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Kami Lentz here, Agency Lead with Centro! I’m here to share some tips I’ve learned in my time working remotely. Wellbeing is a big topic at Centro, as well as an area that I am personally very passionate about.
Here are my top tips for taking care of your mental health while working from home:
“Get outside for Vitamin D!” –Alana Putterman
“I like to listen to Spotify Calming or Classical music channels in the mornings to get me in a zen/strong mindset for the day.” –Alyssa Brown
“I take at least 10 minutes per day to meditate. It's also okay to take 5- to 10-minute breaks throughout the day to clear your head.” –Amanda Wallman
“Keep your routine the same so that working from home doesn't disrupt your sleep cycle. Use Headspace. Use aromatherapy. Make someone else laugh with a meme. During the process you will likely laugh too.” –David Lempp
“Acknowledge when you need a break. You can still get burned out and tired while working at home. Listen to your body. You don't have to work 24/7 just because you're at home. You can still be "off" work, just as you normally would be.” –Laurie Jones
“If I start to feel detached or out of sorts, I will reach out and talk or chat with someone on my team. Proximity doesn't have to dictate whether or not you feel like part of a team.” –Matt Baine
“Be mindful if you are not feeling productive, as a little break will help you re-collect your thoughts. You may even need a little snack! This ties into my physical well-being too.” –Michael Lagioia
Interested in joining our team? Check out our careers page.
Google announced Tuesday that it is opening up its Shopping search results to unpaid, organic listings. This change should be rolling out, starting this week (27 April). In a practical sense, what this means is that the Shopping results will consist “primarily of free product listings.”
This change raises questions, including why they’re making such a significant shift backward, after going to purely paid listings in 2012 (Froogle).
The impetus behind ending the organic listings service, Froogle, and moving to purely paid listings was quality-driven. Products that were out of stock, incorrectly identified, or had other data issues were so widespread that the listings were frustratingly useless. Given the data-crunching power that Google now possesses, they must believe that they can successfully maintain the quality of results and that it’s safe to go back.
Announced via a blog post, Bill Ready, the President of Commerce at Google, states they intend to “provide a measure of relief for businesses,” during the coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus likely did accelerate their plans; however, the change was probably in the works long before coronavirus.
The actual impetus is likely competition from other online marketplaces. The largest is Amazon, but Target and Walmart have both launched online marketplaces that accept and sell products from third-party sellers. But why does Google care? They’re a behemoth, right?
Here are some hypotheses about what prompted the change in Google Shopping:
The change in Google Shopping is going to have an impact on retailers who are currently running paid listings. Your paid ads will still be able to show at the top and bottom of the page and those top spots will be valuable.
However, there are now fewer paid spots on the top of the results page. Only time and data will tell if retailers showing up organically will compensate for that increased competitiveness in the auction.
This is a big shift in the market and we encourage our United States-based clients to take advantage of these free listings wherever possible. You will need:
Note that the change to accepting organic product listings should be fully rolled out in the United States by the end of April and globally by the end of 2020.
As of April 28, 2020, we see a new Performance (unpaid) dashboard in the overview of Merchant Center accounts, and the data is retroactive a few days.
You can also see organic clicks on the new Performance dashboard on the sidebar, which lets you choose a date range and view a graph. Unfortunately, downloading nets you a PDF of the graph, not the granular data download that marketers are generally seeking.
There is more detail within the Diagnostics sidebar, where you can see a snapshot of which products are driving unpaid clicks.
If you are based in the United States, now is the time to ensure that your products are opted into Google’s organic product listings. Another venue for brand awareness and sales is an opportunity, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.
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For assistance with your Google Shopping listings, Centro is here to help! Contact us today.
Even with social distancing feeling like the new normal, advertising and marketing professionals must continue to grapple with the constraints a work from home lifestyle puts on their professional and personal lives.
The real-life distance from colleagues and clients, the increased connection via technology, and the general state of uncertainty around the economy make coping with this current way of life quite challenging.
This episode features speaker, author, and coach Lola Wright, who supports teams from an array of industries through transition and conflict.
Listen in, as she discusses how advertising professionals—or anyone—can work better in these adverse and unusual times, both personally and professionally.
Finding the right digital advertising platform can be a challenge, due to the sheer volume of available options. Before making your decision, it's important to consider the attributes most important to you and your team. Here are the top features to consider:
Your advertising platform should be able to track communications both internally (colleagues, clients) and externally (publishers, vendors). Imagine the time you'll save not having to keep track of email after email, multiple excel files, and a rolodex of contacts!
Pulling your reports shouldn’t involve logging into 4+ different platforms before you can analyze the data. Select a platform that allows you to efficiently assess and optimize performance across the different tactics your campaign uses such as programmatic, search, social, and direct buys.
Billing and finance is the engine that ensures your agency operates smoothly. It keeps the money flowing in and makes sure your vendors are paid properly. The ability to produce accurate, real-time reporting to feed automatically into your financial system of record is an absolute must for an advertising platform.
As the number of tech partners increases, the need to pull all these pieces together in a simplified fashion is becoming even more crucial. Integrations with major tech partners including: Ad servers (GCM and Sizmek/Amazon), search providers (Google, Microsoft), and social platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn) is key to streamline your company’s workflow.
The best digital ad platform would be incomplete without Demand Side Platform (DSP) capabilities. A robust DSP should access key data providers, private marketplace (PMP) inventory, an immense scale of impressions, and tools for optimization (bid factoring, machine learning, bulk editing, etc.).
Find your perfect match with Basis by Centro. Basis increases productivity by uniting your media channels—direct, programmatic, search, and social—in one single interface. With robust business intelligence, workflow automation, key integrations, and the G2-rated #1 DSP, it’s a platform you can run your entire digital business on top of.
Connect with us to learn more.
Covid-19 has changed our world, and the economy is experiencing unprecedented change across all industries. In our Industries in Flux miniseries, we'll address how specific verticals are pivoting in real-time to adapt. Each week, we’ll focus on a different industry, and share strategies based on consumer trends and changes in media consumption.
Part three of Industries in Flux features Centro's EVP of Media Services and Operations, April Weeks, and National Director of Programmatic Solutions, Lindsey Freed.
Our experts share how programmatic has changed the way pharma and healthcare companies speak to their consumers, as well as the dos and don’ts of leveraging data and programmatic technology to activate the right segments.
If programmatic advertising had an official fan squad, I imagine their cheers would sound something like this:
With programmatic advertising, buying in the open auction is priced on a dynamic CPM (or cost per thousand). This allows the bidder to bid either competitively or more efficiently, based on the targeting parameters and market conditions.
When effective CPMs are lower than the contracted rate, dollars are reinvested into more media spend which means more impressions and potentially increased reach. Typical CPMs are lower than if you were to go site direct, so the reduced costs lead to increased efficiencies when targeting your audience at scale.
Most programmatic platforms include multichannel targeting across computers, phones, tablets, and even connected TV devices. With the use of data (whether 1st, 2nd, or 3rd party), your buying strategy can focus on reaching your intended audience no matter what device they’re using.
Cross device capabilities also help extend your audience to find a user anywhere, regardless of the type of data your audience segment includes, including IP-based connected TV devices.
Programmatic real-time bidding (RTB) happens so quickly that data refreshes can happen every second. If you really wanted to refresh your page that often, you could see the cost you are paying, the budget you have spent, and the impressions you have served for the current day up to the last second.
Having that immediate insight allows for real time optimizations to occur, with real time performance metrics down to the creative level.
Most bid requests in the programmatic space include the domain or app, the device type, and the geo where the ad placement that needs to be filled is coming from.
With insight into these settings, we can report on the performance of each and understand where our ads are served. This transparency rolls into the optimizations we make and the strategies we implement on future campaigns.
OK, I’ll be honest—I’ve been part of the Programmatic Fan Club for 11 years now. If these programmatic advantages pique your interest, learn more about Programmatic Advertising with Centro!
If you're transitioning from working in an office to working remotely, maintaining focus throughout the day may be something you're struggling with. Never fear—as someone who's worked remotely for years, I've picked up plenty of tips for alleviating this problem!
This might be a hard one for those of us with roommates, husbands, wives, children, pets, etc.—but separating your work space from your home space is one of my top tips for maintaining focus. This is an effective way of tricking your brain into associating a certain space with work.
I also tend to clean my workspace in the evening once I’ve completed my day. This allows me to start the next morning with a clean slate. I don’t want to stop anyone from moving locations, especially if you want to get some sunshine—but when you do, make sure it’s a space you can designate to focus on work.
Each week I spend 30 minutes scheduling out big chunks of my week. Then each evening when I’m planning for the following day, I create a simple to-do list and block out my time with specific activities.
It's also helpful for me to schedule out my free time and breaks. It’s important to take 5-10 minute breaks throughout the day before you start a new activity. Our brains take a second to move from one task to the next (hence why multitasking isn’t helpful), so taking a break will allow your brain to reset.
This one took me a while because I always wanted to be available internally and externally, but the "Do Not Disturb" setting on your phone is indeed your friend. Eliminating unnecessary notifications allows you to truly focus on the task at hand, which will make you more productive.
In my experience, I'm able to complete more tasks when I’m completely focused on one thing at a time. Utilizing one or two of these steps will dramatically improve your focus and efficiency with work.
“I find it easier to focus in my home office since I don't typically have anyone else in my house while I'm working. When I really need to focus and get something done, I'll close my email rather than have it dinging at me and doing its best to distract me away from what I'm working on.
When I do this, I make a point to check it every 30 mins or so to make sure that I'm not missing anything urgent. Checklists come in handy when I have lots of pending action items.” —Matt Baine
“It's OK to take a break. If you're having a mental block or starting to feel nuts—step away from your computer, and give yourself a little reward.”—Holly Maine
“TV is a productivity killer.”—Kelly Wittmann
“I like to set up "zones" for myself when I really need to focus uninterrupted on something and knock it out. It's something I brought with me from my previous job. If I have 15 prospecting emails to send, I put myself on Do Not Disturb for one hour until they are complete.
You can give your team a heads up that you're going into "the zone" if you're worried about not being available to them. If I can plan for these in advance by putting them on my calendar, it keeps me from forgetting or not finding the time.”—Ben Morton
Interested in joining our team? Check out our careers page.
In March, retailers across the US experienced record-breaking sales of cannabis and cannabis-related products for both medicinal and recreational use. The biggest sales increases were seen in:
Despite shelter in place orders and social distancing across the US, more than 20 states are allowing cannabis retailers to continue operating. Some of these businesses are asking customers to access their products through online orders and curbside pick-up, while others are keeping their doors open and adhering to social distancing rules.
Industry experts aren’t expecting import slowdowns of cannabis itself. However, lack of supply may occur for components like vape batteries and cartridges, which are made in China. Supply chains in China haven’t resumed to normal activity levels, which has impacted overall production volumes. Additionally, the shipment of products across seas hasn’t yet been normalized.
Cannabis retailers are further benefiting from the annual 4/20 event, using the entire month of April to celebrate. Companies such as Bloom Room, Headset, and Alterna are offering deals to customers during this period to celebrate the occasion.
Centro maintains teams of subject matter experts dedicated to supporting cannabis clients, provides access to CannaVu’s premium inventory, and has partnered with Peer39 to bring first-to-market interest targeting segments to the cannabis industry that can be used in the open exchange.
To learn more about how you can take advantage of the booming cannabis industry this April, check out our How to Capitalize on Cannabis webinar.
Covid-19 has changed our world, and the economy is experiencing unprecedented change across all industries. In our Industries in Flux miniseries, we'll address how specific verticals are pivoting in real-time to adapt. Each week, we’ll focus on a different industry, and share strategies based on consumer trends and changes in media consumption.
In part two of Industries in Flux, Centro's EVP of Media Services and Operations, April Weeks, and VP of Paid Social, Amy Rumpler, share how quick service restaurants are pivoting their branding, messaging, and advertising strategies to reach their audiences, while remaining sensitive to a turbulent economic landscape.