advertising

The Progression of Ad Cost & Measurement

The cost and measurement of advertising has changed over the years. Traditional advertising was all about eyeballs and the cost of it was based on how many people were “expected” to see the ad. I emphasize “expected” because traditional media channels were not able to track exactly how many people saw an ad.

Now, with the online medium, advertisement pricing and measurement are beginning to reflect the changing environment of consumer behaviour. People are no longer passively consuming information, they are reacting and taking action on information they see online.

Advertising goals are not just about eyeballs anymore. They are about a higher level of interaction, a stronger conversion measure, a profitable action.

It was a giant step when the cost per click model for online advertisement pricing was introduced. Advertisers were only charged when users clicked on an ad.

The next step forward is the pricing models being adopted by social media platforms. These pricing models make a closer connection between the cost of the ad and the goal of the advertiser.

For example, as of May 25, 2011, YouTube “will change the billing terms of all Promoted Videos campaigns from a Cost Per Click (CPC) basis to a Cost Per View (CPV) basis”. This means the promoted video ads will only cost the advertiser money if someone views the video.

Furthermore, the launch of Twitter’s Promoted Products also include unique pricing models. Promoted Tweets, for example, are charged on a cost per engagement (CPE) basis where advertisers only pay when users retweet, reply to, click or “favorite” a promoted tweet. On the other hand, Promoted Accounts are charged on a cost per follower (CPF) basis, which means advertisers are only charged when a user follows their account.

These pricing models help advertisers more accurately measure the return on investment. Gone are the days where advertisers are only looking for eyeballs. Measure everything you do to determine the best course of action.

Victor

Photo Credit: Nesster

Tags: advertising, cost, measurement, ROI, Twitter, youtube

Facebook Ads Made Easy

Advertising on Facebook just got easier.
Ever since Facebook introduced Facebook ads, the popularity of this advertising opportunity has been steadily growing. ComScore estimates that Facebook is getting 31% of US advertising display impressions. This is a staggering percentage when compared to its closest competitor, Yahoo’s network, with roughly 10% of the market.

In the past, running an ad campaign on Facebook was not as easy or user-friendly as it is today. When compared to Google Adwords, the user interface, targeting options and reporting tools on Facebook were quite limited. Facebook click through rates (CTR) and quality of traffic were also low, compared to other ad networks like Adwords.

Over the past year, Facebook has continued to develop the platform and is now introducing a number of new features that greatly helps businesses launch effective ad campaigns.

In January 2011, Facebook introduced the, somewhat controversial, ‘Sponsored Stories’ ad unit which ties in a social aspect to ads. A study by TBG Digital reported Sponsored Stories ads have a 46% higher CTR, 20% lower cost per click and 18% lower cost per fan than Facebook’s standard ads.

In May 2011, Facebook introduced another new feature that helps advertisers organize and generate ad creative. The Creative Library is a collection of all previous images, headlines and text used in the advertisers’ ads. This tool makes it easier to create different ad variations for testing, which can ultimately help improve a campaign’s performance.

Inevitably as more companies add Facebook advertising to their marketing mix, the competition for ad space will drive up the cost of Facebook ads. We’ve already been seeing the cost creeping up since the launch of Facebook ads. So if you’re thinking you might want to give Facebook advertising a try, sooner than later is wiser.

Victor

Tags: advertising, comscore, creative library, facebook ads, sponsored stories, tbg digital study

A Dead Web Could Be Good For Advertising

Last summer, Wired wrote a very widely debated article on how the web is dead. It was argued by Chris Anderson, “much as we love freedom and choice, we also love things that just work, reliably and seamlessly.” For instance, “we’ll pay for convenience and reliability, which is why iTunes can sell songs for 99 cents,” as Chris points out, “An entire generation has grown up in front of a browser… We get the web. It’s part of our life.” It’s now that, Chris states, “the shift to the app model on rich media platforms like the iPad” is taking place, and “where limited free content drives subscription revenues.”

If the web is dead, which of late seems to be the direction it might be headed, this is good news for advertising. Appssavvy recently released a report that found in-app ads (apps inside social network apps or mobile apps) perform 11.4 times better than standard banner ads. Recently, a former Magnify Digital team member, Brian Wong launched his latest venture Kiip that gets advertisers and gamers thinking of screen real estate and in-game experience differently. Brian told Mashable that “[He thinks] that we have too long been fixated with screen estate and the attention exchange as being a key part of the advertising equation.”

Although “appvertising” is fairly new, app publishers continue to tweak and adjust their apps as need be to deliver unique and different advertising successes. Yesterday, Mashable discussed the three main types of “appvertising” that seems to be working:

Become Part of the Game

Finding a way to have a brand appear in a way that enhances the game experience. Last year, Appssavvy ran a campaign where they brought Windows Cloud into GodFinder All-Stars game. The user activity itself leveraged what a user was already doing in the game. In this six-week promotion, 10% of game player’s visited the Windows Cloud (6.1 million visits).

Bribery

Instead of blending advertising into the game experience, brands can ask players to sit through an ad in exchange for virtual game currency. Currently, SocialVibe is one of the main companies providing this type of service, but this is also the category where Kiip inserts themselves with a twist on “virtual currency” and instead providing real prizes.

Make Better Ads

Rich media mobile ads invite users to actually engage with the brand and ad itself, where the ad can be turned into an interactive game for users with a brand. For instance, users can swipe or tap on an iPhone that does an action to reveal a brands story.

With Mary Meeker from Business Insider claiming that 2012 will be the inflection point of which mobile devices will see significant growth, mobile advertising is about to take off. The transition from the “stay-at-home” desktop device to the “on-the-go” mobile device is being realized by marketers all over North America, with 75% of marketers planning to add mobile to their marketing mix in 2011 (Forrester Research).

If you’re not thinking mobile yet, you should be. The tipping point is approaching!

Tags: ads, advertising, app, ipad, iPhone, mobile ads

The Explosion of Hyper-Exclusive Mobile Communities

Now three months into 2011, it’s clear that the integration of mobile, social, and geo-location is about to take off in a big way. Companies looking to further grow their online communities and conversations amongst fans have never had so many options on different types of networks and devices. In the past six months, and especially during March at SXSW, two new mobile social community categories have dominated headlines:

• Photo-Sharing
• Group Messaging

Photo Sharing

More than ever, brands are starting to realize the benefit of generating content and not just text based. Over the past six months, the biggest trend in generating content is to ensure that your brand or company is striving for context and providing value. Mobile photo sharing on iPhone and Android has never been more popular amongst smart phone users than in the last six months. Brands have found a distinct advantage in becoming part of mobile photo-sharing networks because users have fewer issues over privacy on these networks than Facebook.

Mobile photo-sharing applications don’t ask for permission to gain access to sensitive personal information such as your name, phone number, address, date of birth, etc. Instead, users around the world are free to share photos amongst their friends and other network users while also choosing to see other cool photos from anyone they choose to follow. Consumers, specifically young adults, enjoy creating a community around interesting and fascinating pieces of art, in this case, photos. Brands that have experimented with photo sharing include, Levis Brazil, San Diego Chargers, Starbucks, NPR, Brisk Iced Tea, and many others.

Depending on your industry and company, brands are using the tools to give users a “behind-the-scenes” look at their events, meetings, product development, or other things and to share with their fans. Fans of mobile photo-sharing networks seem to be interested in sharing these photos as a “cool way” to socially connect with the community. Mobile apps to watch out for are:

• Instagram
• PicPlz
• Hipstamatic
• Color (New – Launched March 24th)

Group Messaging

The early micro-trend in 2011 is all about group messaging and the ability to create small networks of friends labeled as, for example, “Sport friends”, “Coffee Mates”, “Shopaholics”, etc. The idea that mobile apps could provide an organized, interesting, and relevant experience to keep track of micro-conversations amongst group of friends is very appealing. Brands think so too! Companies are starting to explore ways of how to use these platforms and developers are already trying to build brand incentives into their apps.

GroupMe launched “Featured Conversations” on March 28th that allows users to talk in groups of people about their favourite brands or companies (if they are featured). For instance, group conversations can happen around the Vancouver Canucks, Gap, Bon Jovi, Randy Jackson’s America’s Best Dance Crew, etc. This is just the beginning of this new category of mobile apps. Other companies that made a splash in this space at SXSW are:

• Beluga – Acquired by Facebook on March. 3rd
• Grouped{In} – Launched at SXSW 2011
• Google’s Disco – Launched March. 26th (USA only)
• Fast Society – USA only right now
• KIK

The future of online and mobile communities is growing significantly, but it will be interesting to see the choices companies make in the future.

Over the next two years, communities will blur or merge from larger online social networks (ie: Twitter and Facebook) to more hyper-local exclusive networks on mobile apps. Let the fun of mobile communities and user adoptions begin!

Tags: advertising, app, group messaging, mobile, photo-sharing

Facebook Privacy: Advertisers Get More Power

I read a post by Inside Facebook announcing that Facebook is testing new advertisements that target users based on status updates and wall post content. This form of targeting is similar to the content targeting method used by other advertising networks like Google Adwords.

From an advertiser’s perspective, this may help improve the conversion rate of Facebook ads because ads can be configured to reach only users who are “talking” about a topic related to the ad.

From a Facebook user’s perspective, it’s a mixed bag. Some users may see it as a positive, thinking to themselves, “Since it is inevitable that ads will be displayed on Facebook, I’d rather see ads which are more relevant to me”.

Other users may see it as a negative and a gross invasion of privacy. Since status updates and wall posts on a personal profile are in a private environment, allowing advertisers to target based on this content is like allowing Facebook and advertisers to tap into these personal conversations.

If Facebook were to launch this new targeting method, it undoubtedly needs to have an opt-out option for users. Better yet (but highly unlikely), it should be an opt-in option.

Whether you are wearing the advertisers’ hat or the Facebook users’ hat, it’s important to be aware of the ever changing online and social media environment.

Victor

Photo Credit: mjmonty

Tags: advertising, facebook, privacy