While swifties are enjoying their Eras era, the world of adtech is grappling with its identity crisis era. Under pressure from regulators and consumers alike, advertisers are working to balance the demand for personalization with the need for increased data privacy. And while many marketers might wish they could just shake it off (à la 2014 Taylor), the need for privacy-friendly advertising solutions isn’t going anywhere.
If, like TSwift, you know this challenge all too well, then this post is for you. Though there’s no quick fix to the identity crisis, there are tools and solutions that can help.
One of the most powerful solutions for advertisers to have in their identity crisis toolkit? Digital advertising automation. Today, we’re exploring how advertising automation can help marketers survive—and, dare we say, thrive—as they navigate the identity crisis.
As we wrote this post, we couldn’t help but notice how seamlessly TSwift references and puns slipped their way into it. Maybe it’s because she’s secretly a marketing whiz; or perhaps it’s because we’ve been spending hours each day bingeing videos from her Eras tour. Whatever the reason, buckle up for a deep dive into how automation can help your team through the identity crisis—as told through a collection of Taylor Swift lyrics, song titles, and gifs.
Let's dig in.
Long story short: the conflicting demands for increased data privacy and for personalized advertising experiences are coming to a head.
Was Taylor Swift talking about these competing pressures when she wrote this line?
To add a bit more detail: Over the past several years, more and more data privacy-focused regulations and changes have popped up (both in the US and across the globe), including the impending deprecation of third-party cookies in Google Chrome.
Who knew third-party cookies could develop such a big reputation?
Though there’s a lot of hype around Google, other browsers have long since parted ways with third-party cookies. Couple this with the recent explosion of privacy-related legislation and regulation and the fact that 86% of consumers say they have a growing concern about data privacy, and it’s clear that now is the time for advertisers to explore privacy-friendly solutions.
To make things even more complex, consumers still want personalized advertising experiences from brands and companies. In fact, 90% of consumers say they enjoy receiving personalized offers, and 56% expect all offers to be personalized.
It’s a perplexing problem to address. How can marketing teams adapt to the identity crisis and balance the complexities of today’s digital media landscape and still provide personalized advertising experiences that resonate with audiences? It’s a question we’re all figuring out together—but let’s explore how digital advertising automation can help.
Advertising automation is a term that encompasses a wide range of technologies and strategies aimed at optimizing the campaign process from start to finish. And if it sounds like something out of your wildest dreams, we get it. We’re enchanted by it too (Too many TSwift song references in a row? Sorry, [we’re] not sorry!) Especially within the context of the privacy-first transition, automation can simplify marketers’ jobs in many ways:
In the privacy-centric present, first-party data is of the utmost importance. Since it’s data that audiences willingly give to brands and companies, it is inherently privacy-friendly and allows for accuracy in personalization and targeting. As such, it’s something that, in the words of Taylor Swift, will never go out of style.
But what does automation have to do with first-party data? Since it is collected and housed in a customer relationship management (CRM) platform, the process of uploading this CRM data can often be complicated and time-consuming. By using an advertising automation platform with built-in integrations that allow direct uploading of CRM data, advertisers can speed up the process and access targetable audiences with greater ease.
The average advertiser uses seven platforms in a typical day and nine in a typical campaign. NINE. DIFFERENT. PLATFORMS.
Same, Taylor. We feel the same.
Embracing advertising automation means consolidating those point solutions into a single, universal platform where teams can handle every stage of the campaign—from planning, to automated media buying, to reporting and billing.
Making this shift can significantly free up marketers’ time and energy, thus allowing and empowering them to test different privacy-friendly solutions and determine those that work best for their brand and audiences.
Remember how we mentioned that consumers not only want increased privacy, but also want personalized ads? Yeah, like TSwift once said, it’s a delicate balance (okay, we might be paraphrasing, but you get the gist). Luckily, advertising automation makes it easier to use the latest technological advances to reach audiences with personalized messaging.
For example, artificial intelligence-enabled predictive modeling can help advertisers to quickly identify audiences and serve them personalized placements. And dynamic creative optimization (DCO) offers the ability to automatically craft thousands of creative variations to serve to distinct audiences.
Just remember—if Taylor made it out of these woods, you can make it out of the identity crisis.
Advertisers today face a significant challenge: They must connect with audiences in privacy-friendly ways, while still personalizing ads based on individual consumers’ wants, needs, and preferences. Advertising automation is a powerful solution that can free up marketing teams’ time and resources, as well as allow them to create impactful, personalized advertising experiences.
To sum it up, identity crisis + advertising automation =
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Learn more about the power of advertising automation with our guide Meeting the Moment with Advertising Automation.
It can entice a swipe up, a sign-up, or even a bona fide conversion. Of the many elements that your ad needs to contain, the call to action (or CTA) is one of the most important.
Why? Because your CTA is what gets your audience to do what you want them to do. It will often be the first thing they see in your ad, so it has to be compelling. It needs to cut through the noise of the thousands of other ads that vie for a consumer’s attention, so it has to be memorable. And, it must communicate what action you want someone to take, so it has to be crystal clear.
In the spirit of making your CTA as strong as it can be, below are 15 best practices that will lead to higher returns and a greater number of conversions.
We know, this one might seem obvious! But it’s not uncommon for landing pages to fail because the CTA is either buried in other content or missing altogether. In some cases, marketers fail to set the CTA apart from their other text. In others, they provide too many options—or they have a button but fail to ask for any compelling action.
Your CTA should be easy to see and understand. Set it apart from the other text by adding space and making it large and distinct enough to convert. Do not trust that someone will click through to a services page, home page, or any other page without explicitly saying that’s what you want. The action you want them to take should be spelled out clearly right on the landing page.
Remember, your CTA is a call to action. Think about the various actions your visitors could complete, and use the most action-oriented copy possible. "Receive our newsletter" doesn't have quite the same punch as "Check out our newsletter" or "Sign up to read more." The first example is passive—it describes what will happen to your prospect after they do what you want. Instead, focus on what you want them to do.
By using action verbs and concise language, audiences will feel more compelled to participate. Tried-and-true options like "Buy now," "Sign up," and "Register" all fall within this category.
However, you can also write a CTA that focuses on the results that users will get. "Jumpstart your tech career," for instance, can drive someone to sign up for an online course. "Learn the secret to high conversions" can get someone intrigued enough to sign up for your free report on landing pages.
The color of your CTA button and text could be the most decisive factor between a successful landing page and one that compels fewer conversions. Testing a range of color options can help you figure out which are most likely to work well with your audience.
Studies show that red is a hot (pun slightly intended) color for CTA button success. However, marketers should also take into account other design elements on a page to ensure the CTA button stands out and remains an appealing part of the design. An orange button on a red background, for example, may not be visible enough to make an impact (or aesthetically pleasing enough for someone to stay on the page long enough to read it!)
Experiment with several combinations to determine which works best. One quick trick is to step back and squint at the page. Can you still see your CTA button even when you can't make out the details? Does it fit nicely into the rest of the page while still being noticeable? These are signs of good CTA button design.
Do you find yourself using the same rectangle every time you create a CTA button? Try changing shapes to see if it improves your results. While the most popular shapes for CTA buttons are rounded or squared-off rectangles, other shapes like scalloped edges or ovals can also be effective. To see what works with your audience, A/B test different options and record the results.
You can also play with effects and even subtle animations to see if these draw results. Try an animated version, for instance, that changes color every so often, or one that gives a small shake after a few seconds. Too much of a good thing can be annoying, but minor effects can stand out just enough to elicit attention. If you find a combination that seems to have a positive effect, make note of your results so you can repeat them for your next campaign.
A large and easy-to-read CTA is imperative: Someone glancing at the CTA for half a second should easily be able to read and parse your text.
That being said, make sure you also don't go too far in the other direction. CTA text that is far larger than the text around it can come off as obnoxious or demanding. Readers may find themselves subconsciously put off by text that is too big.
To make sure your CTA text and button are the right size, try looking at your page in a number of browsers and on a number of devices. While responsive design should be able to make every element work well, this extra step ensures that everything is working correctly, and allows you to put yourself in your prospect's position to truly see what they'll see when they arrive at your page.
CTA writers are faced with a double-edged sword: The CTAs they create must be specific, but they also only have a moment to get the point across. Too many words can mess with your design, leaving you with text that is too small or a button that is too large. It can also dull the impact you want your CTA to have.
To stay on the safe side, write CTAs that are between two and five words long. Try rearranging and eliminating words until you have distilled your message down to its essence.
If you are worried about losing important details, consider making additional landing pages that focus on different aspects of a campaign. For instance, one could focus on the fact that what you have is a limited-time offer, and another could focus on the free-trial aspect.
Up to 1 in 4 adults in the US has some sort of disability, some of which cause difficulties in reading or understanding CTAs. As such, it’s key to prioritize accessibility in marketing to ensure that your content can reach as many people as possible. Here are a few accessibility best practices for CTAs:
One of the strongest impulses marketers must work with is their prospect's fear of missing out. By adding a time-oriented message or scarcity to your CTA, you can create a sense of urgency that will keep them from delaying their action and create conversions.
Time-oriented words like "now" and "today" are obvious choices. However, you can also create urgency by intimating future events. For instance, "register before your competition" plants the idea that this is a chance for them to get an advantage that their competitors haven't found...yet.
You want as little friction between your prospect and the desired action as possible. Just removing the need to scroll can significantly increase your conversions. A CTA that is high on the page can grab a prospect's attention right away. Additional information that is not vital to their action but is an important part of your argument can go down below.
Putting your CTA above the fold also makes you think more critically about the other information that is posted. You have no time for throat-clearing and introductions when it comes to converting a new web visitor. Focusing on the text above the fold makes you think extra hard about what information your prospect needs to see to make up their mind. A headline, a good CTA, a graphic, and a few short sentences may be more effective than 1000 words on what makes your product better than the competition.
Your value proposition is just that: the value you propose to offer your prospect. Ideally, it is something they can get from you that is not being offered by your competitors.
What value does your current offer have for your prospect? Is it a free book? A no-credit-card-needed trial? A one-month, non-renewing subscription?
Whether you are offering an exclusive collection or something that is priced far better than your prospects will find anywhere else, let them know this in your CTA. "Save 50% today," for example, lets them know what value is being offered and communicates that the offer is urgent.
Write down your value proposition and figure out how it can be distilled down to a couple of words for a winning CTA. Try to convey it at the beginning or the end of the CTA for maximum impact.
We put a lot of pressure on the two to five little words that make up a CTA, but they don't have to do all the heavy lifting. Adding some supporting bonus text nearby can help increase your CTA’s impact and help you convince your prospect to take the plunge.
Bonus details like "30 days free" or "no credit card needed" can give people the push they need. You can also use space right above or below your CTA button to add elements like testimonials, data points on others' experiences, and other information that can help convince your prospect.
Some examples of bonus text that can help drive audiences to a decision include:
Not every CTA button needs the extra help; many can stand on their own. However, the additional push can often help improve your conversions. As with many of these best practices, it’s important to test different wording and supporting text to see what works best.
We're often told that an abundance of choice is a good thing. However, according to the paradox of choice, the more choices someone has, the less likely they are to make a decision. Additionally, when they do make a decision, they are less likely to be happy with the one that they've made.
If, for example, you have a service where people can sign up using a third-party option, too many choices can make them hesitate. Do they want to sign up with email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or another service? You can simplify things for your prospect by limiting or eliminating options among their choices.
You may also be tempted to offer three or more sign-up levels to people who land on your service page. While this can sometimes be a positive—offering different levels gives you built-in upsell opportunities—it can also negatively impact conversions. Those who can’t decide which level they want may decide to buy nothing at all. This is another instance when A/B testing is crucial: Test multi-option pages where there's a bronze, silver, and gold option against a page in which you offer just one package to see which gets better conversions.
On a landing page, less is definitely more. Instead of thinking of white space (the space that's not occupied by any other element) as "negative space," think of it as an active element for an effective page.
White space around a CTA button can help draw users' attention to it and make them more likely to click. Play with different amounts of padding above and below the button. See if it's more effective when there are sidebars or other elements compared to when your CTA button is the only element in that area of text. By finding which ways are most effective, you can create cleaner, more cohesive pages with better results.
Your landing pages should be easy for your users to navigate. People naturally move from left to right and top to bottom when they are reading a page. Design your page and its CTA in such a way that the page follows people's natural progressions.
Your landing page should always allow readers to follow a natural flow. This is important even when you are experimenting with CTA placement. For instance, consider a layout in which you test putting your CTA above the fold. If you still have additional sales text below, put a second CTA button at the end. That way, people don't need to scroll back up to get to your offer.
No matter what you feel you've learned about effective CTAs, it is still important to continue to test and try new things. New technologies mean new behaviors from prospects. As different generations age into their buying years, they'll adopt habits that are different from prior generations. And sometimes, you'll stumble across a CTA idea that goes against established rules, yet is still highly effective.
It can be easy to fall into bad habits or stick with the status quo when it comes to your CTAs. But by embracing the best practices discussed in this post, you can optimize your CTAs to generate the best results possible. Over time, you'll find that you are able to create CTAs that get you higher conversions and a better return on your marketing investments.
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Welcome to Scout! Each week, our team tracks down the best digital marketing articles, POVs, and reports—so you don't have to. Here’s what to read from the week of 5/26/23 – 6/1/23 to stay ahead of the curve:
Recently, several companies have received backlash for high-profile LGBTQ+ partnerships. While some brands have doubled down on their support of the community, others have responded by distancing themselves, resulting in understandable outrage from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. This piece explores why it’s important for companies “to get clear about what they actually stand for, and what they stand against.”
April 2023 saw the downward trend of ad spend continue, including lower ad revenues for some social media platforms and losses in legacy media. That said, April’s drop is the smallest since September 2022, and certain media formats (see: digital and out-of-home) are experiencing growth. It has experts wondering: Could these be signs of a possible rebound for the ad market?
It’s a wild world out there for travel marketers. Learn all about the key challenges travel marketing teams should be aware of—from increased demand for personalization, to heightened awareness of prices, to the need for an omnichannel approach—and get strategies marketers can use to address them.
Just weeks after introducing former NBCUniversal media exec Linda Yaccarino as its new CEO, Twitter has begun testing the sale of mobile ad inventory through adtech marketplace Inmobi, signaling a potential move away from its former walled-garden status.
In his most recent newsletter, advertising luminary Rishad Tobaccowala explains how successful individuals and companies can decide how best to use technology—with the most successful marrying the magic of tech with the mystery of humanity to differentiate, innovate and turbo-charge talent. (Psst: Be sure to check out more from Rishad on the AdTech Unfiltered podcast!)
Show off your marketing chops with our question of the week. This week’s hot topic: the 2023 upfronts.
What fraction of ad spend did digital video account for in this year’s upfronts?
A. Two-thirds
B. One-half
C. One-fourth
Get the answer here, as well as a breakdown of how advertisers should approach TV in this moment given the writer’s strike, industry personnel churn, streaming convergence, and more.
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What’s new in the realms of paid search and social media? Basis’ Senior Vice President of Paid Search and Social, Amy Rumpler, compiles all the latest news, trends, and resources each month for easy access.
Meta recently announced its new machine learning-based ad delivery process, Meta Lattice. It utilizes knowledge-sharing across Meta’s different surfaces (e.g. News Feed, Stories, Reels) to expand its map of potential user interest and activity. The goal: to better predict likely user behaviors and deliver more relevant ads while using less personal data (important, given how Meta was affected by Apple’s iOS 14 update).
This video provides a glimpse at how generative AI will further evolve search in the coming months. People in the US can join the waitlist for Google’s new Search Generative Experience (SGE) by tapping the Labs icon in the latest version of the Google app or Chrome desktop.
Amazon is reportedly “reimagining search with an interactive conversational experience.” Job postings also show they’re ramping up the hiring of engineers in an effort to become an AI powerhouse “that helps you find answers to product questions, perform product comparisons, receive personalized product suggestions, and so much more.”
Three artificial intelligence articles? AI AI AI caramba!
During this year’s upfronts, YouTube shared a slew of new stats related to the rise of their app on home TV sets. Company leaders also showed how shifts in content consumption are driving innovation and unveiled a few new ad formats, the most notable being a 30-second non-skippable format for YouTube Select on CTV, which replaces two 15-second ads with one 30-second spot.
Among the rollouts at TikTok World 2023 was the new Smart Creative toolset, which automates parts of the content creation process for advertisers who find difficulty in developing native TikTok ad creative. Smart Creative is the content-side complement to Smart Performance campaigns, TikTok’s fully automated ad-buying capability.
Upfronts and expos and ads, oh my!
Pinterest has announced they are rolling out third-party ad demand via a partnership with Amazon, starting later this year. As user engagement with shoppable Pinterest content continues to grow, Amazon was selected as the platform's first partner for third-party ads. The partnership will bring more relevant brands and products to Pinterest, combined with a seamless Amazon buying experience for consumers and strong performance for advertisers.
Elon Musk announced Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter, stating she “will focus primarily on business operations,” while Musk “focus[es] on product design & new technology.” His focus could include evolving Twitter into an all-purpose app, titled simply “X.” Musk’s description of the app is reminiscent of the popular Chinese platform WeChat, which supports actions like payments, ridesharing, food delivery, appointment-setting, and more, all in one place.
Yep, “X” may indeed give it to ya, if “it” means “basically everything,” and “ya” means “Elon’s app users.”
Meta’s new app, tentatively titled “Barcelona,” features a chat-based feed—kind of like a large group chat that anyone can join, a la Twitter. The interface follows the current Instagram trend of conversations happening more in DMs than public spaces on the app. Messages will carry a 500-character limit and can include links, photos, or videos up to five minutes in length. And Instagram’s billions of daily active users will be able to sign up using their existing IG handle, which could create fast growth.
Similarweb recently measured shifts in consumer behavior among search platforms, and while it showed Bing has acquired more traffic over the last few months, the growth hasn’t been consistent. Similarly, while Google lost a bit of traffic, they still hold the lion’s share of the search market. ChatGPT itself, however, is earning a lot more traffic and should continue to grow, according to eMarketer predictions. These insights also fueled eMarketer’s H1 Search Ad Spending Forecast, where they expect Microsoft to capture 9% of the non-retail search ad market this year.
Google, watching web users try Bing…for now.
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1o8 Agency partnered with Basis Technologies to launch an awareness campaign with the state of Illinois, Illinois Cares for Kids, and the Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development. Interviews identified various causes for low enrollment in publicly-funded early childhood development programs, such as parental concerns of illness exposure and computer inaccessibility in low-income homes.
“We are happy to report that all industry benchmarks were met across formats. With Basis Technologies powering our campaign, we effectively spread the word, generated an immense number of impressions and successfully drove traffic to the site."
- Gabi Nonneman, Account Supervisor, 1o8 Agency
1o8 Agency is a full-service marketing agency based in Chicago that specializes in delivering innovative and results-driven marketing solutions to businesses of all sizes. With a team of experts in branding, digital marketing, social media, content creation, and more, 1o8 Agency is committed to helping their clients enhance their brand, engage with their audience, and drive measurable results.
What does it take to uncover what’s really going on in adtech? A whole lot of effort that not every advertising professional knows they need to put forth. In a fast-growing multibillion dollar industry, it’s increasingly challenging to discern truth from the carefully crafted narratives propagated by ad solution providers.
In this episode, industry thought leader and AdProfs founder Ratko Vidakovic joins host Noor Naseer to discuss how to find and distinguish adtech truths from not-so-hidden agendas.
Noor Naseer: How do you find the truth in adtech? The answer is… Not easily. Under piles of stylized marketing fluff, it can be challenging to discern the fundamentals changing the industry, from carefully crafted narratives propagated by solution providers. And once you do identify an important topic that needs discussion, it can be dense and complicated to break down. That's where Ratko comes in. He is the founder of Ad Tech Consultancy AdProfs and editor of the newsletter, This Week in Ad Tech. Ratko is someone who's putting in the work to break down topics in a big way. And he's got a ton of advice on how you can do the same. I’ll talk to him about the tools, tips and tricks you will want to employ so you can educate yourself, build perspective, and dismiss the things that you can skip prioritizing. Let's get into this conversation with Ratko.
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NN: So Ratko, you and I we've known each other for a while. We have some professional history together. You came over to what was once Centro, that turned into now Basis and the time there was an acquisition of Site Scout for a DSP. And now you've moved into a space that I think there's a lot of interest in to educate people and give them the consultancy they need so they can be more informed in this adtech world. Can you tell me a little bit about what you do in ad tech so that we can talk today about how people can stay better informed in the industry?
Ratko Vidakovic: Sure. So I guess outside of consulting, probably most well-known for writing a newsletter called This Week Ad Tech. The premise is that keeping up with all the developments in ad tech is hard. And it's time consuming. And the newsletter helps readers save time by curating the most important stories of the week, summarizing them, highlighting interesting parts, just making it very digestible for the reader. That's kind of the core of it. There are also some other features like question of the week and tweet of the week, but those are like more side dishes. They're not the main course.
NN: I mentioned earlier that we used to work together. But it was this venture or a variation of this venture that you're now on that led you down this pathway. Can you tell me a little bit more about what led you to leave having a W2, actually, you're in Canada, so you don't have W2s, but you know what I mean?
RV: Sure. So primarily, it was feeling like there was a gap in the industry. And just in terms of general education and advisory. There were, to be sure, consultants, like ad tech consultants that existed, but I felt just given my background on the DSP side, helping build a DSP from scratch, that that was a unique experience. So that's kind of what got me into starting AdProfs and also just kind of coming from the marketing side and coming from a role, which was like product marketing, which is heavily content oriented, right, like creating a lot of content. It was very appealing to me to have that creative control over sort of publishing content and creating content. What sort of made me go down the pathway of the newsletter specifically was more like an evolution of the marketing strategy that I had for the consultancy. So I knew from the beginning that I wanted to make email the core of the marketing. And in the first year, I didn't really have a strong value proposition. It was just sort of like signing up for updates when people came to the website. And I knew I needed to change something, it had to be more frequent, it had to be relevant to ad tech and it had to be valuable. And sort of that's how This Week in Ad Tech was born.
NN: You sort of already answered this question I want to follow up with. There's no shortage of newsletters, whether it's related to—well, maybe there is somewhat of a shortage in the ad tech space. And we'll talk more about that. But there's plenty of material or content that's readily accessible on a daily basis in this space. How have you tried to distinguish yourself to make sure you're adding value so people can be truly informed?
RV: Yeah. So I think it really kind of comes down to adding perspective. Beyond just sort of common like off the cuff commentary, I tried to look at things from a variety of different lenses, different perspectives, thinking about the various stakeholders across the industry, when it comes to any piece of news. So for example, if we're talking about something like an article that's written by a publisher, and it's clearly written for a publisher audience, you can take the points from the article at face value, or you could look at it from an advertiser's or DSP’s perspective. Does it still make sense? Do any of the points conflict with what advertiser's value and what they prioritize? So I really approached it initially as a way of just sort of adding detailed analysis on top of sort of the summarization. So kind of asking myself like just scrutinizing, like, what's clear about this? What's unclear about this? What's certain to happen? What's uncertain to happen, likely, unlikely? What's important about this? What's not important? Trying to provide some kind of explanation for given the facts of like, why companies are doing certain things, why they're making certain choices, making certain investments; kind of almost like going through like a mental laundry list of questions and kind of going through it in that sort of way.
NN: What you just did described, I think is something a lot of people in the tech, the martech, the advertising world, they want to do that. But it's such a struggle. And that really is the thesis of our conversation today is people aren't all in the business of developing a newsletter where they can make that their priority for the day or every day. Instead, what's happening to them is they're getting this random note from a client or some other invested party who sends them maybe a forwarded, let's say, piece of content. And the only line included is, “Thoughts?”, or, “What's your POV?”. And that really puts you on this long, twisty road to try to figure out a perspective on something you may know very little about, or you've heard about but really don't know how to provide perspective. So I want to expand into that and more of your process. I know you mentioned using some of your discerning skill sets so that you can break down topics, but it's easy to say it's very hard to do. Can you expand on what some of your processes or methods are to stay on top of things happening in the ad tech space?
RV: Absolutely. So maybe I can talk about some of the mistakes I made at the beginning. So one of the most inefficient things that I did in retrospect, while doing the newsletter for the first few years. So it took me some time to kind of realize my ways. But the first few years, I was combing through all of these different news sources every day, everything from the daily newsletters from the trades, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Alerts. And so, I was just basically like, emailing links to myself. So, I would manually open each link, at the end of the week, read it in my browser, just sort of super manual, super time consuming. Then I remembered this kind of old thing called RSS that I sort of mentally wrote it off when Google Reader died. And I started looking into more new school RSS readers. And they've really kind of come a long way.
I think that was a big part in sort of streamlining my workflow, because it more or less, puts all the information into one place, instead of like scrambling trying to go to all these different collection points. So from there, now that sort of everything is more or less centralized in the RSS reader, every morning, I go through the daily feed, and anything that I find interesting, I flag it, and it goes into a separate area of the reader. From there, I only read the articles that I flagged as interesting. And from there, I only choose the articles that I feel after reading them are newsworthy or interesting, and I shortlist them for inclusion in the newsletter.
I know I'm kind of like jumping over a lot of details, because you could probably pause on each of those and say, “How do you decide what's interesting and all of that?” Maybe we can come back to that. And then from there, once I have that shortlist, I go through each of the articles with a fine-tooth comb. I scrutinize, like every word with some of those analytical lenses that I just mentioned. And that's where I kind of generate the questions in the comments, and make those kinds of connections between past events, and connections with research data, and connections like somebody's social media posts or whatever. This part is a bit harder to explain. Because it's like how our brains work. It's a little bit of a black box. So it's like, how do you make all these connections between this current information, nd ahistorical information, but I think like one way that does help is Googling, or, in my case, I go through some of my old newsletters, I see what I previously covered, I see what I previously wrote, that kind of gives me some ideas and some context for things. But at some point, in the process, it kind of becomes a little personal.
NN: You mentioned there's this grand process that you're going through. I think in theory, other people are trying to do the same thing. But it just ends up unraveling a lot of the time where your intention is to “Okay, I want to learn about this topic. I think I've subconsciously or consciously picked up on the fact that it's been mentioned a couple of times. But the second that somebody asks you to share something a little bit more comprehensive or thoughtful, it is hard to do what you are describing.” How do you make sure that you're going on a journey or a pathway to actually formulate perspective?
RV: I'm the same way. I have way too many tabs. I have a very powerful laptop that most people use for graphic design, and programming like heavy duty programming and stuff like that. And all of the resources go to running Chrome tabs. So I have a powerful machine that's just for the memory hog, which is Chrome. But that being said, I guess maybe this is not a satisfying answer. But some of those rabbit holes that you mentioned, actually, I don't avoid them. I love going down them and it gives us like a personal thing. That's just me. You do have to have a system for staying organized. And so for me, I'm fairly organized when it comes to note taking. It's not a perfect system. But if I go down rabbit holes, just like you, I want to learn about something I want to see how it actually works. I have to open like five or 10 different tabs, but I feel like the notes for that subject or for that newsletter always kind of bring me back to the original task or the original story. And so, I use tools like Evernote and Motion to sort of keep my notes organized.
NN: It's seemingly such simplistic advice. But I think not enough people are probably doing that including myself, like you said it might be our downfall, having 100 tabs open. And admittedly, I've had conversations with multiple people who have said that they're trying to research a topic and they just never turn their computers off. And then one day, they get like the blue screen, because they have hundreds of windows open for actually multiple, maybe failed attempts at trying to educate themselves on something amongst other windows. So it's definitely a challenge. But I think just like you said, tethering yourself back to what is the, like, the purpose of this journey that I'm on. So doing some note taking to keep yourself in check is definitely a good idea.
RV: If I could also just jump in and add a little extra on that, I think another part that was challenging for me for quite some time, and it probably is a challenge for a lot of other people, I'm guessing as well is what you do about PDFs. There's so much information that comes in PDF form, like those can be in browser tabs, for sure, they could also just be opened on your computer and minimized. I find that when there's something that's super long, like 50 pages, 100 pages, 300 pages, antitrust lawsuits, and stuff like that, the solution that I found was getting a PDF reader for my tablet. So in my case, it's an iPad, and I forget the name, I think it's like PDF Viewer or something like that. But it links up with my Dropbox. So I created a Dropbox folder that has all the PDFs that I want to read. And then there is an integration that the PDF reader has with Evernote so that things that I highlight automatically go into Evernote. So it's like a way to bridge the tablet with my note taking system. So again, kind of like this concept of funneling everything into, like, a centralized place where you can actually make sense, I found that to be helpful in kind of consuming and processing information that's in these PDFs. And sometimes it's very hard to sit at a computer for hours trying to read a PDF. So it's a lot easier to just kind of lay down on the couch with a tablet, and then try to read it.
NN: For anyone listening who's thinking like “These are just the mechanics of researching something with competence”, I will say I feel very confident that there are many people struggling with just addressing these very simple questions, because they're not processing it consciously. So there's definitely value to thinking about that. Because there's always these unsolved mysteries around why we can't answer questions, and why things are taking too long for us to offer valuable perspectives. I think if you work in the advertising and the martech, ad tech space, it is critical for you to advance in your career by bringing valuable opinions to the table. So I want to jump further into that. What does it take to actually formulate an opinion, especially in an industry where it seems like there's a lot of regurgitation, people will give you quote, unquote, insight, which is actually just copying and pasting what somebody else said, and then maybe restating that? How do you step away from that? I know you already talked a lot about connecting the dots. But how do you turn something that is raw, quote, unquote, information into actual perspective and insight?
RV: If all you rely on is articles that are from, like, industry trades, that's probably the easiest route to go. But if that's all you rely on, I think you might get some high-level information about the topic. So maybe we're talking about carbon emissions or something like that, or how carbon emissions affect ad tech, that's like a relatively new topic. If you just read the articles, you might see that it discusses supply chain efficiency, and kind of these things in broad strokes. I feel like a lot of articles miss out on the how, sort of the how question and answering that. And that's where I think it's important, or at least I personally feel compelled to kind of dig deeper and figure out how it works. So in that example, or case, for talking about carbon emissions, or sustainability and ad tech, I know from my own experience, kind of going down that rabbit hole, that there's a GitHub repository. So that's like, usually where developers, programmers kind of keep code. But some people also keep technical documentation and explainers and stuff like that there. So there is a GitHub repository from Scope Three. That's kind of like the new sustainability startup that Brian O’Kelley from App Nexus started. They published some preliminary sort of methodology documentation there, which explains how they're actually measuring things like the carbon footprint of ads. So from there, just kind of based on reading about some of the methodology, at least now, I feel more informed than I was if I didn't go down that rabbit hole and try to figure out kind of like, the how, if that makes sense.
NN: In the instance that people are ingesting different types of information about a topic and it's being sourced from a solution provider that benefits from talking about a topic. Let’s go down the identity pathway that I was talking about earlier. So there's, I want to say dozens? Let's start with dozens, not hundreds, but dozens of players who have thrown their hat into the ring, trying to be at the center of what the future of identity looks like. So what they'll do is be in touch with the trades, or they'll have some sort of article published that directly correlates with what they're bringing to the table. And it's not a sponsored article or advertorial. It's them having been able to position what they bring to the table as something that is going to be valid for the greater industry. So you start reading it, and what you're trying to do is—you being somebody who works in the ad tech space, and maybe you work at an agency or something else, where there's a responsibility for media buying—trying to figure out how important is this identifier or potential solution for me to consider.
So I'm saying that very generally, I'm not trying to target any one identity mechanism out there. But if I was starting to read through that they're going to share some of their maybe push points to say like “This is in line with what's going to be beneficial for advertisers. This is what marketers are going to prioritize. This is going to be central to what you being able to target purposefully is going to look like. If you saw a piece like that—you’ve probably seen hundreds of pieces like that—how do you start to ask critical questions around the validity of what they've shared?
RV: So I definitely think especially working in ad tech, like all of us working in ad tech, there needs to be skepticism by default. I think it's just because there's so much BS. And also, like you said, there's a lot of veiled promotion, right, like stuff, that's it could be a Q&A with a company, it could just be like a puff piece, essentially. So there's definitely a lot to kind of filter through, it's kind of going back to the earlier point of like, sometimes you can tell just by the headline, like the title, the author, the publication. When you do it long enough, sometimes that's all you need to kind of filter things out. But I think personally, it's important to use a critical lens when reading anything about ad tech or in ad tech. But I think at the same time, you have to have a balance. So you never want to go completely negative or cynical about certain things, because I don't think that's necessarily helpful. And also, if you take that approach for too long, people will just tune you out, like they won't take you seriously.
At the same time, you also don't want to be extremely optimistic, or pollyannaish because that kind of borders on delusion, and ignores the real issues that inform strategy and shape the path of the industry. So one example was a few years back, but Chris Kane from Johns Media did some research that kind of called out the practice of “Bit Caching” several years ago from certain SSPs. And I thought that was important, because if that wasn't called out, it wouldn't have been addressed. So it's definitely something that I think people need to force themselves to do. It's not easy. It's hard. But I think everyone needs to kind of force themselves to find a sort of balanced perspective. To me, I think that's one of the keys to good analysis, like good reading of any source material.
NN: It's a fair point, and maybe a part of my questioning has to do with the fact that I think there's a natural reluctance to do that, because that means there's going to be more time commitment to actually digging deeper. A lot of our conversation has been oriented around, you're going to need to do more, you're going to have to read more, you're going to have to connect these dots in a way that expands well beyond the scope of maybe what you want to hear. To that point, I wanted to ask you about sourcing, going to credible sources, not going to places where maybe you're more likely to get some of those puff pieces or information that isn't actually information. I'm sharing air quotes for anyone who's not watching this. So let's talk about some credible sources. You've done a lot of that vetting already. What are some top media sources or publications that you enjoy reading?
RV: So there's certain publications that we'll mention, but they more or less regurgitating press releases. And I don't think that's very valuable, in my opinion, because you could just go to PR Newswire and get that information. But I think there's definitely publications that do a good job of trying to inform and educate readers. I'll exclude myself there but AdExchanger I think is a good source for sort of steady industry news, not necessarily the best signal to noise ratio, but it is a core like it's a leading publication, you can't ignore it. Digitay is also good. Ad Week is good. Like these are all for the very specific like ad tech, niche. Marketing Brew is a relatively new player. Marketecture.tv is also a relatively new player as well. But they're interesting because they do sort of vendor0specific interviews and the interviews are done by sort of experts, like industry experts and practitioners. So it's sort of less of a media interview and more of the first call that you would have with your vendor. So it's more of an in-depth interview. There's also a bunch of general publications, Axios for example, they dropped some great scoops occasionally. Like it's not something that you can count on every single week, but it's worth following just for the sake of those scoops. Same thing with Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, but that's like a needle in the haystack kind of stuff. You don't want to be reading every single article from those if you're trying to search for ad tech. So it's not easy.
To your previous point, none of this stuff is necessarily easy. And it definitely requires putting in the time, like there's no getting around just the hard work of just reading and focusing on that. After doing it for a while you can safely say like, what places what publications are worthwhile reading, worth following and which ones perhaps aren't.
NN: I think what some people can walk away with, because obviously, I've made you hammer this point home, like multiple times across this interview is that you, you really have to just commit to doing the work. Depending upon your position, you have to commit other people to doing the work on your behalf, but somebody has to do it to just also expand away from doing the work. It's me getting a better sense of where you are actively doing research right now on hot topics. Like I was saying earlier, sometimes maybe there are things that someone or some entity, company wants to sensationalize as a big hot new trend, when really it has more to do with their business. And then there are legitimate things that are going to affect and change the shape of the ad tech ecosystem. I've recently heard you say that you do have interest and excitement in AI, if you can expand a little bit on this topic, I think there would be interest.
RV: It's interesting that you're talking about hype, like you framed it in terms of like some companies like GE just hype it up, because that's their domain, or category. But I think in terms like AI and machine learning, those terms were kind of tarnished to some degree, either through overuse or abuse, sort of as buzzwords, I think going back at least, like seven, eight years ago, even when we were working together I think at Centro, Rocket Fuel was around. And I think we all remember them talking about their artificial intelligence and rocket scientists and all of that. The reason I say that is because I think it's easy for someone to just kind of roll their eyes when they hear the term AI like it's kind of almost been tarnished. But I am genuinely excited about the rapid pace of development around AI and just about the potential for AI to just change how we do knowledge work. Even some of the stuff that we're talking about right now, I think there are new product opportunities that are possible. Everything from workflow to graphic design to transcription, it's an exciting time to be alive.
NN: Where or what have you read that's made you excited now, knowing that there was this excessive hype up seven or eight years ago, everybody, every news publication under the sun is covering it. So I think it's a very different topic and opportunity from many other things. Web3 was the hot topic of 2022. And for 2023, it's very much angled around AI. I think there's far less suspicion or skepticism around AI, given so many of the findings. So are there any findings, or things that you've read about that have legitimized AI and the opportunity for you?
RV: For me, it's maybe not so much things that I've read, it's actually things that I've done that legitimized it. So I've just been playing around with it. Like I've been “getting my hands dirty”, so to speak, using the open AI sandbox and even kind of not being a programmer, but knowing enough that I could play around with their API, and actually test this stuff out firsthand. And that's kind of what made me a true believer is, you know, something is not vaporware, when you can actually use it, and you see the value with your own eyes. I've played around with everything, from ChatGPT questions and answers, asking summarization questions, having it almost be like a personal assistant and like, explain the differences between certain things. And instead of having to just click through on all these different links in Google, it's like having a legit personal assistant that's answering stuff in a satisfying way. Even on the design side, image generation, playing around with like, MidJourney, and going down that rabbit hole, absolutely mind blowing, like, just from a marketing perspective, like taking something that's only in your imagination, and being able to describe it in just prose, right? Like, imagine, because the instructions for MidJourney are like slash imagine, and then you just describe what you want it to look like. And to take something from literally just a description in your head to seeing it visualized within a couple of minutes feels like magic. So I'm not sure if that answers your question or not, but maybe you can see. I'm like a nerdy guy, super excited about it.
NN: You're pumped. You’re pumped up. Yeah, it's the practicality of the applications. I think what we experienced a lot in 2022, and 2021, with many different elements in the Web3 space, was that it was a lot of describing the potential of something without a lot of substance behind it. It's like, “Well just believe that NFTs are going to be high value. And maybe you should make a lot of these associated with your brand”. And “Don't ask too many questions. But like, let me give you a little bit of that”. Going back to regurgitation of what other people have said. Admittedly, I've edited the Web3 spaces too when I share information, I'm just like consolidating what's already readily available. I don't pretend to be a crypto expert, I don't see this crystal-clear connection between tech and crypto outside of you know, if it became this super hyper legitimized currency that maybe we would be transacting on it, like we would in many other industries. What does that mean for you? I mean, I get it, we're in a business about pitching and showing the shiny side of things. But sometimes if the connection doesn't exist, we just have to be honest about that. So I'm with you, AI, a lot of applications across industries. Admittedly, some of the applications you just mentioned Ratko, expand into more larger advertising implications. For AI and ad tech, there is going to be this legitimization around targeting data aggregation, real time betting? Is that going to change? Do you think it is going to change with this forthcoming proliferation of AI technologies?
RV: On the part of like real time bidding, that part, I'm not so sure where the AI plays a role. I think there could be a role like, like a pre-bid or even a post-bid environment, just because real time bidding is so fast—everything's going in milliseconds. I think the AI can inform perhaps some of the targeting strategies, some of the targeting methods, some of the planning. I also think it can inform and execute on the optimizations. So like looking at the reporting that's coming out of the campaign, helping to provide insights, helping even just the people who have the fingers on the keyboard that are managing the campaign, helping them generate reports, like in a fraction of the time. So one thing that I also have, like firsthand experience playing around with, and again, I'm not an AI expert, I'm an amateur that's just playing around with this stuff. You can query databases using natural language. So typically, unless somebody builds an interface for it, you have to know, like, SQL, right, to kind of make these queries of databases, but you can actually get AI to help you generate those queries. So I think there can be a huge step forward and just workflow, personal productivity, like productivity across the board; helping individuals generate reports, helping individuals or teams optimize campaigns. I just think it has the opportunity to kind of touch on so many different aspects.
NN: I think we'll hopefully see some of that showing up faster than some of these past emerging trends or themes that were supposed to come to the table. And I also say like, never say never, just because a theme that became popular in the trades that people want perspective on, it maybe didn't work the first time around, it doesn't mean that it won't eventually become important and like central to the way that we do work. But it's definitely one of those things that I think will come to fruition in a big way.
A quick, last question for you, Ratko. Are there any other topics? Obviously, you have a lot of energy around AI, but other things that you think are, if not interesting, exceptionally important for people to be reading about right now maybe like one or two topics that people should be digging into?
RV: If we're talking about ad tech, I think one thing that is important, may not be interesting to everybody. But it's definitely important, I think, for privacy overall, like data privacy, and its impacts on the ecosystem and its impacts on the future of the ecosystem as well. And we're sort of in the thick of it right now. Like we're in the middle of things. And they're evolving very quickly. One of the things that I think also just kind of, at least for me kind of keeps things interesting about it is that it's constantly moving. There's constantly new developments. But I can also understand at the same time, it can be a little bit impenetrable, because you have this force around privacy. But it touches on technical aspects of the industry, like fundamentally how the internet works type topics, like IP addresses, cookies, and so forth. So it gets really into, like, very low levels of how the internet works, which can be very technical for a lot of people that aren't technical. So that part can be challenging.
The other part is legal. So we've all basically become armchair lawyers because these new laws and bills and stuff come out and judgments and cases in Europe and North America, and so forth. Truly without reading regurgitated information to read the source material, it can be very dry, but at the same time, that doesn't make it unimportant. So it kind of goes back to our common thread of like, it's not easy. This stuff is just not easy but at the same time, I think the work still needs to be done.
NN: The volume of armchair attorneys that have needed to pop up in the marketing and advertising space related to data privacy is astronomical. I don't think they're being paid hourly for the labor that they're attempting to do. So it's a challenging time for people who need to study up on the topic. Now this has been great. I know Ratko I’ve said to you earlier in past conversations, you're just a person who knows a lot legitimately about so many things. So, hopefully this is a start for more conversations and maybe we'll circle back sometime soon about another topic that is of interest.
RV: Yeah, no, it was great chatting.
NN: Thanks again to Ratko Vidakovic, founder of ad tech consultancy AdProfs and editor of newsletter This Week in Ad Tech.
Look, we're not all running a consultancy like Ratko is, but in ad tech, we're all better off empowering our capacity for discernment, especially in a sector often filled with narrowly distinguished options in new developments and trends of varied importance.
I know it won't be easy to put all these tips into practice, but that's what consultants and educational resources are for. Feel free to sign up for Ratko’s newsletter by going to AdProfs.co, that's AdProfs.co, and you can also find more resources at the Basis Technologies Resource Center.
That's it for this episode, more AdTech Unfiltered very soon.
Can you feel it? The sun beaming down, inviting you outside? Can you smell that sweet, sweet aroma of hamburgers on the grill? We’re talking paper plates, plastic cups, slices of watermelon, a cooler full of drinks, potato salad that’s been sitting out in the sun for far too long, and maybe even a game of corn hole. Yes, we’ve officially entered one of the best times of the year: It’s cookout season!
The social ecosystem of a cookout is both sophisticated and delicate, not unlike the media mix of a winning marketing campaign. And when summer comes around, we’re sure that like us, you’ve no doubt started to wonder: What kind of person would each digital advertising channel be at a cookout? What characteristics would they have, and how would they contribute to the social fabric of these important events? Well, don’t worry, we’ve had some extensive debates and thought it all through (and, of course, done some very thorough cookout-related research), and we’re here to share our findings:
They might have gone to an Ivy League school, but they really didn’t need to. They’ve been a wiz their whole life, able to figure out any kind of technology in minutes. Programmatic isn't just the smartest person in the room—they’re also a trend-setter who gets along with literally everybody, helping them to achieve their goals faster and more effectively like it’s their job.
Connected TV hasn't always been popular, but they’ve always been cool. That said, they’ve really come into their own over these past few years, and their rising popularity doesn't show any signs of stopping. CTV (as friends call them) is a fantastic storyteller, keeping even the most skeptical cookout guest entertained and engaged. Sure, they can be a bit messy (read: fragmented) and hard to figure out (read: measure), but that just adds to their mystique. The important thing is, you’re definitely going to want to spend some time with them.
You know that one friend who pops up at every social event, and you have no idea how they find the time or energy? That's Connected TV's older sibling, Video. Their versatility allows them to get along with pretty much anyone. This is just one of many cookouts they’ll attend this week, making the rounds and engaging folks like the charismatic extrovert they are at each one. They've been in these circles for a while now and have proven their reliability time and time again. Plus, they’re always evolving—these days, they’re into shorter discussions, but Video’s a skilled conversationalist with mid- and long-form chats as well.
Audio’s been around for a long time—in fact, they might be over 100, but they certainly don’t look it! They’ve always had that special ability to capture your attention completely, no matter what else is going on in your life. In the past couple of decades, they’ve reinvented themselves as a digital trendsetter, leveraging technology to become even more irresistible to the folks they want to connect with. As a result, everyone seems to be spending more and more time with Audio.
Ah yes, it’s just not a party without good old Display. One of the founders of this particular friend group, they’re a tried-and-tested comrade, invited to every social gathering and able to get along with anyone. These days, they’re often found hanging out with Video, but Display is also great friends with Social and Mobile.
How does Mobile do it? They're intimately acquainted with what feels like a million (slash seven billions) people, and folks say they couldn't live without them. Can't find a way to get your point across to someone? Just ask Mobile—not only do they have a vast network, but they know everyone in that network extremely well, giving them the ability to communicate with language that feels tailored and targeted. How do they know so much about all their friends? Well, yes, they may have been less-than-sensitive with peoples’ private information in the past, but they’ve made some pretty significant strides there in recent years. Just get them chatting with Contextual and Geotargeting, and privacy won’t be an issue.
You know that person at the party who no one can take their eyes off of? At this cookout, it’s Digital Out-Of-Home (DOOH for short). They're an incredibly creative and versatile dresser, rivalling Mobile in their ability to grab anyone’s attention. At the same time, there's something reassuringly old-school about them—probably because they inherited many of the same traits as their mom, Out-Of-Home (who’s graciously letting their kid do most of the socializing these days). Oh, and you didn’t hear this from us, but while they may not be public yet, we hear that DOOH and Programmatic have been cozying up quite a lot lately, and word is they’d make a great power couple...
Good ol’ dependable Search has proven their worth time and time again. And while they've recently entered a transformative time in their life, they haven't let those personal developments take away from the value they provide the friend group. These days, you'll probably find them talking about the diversification of their work, or their new interest in artificial intelligence. Though they'll likely look a lot different in a few years, it’s almost certain to be more of a glow-up than a midlife crisis.
Everyone loves the Social family, from the undeniably influential Meta, to the mature and career-driven LinkedIn, to the youthful and endlessly creative TikTok (who totally gets why you might be coming up with contingency plans based on their recent legal troubles, but is thriving nonetheless). You’ll often find them hanging out with Video, using their incredibly effective communication skills to connect with giant networks of people.
The only thing about this group is that it keeps growing, and its members are constantly evolving, so it feels like you could spend the entire cookout trying to catch up with each one. Also, they’ve been known to spread a false rumor or two, so keep your eyes peeled for misinformation when you’re hanging out. And hey, last thing: Be nice and go chat up Twitter—they've lost a lot of friends lately.
Well, there you have it: Each channel brings something unique to the digital advertising cookout. More important, though, is the cumulative effect of all these channels coming together to create an engaging and enjoyable event. One channel on its own is a bit sad, like a paper plate filled with just hot dogs instead of the full scope of cookout deliciousness. That’s why cross-channel experiences, and the omnichannel advertising platforms that empower them, are so important to digital marketing success.
So go ahead: Load up your plate with everything digital advertising has to offer, and enjoy a summer full of top-tier cookouts!
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Agency leverages Basis’ programmatic buying power and partnerships to bring awareness to COBRA, delivering up to a 50% better CTR.
The Department of Labor (DOL) partnered with CMRignite, a strategic marketing agency based in Milwaukee, to launch a nationwide awareness campaign aimed at educating the public about COBRA premium health insurance assistance. Under COBRA, a person who was previously covered on a health plan that is no longer active can elect continuation coverage due to a qualifying life event.
CMRignite used the Basis Platform to launch a highly targeted digital campaign across several channels. The goals of the campaign were to::
Programmatic, CTV, audio, display, and DOOH
Retargeting, behavioral, demographic, and contextual targeting
PMPs: Hulu, SpotX, SlingTV, Spotify, Pandora, iHeart, and more
Market and consumer insight and research
490 million total impressions delivered nationally
50% better CTR performance vs. industry standard
4.4 million total COBRA webpage views throughout campaign lifecycle
Welcome to Scout! Each week, our team tracks down the best digital marketing articles, POVs, and reports—so you don't have to. Here’s what to read from the week of 5/12/23- 5/18/23 to stay ahead of the curve:
The convergence of the streaming TV market continues: Comcast will now reportedly sell its 33% stake in Hulu to Disney at the beginning of 2024. This news comes on the heels of last week’s announcement of a “one-app experience” that will incorporate Hulu content into Disney+ as soon as the end of this year. As one famed cartoon rodent would say, “Oh boy!”
And that’s not all that’s newsworthy in the world of TV: From the writer’s strike to the muddled measurement market, this year’s upfronts are proving to be almost as dramatic as the latest episode of Succession. This overview can help marketers make sense of the "swirling mass of uncertainty.”
The seventh annual IAB US Podcast Advertising Revenue Study is officially hear here. Unsurprisingly, podcasting continues to be one of the digital advertising’s fastest growing channels (two times faster than the overall market). Still, one of the biggest stories at the recent podcast upfront was how ad spend is disproportionate to growth in listenership. Check out the full study to learn more.
You can find tips for building a successful media strategy anywhere, if you look hard enough! Weezer fan or not, we think you’ll enjoy this explanation of how therock band has been secretly doling out advice for us digital marketers their entire career.
Show off your marketing chops with our question of the week. This week’s hot topic: TikTok.
What percentage of TikTok users say they’ve purchased a product or service because of the app?
A. 11%
B. 25%
C. 33%
D. 49%
Click here to get the answer and to discover more nuggets (Sound on or off? Full funnel or just upper? Raw or polished creative?) that advertisers should know about TikTok. Consider it your Basis FYP—"For You Post.”
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