers leading to an unanticipated consequence.

A publishing executive asked earnestly, “Do ad networks have a chance of returning?”

Ad networks started for small publishers like individual bloggers and act as mediators between publishers and advertisers to curate ad inventory from publishers and sell to advertisers. Eventually, supply-side platforms came up and replaced ad networks with third-party cookies on these sites to auction off their inventory to sell targeted ads. However, without third-party cookies, these small publishers will face difficulties to collect email addresses or phone numbers and once again will have to be under the umbrella of the ad network. 

The primary reason for ad networks struggles to attract advertisers is generally they are not transparent about where an advertisers’ ad appeared. However, this is not true in the case of brand advertisers who care about the context in which their ads appear while performance advertisers care whether the ad drove sales or any conversion event.

I could see a world where performance buyers return to using ad networks because they don’t care about transparency,” said the unnamed SSP executive to Digiday.

The return of the ad network is a concern for publishers because of the possibility for ad networks to siphon some of their revenue. While some ad buyers direct their money to big publishers as they have signed-in users, others may see ad networks offering a lower price and move their money in that direction to become cost-effective. 

Top 5 ads of 2019 that swept all the awards, and hearts.

A good commercial has the power to increase your brand value, new customers and generate sales. Catchy phrases, jingles, creative taglines and more can draw mass attention and become history when done right, bring the companies higher returns. 

2019 saw some of the most interesting and brilliant concepts and with digital media growing, we are likely to see even more fantastic campaigns in 2020.

With digital and online consumption growing, Hubspot research states,  “Turn your Customers into your biggest advocates and promoters.”

Image Credit: Hubspot

Still, wondering or creating a plan for your 2020 campaigns to reach the goal and get the ROI?

We have gathered a few of the best ads of 2019, take a look and get which may get you inspired for your next. It can be helpful to learn from these award-winning, revenue-generating campaigns and implement a few strategies or elements in your next ad campaign.

In the world full of competition and ads literally everywhere, let us delve into the details of the finest campaigns and embark on your creativity for 2020.

1. IKEA: Real Life Series

Image Credit: The Drum

A brilliant concept of cross-referencing and recreating the living rooms of iconic TV shows to capture the cultural imagination of the United Arab  Emirates (UAE). Unlike the U.S and U.K, where the brand has a strong presence and is a retail novelty, gaining mass attention and relevance in UAE is a little difficult.

The brand selected Publicis Spain to recreate the set of living rooms of the classics ‘The Simpsons’ or  ‘Friends’ and ‘Stranger Things’. The print ads show real furniture from the store’s inventory, modelled and edited using 3D software to give the real effect. 

The project ‘Real Life Series’ is on IKEA’s social media and catalogues and even appears in stores in the Middle East. It has launched a website that offers exact iconic decorating pieces from the shows.

The tagline ‘For Real families’ highlights the diversity in Ikea’s products among the diverse population of the UAE. As per the press release, it aims to prove it can provide relevant solutions to all cultures.

2. Tetley -Now We’re Talking

Case Study

A classic example of Rebranding and Brand Positioning. 

To help the brand target a wider and more diverse audience, the tea brand decided to create a mire meaningful positioning, fresh identity and a creative campaign that would win the hearts and minds of the nation.

The concept of the ad campaign was developed on the premise of the emotional territory of ‘togetherness’ with a strategy around conversations flowing. The idea is Tetley Tea can get anyone talking even, an unlikely friendship of a dog and cat.  As soon as the owners leave the house, the dog puts on the kettle. He and the cat enjoy a cup of Tetley over everyday conversations that people have on the sofa.  

While the Tetley Folk represented the brand, the new brand assets cat and dog represent regular people and their conversations. The brand wants to remind us of this campaign that it feels good to have a face to face conversation over a cuppa. 

The mission is to rebrand Tetley Tea more modern and for everyone by implementing an emotionally engaging idea that can connect everyone and anyone. As soon as the ad went on air, the brand’s social page was filled by the people with love for the furry twosome.

Here is a small selection of comments on the Sparks 44 website.

3. Casper, Sleep Puzzle

Image Credit: Adweek

Don’t be surprised if mattress brand Casper is a part of your subway commute. Confused? No trendy campaign or strategy to sell mattresses but PUZZLES at subways stations. 

The answer to the above is SN +Booze -B =Snooze and F+Vest-V =is Fest. Snooze Fest. These puzzles with many more are strategically being placed in trams and stations. This has caught the attention of many bored, idle or tired travellers.

What makes this idea brilliant is the simplicity and curiosity of people. Casper encourages the audience to crack the puzzle and when searching for the answer, hover to the website for the right answer. This lands them in the market for a new mattress.

Another highlighting point is the placement and timing of ads. Who better to market than the people waiting around and searching for the answer. It might seem like a short span to grab attention but has a long term effect than any typical ad. It’s more fun and interactive where Casper is giving them a direct path to a quality product that solves sleep puzzles and sleep problems.

4. Wistia, Brandwagon 

Wistia, a video software company launched its marketing show “Brandwagon” instead of parking their funds in different types of ads.

A glimpse of the show to give you an idea about it.

This video series shows interviews with Wistia’s experts and other companies as well about marketing campaigns and strategies. This content enables us to keep viewers on the Wistia’s website, display its marketing credibility and inform marketers about different techniques.

Video series is a long format compared to blog posts and there is a growing trend of online series. Many brands like Mailchimp and Uber have started their own series, talk shows, and documentaries. This binge-worthy content enables marketers to re-purpose episodes into micro-content.

Hubspot survey says, 83% of marketers prefer video as it gives them a good ROI and more than 50% of consumers want to see video content more than any other type of content from brands.

5. Microsoft, We all Win

In Microsoft’s emotional Super Bowl campaign, the mission is to show how Microsoft Xbox Adaptive Controller to help gamers with limited mobility. 

When it came to the attention of Microsoft that people with limited mobility are having trouble pressing buttons or trouble holding the remote of video game controllers, the company built a controller with touchpads rather than buttons.

The Gold-Clio winning commercial shows how Microsoft interviewed children with missing limbs on their love for video games, troubles and difficulties with controllers due to their disabilities. Parents and children featured in the campaign and explained how gaming helps them to connect with friends in ways which they might not be able to do otherwise. 

The most engaging part of the commercial is the contrast before and after Xbox Adaptive Controller and made a big change. Before the new controller, the kids thought that’s the way of life but the new technology and controller allows them to play games fairly.

An emotional and heartwarming campaign with in-depth content shows how Microsoft took time to develop a product that solved problems of a unique set of customers. It makes you feel that Microsoft as a brand truly takes care of its customers and takes extra effort to make a smooth experience with their products.

It has more than 29 million views and 25k likes on YouTube. It has the highest Unruly EQ score of 7.5.

Wrapping Up for 2020 Campaigns

The above list of campaigns shows the creativity of expert marketers that win attention with deep content. Brands have found a unique way to educate their customers or competitors with out-of-the-box thinking like puzzles or fun activities generating revenues.  

Get ready to launch campaigns in 2020 as the stage is set for new ideas and thoughts.