Proliferation

Jul 17
0

Advertising and Technology – The Battle for Power

By | advertising, content marketing, digital marketing, SEO, Social Media, Utah, web development | No Comments

Written by Ascari Pena

 

In 2017, we are seeing the mass emergence of many different technological platforms such as Virtual Reality (VR), self-driving cars and dominance of non-traditional television platforms such as Netflix and Hulu. With this technology changing how we interact with media, products will emerge and others will fall. Innovation is the name of the game.

Our media consumptions habits are changing daily and large tech companies such as Facebook and Google are having larger pressures from large businesses to deliver higher quality ad-serving platforms. On the opposite side, advertising and marketing agencies are competing for business and trying to drive growth of their clients through SEO and content marketing.

To further prove the shift to digital platforms, digital ad spending overtook TV for the first time ever in 2016; experts say this is due to the Summer Olympics and the Presidential election. Globally, TV is still leading in ad spending. While many in the advertising arena would like to debate which one is more effective, the shift to digital is real and advertisers need to recognize this.

Apps and Ads

Large companies with billions of dollars in an advertising budget such as McDonald’s are now turning straight to social platforms such as Snapchat to assist in the marketing of their brand to allure teens to apply for jobs.

While this is becoming a trend for major corporations, these prominent social platforms are now having to provide scalable advertising analytics for their dollars spent. Scaling the analytics for advertising campaigns has been a thorn in the hide of Facebook, Google, Snapchat and Twitter.

With the freedom of the internet also comes the one percent that ruin it for the rest of us. In March 2017, major brands such as Honda pulled their advertising from YouTube as their ads were appearing on extremist websites and other content they deemed to be inappropriate to their brand.

While these platforms have nearly all the attention, there is demand from users and advertisers to create systems to filter out hate speech and the new trend of ‘fake news’ through development of algorithms.

Traditional Advertisers

While we are consuming media at an all time high, traditional media spenders need to think long and hard about where they are placing their advertising dollars. Unlike previous generations, Millennials and Generation Z’s have no problem tuning out your annoying 30-second spot on TV.

While traditional television advertising works to reach a broad audience, it does not have the granular analytics that digital platforms do. If an advertising agency is to spend on traditional mediums, the creative must be engaging and provide value to the viewer, or they will be tuned out faster than the latest Nickelback album.

When evaluating where to spend your ad dollars, auditing your ad spend and re-strategizing with an advertising agency like Fusion 360 in Salt Lake City, Utah may be your best option.

 

Jul 13
0

Where is the Value in Digital Marketing?

By | digital marketing, Utah | No Comments

With traditional advertising techniques taking a blow from modern technological advances, it is important for the media to adapt to evolving marketing approaches — digital marketing companies are doing just that.

Our world is becoming a digital breeding ground, we get our news from online articles, we do our shopping online, we even use technology as our main form of communication. However, where is the value in digital marketing? As a $62 billion-dollar industry, it is important to know where that revenue is coming from so that up and coming agencies can thrive in the modern world. Here is where the value lies when it comes to digital marketing.

 

Jul 11
0

Less is More, Right?

By | advertising, content marketing, digital marketing, SEO, Social Media, Utah, web development | No Comments

Written by Ascari Pena

 

When it comes to advertising or marketing agencies, they come in all different shapes and sizes. Agencies can range anywhere from 10 to 1,000 people, and serve many different functions. As eyeballs continue to shift every single day, companies with large marketing budgets are trying to figure out the best ways to target the right people, spend dollars in the right places and ensure effectiveness in their messaging.

The debate of size in regard to an advertising agency is definitely a conversation to be had. Here are just a few differences to keep in mind when deciding to outsource your content marketing, SEO or video production to an advertising agency.

Contact With the ‘Head Honcho’

If you were to hire an agency that employs 500+ people, what are the odds you will be dealing directly with the CEO? Slim to none. If you are to work at an agency with under 50 people, the odds are much higher that you will work with the shot caller. When managing millions of marketing dollars, there needs to be streamlined communications to ensure tasks are completed effectively. The path of least resistance is the best route to travel.

The Workplace

With many companies that we see today, the ‘growing pains’ can sometimes be too much to handle. With a smaller agency, the vision and mission are able to be maintained with much less effort. Keeping an equal workplace mindset is crucial to the quality of the work produced for its clients. A loss in workplace continuity can cause headaches for everyone.

Attention to Your Work

At a larger agency, work can fall by the wayside very easily; a smaller agency overvalues its clients as each one is extremely vital to the company. Your marketing dollars are the lifeblood of your company, and the last thing needed is for your company to fall lower on the priority list because of your budget.

Agencies are ensuring the success of your marketing dollars on an everyday basis. As these agencies are analyzing the daily shifts in attention, marketing dollars need to be spent as efficiently as possible. When choosing an agency for your business, consider that bigger doesn’t mean better and agencies are not ‘one size fits all.’

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/deeppatel/2017/05/30/gen-z-hates-tv-and-what-that-means-for-traditional-advertising/#4934587a32ed

Jun 12
0

Where are our Eyeballs Heading?

By | digital marketing, marketing, SEO, web development | No Comments

Written by Ascari Pena

 

The dictionary defines attention as “notice taken of someone or something”. Today, our attention has been divided into multiple ‘somethings’. With the evolution of technology, consumers have an enormous number of places that their eyeballs can focus. In 2016, media consumption in the United States amounts to over 12 hours of our day. Digital media, television and radio still dominate our time, with digital platforms leading the way at nearly six hours of our day. Marketing firms debate every single day as to where they should be spending their advertising dollars and efforts to speak to their targeted demographics. As attention is becoming extremely segmented, where is the advertising dollar best spent?

Video

Last year, Nicola Mendelsohn, the Vice President for Facebook in Europe stated that Facebook would be “all video” by 2021. Living in a world where everything is needed to be “Twitter length” or less (140 characters), consumers are demanding more video content to catch their attention. Consumers have become video centric and have found difficulty is consuming text content that is longer than a few sentences.

Non-traditional Television and Cutting the Cord

As cable peaked in the early 2000’s with over 68.5 million subscriptions, cord cutting has become an unavoidable trend for marketers to notice. While having 5,000 channels used to be the cool thing to have, now having access to commercial free and stream lined services such as Netflix and Hulu is the way to go. Twice.com reports that 25% of TV homes do not pay for traditional television. Millennials do not see the value in these services and simply cannot afford it with the rising costs of living and student debt being a large cost burden. Large advertisers, marketing agencies and digital marketing companies are taking full notice of this millennial spear-headed consumption trend and reprioritizing where they place their spending.

Digital

To add to the cord cutting, an estimated four in 10 Americans now get their news online. Whether it be through mobile or accessing a preferred news source website, Americans are ditching the traditional ways of sitting down for the evening news. As nearly 80% of Americans have a smartphone, phones have become the new television screen in 2017. Digital consumption trends show that these technologies are aging up into those that are in their 50s, 60s and 70s, driving forward the need for web development, video production and SEO perfection.

Sources:

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/14/facts-about-the-changing-digital-news-landscape/

http://fortune.com/2016/06/14/facebook-video-live/

http://www.marketingcharts.com/traditional/us-adults-daily-major-media-consumption-estimates-2011-2017-59995/

 

May 23
1

How Does Social Media Help in Times of Crisis?

By | digital marketing | No Comments

Most people in the world today own at least one social media account — Facebook being the most universal. Social media platforms are used for a variety of different reasons, several of which include staying in touch with friends and family, sharing important and meaningful life events, or documenting what they ate for dinner.

With the increase of smartphone usage over the last 10 years, social media has now quickly become one of the largest players in digital advertising. Most Americans spend on average 10 hours a day in front of a screen, so it’s no surprise that marketing agencies have latched onto this current trend and geared their advertising toward mobile-friendly approaches.

As an advertising agency, it is vital to recognize and utilize social media as an integral part of the agencies presence and success.

It’s Not All Just Fun and Games

Though the original objectives of social media have stayed relatively the same, there has been an added objective that has had an astounding impact on society today. Social media now acts as a way to relay current events and offer support during difficult times, specifically in world crises.

Being able to use social media as an outlet for offering assistance, consolation and love allows for communities, as well as the world, to come together in unity and show strength.

Ariana Grande Concert Catastrophe

Tragedy occurred last night at Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester, England when an explosion occurred, killing 22 people and injuring many more. Social media platforms acted as a way for people to express their feelings and concerns about the events that occurred that evening.

Celebrities and fans offered their condolences and support via Twitter and many Manchester natives started using the hashtag #RoomForManchester in tweets to offer spare beds and rooms in their homes for people who were stranded after the attack. Hotels and transportation companies also turned to Twitter to offer places to stay and free rides from the arena where the attack occurred.

The Importance of Knowledge

It is beneficial to not only use social media as a means of showing solace during times of tragedy, but also as a way to inform and educate its users of current events. Digital marketing companies and other marketing agencies all over the world use social media because of its ability to reach vast amounts of people.

Using social media to spread awareness, information and understanding about events going on around the world is going to give a massive amount of people the correct knowledge and power to take action.

May 20
0

How to Make Your Video Ads More Successful

By | advertising, content marketing, digital marketing, SEO, Utah, web development | No Comments

 

If research and statistics are right, then you’re probably not going to read this entire article.

If people are looking for in-depth insight on any given subject, people now more than ever will turn to videos to get information. Marketing agencies that are worth their salt know that people turn more to videos for content than anywhere else. But how do you make your online video ads stand out in a crowded field of cat videos, how do you make your multimedia presence stand out?

Here are some of our personal tips:

Tip #1 Produce “How to” Videos

In 2015, “how to” video searches grew by 30 percent, which means that people are in a hurry to figure out stuff, and they need someone to walk them through how to do something step by step. “How to” videos are only increasing in popularity, and the more unique your “how to” topic is, the more views you’re likely to get.

So, for example, “How to change a flat tire” won’t get that many hits, being as there are literally thousands of those videos already. But a “how to fix a foosball table” video will get much more of an audience for you, even if that audience is smaller than the “fix a tire” group.

Tip #2 Make Testimonial Videos

In the age of Yelp and Rotten Tomatoes, people are more likely to look at reviews for your brand well before they even come close to buying your product. Marketing agencies have figured this out, so for their clients who sell products or services, they’ll make testimonial videos that prove to consumers that what they’re product or service is better than everyone else’s.

Tip #3 Find the “Sweet Spot” for Video Length

Marketing agencies that produce videos for their clients know that the best video ad length (according to Google) is no longer than three minutes. Within 45 seconds, people will know if they’re interested in the video they’re watching. There are some videos that can be longer than 3 minutes on Youtube that still deliver incredible results, but those exceptions are rare, and your video has to be incredibly engaging to pull something like that off.

May 07
0

Gender and Color

By | advertising, digital marketing, SEO, Utah | No Comments

Selecting the color of your logo, advertisements or even social media posts can be a big deal. The colors your advertising agency uses often determines part of the audience’s reaction and reception. Knowing which colors to use in order to get the desired result will take your advertising agency to the next level.

From Utah to the Southeast, colors hold different meanings for different groups of people, different locations in the world and different genders. Knowing what colors mean to your target audience, be they male or female, local or national, could be the difference between a wildly successful advertisement and a total flop.

May 06
0

What Social Media Site Is Best for Your Business?

By | advertising, digital marketing, SEO, Social Media, Utah | No Comments

The most successful digital marketing agencies in the country know that no two clients are the same.

 That’s true when it comes to branding, voice, marketing, advertising and also choosing the appropriate social media channels for your client. Channels like Facebook and Twitter are pretty universal to have for all clients, but some companies might thrive greatly by posting videos on their YouTube account or by having boards on a company Pinterest.

 How you find out what social media site is best for you is pretty simple: Find out what your voice and demographic is, and see what site best facilitates your mission.

May 02
0

Three Great Ways to Make Your Content Posting Less Boring

By | content marketing, digital marketing, Utah | No Comments

No matter what you’re selling, content marketing has become a crowded industry. It’s crowded because marketing agencies see the great benefits of getting brands out to new audiences. Unfortunately, that has led to a lot of content marketing that is being pushed out in boring and dull ways.

Luckily, we know a thing or two about making producing, publishing and promoting good content (because we kind of do it every day), so here are some tips to making content promotion a little less boring.

Tip #1: A Picture Is Worth More Than 1,000 words

Time after time, social sites such as Facebook and Twitter have shown that marketing agencies that utilize images with their content will get better engagement among users than content without images. The reason is pretty simple: reading’s boring. Ok, not boring, but an image that utilizes a powerful and well-written headline can make user entranced with your post, and they won’t hesitate on clicking on your content.

Speaking of well-written headlines…

Tip #2: Master the Art of a Headline

Writers tend to not give too much thought to what their headlines should be because they’re focusing on writing great content. But if you want your content to be seen, you better spend a good amount of time coming up with a great headline too.

They’re difficult to come up with, because headlines have to wear multiple hats. They have to be intriguing while not looking like click bait, and they have to make your content seem unique or worth reading. It’s a tricky thing to master (some marketing agencies still don’t know how to make great headlines), but once you do, you’ll see your content shares go up.

Tip #3: Be Unique

When making content, you shouldn’t think about producing something you’ve already seen before. Try and come up with content and ideas that are out of the box. Writing more unique content will in turn give you more unique visitors to your website, and you’ll get audiences of all types flocking to your social media sites to see what’s the next best original piece you’ve written.

Nov 23
0

Snapchat’s Newest Snap-tics

By | digital marketing, Snapchat, Social Media | No Comments

All you have to do is point at your designated target, zero in and shoot — with the camera in your Snapchat app, of course — to paint the world around you with colorful animations. Lenses have always been the best part of Snapchat.

As digital marketing firms begin implementing Snap-tics (Snapchat tactics) into their strategic marketing plans, there is a whole new world of possibilities available. Always remember the 9th of November, also known as the day Snapchat graced the planet with their new world lenses.

What Is a World Lens?

With 150 million daily users, Snapchat is the social media platform that seems impossible to beat. Instagram’s newest Stories feature attempted to break into the market. However, with Snapchat’s innovative features rolling out regularly, digital marketing firms are eager to make the platform work for them.

These lenses are slightly different than your typical Snapchat lens. Instead of face augmentation, your background world will be morphed into something new. Bring the drab of the grey world around you through the transformation to especially fabulous.

As Nick Gambino from NewsWatchTV so simply stated, “It’s basically adding an acid trip to the whole captured moment.”

The Anticipation Is Killing Me

It is assumed that the world lenses are simply a hype machine for none other than Snapchat’s new Spectacles. The second attempt at something similar to Google Glasses will retail at $130. These Spectacles will record moments of your daily life to be saved to your “Memories” file on the app.

This is yet another tool in the arsenal of digital marketing firms across the country. Snapchat continues to prove that it’s less about the financial backing or who did it first, rather it’s about who did it better.

With augmented reality glasses, adding a sleeping cloud that vomits rainbows to your personal world can be as easy as clicking a button.