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- 15 Jun
How to Captivate Customers by Using Video in Digital Ads
Video dominates the web: Consumers spend an average of five to six hours watching videos each day, with 20 percent of that time devoted to digital content. Forrester Research predicts that digital video ad spend will reach $102.8 billion a year by 2023.
Video content allows companies to engage with their audience, and consumers happen to trust video ads more than static advertisements. The use of video ads helps establish a deeper relationship with consumers to progress them through the buyer’s journey.
Mobile is certainly making a difference in consumer behavior. With many consumers on mobile devices throughout the day, the number of people watching videos on mobile platforms continues to rise at a rapid rate. While individuals watching ads on TV and desktop lose interest in ads quickly, companies that adapt and optimize video ad content for mobile are more likely to keep users engaged.
As digital marketers, we have found that people prefer watching videos to reading content. Consumers expect video everywhere they go online, and companies must be ready to serve it to them.
Formatted for a Platform Near You
As long as it’s done well, every industry stands to benefit from the use of video. Explainer, or educational, videos are great tools businesses can use when they feel their product or service won’t translate well on a static or text advertisement. One study suggests that 74 percent of users who watched an explainer video proceeded to buy the product or service they learned about.
Explainer videos come in a variety of formats that encourage consumers to take action. Interactive video ads, in-stream ads, and native video ads are digital video formats that companies consider effective pieces of their digital marketing campaigns.
Interactive online video ads are usually five to 10 seconds in duration and allow users to click, view, and interact with an ad. The use of interactive video ads has increased with connected TV because it allows users to select how they consume content. Users can decide to watch a longer form of the ad before their selected content, or they can choose to see short-form versions of the ad throughout. According to Magna, interactive video ads create a 47 percent gain in the time consumers spend with the marketing message.
Pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll videos have popped up across various internet platforms, especially social media. YouTube has coined its six-second pre-roll ads as “bumper ads” that users cannot skip, so completion rates remain high and click-through rates go up. Facebook has started to allow mid-roll ads between video content on its platform, and it won’t let users finish watching their chosen content until they’ve viewed the ad. Either way, in-stream video ads yield a higher click-through rate and are more cost-effective in the long run.
Native video ads mimic the rest of the feed in which they appear and do not interrupt users as they scroll through a page. You can place the video ad in the middle of web content, whether it’s a social media feed, an article, or a webpage. Users are more likely to share native ads because they are videos that people choose to watch. An engaging autoplay feature makes these videos begin as soon as a user scrolls near them, which is part of the reason Facebook native videos received more than four times the interactions than those shared on other platforms.
Believing is Seeing
If you aren’t using video, it’s time to ask, “Why not?” The benefits of using video far outweigh the risks when it comes to targeting an audience that increasingly consumes video content online. Learning to use video to your advantage is the best way to stay relevant. Find a reputable production company to partner with, and then take these four steps:
1. Choose the right format for your intended use. First, determine where you are going to use your video. You can put the full version on your company website, create shorter clips for social media, or promote your video with email marketing. Plus, you can create videos for advertising and run them on pre-roll and post-roll via Facebook or Instagram.
2. Zoom in on production values. Create an outline, script, and storyboard, and detail any props you will need for production. Once you know what the script demands, scout the location where you’d like to film. Visit the location on the day and time of the week that you intend to shoot. Listen for traffic noise and carefully assess the lighting. Evaluating these factors will make the production of your video much smoother, and you can be sure your video will look and sound exactly as you intended.
3. Get a bird’s-eye view of your budget. A professional production can cost anywhere from $7,000 to more than $50,000. The price depends on several factors: Is it a short- or long-form video? Will there be voice-over or text? Do you want music to accompany the video? Assess these elements when determining the price of production. You’ll also want to decide how many videos you are going to edit and how long each one should be.
4. Optimize for search. Globally, YouTube has become the second-largest site on the internet. Pay attention to your titles and captions, which are great for SEO regardless of where you post your videos. Plus, Google loves video because it creates better “dwell time.” As a result, your company is more likely to show up on page one of a Google search if you embed video on your site.
The web undoubtedly is gravitating toward video, and digital marketers need to be ready to act. Implementing video in digital ads and on social media shows that a company is keeping up with the times and want to keep its users engaged, educated, and entertained at every stage of the buyer’s journey.
Kelly Bosetti is the CEO and founder of ad agency CEA Marketing Group. She can be reached at kelly@ceamarketing.com.The post How to Captivate Customers by Using Video in Digital Ads appeared first on Chief Marketer.
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- 10 Jun
How to Generate Quality Leads From Your PPC Campaigns
You’ve poured thousands of dollars into your Pay-Per-Click (PPC) search campaigns. And you have managed to generate a substantial number of leads. You’re rocking your conversion rates and your cost per lead is great.
What’s the problem?
It’s only when you start analyzing your results and dig a little deeper that you realize an overwhelming majority of these leads are, in essence, “junk leads.” Very few are turning into opportunities, let alone customers. The bottom line is, you’re just not seeing a healthy ROI.
What’s the solution? And, how can you turn this around? In this post, Andy Beohar gives us 10 proven strategies that you can use to generate better quality, bottom of the funnel leads from your B2B PPC campaigns. Let’s dive in at HubSpot.com
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- 07 Jun
Is Your Content Following The Trend?
Most businesses have accepted or even embraced the idea that without creating content, your website can’t hope to compete. In fact, without it, you have no chance for search engine rankings, high visitor counts, or much engagement.When the Competition Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going
There are just too many sites out there fighting for the same eyeballs that you want. And that means that if you don’t put something appealing and fresh in front of them, you’re going to be out of luck.
So, what’s to be done? To start, BuzzSumo did a study of over 100 million posts and came up with some very revealing data. To take a look at a couple of the more interesting insights and diagnose what they might mean for how we should shape our content strategy, read the full article at the McLellan Marketing Group.
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- 04 Jun
Testimonials Are B2B Companies’ Most Important Marketing Tool
In today’s hyper-competitive world customers don’t want marketing spiel. Your B2B customers can smell a sales pitch a mile away. And they are skeptical.
But, What is it That Customers Want . . . ?
Studies show us that what customers want is balanced and unbiased information. And they want it from people they can relate to. Plus, they want concrete figures and results not buzz words and slogans. And well executed customer testimonials can do exactly that.
Testimonials build trust between the company and its users. And they help customers overcome any skepticism they might have. So, how can you start developing a solid customer testimonial program? You can start by reading the full article at MarketingProfs.com.
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- 01 Jun
Empathy Mapping for Marketing Content: What It Is and How to Do It Well
by Linda Emma
Have you noticed that the best books and movies are so totally immersive you feel as if you’ve actually entered the world they depict? Which is why I’d argue that the people most skilled in content aren’t necessarily the best writers. Rather, they’re the ones who are able to empathize with characters so well that their creations seem real.
And when writing for marketing, you need to do the same thing. You need to connect with your audience. But first you have to understand who they are and what they care about. That’s where empathy mapping comes in.
So, What Is an Empathy Map?
An empathy map is a systematic tool that brings to light to your most likely customers. As you work through it, it teaches you how to connect with the people who will consume your content, products, or services. So, if you’re wondering how to understand what will motivate your potential customers, read the full article at MarketingProfs.com to find out.
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- 20 May
B2B Buyers Want More Data and Research in Vendor Content
from Marketing Charts
If you are selling to other companies and you work to develop a thought leadership position, then content is a core tool. And that content is a critical building block for your success. But, what you think is valuable content may not be what your buyers think is valuable content. Wouldn’t it would be great to be able to know exactly what content buyers value in their purchase journey?Well, Now You Can
Thanks to a recent study [access page] by Demand Gen Report and ON24 we can now better understand what our B2B buyers value in content as they make their purchase decisions. One thing the report does bring out is that an extremely high percentage of B2B buyers say they currently have less time to devote to reading and research durring their purchase journey.
So how can vendors make content more valuable when time is limited? To find out, gain additional insights and to learn a few actionable points using data from the study, read the full article at MarketingCharts.com
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- 13 May
The No. 1 Rule and Four Essential Parts of High-Converting B2B Emails
There is a common human behavioral tendency called decisions paralysis. Simply stated, this is manifested when buyers are confronted with too many choices, the result, in most customers, is to not buy.To Decide, Or To Not Decide. That is The Question . . .
Decision paralysis also applies to your email marketing as well. If you give your subscribers too many options, they won’t know what you want them to do or where they should click. The best advice, in that case instead, is to focus on the Rule of One. This rule essentially states that every promotion must contain four essential elements for success.
To learn more, read the full article at MarketingProfs.com
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- 27 Apr
How to Create Response-Boosting Cold Emails
by Will Cannon
Forget what you have heard. Cold email is still an effective way of generating appointments and making new connections. B2B companies, in particular, can still send personalized, cold emails at scale.
No Mo’ Same-O, Same-O
But the same old “tried and true” will no longer work. Now buyers expect more. They respond differently. And by using segment-specific email copy, you’re going to have a much easier time getting your prospect’s attention and enticing them to open your email.
In this article, Will Cannon shares several cold email principles that you can use to create response-boosting outreach campaigns. So read on at MarketingProfs.com
NOTE: A Free Registration pop-up opens on this site. A Free MarkeitngProfs Registration may be required to read the full article.
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- 18 Apr
2018 Metrics Show Some Email Deliverability Improvement
from Marketing Charts
According to an analysis released last year by Return Path, some 15% of US marketing emails fail to reach the inbox, Now that may seem to be bad news. But, in fact, this figure is an improvement from 2017’s rate of 23%.Not Time to Relax Quite Yet
But that doesn’t mean that marketers can’t afford to rest on their laurels. After all, there are still some verticals that are still experiencing poorer performance. So, to address this, Return Path has once again benchmarked its data [download page].
This recent study provides a host of updated yardsticks across several metrics that can act as indicators for sender reputation. And to see some highlights across these indicators, read the full article at MarketingCharts.com
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- 05 Apr
Which Types of B2B Influencer Content Do Buyers Find Valuable?
from Marketing Charts
We know from previous research that B2B leaders say content spurs their buying processes. In fact, almost all respondents to a new survey [access page] by Demand Gen Report and ON24, say they are now placing an even higher emphasis on the trustworthiness of the source of information for the content.“TRUST” is Easy to Spell But Hard to Achieve
For those of us in the B2B content business, this means, using trusted influencers in a content campaign can prove fruitful. But what formats work best when running influencer campaigns? To see more of the data and to find out what works best, read the full article at MarketingCharts.com
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- 02 Apr
Most B2B Buyers Admit to Postponing Purchases. How Should Vendors Respond?
from MarketingCharts.com
It seems that content marketing still has a lot of power in the market. In fact, according to Aberdeen report [download page], content ,in one form or another, kick-starts buyer journeys for about half of B2B buyers. But, still, they found that a substantial number of purchasing decisions don’t go anywhere. A whopping 53% of B2B buyers saying they postpone decisions on at least half of their purchases.What is to Blame for These Stalled Decisions?
Many buyers appear to point the finger at the vendors, reporting that they cancelled or postponed a purchase because they saw no differentiation between solutions. And more than half claiming that no vendor met their needs. And, it also seems that buyers are not overwhelmingly confident that their needs have been clarified when they are involved in making a purchase.
The report suggests a number of remedies that vendors should consider to address this buying confusion. And to learn what they are and to download the original report, read the full article at MarketingCharts.com
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- 26 Mar
How to Convert With Psychology: 4 Design Levers To Pull
by Tyson Quick
Users, visitors, prospects, leads, and customers. What do all these words have in common? Well, simply put, they’re how marketers classify the people who engage with their brand. And yet, as they tend to lump them together in analytics dashboards, it’s easy to forget that they’re just like you and me.Human Needs and Desires Create Demand for Your Business
After all, it is those human needs and desires that your product or service aims to fulfill. But, in order to fulfill these needs and desires, your business needs more than just a good product. In todays digital world you also need a solid grasp of design. And fortunately, when you optimize your website design for conversion, you can leverage psychology everywhere. You can do it with colors and numbers, shapes and taglines, and even the serifs of letters.
And knowing how psychology and design intersect is key to guiding prospects toward conversion. So to learn the four foundational principles that will help you marry psychology with design, as well as some little-known phenomena that can give you an edge in your design and conversion rate optimization efforts, read the full article at HubSpot.com
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- 23 Mar
What Are The Most Effective Email Re-Engagement Campaigns?
from Marketing Charts
Inspite of all the proclomations to the contrary, email remains the go-to marketing channel for many organizations. And that is with good reason. Study after study show that a vast majority of consumers prefer email for brand communications. And current projections indicating that by 2021, there will be more than 4.1 billion email users worldwide.So, clearly, organizations must prioritize email to maintain its effectiveness. But simply becuase we have documented proof that email has worked well, doesnt mean it continues. As example, we know that engagement remains the key to getting email into subscriber inboxes. However, now we need to know exactly what it is that drives this critical factor in email success.
And that is exactly what this latest Return Path report [download page] looks into. Even with a high rate of effectiveness, marketers still must deal with inactive email subscribers. But more than half of respondents said they do not actively try to re-engage inactive subscribers. And of those who do create targeted campaigns for re-engagement, they reveealed that the path to re-engagement worked best with free resource offers.
To see more of the data, additional insights and to download the original report, read the full article at MarketingCharts.com
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- 06 Mar
An Introduction to Persuasive Advertising vs. Informative Advertising
by Clifford Chi
As marketers, we know that if we want to persuade an audience, we need to evoke an emotional response from them. But how do you actually do that? Well, for one, we can use persuasive techniques that emphasise value. Or we can inform and educate them.But What is a Persuasive Ad? And How Do They Differ From Informative Ads?
Well, recently Clifford Chi, over at HubSpot, took a look at this dicotomy of advertising approaches. He examined six persuasive advertising techniques that you can use right now. Plus, he then looked at three informative advertisement examples. And each of those is surprisingly as compelling as the persuasive advertising examples.
So to learn all about Persuasive Advertising vs. Informative Advertsing, read the full article at HubSpot.com
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- 05 Mar
B2B Email: Customers Crave Curated and Customized Content
by
Today, B2B marketers who rely upon email marketing are facing some huge challenges. Long gone are the days of batch and blast. Now, challenged by expectations in the market, we need to personalize email content, making it relevant to the recipient. And that means going way beyond just dropping someone’s name in the subject line and calling it customization. It means giving them what they want.It All Comes Down to Creating Relevant Content
Relevant content that people crave is crucial to your email campaign success. But, many brands still have a hard time generating content at scale to fuel their B2B email marketing initiatives. And if you don’t have the content, or it isn’t something people want, then your campaigns simply don’t yield the results you need.
In this article, Beth Negus Viveiros, Managing Editor at ChiefMarketer Networks, gives some interesting insights into B2B email marketing. She looks at how curated and customized content can impact email success. So, to learn how you can make it work for you , read the full article at Chief Marketer.
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- 02 Mar
Use Customer Journey Mapping to Transform Frustration Into Conversion
For most businesses, it is difficult to see your product from your customers perspective. We all tend to be too obsessed with all the bells-and-whistles of the backend. And we tend to neglect to consider customer experience. As a result, we end up ignoring how the customer views us and our products.
If Only There Were a Magic Mirror . . .
Customer Journey Mapping is fundamentally designed to address that very issue. It is a tool that can give companies the ability to get a customer’s eye view of the user experience. Therefore, building a Customer Journey Map is important. It can help you to know how your business works. And it can help to spot potential weaknesses and allocating resources more effectively. Plus, it will even help to constantly improve and streamline your customer service.
But, building a Customer Journey Map doesn’t need to be a complex process. And it can be simple, and to see just how easy it can really be, read the full article on JeffBullas’s Blog.
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- 28 Feb
How Advertisers Use Different Video Platforms Across The Funnel
from Marketing Charts
Video, as a marketing tool, is here to stay. And that is mainly because it works and works well. As it becomes more prevalent, it is increasingly important to understand where in the sales funnel it’s most impactful.Video Growth is Big. Bigger. Biggest Yet!
According to a study a study from Advertiser Perceptions, roughly half of advertisers are increasing their video budgets. And while this is big and getting bigger, most are begining to place greater emphasis on where the largest audiences are. The study showed that fewer advertisers are using digital/mobile video for upper funnel opportunities. But, this platform dominates both the middle and lower stages of the funnel capturing consumers during their decision-making and conversion stages.
This makes sense as these devices are ones on which it’s easy to convert. To see more of the data, to access the original report and view additional insights, read the full article at MarketingCharts.com
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- 26 Feb
The Optimal Sales Cadence: Frequency and Duration Benchmarks
by Ayaz Nanji
How many times should salespeople contact prospects? And, how long should outreach last? Or, what is the optimal spacing between contact attempts? And, how quickly should sales reps respond to prospects?Great Questions, So What Are The Answers?
To find the answers to these questions, InsideSales.com conducted a study. They examined data from more than 1,456 sales cadences. As part of the study, they examined full-range sales cycles. Additionally, all were start-to-finish direct attempts by salespeople in various verticals. And, with each being designed to engage sales prospects. And what they came up with are some interesting answers to those questions.
Here are key findings from the research at MarketingProfs
NOTE: A pop-up opens on this site and a Free MarkeitngProfs Registration may be required to read the full article.
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- 22 Feb
The Real Secret Behind Growing Brand Trust With Customers
Customer trust is the cornerstone of any successful business. Yet, many businesses simply assume that customers will trust them from the start. And very few put much effort into building confidence and trust in the market.
Customers Tend to be Skeptical About Businesses They Don’t Know
And according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, consumer trust in business has remained stagnant over the past few years. What is stunning is that almost half of buyers report they are generally distrustful towards branded messaging.
Building trust with your audience is even more essential for businesses today. But convincing a new customer to trust your brand enough to share their hard-earned money and sensitive financial information can be tricky. So, to see some of the best strategies and approaches to build meaningful trust with your customers that will lead to higher sales and greater loyalty, read the full article on Jeffbullas’s Blog.
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- 20 Feb
Cognitive Marketing: 5 Psychological Tools to Boost Your Marketing ROI
As marketers, we should understand the decision-making process of our customers. As the economy grows and the choice of products increases exponentially, it’s more important now than ever to know why the customer chose a brand. Was it random? Was it pricing, location, the color of packaging? Or all of those things?
Classical economic theories explain human behavior in a rational, mathematical way. In that theory, it claims that customers choose the product that brings them the most utility. They tend to pick the one that is best for them and the cheapest one among its competitors. As marketers, we know that’s at least not always the case. Otherwise, advertising wouldn’t be as effective as it is. But psychologists know more. They know this is absolutely wrong. They know people are irrational, unreasonable and impulsive. And, most of all, they are horrible at maths, unlike what economists assume.
To learn some cognitive biases people rely on when making a decision, and a peek at which marketing ideas you can apply after discovering these biases, read the full article at Jeffbullas’s Blog.
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