video ads

Amazon Ads and IPG Mediabrands Ink 3-year Deal for Upcoming Prime Video Ads

Amazon’s video advertising division is about to take off. To support the launch of Prime Video Ads next year, Amazon Ads and IPG Mediabrands have inked a three-year deal. When limited commercials for TV series and movies on Prime Video debut in early 2024, the partnership will use Prime Video Ads to connect brands with relevant audiences. With this new offering, IPG Mediabrands is the first media holding company to collaborate with Amazon Ads. The first countries where Prime Video Ads will be available are the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada. Later this year, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Australia will be added. In 2024, IPG Mediabrands will provide support to each of these nations.

 Key features of Amazon Prime Video Ads

Along with first-look opportunities to test new models and ad formats, as well as content sponsorships in each region, Amazon Ads and IPG Mediabrands will work together to help brands incorporate global Prime Video audiences into their media strategies. With the help of Amazon’s first-party shopping and entertainment insights, IPG Mediabrands advertisers will be able to connect with and engage streaming audiences and generate relevant ad experiences for Prime Video viewers. Additionally, they will be able to use Amazon’s data and research regarding viewers’ viewing and shopping habits to guide their marketing strategies.

How will advertisers benefit from Amazon Prime Video ads?

In September, Amazon announced that Prime Video, one of the last popular streaming services to forgo putting frequent commercial breaks in its films and television series, would begin doing so early the following year. An estimated 115 million people in the US will see Prime Video ads each month. Amazon seeks to have noticeably fewer advertisements than other streaming TV services and traditional linear TV. Simultaneously, it will give advertisers reach, frequency, and the ability to customize their messages, . Currently, a $14.99 monthly Prime Video subscription is included in the $139 annual Prime Subscription. All Prime members will transition to an ad-supported model as part of the plan, but they can choose to continue watching Amazon Prime Video without advertisements for an additional $2.99 per month in the U.S.

The introduction of Prime Video’s ad tier has been eagerly anticipated by advertisers, especially because of the immediate and sizable audience it will provide. In contrast, other streaming services have had difficulty increasing the proportion of their user base that is ad-supported. To help them create relevant ad experiences for Prime Video audiences, advertisers through IPG Mediabrands will also benefit from Amazon’s insights. These are generated through its shopping and entertainment platforms.

Read More: Amazon Enters Generative AI Scene With Its Chatbot “Q”

Competitors serving the ads in the streaming service market

Amazon is making a big advertising push now that several competitors have joined the market. This year, Netflix even tried an upfront sales model. However it has struggled to provide the volume of impressions that many large advertisers claim they require. Additionally, the executive team in charge of Netflix’s outreach to media buyers and marketers has been reorganized. Disney has also allowed advertisements on Disney+.

 Amazon Prime – A one-stop destination for entertainment 

Prime is a one-stop entertainment destination that offers customers a vast selection of premium entertainment in a single application. Customers can find all of their favorite films and television shows on Prime Video. It can be live sports, entertainment from Amazon MGM Studios and other studios, third-party channels that are available as an add-on subscription through Prime Video Channels. Moreover, they can also find movies and series that can be rented or purchased through the Prime Video store. 

IPG Mediabrand’s wide range of iconic clientele

A division of Interpublic Group, IPG Mediabrands is responsible for media and marketing solutions. IPG Mediabrands oversees more than $47 billion in marketing investment globally on behalf of its clients. This is across its full-service agency network, UM, Initiative, Mediahub, and through its award-winning specialized business units, Healix, Kinesso, Magna, Mediabrands Content Studio, Orion Holdings, Rapport, and the IPG Media Lab. Among the many well-known and iconic brands in the world are those from IPG Mediabrands’ diverse portfolio of industry sectors, which includes automotive, e-commerce, direct to consumer and e-commerce, retail, hospitality, food and beverage, pharma, health and wellness, entertainment, financial services, energy, toys, and gaming. Some of their clientele are well-known marketers such as Johnson & Johnson, CVS, American Express, Mattel, Henkel, and General Mills.

Read More: Amazon Announces Publisher Cloud to Plan Programmatic Deals in Amazon DSP

Here’s what they said

Eileen Kiernan, global CEO of IPG Mediabrands said,

Amazon’s latest offering brings a first-to-market opportunity for our clients to reach consumers at the category level in a comprehensive, scalable way—from culture and content to commerce and shoppable experiences. We are excited to play a role in this game-changing addition to the streaming TV marketplace and serve as Amazon’s anchor partner as they bring Prime Video ads to life.

Alan Moss, vice president of global sales for Amazon Ads added,

From our first conversations, IPG Mediabrands has leaned in so that their clients can be among the first brands to engage with the Prime Video streaming audience across the nine countries we’ll serve starting in early 2024. When we begin introducing limited ads into Prime Video shows and movies, Prime Video will be one of the largest premium ad-supported services in most countries where we operate. This means we can simultaneously offer brands unmatched reach and frequency to help them achieve their business goals.

Dani Benowitz, global president of MAGNA, the investment and intelligence arm of IPG Mediabrands stated,

As longtime partners of Amazon Ads, we are thrilled to participate in a global deal of this scale across all of the countries in which Prime Video ads will launch throughout 2024. The ability to access the entire Amazon streaming TV product suite is an added benefit for both endemic and non-endemic brands within our broad client portfolio.

Read More: GroupM and Amazon Ads Partner for Creator-Led Shoppable Format

Roku and Spotify Collaborate to Introduce Video Ads To Roku App

Spotify’s app on Roku will now feature video ads thanks to cooperation between Roku and Spotify. In the US, Canada, and Mexico, Roku is the most popular TV streaming service. The cooperation between Spotify and Roku, which dates back over a decade, and the launch of the Spotify app on Roku, is strengthened by this collaboration. The new invention, according to the businesses, is the first step in bringing Spotify’s CTV partner network online. Through the relationship, Spotify will be able to offer additional video content, offering marketers more opportunities to engage with the platform’s more than 500 million MAU users. Spotify Video Inventory will be available on Roku as part of the Roku Audience Network. It will be accessible as a component of Spotify’s Video Everywhere ad service.

What’s in it for advertisers?

The ability to contact customers on any device is the key to successful digital marketing. Although it also applies to marketers, it is a best practice for user experience. Larger screens are now available in homes thanks to the expanding app ecosystem on Smart TVs. As consumer patterns change, businesses who don’t have a presence on this wider screen through CTV advertising are losing out. Additionally, viewers are increasingly turning to streaming to watch and listen to all of their favorite material. It includes everything from music to stand-up comedy routines to podcasts. In order to reach consumers where they are focused, advertisers are refocusing their marketing budgets. They are converting to linked gadgets from linear television. Brands will have an extra chance to reach the combined audiences of both streaming channels by partnering with Roku.

Read More: Adverty Launches First Programmatic VAST Video in In-Play Ads

Spotify’s CTV Partner Network

The agreement with Roku is a first step in expanding Spotify’s CTV Partner Network. The quantity of visual experiences on Spotify has been growing, and these experiences will now include video ads. A beta version of DJ, which provides music recommendations and comments from an AI disc jockey, was released by the streaming service in August. Spotify introduced Blend in 2021. It is a shared social listening platform that enables users to make custom playlists to share their individual musical preferences with friends and family.

The Video Takeover Ad experience from Spotify reaches customers listening to music on their smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. Soon after, CTV devices will be added, starting with the Roku platform. Future additions to this offering by Spotify will include even more video ad offerings, like video podcasts. In order to reach more users, the new Spotify app on Roku will include artist snippets and video clips mixed with ad formats like Sponsored Sessions. In order to give users a more participatory experience, it will also include Call to Action cards for podcast advertisements.

Roku’s portfolio

For more than a decade, Roku users have had access to the Spotify video app. While most people use Spotify to listen to music and podcasts, they also use it to create playlists, search for content, and watch artist videos and audio podcasts on their screens. Roku has been busy releasing new ad experiences on the platform in addition to adding video ads to the Spotify app on CTV. In a recent announcement, the business said that it was expanding its collaboration with Shopify to enable customers to buy goods from Shopify merchants using Roku Action Ads. Viewers can make purchases straight from their TVs and pay with Roku Pay.

Read More: Amazon Prime Video to Introduce Limited Ads in 2024

Here’s what they said

Lee Brown, Spotify global head of advertising & business platform said,

As a longtime leader in the streaming space, we’ve had a front-row seat to audiences choosing streaming to enjoy content and advertisers following suit to reach them. It’s long been our goal to make Spotify available to anyone on any device and this partnership with Roku answers the call from advertisers who want even more ways to reach our users. Both our brands have been at the forefront of the streaming revolution and together we’re continuing to invest in more opportunities for advertisers to connect with our immersed users.

Alison Levin, VP, ad revenue and marketing solutions at Roku commented

As longtime partners, we’re excited to launch Spotify’s TV streaming video ads that will reach both of our streamers on platform and drive measurable campaign impact for brands. Roku and Spotify are uniquely positioned to make the largest screen in the home work harder for brands. We are thrilled to partner with Spotify on this at launch.

Read More: GumGum Unveils Social Empowerment Initiative with In-Video Ads

Microsoft Advertising Enters the Video and CTV Advertising Realm

At the DMEXCO conference, Microsoft Advertising unveiled a brand-new video ad product called Video and Connected TV (CTV) ads. Advertisers can now create online video and CTV ad campaigns on the Microsoft Advertising platform, thanks to the company’s video ad offering. The novel solution offers specific reach across large-scale properties to guarantee that the ad is presented to the appropriate target audience. The offering engine accepts search data. The internet juggernaut wants to profit from the burgeoning digital video landscape. By 2024, it is anticipated that people will spend 3.5 hours daily on average.

How does it work?

The new platform does not require advertisers to learn how to use the new platform. No set-up fees or lengthy onboarding procedures are needed, and campaigns are straightforward to optimize. The same platform offers the possibility to target ads on CTV. Because of this, creating campaigns only requires a few clicks. The only thing advertisers need to do is upload video assets that best represent their brands. Additionally, they must determine who they want to expose their ads to as well as how frequently they should do so across multiple devices. Setting frequency caps, reporting on domains where ads are served, and excluding any domains where ads should not be served are all features available.

Why should advertisers care?

Video and connected TV (CTV) capability increases conversion possibilities. It expands the options for ad-serving and using audience analytics to target high-value consumers. The choice to run commercials online or on CTV is also available. Advertisers can purchase CTV ads through a cost-per-completed view mechanism to target audiences on smart TVs and connected devices.

Moreover, according to Microsoft, search data is one of the most important components to enable this CTV and video service. Even when watching television, online searches have developed into one of the most potent intent signals. It is now a clear indicator of consumer intent. It reveals what the current needs of consumers are. Search offers information that can later be converted into marketing.

The rise of multi-screen viewing

As multi-screening is becoming popular, Microsoft’s new offering comes at a crucial time. According to recent studies, 4 out of 5 consumers read online news while watching TV, highlighting the opportunity for advertisers to target audiences who engage in multi-screen behaviors. Furthermore, 90% of Gen Z viewers in the U.S. utilize a second screen in addition to TV. This behavior creates attractive opportunities for marketers to better engage viewers. Even though the data just pertains to the U.S. market, the product is currently conducting pilots in 34 markets, with more than 405 billion monthly CTV impressions and 1.6+ trillion video impressions.

Video and CTV ads highlights

Microsoft’s access to billions of first-party data points is what distinguishes this platform. It makes it possible for advertisers to precisely identify their target market. Advertisers can target viewers on desktop, smartphone, and tablet devices with online video advertising purchased using a viewable CPM model for both in-stream and out-stream placements. User behavior from Bing, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Start, and other properties is included in this treasure trove of data.

Max, Hulu, and Bloomberg are just a few of the venues where you can see video and CTV advertisements. Additionally, it has been reported in media sources like the Wall Street Journal, MSN, and the Huffington Post. A hyper-targeted audience is created by the platform using machine learning algorithms based on a variety of variables, including product preferences, demographic data, and browsing patterns. The goal of this strategy is to make targeted ads better so that marketers can reach the most relevant audiences.

Read More: Loop Media-Microsoft Advertising Forge New CTV OOH Inventory Category

Search data insights

One type of data used to create intelligence signals is search. However, Microsoft permits the use of billions of legal first-party data sets across numerous properties in advertising. They range from preferences for content and brands to LinkedIn profiles and much more. All of these signals are applicable to the video targeting feature. Based on viewing and browsing information, Microsoft Advertising Video and CTV advertising enable advertisers to use these signals to place brands in front of viewers with the appropriate messages.

Forecasts suggest a significant increase in ad expenditure

Forecasts indicate that between 2023 and 2025, U.S. programmatic video ad expenditures will increase by $22.51 billion (30.2%). The latest feature from Microsoft is made to effectively develop this growing pattern. Another appealing factor is the ease of application. The announcement is noteworthy because it signals a significant effort in an industry that is constantly developing. Additionally, it provides marketers with a more comprehensive, data-driven tool for audience interaction. Microsoft’s CTV and Advertising Video advertisements provide targeted audience capabilities. The growing rivalry and possible ad saturation have led to continuous innovation for success.

Here’s what they said

Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft Advertising, Liam Mackessy, told Search Engine Land:

This product has been designed for ease of use. You can get started in just a few clicks, there are no long onboarding processes, no set-up fees, and it’s simple to optimise. We’re making CTV advertising, which typically can be a little bit more complex to buy, more accessible to a lot more advertisers on the Microsoft Advertising platform. However, we still provide control and flexibility to advertisers – they can set their own frequency caps so that they can accurately plan budgets and campaigns accordingly. We also have the usual domain reporting and domain exclusions to help advertisers keep track of where their ads are serving so that they can decide which sites they may not want their ads to be served on.

Read More: Microsoft Submits Revised Activision Blizzard Proposal to UK’s CMA

YouTube Tests New Shoppable Video Ads Tools

Amid a pandemic that created havoc around the world that resulted in prolonged store closures. This has led brands to advertise their products online to drive sales as more people are online now. To make things easier for them, YouTube has introduced new direct response solutions that make video ads more shoppable, drive conversion, and automate content delivery across the platform. 

The idea is to make video ads the new ‘storefront’ for the brands as an increasing number of brands are using video ads that connect them directly to customers. YouTube Ads director and product manager Nicky Rettke wrote in the blog post, “Last year, the number of active advertisers using TrueView for action grew over 260 percent.”

Increase in sales with Shoppable TrueView for action 

In the new test, the eCommerce advertisers can show their products in their TrueView for action ads. When the user clicks on the expansion arrow, browsable product imagery appears below the video.

The advertisers are required to sync their Google Merchant Center feed to the video ads, expand their call-to-action button, and drive traffic to a specific product page. However, Facebook recently released “Shops”  creates on platform storefronts but keep the users and transactions within Facebook. 

Retailer Aerie used Shoppable TrueView for action to increase awareness and sales for its 2020 Spring campaign and saw a 25% higher return on ad spend than the previous year and nine times more conversions compared to their traditional media mix.  Rettke said in the post that 70% of people bought a brand after seeing it on YouTube.

Video Campaigns drive conversions

 The next tool announced is ‘Video campaigns’, a cost-effective way to drive conversions, boost web traffic, or generate leads across the platform. It automatically brings video ads to the YouTube home feed, watch pages, and Google video partners in one campaign as well as include any future inventory that becomes available like the What to Watch Next feed.

 

YouTube tested the video ad campaign with a start-up Mos to help students raise funds for college to avoid debts. Rettke said in the blog post that it saw 30% more purchases at one-third of the cost of its previous ad spend.

Lead Generation to a Video campaign

The third tool is adding lead forms to a brand’s video ad campaign. Lead forms help advertisers reduce costs and obtain potential costumers. It appears below the video ad and asks the viewers to fill the form while the ad is running.

Automobile giant Jeep tested this approach with its Korea branch and saw a 13-times increase in completed leads at an 84% lower cost per lead as well as generated more leads.

Finally, Google has included YouTube in the Google Ads attribution report that will help advertisers identify the maximum impact across YouTube, Search, and Shopping campaigns.

Shoppable Ads, a new focus for social media platforms

Shoppable ads also considered as direct-response ads have become a major focus of all social media platforms in the pandemic when ad sales went down. Facebook introduced shoppable ads on its platform and Instagram. Snapchat has in-app shopping whereas buy groceries without leaving Pinterest. Shoppable ads are also seen on Tik Tok.

DR ads have helped Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat to maintain profits, and CPM’s. As per Adexchanger reports, YouTube sales VP Adam Stewart said,

“YouTube storefront isn’t a traditional DR advertising product.YouTube has a bustling DR business, because it’s popular for app-install campaigns, especially with mobile gaming companies.”

Direct response advertising features will be the focus of YouTube’s NewFronts presentation to advertisers. As a part of YouTube’s pitch, Stewart said the storefront isn’t meant to rival Facebook-Instagram or Snapchat commerce offerings but its natural counterpart is television. 

 

 

Making Video Campaigns on Spotify Is Now Easy with Sound-On Video Ads!

Key Insights:

• The Ad studio debuted in 2017 and thereafter Spotify has nearly doubled its user base.
• Spotify witnessed an 11% rise globally in mobile downloads.
• Spotify reports an average of 25% of overall ad revenue from video accounts.
• In the past one year, Spotify has witnessed a 68% increase of active advertisers, with double the ads running.

 

Spotify has announced video advertising on Ad studio, its self-serve platform, in Canada, the U.K, and the U.S. This update is available to select advertisers in the recently added test markets to Ad Studio in April.

The Ad Studio was created initially for small and medium-sized advertisers to connect with Spotify listeners and create budget-friendly, customized audio ads for the platform. In April, it had expanded to 18 more markets and exited the beta version.

Spotify Push into Video Ads can increase brand awareness and brand recall. 

Spotify said that often users on other platforms prefer viewing video ads muted, however, Spotify listeners are’ engaging with their sounds on.’ Complimenting their audio ad offering, video ads will give brands a visual storytelling opportunity for the in-focus moments.

The streaming giant further notes that running video ads with audio produces higher brand results than going solely for video ads. Video ads with sound-on lead to 1.9x ad recall and 2.2x increase in brand awareness, according to the company data.

 The company said in a statement,

“Unlike many other platforms, on Spotify, listeners are already engaging with their sound on, offering a valuable opportunity for a brand’s message to be seen and heard. This multisensory experience can extend a brand’s audio ad strategy, providing another touchpoint to capture listeners’ attention and share messages across all relevant moments.”

Rise in advertisers using Spotify Ad Studio’s creative perk 

Ad studio that is available in 22 countries globally has leveled up the playing field in creative production by offering a free service to generate a brand’s ad spot. Advertiser on Spotify’s Ad Studio can upload a script and in as little as one hour (48 hours in some cases) they will deliver a fully produced ad that includes music and voice over.

The company said that 37% of Ad Studio customers rely on their free voiceover tool for ad creation. Additionally, 50% of its advertisers used this tool in May, which is an 11% rise from March. 

Ad Studio offers two options of ad format for video ads- horizontal video and vertical video. Horizontal video can run across all platforms and vertical video is optimized for iOS and Android.

Why should brands advertise on Spotify?

The company reported recently that it has 286 million active users and 130 million paid subscribers. Spotify is the third-largest advertiser in the world after Facebook and Google.

Spotify  Ad Studio enables brands to reach targeted and relevant customers. Their programmatic audio advertising is the best way to reach Gen X and beyond.

If you think ads may annoy the listeners of Spotify, think again. Statistics by Acquisio states, 75% of digital audio listeners think commercials are totally fine on a free streaming service. 47% think ads are even less intrusive on Spotify than traditional radio.

For instance, brands targeting the hip audience that are interested in current trends can consider advertising on Spotify. Advertisers can take advantage of the Spotify data of logged users like moods, preferences, listening habits, interests, and activities. This will help brands to create customized ads.

Learn more: Spotify Adds $1.7B To Market Cap In 23 Min Post A Deal With Joe Rogan, World’s Leading Podcaster.

Guide On EVERY Type Of Digital Ad Out There. Case Studies Included.

What is Digital Advertising?

Digital advertising, paid advertising, or paid marketing is an online advertising model for advertisers to target potential buyers based on their interests or intent. This Digital Advertising took birth on October 27, 1994, when the online magazine ‘Hotwired’ decided to set aside a portion of its website for advertisers to raise some money. The banner ad space had a message in rainbow font, “Have you ever clicked your mouse right here? You will.” From 1994 to 2020, digital advertising has come a long way. In 2021, the amount spent on worldwide digital advertising is estimated to touch USD 375 billion (emarketer report estimates) with Google, Facebook, and Amazon, the three largest advertising platforms contributing to 43% of the market share. Here we have provided 10 best digital advertising ideas in 2020 post coronavirus (COVID-19) but be prepared to make changes in your sales funnel to meet global digital challenges. Digital advertisers get ready for a new normal in digital advertising in 2020. After all, change is the only constant in life.

Increase in Online Spending Over the Years

Ad spending in the digital advertising market has been showing an upward rise since 2018. From USD 283 billion in 2018, it is expected to reach around USD 517 billion in 2023.

The Importance of Digital Advertising

There is a wealth of available data to impact your online advertising decisions. With digital spends getting closer to traditional ad spends, it’s without doubt, every company or brand must have a strong online presence. Very large companies with more than USD 10 billion in annual revenue spend around 11.6% and companies with annual revenues between USD 500 million to USD 1 billion spend around 8.5% of their marketing budget on digital advertising.  Some of the 2019 big digital ad spenders are Comcast (USD 5.75 billion), Proctor & Gamble (USD 4.39 billion), Amazon (USD 3.38 billion), AT&T (USD 3.52 billion) and Samsung Electronics (USD 2.41 billion). While on one hand, ad spending increased, on the other hand, the demand was augmented by the addition of ad platforms.

 

• More money is being spent on digital v/s traditional advertising channels with digital ad spend expected to reach 60.5% of total media ad spending by 2022.
• India’s digital ad spend grew at a rate of 24% (2018 to 2019), becoming the fastest-growing digital advertising market in the world, followed by Russia at 22.5%. Both are home to large populations of increasingly digital and mobile users.
• Marketing budgets range from 8% to 16% of total revenue (B2B Products 8.6%, B2B Services 8.7%, B2C Products 9.8%, and B2C Services 15.6%).
• In many countries, 85 percent of internet users are accessing the internet on mobiles.

Types of Digital Advertising

There are different types of digital advertising available to a company or product or brand. The best ad campaigns are often a mix of two or more types of paid marketing or digital advertising. From Display Ads to SEO to PPC and more, here are the top 10 online advertising options available to a digital advertiser to execute a winning ad campaign.

1. Display Advertising

What is display advertising?

Online display advertising means advertising a company or a product on websites. Display advertisements run across any website that wishes to monetize their content by selling ad space on their page. Display ads are mostly image-based ads shown on web pages within the Google Display Network (GDN is a network of websites that allow space on their web pages for Google Ads) or on a search result page. It is used to redirect the user’s attention to the company’s product. Display ads can be paid for based on three different metrics: cost per thousand impressions (CPM), cost per click (CPC), and cost per action (CPA), also known as cost per conversion.

How is the Display ad used?

Online display ads on a website, can be on the top, bottom, or right side of a page depending on the web page layout. The types of online display ads are banners, landing pages (LP’s), and popups. The types of banner ads online that appear on Google Display Network are Flash, animated GIF, and Static Banners. The most popular Display ad options are Google Shopping (allows shoppers to browse a variety of products based on their search query) and App Campaigns. The types of online Display Ads include Overlay ads, Interstitial ads, Rich Media ads, and 360° Display Ads.  Display advertising and paid search advertising are the two most used forms of online advertising.

Why is display advertising important?

• Display ads are more affordable and reach a larger audience. They are used by advertisers to promote clothes, hotel chains, public events, etc.
• Website visitors who are re-targeted with display ads are 70% more likely to convert on your website.
• Display network offers advertisers contextual targeting by keywords, placement targeting by sites, topic targeting by relevance and demographic targeting based on age, gender, preferences, location and language.
• 90% of agencies and marketers believe that display ads help with branding.
• It leads to increased website traffic, and increased sales.
• These display ads can be effectively used by businesses of all sizes.

Coke’s most successful Display Ad case study

When Coca-Cola’s popularity decreased among Millennials, the brand developed the ‘Share A Coke’ campaign specifically for a Mexican audience to raise awareness and increase sales and brand love. For the campaign, Coca-Cola found the top 100 searches on YouTube and created short ads with the names of the most-searched artists, athletes, and trending YouTubers. 

Coca-Cola’s website received almost two million visits during the campaign, and more than 51 percent of them came from mobile devices. View KPIs increased by 4,000 percent, and the cost per view decreased to 2 percent ofthe initial estimated budget. Additional metrics included

• 1.7 million users reached
• 81 million media impressions on display
• 175 million social media views
• 3.2 million views for the TV commercial
• CTV average of 3.98 percent during the campaign
• 80 percent of target reached
• 51 percent of website traffic from mobile devices
• 44 percent of Mexico shared a Coke
• Awareness increased 11%

 

2. Native Advertising

What is Native Advertising

Native Advertising called ‘recommended content’ or ‘promoted stories’ is a monetized type of advertising on a website except slightly differing from display ads in a way that attempts to mimic the format of the publisher’s content. Native advertising comprises 6 main types of ads online: in-feed (which is ad units in a content stream), recommended links, sponsored search results, promoted product listings, traditional display banners with native content, and custom integration. Most of the native pricing is on CPM basis for the campaigns.

How is the Native ad used?

Since Native advertising is designed specifically not to look like an ad, it is almost everywhere and hard to ignore. It’s designed to look like and blend with the rest of the content on the page. As a result, users interact 20-60% more with native ads than traditional banner ads. As per Google Ads, in the last four years, the search for native ads has been growing in numbers. You may notice this ad type at the bottom of a blog or a FB post. It could appear as ‘recommendations’ or ‘other people also liked’ with suggested examples for users to click on.

Why use Native Advertising?

The in-feed content in Native advertising, can include videos, animations, or carousels of images. When native ads take on the looks of the content around it, they actually become non-disruptive ads. They are found in social media in the form of sponsored posts. Also, since these ads are interactive they are the best for brand building through trust by engaging with a customer. It is an up-coming ad type mostly used by new media companies. Today native ads constitute about 20% of all advertising revenue.

The Native ad case study

• Campaign:  Asian Beauties from Neverblue
• Ad Copy: Would you date an Asian Woman?
• Campaign period: Mar 30, 2019 – Apr 7, 2019
• GEO: USA
• Total spent: $934
• Total Revenue: $1397
• Net profit: $463
• ROI: 50%

 

The advertiser worked in two stages:

– In the first stage he started with a CPC campaign to get at least 50 impressions for each ad zone. After that, added these zones to the blacklist regardless of the CTR (by clicking Zone Limitation «Exclude» in the account settings) to redirect traffic to zones that weren’t tested yet. Started with $50 and got $58 for 11 conversions. So, the profit was $8. Then decided to scale this campaign to CPM.

– In the second stage he created a CPM campaign and targeted zones with the CTR higher than 0.7% (Zone limitation “Include” in the personal account). Then he blacklisted all the under performing zones. After all the testing, he had 8 zones, with two of them generating 80% of the profit. He spent $884 and got $1339 for 255 conversions. The profit — $455

3. Search Advertising

What is Search Advertising?

Search advertising or search engine marketing (SEM), or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is the process of advertising on search engines. Search ads are text ads displayed on Google’s search result page. Worldwide Google handles over 75,000 search queries per second. It enjoys a worldwide ranking as #1 search engine, ahead of its competitors Yahoo, Bing, and Baidu. Thereby, moving up one spot in Google’s search results can increase CTRs by up to 30.8%. Google shows your ad in the same format as other search results except that it earmarks it as an ‘Ad’. SEM is mostly combined with SEO (Search Engine Optimization is the organic and not paid form of advertising. Here, advertisers use SEO tactics, like creating keyword-friendly content, back linking, meta descriptions, etc.).

How is the Search Advertising used?

There are two search ads formats, viz. text ads and product listing ads.

• Text ads appear as ‘Ad’ above or on the right side of an organic search.
• Product listing ads (PLAs) mostly seen on e-commerce websites, show the image, price, description and link of your product when a potential customer is searching for a product based on a keyword.

These advertisements are found on search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. They are purchased based on the most relevant keywords a potential buyer uses to search for a product or service. However, recent shifts in PPC strategies are showing an increase in PLAs and ‘Semantic search’ (find meaning and or intent in the words) slowly replacing a direct keyword search.

Why search advertising?

• Paid search advertising allows advertisers to place their products/service in front of people who are already looking for the product/service.
• Since the ad is shown to potential customers who are searching for a similar product or service, there is a high chance of the user clicking on your product and converting it into a sale.
• With Google searches at 3.5 billion per day, search ads reach a larger target audience.

Case study of a Search Advertisement

• Client: Automotive Industry
• Goals: Reduce cost per sale from Google AdWords & Reduce monthly spend while generating more online sales.

The advertiser began with identifying the highest value conversion points, restructuring the account to only target keywords and products that would best drive the selected conversions. By understanding the way consumers buy, they could target consumers looking for specific products. They allocated an additional budget towards increasing the bids, to increase the average search position, earn a larger click share, and win the highest value auctions.

The Results:

• Increased Online Sales by 73% vs. prior year
• Deduced Cost Per Sale by 57% vs. prior year

 

4. Social Media Advertising

What is Social Media Advertising?

Social advertising is the use of social media sites to run an advertising campaign. By Q4 of 2019, the total number of social media users had crossed earlier estimates to reach 2.95 billion users worldwide. In 2020, that number is expected to surpass 3 billion.

How is the Social Media advertising used?

As per a recent study by Statista, the social media advertising segment amounts to USD 105,863 million in 2020 and is expected to have an annual growth rate (CAGR 2020-2024) of 6.0%, resulting in a market volume of USD 133,756 million by 2024 (not taking into account the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) implications on global trade).

The Social Media Platforms available for Advertising        

Most marketers are using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in their marketing campaigns.

The other emerging platform is TikTok with 500 million active users worldwide. As per CNET, by end 2019, TikTok crossed 1.5 billion downloads, becoming the third most downloaded non-gaming app of the year, after WhatsApp and Messenger. Facebook and Instagram followed in fourth and fifth places. While grocery retailer Kroger was the first to run an ad campaign on TikTok, famous brands like TacoBell are now using TikTok.

Social ads charge advertisers on a CPC, CPM and other basis. However, the pricing will depend on the different types of ads like photo ads, video ads, stories ads, carousel ads, slideshow ads, messenger ads, collection ads, snap ads, tweet ads, sponsored content, etc. Here is a quick cost comparison between the three top platforms to give you an overall idea of pricing but of course your company, your product and your brand will determine the ad budget and the social media platform allocation to maximize the profits and return on investment (ROI).

Why is advertising on social media sites important?

• 97% of marketers use social media.
• 78% of marketers using Social Media outsell their peers.
• Social Media ads help to build brand awareness.
• The social media ad spend has risen to USD 89 billion in 2019.
• It helps to build a clientele henceforth bettering Brand Loyalty.
• Improves conversion rate.
• Reduces marketing costs as it is cheaper than traditional marketing.
• Rise in search engine rankings.

Case Study of Bajaj V’s Social Media Ad

• Campaign: SonsOfVikrant
• Objective: Promote Bajaj V – The Nation’s Bike

A ten day social media campaign run by Bajaj Automobiles, touched the minds and hearts of the whole nation as INS Vikrant one of India’s aircraft carriers was scrapped and its steel was melted and used to create the Bajaj V.

Result: Bajaj V gained 0.7 Million USD worth of free media coverage in just one week of the launch. It created 160 million impressions, reaching out to 32 million overall. And the most important one, Bajaj sold 11,000 bikes on the first day of launch. It got 984,862 views on Youtube and more than 23,000 views on Facebook.

5. Video Advertising

What is video advertising?

Video advertising is a process of running online display ads that have video within them to promote a company, product or website. These ads play before, during or after a video stream on the internet. 57% of marketers are now including video marketing in their digital marketing strategy. 

How is the Video advertising used?

There are different video ad formats. The main ad formats used by YouTube, the largest video hosting platform, include TrueView Ads, Non-skippable video Ads, Bumper Ads, Outstream Ads, YouTube Masthead Ads. For more details, read about YouTube here. Video ads can be purchased on a cost per mille (CPM) basis, but are also typically priced on a cost per view (CPV) basis, allowing advertisers to pay for the ad only if someone watches or interacts with it. 

 Why is video advertising gaining popularity?

• Being the most engaging form of online content, video ads have higher recall.
• Video will remain a key driver of advertising expenditures on display, projected to account for 31% of overall display ad spending next year.
• More than 50% of consumers like to watch videos of the brands they support.
• In 2019, video ads saw an increase in ad spending mainly in the fashion and retail industry.
• Almost 88% of video marketers are happy with its ROI.
• As per a study by Forbes, videos get shared 1,200% more than text and links combined.
• Mobile ads on YouTube get the viewer’s attention 83% of the time.
• Everyday people watch 1 billion hours of video on YouTube.
• 90% of the potential buyers have discovered new products on YouTube
• Companies and brands like LEGO or Coca-Cola have started uploading video content on their respective brand channels.

 

Case Study of a Video Ad

• Campaign: Meri Maggi
• Goal: Brand image

A classic example of a video ad used to regain brand image was by none other than Maggi Noodles. When the product got banned in India in 2015, its sales dipped from INR 250-300 crore a month to in between 5%-10% in various states.

In November, when the company re-launched Maggi after the five-month ban, it had 10.9 percent of the market share, which climbed to 35.2 percent in December. The relaunch campaign did include press ads and an extremely touching video launched across different platforms.

6. Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising

What is PPC advertising?

Pay per click (PPC) ads are ads that advertisers only pay for when a user clicks on them. PPC ads are usually text ads but sometimes includes a small image. Google AdWords and Bing Ads both use a pay-per-click model.

How is the PPC advertising used?

This type of advertising is used to direct a potential buyer to your website. It is important to have a PPC landing page that is optimized for conversions. Google has now removed PPC ads from Right Hand Side so they now appear on the top of the page only.

Why PPC advertising?

• PPC marketing is done through Google Ads, the worlds’ largest search engine thereby boosting the traffic to your website.
• It can deliver a large number of impressions and clicks because of the large amount of traffic, especially on Google, leading to an increase in sales.
• This type of advertising is highly successful if the advertiser has rightly focused on relevant keywords and the quality of the landing page for a higher quality score.
• Advertisers can make changes to optimize the campaign to improve the quality score which helps to increase the ROI.
• Helps to control the ad budget.
• Can improve brand recognition with remarketing.

 

Case study of a PPC Ad

• Campaign: Dental Clinic, London
• Goal: To increase the number of leads their ads were generating while lowering the cost per lead.

The strongest USP of this UK clinic, was the doctor a native Polish speaker. So the marketing team targeted the niche audience of Polish speakers living in London close to where the clinic is based, to create ads and select keywords in the Polish language pointing to a dedicated landing page. Constant refining of the keywords and target audience was required.

Results

• In the first 50 days, the number of conversions increased considerably, up 409% from 20 to 107.
• Conversion cost came down to £7.41 from £44 (when client managed own campaign)
• The conversion rate also improved — up over 207% — from 4.38% to 13.44%.

 

7. Remarketing Advertising

What is retargeting advertising or remarketing?

Remarketing (or retargeting) is a type of online advertising that allows you to serve targeted ads to people who have already visited your website earlier. A remarketing ad allows you to strategically position your ads in front of the target audience as they browse Google or its partner websites, to increase brand awareness and to remind the user to make a purchase.

How do retargeting ads work?

It is a cookie-based technology that follows the user around the internet, by serving ads on the websites and platforms which the user visits most often in order to remarket to him/her again. Retargeting is required since almost 98% of users leave the website without converting on the first visit. Thereby, these 98% users need to be reminded or targeted about a product /service of interest once they leave the website.  Here’s how retargeting works:

Why Retargeting Ads?

• Retargeting increases the conversion by 150%.
• The average CTR (Click Through Rate) for Retargeting Ads is 10 times more than display ads.
• Remarketing Ads have a CPC (Cost Per Click) which is 50% that of the PPC search ads.

Case study of a Retargeting Ad

• Campaign: Jabong 
• Goals: To increase transactions by acquiring more high-quality customers who are more likely to convert or make a purchase & to improve app activation rates to drive traffic to the Jabong.com mobile app and control user acquisition costs.

Jabong the e-commerce website has successfully used Facebook’s dynamic ads to retarget potential customers by showing them products they have looked at on both Jabong.com’s website and app, allowing the brand to customize ads to every individual.

Results

By Personalised Acquisition using “Retargeting” and creating custom advertisements Jabong was able to:

• 2X increase in customer acquisitions
• 5X increase in app activation rates
• 40% lower user acquisition cost on mobile app
• 30% lower cost per order

 

8. In-game Advertising

What is In-game advertising?

In-game advertisements are ads that may exist within computer games on desktops/PC, mobiles or tablets. In-game advertising is a digital advertising strategy provided by game developers to boost their revenue. Game developers earn money and get paid by showing the ads to the users.

How does In-game advertising work?

The ads which become a part of the user experience in a 3D game setting through virtual objects, such as, billboards, posters, or bus stops, help to improve the game app engagement and also the retention rates.

The different types of in-game advertising include –

• Dynamic In-game advertising that can be inserted or removed in real-time, inside of Console and PC video games is charged on CPM or cost per thousand impressions pricing model.
• Console Integration in the form of square tiles in the Xbox Live dashboard has a higher CPM rate.
• In the Static In-Game Advertising model where advertising is programmed directly into a game, it is normally a flat fee anywhere starting with USD 50K.
• Advergames are developed for the purpose of promoting a company, brand, or product which can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

Why the growing popularity of In-game Advertising?

• 62% of smartphone owners install games within the first week of purchasing a new phone.
• Games can be designed with the sole purpose of advertising a brand.
• It offers advertisers an option to position the product in the game, to reach the right audience with the right message.
• Market for in-game advertising on all devices in the US alone, to touch USD 3 billion in 2019.
• The ad spend in all games grew by 16% in 2019.
• Retargeting in gaming apps is generating revenue uplift of over 50% among paying users.

Case study of an In-game Ad

• Campaign: Nike Epic React

Nike named their shoe ‘Epic React’ and created a game named React Land to promote this new line of shoes in four cities. This was Nike’s idea to use gamification to attract a young target audience. After putting on a pair of Epic Reacts and creating an avatar, the player is transported to React Land, a virtual world where he/she navigates as the main character by running on a treadmill and using a handheld button to jump. In the 3-minute game, players can choose to explore a floating metropolis in China, a super soft panda land, the Fuji Mountain, a view of Santorini, a jumping frog in France and many more. After the success of this ad, Nike announced a share value increase of 7%, putting it back in direct competition with Adidas in the sneaker market.

9. Email Advertising

What is email advertising?

Email ads are interactive ads that appear in the Promotions and Social tabs of the email inbox.

How do email ads work?

Email ads are ads sent to a user via the web mail. It can include an image, video, or embedded forms. These ads are cheaper than most others. It aims to create leads, to enhance relationship with the customer, to encourage loyalty, and to grow repeat business. 

Why Email Advertising?

• Email ads help to reach affinity audiences.
• Can customize the target audiences in Display campaigns by applying keywords.
• Offer an option of automated targeting to reach potential customers whom you wouldn’t otherwise reach, at around the same cost per person.
• You can reach people on the Display Network basis demographic categories, like age, gender, income, hobbies, etc.
• Dynamic remarketing ads are possible but the targeted Gmail ads must have a minimum of 100 active visitors or users within the last 30 days for your ads to show.
• This ad type is good for promotions, new features, and discount offers.
• An Email ad looks organic prompting the user to click.

Case Study of an email advertising campaign

• Campaign: Wok to Walk
• Goal: Local customer creation, Brand Awareness

Wok to Walk, a health food company, sent a newsletter with a subject line that invited recipients to call, make inquiries and order a meal. This email generated an open rate of 18.1%. Next step they checked the statistics and selected email subscribers who didn’t open the previous email.

The same email was sent – but the subject line was changed to better suit this new segment by including a phone number, making it easier for people to call even if they didn’t open the email. This second email received 7.7% additional subscribers, resulting in a higher level of email engagement.

10. Mobile Advertising

What is mobile advertising?

Today with mobiles becoming a quintessential part of our lives, mobile advertising is growing in importance. Mobile advertising is placing ads to run specifically on mobile devices such as cell phones, smartphones, tablets, and wearable technology with the use of enhanced campaigns. Marketers often combine mobile advertising with other digital advertising channels like display advertising, search advertising, social media advertising, and video advertising.

How do mobile ads work?

Mobile advertising is targeted. It allows the advertiser to personalize the content for a specific audience. When Samsung wanted to promote its Galaxy S6 smartphone, they created an interactive mobile ad for people to experience what the company was talking about with a demo on their smartphone. The other winning mobile ads are Ruffles potato chips, GAP remix logo launch, Nissan Rogue SUV launch, and Starbucks. 

Why is mobile advertising or mobile marketing important in 2020?

• Global mobile ad spending in 2019  reached USD 190 billion.
• In India, mobile ad spending is expected to rise from approx. USD 460 million to USD 1.73 billion in 2021.
• 29% of the time is spent on desktops and 71% on mobile devices
• 80% of internet users own a smartphone.
• 70% of B2B buyers increased mobile usage over the past years.

Case Study of a video ad

• Campaign: Pay Attention
• Goal: Create Awareness

In 2018, cosmetic brand Avon India aimed to raise awareness about breast cancer among women in India through its #PayAttention campaign. Avon had a breast self-examination (BSE) video for women to help them identify the signs of breast cancer.

Results

• 15 % SOV and awareness in breast cancer
• Reached over 1 billion people of India at USD 25k
• On social media, Avon reached out to 917 million on Facebook, 101 million on Twitter, 109 Million through PR stories and 29 influencer videos with 36 million impressions.
• #PayAttention was top trending hashtags around Breast Cancer Awareness in India.
• 200,000 interactions were created on FB and near 185,000 interactions on Facebook posts.

Conclusion

The coronavirus (COVID-19) has disrupted our world, our thinking, and our way of doing business. This impact will surely be felt by every company, big or small. Once the global crises passes, there will be renewed spending on digital platforms to adapt rapidly to the new normal. This new normal stage requires new advertising strategies and new execution plans across all channels. With a fair idea on paid advertising, it’s time to get ready to leverage the right ads for your company or brand when the time is right. How to establish new goals to maximize the ROI, how to rework ad budgets, how to re-prioritize the channel amplification, how to pivot from the standard content marketing plan, how to target all devices buyers use, are all questions a digital advertiser will need to be prepared with. There will never be a right or wrong answer but always an in-between that is the ‘right fit’. We have only put you on a fast track to think on the right lines to restrategize your digital advertising campaign. Time to work on it further!

 

Summary

Coronavirus (COVID-19) will bring about deep changes in digital advertising. Ad revenues, social media, e-commerce will impact Google Ads, Social Media ads, affiliate earnings and publisher advertising earnings. Digital advertisers will require to get ready for a new normal in paid advertising from 2020. In this blog, we have tried to contain maximum information and some relevant statistics on digital advertising. There will never be a right or wrong answer but always an in-between that is the ‘right fit’. We have only put you on a fast track to think on the right lines to restrategize your digital advertising campaign. Time to work on it further!

Publishers Look For New Income Alternatives As Adtech Revenue Declines

The adtech industry has already been in an unstable situation for the past two years loaded with debt. It has been a challenging situation for major tech providers as well. Many of the companies were start-ups, fully leveraged, or hoping to come out with an IPO soon.

The COVID-19 pandemic only worsened the situation, for now, companies are to stay above water. Publishers fear that the two-year revenue gains will be over.

With the overconsumption of video content, premium ad placements have also declined. The publishers are also concerned about encountering payment uncertainty from ad exchanges and third-party revenue sources.

Co-CEO Rotem Shaul of Primis which is owned and backed by the Interpublic Group and Universal McCann.shares with Digiday the concerns from publishers and said,

The publishers we work with are prioritizing safety.

Therefore, publishers are rapidly finding new and stable ad formats and ad programs across platforms to continue with additional revenue streams ad reduce dependence on one ad format. The new ad format includes native, display, video advertising content, and scrolling videos that give way to new opportunities. Publishers are also using this quarantine time to improve and update the programmatic systems -page loading speeds, update ad tech stacks, and refresh the sales team on the latest developments.

CEO Roetm Shaul added with an increase in consumption, publishers should do everything they can and should partner with companies that will continue post-crisis too. They should look for new ways to diversify their ad tech portfolio.

All this would have been a little easier to experiment with vendors before the tightening of the economy as they had the luxury of freedom and money to test and determine the best solutions. Currently, the focus is on the cash flow with low pay or no pay, putting pressure on the managers to deliver revenue.

In this down economy, this will lead to a vicious cycle. Publishers will be hesitant to give a chance to small vendors for fear of being unpaid or will be enforced to replace ad tech. With these concerns, publishers will leave small companies and they will lose more money and business which will lead to bankruptcies or shutdown. This will create more worry over working with small vendors and publishers moving to bigger vendors.

Present scenario of publishers

According to Digi Day, Shaul said, “Publishers are frantically moving their businesses to safe havens like Google, Verizon, and other big companies.” Companies may not offer the best deals but have no uncertainty over the payments.

However, there are vendors like Freewheel (owned by Comcast), SpotX (owned by RTL), or Primis that can offer similar levels of stability. They are equipped to offer attractive deals and keep the revenue stream intact.

Again, Shaul said to DigiDay that at Primis, all publishers want to hear is about security and safety in these uncertain times. He added,

Even we feel the concerns from publishers. Fortunately, they do categorize us as a big company, as we are a part of IPG,  and once they see the letters IPG and know that they will back us up, they relax.

This unpredictable time will teach new learnings. To drive fresh revenue streams, new ad programs are set up. For ad tech and publishers, these new practices for stability and innovation will be carried forward. The revenue-strapped publishers and vendors will stabilize, then sustain, and once again grow and prosper. It’s all these important learnings that will lay a new foundation for their relationships and campaigns in the future and make stronger business for both sides- vendors and publishers.