Tag Archive for: snapchat

Expert Opinions on Upcoming Super Bowl LII Ads

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Many tune in to watch the best football players in the country face off during the Super Bowl each year, but many more tune in exclusively to watch the amazing advertisements that are shown in between in the game.

Super Bowl Sunday is one of the most costly days of the year for many advertisers. Each ad is carefully crafted and backed by an enormous budget to appear in front of more than 110 million Americans. It is not absurd to say that $5 million is a bargain for such an ad.

This year, many professionals are weighing in about such Super Bowl ads. In this article we will focus on ways for marketers to improve their Super Bowl advertising strategy, as well as take a look at previous Super Bowl ads and how they compare to those in recent years.

How to Get the Biggest Bang for Your Buck

AdWeek contributor Chandler Sopko provided several ways in which she believes marketers will be able to optimize their efforts during Super Bowl LII. Her advice is as follows:

  • Outspend the Competition: Even if you are not planning to run a TV spot during the game, you still have to shell out a considerable amount of cash to get your ad into prime position for users. It is very common for people to interact with brands during the game, particularly through social media. For this to happen, you have to first gain their attention by making it to the forefront of the pack.
  • Pin it Up: Party hosts are going to be scouring Pinterest looking for recipes for their upcoming party. If your company has any relevance to users that are looking for ‘the best cheese dip ever’ or ‘football decorations’ now is the time to show them one of your ads.
  • Geotarget with Snapchat: Snapchat has allowed businesses to create and implement their own filters for quite a while now. If you own the type of establishment where users are likely to hang out during the game, such as a sports bar, then a geofilter would be an excellent way to engage your customers while also promoting your business. Make sure to add your logo to the filter. This will alert recipients of every snap of your business, and what a great environment it provides for major events.
  • Continue the Conversation: Do not let the end of the game mark the end of your campaign. Talk of Super Bowl ads extends far into the following week. Be sure that your campaign is still visible as people are discussing it with one another. This will hopefully help you to squeeze a few more engagements out of your target audience.

Past vs Present

Adweek took the time to interview several top creatives in the world of advertising. These creatives discussed their opinions on Super Bowl ads, and shockingly, they all had rather harsh criticisms to share.

Matthew Bull, founder and CEO of SoloUnion, and Rafael Rizuto, founder and CEO of TBD, felt that the Super Bowl is often used as an excuse to be more innovative and creative. Both of these critics felt that each and every day in advertising should be as innovative and creative as possible. No single day should get all of the attention or effort.

Gerry Graf, founder and CEO of Barton F. Graf, expressed disappointment in how little most brands receive for their incredibly large investments into advertising during the Super Bowl. He feels that in order for the ad to have the biggest impact possible on the brand, it should be used for a new company that is not yet recognized by many Americans.

To see the full video interview conducted by Adweek, please click HERE.

Google Set to Launch new “Google Stamp” Platform Soon

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It’s been reported that Google is set to launch their new “Google Stamp” platform in the near future with intentions to compete with Instagram’s stories and Snapchat’s Discover features. Although the exact launch date of the new Google platform is unknown, there has been plenty of speculation about the full capabilities of this tool. This post will explore what is known so far about the Google Stamp and its future marketing implications.

Google Stamp Overview
Back in August, news was released from the Wall Street Journal that Google has been developing their new Google Stamp product as a direct competitor to Snapchat’s Discover feature. The Discover component is one of Snapchat’s most lucrative and popular features, which enables users to view stories of breaking news, sporting events, celebrities, and every other important thing happening in the world. According to an article from Search Engine Watch, the Google Stamp platform is “expected to function in a similar manner to Snapchat Discover. Users will be able to view difference pieces of content with a healthy mix of video, images, and text to keep readers engaged.” Another interesting aspect to point out is the meaning behind the Google Stamp name. Stamp is a combination of the “St” as an abbreviation for stories and the “amp” acronym for accelerated mobile pages.

Advertising Implications
With the implementation of Google Stamp coming in the near future, this raises the questions of advertising implications and what this will mean for brands looking to get involved. The Search Engine Watch article points out that “advertisers should not view this as a traditional media purchase, as there will need to be close collaboration between content creators and content promoters to ensure that ads are contextual.” As for the campaign format, it’s thought to be similar to launching a campaign on Snapchat or Instagram. The article mentions how “the same team who handles AdWords campaigns would have to integrate new skill sets to make the most of this opportunity to effectively advertise on Google Stamp.” Ultimately, it will be interesting to see what advertising options become available on the Google Stamp and how brands choose to utilize them.

Unanswered Questions
All of the information released so far about the Google Stamp leaves plenty of unanswered questions, as a lot is still unknown about the product. The Search Engine Watch article lists numerous questions that will be important to answer once the Google Stamp officially launches. Listed below are some of the critical questions the article mentions.

– “Which types of queries will trigger Stamp results?”
– “How frequently will Google Stamp be featured in search results?”
– “Will users migrate over to Google to use what seems likely to be a very similar product to Snapchat Discover?”
– “What options will be open to advertisers? Will Google introduce innovative new formats to maximize Stamp’s potential?”

Contact Us
For more information regarding digital marketing expertise, visit the Onimod Global Website. We provide weekly news updates on the latest in the world of digital marketing. Enjoy!

2017 Year in Review: Digital Marketing

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As we near the end of 2017, we recall many of the new ideas and innovations that this year brought to us. In digital marketing, there have been many changes. Digital marketing is centered around change, as it is required for this industry to live and thrive. Now we take a look at some of the biggest changes to digital marketing in 2017.

The Move to Mobile

This past year saw an incredible shift in user preference to mobile devices. It has grown to such a height that mobile search has now overtaken desktop search. The trend began early in 2017, but did not slow down at all. 33.3% of all transactions from Cyber Monday were completed on a mobile device. This mobile activity is up nearly 17% from the previous year.

It is also worth noting that age does not matter when it comes to mobile. Most people assume that the only demographic utilizing these mobile technologies are younger generations. In reality, older consumers are regularly active on digital devices. In fact, 50+ year old consumers had a 12% growth in smartphone usage over the past year. Read more in our article, “How to Reach Senior Citizens Using Digital Marketing”.

Competition Between Social Platforms

In 2017, each major social platform was vying for the spotlight. Twitter attempted to increase their numbers by doubling the character limit from 140 to 280. Sadly, this change did not produce the desired effect they were looking for, as their Q3 reports showed another decline in activity.

Snapchat focused on increasing advertising revenue. Their ‘Snap Pixel’ gives marketers better insight into consumer behaviors, which is certainly valuable when forming any kind of marketing strategy.

In the end, one social media platform came out on top in 2017. There can only be one winner, and this winner is Facebook. Facebook provides a larger audience, better targeting options, and superior results when it comes to digital marketing. Their resources and refined tools cannot be outdone. It is also very likely that their success will only continue to grow in the upcoming year.

The Importance of a Marketing Strategy

Digital marketing has become much more calculated. As the industry grows, experts are looking to make the most precise decisions when it comes to their digital marketing efforts. This means that anyone serious about digital marketing should be using a well thought out marketing strategy.

Long standing organizations have the benefit of possessing a history of data. This data is invaluable. Past behavior predicts future behavior. So, data can show you exactly what decisions to make, without much risk of failure.

However, if you do not have a large database to fall back on, it is best to begin with broad objectives which are then refined over time as you begin to notice what works and what does not. For more detailed information in creating a marketing strategy, please take a look at our article, “Create the Perfect Digital Marketing Strategy”.

Digital Permeation

As the digital industry continues to grow, it expands across many other industries. Digital marketing presents all businesses with the ability to better market their products and services. The main advantage is digital marketing’s low cost. Of course, digital marketing campaigns can become expensive if desired, but most campaigns produce results for mere pennies on the dollar.

This advantage has allowed digital marketing to infiltrate every area of business possible. There are no real limitations when it comes to digital marketing. Any organization looking to sell their product to a specified target audience can do it.

As a result, digital marketing strategies have been developed for entire industries. Food, healthcare, metal fabrication, you name it. All of these industries have been affected by digital marketing, and will continue to be affected in 2018.

5 Notable Social Media Stats So Far in 2017

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2017 has been an interesting year so far in the world of social media, with some surprising stats and trends. Facebook remains a giant, Instagram is making strides, and Snapchat is utilizing augmented reality to its advantage. Some of the social media stats listed below are from Lauren Johnson’s Article in Adweek that caught our attention.

1. Snapchat and Augmented Reality
Snapchat has recently launched its augmented reality lenses to the public, which now allows users and brands to create their own animated figures and filters. This has given Snapchat an advantage when it comes to the amount of daily content created. According to the Adweek Article, “Snapchat expects 1 trillion photos to be taken with the app this year, which equates to 31,720 snaps every second.” Over 30,000 snaps per second in the year of 2017 is a mind boggling statistic and it will be interesting to see where Snapchat goes in 2018.

2. Facebook Usage Remains Massive
Although other messaging applications such as Twitter, Kik, and Snapchat are experiencing plenty of usage, Facebook still continues to dominate the “messaging empire.” According to the article, “Facebook announced that 17 billion video chats have been sent via messenger in 2017, which doubles the number in 2016. People have also sent 1.7 billion emojis on a daily basis thus far in 2017.” Moreover, Facebook is dominating the social media industry in many aspects and this trend will most likely continue through the next year.

3. Retailers Choosing Instagram Over Snapchat
Instagram adopting the “stories” feature has greatly helped the social media channel in terms of attracting retailers. According to a study from L2 Gartner, “1,400 social posts were analyzed from retailers like TJ Maxx and Marshalls, and it was discovered that Instagram stories made up 95% of the brands social posts.” This is huge for Instagram as their story feature usage in 2016 only accounted for “39% of social posts.”

4. GIF Histeria
The use of GIFs (graphic interchange format) so far in 2017 has been astounding. The article reports that “300 million people have used 2 billion GIFs every day in 2017 thus far.” The use of GIFs is mainly seen within the social media platforms of Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pintrest, and Facebook. The use of GIFS doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon and even looks to increase in the future.

5. Instagram Reaching Millennials
It’s no surprise that Instagram’s popularity is growing, especially with millennials. According to a survey conducted by the Bustle Digital Group, “81 percent out of the 1,000 millennials interviewed claimed social media is the most effective way to reach them. From that group, 40 percent said Instagram is the best way to reach them.” Ultimately, Instagram has been making major strides in 2017 and expect the social media giant to even increase their market share in 2018.

Contact Us: For more information regarding digital marketing expertise, visit the Onimod Global Website. We provide weekly news updates on the latest in the world of digital marketing. Enjoy!

Snapchat App Debuts Pixel To Help Marketers Track Conversions

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Despite still being a bit young in the advertising world, Snapchat is starting to step up their game with the introduction of the new ‘Snap Pixel’. This new addition to the wildly popular social media app will give marketers incredible insight into their ad’s success rate amongst targeted consumers.

What Is A Conversion Pixel?

The idea of a conversion pixel may be a bit foreign. Essentially, a pixel is a tool used to help track conversions. Digitaland.tv describes a pixel as being a, “tiny, transparent, pixel-sized images embedded in everything from emails to banner ads during Digital Banner Production.” Digital advertisers use these pixels to see if their advertisements generated the desired response from consumers who viewed the ad.

Once embedded, these pixels can show marketers if the user converted after viewing an ad or not, which helps marketers determine if the ad is effective or not. It also tells them how well their ad dollar is being spent, which is incredibly important on the bottom line.

How It Can Be Used

We have already discussed how pixels can be used to tell marketers about an ad and its effectiveness, but what else can it do? An article by Casey Wilson of Forbes shares insight into how this tiny tool can be used to better understand your target audience.

Specifically, Wilson says that a pixel can help digital marketers produce the following 3 audience segments:

  • All Site Visitors
  • Cart Abandoners
  • All Converters

It is always critical to understand your target audience. The more information you can gather, the better. This information is what is going to help you generate solid conversions, and in the end every business is looking for more conversions because more conversions mean more money made.

Other Pixel Platforms

Google and Facebook have already been using pixel tracking for quite some time, and have received great results. Social media has shown itself to be an incredible digital marketing medium. Facebook recently released their third quarter reports for 2017 to reveal an astounding $10.14 billion in advertising revenue.

This is the very same stage that Snapchat is now competing on. It will be very interesting to see the effects that the new Snap Pixel has within the industry of digital marketing. It is doubtful that Snapchat will ever rise to the same level of advertising at which Facebook currently operates, but it will certainly be intriguing to see how it all plays out in the months to come.

 

*Feature image courtesy of: ThoroughlyReviewed

5 Fascinating Digital Marketing Stats So Far in 2017

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2017 has been an interesting year so far in the digital marketing world, with some surprising stats and trends. Some of the stats listed are from Christopher Heine’s article in Adweek that caught our attention.

1. Yelp ahead of Snapchat in Ad Revenue:
According to eMarketer, “Yelp will make close to $720 million this year in digital ad sales in the U.S. compared to Snapchat’s $640 million.” This statistic was surprising at first considering the social media giant that Snapchat has become in recent years. Not to say $640 million a year in ad revenue is a bad thing, but it will be interesting to see if Snapchat makes any adjustments for advertisers before the end of the year.

2. Google and Facebook Dominate:
This one didn’t come as much of a surprise compared to the other stats listed. eMarketer also projected that “63% of all digital ad sales by the end of the year will come from Google and Facebook. In numbers that is equivalent to $35 billion for Google and $17.4 billion for Facebook.” This shows the dominance of Google and Facebook in the advertising world and we would expect this trend to continue if companies are experiencing positive returns on investments.

3. Pinterest Making Improvements:
Pinterest has been making some massive improvements as of late regarding their advertising options. According to Heine’s article, “Pinterest advertisers now have access to 5,000 interest categories that will roll out in the next couple of weeks.” With this upgrade from Pinterest, engagement rates are expected to increase by a significant amount and cost-per-clicks are projected to decrease.

4. Uber Lawsuit:
It’s been recently reported that Uber is pursuing a lawsuit against a mobile advertising company called Fetch Media. Heine’s article states that “Uber is suing Fetch Media for at least $40 million accusing the company of improper billing for fraudulent ads falsely taking credit for app downloads.” We’ll see how the lawsuit plays out, but this is significant because it could potentially ruin the reputations of other mobile ad companies.

5. Trouble Tracking Ad Spend:
Digital marketers losing track of ad spend may come off as a surprise, but an article from Marketing Week found this to be evident. Apparently “only 36% of digital marketers are confident that their campaigns are targeting the appropriate audiences.” They also found that “nearly a quarter of digital marketers don’t consistently track their campaigns whatsoever.” These two statistics really jumped out to us because monitoring digital marketing campaigns is essential to making sure ad dollar is used efficiently.

Contact Us:
For more information regarding digital marketing expertise, visit the Onimod Global Website. We provide weekly news updates on the latest in the world of digital marketing. Enjoy!

Snapchat’s New “Snap Map” Update: How this Impacts Marketers

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A couple of weeks ago Snapchat introduced a new feature called the “Snap Map.” This feature is almost a replication of the “Find My Friends” app, which means users can now share their location with one another. This may be an invasion of privacy to some degree, yet it’ll be interesting to see how marketers will be able to take advantage of this feature. This post will explore some details about the “Snap Map” and more importantly the marketing implications it may have.

Snap Map Info:
Snapchat’s overall purpose of implementing this new feature is because they want users to have “a new way to explore the world.” What really stands out is that users not only have the capability of finding their friends, but they can now access public snaps from around the globe. As mentioned previously, the privacy of Snapchat users seems to be invaded but there is a “ghost mode” option for those who don’t want to appear on the map. Ultimately, this new “Snap Map” feature is a massive update and it’s still very early to predict where Snapchat plans to go with this moving forward. It’s definitely something to keep an eye on as there seems to be unlimited potential for this going forward.

Potential Marketing Benefits:
From a business and marketing standpoint, the “Snap Map” has a lot of potential for advertising opportunities and location marketing tools. Although Snapchat announced they don’t plan to run ads in the Snap Map stories, it doesn’t mean this isn’t a possibility in the future. Live updates across the Snap Map is one way for marketers to get involved. This allows brands to take advantage of live events as they are able to on other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

Another big marketing opportunity for businesses is the emphasis on location marketing. Since the majority of Snapchat’s audience is mobile based, users become much easier to reach due to their locations being accessible. Any store or restaurant for instance would have the capability of placing paid advertisements to potential consumers near their location. It’s hard to say how this would fully operate because as a user I wouldn’t want my Snap Map to be filled with ads everywhere on a daily basis. In the end however, there seem to be endless possibilities in terms of marketing opportunities within the new Snap Map feature. In an ever-changing and competitive social media world, the Snap Map feature appears to have Snapchat heading in the right direction.

Contact Us:
With our cross channel expertise in social media management and advertising, our team at Onimod Global can help solve all of your digital marketing needs. Feel free to reach out to us on our Contact Us page to get a free evaluation today. We look forward to hearing from you!