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Brand messaging is the art and strategy of communicating your company’s core values, unique selling propositions, and personality to your target audience. It’s the language, tone, and key ideas that consistently represent your brand across all platforms and touchpoints.
Effective brand messaging goes beyond just a tagline or slogan. It encompasses your brand story, your mission statement, your elevator pitch, and the key messages that you want to convey about your brand. When done right, it creates a cohesive narrative that customers can easily understand and connect with, fostering brand recognition, trust, and loyalty.
Let’s dive a little deeper…
What is Brand Messaging?
In an era of information overload and fierce market competition, brand messaging has become more crucial than ever. With countless businesses vying for attention across digital and traditional platforms, a strong brand message can be the difference between blending in and standing out.
At its essence, brand messaging has the following components:
Defines your brand identity: It articulates who you are, what you stand for, and why you exist. This involves your brand’s mission, vision, and core values, which form the foundation of your identity.
Communicates both your value proposition and your USP: It clearly expresses what makes your products or services unique and beneficial to customers. The value proposition conveys the overall benefits and value to the customer, while the USP highlights a specific unique feature or aspect that sets you apart from competitors.
Outlines your brand promise – This promise goes beyond the immediate benefits of the product or service and speaks to the overall experience and emotional connection the brand aims to deliver. The brand promise is a commitment to the customers about what they can consistently expect from your brand, fostering trust and loyalty.
Establishes your brand voice and personality: It sets the tone and style of all your communications, ensuring consistency. This includes the language, tone, and style used in all your brand communications, reflecting your brand’s character and values.
Resonates with your audience: It speaks directly to your target customers’ needs, desires, and pain points. Effective brand messaging should connect emotionally and rationally with your audience, addressing their specific needs and motivations.
Differentiates you from competitors: It highlights what sets you apart in the marketplace. This involves clearly communicating the distinctive aspects of your brand that provide a competitive advantage.
Allbirds are a great example of a brand with a strong promise. Image from https://www.allbirds.co.nz/pages/sustainable-practices
Why is Brand Messaging Important?
In a world where consumers are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages daily, clear and compelling brand messaging isn’t just nice to have – it’s essential for survival and growth in the modern business landscape.
Effective brand messaging differentiates your business in a crowded market, making it stand out among competitors. It builds brand recognition and recall, ensuring that your brand stays top-of-mind for consumers. By creating emotional connections with customers, brand messaging fosters loyalty and trust. Consistency across all marketing channels is achieved through well-crafted messaging, providing a unified and coherent brand experience.
Additionally, it guides internal decision-making and shapes company culture, ensuring that every action aligns with the brand’s values and goals.
Well Known Examples of Effective Brand Messaging
Allbirds
Tagline: “Made from nature, for nature.”
Core Values: Sustainability, comfort, and simplicity.
Messaging: Allbirds focuses on their use of natural, sustainable materials to create comfortable footwear. Their messaging underscores their commitment to the environment and transparent practices, resonating with eco-conscious consumers who value simplicity and quality.
Apple
Tagline: “Think different.”
Core Values:
Innovation: Pioneering new technology and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Examples include Apple products like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, which are often seen as industry leaders in innovation. Simplicity: Creating products that are easy to use and understand. This is evident in the intuitive design of Apple’s operating systems and devices, ensuring a seamless user experience. Quality: Delivering high-quality products and services. Apple’s meticulous design and manufacturing processes ensure that their products are durable and reliable. Customer Focus: Putting the customer at the center of everything they do to provide an exceptional experience. Apple’s customer service and support are renowned for being responsive and helpful, ensuring customer satisfaction. Privacy: Protecting user data and privacy. Features like data encryption and transparent privacy policies underscore Apple’s commitment to safeguarding user information. Environmental Responsibility: Reducing environmental impact. Apple’s initiatives include using recycled materials, reducing their carbon footprint, and promoting sustainable practices. Accessibility: Making technology accessible to everyone. Accessibility features in Apple’s products ensure that people with disabilities can use their technology effectively.
Messaging: Apple’s messaging often highlights how their innovative products make life simpler and more efficient. Their tagline “Think different” encapsulates their spirit of innovation and simplicity.
Apple emphasises the premium quality of their products and their commitment to enhancing the user experience. Privacy and environmental responsibility are also key themes, as seen in campaigns like “Privacy. That’s iPhone.” and their extensive reports on sustainability.
Apple’s marketing frequently showcases how their products empower all users, including those with disabilities, further reinforcing their value of inclusivity.
Whittaker’s
Tagline: “Good honest chocolate.”
Core Values: Quality, tradition, and integrity.
Messaging: Whittaker’s highlights their dedication to crafting high-quality chocolate using traditional methods and ethically sourced ingredients. Their messaging conveys a sense of trust and reliability, emphasizing their long-standing presence in the market and their commitment to honesty and excellence.
How to Develop Strong Brand Messaging
Here’s Back9’s Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting Effective Brand Messaging:
1: Understand Your Target Audience
Research and Analyse: Conduct market research to gather information about your target audience’s demographics, psychographics, needs, desires, and pain points.
Create Buyer Personas: Develop detailed profiles of your ideal customers to better understand their motivations and behaviors.
Engage with Your Audience: Use surveys, interviews, and social media listening to gain direct insights from your customers.
2: Define Your Brand’s Core Values and Personality
Identify Core Values: Determine the fundamental principles that guide your brand’s actions and decisions.
Establish Brand Personality: Decide on the human characteristics that best represent your brand, such as being trustworthy, innovative, or playful.
Align with Mission and Vision: Ensure that your core values and personality reflect your brand’s mission and vision statements.
3: Identify Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Analyse Competitors: Study your competitors to identify gaps and opportunities in the market.
Highlight Unique Features: Determine the distinct features or benefits of your product or service that set you apart from the competition.
Validate Your USP: Ensure that your USP is relevant, meaningful, and resonates with your target audience.
4: Craft Clear, Concise, and Memorable Messages
Develop Key Messages: Create a set of core messages that communicate your value proposition, USP, and brand promise.
Use Simple Language: Ensure that your messaging is easy to understand and free of jargon.
Create Taglines and Slogans: Develop catchy and memorable taglines that encapsulate your brand’s essence.
5: Ensure Consistency Across All Touchpoints
Develop Brand Guidelines: Create a comprehensive brand style guide that outlines the use of logos, colors, fonts, tone, and messaging.
Train Your Team: Ensure that all team members understand and adhere to the brand guidelines.
Audit Your Channels: Regularly review all marketing channels, including your website, social media, and print materials, to maintain consistent messaging.
6: Test and Refine Your Messaging Based on Customer Feedback
Gather Feedback: Use surveys, focus groups, and customer reviews to collect feedback on your messaging.
Analyse Data: Evaluate the feedback to identify areas for improvement.
Adjust Messaging: Refine your messages based on the insights gained to better resonate with your audience.
Monitor and Iterate: Continuously monitor the performance of your messaging and make adjustments as needed to stay relevant and effective.
What should good brand messaging do?
Cuts through the noise, capturing your audience’s attention
Builds instant recognition, making your brand memorable
Fosters emotional connections, turning customers into loyal advocates
Communicates your unique value, setting you apart from competitors
Guides consistent communication, reinforcing your brand identity
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Inconsistent messaging across channels, overly complex or confusing messages, failing to differentiate from competitors, and neglecting to evolve messaging as the brand grows are common pitfalls that can undermine the effectiveness of your brand messaging strategy.
When your messaging lacks consistency across various platforms, it can confuse customers and dilute your brand identity. Similarly, messages that are too complex or unclear can fail to engage your audience, leading to misunderstanding or disinterest. Not standing out from competitors diminishes your brand’s unique value, making it harder for customers to choose you over others.
Lastly, as your brand evolves, failing to update and refine your messaging can make it seem outdated and out of touch with current market trends and customer expectations, ultimately affecting your brand’s relevance and appeal.
Remember, good brand messaging is clear, consistent, and authentic. It should be reflected in everything from your website copy and advertising to your customer service interactions and product packaging.
If you need a hand developing brand messaging for your business, get in touch with us.
While it’s possible to learn some aspects of SEO on your own (particularly on-page SEO), there’s a significant technical component to Search Engine Optimisation (which might be why that part is called technical SEO!) that often requires web development expertise. Whether you’re thinking of trying to do it yourself or leaning towards hiring an SEO expert, we go over 5 reasons why hiring a professional is a good idea.
Time management struggles
Taking on a do-it-yourself approach may seem like a great idea until you have to find sufficient time to carry out those tasks (many of us are guilty of taking on too much!). Finding time alongside your current responsibilities like your business, family or social commitments is often easier said than done. This could lead to delays in implementation or inconsistent efforts.
Because of the long-term nature of Search Engine Optimisation, the best time to start was yesterday as the changes take time to filter through.If you outsource the project to an SEO service provider – you eliminate the need to try and find time to fit it all in!
Implementing SEO changes needs some degree of web development skills and for many areas of Technical SEO such as schema markup, Core web vital optimisation and implementing hreflang tags, you’ll need a website developer on standby.
These technical SEO elements often require a developer’s expertise because they involve modifying your website’s code structure, optimising performance at a technical level, and ensuring proper implementation across your entire site. Incorrect implementation can lead to errors or missed SEO opportunities, which is why it’s often best to work with a skilled developer for these tasks.
For our SEO clients at Back9, we use a mixture of inhouse SEO experts and Website Developers to execute the SEO tasks. Trying to do all of this yourself can easily result in frustration or incomplete implementation of recommended changes and there will be an element of cost to hire the website developer.
Content creation demands
Producing high-quality, SEO-optimised content on a regular basis could be time-consuming and creatively taxing, especially if writing isn’t your strong suit. If you’re a natural writer and find this kind of thing in your wheelhouse, that’s great. But, also remember to schedule time to regularly create and publish your content.
Difficulty tracking progress
How do you know if you’re on the right track or if what you’re doing is actually working (especially since SEO is a long-game). When trying to do this yourself, you might struggle to accurately measure the impact of your SEO efforts, particularly in the early stages when the results of your efforts aren’t immediately visible.
This could lead to uncertainty about whether you’re even on the right track and whether you should continue on. Who can you ask if you don’t have an expert for advice?
Balancing SEO with user experience (UX)
You may find it challenging to implement SEO best practices while maintaining the professional look and feel of your website. You might worry about compromising the site’s usability or aesthetics in pursuit of better search rankings. Google will prioritise websites that cater to user experience.
An SEO service provider can get that delicate balance between optimising content to rank and ensuring the user is having a great experience while visiting your website.
Hiring an SEO Expert vs DIY approach – It’s up to you
These factors highlight the complexities and challenges of implementing effective SEO strategies. While a DIY approach may seem appealing and cost saving, particularly for those with a keen interest in learning SEO, it’s clear that professional SEO services offer significant advantages.
An SEO expert brings specialised knowledge, experience, and dedicated resources to the table, potentially saving you time, frustration, and costly mistakes. They can navigate technical hurdles, create optimised content, and track progress with precision, all while maintaining a balance between SEO best practices and user experience.
However, if you’re passionate about SEO and have the time to invest in learning and implementation, a DIY approach can be a valuable learning experience. It allows you to gain in-depth knowledge about your website and online presence.
The choice between DIY and hiring an SEO expert depends on your specific situation, resources, and goals. If you’re serious about improving your search rankings and online visibility, consider reaching out to a reputable SEO service provider such as Back9 for a meeting. We can assess your unique needs and provide tailored recommendations to help you achieve your SEO objectives efficiently and effectively.
Remember, whether you choose to DIY or work with a professional, SEO is an ongoing process that requires consistent effort and adaptation to yield the best results.
As a small business owner, understanding your target market is crucial for success. But what exactly is a target market, and how do you identify yours? Let’s break it down and explore some strategies that can give you an edge over your competitors.
What is a Target Market?
A target market is a specific group of consumers that a business identifies as the most likely buyers of its products or services. It’s essentially the segment of the population that the company focuses its marketing efforts on, believing these individuals are most likely to become customers. The consumers can also be broken down further into different groups based on demographics, geographic factors, psychographic factors and behavioural factors.
Demographics
Demographics refer to statistical data about a population or a specific group of people. Common demographics include:
Age
Gender
Income level
Education level
Occupation
Marital status
Family size / composition
Ethnicity or race
Nationality
Demographics offer valuable insight into a target market but are often used in conjunction with psychographic factors such as personality, values, attitudes, interests and lifestyle etc).
Geographic factors
These factors include locations where a person lives, works or shops. Some common examples include:
Country
Region
Urban/suburban/rural areas
Climate
Psychographic factors
These factors relate to lifestyle, personality and values. Some psychographic examples include:
Interests and hobbies
Attitudes and beliefs
Values and lifestyle choices
Behavioural factors
These factors include how a consumer uses or interacts with products. These can include:
Buying habits
Brand loyalty
Product usage rate
Benefits sought
For example, a company selling luxury watches might define its target market as:
Men and women
Ages 35-65
High income bracket ($100,000+ annually)
Living in urban areas
Interested in fashion and status symbols
Value quality and craftsmanship
Target Market vs. Target Audience: What’s the Difference?
While often used interchangeably, these terms have a subtle difference:
Target Market: This is the broader group of potential customers for your business.
Target Audience: This is a more specific subset of your target market, often defined for a particular marketing campaign or message.
For example, if you run a local bakery, your target market might be health-conscious adults aged 25-60 in your city. However, for a campaign promoting your new line of gluten-free products, your target audience might be more specifically adults aged 30-45 with gluten sensitivities.
How to Identify Your Target Market
Analyse Your Product or Service: What problem does it solve? Who benefits most from it?
Look at Your Current Customers: Who are they? What characteristics do they share?
Check Out Your Competition: Who are they targeting? Is there an underserved segment?
Conduct Market Research: Use surveys, interviews, or focus groups to gather data.
Create Customer Personas: Develop detailed profiles of your ideal customers.
Tips to Give You a Competitive Edge
Niche Down: Instead of trying to appeal to everyone, focus on a specific subset of the market. This allows you to become the go-to expert for that niche.
Leverage Local SEO: Optimise your online presence for local searches to attract nearby customers.
Personalise Your Marketing: Use the data you’ve gathered to create highly targeted, personalised marketing messages.
Engage on Social Media: Build relationships with your target market by being active and responsive on platforms they use.
Offer Exceptional Customer Service: Word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied customers can be your best marketing tool and best of all – it’s free.
Remember, identifying your target market isn’t a one-time task. As your business grows and evolves, regularly reassess and refine your understanding of who your ideal customers are. A business can have different target markets for different products and services.
By focusing your efforts on the right target market, you can make your marketing more effective, improve customer satisfaction, and ultimately grow your small business.
So, you’ve got killer ideas, a fire in your belly, and dreams as big as the sky. You’re ready to take on the world with your own business. But hold your horses, my ambitious friend! Before you start ordering those “CEO” business cards, let’s talk about the cost to start a business and make those dreams a reality.
The beginning
First up, let’s talk about setting up shop (or buying an existing business). Whether you’re opening a cozy coffee shop or launching the next big tech startup, there are some basic costs you can’t escape. Think business licenses, permits (they can take their sweet time), and all that fun legal stuff. Due diligence can’t be skimped on so be prepared to shell out some dough for a good lawyer. Writing an business plan is also a good idea. It’ll help you gain clarity of your vision and goals as well as help you identify potential opportunities and challenges.
Housing it all
You’ll need a location for your business whether you need a store front or a backroom warehouse. One of the key decisions you’ll need to make is whether to lease or purchase a commercial space for your operations. Leasing can be a cost-effective option, especially for new businesses, as it typically requires a lower upfront investment compared to buying property. It also offers flexibility, allowing you to relocate or renegotiate terms as your business grows or circumstances change. However, it’s essential to carefully review the lease agreement, paying close attention to factors such as the lease term, rent escalations, renewal options, and any restrictions on the use of the space. Engaging a real estate professional or an lawyer can help you navigate the leasing process and ensure you secure favourable terms that align with your business needs and long-term goals.
The next step
Now, let’s talk about the fun stuff – plant and stock. Depending on your business, this could mean anything from a warehouse full of gadgets to a garden full of organic kale. Either way, it’s gonna cost ya. And don’t forget about marketing! You’ll need a killer logo that screams “I’m awesome!”, a website that doesn’t look like it was built in the ’90s, signage that makes people stop and stare, and print materials that make you look like a million bucks (even if your bank account says otherwise).
It doesn’t stop there. Don’t forget about the little things that add up fast like office supplies, insurance, and let’s not forget about everyone’s favourite – taxes! Yep, Uncle Chris wants his cut, even if your business is just a twinkle in your eye.
Whats the damage?
So, how much is all this gonna cost you? The truth is, it varies. But here’s a tip: take whatever number you have in your head, and then double it. And just for good measure, add a little extra on top. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.
But hey, don’t let all this talk of money scare you off. Starting a business is like riding a roller coaster – it’s scary, it’s exhilarating, and sometimes you’ll want to throw up. But in the end, it’s one heck of a ride. So, strap in, hold on tight, and get ready to chase those dreams – cash in hand!
The main advice – don’t skimp on the marketing when you start a business
Starting a business is no walk in the park, especially when it comes to money. But with a little humour, a lot of hard work, and maybe a few extra dollars in your pocket, you can turn those dreams into reality.
So, go ahead, take the plunge – just don’t forget to leave enough in the piggy bank to market your great venture. There is no point in putting in all the time and effort to start a business but not being able to effectively tell anyone about it.
In the world of digital advertising, CPM (Cost Per Mille or Cost Per Thousand Impressions) is a popular pricing model used by publishers and advertisers alike. CPM advertising involves paying a fixed rate for every 1,000 impressions (an impression is when someone views or interacts with your ad) of an advertisement. While this model has its advantages, it also comes with its fair share of drawbacks. Let’s explore the pros and cons of CPM advertising.
Pros of CPM Advertising:
Guaranteed Exposure:
With CPM advertising, advertisers are assured that their ads will be displayed a specific number of times, regardless of whether the ads are clicked on or not. This guaranteed exposure can be beneficial for brand awareness campaigns and reaching a broad audience.
Cost Control:
CPM pricing allows advertisers to set a fixed budget for their campaigns. Since the cost is based on impressions, advertisers can predict their expenses more accurately, making it easier to manage their advertising budgets.
Audience Targeting:
Publishers often offer various targeting options, such as demographic, geographic, and contextual targeting, which can help advertisers reach their desired audience more effectively.
Cons of CPM Advertising:
Lack of Direct Response:
This type of advertising is not ideal for direct response campaigns where the primary goal is to generate immediate clicks, conversions, or sales. Since advertisers pay for impressions rather than actions, there is no guarantee that the ads will generate the desired level of engagement or conversions.
Ad Blindness:
As users become more accustomed to online advertising, they may develop “ad blindness”. This is where the viewer ignores or subconsciously filters out advertisements, reducing the effectiveness of CPM campaigns.
Viewability Issues:
Not all impressions are equal. Some impressions may occur when the ad is not visible to the user. Usually because it was loaded off-screen or because the user scrolled past it quickly. This can lead to wasted ad spend and ineffective campaigns.
Potential for Fraud:
CPM advertising is susceptible to impression fraud, where malicious actors generate fake impressions to inflate their revenue. This can result in advertisers paying for impressions that were never seen by real users.
CPM advertising can be an effective option for brand awareness campaigns and reaching a broad audience within a fixed budget. However, it may not be the best choice for campaigns focused on direct response or conversions. Advertisers should carefully evaluate their campaign goals, target audience, and budget when deciding whether to use CPM advertising or explore alternative pricing models such as CPC (Cost Per Click) or CPA (Cost Per Acquisition).
Digital Advertising is another name for Digital Marketing right? Not quite. Digital Marketing is the overall umbrella term covering many categories including strategy. So what is Digital Advertising then? In short, it is all the advertising avenues available to you within this Digital Marketing realm. In the ever changing landscape of marketing, digital advertising has emerged as a game-changer. It has revolutionised the way businesses connect with their target audiences. As consumers increasingly embrace digital platforms, savvy marketers are using the vast potential of this mode of advertising to reach, engage, and convert prospective customers like never before.
At the heart of digital advertising, lies the ability to precisely target and personalise advertising campaigns. Unlike traditional advertising methods, digital platforms offer a wealth of data and insights that allow businesses to tailor their messaging and delivery to specific demographics, interests, behaviours, and even geographic locations.
There are many elements to advertising in the digital world. We’ve broken them down into bite-sized chunks to help you understand each one.
Digital Advertising Areas:
SEM (Search Engine Marketing)
You might be thinking what the heck is search engine marketing? SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing. It is a form of digital marketing that focuses on promoting websites and increasing their visibility on search engines like Google, Bing, and Duckduckgo.
SEM encompasses two main strategies:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO involves optimising athe content of a website, the structure, and other elements to improve its ranking in organic (non-paid) search engine results. This includes techniques like keyword research, on-page optimisation, technical SEO, content creation, and link building.
Paid Search Advertising (Pay-Per-Click or PPC)
Paid search advertising, also known as Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, involves placing ads on search engine results pages (SERPs) for specific keywords or phrases. Advertisers bid on these keywords and pay a fee each time their ad is clicked by a user. Popular PPC platforms include Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads).
The primary goal of SEM is to increase a website’s visibility and drive more qualified traffic from search engines, ultimately leading to higher engagement, conversions, and revenue. By combining SEO and PPC strategies, businesses can achieve better search engine rankings, reach a wider audience, and target users at different stages of the buyer’s journey.
Social Media Advertising
Social media advertising has also emerged as a potent force in the digital realm. With billions of active users across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, businesses can leverage technical targeting capabilities to serve highly relevant ads to their ideal customers. Social media advertising not only drives brand awareness and engagement but also offers valuable retargeting opportunities to nurture leads and convert prospects into loyal customers. Some examples of major brands nailing the social media game include Wendy’s, Netflix and Hell pizza.
Sponsored ads
Sponsored ads on social media platforms have emerged as a powerful advertising tool for businesses to reach and engage with their target audiences effectively. These ads are strategically placed within the news feeds or content streams of users. They blend seamlessly with organic content while taking advantage of advanced targeting capabilities.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn offer targeting options that allow advertisers to precisely define their ideal audience based on factors such as demographics, interests, behaviours, and geographic locations. Sponsored ads can take various formats, including image posts, video content, carousel ads, and even interactive experiences, designed to capture user attention and drive meaningful actions.
With detailed analytics and performance tracking, businesses can continually optimise their sponsored ad campaigns. This ensures maximum return on investment while nurturing brand awareness, generating leads, and driving conversions.
Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing that involves partnering with influential people or creators who have a dedicated following within a specific niche or industry. The goal is to leverage the influence, credibility, and reach of these individuals to promote a brand’s products, services, or messaging to their audience.
Many celebrities are into influencer marketing (Mr Beast anyone?) but it can also work well for anyone with a decent following. If you are looking to try influencer marketing, carefully select influencers who align with your values, target audience, and marketing goals.
Display advertising
Not to be confused with Google display ads, display advertising involves placing visual ads on websites, apps, and other digital platforms. It is another invaluable component of digital marketing strategies. Through programmatic advertising and real-time bidding, businesses can efficiently place their ads on the most relevant and high-traffic websites, ensuring maximum visibility and reach.
Banner Ads
Display ads are visually striking graphic units strategically placed on digital platforms that command attention and drive action. They take advantage of programmatic targeting reaching defined audiences based on data, and real-time bidding for efficient placement.
Versatile assets for brand awareness or direct response, banner ads combine engaging visuals, compelling copy, and clear CTAs to capture interest and spur desired actions like site visits, leads, and conversions.
Despite new ad formats, banner ads’ ability to cut through noise and deliver measurable results solidifies their relevance. Well-executed banner campaigns are a good choice to maximise ROI and create impactful digital outreach.
Rich Media Ads
Rich media ads are advanced display advertisements that incorporate multimedia elements like video, audio, animations, or interactive features to create an engaging and immersive user experience. Unlike static banner ads, rich media ads use technologies like HTML5, JavaScript, and streaming video to deliver dynamic, visually striking content that can expand, float, or integrate seamlessly with a web page.
These ad units offer greater interactivity, allowing users to engage directly with the ad through features like games, quizzes, or product visualizers. Rich media ads capture user attention more effectively and drive higher engagement rates, making them a powerful tool for brand storytelling and digital advertising campaigns that make an impact
Native Advertising
Native advertising has emerged as a powerful and effective approach to reaching audiences in a non-intrusive manner. Unlike traditional display ads, which can often feel disruptive, native ads seamlessly blend into the surrounding content, providing a more organic advertising experience.
A great example of native advertising using content branding is brands using clever filters through social media apps. Videos are also great for native marketing as it can blend into an entertainment aspect rather than just an ad or other traditional media.
YouTube’s platform hosts a collection of ad slots spread throughout its video content. These advertising opportunities are made available to sponsors via an auction system. When a user watches a YouTube clip, a real-time bidding process commences behind the scenes. Advertisers bid to have their promotional material displayed during that specific ad slot.
Marketers can narrow their ad targeting based on criteria such as viewer demographics, topics of interest, video subject matter, geographic location, and more. This narrows down the likelihood of reaching their target audience.
YouTube’s ad ranking algorithm evaluates elements like an advertiser’s bid price and the anticipated value of the ad view or engagement to determine which promotional content will populate an ad slot. Once an advertiser secures the winning bid for a particular slot, their video advertisement shows before, during (mid-roll), and after the primary YouTube video.
The platform accommodates various ad formats, including skippable in-stream ads, non-skippable in-stream ads (can be very annoying), bumper ads, sponsored cards, and overlay ads. When users view or interact with an advertisement, YouTube generates revenue Then, a predetermined portion of this is given to the content creator.
Example of non-skippable ad on YouTube.
Over-The-Top (OTT) Ads:
Over-the-top (OTT) ads are video advertisements that are displayed on streaming platforms and services that deliver content over the internet, bypassing traditional cable or satellite TV providers.
OTT platforms refer to services like TVNZ+, YouTube or ThreeNow etc. that allow users to stream video content directly over the internet on connected devices like smart TVs, phones, tablets and more.
Since these platforms distribute content through the open internet instead of closed cable/satellite systems, they have the ability to show video ads in a variety of ways during or around the streaming content.
Some common examples of OTT video ads include:
Pre-roll ads that play before the main content
Mid-roll ads that are inserted during content breaks
Overlay ads that appear as static or video banners on the player screen
Sponsored content integrations within the streaming shows and movies
OTT ads allow advertisers to reach the growing number of cord-cutter and cord-never audiences who consume content primarily through internet streaming. Targeting can be enhanced using data about users’ viewing habits, demographics and interests.
The rise of OTT viewing has created new advertising opportunities for brands to connect with audiences through advanced digital video ad experiences.
Mobile Advertising:
In-App Ads:
In-app ads are advertisements that are displayed within mobile applications (apps) on smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. These ads are served to users while they are using or engaged with an app.
Mobile Web Ads:
Ads optimised for mobile web browsers. Mobile web ads are advertisements that are displayed on websites and web pages when accessed from mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. These ads are designed specifically for the mobile web browsing experience.
Some common types of mobile web ads include:
Display Ads
These are basic banner ads that appear on mobile websites, typically at the top or bottom of the page.
Interstitial Ads
Full-screen ads that cover the interface of the website/page for a brief period of time.
An interstitial ad for Air New Zealand taken from www.stuff.co.nz.
Native Ads
Ads that match the look and feel of the mobile website content, blending into the page seamlessly.
Video Ads
Video advertisements that can auto-play or require user interaction before playing.Rich Media Ads Engaging ad formats that incorporate multimedia like audio, video, animations, and user interactions.
Mobile web ads allow advertisers to reach users browsing the mobile web and can be targeted based on factors like geo-location, browsing behaviour, and mobile device characteristics.
The ads are typically served through mobile ad networks or supplied by the publisher of the mobile website itself. Common pricing models include CPC (cost-per-click), CPM (cost-per-thousand-impressions), and CPA (cost-per-acquisition).
Effective mobile web ad strategies require optimising ad creatives and placements for smaller mobile screens and potentially slower network connections compared to desktop web browsing.
Location-Based Ads:
This style of mobile web ads are advertisements that are targeted and delivered to users based on their real-time geographic location data obtained from their mobile device. These ads leverage location tracking capabilities like GPS, WiFi positioning or cell tower triangulation.
There are a few key aspects of location-based mobile web ads:
Geo-Targeting/Geo-Fencing:
Advertisers can set geographic boundaries or areas around specific locations to serve ads only to users within those defined areas. For example, promoting a restaurant to people within a 1.5km radius.
Contextual Relevance:
Location data allows ads to be highly contextualised and relevant based on where the user currently is. For instance, showing ads for nearby stores/services when someone is out shopping.
Proximity Marketing:
Ads can trigger when a user is in close proximity to a particular place of interest like a retail store, offering timely promotions to drive foot traffic.
Location-Aware Creative:
The ad messaging and creative can be dynamically updated based on the user’s location for a personalised experience.
Accurate location data enables powerful audience segmentation and real-time marketing opportunities for brands and businesses with local/geographic relevance.
However, user privacy is an important consideration with location tracking. Ad platforms must comply with regulations and allow users to control location data sharing permissions.
Location-based mobile web ads bring a valuable layer of real-world context to mobile advertising. This is achieved by reaching audiences at relevant times and places.
Email Marketing:
Building an email list is a valuable tool to reach your customers and clients directly. If you’ve been building your social handles and believe this is how you are best to keep connected with your audience, you may want to reconsider.
Meta and other social media platform providers are known to disable your page overnight with either no recourse of action to get it back. That can be thousands of followers you lost contact with – instantly. On the flipside, email marketing lists are much more difficult to be stolen or shut down. Definitely a point worth considering when thinking about how to keep up communications with your audience.
Promotional Emails:
Promotional emails, also known as marketing emails or email advertisements, are email messages sent by companies, brands, or advertisers. The primary goal can be promoting a product, service, offer, or content.
Some key aspects of promotional emails in digital advertising:
Advertisers build email lists by collecting email addresses from customers, website visitors who opt-in, or through list purchases/rentals. Having a quality email list is crucial.
Promotional emails can take various forms like newsletters, dedicated promotional blasts, abandoned cart reminders, re-engagement campaigns, etc.
They typically contain promotional messaging, product/service information, visuals, calls-to-action (CTAs) encouraging clicks/conversions, and special offers or discounts.
Email lists can be segmented based on behaviours, interests, demographics etc. to make promotional emails more personalised and relevant.
Email platforms provide metrics like open rates, click-through rates, conversion tracking to measure campaign effectiveness.
There are laws like CAN-SPAM in the United States that regulate commercial email practices regarding consent, opt-outs, and transparency.
When executed properly, promotional email campaigns enable advertisers to reach current/prospective customers directly in their inboxes. It uses tailored messaging to drive engagement, website traffic, leads and sales cost-effectively.
However, irrelevant or excessive promotional emails can be perceived as spam. Balancing promotion with value is important in email marketing strategies.
Sponsored Emails:
Sponsored emails are promotional email messages that advertisers pay to have delivered directly to the inboxes of an email publisher’s opt-in subscriber list.
The key aspects of sponsored emails include:
Paid Placement:
Advertisers pay email publishers/providers a fee to send their promotional content to the publisher’s email list. This is usually on a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) basis.
Third-Party Lists:
The advertiser does not use their own email list, but instead pays to access the publisher’s rented or sponsored email list.
List Segmentation:
Email publishers often allow targeting options so advertisers can segment sponsored emails based on the list subscribers’ interests, demographics, etc.
Content Control:
Advertisers provide the creative email content and have control over the messaging, offers, calls-to-action promoting their products/services.
Disclosure:
Sponsored emails should be clearly labelled as such to distinguish them from normal editorial emails from the publisher.
Performance Tracking:
Typical metrics like open rates, clicks, conversions are tracked and reported.
Example of sponsored emails from a Gmail inbox.
The benefits of sponsored emails include the ability to reach very targeted, opt-in audiences at scale that advertisers may not have access to otherwise. However, being overly promotional in sponsored emails to rented lists can impact engagement and deliverability.
Overall, sponsored emails allow advertisers to extend their email marketing reach through publisher partners in an advertising-supported model.
Affiliate Marketing:
Advertisers reward affiliates (publishers or influencers) for driving traffic or sales to their products or services.
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based advertising model where a company (the advertiser) pays commission to third-party publishers (affiliates) for generating trackable customer leads or sales from their marketing efforts.
Here are some key points about affiliate marketing:
Affiliate Network:
Advertisers work with affiliate networks that provide a platform connecting them with potential affiliate publishers to promote their products/services.
Publisher Promotion:
Affiliates (bloggers, influencers, niche websites etc.) market the advertiser’s offerings on their platforms through links, banners, product reviews etc.
Tracking the Cookies: 🍪
When a consumer clicks on an affiliate link/ad and completes a desired action like a purchase, the unique affiliate is tracked via cookies or IDs.
Commission Structure:
Advertisers pay affiliates a pre-agreed commission. It’s usually a percentage of the sale or a fixed fee per lead/sale generated by that affiliate.
Performance-Based:
Affiliates only earn commission when they actually drive a concrete result, not just for displaying ads.
Transparency:
There should be disclosure that content contains affiliate links as a paid promotion.
For advertisers, affiliate marketing provides a low-risk way to drive measurable results and scale their reach via trusted third-party influencers and publishers. For affiliates, it’s an additional revenue stream by monetizing web traffic they drive to merchants.
Popular examples of affiliate marketing include product review blogs, influencer promotions, loyalty/rewards sites and various other content-driven affiliate models.
Content Marketing:
Sponsored Content:
Branded content created and distributed on third-party websites or platforms. Sponsored content refers to promotional or marketing materials that are created and paid for by advertisers, but are published and distributed through third-party content platforms or publishers.
Some key aspects of sponsored content include:
Native Integration:
Sponsored content is designed to seamlessly blend in with the normal editorial content on the publishing platform in both format and subject matter relevance.
Content Types:
It can take various forms like articles, videos, social media posts, infographics, interactive experiences etc. matching the publisher’s content style.
Paid Placement:
Brands pay publishers a sponsorship fee to create and distribute this promotional content within their content channels/feeds.
Labelling:
Sponsored content must be clearly labelled or identified as such for transparency about the paid promotion.
Valuable Content:
While promotional, sponsored content aims to provide value and insights relevant to the publisher’s audience.
Audience Targeting:
The goal of sponsored content is for brands to associate with trusted, popular content platforms. It leverages native advertising to engage audiences with promotional messages in a contextual, non-intrusive way.
Some other examples include sponsored articles on major media sites (Stuff have quite a bit of this type of content), influencer posts labelled as paid partnerships, branded content hubs and other content-driven marketing on publishing platforms.
Native Content:
Native content refers to promotional content that is designed to match the form, style, and overall user experience of the platform or publisher’s editorial content where it appears.
Some key aspects of native content include:
Integrating into the platform:
Native content seamlessly blends into the normal user experience and content feed of a particular website, social media platform, app, etc. It matches the look and feel.
Native content is non-intrusive:
Unlike disruptive banner ads, native content aims to be additive to the user experience by providing relevant information or entertainment.
Differing content types:
It can take various forms like articles, videos, images, user-generated posts, etc. fitting the specific content formats of the platform.
Requires full-disclosure:
Native content carries labels like ‘sponsored’ or ‘promoted’ to clearly mark it as paid promotional material.
Native advertising is relevant in context:
The content topic, tone, and style aim to align with the interests and context of the platform’s main editorial content and audience.
Targeting your audience:
Advertisers target native content based on user demographics, interests, behaviours, and more across various content platforms.
The main goal is for brands to engage users with promotional content in a contextually relevant way without interrupting their normal content consumption experience.
Examples include sponsored stories on news feeds, branded videos on platforms like YouTube, promoted posts/tweets on social media, and other seamlessly integrated paid content placements.
Digital advertising is here for the long game
Beyond targeting and personalisation, digital advertising also offers good measurability and data-driven insights. With advanced analytics and tracking capabilities, businesses can monitor the performance of their campaigns in real-time, optimising for better results and maximising their return on investment (ROI). This data-driven approach allows for continuous improvement and refinement, ensuring that advertising budgets are utilised effectively.
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, businesses that embrace the power of digital advertising will gain a significant competitive advantage. By leveraging the targeting, personalisation, measurability, and versatility of digital advertising, companies can effectively reach and connect with their audiences, drive conversions, and ultimately achieve sustainable growth in an increasingly digital world.
