How Will Facebook’s Audience Targeting Update Impact Your Ads?
Welcome to 2022! We figured we’d kick off the new year with a post on a change coming to effect very quickly that will shake the advertising industry!Meta, Facebook’s parent company, announced in November 2021 that they would be removing specific audience targeting options. In this blog, we’ve go over: What Lead to Facebook Updating Their Targeting Options? What is Facebook Changing to Audience Targeting? What Are the Changes Happening to Facebook Audience Targeting? What Can We Do About the Facebook Audience Targeting Change? Final Words What Lead to Facebook Updating Their Targeting Options? Marketers have loved Facebook advertising and what it offers from the get-go. The substantial amount of user data Facebook collects from their users meant countless options of granular audience targeting for advertisers. It meant we could serve highly-personalized ads and anticipate a decent Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). Facebook Ads have always been a vital channel for most brand advertisers. However, this also became a double-edged sword in many ways. Facebook faced criticism for allowing for discrimination in its ads. For example, in 2019, the US Department of Housing & Urban Development claimed the ad platform enabled home sellers and landlords to restrict who could see their ads based on people’s national origin, race, and religion. As a result, Facebook introduced the Special Ads Category, which forbade advertisers from targeting certain people for housing, credit, or job opportunities. That’s why if your product offering falls under these categories, Facebook may reject your ads due to stricter guidelines. Revisions might need to be made to your ad copy, imagery, or targeting. PS. As an agency, we work with our Facebook rep to ensure our clients’ ads follow the guidelines and ads are greenlighted and launched successfully! Meta’s VP of Product Marketing (Ads), Graham Mudd stated in a blog post that this change is a “difficult decision.” But the goal is to: …better match people’s evolving expectations of how advertisers may reach them on our platform and address feedback from civil rights experts, policymakers and other stakeholders on the importance of preventing advertisers from abusing the targeting options we make available. What is Facebook Changing to Audience Targeting? Starting on January 19, 2022, Facebook will be eliminating the ability for brands to run ads targeting people based on the following sensitive parameters: Race & Ethnicity Political Belief (social issues & causes, organizations, and figures, such as political party or candidate) Religion Sexual Orientation Health Conditions etc Examples of removed keywords from targeting might be “chemotherapy,” “Catholic Church,” etc. So, hypothetically, a pharmaceutical company may no longer directly choose to target those who have diabetes. The change means advertisers have to pivot and think of other ways to serve their ads on Facebook (and Instagram) to their target audience. You can imagine the panic that’s broiling for everyone in the advertising industry! What Are the Changes Happening to Facebook Audience Targeting? Editor’s Note: This section will be updated as new information is released So far, here are some things we know from Meta’s announcement. Facebook says if you already have campaigns running targeting the soon-to-be eliminated parameters on January 19th, they will be allowed to be served to your target audience until March 17, 2022. Until then: Advertisers will be able to edit most things at a campaign level (such as campaign name, spending limit, etc.), without impacting the targeting. If you make changes at an ad set level, it might affect your target audience (ad placement, targeting options, etc.). Changes you can still make at an ad set level include flight dates and budget. If you pause your ad set before March 17, 2022, you won’t be able to turn that ad sets back on without it automatically updating to the new targeting options. So your audience targeting settings will be impacted. If you don’t have active ads in that ad set, Facebook will turn the ad set off. At the ad level, you’ll still be able to add new ads or edit existing ads with new copy and creative. After March 17, 2022, it will no longer be possible to edit existing campaigns that are impacted by the audience targeting changes. No edits will be available at the campaign, ad set, or ad level. What Can We Do About the Facebook Audience Targeting Change? With the removal of the option to target sensitive parameters, Meta had suggested brands leverage their other targeting offerings such as: Lookalike audiences Location targeting Engagement Custom Audiences There is no doubt the digital industry is headed towards a cookieless and privacy-centric future. What are some things you can do right now to prepare for it? Build Relationships With Your Consumers Directly Ever since Google announced that they’d be retiring third-party cookies in 2023 a few years ago, here at War Room’s Advertising Institute, we’ve been emphasizing the importance of building first-party data. There has been a distinct shift towards data privacy across the tech industry. Facebook is no different. The updates they’re changing are to address the sensitivity of hyper-targeted ads. First-party data can be collected through lead generation and nurturing. Brands need to provide value for consumers to provide their contact information willingly. May it be a landing page with a downloadable, a newsletter informing them of your latest offers, etc. This way, you create rapport by engaging with your audience, but you also have their data to create Lookalike audiences on Facebook. Think with Google had a PepsiCo case study on 3Xing their ROI by building direct relationships with their customers. In 2022, be sure to review your brand’s digital marketing customer journey and think of other ways you can connect with them. Track All Appropriate Metrics and Data Programmatic ad tech simplifies this integral step in digital advertising. It consolidates all of your ad channels into one ecosystem. Data tells a story. You learn about your audiences’ behavior through the performance of your ads. That’s where you find areas of opportunity to make optimizations. Did you know that UK online clothing retailer ASOS increased conversions by 31% by using first-party data to measure their ad campaigns? With Facebook’s update
War Room: 2021 In Review – Highlights Of The Year
Wow–2021 is coming to an end. Where did the time go? At the end of each year, we like to reflect and share what made us proud as a team. First, we’d like to share an infographic of our year summarized. You can think of it as War Room’s own version of Spotify: Wrapped. We’ll break it down into Milestones and Most-Read Blogs. Here we go! Now, we’ll break it down into Milestones and Most-Read Blogs. Here we go! Milestones Resiliency Amidst the Pandemic & Growing the Team One of the biggest takeaways from the pandemic was learning to roll with the punches by staying calm and focusing on being solution-oriented. Consumer behavior and government mandates have ebbed and flowed since 2020. For our campaigns, it meant we had to apply more agility than ever. As we grow as a business, we want to consistently maintain our high-touch customer service and provide an exceptional experience. That’s why we actively grew our team by 50% amidst the pandemic to support our growing client base! We love that we’ve been able to spend more time with our team now that everyone is double-vaxxed. We are excited to have more face-to-face meetings and enjoy outings like movies and outdoor potlucks. We have also introduced a hybrid working model to give our team members more flexibility in work-life balance. To stay agile as we continue to expand our business, we are actively hiring. To learn more about careers at War Room, see our Careers page here. The people are the number one reason I love working at War Room. The management is great, they promote and sponsor ongoing personal and professional development. Staying on Top of Shifts in the Digital Advertising Industry As a team of digital nerds, we’ve been having fun applying what we know and are good at to what we don’t know yet. This includes building our own solutions or workarounds for all the algorithm updates. Take the announcements of Google’s Privacy Sandbox, Apple’s iOS 14’s privacy policies, for example—the landscape is constantly changing! We are always on the lookout for changes that will affect the digital ad industry and proactively inform our clients, so they know what to expect and be prepared ahead of time. It gives everyone involved peace of mind. Aside from our clients, we want to be a contributing peer in the ad industry, so we create blogs and resources to educate our fellow marketers with tips and action items to stay agile and deliver great ad campaigns all the time. This can all be found at the Advertising Institute. Fostering a Record Amount of Kittens In 2021, British Columbia suffered from heatwaves and forest fires, which meant more cats were in need of help. Throughout the entire year, we fostered a total of 22 kittens! We’ve always been a pet-friendly office, but on top of that, we are a long-standing partner of local animal rescue organizations. We foster kittens in the office, care for and socialize them, so they’re ready to be adopted into their fur-ever homes! Check out more adorable photos of our office animals and learn why War Room is One of the Most Pet-Friendly Offices in Vancouver. Launching In-House Charity Program, Kedet Kares The pandemic has made us cherish the community we have around us more than ever before. That’s why we looked inwards and thought about how we could help give back to those in need. Kedet Kares was the answer: a donation matching program for our team members and clients. They would choose a charitable organization of their choice, make a donation and we would match that to double the impact. So far this year, we’ve donated to the Vancouver Food Bank, Make a Wish Canada, and Qmunity, to name a few. Being Named AdExchanger’s Programmatic Power Player Advertising authority, AdExchanger highlights the leading players in the industry in various award lists. Read more about our accomplishment in the featured blog, “War Room is AdExchanger’s 2021 Programmatic Power Player!” Refreshing the Brand Refresh & Redesigning the Website As part of our growing team, we created a Brand Team that works on marketing for our agency. We’ve updated our brand with new colours, fonts and set brand guidelines in place. Next, we started working on redesigning our website. We took our mascot Kedet into the third dimension for the first time! Check out our website to see how awesome it looks! We also created a sidekick character named Kolbe the Goat. He is Kedet’s best friend and is a wise and chill lad. When it’s work time, they turn data insights into stories to help businesses elevate their advertising! They enjoy frolicking about, meeting new people, and learning about absolutely everything in their free time. They also volunteer in the local community to spread joy, truly embodying the core values of War Room: passion and service. How do you like his look? PS. Kolbe is a Baaa-chelor 😉 Trending Ad Channels in 2021 As an agency that focuses 100% on paid advertising, we pride ourselves on offering our clients access to 90,000+ ad publishers and an extensive list of channels to choose from. This year, we’ve seen these channels gain some popularity: Social Display Ads: many of our clients have been loving this new, exclusively-programmatic ad format. It takes an existing social post of your choice and serves it as an ad across the Display Network. You get to save time and money from skipping the step of creating a new ad creative. Plus, Click-Through Rates for these ads have frequently been outperforming regular display ads. These are great for retargeting or when you want to run a short flighted campaign. Digital Out-Of-Home Ads: 2021 has seen an accelerated shift from traditional to digital ad formats. A digital billboard can serve up different ads at different times (eg. morning rush hour) or change with the weather (eg. rainy day vs sunny). Your messaging can be updated automatically to always fit the setting. These ads are located in high foot traffic
The Anatomy of a Landing Page
When it comes to an ad campaign, whether it be Paid Search or Display Ads, your goal is to get the user to click on the ad and go to your landing page. In a previous blog, we dissected the anatomy of an ad creative. This blog is a direct accompaniment, with a focus on how to build an effective landing page. In case you’re short on time, feel free to jump to a certain section: What is a Landing Page? An Anatomy of a Landing Page Elements You Need on a Landing Page Additional Elements That Would Be Nice On Your Landing Page Landing Page Best Practices Copy Form Call-To-Action (CTA) Additional Resources What is a Landing Page? Let’s say a user came across your ad online and they were enticed enough to click on it. That means your ad creative was effective for them to take action, yay — but now what? The user will then be directed to your Landing Page. A Landing Page is a designated webpage that is created specifically for a digital marketing campaign. Unlike your website or homepage, it’s not supposed to be jam-packed with information. Instead, it is going to have goal: a Call-To-Action (CTA). Whether it be generating more leads or driving more sales, it’s meant to increase conversions. You can build your own, or consider partnering with a web design agency to help you create an effective landing page that aligns with your brand. An Anatomy of a Landing Page In this anatomy of a standard landing page, we break it up into two sections: mandatory must-haves and optional, nice-to-haves. Elements You Need a Landing Page The centerfold of your landing page IS the money shot. This is the first thing they see when they click through and the page loads. What you need are:Headline: Hook the user in with a strong headline and state your value proposition. It should be a short statement that matches the language and offer you had in your ad creative. Supporting Copy: This is usually found right below the Headline. It provides more context, typically highlighting the benefits of your brand’s offering. Hero Image/Video: use an attention-grabbing image that tells a story that aligns with what your ad copy is conveying. Another option is a video placed front and center that summarizes your landing page’s core message. Benefits: The most common layout is to share three main benefits, completed with blurbs and corresponding icons that illustrate each benefit concept. Show off why you’re the absolute best option for them. Lead Form: the ultimate action we want the user to take is fill out your lead form and hit your CTA button. It is usually created in and synced with your Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Call-To-Action (CTA) button: we know the entire landing page acts as a CTA, but an actual CTA button is essential! It’s typically placed right under the lead form and is in an eye-catching color (think color contrast)! Social Proof: feature one or more client testimonials: they can help build trust amongst your audience. You can also create compelling testimonial videos and showcase them in the most important places according to the page’s context. Additional Elements That Would Be Nice On Your Landing Page The rest of the landing page below the centerfold can incorporate these elements to elevate the user experience. It provides them with more context to better understand your brand and offering. Features: if the user is scrolling past the centerfold, that means you’ve successfully captured their intrigue, and they want to learn more about you! This section is where you can discuss more in-depth what you have to offer and SELL, SELL, SELL! Additional CTA: Sprinkle a few more CTA buttons throughout the page so the user can take action when they reach a new section and decide to make the decision. Make it easy for them, so they don’t have to scroll back to the top. Footer: this is a visual indication for the user that they’ve hit the end of the page. It typically showcases your logo, Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions page links, and social media channels. For more details and tips, download our resource, “Blueprint for a High-Converting Landing Page!” Landing Page Best Practices Ensure the landing page for ads has content that is consistent with your ad’s offering, language, and theme. Utilize concise bullet points so people can quickly scan your content. 80% of users spend their time above the page fold so make sure you convey important points above the fold. Reduce the number of links on your landing page to avoid users clicking away. If there is a lot of detailed information on the page, consider adding redirect link click buttons to allow users to jump over to the section they are interested in. Choose visuals that reinforce your message, such as icons or product photos. To enhance scroll depth, try placing a feature video or essential information in the middle of the page. Create an Accelerated Mobile Page (AMP) version of your Landing Page. Consider A/B testing for headlines, imagery, CTA, etc, but test one change at a time to accurately observe what should be optimized. Before you launch your landing page, run an on-page SEO test to ensure it’s performing well and make optimizations accordingly. Copy Your landing page can look sleek and represent your brand in the most visually appealing way. But you need compelling copy to complete this beautiful picture you’re building for your audience! Here are essential factors to take into consideration when writing landing page content: 1. Before you start crafting your ad copy, ensure you have a fully fleshed-out target persona. You know their struggles and needs inside out, and you cannot wait to share your offer. You will know who you’re talking to directly, and they will be more receptive because it’s highly relevant to them! 2. On the centerfold of your landing page, you should address these items at first glance: Who you are What your
Best Digital Marketing Agencies in Vancouver
Digital marketing encompasses paid advertising, design, content marketing, social media, PR, SEO…and so much more. Because of this, many brands need supplementary support for specific marketing needs, and that’s where digital marketing agencies come in—to fill the gap and elevate your marketing efforts. In 2021, we had the honor of being named one of Vancouver’s Best Creative Agencies. We would like to showcase some of the peers, and in our opinion, the best digital marketing agencies in Vancouver. We’ll highlight their service offerings, specializations, a little more about them, and why we think they’re great! Here is the list in no particular order: War Room Major Tom Forge & Spark Thrive Digital Jelly Marketing Blue/Meta Pound & Grain Massive Media Soulpepper War Room Services Offered PPC (Paid, Search, Display, Native…) Advertising Video Ads Social Ads Audio Ads Digital Out-Of-Home (DOOH) Ads Online Travel Agencies (OTA) Ads Hotel / Metasearch Ads and more Specialization Programmatic advertising Hyper-targeting Cross-channel Physical visitation tracking In-depth analytics (You bet we’re gonna put ourselves on this list because we are proud of the work we do!) War Room had to find a way to stand out from all the full-service digital marketing agencies in Vancouver. So, we chose to focus solely on digital advertising, specializing 100% in programmatic advertising. We’ve been rocking media buying for over a decade now. AdExchanger recently named us one of the best Programmatic Power Players! Did You Know? In 2021, more than 89% of the entire display advertising dollars in the United States are programmatic, and that number is only about to go up. Our in-house programmatic platform, Kedet (which our experts built from scratch), automates ad buying. It has capabilities for ad campaigns for all types of objectives, whether it be lead generation, brand awareness, or physical store visits–we got you covered. Cross-channel advertising We will connect all of your ad channels and sync their data. For example, Facebook Ads can now have transparency with your Google Ads and Youtube Ads. These channels now speak to each other, and we can exclude audiences who have already converted from one channel, in turn saving you ad dollars. Then, we can even run retargeting campaigns later down the road. (Not many agencies can do this, so we dare you to ask us about our specialty!) Hyper-targeting Advertising is all about getting in front of the right people at the right place and time. Demographics like age, location, gender are straightforward, but complex insights like shopping behavior; interests etc. can be laser-focused, thanks to Kedet! Plus, Klick&Mortar is another neat add-on feature of ours. Businesses with physical storefronts can actually track ad performance the moment a user sees their online ad to when they visit your store in person. Our approach is customizing a holistic advertising strategy based on your goals and budget. We perfected the balance between ad tech and human expertise. Our team is made up of digital nerds who specialize in different advertising channels. They will be the ones proactively monitoring and optimizing the campaigns to ensure every dollar you’re spending is used to the fullest potential. Our direct partnerships with 90,000+ premium ad publishers means when it comes to digital ad buying, you can expect: Lower Cost-Per-Click (CPC) A wider audience reach Overall, a lower Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA) We do advertising and nothing else. We do advertising exceptionally well. So, if you’re looking for a trustworthy agency to take care of your digital advertising and drive better Return On Investment (ROI), connect with us at War Room today! Major Tom Services Offered Brand & Digital Strategy Content Marketing eCommerce marketing Digital advertising Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Social Media UX & Web Design Web Development Specialization Full-Service Marketing Named after an iconic Davie Bowie persona, Major Tom is probably the most prominent digital agency in Vancouver. They are a full-service marketing agency covering almost anything you can think of, spanning from branding, strategy to creatives. Their clients love them for their full-service team’s coverage and the ability to help many brands launch websites, creatives, and ads campaigns seamlessly. What’s neat is that they have offices in New York, San Francisco, and Toronto. Forge & Spark Services Offered Brand Strategy Content Marketing Digital Marketing Campaigns Specialization Strategic Story-Telling Content Creation (blogs, social, etc.) What we love about this women-led agency is its specialization in content marketing. Their team is made up of creative content professionals who are passionate about story-telling. They believe in purpose-driven content, which will help brands achieve impact digitally and connect with audiences. If you’re thinking of revolutionizing your brand’s messaging or need help with producing high-quality content, the team at Forge & Spark will be your biggest ally. Thrive Digital Services Offered Online Advertising Strategy Analytics Design Specialization Full-Service Marketing eCommerce User Acquisition Thrive Digital is one of the most famous digital marketing agencies in Vancouver. One of their biggest clients is Uber! They manage all aspects of online advertising, from planning and building to execution. Even Neil Patel, the SEO guru praises their performance marketing team! For biggest agencies like this, be sure to inquire if they have a minimum monthly spend and the ongoing service fee to ensure it’s a great match. Jelly Digital Marketing & PR Services Offered Public Relations Social Media Marketing Media Buying Videos & Podcasts Production Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialization PR Social Media Online Advertising The holy trifecta that makes up the heart of Jelly Marketing’s business are social media, digital advertising, and public relations. They have worked out a formula for balancing these three aspects of marketing and synergizing them! They take care of press releases, media events, and your social media strategy. Their digital marketing team then tracks how effective your campaigns are with your target audience. If you’re looking for a digital partner to help build a successful strategy with PR and social, Jelly would be worth checking out! Blue/Meta Services Offered Business Strategy UX design Sales & Marketing Ideation & Development PPC Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialization Strategy Creative Branding Digital Ads Data
8 Digital Marketing Tips to Drive Holiday Sales in 2021
Wow, did 2021 fly by or what! The holiday season is coming–that means Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Boxing Day etc. are all lined up for the end of this year, and consumers are ready to shop. A survey conducted recently showed that 55% of consumers plan to shop for the holidays BEFORE Thanksgiving! So by now, you should be building out your holiday digital advertising strategy to reach them in time. Some of our previous blogs covered practical tips on creating promotions and enhancing shopper experiences: Holiday Marketing Tips for 2020 Post-Pandemic Digital Marketing Tips for Success In this blog, we will focus on ways to spruce up your holiday advertising! We’ll share the same data insights into consumer behavior and eight tips to capture your audiences’ hearts and drive more sales. Read on! Digital Tips & Insights to Drive Holiday Sales in 2021 Jungle Scout presented an in-depth look at holiday shopper trends. They identified, in order, where early holiday shoppers will look for products online: Amazon Google, Bing and other search engines (Learn more: Microsoft Bing Ads vs. Google Ads) Walmart Facebook Youtube Instagram Brand websites TikTok Other social channel Some other takeaways are: 1 in 4 people are planning to spend more on Christmas this year (compared to 2020) 60% of people say they would consider purchasing a product that is recommended to them by brand or influencer content (on TikTok, Youtube, or Instagram) Ensure Your Website is Optimized for Mobile The purpose of a website is to educate our audience about a company’s brand and its products and services and drive sales. It’s your company’s best, around-the-clock salesperson! Why should you optimize your website for mobile? Well, take a look at these astonishing statistics about mobile eCommerce from TechJury: By the end of 2021, mobile eCommerce sales will hit $3.56 trillion 67% of all eCommerce is done through mobile By the end of 2021, 73% of all eCommerce will be mobile! 79% of smartphone users have made a purchase on their mobile device Mobile optimization is a no-brainer for eCommerce or B2C companies. But the same principle still applies to any company trying to increase brand awareness or generate more leads. Your website is sometimes the first destination after someone clicks on your ad, and first impressions are everything! To drive more online sales, mobile optimization has to be part of your website strategy! Note that some elements on a page may require different dimensions for tablet and mobile. Be sure to create a seamless user experience, no matter how the user is accessing your site. Create a Specific Promotion and Stick with It! Whether it’s Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or closer to the actual holidays, you’re offering some great deals, right? Think about a promotion that offers great value and keep it simple. You could then promote it through multiple channels to maximize Click-Through Rate and conversions. A multi-pronged digital approach is best. If you run seasonal promotions, reflect across all your ad channels. It can amplify your efforts when done right. Imagine a user hearing your audio ad on Spotify that talks about your promo code, “BLACK FRIYAY” and then, later on, sees your retargeting Display Ads that further promote your ads. Having more touchpoints across different media will keep your brand top of mind. Build a Dedicated Holiday Landing Page Whether it’s for Black Friday or Boxing Day, you might have specific products you want to promote. Why not build a dedicated landing page for it? Take some time to build out content that highlights the benefits and encourages users to convert. If you already have a specific page for your featured items, make that your landing page instead of your homepage! Users won’t need to sift through a lot of content or get distracted. Here are some tips for your landing page: Create a sense of urgency by emphasizing the time-sensitivity of your offer. Ensure your CTA buttons are mobile-optimized so users can interact with them even on a smaller screen. When designing any banners, be mindful of your text size as it should still be readable when switching from desktop to mobile (and vice versa). Minimize the touchpoints from product pages to checking out. The easier, the better. Be sure to showcase your seasonal promotion and have it visible throughout your website. For a detailed breakdown of how you can increase conversions, download our Blueprint to Building a High-Converting Landing Page. Drive Website Traffic with Existing Assets from Social Media A great Instagram hack to drive more traffic is to repurpose a post on Instagram that performed well last holiday season. Now, thanks to programmatic ad tech, you can serve it as a display ad across the entire display network! This means people who don’t follow you on Instagram or haven’t even heard of you can see your awesome post if you choose to target them. This is called Social Display Ads. It saves you time and money because you don’t need to design any new visuals. You’ll get more time to focus on the rest of your holiday marketing efforts, all while knowing you’re showcasing your brand through proven, successful visuals. Not to mention, the Click-Through Rate of Social Display Ads consistently outperforms regular display ads. It’s an excellent option for retargeting. Feel free to learn more about this option in our blog on Social Display Ads. Or, if you’re interested, contact us today to learn more! Have Fun with Your Email Marketing Campaign Get creative! Aside from your holiday promotion being a center star, throw in extra, enjoyable content to spread the holiday cheer. This could be a holiday-themed blog, a carousel of images, or you can get creative and share a seasonal recipe. Take this opportunity to get even more personable than any other time of the year. As an example, we really like what Flippingbook did: they created an interactive flip book that includes their team’s favorite recipes, playlists and to-dos for the Christmas season. Boost In-App Purchases with Pinterest Pinterest is a social media
The Anatomy of Ad Creative
An ad creative is delivered on a webpage, social media, app, or another platform to a targeted audience. These are typically known as display ads, which are used to drive business objectives, such as increasing website traffic or sales. In this blog, we will take a look at the anatomy of an ad and share tips so you can bring your A-game to the ad game. Here are the categories we will breakdown: Size Visual Color Ad Copy Call-To-Action What is an Ad Creative? Ad Creative is defined as the design and content of an advertisement. You don’t need to be a designer or novelist to create an effective ad. Use these best practices below to keep your ad creatives on the right track! Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)’s Advertising Creative Guidelines recommend that “ads should be distinguishable from native web content”. It has to be seen as a banner with visuals and text that promote your brand, product, or service. The viewer would know at first sight that if they are enticed and click on your ad, they would be directed away from their current page. Creating ads is about finding a balance between being attention-grabbing, but not obnoxious, offensive, or god-forbid — forgettable! Here is a breakdown of a well-balanced ad: As you can see in the graph, the vital components of an effective ad are: Image of your product or service Ad copy: tagline & value proposition Logo design and/or brand name Call-To-Action Ad creative size Before we dive into ad visuals and design, we need to understand why there are so many ad shapes and sizes. The main reasons are due to: Countless amount of ad networks available Various types of devices (desktop, mobile, tablet etc) Audience reach is an important factor in advertising. This is why as marketers, we need to create ads in a variety of sizes. it guarantees more flexible ad placement across the internet and serves a seamless viewing experience! Create a variety of ad formats. According to Google, the top-performing ad sizes are: 300×250 728×90 160×600 These are the top 3 ad formats according to Google that get the most ad impressions. Ad creative visuals Let’s be honest: human beings are visual creatures. “A picture is worth a thousand words” rings especially true when it comes to your ad imagery.Pictures help people visualize the offered product or service. Whether you’re using popular free stock images or getting a photoshoot done for your ad, here are some pointers: Showcase your product, service, brand, and/or environment clearly Match your image to your ad copy AND landing page — they should all share the same look and feel while conveying your message Avoid gloomy imagery – we encourage using a brighter tone If people are featured in your ad imagery, try to feature models that match the demographic you are targeting If the focus is the view, we recommend using tiny to middle-sized figures to allow the focal point to be the atmosphere If the focus is the activity, use middle to large-sized figures to demonstrate the experience People are naturally attracted to images inside boxes. If you have an ad with a white background, consider outlining your ads with a 1px (minimum) line to frame it If you have a promotion, highlight it in the image with text and keep it concise. Eg. 20% off, 2 days only! Keep the text light in the image. Try to keep it under 20% of the space on the visual To avoid ad fatigue, freshen up your campaigns with new imagery to keep them fresh! Ad creative colors Color has a powerful effect on human emotion and a viewer’s perception of a brand. When color is correctly and consistently, it can create a positive impact and make a lasting impression. You can use color to: Grab people’s attention Define brand identity Associate your product or service with a specific emotion or feeling Imagine a bank with a bright yellow logo or a feminine hygiene ad that had a brown-colored background. It feels a little “off” as it doesn’t align with our expectations for specific products or brands. Why is this? Aside from social conditioning, a lot of these color-based expectations are rooted in our biological programming! For example, red is often used by food chains or brands because bright red is like fresh meat or fruit that’s ripe and ready for us to eat. Here are the popular colors, what sense they’re typically associated with, and common uses: Red Energetic and passionate Common uses: food products or brands, clearance sales Blue Authoritative and trustworthy Common uses: businesses and financial institutions like banks Yellow Optimistic and youthful Common uses: window shopping signs Green Calm and mature Common uses: eco-friendly brands, wellness spas, and products Orange Bold and assertive Common uses: Call-To-Actions like Buy or Subscribe Purple Sensual and mysterious Common uses: luxury products, sexual wellness products Pink Romantic and often associated with femininity Common uses: pastries, branding for feminine products or services like beauty, hygiene, etc Black Sleek and luxurious Common uses: high-end, luxury items such as cars, watches; used as a contrasting background to make the focal point stand out A survey was conducted, and results show the general public’s favorite and least liked colors: Favorite colors: Blue Green Purple Red The least liked colors: Blue Green Purple Red (Don’t let this sway you–it’s just nice to know!) This is a Color Wheel and how colors relate to one another. We recommend using a color contrast. Why? It’s visually more interesting. It can get viewers to focus their attention on specific elements of your ad. This could be a particular keyword, icon, or Call-To-Action button. Complementary and Split Complementary uses colors that are found across from each other on the color wheel. Here is an example of how color contrast can work well visually: The bright-colored “25% off” really pops because it’s a warmer color sitting on top of a muted background. Ad creative copy Just like
Marketing Tips For Singles’ Day
Shop til you drop? Now, it’s more like: online shop ’til ya’ keyboard flop! Our article, “How Amazon is Dominating eCommerce,” mentioned that Amazon pushed Prime Day to October 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In November, there are typically huge sales, both in-store and online. Yes, Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are always when people like to shop till they drop. However, a new emerging “day” has come, and it’s a force to be reckoned with! Say hello to Singles’ Day, November 11th. This day originated from China; the main goal is to bring attention to and celebrate those whose relationship status is single, which has now evolved into an epic sales event. In this blog, we will explain how Singles’ Day is single-handedly dominating global online sales. In this article, we will cover the following topics: How Did Singles’ Day Come About? The Power of Singles’ Day Marketing Tips For Singles’ Day TL;DR – What Have We Learned How Did Singles’ Day Come About? The “day” itself is said to originate back from the early ’90s in China. College guys supposedly started this unofficial day to celebrate their singlehood and have a day that’s “anti-Valentine’s.” This date’s numerical visuals: 11/11 looks like lonely matchsticks standing by themselves, which is why this day was chosen. It wasn’t until 2009, when Chinese eCommerce giant Alibaba brought it to the limelight. They took the concept and structured an online event around it. Think of it like Amazon Prime Day but not exclusive to just Alibaba’s online sales. It’s a socially-constructed, 24-hour, epic sales event that many Chinese businesses have rallied behind and fully-embraced. This trend has now been brought all across the world! The Power of Singles’ Day Here are some compelling statistics to get you thinking about maybe you want to plan a campaign for the upcoming Singles’ Day!When Alibaba debuted the event of this sale back in 2009, 27 vendors participated. Fast forward to 2017; there were 60,000. In 2019, 200,000+ brands participated! Singles’ Day is now the biggest shopping event in the world. They grossed approximately $30 billion in sales, which completely blows Black Friday sales out of the water. Take a look at Business Insider’s graph from 2018: Take a look at the Year Over Year revenue growth rate: 2009: $7 million 2010: $135 million +1700% 2012: $3.04 billion +267% 2013: $5.75 billion +83% 2014: $9.3 billion +63% 2015: $14.3 billion +60% 2016: $17.7 billion +32% 2017: $25.3 billion +39% 2018: $30.7 billion +27% 2019: $37 billion The numbers have skyrocketed and had significant growth, year over year. We are curious to see what will happen in 2020 because COVID-19 has exacerbated online shopping behaviour amongst different age groups. 1 in 4 US retail brands plan to get involved with the sales event, such as Apple and Estee Lauder. It has become such a hyped-up event that they hosted a countdown gala with a Taylor Swift concert in 2019. Kim Kardashian also launched her fragrance on the platform through a live stream for the event. With this much star power and participation from big brands, it’s hard not to be tempted to participate! Update Oct 2021: In 2020, despite the pandemic, the total value of orders across Alibaba’s shopping platforms was $74.1 billion, which is about double what it was 2019. Wow–with this event growing by the year, brands should definitely be paying attention and consider testing out a campaign for themselves! Marketing Tips For Singles’ Day Are you interested in planning for a marketing campaign on Singles’ Day? We have a few useful tips for you to consider: #1: Create Authentically Chinese Campaigns You need to have relevant ad creatives to capture the Chinese audience’s heart and attention. This means ad copy in the Chinese language. You can team up with a Chinese translation contractor to come up with the creative copy and work with an advertising agency, like War Room, that is familiar with digital advertising on Chinese platforms, such as Duoyin (Chinese version of TikTok), WeChat, Weibo, and more.Besides just having Chinese campaigns, consider creating a Chinese version of your website or a dedicated landing page. This will create a sense of familiarity and automatically build some rapport. Speaking directly and natively allows you to expand your brand’s horizon to a new audience. #2: Advertise On Chinese Platforms Building off our previous point, it’s crucial to get into the mindset of Chinese marketing. The big three advertising platforms: Google, Amazon, Facebook are non-existent in the Chinese market. Google and Facebook (and Instagram) are censored in China, and Amazon does not have as prominent of a market share. The Google equivalent in China is the search engine, Baidu. In 2018, Baidu’s market share was almost 80%. Can you even imagine that audience reach? That’s why it would be beneficial for any business to work on some Chinese SEO to rank on there. Make yourself accessible to the Chinese audience! Compared to North America, Amazon doesn’t dominate the eCommerce market as much in China. The primary online marketplaces are Alibaba’s main product sites: Taobao and Tmall. For international shoppers, they access the sales and products from Aliexpress. All these platforms are like a combination of Amazon and eBay, and they also ship worldwide. Explore chinese advertising services #3: Not Advertising in China? That’s Okay, Celebrate In Spirit! Alright, you don’t necessarily have to sell directly on AliExpress to participate fully! You can be there in spirit. Many brands hold sales on their own site to echo Singles’ Day. Here are some examples of brands and their Singles’ Day marketing campaigns: Some brands decided to go cheeky, some did puns and have discounts offered at 11%. We always love creative advertising examples! We highly recommend marking down 11/11 into your brand’s content marketing calendar and make a sales offer. Use your usual marketing strategies, such as promoting on social channels, one-off email campaigns, or video advertising. #4: Get Creative & Fit The Theme Aren’t the campaign examples above quite darling? It’s all about celebrating singlehood. Instead of wallowing in
War Room is AdExchanger’s 2021 Programmatic Power Player!
AdExchanger is a digital marketing authority, and they put together a searchable, elite list of the best programmatic ad tech providers, agencies, and partners. To select the top Programmatic Power Players, AdExchanger’s team had to evaluate hundreds of submissions worldwide. They examined each company’s programmatic service offerings, capabilities, and strengths looked into case studies and checked client references. Here at War Room, we’re a digital advertising agency that specializes in programmatic. We are both happy and proud to announce that we are named one of AdExchanger’s 2021 Programmatic Power Players! The digital landscape is ever-changing, and it’s even more after COVID-19! Consumer behavior has shifted, and agencies need to be nimble. War Room’s client roster grew despite the pandemic, and we also expanded our team by 50% between 2020 and 2021! A highlight of how we adapted is utilizing our proprietary technology, Klick&Mortar to target new audience segments. Klick&Mortar uses device tracking and can attribute ad dollars to physical store visits. Our clients who have physical locations love it because they can start tracking the customer journey the moment a person sees their ad online to when they show up to the location in person. We can now offer audience segments such as Year Over Year retargeting to lapsed visitors (pre-COVID store visitors). We provide our clients with strategic recommendations on re-emerging audiences: targeting and segmenting ad messaging based on different demographics and their propensity to re-emerge from the pandemic, such as still strictly isolating, cautiously re-emerging, and those who are already re-emerged. Our team also built some new APIs from scratch in the past year, including a Social Sentiment Analysis Tool for analyzing user emotions on social platforms through machine learning. We also built lead collection APIs that sync with our clients’ CRM of choice. Another item we are incredibly proud of is the development of an in-house charity program called Kedet Kares (named after our mascot, Kedet). The pandemic gave us a lot of time to reflect on what was important to us, and a big part of it was the local community. Now, any employee or client of War Room could submit a donation receipt to their non-profit organization of choice, and we will match their donation amount! War Room is incredibly proud of the growth, innovations, and achievements we’ve made during this pandemic! You can also learn more about our award-winning programmatic ad services! Let’s Work Together Say hello to customized advertising strategies that convert.Get in touch with our programmatic experts today! Contact Us