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Like piling freshly grated parmesan on pasta, dipping pizza in ranch dressing, or pumping extra butter on movie theater popcorn, adding “digital” to out-of-home advertising makes what was already a good thing even better.
In its non-digital form, out-of-home (OOH) advertising allows advertisers to connect with consumers in high-traffic locations to drive awareness and/or action, and to reach people in places and moments where other forms of advertising can’t. From a series of bright and cheery billboards for a frozen custard shop along the highway, to a larger-than-life poster for a hot new film release placed just blocks from a movie theater, out-of-home-ads foster connection and emotion. And given how long OOH advertising has been around, it’s no surprise that the advent of its digital counterpart has been making waves.
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising takes everything great about OOH and adds the benefits inherent to digital technology—namely, the ability to target, track, optimize, refine, and measure the results of OOH ads. Programmatic digital out-of-home (pDOOH) takes things a step further, allowing advertisers to harness the power of automation and real-time bidding technology to make the most of out-of-home ad spend. And as more and more marketers embrace these benefits, DOOH and pDOOH ad spend are experiencing rapid growth.
We’re here to give you the lowdown on digital out-of-home advertising so you can leverage its power in your upcoming campaigns and connect with people in intentional moments along their purchasing journeys. Ready? Let’s dive in.
DOOH advertising is defined as any digital advertising media that people encounter outside of their homes. Though people most closely associate DOOH with brightly colored digital billboards (like those in Times Square), the channel includes everything from massive digital billboards, to ads displayed on mall kiosk screens, to video ads that pop up on the gas station TV while you’re refueling.
Here are the latest stats marketers should know about DOOH:
Much like DOOH, programmatic digital out-of-home is growing rapidly. In 2022, pDOOH ad spend saw a 116.3% increase year-over-year, and it is forecast to surpass $1 billion in 2025 while accounting for 31% of total DOOH spend.
As their acronyms suggest (and as we briefly touched on earlier), DOOH and OOH ads have a lot in common. Out-of-home advertising includes any ads a person would find outside of their home that are not found on their personal device(s), including billboards, images around bus stops and other public transit systems, posters in public areas, and more. It’s an umbrella term that covers non-digital out-of-home, digital out-of-home, and programmatic digital out-of-home (easy way to remember: all DOOH is OOH advertising, but not all OOH advertising is DOOH advertising!)
Non-digital out-of-home is one of the oldest, most established forms of advertising around—with (the origin of US billboards dates back to the 1830s). But non-digital out-of-home often requires long commitments and lacks flexibility when it comes to revising buys.
Enter: DOOH, the digital iteration of OOH advertising. The digital elements of DOOH have brought significant advancements to OOH advertising that have reenergized marketers’ view of the channel and its effectiveness. DOOH includes the digital forms of ads that consumers encounter outside of their homes, such as large format screens at sporting events, digital screens at gyms and doctors’ offices, and screens that include advertisements at the point-of-purchase.
And how does programmatic digital out-of-home fit into this mix? Much like how DOOH is a type of OOH advertising, pDOOH is a type of DOOH advertising, and it includes any DOOH inventory that is bought programmatically. Programmatic digital out-of-home allows advertisers to activate DOOH campaigns in an automated and data-driven way, typically by using a demand side platform (DSP).
There are several different venue formats when it comes to DOOH advertising. These include:
On top of these, other forms of digital signage are making their way into more and more places in our everyday environments. From screens scattered throughout the local gym, to bright and bold outdoor panels along sidewalks in urban areas, to small screens on the back of the headrests in taxis, digital displays are popping up everywhere.
Using a combination of these different venue types can allow you to get your brand or product messaging in front of the right consumer, at the right time.
With an oft-dizzying array of digital channels and media types to choose from, what distinct benefits does DOOH offer to advertisers? Here are some of the most notable:
DOOH offers brands an opportunity to connect with consumers in real-world moments—including those in which they’re unreachable (or less reachable) on their personal devices. Case in point: 98% of consumers have visited a DOOH venue in the last 30 days. And, given its one-to-many nature, DOOH is an effective channel for building brand awareness and boosting brand recognition at scale.
In addition, recent research shows that DOOH ads have a stronger impact on consumers than more traditional OOH formats. A recent study that dug into the neuroscience of DOOH found that digital ads deliver 63% more impact, on average, than their non-digital counterparts.
A digital sign in the subway station that reminds you to buy groceries (with a QR code that takes you right to the supermarket’s same-day delivery app).
A digital billboard that switches between images of iced coffee and hot beverages, depending on the weather.
An urban panel that highlights an upcoming concert at a nearby venue, and then directs customers to the ticketing website on their mobile phones.
Much like OOH, DOOH offers advertisers the chance to connect with consumers in a way that’s eye-catching, bold, and memorable (and on a screen that’s likely far bigger than those of their personal devices!). And, thanks to its digital nature, advertisers can potentially even lean into advancements in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to give consumers a truly immersive experience.
Given the variations in sizes, locations, and types of screens available for DOOH ads, marketers can get creative with their ads. This could include using multiple images or videos, since digital screens allow on-screen messaging to change every few seconds; incorporating interactive elements like QR codes to direct consumers to take action; or leveraging touch-screen technology for a more immersive customer experience.
And, unlike many other ad formats, DOOH ads are non-skippable and highly viewable, so bold and engaging messaging/creative has a high probability of making an impression: A recent study found that DOOH ads have the power to deliver impact in as little as a one- or two-second glance. In other words, these ads provide a great opportunity to make a statement!
More traditional OOH investments are known for their long buying cycles and relative lack of flexibility when it comes to revising buys and/or creative displays. And it makes sense, right? Making tweaks to the messaging on the non-digital billboard along the highway is a far greater undertaking than updating the digital files to be displayed on a DOOH screen.
DOOH, on the other hand, offers advertisers increased flexibility within their campaigns: On-screen messaging can change every few minutes, and it’s easier to adjust creative and/or make optimizations during a campaign. Additionally, advertisers can use DOOH within cross-device campaigns—whether by incorporating QR codes that viewers scan on their mobile devices, or by geotargeting personal devices of consumers around a specific DOOH ad or campaign—leveraging DOOH’s flexibility to reach and connect with consumers in a way that drives action.
Consumers are demanding increased privacy, and the world of adtech is shifting to meet the needs of a world without third-party cookies. So, how does DOOH advertising fit into the privacy conversation?
Since DOOH is anonymized and a one-to-many channel, it’s inherently privacy-friendly. With DOOH, there’s no need to think about alternative solutions to third-party cookies or ways to target that are privacy friendly. Though DOOH ads can be targeted based on a screen’s geolocation, context, and other parameters, targeting is not done at a personal level.
Though this one’s specific to programmatic DOOH, it’s worth noting: Thanks to the power of real-time bidding, pDOOH allows advertisers to put ads in front of consumers at the right time and place. Where traditional OOH investments are known for requiring long commitments and lacking flexibility, pDOOH empowers advertisers to use real-time data to act flexibly and nimbly in their campaigns.
In its original non-digital form, OOH advertising is largely location-based. Just think of that billboard for a juicy burger and extra-crispy fries that shows up just as you’re about to reach the appropriate exit on the highway, or the poster plastered inside the ski bus that advertises services for a personal injury lawyer (yikes!)
DOOH allows for similar location-based targeting (geotargeting), as well as additional targeting features including:
These enhanced targeting parameters allow advertisers to get even more specific in ensuring their ad gets in front of their ideal consumer in a precise and strategically beneficial moment.
Thanks to recent advancements and innovations in location technology, DOOH ads are now far more measurable. By understanding when and where an ad was played, who was nearby, and what actions people near an ad (and likely exposed to that ad) took, marketers can measure the impacts of their DOOH campaigns.
Marketers can track the impact of DOOH ads based on metrics like impressions, bids won, impressions per bid, and win rate. They can also set KPIs across the purchase funnel, including:
DOOH advertising gives marketers the opportunity to connect with consumers in a big, bold way, at times when people may not be actively using their phones, tablets, and other personal devices. Unlike traditional OOH, digital OOH gives allows advertisers to embrace the latest innovations in adtech to personalize, target, and measure the results of their out-of-home ads. As such, savvy marketers are increasingly embracing the channel as part of their larger, omnichannel media strategy.
Of course, adding any new channel to your marketing mix can be challenging, especially given the state of media complexity in today’s marketing landscape. If you’re interested in learning more about how to incorporate DOOH within your campaigns but unsure of where to start, our Media Strategy & Activation Team has you covered.
Digital audio is everywhere: from the podcasts we download for our morning commute, to the tunes we blast at the gym, to the live radio programs we stream while doing the dishes. For marketers, the channel provides an opportunity to connect with consumers when and where they’re listening—and to foster meaningful, personal connections in these moments.
Until now, digital audio’s power has been largely underutilized by advertisers. But the tides are turning, and with people spending more and more time with digital audio, a wave of audio ad spend is cresting on the horizon.
In this guide, we explore how savvy marketers can embrace this unique opportunity to connect with consumers. We analyze the latest trends, insights, and research to help advertisers harness the power of audio in their campaigns.
Ready to level up your digital audio advertising expertise? Download your copy of the guide today!
Well, here we are again, halfway through February. Love is in the air, spring is peeking around the corner, and candy hearts are in high demand.
Yes, today is Valentine’s Day, and so what better time to show your customers how much you care? To help, we figured we’d share a few strategies that will have your customers crushing on you like it’s night one of The Bachelor.
Like love at first sight, customer conversions after only one marketing touchpoint are rare. Retargeting ads can help you re-engage potential customers in a personalized way.
Here are three tips for developing effective retargeting strategies:
Users want personalization: a recent study found that 56% of consumers expect all marketing offers to be personalized. So, once you’ve leveraged available data to create basic audience segments (i.e., groups of people who have taken the same actions online or who share a common demographic, interest, etc.), tailor your ads to those segments. Advertisers should leverage available data to incorporate customization and personalization into retargeting ads, as well as feature a strong call-to-action to prompt users to take the next step.
Dynamic creative optimization (DCO) is a highly automated approach that uses customer data to create thousands of variations of personalized ads automatically, based on individual customers or groups of customers. It’s more efficient, less error-prone, and ensures your customers are getting the personalized ads they want without you having to create each one individually.
For marketers keen on creating an effective retargeting strategy, cross-device retargeting is a powerful tactic. It allows brands not only to re-engage potential customers, but also to do it across their devices, creating a seamless customer experience. For example, a person might first encounter your brand as they browse on their phone while on-the-go, and, through the power of cross-device retargeting, could later be served a more personalized ad on their tablet or laptop to move them further down the purchase funnel.
Read more about how to create effective retargeting ads.
If you want a love and/or digital media strategy that lasts, you need to focus on a long-term approach that maximizes lifetime customer value.
Take the current economic upheaval: this uncertainty leaves little room for marketing that inadvertently steers away from maximizing lifetime customer value.
In a recent episode of the AdTech Unfiltered podcast, Basis Technologies' VP of Media Innovations & Technology, Noor Nasser, spoke with Vera Shafiq (VP of Digital Strategy, Location 3) to explore how and why advertisers must rethink some common but shortsighted marketing tactics that are curbing long-term success. Their conversation touches on strategies for generating long term, scalable, and sustainable results for agencies and brands.
Check out "How to Build a Digital Marketing Strategy That Lasts".
A worn-out opening line won’t do much for the date you’re trying to woo, and a generalized approach won’t win over your customers. Personalization is key to a great customer experience.
In today’s campaigns, customers want brands to move beyond a blanket targeting approach and create content that caters to their unique experiences. Studies show that 73% of all buyers (including both B2B and B2C) expect companies to understand their unique needs, while just over half (56%) expect offers to always be personalized.
When done manually, these types of omnichannel personalization strategies can be incredibly cost sapping and time consuming, relying on a host of disparate platforms. Marketers who are looking to successfully incorporate personalized moments into their advertising experiences—and find the greater flexibility, efficiency, and scalability required to implement them—will need three things: a strategy to streamline planning, technology to effortlessly control campaigns, and data-driven measurement. Fortunately, there is one existing solution that offers all that (and more): digital advertising automation.
Read more about creating personalized customer experiences.
A whopping 88% of customers believe trust becomes more important in times of change. And just like cheese, wine, and blue jeans, trust gets better with time. By using intentional strategies like these and staying savvy about brand safety, digital marketers can help build and strengthen trust across the entire customer journey. And who doesn't love the sound of that?
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Ready to develop a media buying strategy that will rock your customers' world, but not sure where to start? Basis has all the tools, resources, and support you need to develop customer relationships that last.
Imagine this: You’re online shopping on your lunch break and see a pair of running shoes that catches your eye. On sale, in your size—and aren’t your old ones getting a bit worn-out? “Noted,” you think as you click to another website.
Later that night, you grab your phone to pull up the recipe you’re making for dinner. And voilà! There’s an ad for those exact running shoes from earlier displayed alongside the recipe.
While some may be tempted to think it’s a coincidence (or even a sign that they’re meant to buy those new shoes), this is an example of ad retargeting at play.
Few website visitors convert on their first visit. But that doesn’t mean that advertisers should (or do) give up on them! Just think about the number of times you’ve visited a website, added items to your cart, and forgot about said cart, only to return later on to make a purchase. Rather than giving up on would-be customers who don’t complete a conversion the first time around (fill out a form, buy a product, etc.), marketers can re-engage them through retargeting advertising.
Retargeting is a digital strategy in which advertisers serve targeted ads to consumers who have visited their website or who are contacts within their database. Retargeting ads allow marketers to reconnect with potential consumers who have not yet completed a conversion, thus building brand awareness, expanding product recognition, and increasing the likelihood that those people convert.
When set up correctly, retargeting ads are a cost-effective way for advertisers to reach interested buyers who already have some familiarity with their brand and/or product.
We provide an in-depth look at how retargeting ads work (and share a host of solutions for retargeting in privacy-friendly ways!) in this piece, so we’ll keep this part brief. Here are the basics:
In pixel-based retargeting, a small piece of code (aka a pixel or “cookie”) is attached to a consumer’s browser when they visit your website. Later, when they’re browsing online, the pixel allows your advertising team to serve them personalized, retargeted ads based on the interactions on your website.
Other types of retargeting allow marketers to leverage first-party data to serve personalized ads. This could mean retargeting them on a different device, aggregating first-party buyer intent data to create audience segments, or serving an ad for a specific product that was left sitting in their shopping cart.
So, how can marketers create effective retargeting ads? Though there’s no secret sauce or magic ingredient that guarantees retargeting success, there are some proven strategies that marketers can employ:
Users want personalization: a recent study found that 56% of consumers expect all marketing offers to be personalized. So, once you’ve leveraged available data to create basic audience segments (i.e., groups of people who have taken the same actions online or who share a common demographic, interest, etc.), tailor your ads to those segments.
Keep in mind that those users have already demonstrated interest in your site and/or product, so serving the same messaging that you’d use for a more general, potentially unaware audience likely won’t have the same impact. Advertisers should leverage available data to incorporate customization and personalization into retargeting ads, as well as feature a strong call-to-action to prompt users to take the next step.
If you shuddered at the thought of having to manually craft personalized variations of creative for individual audience segments, we get it. Advertisers today face an increasingly complex digital media environment, and adding another factor like ad personalization can feel overwhelming.
Fortunately, technologies like dynamic creative optimization (DCO) can eliminate some of that manual labor. DCO is a highly automated approach that uses customer data to create thousands of variations of personalized ads automatically, based on individual customers or groups of customers. It’s more efficient, less error-prone, and ensures your customers are getting the personalized ads they want without you having to create each one individually.
People spend a lot of time with digital media. In 2022, US adults dedicated a whopping 8 hours and 28 minutes to digital every single day (that’s more than the average US adult sleeps each night!)
Importantly, consumers don’t spend all that time in one place. From watching video on connected TV devices, to scrolling through TikTok or Instagram on mobile phones, to browsing the internet on a second computer screen while working from home, people are increasingly engaging with many different devices and channels throughout the day.
For marketers keen on creating an effective retargeting strategy, cross-device retargeting is a powerful tactic. It allows brands not only to re-engage potential customers, but also to do it across their devices. For example, a person might first encounter your brand as they browse on their phone while on-the-go, and, through the power of cross-device retargeting, could later be served a more personalized ad on their tablet or laptop to move them further down the purchase funnel.
Retargeting marketing offers the opportunity to provide a personalized experience to customers, increase brand awareness, and re-engage with consumers who already have some knowledge of their product or brand. And, by taking a cross-device approach, leveraging available automation tech, and leaning into ad personalization, advertisers can ensure they’re using retargeting ads effectively within their campaigns.
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Interested in learning even more about retargeting? Take AdTech Academy’s retargeting course to learn even more about this digital marketing essential!
As folks in the technology industry know all too well, the past few years have been a wild ride. Though factors like economic uncertainty, inflation, and supply chain disruptions have affected many sectors, the tech industry has been especially hard-hit. Couple these challenges with skyrocketing layoffs, and advertisers in tech might be left questioning whether working in an industry that’s supposed to be on the cutting edge of innovation is all it’s cracked up to be.
Today, we’re exploring the most significant challenges that tech advertisers are facing, as well as some key strategies for weathering this storm of uncertainty.
To understand what tech marketers can do to adapt to the unpredictability of today’s landscape, let’s first explore what they’re up against. Though there are many factors contributing to industry upheaval, here are some of the most significant:
Handling one of these factors alone would likely feel overwhelming. But trying to handle all of them at once? It’s easy to see how a tech marketer could end up feeling like they’re stuck in an endless, unbeatable game of Whac-A-Mole.
Luckily, there are some proven strategies that tech advertisers can use to adapt to tumultuous times. Though conditions and solutions will differ depending on the type of “tech” you’re in—EdTech, FinTech, software tech, etc.—the following three strategies can make an impact across the board:
Extensive layoffs, increased workload, economic uncertainty: these are just a few of the factors that contribute to burnout. And, if this list looks familiar, it’s because many of these are the same forces impacting the tech industry today.
To say the threat of burnout is real for tech workers feels like an understatement—just take a look at these findings from Yerbo’s The State of Burnout in Tech report:
Coupled with the level of burnout experienced throughout the digital advertising world? Many tech marketers face an even higher risk of the physical and emotional exhaustion that is characteristic of burnout.
So, what can tech marketing leaders do? First and foremost, don’t ignore the elephant in the room. Pretending that burnout doesn’t exist merely leads to—you guessed it!—more burnout. Once leaders acknowledge the risks and realities of burnout, they can take action to combat it head-on.
In the face of short-staffed and burnt-out teams, embracing technological innovations that save your people time is a no brainer. Advertising automation tools that offer features like automated billing, automated reporting, and workflow automation can not only free up time for marketers by reducing manual labor, but also make their jobs more enjoyable by automating tedious tasks.
Leaders can also address burnout by acknowledging the difficulties that tech marketers face. This validation legitimizes team members’ experiences and helps to build trust, which is essential for navigating difficult times successfully. Employers can also provide resources like mental health days, wellness events, or free memberships to health apps (whether physical, mental, financial, or emotional) to help tech marketers prioritize their overall wellbeing.
Even during “normal” times, consumer habits and behaviors shift. And during times of uncertainty? They do so in a big way. Take, for example, the growth of connected TV (CTV) viewership, the rise of TikTok, or the increasing popularity of e-commerce over the past few years. These are just a few of many recent—and drastic—changes in consumer behavior.
While the number and scale of these shifts can feel overwhelming, the best way to manage them is to go back to marketing basics. Specifically, re-invest your team’s time and energy into tracking and understanding consumer behavior, and in using insights from that data to make strategic campaign decisions.
By setting up robust systems to regularly collect and dig into consumer data, tech advertisers can ensure that they are meeting customers where they’re at. Revisiting the basics in this way can help tech advertisers reach consumers, even when the marketing landscape—not to mention, the broader social and economic landscapes—shift.
Often, part of tracking consumer behaviors is discovering that they’re using their time in new ways. And here’s a hot(ish) take: when things change drastically, people tend to fall into one of two camps:
We hope that, by now, you can tell that we aren’t in favor of stubbornly resisting change. It’s exhausting and can lead to burnout.
But, at the same time, we aren’t fully in camp two. There’s a reason that certain solutions, such as tracking shifts in consumer behaviors, have stood the test of time.
The solution? Marketers should embrace a healthy mix of the two: stay flexible and try new things, but not at the cost of abandoning proven tools. We’ve already addressed the importance of revisiting the basics, which is why our final strategy for tech advertisers is to embrace opportunities for innovation.
So, what might this look like in practice? For those in EdTech, it might mean experimenting with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology to better connect with students in ways that excite them. For marketers in FinTech, it might mean trying out new(er) channels like CTV to elevate your unique story (and adding in a QR code to quickly connect customers with your products or services). For advertisers in the software as a service (SaaS) field, innovation might include using artificial intelligence (AI) tech like dynamic creative optimization (DCO) to personalize your ads—in real time—based on the prospective customers you’re targeting.
By using consumer insights to make campaign decisions and embracing innovation, tech marketers can meet the moment—no matter how complex that moment is.
To adapt to the challenges of today’s landscape, tech marketers need to be on the cutting edge. As trends shift, news breaks, and intel surfaces, advertisers need to be in the know so they can act flexibly and strategically.
But, as explored earlier, tech marketers’ plates are already quite full. Researching and finding what’s most important in the world of digital advertising can take time and resources that many don’t have.
That’s where we can help. Each month, our team puts together Basis Scout, a digest of top digital content and news, and delivers it straight to advertisers’ inboxes. It’s a great way to stay informed on all the trends impacting the world of digital advertising, especially for those in the tech industry.
It’s a tale as old as time (in the digital age): You wake up with a scratchy throat and a slight headache. At first, you ignore it—maybe it was those extra few minutes (okay, hours) of TikTok scrolling or the fact that your dog woke you up at 3:00am to go outside. Best to ignore those symptoms and get on with your day…right?
But they persist as the day progresses. You start to overthink. Likely a cold, maybe allergies—or did your friend say they thought they might have the flu? You initially resist the urge to turn to the internet for guidance, but eventually give in.
You type your symptoms into a search engine and are met with varying results. From websites claiming your symptoms indicate a problem far more extreme than what you’d imagined, to home remedies, to ads for at-home COVID tests, you’re bombarded with information. Amidst this overload, you find yourself wondering: What is true? And what can I trust?
Today, we’re exploring the issue of digital misinformation, why healthcare marketers should care, and what they can do to protect themselves from its implications.
In an increasingly digital world, more and more people are turning to the internet to meet their healthcare needs. Whether they’re looking for information about specific symptoms, researching available treatments for a new diagnosis, exploring options for healthcare providers, or reading up on how to live a healthier lifestyle, the internet has become a crucial part of how people take care of themselves.
Here are some key stats marketers should know about the current state of digital healthcare:
The takeaway? Digital healthcare is a growing sector, and one that will only become more significant in the years ahead.
The catch to this explosion of digital healthcare? The simultaneous explosion of digital misinformation—an issue that’s doubly impactful to healthcare brands, given the personal (and sometimes highly politicized) nature of healthcare decision-making.
As misinformation has proliferated in recent years, the public’s understanding of the issue has grown, as well as their sentiments in favor of tamping down on the threat. According to one 2021 Gallup poll, 59% of US adults say tech companies should take measures to restrict online misinformation, while 48% say the US government should take those same measures.
All in all, misinformation is a threat that digital marketers can’t ignore. But healthcare marketers in particular need to be proactive and intentional to protect their brands, avoid controversy, and advertise ethically.
This might be obvious, but we’re going to say it anyway: All advertisers have a responsibility to advertise ethically. Misinformation has negative impacts on internet users, and advertising dollars spent on sites that peddle misinformation support that. In addition, consumers are concerned by the spread of misinformation: A recent study showed that 80% of consumers agree misinformation is a serious problem in digital media, and 73% of consumers feel unfavorably toward brands that have been associated with misinformation.
In a 2022 McKinsey Health Institute survey, approximately 85% of total respondents rated mental and physical health as “very important” or “extremely important” to them. Health is a huge factor in determining happiness and overall quality of life, and people need reliable information to inform how they take care of themselves. So for healthcare marketers, misinformation is especially problematic.
Now, more than ever, consumers need to be able to trust the information they’re getting online when it comes to healthcare. And healthcare brands that are trying to build relationships with consumers need to be especially mindful of where their ads are displayed, what comments are generated on their social media posts, and other brand safety measures. How can you expect a consumer to trust you with their health and wellbeing when they just saw an ad for your brand on a website peddling misinformation? Or if a Facebook ad for your product is riddled with misleading comments?
When misinformation spreads about health-related topics, it’s both unethical and dangerous. Besides the moral implications of advertising alongside it, healthcare brands risk their reputations and consumer loyalty when their ads are shown in the context of mis- and dis-information.
For healthcare marketers, then, combatting misinformation should be a priority. But what should that look like? Let’s dive in.
Let’s start at the very beginning (we heard somewhere that it’s a “very good place to start”). Healthcare marketers can avoid the controversy of advertising alongside misinformation by crafting a strong brand safety plan. These plans might include:
Advertisers know their jobs aren’t finished when a campaign goes live. In healthcare marketing, this is especially true. The most effective campaigns are those that are closely monitored and optimized based on data and trends.
This monitoring for misinformation might look different based on the channel(s) you’re advertising on. For programmatic media buys, given the vastness of inventory available and the speed at which these buys occur, it’s important to have a plan to pay attention to where your ads are being placed and the content they’re running alongside. For social media, monitoring likely includes looking through posts, comments, and other activity to ensure your page or post isn’t a host for unclear, untrue, or misleading information.
Though it might feel overwhelming to plan for this degree of monitoring, the alternative is far worse. Healthcare marketers cannot afford to lose audience trust, damage their brand’s reputation, miss out on revenue, or contribute to the toxic and potentially dangerous spread of misinformation related to peoples’ health.
Finally, marketers can’t make strategic adjustments if they aren’t agile.
What this agility might look like, however, will vary depending on the situation. If you realize your ads are running alongside misinformation via programmatic buys, it might involve updating blocklists or allowlists, adjusting creative, and removing assets from sites. For social media, it could include deleting comments, actively addressing misinformation, or even removing posts.
Whatever the case, it’s critical that healthcare marketers have the flexibility to respond when these instances occur. Ignoring them or turning a blind eye could prove harmful for your brand, and for your potential consumers.
That said, it can be a challenge to stay quick on your feet in today’s fragmented and complex media landscape. One solution that can enable agility is advertising automation technology. In particular, tools like workflow automation software can streamline the media buying process, freeing up the time healthcare marketers need to make adjustments on the fly.
All advertisers want to build connection with consumers. For healthcare marketers, trusting and meaningful relationships are especially critical. One way healthcare marketers can ensure they’re building this trust is by proactively addressing misinformation when it arises (and, even better, having consistent systems in place to do so!). In doing so, they can prioritize relationships with their consumers, build brand trust and loyalty, and help to foster a safer digital environment.
The developing issue of misinformation is just one example of why advertisers need to be up to date on what’s happening in digital advertising. But researching and finding the best content can take time and resources that not everyone has.
Luckily, we’ve got you covered. Each month, we put together Basis Scout, a digest of top digital content and news. It’s a great way to stay up to date on misinformation and other evolving topics in the world of digital advertising.
Healthcare is personal—incredibly personal. It’s an industry that shapes people’s daily experiences and determines consumers’ quality of life. As something so critical to our overall wellbeing, you’d think (or at least hope!) healthcare would be straightforward and simple to understand. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.
The United States healthcare system is particularly complex, challenging to navigate, and often a source of hidden or unforeseen costs. Couple this with the stresses brought about by COVID, rising healthcare costs, skyrocketing inflation rates, and increasing economic uncertainty, and it’s clear the current healthcare landscape is complicated—if not downright overwhelming.
What’s a healthcare marketer to do? Here, we’ll explore how building strong relationships with consumers is critical for healthcare advertisers and examine how those relationships can foster empathy and trust in the face of an ever-evolving, complex healthcare system.
As we noted earlier (and as anyone who’s been to an urgent care clinic can attest), the healthcare scene in the US can range from “complicated” to “messy”…but why? Let’s dive in:
To begin with, healthcare costs in the US are significantly higher than in most other countries—and they’re only continuing to increase:
These high costs affect everyone, but they have an outsized impact on those who are uninsured or underinsured. As the US healthcare industry grows and becomes more expensive (to say nothing of the additional pressures brought on by inflation), it’s no surprise that more than 30 percent of Americans report skipping care because of its cost and another 30 percent report that, if they needed quality healthcare, they would not be able to afford it.
The COVID pandemic not only affected healthcare costs, but also consumer sentiment towards health and healthcare. In its wake, consumer awareness about health has significantly increased, coupled with a greater push for trust, reliability, and accessibility in healthcare. According to a survey of more than 15,000 adults, trust is more critical in healthcare than in any other category.
Throughout COVID, experience with healthcare (particularly in the US) varied by individuals of different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. Hispanic individuals, for instance, accounted for a disproportionately high share of COVID-19 cases during some periods. And, though vaccine confidence has improved for Black Americans, mistrust has played a role in the community’s lower and slower rates of vaccination, stemming from historical and ongoing discrimination and racism faced by Black communities. According to one study, “Vaccine-related mistrust is a multifaceted construct that includes distrust of health care and health care providers (to be equitable), the government (to provide truthful information), and the vaccine itself (to be safe and effective).”
Healthcare systems and brands must be cognizant of the level of trust, or lack thereof, in the system—whether related to COVID, or otherwise. By building relationships founded on empathetic messaging and discussions of inclusivity, healthcare marketers can begin the process of rebuilding that trust.
Beyond these complex and varied consumer sentiments, the past several years have seen an acceleration in digital healthcare: While the percentage of healthcare visits done virtually has declined since the peak of the pandemic, it remains higher than it was pre-pandemic. And, according to a recent survey, nearly two-thirds of patients said they prefer telehealth to in-office visits because of convenience, and 44% of Gen Z and millennials said they may switch providers if telehealth visits are not offered.
This indicates that consumers (especially millennials and Gen Z) are continuing to look for more reliable, convenient ways to manage their health, and that the demand for digital tools and resources has increased.
For healthcare brands with digital offerings, this is a major opportunity—and one that digital advertising can help fuel (and track for better attribution). By using strategies like contextual placements on pages related to certain conditions or health-conscious content, or placing ads alongside complimentary search terms, healthcare marketers can direct people to a website or app that serves as the hub for their brand or organization’s virtual operations.
That said, with great opportunity comes great responsibility (cliché, we know). As noted earlier, many Americans still feel a good deal of distrust toward the medical system due to past experiences, while others have trust issues with technology (especially when it comes to fraud and safety). Additionally, digital appointments curb the ability to develop strong in-person connections. Healthcare marketers will need to keep these distinct challenges in mind as they work to foster trust-based relationships with consumers.
With this knowledge of how complex and personal healthcare is, advertisers might be left wondering, “How can I effectively advertise for something so intimate and personal?” The solution: approaching consumers with empathy, seeking to understand them, and building relationships.
In 2021, the majority of US adults said that what they wanted most from a healthcare provider was for them to be a good listener. This same principle can be extended to marketing in the healthcare landscape: approach consumers with empathy and understanding and make them feel heard.
To dive into the critical work of building relationships with consumers, marketers in healthcare first need to understand who those consumers are. Here are some key stats to know:
Once healthcare marketers understand their audience, they can ensure their messaging and strategies are grounded in empathy and meeting consumer expectations.
One way to build relationships with potential patients is through long-form media, like digital audio and video. These formats allow marketers to showcase testimonials that highlight when patients experienced great empathy from their providers—in their own words and with their own voice.
Another way to establish trust and form relationships with consumers is through transparency. Hidden and unexpected costs are a significant driver of consumer behavior in healthcare, with many patients opting to skip care, avoid filling prescriptions, or explore over-the-counter products to avoid these costs. By being upfront about rates, which insurance providers are accepted, and payment plans, healthcare brands can ease some consumer anxiety.
Further, healthcare marketers can build trust by applying a critical eye to their brand messaging and strategy. Here are some questions advertisers can ask themselves to ensure they are prioritizing consumers’ needs and experiences:
By keeping diversity front of mind and developing creative from a place of empathy and understanding, healthcare brands can build stronger relationships with consumers.
Building relationships on a foundation of trust and empathy takes consistency and intentionality. Marketers cannot afford to lose time to duplicative, tedious tasks—these take their creative energy away from what’s most important, especially in today’s complex healthcare landscape.
Fortunately, there are some time-friendly solutions. Embracing an automated advertising strategy, backed by an automated and comprehensive DSP, can give healthcare marketers the ability to focus on strategic priorities, like forming stronger connections with consumers and proactively adjusting campaign messaging to better meet the moment. Leaning into technological developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning—especially those focused on brand safety—can free up the time and efficiency healthcare marketers need to get to know their customers and create consistent, empathy-driven, personalized experiences for them.
Interested in learning more about how advertising automation can help healthcare brands and agencies reach the right customers, with the right message, in a brand-safe environment? Check out our guide and see how automation is one possible solution to help marketers to create strong relationships with consumers in today’s complex healthcare landscape.
Raise your hand if it feels absurd that we’re deep in the throes of December. Wasn’t August, like, last week?
Now, raise your hand if 2022 has felt like it’s dragged on endlessly.
Regardless of which boat you’re in, there’s no avoiding the fact that the new year is rapidly approaching. And with it? New Year’s resolutions.
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, in just a few days’ time your social feeds are sure to be filled with folks setting goals, resolving to change, and finally committing to practicing that new hobby.
And while it’s undoubtedly best to set goals, evaluate, and improve on a regular basis, it can be nice to use the new year as a chance for reflection and goal setting. To help digital marketers looking to do just that, we sat down and thought through some resolutions that are sure to bring success in the new year. Here are our top four:
With Google having repeatedly delayed the deprecation of third-party cookies, it’s easy to feel like advertisers have all the time in the world before the cookieless future becomes the cookieless present. And with challenges like economic uncertainty, inflation, and burnout plaguing our industry, today’s advertisers already have a lot on their plates. Why throw exploring cookieless solutions into the mix now?
Well, to start, the 86% of Americans saying data privacy is a growing concern for them aren’t demanding change…tomorrow. And as advertisers know, transitioning away from third-party cookies isn’t done with a snap of a finger: It’s a process, not an event. It’s going to take time for marketers to identify and transition into the mix of privacy-friendly solutions that works best for them.
There are many effective tools and tactics out there to help prepare for a cookieless world, such as contextual targeting, geotargeting, and leaning more heavily on first-party data to personalize ad experiences. That said, none is a perfect, silver bullet solution. Each will require testing, tweaking, and evaluating to decide how and where it serves a marketing campaign best. And that testing will be far more difficult without the safety net of third-party cookies to fall back on, which is available to advertisers testing these solutions today.
Moral of the story? Marketers who start the process in 2023 will have a major advantage over their competitors who wait until third-party cookies are off the table. So, look out for “2024 you” by diving in and embracing progress over perfection.
Every advertiser knows that trustworthy data and solid data analyses are critical to campaign success. Data enables advertisers to understand current and prospective customer bases, create personalized advertising experiences for their audiences, and pull constructive insights from each campaign.
But as a result of the many point solutions marketers must use to navigate the complexity of today’s media landscape, our entire industry struggles with poor quality data and a lack of data consolidation. As the digital ecosystem continues to evolve and grow in complexity, marketers must prioritize data quality and consolidation to stay on top of the game. And, as we transition away from third-party cookies, marketing orgs must bolster their first-party data collection systems and find ways to leverage that data for all it’s worth.
Ready to make 2023 the year you become a data rockstar? To consolidate your data, consider a universal reporting system so you can spend less time pulling and standardizing reports and more time digging into the data itself. To boost the quality of your data, consider investing in resources like a data analyst (or team of analysts) or a customer data platform (CDPs). And if you’ve yet to start making the most of your first-party data? Explore and test the many ways it can be utilized to target and personalize ads in a privacy-friendly way.
Today’s digital world looks a lot different from that of twenty years ago. It’s sometimes difficult to remember a world before iPhones, Hulu binge sessions, and podcasts (though many of us lived through those days).
People today interact with digital media across many different platforms and channels, and their habits are ever-evolving. Marketers need to have their finger on the pulse of consumers’ digital behaviors, so that they can reach them when and where they’re spending the most time. This is especially important for advertisers looking to connect with younger generations, like Gen Z and millennials.
And two channels that are commanding an increasing share of consumer time and interest? Connected TV and digital audio. For marketers who have yet to embrace these new(ish) and increasingly popular channels, here are a few quick stats to know about each:
Connected TV:
Digital Audio:
For advertisers who have yet to embrace or explore these channels, 2023 presents a great opportunity to do so. This could look like incorporating live sports advertising into your omnichannel campaign, tapping into specific and highly engaged audiences via podcast advertising, or playing with cross-device targeting with CTV ads to reach viewers where they’re watching their favorite shows. By incorporating these increasingly popular channels, advertisers can better connect with consumers where they’re spending time.
Turbulent, rough, unpredictable, raging dumpster fire—these are just a few of the terms we’ve heard used to describe the past few years (and aptly so). The world has gone through (and continues to go through) a lot, and, on top of more universal challenges, the advertising industry is facing its own shifts. Amidst ever-evolving consumer sentiments, the deprecation of third-party cookies, increased government regulation, economy-driven shifts, and many other unpredictable factors, advertisers might be left wanting to scream into the void to MAKE IT ALL SLOW DOWN.
But here’s the thing: change is inevitable. And though there are many things that marketers can’t control, they can control their perspective when change occurs. Rather than wallowing in the land of “woe is me,” advertisers can use cognitive reframing to adjust their perspectives. For those unfamiliar with the practice, reframing includes identifying your current viewpoint, naming its challenges or shortcomings, and choosing to shift into a more beneficial way of thinking. For example, disappointment over a tighter budget (ahem, inflation…) could be reframed as an opportunity to identify which of your marketing investments really pull their weight, and which can be reallocated. This practice can help advertisers approach times of uncertainty and instability in a proactive and positive way.
“Alright, we get it. Challenges = opportunities. Now what?” you might wonder. Our recommendation? Revisit the basics. During times of uncertainty, it can be helpful to lean into proven solutions and tools, rather than searching for a magic (and elusive) fix-all hack. For those eager to start the new year on a solid foundation, this could include making a renewed effort to track shifts in consumer behavior, setting up systems to regularly pull insights from that data, and then using those insights to make data-driven strategic decisions. Though there are many factors that are uncontrollable and unpredictable, using proven strategies can empower advertisers during uncertain times.
We hope at least one of these resolutions resonated with you, and that you’re excited about using it to kick 2023 off with a bang. But please: Don’t strive for all four of our recommendations—you’ll become far too powerful!
The year ahead is sure to bring changes, challenges, and opportunities for those in the digital advertising industry. Want to learn more about how marketers can prepare for and capitalize on these shifts? In our latest report, we take a deep dive into the trends that will shape digital advertising in the year to come and how advertisers can make the most of it.
What rhymes with “one two three” and is making big waves in the advertising industry?
Why, CTV, of course!
It feels like there wasn’t a single week in 2022 when connected TV (CTV) wasn’t in the news: from Amazon acquiring Thursday Night Football rights, to Netflix and Disney+ rolling out ad-supported tiers, to streaming viewership overtaking broadcast and cable in July, and more.
So, what’s with all the hubbub? Does the channel really offer that great of an opportunity?
In short: yes. With more and more people turning to CTV devices for their digital video content (nearly two-thirds of the US population this year), it makes sense that advertisers are upping their spend.
For marketers looking to make the most of this channel, there’s a lot to consider. Luckily, there’s also a ton of resources specifically designed to help you make sense of it all—and this list is the perfect place to start.
Ready to “skip intro” and get to the good stuff? Here we go:
Looking for the lowdown on connected TV advertising basics? Consider this your one-stop shop for all the fundamentals.
CPV and CPCV and VCR—oh my! Just as CTV advertising has exploded over the last few years, so too has the number of terms and acronyms used to describe the channel. For folks who want to both walk the walk and talk the talk when it comes to connected TV advertising, this one’s for you.
We all know that CTV viewership is skyrocketing, with ad spend following in kind—but what are the tangible advantages when it comes to leveraging CTV in a campaign? Here, we break down four key benefits of connected TV advertising.
Are over-the-top (OTT) and CTV advertising the same? Is CTV only good for reaching Gen Zers? For those confused by all the information out there—not to mention, misinformation—this post is here to help.
If you’ve moved beyond the basics and are looking to dive into the nitty gritty of CTV advertising, this piece offers the 411 on best practices and strategies to optimize your CTV campaign from start to finish.
CTV advertising is booming, but that doesn’t mean it’s without its challenges (we’re looking at you, fragmentation!). Here, learn how advertisers can navigate the complexity of the CTV landscape.
Is the game showing on Peacock? Amazon? YouTube TV? ESPN+?? Ah, how the used-to-be simple act of watching sports has changed. This piece offers a deep dive into live sports advertising, especially within the context of the digital future.
In this webinar, Beachfront’s Head of Demand Sales, Katie Long, and Basis Technologies’ VP of Product Marketing, Britni Gallello, unpack what marketers need to know about CTV and how to harness its power.
This comprehensive guide dives into everything marketers need to know about CTV advertising: from best practices and strategies, to trends and forecasts, to key CTV KPIs, and more!
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Keeping a pulse on the latest developments in adtech—from CTV, to identity, to brand safety, and beyond—can be overwhelming. And while many marketers would love to have the time to browse the news each day to stay up to date, it’s simply not realistic for everyone.
If you’re looking for a way to stay in the know, while having time for everything else marketers have on their plates these days, check out Basis Scout. This monthly newsletter recaps the latest and greatest tips, insights, news, and trends in the advertising industry—so you don’t have to go searching.