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Monthly Archives: October 2011
In Digital Advertising, “Only the Smart Will Survive…”
In the most recent installment of the “All Marketers are Geniuses” series, Magnetic founder, Josh Shatkin-Margolis, sits down with the VP of Media Technology and Analytics at Fuor Digital, Josh Dreller, to further analyze and understand the current trends that taking place in the SEM sphere and digital media industry.
In this latest segment, titled “All Marketers are Geniuses: ‘Smart is In,’” both Josh and Josh address the importance of media measurement and the various ways marketers are reaching consumers through multi-channel platforms in the digital space.
As a self-described media technologist, Dreller touches on the relationship between analytics and search. According to Dreller, search and data go hand in hand. As he puts it, quite simply, “sure, anyone can load a Google AdWords campaign and bid on some keywords, but they’re not going to be successful unless they have the ability to evaluate the performance and optimize accordingly. Frankly, without the data, you’re just going to waste your money.”
The article goes on to discuss the influence of web analytics on creativity, and Dreller concludes that although data may create roadblocks for some graphic artists, it also has the ability to positively challenge these designers. As Dreller notes, “deep creativity within boundaries might actually be a much more advanced form of creativity than purely free form art – especially if you can generate the sales that a struggling business needs with thousands of jobs on the line.” Ultimately, Dreller recognizes that in order to achieve the best results, a balance must exist between data and creativity where “the decision maker takes into account what the data is telling them as well as what they think will influence their audience to take position action for their business.”
Towards the end of the article, Dreller encourages advertisers to think more holistically in terms of the way they evaluate the performance of SEM. Rather than narrowing in on the success of individual keywords, Dreller argues that consumers are continuously engaging with keywords throughout the buying process, and therefore advertisers must be aware of the entire keyword landscape.
While the article goes on to discuss topics such as hyper-targeting and the future of measurement, one of Dreller’s most memorable conclusions is his suggestion that that all marketers are true geniuses because they ultimately have no choice. As Dreller contends, “all sizzle and no steak is out”— only the smart will survive.
Looking For The Open Spaces In The LUMAscape
If you haven’t seen one, the LUMAscape is a PowerPoint slide gone into hyperspeed and designed to illustrate the complex landscape of digital marketing. Mastered by Terence Kawajafrom the LUMA Partners, the LUMAscapes have been designed for different areas of digital marketing such as display, search, mobile, social, video, commerce and gaming.
They seemingly cannot fit another company name on them without opting for agate type. It is inevitable that someone will close a presentation with a LUMAscape, leaving the audience to draw the stated or inferred conclusion that the digital marketing business is too crowded to avoid serious consolidation.
Let me cut to the chase—I love LUMAscapes. I love what they represent to me, which is the exact opposite of the oft-alluded-to consolidation. To me, a crowded slide with hundreds of companies all filling some kind of possibility in digital marketing is about as cool as the Sistine Chapel. It is a representation of how much room there actually is for innovation and value in the digital marketing business.
That’s not to say there won’t be some companies in this business that have a hard time finding their value proposition right now. It’s not to say that there won’t be some consolidation, especially if the economy stays flat. I would also argue, however, that not only is there room in the LUMAscape for more companies, there will be more companies expanding and starting up in the digital marketing space.
And the trends we’ve seen since the first LUMAscape was introduced in 2010 proves this with more and more logos being added to each revision and more areas are being mapped out.
I like the idea of talking about the LUMAscape from a different angle. Rather than talk about a consolidation of companies, it’s better to look at it from the angle of consolidation of tactics, especially when it comes to buying display media. For example, if Google acquired all 300 companies on the display slide, it wouldn’t change anything as there would still be 300 different ways to buy display media from different divisions of Google.
There has already been a consolidation of tactics in search as all SEM interfaces have campaigns, ad groups, keywords and text ads with 135 character ad units. What if other parts of the business adopted that simplified approach? What would be the universal way that people choose to target audiences? By job title? By income level? By who they are linked to on a social network? Or by the search term?
Obviously (and I admit my bias), I would argue that it is the search term that will become the De facto targeting method for display. However, my point is that we should look at the LUMAscape as a means for enacting a simplification of tactics over the proposed consolidation of companies.
So when you see one of those LUMAscapes over the next few weeks, I encourage you to look at the open spaces. Be impressed with the amount of companies that have taken digital marketing so far, so fast. Think more about the consolidation of tactics and what a universal approach would look like when it comes to audience buying and data driven advertising.
Originally published by Adotas on October 24th, 2011
Search Retargeting Success for Retailers
Search retargeting leader Magnetic has released insights across retail clients. The campaign examples, which included a major department store, an established online retailer, and a large gift retailer, highlighted performance metrics that far exceeded campaign goals for each advertiser.
With the most crucial season for e-commerce revenue upon us, brand marketers are pressed to formulate effective retail campaign strategies.
According to Alan Osetek, President, Resolution Media, an Omnicom Media Group Company, “With search retargeting, you can run a campaign that drives both awareness and direct response. The ability to bridge the silos between the ideology behind display and search really helps brands, specifically those in retail or e-commerce, drive consumers through the funnel, increasing that ROI and return on ad spend.”
At October’s Search Marketing Expo East, Osetek went on to express the advantages of search retargeting, in that it can be used as a strategy for customer retention, customer prospecting, and upselling purposes.
Josh Shatkin Margolis, founder of Magnetic, adds that “retailers that leverage search retargeting in Q4 will gain a competitive advantage by harnessing that data to drive awareness for holiday sales and ultimately conversions both online and in-store.”
Click here to read more >>
Bike Ride Through Mantauk
Here’s one of my favorites pictures from a bike ride in Montauk:
Advertising Week 2011: The Importance of Data and Storytelling
As the eighth annual Advertising Week comes to a close, a few themes remain clear: despite the recent economic downturn, advertising dollars are flowing, media innovation is expanding, and new marketing techniques are governing the future of the industry.
In a recent Wall Street Journal article titled “Data and Storytelling Come Together at Advertising Week,” blogger Ty McMahan recaps one Ad Week session titled “Masters of Monetization.”
Interestingly, the panel itself, comprised of digital power players from companies like AT&T, Facebook and Groupon, addressed very little of actual dollars and quite a bit about the concepts of data and storytelling. In particular, the panelists argued that as multi-billion-dollar digital advertising businesses emerge almost overnight, the only way to continue such growth and remain relevant to consumers is to merge audience data with creative content.
According to these masters of monetization, an incredible amount of audience information exists that could be used effectively in terms of marketing initiatives. As McMahan writes, “the wealth of data available and the speed at which it can be analyzed and meaningfully applied is changing the advertising industry. Yet, companies who provide that type of technology face a big challenge in educating the industry on how to put that data to work to better their business.” Thus, according to the panelists, in order to create effective campaigns, advertisers must leverage this data to learn about their audiences and ultimately drive performance.
Interestingly, however, the panel contended that technology is only half the battle. As McMahan points out, “if data will lead consumers to water…creative will make them drink.” Hence, storytelling in ad campaigns is equally as important as targeting audiences. In order for messages to be perceived and processed, creative content must be interesting and engaging.
Check out the complete article here >>
Search Enters its Teenage Years
Happy Birthday, Google! The search engine celebrated its 13th birthday last week, marking a year of growth spurts and growing pains. Search Engine Watch rounds up the top 12 Google stories from the past year, including the launch of Google +, antitrust scrutiny, and Android innovations.
As Google enters its teenage years, there’s one story is of top interest; how they make their billions. Last year, 97% of Google’s $32.2 billion in revenue was made through advertising, according to WordStream.
Without question, their search platform has shaped the digital industry and is now carving a space for search retargeting within online advertising. Search retargeting represents the evolution of search through its ability to leverage the power of search data beyond the search engine. Cheers to the future of search and search retargeting.