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by Megan Maginnis

Magnetic Launches Search Retargeting Report

As the future of digital advertising continues to develop, Magnetic today released a report titled “The Future is Now,” a market analysis that explores the changes taking place in the digital industry by specifically looking at the growth of display advertising and search.

The report, which includes insights from top digital experts and industry leaders, is the first research initiative dedicated entirely to analyzing the power of search retargeting.  In particular, it argues that the future of digital advertising ultimately lies within the combination of search data and display advertisements.  As Magnetic’s CEO, James Green, suggests “There is no more compelling time to put a display or text ad in front of someone than after they search for a specific product…the report reinforces this belief and highlights the promise of search retargeting as the vehicle for placing your brand in front of the customer at the right point in the purchase decision cycle.” The report also highlights that although search spending is expected to double by 2016, display advertising will nearly triple (reaching an estimated $27 Billion).

In addition to discussing the growth patterns of display and search, the report also covers topics such as :

  • Effect of customer demand on digital technology
  • The concept of bringing SEM beyond the search engine
  • Future opportunities and best practices for search retargeting

To read more about how display is expected to drive innovation in search and search retargeting, download the report now>>

by Megan Maginnis

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.

Read the full story here>>

by adgenie

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.

by adgenie

Magnetic Joins OMMA Global in NYC

At OMMA Global NYC, Magnetic joined the panel, Is the Future of Search about Personalization?. The discussion was centered around how search is evolving — this includes areas of search retargeting, social search, new algorithms and behavioral data. While the panel of experts generally agreed that search represents the highest form of intent, there was disagreement about where search is headed.

Josh Shatkin-Margolis, founder of Magnetic, the leader in search retargeting, lead the discussion insisting that search is an important channel, but the real future of media lies how search data will be used across display channels. Josh went on to explain that through search retargeting, there’s a real opportunity to leverage the power of search beyond the search engine and apply it to display channels, where a majority of users spend their time.

Other experts engaged in the debate including moderator Jason Lehmbeck of DataPop and panelists Viji Davis of Resolution Media, Julie MacGill from Google and Adam Whippy of 360i.

For more information about the relationship between search and display channels, read Search Engine Land’s story on “Why Display is Changing the Value of Search.”

by Megan Maginnis

Co-Founder of Questus Calls for a New Focus in Advertising

In the latest installment of the “All Marketers are Geniuses” series, Magnetic founder, Josh Shatkin-Margolis, attempts to further understand the challenges and changes that are currently taking place in the digital marketing industry.

In his most recent segment, titled “All Marketers are Geniuses: ‘Cut the B.S.,’” Josh sits down with Jeff Rosenblum, co-founder of Questus, an advertising agency with a reputation for crafting some of the most innovative campaigns in the industry for top brands, including General Mills, Capital One, and Suzuki Motorcycles.

In the article, Rosenblum touches on his upcoming documentary, which highlights the ever-evolving marketing landscape and argues that that corporations and advertisers can no longer fool consumers. As Rosenblum puts it, “agencies need to create experiential platforms that enable brands to create a two-way dialogue with customers. Traditional advertising still plays a role in these platforms – advertising is not dead – but we need to think of it entirely differently and put our focus into every single place that a brand touches a customer.”

The advertising industry has changed dramatically over the past decade, and therefore, the article suggests that brands need to similarly transform the way they reach consumers. As Rosenblum argues, “advertisers need to realize that they have a very limited ability to change consumers’ perceptions through messaging alone. Time and attention should be spent on aspects of the customer relationship where we can make a difference.”

The article goes on to discuss new technology platforms in the display industry that are helping to creatively target consumers, such as Meteor Solutions, Meebo, and C3 Metrics. As Rosenblum mentions, however, “the problem is that most brands don’t use these tools. Brands that are lazy and want to simply serve up traditional ad units because they are easy to create and traffic will fail.” Ultimately, in order to succeed in the current marketplace, advertising agencies and corporations need to redefine their approach and use nonconventional methods to target consumers. Only through the use of such tactics, Rosenblum argues, can marketers be considered true geniuses.

Check out the full story here>>

by adgenie

U.S. Ad Spending Rises, Online Fuels Advertising Growth

This week, Kantar Media released a study showing that global advertising industry has rebounded more quickly than expected, with a 3.2% rise in total advertising expenditures in the first six months of 2011.

According to emarketer, online advertising will prove to be a key driver of total media spend, accounting for 16.1% of total media spending in 2011 and nearly 22% by 2015.

 

 

It’s important to note that both search and display continue to be crucial elements in online ad budgets — display spending rose 13% and search nearly 9%.

It seems things are really looking up, especially for the digital display ad market. Recently, Search Engine Land columnist, Josh Dreller covered why display may out pace search – he called out that the fact is that paid search is a pull medium, it requires users to search on an engine to trigger an ad, while display is a push medium which simply requires page views to deliver [normally multiple] ads to the user. At the end of the day, Dreller cites that the page views online are growing exponentially faster than searches on search engines.

Kantars report went on to highlight the big spenders in the first half of 2011 – to learn more and see the top 10 list, click here.