As a business owner, you must wear many hats: Sales, Finance, Coach, R&D, Marketing, and the list goes on. It’s challenging for the best of us to have deep knowledge and understanding in each one of these specialties, let alone all of them! The good news today is that you do not NEED to have a deep knowledge of marketing if you understand the value of analytics and your marketing firm appropriately utilizes this tool.

Analytics is the use of data or statistics to make decisions. Analytics in marketing is taking those metrics and stats to discover and interpret how consumers are receiving the message from your ads.

There are various tools available to you that can and will provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of your advertising efforts. Some are paid tools, and many are available for free. A few of the most common analytics tools are Google Analytics, a free and widely used program. Another great option is MOZ, a top-rated program that helps you identify your visibility in search engine ranking results (SERP), track your positioning by specific keywords, and monitor your competitors.

Once set up as intended, analytic tools give you the ability to view your prospects’ and clients’ actions from the very first ad view all the way through to conversion.

Let’s take a closer look at what analytic analysis tells us and why it matters to your bottom line:

ONE: Paid Ad Analysis

Paid Ad Analysis allows us to interpret the effectiveness of each ad placement, blog post, or social media offer beyond an initial ad impression or video view, yet provides real ROI metrics by linking individual ads, ad copy, or keywords to REAL results – leads or a sale.

This insight then provides the ability to focus your paid ad dollars on those areas that are driving returns for your company.

TWO: Organic Analysis

Here, we are talking about all those efforts you invest time and attention to outside your paid ad campaigns.  These include building up your website, adding blogs, being published, claiming your GMB listing, trade show sponsorships, and more. All of these efforts increase the likelihood of your company showing up on the first page of SERPs without you having to PAY to be there.

Your analytics will tell you how people are navigating to your website and company through these efforts; and, more importantly, how valuable these visits are to your bottom line goals.

THREE: Customer Insights

This is where I get a little more excited! Your analytics will provide a wealth of insights into WHO your PAYING customers are, their behaviors and interests, and the types of messages they respond to positively. This information will help inform your larger strategy – from where to allocate ad spend, the message you develop, the timing, and even when and how to deliver them.

Additionally, you will be able to view the activities that lead up to a sale or lead form – both direct attribution and conversion paths, as well as assisted conversions.

FOUR: Bench-marking

Over time, your analytics will provide benchmark metrics in which you will be able to see trends. This can include trends in traffic – both volume and quality – as well as trends in average cost per acquisition.

In conclusion, It’s essential to have analytics about your company and its marketing efforts to understand better if your marketing is working.  What does ‘working’ mean? It could be one of two things:

• You can use Analytics to measure your marketing efforts against your industry’s standard.
• You can also use your own historical analytics to define what success looks like for your company based on previous results.

If you would like to learn more about using your analytics to your best advantage, contact us today! Our digital marketing experts are ready to help your business grow!

Sources: https://www.trustradius.com/marketing-analytics#toprated

Today we’ll be covering the accelerated rise of Connected TV. To be clear, it feels weird to call this an accelerated rise when Connected TV’s popularity among marketers and brands was already growing at a crazy rate.

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19’s impact on the economy, there are many people who choosing to cut back. One way that they’re doing that is cutting the cord with cable.

Cutting The Cord

According to the The Daily Mail, TV cord-cutting has hit a new record as the largest paid subscription services for live multichannel TV packages have made another 2.3 million in the first quarter. Cable and satellite services have dropped by nearly 7% compared to 2022.

This is due to there being a limit on new content that is available. It’s a tough choice for consumers to justify continuing to pay traditional TV prices for recycled content. Especially considering you can have quality, on-demand content for a fraction of the price from some of the big streaming platforms (Hulu, Netflix, etc.)

As a result, streaming services like Disney + have seen a huge surge in paid subscriptions since this pandemic started. Based on Statista’s recent reports, Disney + jumped up from 33.5 million paid subscribers in 2020 to 146.7 million in 2023. This isn’t surprising when you look at the data from Nielsen about streaming behaviors during times like these.

According to Nielsen, viewers stream 61% more Connected TV during a crisis. Whether the crisis is a global pandemic or a major snowstorm, consumers stay inside and binge content.

Something to note is that the sentiment behind ad-supported streaming is on the rise.  According to a survey on streaming trends from the IAS, current consumers are more willing to watch ads alongside content to control subscription costs. This could be due to subscription fatigue, or possibly the current economic state. It aligns with what we’ve seen from the cord-cutting records that the tv industry has suffered.

When Did Connected TV Become Popular?

Connected TV isn’t new to marketers. The demand and popularity have always been growing year over year but the current state of affairs has just increased it in numbers we never expected. It’s time for brands to pivot and start incorporating Connected TV as a supplement to their marketing strategy. People aren’t going out as often as they were in the past and they’re staying home to stream content.

The data that we’ve been accumulating, due to users operating/purchasing things online, is fueling not only Connected TV, but the digital marketing industry. Using current online behavior data, we can help ensure your ads are getting to the right people at the right time – when they’re in the market for your product or service.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Connected TV market continues to develop and transform as the world’s behaviors continue to evolve.

What is CTV Advertising?

THE BENEFITS OF PAID ONLINE VIDEOS

In this webinar, you’ll learn how you can leverage the power of Online Videos to grow your business and generate more leads. Hear from KeyMedia Solutions experts about how you can build a video marketing strategy that is designed to meet your goals.

Did you enjoy this webinar? If so, you might also like our Video Marketing Checklist. In this checklist, you’ll find out the step-by-step process for creating an online video.

Google Ads is no longer allowing ads in its search network and other ad networks for products or services that promote speculative and/or experimental medical treatments.

This includes Stem cell therapy, cellular (non-stem) therapy, gene therapy, and similar forms of regenerative medicine, platelet-rich plasma, biohacking, do-it-yourself (DIY) genetic engineering products, and gene therapy kits. Google updated its health and medicine ad policy last week to say that starting in October 2019 it will disallow such ads.

They had a statement saying, “we have seen a rise in bad actors attempting to take advantage of individuals by offering untested, deceptive treatments. Often times, these treatments can lead to dangerous health outcomes and we feel they have no place on our platforms.”

It’s good to see Google take a stance against something like this

This month, Google will be reorganizing and standardizing publisher content policies.

The means Google will be dividing its content policies into two different categories: Google Publisher Policies and Google Publisher Restrictions.

The advertising giant will use the Publisher Policies will outline, in detail, the types of content that cannot be monetized, and use the Publisher Restrictions to specific type of content that do not violate advertising policies but are not necessarily appealing to all advertisers: “Publishers will not receive a policy violation for trying to monetize this content, but only some advertisers and advertising products will bid on it.”. This will include such topics as alcohol and tobacco.

This move is part of a trend we are seeing in the digital world. Consumers are wanting more and more transparency and from digital advertising and many brands and advertisers are wanting this from the advertising platforms themselves.

The previous set of standards and policies were not as clear as many advertisers would’ve wanted, thus Google wanted to simplify all of this by reworking and standardizing these policies so that advertisers are able to create and promote content that will allow for brand-safe environments in the digital world.

With all of that being said, it is worth noting that Google is not creating new content polices, just restructuring their existing policies.

YouTube Masthead ads hit YouTube TV app.

I want to specify, this is not for YouTube TV users, YouTube’s live TV service. This is for the YouTube app on TV’s.

For those that don’t know, the YouTube masthead ads are the big ads that show up on the home page of YouTube. It’s one of the few ads on the Google network that you can’t serve yourself. You have to reach out to a representative at YouTube to run mastheads. There is not much targeting available for YouTube mastheads. You can only target by countries. No demographics or audience segments. While there are no limitations to what mastheads can advertise, its usual movies, tv shows, and automobiles since it’s more of a brand awareness type of ad. Anyway, that is what a masthead is. So, if you have a YouTube app on your tv, they are now going to start popping up on your YouTube Home screen. Sometimes it’ll be a big banner, sometimes it might be a big video, but ready or not, they’re coming.

It’s been said time and time again – “You need to be using online videos in your marketing strategy.” I know I’ve said this sentence about a million times. But no matter how many times it gets said, the fact remains, online videos are still one of the most influential pieces of content.

But, why exactly?

I want to try and tackle this question in this article. Let’s try and figure out why exactly online videos are so vital to the success of a marketing campaign. Let’s get started!

Online Videos are EVERYWHERE!

It should come to no surprise that videos have taken over the online environment. A recent study found that by 2019, online video traffic will account for 80% of all consumer internet traffic. This means that in the very near future, the only reason people will go online will be to engage with some sort of video.

So, videos are everywhere… but why does this mean I need to use them in my marketing strategy?

It’s true that this stat just means that the online environment is, and will continue to be, super-saturated with video content. However, there is a reason for this. Videos are the most preferred type of content for people to engage with because they are the easiest. No reading, no scrolling – just sit back relax and enjoy.

Videos have become the king of the content mountain, and marketers have noticed. The idea behind any content marketing strategy is simple – give your audience what they want. And in this case almost every audience wants videos. This is why videos have become such an important part of a marketing campaign.

Search Engines Want You To Use Online Videos

So why else are online videos important? Well, because search engines like them. Just like content marketers – search engines are designed to give people what they want. And they too have recognized the popularity of videos.

Creating videos and placing them on your site can have a drastic impact on SEO. Video content drives a 157% increase in organic traffic from Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).

The increase in a page’s SEO has a dramatic impact on the overall “search-ablity” of an entire website. To put it simply – if one page on your site does well, the rest of your website will benefit. Videos play a role in a page’s success by lowering the bounce rate, increasing time-on-site, and increase pages per session. This in turn improves the page authority of a website.

So to summarize… putting a video on your landing page is a good thing because it gets people to stay on your website longer.

Speaking of Online Videos on Landing Pages

Not only will putting videos on your landing page make Search Engines happy, it will make real people happy too! A recent study found that landing pages that greet visitors with a video increase conversions by over 80%.

One of the fundamental principles of inbound marketing is to attract potential customers with engaging content to entice them to give you a small “Yes.” This small yes can be a lot of different things. It can be filling out a contact form, purchasing a small item, requesting a quote, or lots of other things. The point to this is to take the first steps in creating a relationship with a new customer.

Online videos give you the chance to better explain your product, service, or idea. The visitor has given you their attention, now it’s your job to explain to them why they should continue to pay attention to you.

Money, Money, Money

When it’s all said and done, the success of a marketing campaign comes down to the dollar signs. And if using online videos in your advertising strategy can add another zero to the end of your profit margin, then is there really more I need say?

Marketers who use video grow their revenue 49% faster than non-video users. Whether you choose to use videos for SEO, advertising, or lead generation – the numbers don’t lie. So like I said at the beginning of this article – videos have taken over the online environment. Now’s your chance to leverage their influence and grow your business.

A Word of Caution

Before you go out and start paying for a professional video, take a second and think of what you’re planning on using if for. Just like any piece of content, your video should speak to your audience. Take the time to sit down with your team and discuss all the different ways you want to incorporate videos into your marketing strategy.

Once you have this information, start thinking about your resources. Are you able to create any of these videos in-house? Simple videos can still be useful in a marketing strategy. If you’re interested in learning how to create and distribute your own online videos, click here to download our Video Marketing Checklist.

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Grow Your Business Creatively & Effectively with Paid Online Videos

Find out how you can leverage the power of online videos in this free webinar. Join two of our video marketing experts as they discuss different ways that businesses can grow their brand using online video tools. The webinar is August 23rd at 10:00 AM CST.

Click Here to learn more about this webinar, or fill out the form below to register right now.

The future has arrived – well maybe. On the morning of June 20^th, 2018, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom, announced the roll out of a completely brand-new video platform set to rival YouTube called IGTV.

This platform lives natively within the Instagram app through the TV icon in the top right-hand corner of the home screen AND, wait for it, as a standalone application that is downloadable through the App Store!

IGTV Isn’t the Only Milestone

As if the announcement of this new video platform wasn’t enough, Instagram has also officially reached 1 billion monthly active users. This massive userbase has progressively forced the platform to evolve to meet the demands of their audience.

With this in mind, let’s take a look into the reasons why Instagram decided that creating IGTV was what we needed. Let’s begin this discussion by reviewing how the entire social landscape has evolved over the last five years.

Today, teenagers are consuming traditional television content 40% less than they did in 2013, while video engagement on Instagram has risen 60% in the last year alone. This means users under the age of 25 are spending 32 minutes a day in Instagram.

Video is on the rise and there are creators making a pretty decent living by producing their content for online only platforms. This is a recipe for the perfect storm and Instagram is trying to take advantage of it with IGTV.

What’s so Different about IGTV?

Now, I know this just seems like another video platform, but there is a difference – IGTV is set up for mobile use only. This means video will be viewed “naturally” in a vertical format. Yes, that’s right, with the use of vertical videos in platforms like SnapChat and now IGTV, it seems as though turning your phone to record a video will become a novelty of the past.

The vertical format allows IGTV to start playing videos immediately upon opening the app while users browse other options. They can elect to watch the video that’s currently playing or scroll through the creators they’re currently following under the “Following” tab. Users can also look for suggestions based on their activity and the kind of content they consume under the “For You” tab.

Similar to other platforms, IGTV allows people to see what’s trending within the app under the “Popular” tab.

The Pros and Cons of IGTV

As exciting as all of this is, there are a couple of pros and cons that come with the launch of a new social media platform. Let’s take a look at the good and bad of IGTV.

One of the biggest cons, at least for advertisers, is that IGTV is currently not running any ads on the platform. However, as far as users are concerned, this is actually a big pro (but chances are that it won’t last long).

Systrom did mention during the roll out last Wednesday that this is an “obvious” platform for advertising.

Based on the look and feel of the platform, it’s possible that the advertising options will be similar to YouTube offering pre-roll, mid-roll, and different banner ads to be displayed throughout the platform.

But, for right now, advertisers will have to wait. IGTV is in its beta form and the developers are wanting to optimize the platform for users, creators, and eventually advertisers before they set out to monetize the platform.

How can I use IGTV?

As mentioned previously, IGTV is in beta, which means operations of the application will be a little touch and go for a while. It also means that currently, big-time creators can upload up to 60-minute videos to the channels. Other smaller or unknown creators like you and me can only upload 10-minute videos at a time.

Again, this is only a temporary restraint and eventually there will be no time limit at all to the videos uploaded to the platform. Does this mean we could possibly get full length feature films in a vertical platform?! Well, maybe.

How will IGTV affect my Brand?

With a limit of 10 minutes for videos and no advertising, how is this a good thing for brands right now? To answer this question, lets just take a quick look back at where Instagram’s popularity has come from.

In its inception, this was a fantastic platform to display photos and later videos to highlight products and services that businesses have to offer.

As it continued to grow, Instagram was gaining user attention and decided to try and steal a part of the game from Snapchat by implementing Instagram stories to the top of the homepage. Suddenly, businesses could offer flash sales and promos which drove business and user engagement even more.

Following these stories came live video. This raised engagement and even interaction with popular Instagram personalities. Then within the last year alone, the rise of Instagram video has lead to the social media platform hitting the 1 billion monthly users mark.

And now with IGTV, brands can have the engagement of their audience from a single location and hit them with every tactic. They can display product photos, show quick highlight videos, and offer flash sales. By introducing long form vertical video, they can also offer in-depth engagement.

Gone will be the days of redirecting people to different apps and websites. From now on it will all be in the same place which is more likely to keep users engaged and active.

Something major happened in 2017 – for the first time in history, advertisers spent more money on digital media than on traditional TV.

This doesn’t mean traditional TV is going anywhere, but it does represent a major shift in the way businesses use advertising channels to reach audiences. This new movement doesn’t mean that you need to pick one over the other. What if you could have the best of both worlds? With Programmatic TV, you can get the broad awareness impact of a TV campaign with the detailed precision targeting of a Programmatic ad buy.

Programmatic TV is defined as a “data-driven and automated process of buying and delivering ads on television video content, including serving those ads on mobile devices, connected TV’s, and across the web.”

Cutting the Cord

The end of 2017 saw the highest rate of cord-cutters (3.4%) since the trend emerged in 2010. Many ending their paid TV subscriptions, and an increase in younger households who will never subscribe to a paid TV service. This new audience is called “cord-nevers”. Paid cable has become less appealing to consumers, who are opting in to more flexible and less expensive video offerings like Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube.

The good news is that people are still consuming video content – and a ton of it. Programmatic TV allows advertisers to reach these consumers while they watch “Advanced TV”. (Otherwise known as any form of TV not watched through a broadcast, cable, or satellite connection on a television.) As cord cutting continues, Programmatic TV advertising will allow marketers to stay in front of their audience.

Connected TV

One of the biggest areas of Programmatic TV advertising, is the ability to target Connected TV (CTV) devices. CTV devices connect TV to the internet by gaming consoles, fire sticks, smart devices, or smart TVs. These CTV devices allow cord-cutters and streamers to watch premium content without having a traditional cable subscription. The content is vast, ranging from full episodes and live streams to Video on Demand content.

Why is any of this important? Because more people use streaming video services more than cable subscriptions. 1.8 billion people today own at least one Connected TV device. People are consuming video content on the go and find quick content when they want, at the lowest cost. Based on platform data, Connected TV devices also have significantly higher view completion rates (97%). (When compared to other digital video placements like desktops (61%), tablets (64%) and mobile devices (67%). This type of media placement ensures that your ad will be viewed to completion much more by the people you want to reach.

If you’re only focusing on traditional TV buys, you’re likely missing out on a significant portion of your audience. Programmatic TV advertising allows you access to reach your consumers on Connected TV devices.

Hit the Right Audience

Programmatic TV brings together the best of both worlds and offers something that traditional TV buys cannot. With Programmatic TV advertising, you can ensure your commercials reach the right audience every time, especially on CTV devices. Instead of targeting by traditional programming, hoping your target consumer is tuning in, you can focus your audience by data points through first, third, and lookalike targeting capabilities.

First-Party Targeting: Based on factors like website visits, digital campaign clicks, or form completions on your website.

Third-Party Targeting: Based on demographic factors like age/gender, households with children or without, as well as purchase intent. This type of targeting can ensure that you are getting the most relevant eyes on your ads each time.

Lookalike Modeling: Create custom audiences by modeling your targeting based on online purchases, email signups, or store locations.

There is also the ability within campaigns to Retarget to people who have seen your ad or viewed it to a certain point of completion. These additional targeting capabilities make Programmatic TV advertising unique and more effective at reaching the right people with your brand’s message.

Results You Can Measure

Running your television advertisements programmatically can also provide additional insights into your campaign’s performance on top of providing standard traditional metrics. Here are the main points of measurement with Programmatic TV advertising:

• Video Completion Rates (VCRs)
• Gross Rating Points (GRPs)
• Impressions Delivered
• View-through Conversions

In rare cases, Programmatic TV campaigns can also result in clicks to the website on certain content types and supply vendors. Although your goal for a campaign of this type should never be clicks to the website, it is an added bonus to have that direct conversion action.

Are You Ready for Programmatic TV?

Are you currently running traditional TV advertising? If you’re running traditional commercials, adding Programmatic TV placements to your media strategy could expand your reach, especially among cord-cutters and younger demographics.

Have you ever wondered if your ads are reaching the right people? The defined targeting capabilities of Programmatic TV advertising can make sure your commercials are viewed by the most relevant audience every time, no more wasted ad spend.

There are so many benefits to adding Programmatic TV to your existing marketing campaigns. The traditional television landscape is constantly changing, and more people than ever are expected to do away with their cable subscriptions each year. Getting started with Programmatic TV is easy and our team would be happy to help you plan and execute the perfect campaign for your business.

Want to learn more about how you can take advantage of this acceleration through data-driven programmatic advertising? Consider registering for our Keynotes education series!

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Watch the extended interview with Caleb Hoover, the owner of Hoover Heights Media in Sioux Falls, SD as he talks about the power of Video Marketing and the difference it can make in your business.

If you would like to learn more about Video Marketing and how you can utilize the power of online videos within your business, download our Video Marketing Checklist today. This checklist was created by both Hoover Heights Media and KeyMedia Solutions.

The document starts with ten tips for creating video. Caleb Hoover gives expert advice about the process that goes into creating a video. From an idea to pushing record, these ten tips will help you create a high-quality video that your audience will love.

The checklist continues with ten tips from our own Content Specialist Sam Thorson. He outlines ten tips that you can use to distribute your video across the internet. From choosing a distribution channel to why you should be organizing your videos, these tips will help your videos reach the most people.

To download the checklist, just fill out the form below and it will be sent directly to your inbox.

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Information about Hoover Heights Media

Caleb Hoover started Hoover Heights Media, LLC in 2012, after doing video and photo for a non-profit located in North and South Dakota. He helps businesses and non-profits enhance their web presence with video. The mission of Hoover Heights Media, LLC is simple: Your Story. Our Camera.
Hoover Heights Media, LLC | Bio & Services

Contact Information

Website: www.hooverheightsmedia.com
Email: caleb@hooverheightsmedia.com
Phone: 605-376-6897
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