Category: Channels and Tactics

How to Build a Content Amplification Strategy Using Publisher and Influencer Partnerships

Posted on by Lisa Merlotti

Custom content marketing is key to achieving long-term brand success. But, content creation can be expensive and time-consuming. A content amplification strategy allows brands to do more with less, maximizing the return on investment. 

In this article, you’ll learn how to create an impactful content amplification strategy that expands reach and extends content shelf life.

Why You Need a Content Amplification Strategy

Content amplification can build an authoritative voice for brands in any industry, from CPG to finance to B2B. For more complex industries, it is an opportunity to establish thought leadership and position a brand as a trustworthy educational resource. 

Alternatively, content can be all about entertaining the consumer – driving brand affinity and engagement. Whether you’re amplifying successful content, refreshing pre-existing content or partnering with a trusted third party to leverage their resources and authority – it all comes down to finding the ideal intersection between brand goals and consumer value 

Building a Holistic Content Marketing Plan

To begin crafting a strategic content marketing plan that satisfies both the brand and its consumers, follow these four steps. 

#1 – Establish strategic alignment on content goals and production strategy

Begin by putting together a comprehensive brief with the client that addresses: 

  • The brand’s core business and marketing objectives 
  • The brand’s content creation plans for the year to support these goals 

Once you understand the upcoming content pipeline, find ways to incorporate major initiatives, such as custom research studies, company highlight videos, or downloadable white papers, into the paid content marketing strategy. 

#2 – Analyze the existing content library

Next, look at the brand’s current content arsenal. What assets can be easily refreshed and repurposed? This decreases net new creative production needs, while making the most of high-value assets. To identify the best content pieces without bias, start by analyzing pre-existing organic metrics. 

  • What content formats are driving the highest reach and engagement on social media? 
  • What long-form content pieces are generating the most downloads, backlinks, or shares on your website? 

After understanding what great pieces already exist, you can refresh, amplify, and distribute them to more people within their audience groups. 

#3 – Partner with publishers for net new content opportunities

After understanding what content is currently at your disposal, identify gaps to fill by tapping into strategic publisher partnerships. 

  • Where is there competitive white space for the brand to own their message? 
  • Which channels are the brand’s competitors underutilizing? 
  • Where is the target audience most active and reachable? 

Leverage publishers to help create the most engaging and interactive assets possible. Some creative content formats we have explored include immersive articles, Instagram ‘meme’ Reels, podcast segments, animated videos, recipe blogs, co-branded national polls, and e-newsletter sponsorships – just to name a few. 

#4 – Ensure content provides authentic value

Identify the key messages, whether content families or thematic pillars, to find a valuable brand story. Also consider what content formats best communicate different types of information, as well as different target audience segments. For instance, a research survey with heavy statistical data may be best suited for an infographic, whereas a webinar may be better suited for a sizzle reel video.  

Remember these four guiding principles to create authentic marketing content:

As you are creating a custom content plan, you should also be formulating your content amplification strategy. Approaching these in tandem will help you determine what types of assets are needed for both owned and amplified channels and streamline creative production. 

Identifying Optimal Publisher Partnerships

To level up content production and audience reach, connect with reputable publishers to create and amplify custom marketing content. Our teams work closely to streamline communication and access the best added-value opportunities for clients by leveraging relationships with editorial partners.

These publishers could be vertical-specific sites, high-authority news organizations, or relevant internet content and entertainment communities. It’s beneficial to align with their editorial calendars to get greater engagement and stronger placements, while also considering factors like seasonality for the brand. 

In the publisher vetting and RFI process, we look at four key areas to determine the best partnerships:

  1. Audience: Does our audience have a high index and contextual relevance with this publisher’s content? 
  2. Content Quality: Are the publisher’s creative chops high quality, engaging, and suitable for repurposing across multiple channels? 
  3. Message Alignment: Does this publication’s mission and historical content align with the brand’s key messages and themes? 
  4. Distribution: Will this publisher provide adequate reach? Are there paid promotion and distribution opportunities across high-touch and owned channels? 

Typically, it’s best practice to diversify across a few different publishers to ensure you have adequate reach across your target audience. However, there are some instances where it makes sense to go all-in with one publisher if it strongly aligns with brand goals, or if your budget is limited. 

Repurposing Custom Content Across Channels

Content marketing is typically a pay-to-play space, at least in the initial stages of your brand partnership. Nearly every publisher has minimum spend requirements. Strategically repurposing content across channels (without simply copy and pasting) is critical to maximize that investment. 

For example, a publisher can help transform an in-depth white paper with proprietary content into an infographic or animated stat video. By making complex content more digestible, you can reach users earlier in the consumer journey, while still translating the key value proposition. 

After commissioning custom content, there are two highly effective ways to repurpose it: using derivative assets and tapping into influencer marketing. Let’s dive into each of these in more detail.

Using Derivative Assets to Extend Value and Reach

What are derivative assets? Derivative assets are micro content, such as ad units derived from the main “anchor content” and used to drive to the main “anchor content”. Examples of derivative assets include: 

  • Creating a native display unit that links to an organic blog post or sponsored article
  • Boosting an organic social media post on a brand’s page 
  • Using paid search engine marketing to promote a white paper 
  • Building organic and paid social media drivers that link to a branded e-book
  • Producing a sizzle reel from a long-form webinar

Derivative assets extend your anchor pieces, tailoring them to different audiences, placements, and stages in the consumer journey. This approach creates a more comprehensive content strategy and supports creative efficiency.  A good best practice is to sponsor pre-existing organic content, allowing you to test the content before dedicating advertising dollars. This way, you already know which content is likely to drive the greatest paid media results.

Amplifying Content with Influencer Marketing Partnerships

Influencer marketing is gaining more and more attention in the realm of content amplification. However, you HAVE to ensure the content is authentic to the creator’s individual brand and unique followership. An influencer simply pushing out your brand’s ad is not always going to feel organic.  

Publishers often have in-house influencer talent which brands can tap to gain additional reach outside of the publication’s readership. Take PopSugar for example. They have networks of highly-vetted influencers in the food, lifestyle, beauty, and fashion spaces which brands can leverage. Coegi also has an in-house influencer marketing team to help brands identify and partner with creators to create and promote branded content. 

Read our 5 Essential Influencer Marketing Tips article for more.

Key Takeaways for a Successful Content Amplification Strategy

Custom content and sponsored publisher placements have a myriad of positive effects – visibility, credibility, reach, engagement, and more. To reap these benefits, remember to focus on creating and amplifying content that provides true value to the consumer. 

Save and use this quick checklist to audit the quality of your content marketing assets:

  • Supports core business goals 
  • Translates key brand message through storytelling 
  • Offers authentic consumer value
  • Aligns with publisher editorial calendar or your brand’s seasonality 
  • Is able to be reused in multiple formats and across a variety of channels 

Ready to leverage Coegi’s expert media team to create your brand’s content amplification strategy?

Contact us today for a discovery call.

Building a Brand Performance Strategy for Bread & Butter Wines

Posted on by Coegi

Brief

Coegi partnered with a high-growth wine brand to launch a full-funnel digital campaign to quantify the impact on both brand and performance goals using advanced measurement studies.

 

Highlights

10.6%
Ad Recall Lift

9.1%
Purchase Intent Lift

621%
Site Traffic Lift

Challenge

Bread & Butter Wines came to Coegi in 2020 seeking a stronger marketing strategy to stand apart from the crowd of wine brands. Coegi was asked to provide a holistic, integrated marketing strategy that could reach their full-funnel goals:

  • Drive brand awareness in the US and Canada through emotional connection
  • Via increased brand awareness, drive trial and move brand into selection set within target consumers

Solution

Our targeting strategy reached consumers based on multiple data signals such as demographics, interests, and competitor affinity. This data indicated what was going to drive brand trial. Initially, we created six audience personas to focus on niche competitive opportunities and product use cases. Going into 2023, this was narrowed down to two core personas using purchase behavior data. 

We also used advanced research to understand wine buyers aged 25-54 and living in their top 8 sales states. Using an omni-channel digital strategy, our initial goal was to increase reach and frequency against key audiences. We selected channels offering efficiency and effectiveness, while also balancing lower-funnel ROAS goals. 

Key channels we are prioritizing include: 

  • Influencer and content partnerships to build trust and authenticity
  • Connected TV, display, and Facebook/Instagram to drive reach/frequency and website traffic
  • Instacart, Citrus Ads, and paid search to drive ROAS 

Additionally, we used advanced measurement through Upwave, Facebook, and Nielsen Catalina to understand the full-funnel impact on the brand – from ad recall to purchase intent. 

Throughout our multi-year partnership, we have served billions of cross-channel impressions. In the first three months, we saw a 621% increase in website visitors period over period and 27,000 site actions. 

The first Instacart campaign was especially successful in driving trial, with a nearly 3X ROAS, increasing attributable sales across all varietals. Instacart has continued to have a strong impact. The most recent campaign touts a 4X ROAS, 32% increase in YoY Instacart sales, and an average cost of conversion of $3.73. 

Our campaigns run with Nielsen Catalina were successful at driving incremental value for the brand. The display campaigns helped reclaim former customers with especially strong performance from lost/lapsed customers. The CTV campaign boosted exposure among key audiences and generated $230,101 in sales value of products transferred to their e-commerce cart after seeing an ad. 

The Bread & Butter team continues to be pleased with the Coegi partnership. 

Social Media Marketing for Higher Education Brands

Posted on by Jenny McNamara

Looking for a way to stand out among the sea of colleges and universities competing for the attention of potential students?

Paid social media marketing is one of the most effective tactics you can use for your higher education institute.  

Most higher education marketing plans under-utilize paid social media in favor of more traditional advertising tactics. While these channels can be effective, there is a major opportunity cost in omitting social media channels where potential students are most engaged. 

Social media is a must-have tactic to reach student audiences and revitalize education brands’ market positioning. In this article, you’ll learn Coegi’s key best practices to optimize social media marketing for higher education so you can drive results – from awareness to enrollment. 

Using Social Media to Compliantly Reach Potential Students

Higher education audience targeting strategies can feel fairly prescriptive. Colleges and universities want to reach and engage with prospective students, whether undergraduates, masters, or professional students. This might seem pretty straightforward; however, reaching undergraduate students in a data-driven way is becoming increasingly challenging due privacy laws restricting advertising to minors. 

But, not all hope is lost. The data clearly shows that young adults are highly active on social media. So, while perhaps less frequently targetable by demographics, higher education brands can and should use social platforms to reach these individuals from a contextual standpoint in a compliant and authentic way. 

Tips for Targeting and Resonating with Student Audiences on Social Media

  • Avoid over-segmenting your audience to prevent overlap. For example, an audience of “all prospective students” and an audience of “prospective journalism students” will overlap and compete which will limit performance. 
  • Tailor creative to specific audiences and social media platforms. What performs best on Facebook will be different from what resonates with users on TikTok. 
  • Contextually target student audiences on social media using specific hashtags, TV shows watched, or other relevant interest factors based on research and trends.

Parents are Students Too When It Comes to Vetting Schools (And They’re Also On Social Media)

While paid social media is an excellent tool for reaching young students, focusing solely on students can limit your education campaign’s full potential. Nearly everyone is on social media – not just teens and young adults. Incorporating parents into your audience mix can vastly increase higher education campaign reach and efficacy, whether they are looking into colleges and universities for themselves or on behalf of their children. 

Social media encapsulates a wide demographic range, though the preferred social channel may vary. For example, Facebook and Instagram remain very popular with older generations. Consider leaning into these channels to capture more of your parent and professional student audience.

On the other hand, Snapchat and TikTok have higher usage among younger audiences. By creating a cohesive strategy across multiple social media platforms, you can ensure you’re reaching every potential decision-maker in the school selection process.  

Tips for Advertising to Parents on Social Media 

  • Sprout Social indicates that parents love hearing from other parents. Lean into messaging that focuses on building a community of support and educational resources across social media. 
  • Incorporate parent testimonials or useful statements from school administrators through short-form social media video formats.  
  • Use swipe-thru or animated graphics to highlight job placements, internship rates, and other ways your school can help facilitate their child’s success. 

Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment 

Leaning into social media opens the door for innovation within higher education marketing. Young audiences are on the forefront of changes to the social media landscape. This gives higher education advertisers the unique opportunity to test out new tactics and be early movers in the space. Your brand can increase credibility and favorability amongst your key audiences by creating social moments that surprise and engage these individuals.

This also applies to the types of creative you use. Students want to see something engaging and on-trend. TikTok, in particular, is a space to experiment with creative short-form video formats and explore innovative ways to drive leads. Check out these universities who are using TikTok to engage with students: 5 Universities and Colleges Winning on TikTok

Tips for Innovative Higher Education Social Media Campaigns

  • Research current social media trends among your target audience groups and regularly swap creatives to stay fresh and relevant.
  • Try using less formal creative messaging such as meme Reels on Instagram or trending TikTok challenges and hashtags.
  • Ensure your social media ads have a clear call-to-action to lead users towards application. 

Measure the Right Actions

Education brands face a unique challenge with social media marketing because their most critical action, submitted applications, is often not directly measurable. Obstacles, including third-party website domains and pixel data limitations, can complicate attribution. However, there are a number of high-intent actions users can take on your website that are worth measuring in paid social media campaigns. 

First, determine which lower-funnel actions are most important and measurable. Two such examples are clicks to start the application process or clicks to sign up for a campus tour. After determining these KPIs, optimize your social media campaigns for them.

From there, establish a conversion rate between “clicks to apply” and completed applications, for instance. By taking this analysis a step further, education brands can work to create a more complete picture of social media campaign attribution. 

Tips for Measuring Social Media Marketing Success

  • Identify existing data that can inform your measurement baseline. If you can cross reference campus visit button clicks against real campus visit data, you can identify incremental lift attributable to social media ads.
  • Develop data tracking strategies before media launches so you have an accurate picture of performance across the entire social campaign. 
  • Ensure all aspects of your strategy align with key KPIs so your campaigns garner meaningful results. 

Social media marketing for higher education brands offers fresh and engaging opportunities to reach the full spectrum of your target audiences. Think outside the box and explore how your institution can creatively show up on social platforms to drive high-intent actions, while also building greater brand awareness. 

To see some of these strategies in action, view our case study on Using TikTok to Reach College Students.

If you’re looking for a higher education marketing agency partner, contact Coegi today to learn more. 

CTV Targeting Best Practices: 4 Tips for Higher Performing Advertising Campaigns

Posted on by Coegi

How can your brand achieve extensive advertising reach without putting valuable marketing dollars at jeopardy? Create a smart CTV targeting strategy. 

TV advertising is a high impact advertising channel for building awareness and increasing share of voice by reaching your target audience in a non-skippable environment. However, the landscape is shifting. 47% of the U.S. TV viewers are already cordless and, by 2025, there will be over 235 million connected TV viewers. Is your brand reaching them? 

In this article, I’ll lay out how you can leverage the targeting and addressability benefits of connected TV in your large-screen video advertising plan. By the end, you will be able to apply four key learnings to your CTV targeting strategy to improve both your marketing ROI and your audience’s experience with your brand:

  • Pair cable and streaming for optimal reach and frequency
  • Diversify streaming platforms based on your CTV campaign goals
  • Leverage the addressability of CTV audience targeting
  • Lean into the power of contextual CTV targeting and premium placements

4 CTV Targeting Tips

#1 – Pair Cable and Streaming for Optimal Reach and Frequency

Before we dive too deep into specific CTV targeting strategies, let’s get one thing straight. We aren’t saying you should ignore linear (cable) television to go all in on digital. Linear TV is still one of the fastest ways to effectively reach mass audiences. However, the best way to achieve comprehensive consumer reach at an appropriate frequency is having the right mix of CTV, OTT, and linear. 

Traditionally, marketers would pour the majority of their big-screen budget into linear TV, and save a small fraction for CTV. There was a misperception that CTV had limited efficiency and reach. It was also more difficult to control ad frequency and compare measurement between linear and streaming. That has since changed. Today, these channels are beginning to speak the same language in terms of measurement, allowing for cross-platform comparisons and omnichannel reporting. 

Treating CTV as simply an incremental tactic is not only outdated, but inefficient. Connected TV ads can offer much greater control in regards to reach and frequency versus linear buys. To maximize results, pair linear and CTV/OTT in your media plan to create an omnichannel video strategy. Then, use cross-channel integration platforms to avoid siloes or ad fatigue, as well as understand impact. 

Hear why there should be a more equitable distribution between traditional and streaming television from our President, Sean Cotton, in this short video clip:

#2 – Diversify Streaming Platforms Based on Your CTV Campaign Goals

CTV targeting success comes down to knowing your marketing objectives and aligning that with placements that make sense based on where your audience consumes television content. You may be understandably concerned by the fragmentation of connected TV. There are so many streaming services and devices that it feels challenging to unify the experience. 

When evaluating targeting decisions, you have to evaluate what you value most: 

  • The streaming platforms on which your brand appears (Hulu, Disney+, Netflix, etc.)
  • Reaching audiences on a 1:1 basis

If you really want to advertise on a select few premium streaming platforms, you should be open to targeting a broader audience. Layering multiple audience segments on top of strict inventory limitations causes difficulties with achieving scale. But, you can leverage research to justify this strategy knowing that your audience spends time on platforms like HBOMax or Hulu, and take comfort knowing your ads are running on quality inventory. 

If your priority is reaching a highly specific audience, cast a wider inventory net. Look beyond the Hulus and walled gardens like Amazon Prime and YouTube TV, and instead lean into an omnichannel CTV buying strategy. While this will require more due diligence to ensure brand safety among lesser known CTV services, it creates an opportunity to take a more holistic approach to the opportunity across your consumer base.

#3 – Leverage the Addressability of CTV Audience Targeting

The golden rule of marketing – do everything in your power to avoid wasting media dollars. At least that’s our philosophy at Coegi. Needless to say, the typical “spray and pray” approach often used to reach broad audiences with linear TV makes us cringe a little. By using data-driven CTV partners, you can still reach broad audiences without overspending. 

There are a lot of data providers that can be activated to reach users on a 1:1 basis. This audience-first approach reaches high-value, addressable segments without overspending on mass media buys. Plus, you improve the user experience by serving relevant content in an engaging, large screen format.

You can also gain greater addressability through automated content recognition – an effective technology to simultaneously improve your audience targeting, ad personalization, and measurement in a privacy preserving way.. Automated content recognition (ACR) technology captures and identifies audio and visual on-screen content. It can capture any content being viewed on a smart TV screen: linear, streaming, video-on-demand, commercials, video games, etc. This data is fingerprinted and can be tied back to IP addresses, creating unique user IDs for specific devices 

The primary ACR targeting methods include:  

  • Target based on ad exposure (competitive conquesting)
  • Content affinity (live tentpole events, shows watched, games played)
  • Viewership behavior (cord-cutters, sports fans, etc.)

ACR data empowers you to better understand and reach your unique audience, as well as personalize messaging. 

#4 – Lean into the Power of Contextual CTV Targeting Strategies and Premium Placements

Audience targeting offers many benefits in the ability to drill down to specific behaviors, purchase history, and more. However, to maximize CTV targeting success, it’s important to balance audience-based and contextual targeting strategies. 

Why? Households share devices, so you cannot always be sure the person you are trying to reach is the one in front of the screen. Additionally, third-party cookie deprecation will impact overall addressability. Contextual CTV targeting does not rely on third-party cookie data, making it a more future-proof solution. It is also a valuable tool to achieve scale by targeting specific networks and content genres using audience affinity data. 

If you want to put a true stake in the ground, secure premium CTV placements through programmatic or direct publisher buys. Think live sporting events, award shows, or an ad spot on the latest Netflix series taking the world by storm. 

These premium placements are more expensive, with CPMs often ranging between $40-50. But, it’s critical to understand the value of running your brand’s message alongside highly recognizable content. If your audience is made up of huge sports fans, the impact of running a thirty-second ad spot during the NBA Finals could be invaluable to your long-term brand performance. Premium CTV placements both elevate trustworthiness for newer brands and energize existing brands. 

Learn more about how to optimize your CTV budget with quality inventory from Coegi’s Director of Programmatic Operations, Hannah Schatz, in this clip: 

The ways in which viewers consume TV are changing, but the overall love of programming remains. Knowing your brand and how your target audiences index against specific content is essential in the future of CTV targeting strategies. Implementing these data-driven targeting tactics will give you access to higher-quality ad space. 

For more information, view our OTT/CTV Advertising Webinar here or access our TV 2.0 Guide to gain a better understanding of the CTV ecosystem. 

Driving 4X ROAS for CPG Wine Client on Instacart

Posted on by Coegi

Brief

Bread & Butter Wines uses the online grocery delivery app, Instacart, as a central tactic in their e-commerce strategy. Because of this, our account team was eager to try a new optimized bidding tool offered by the platform. Our goals were threefold: to keep the client’s strategy in stride with a rapidly evolving platform, test AI’s ability to directly impact ROI, and reduce operational lift.

Highlights

4X
ROAS

32%
YoY Sales

$3.73
Cost per Conversion

Challenge

Coegi runs an evergreen campaign on Instacart for Bread & Butter, which has consistently delivered at or above a 2x ROAS benchmark. However, achieving these results required time-consuming manual optimizations based on cost-per-click metrics. While this approach was effective in driving results, we sought a more efficient and profitable bidding process.

Solution

Instacart’s new optimized bidding tool uses AI to automate bidding and maximize ad spend. Staying up-to-date with innovative platform updates is a priority for Coegi, and we knew this tool had the potential to significantly increase campaign performance and efficiency. Within a month of the Instacart release, our team implemented the new capability.

After a brief learning period, the AI algorithm began pushing ROAS into the 3x range. As the campaign progressed, this figure steadily increased to an average of over 4x, with peaks for individual products hitting up to 10x ROAS. As a result, the campaign generated a 32% YoY increase in Instacart revenue and decreased the average cost-per-conversion by 53%. 

In the age of Web3 and AI advances, a seemingly small platform update can have a significant impact on your results. Our team’s enthusiasm for testing and learning allowed this campaign to double its impact on Bread & Butter Wines’ ROI. 

Create an Omnichannel eCommerce Strategy | Complete How-To Guide

Posted on by Coegi

Create Your Ideal Omnichannel eCommerce Strategy

A successful ecommerce strategy requires an omnichannel presence. It is the new norm for shopping and will continue its upward trajectory. Brands are following suit, investing more than ever in ecommerce advertising.

What does this mean for ecommerce marketers? 

To build consumer relationships and establish brand loyalty, marketers must create a robust online presence that aligns with where their consumers are spending time online. It is critical to show up in multiple digital marketplaces, for product discovery as well as purchase. 

Today’s ecommerce model expands beyond traditional commerce channels. Brands can’t rely on just having a Shopify or Amazon storefront anymore. You can place your product in front of engaged users on social media through social commerce, influencer marketing, social search, and many other paid advertising placements. However, even social is just one piece of the puzzle.

To learn how to craft the optimal omnichannel ecommerce strategy for your brand, download the guide below:

Creating an eCommerce Ecosystem 

The digital world is far more crowded than any physical retail destination. eCommerce is multi-channel, bridging the gap between in-store and online experiences. Over 73% of consumers use multiple channels to make purchasing decisions. And because shoppers are multichannel, brands must be too. 

The eCommerce Ecosystem

eCommerce Statistics 

Understanding the eCommerce Consumer Perspective

The modern consumer is their own salesperson.  They are better informed, armed with reviews, and company and product information.  In fact, 97% of consumers check online reviews before buying a product to get additional insight.

What are today’s consumers looking for from ecommerce brands? 

eCommerce has skyrocketed in popularity. As this medium grows, consumer expectations and shopping behaviors are also changing. 

  • Greater flexibility from payment plans to product availability 
  • More personalized ad targeting and curated content 
  • Convenient and quick delivery options 
  • Continuously cultivated brand relationships 

Customer experience is the ultimate differentiator. Consumers seek quality experiences, with 36% rating experience as critical for them, just behind price and convenience. Positive, personalized brand experiences are what ultimately drive conversions. 

Build Your Connected eCommerce Strategy

eCommerce is social commerce, marketplaces, delivery providers, D2C, retail media, and more –  all wrapped into one connected commerce experience. Skai coined the term “connected commerce”, which simply refers to connecting all points of the customer commerce journey together. It’s important to also connect all digital media tactics with commerce channels to ensure they are synchronously supporting the customer journey to drive optimal return on investment. 

Key Takeaways for Successful eCommerce Marketing: 

You can achieve ecommerce success using three key components: 

  1. Messaging that resonates with and engages target audiences 
  2. A multichannel e-commerce experience with numerous retail touchpoints   
  3. Full-funnel marketing for each stage of the consumer journey 

Coegi can help set up a data-driven strategy to maximize your ecommerce success. Contact us today to learn more.

5 Key Components for Building an Omnichannel Search Strategy

Posted on by Coegi

 

If your search marketing strategy stops at basic Google SEM, you’re missing out on a wealth of opportunity. Paid search is no longer just a straightforward marketing tactic in your media playbook. New technological advancements and shifting consumer behavior are changing the user journey for search.

Sure, Google is a continuously evolving target that requires marketers to dedicate time and energy to evolve with it. But it’s also important to understand the value of leaning into search algorithms on social and e-commerce platforms to promote product discovery. 

So, as search marketing becomes both more multidimensional and omnichannel, how can you use it to your brand’s competitive advantage? 

There are five emerging components of search you can leverage to create a future-proof search marketing strategy:

  1. Social Search
  2. E-Commerce Search
  3. Zero-Click Search
  4. Visual Search
  5. Multisearch

#1 – Social Search

If your goal is to reach new audiences in the Gen Z or Millennial demographics, social media is a must-have component of your search strategy. Social media is Gen Z’s favorite channel to learn about new products, per Semrush survey data. In fact, 28% of Gen Z say the primary way they discover new brands and products is through social media ads versus the 27% who do so through search engines. Even after initial discovery, social media remains the top channel for additional product/service research among both Gen-Z and Millennials. 

Any social platform with a search bar can be a tool for brand discovery. Tap into the search engine optimization elements of social media by implementing a well-researched keyword strategy on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. Develop keywords to promote product discovery and increase conversions, and play to each platform’s unique algorithms. Explore ways to optimize your content – paid or organic – to match what your consumers are looking for. 

Social Search Tip

Optimize everything – your profile description, shopping pages, captions, closed captioning, hashtags, and location – for key search terms. 

#2 – E-Commerce Search

Although search engine marketing is traditionally viewed as a bottom-funnel, conversion-driving tactic, it’s also an excellent tool for initial discovery. What better way to tap into this potential than optimizing for search on e-commerce and retail sites where there is a shorter purchase cycle? 

A MediaPost article reports that, “Amazon, Google, and eBay have become the top three destinations to search for products in the United States.” In fact, 60% of online product searches start on Amazon alone – more than the total of all search engines. Plus, another 35% of consumers start their searches directly on retailer websites. 

Using these platforms, consumers are more likely than ever to discover a product for the first time and immediately purchase it. That’s the beauty of the speed and convenience of e-commerce today. You can tailor your content on shopping channels to rank for product-focused, transactional search queries and drive quick conversions. 

E-Commerce Search Tip

Use the space available on product and brand pages to include a blend of relevant branded and unbranded keywords. This will defend your footprint against competitors and introduce your brand to in-market consumers. 

#3 – Zero-Click Search

Zero-click search refers to search engine queries that do not result in any clicks to other links. Instead, the user is able to find the information they need in the snippets at the top of the search engine results pages. Zero-click search accounts for 25.6% of mobile search queries, per Semrush research. From Google My Business to Rich Answers, brands can provide a wealth of information to consumers without the need for a click, simplifying the user experience.

Google Search Click Thru Rates – Semrush

Let’s address the elephant in the room – losing website traffic sounds like a detriment for brands. So, how do you flip zero-click search to your advantage? Forrester’s 2022 report by Nikhil Lai, Implement Holistic Search Marketing To Win The Search Engine Results Page, states that zero-click search, “challenges marketers who ‘have measured success purely through clicks’ to accurately measure search’s impact, according to Ryan Green, VP of marketing and innovation at Coegi. Without relying on clicks, search practitioners become more like PR directors focused on awareness, visibility, and top-of-funnel strategies.”

So, lean into your content quality. Make sure your technical SEO is optimizing for transactional search queries, and your content and website schema are structured for rich results. If you’re selling a product, you want it to rank in the top Google Shopping results for relevant keywords. Likewise, if you’re trying to rank for informational queries, make sure you have highly useful content on those topics written according to SEO best practices. This will increase your authority and improve your chances of gaining featured snippets. 

Zero-Click Search Tip

Add FAQs on key topics to your website to boost your chances of showing up in Google Rich Answers.  

#4 – Voice Search

Google voice search became available to Android users back in 2012. By 2020, 63% of Americans began using voice assistants in their daily lives – whether it was Siri on iPhones, Cortana on Microsoft devices, Alexa on Amazon Echos, or others (National Public Media, 2020). Today, we are seeing an even greater consumer adoption of connected devices for voice search. This includes hands-free devices like connected cars, voice-activated CTV remotes, and, of course, smart speakers. 

Currently, local search is a leading driver for voice searches beyond basic weather, music, and news queries commonly used with voice assistants. However, the growth of mobile commerce and hands-free search is making voice search a more important player in the search and e-commerce ecosystem. As the technology becomes more responsive and user-friendly, the Internet of Things will help create a wealth of opportunity for more voice search and voice shopping applications. So prepare now – start exploring how to make your content adaptable for voice search and explore connected device integrations. 

Voice Search Tip

The average voice search is 29 words long. Write content in a conversational tone and lean into Q&A formats targeting long-tail keywords. Also lean into broad match terms to allow your keywords to evolve with user queries. 

#5 – Google Multisearch

Multisearch is a new tool from Google allowing mobile app users to search using a combination of text and image. Using this AI-driven technology, users can upload an image and then type an accompanying query into the search bar. A multisearch example Google shares is uploading a picture of a houseplant plus the query “care instructions’.” 

Similarly, you can snap a photo of an item, such as a rug or a sweater, and find it or similar options for sale online. ‘Multisearch near me’ even allows users to snap a photo of an item and then find where it is available nearby. This provides a unique way for local restaurants and brick and mortar retailers to reach new customers via search. Think of the beautiful food pictures you see on Pinterest or Instagram. With multisearch near me, you can upload one of those images and see if a local restaurant has a similar dish to try. 

By layering text and image, multisearch responses can be more relevant to the user, personalized to their wants and needs. Although still a new and evolving tool, it’s clear to see the discovery and commerce potential multisearch offers for brands. 

Multisearch Tip

Develop search content, whether written, video, or image, for humans – not just to appeal to the Google bots. The goal of multisearch is to be as relevant and useful as possible – ensure your content matches these needs. 

Search engines, social media platforms, and e-commerce sites are collectively enhancing what’s possible for search. This means you need to extend both your SEO and SEM strategies to all possible channels in the media mix. To succeed with your search marketing strategy, focus on your audiences’ user journeys and discovery experiences first and foremost, rather than gamification of the SEO system. 

Key Takeaways to Improve Your Search Marketing Strategy: 

  • Think human, while leaning into Google’s emphasis on relevance and usefulness with your content. 
  • Create and structure content for rich results such as images, videos, how-tos, FAQs, charts, and more.
  • Take an omnichannel approach and apply your search strategy to social media channels and digital marketplaces. 

Pinterest Advertising Tips & Best Practices

Posted on by Coegi

Pinterest is a frequently overlooked social platform for advertising, with many marketers defaulting to Facebook and Instagram. However, it can be an excellent tool for brands looking to reach niche audiences in a discovery mindset. Inspiration is a key driver in marketing effectiveness, and Pinterest is where consumers go to be inspired.

Pinterest users are action-takers who intend to make purchases, plan projects, or develop new skills. This sets Pinterest apart from other social media platforms where users just skim through and like friends’ posts or news headlines. In other words, Pinterest is the ideal site to increase brand awareness and consideration.

If you’ve historically been hesitant to use this platform, read on to learn more about how your brand can capitalize on Pinterest ads.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a social curation platform that acts as a digital inspiration board. It lets users create, share, and categorize online content per their interests. Marketers should think of Pinterest as a combination of a powerful visual search engine and online social community, making it the perfect place to promote product discovery among potential customers. 

What are pins?

Users can upload and save images from the internet and add captions, descriptions, and links. These are known as pins. Pins can be saved or uploaded to customizable boards on user’s accounts to have multiple points of inspiration. 

What do people use Pinterest for?

85% of Pinterest users use the platform as their first stop before beginning a new project. So, Pinterest is using this intel to lean heavily into commerce, giving users the opportunity to create shoppable pins and shopping lists. These shoppable pins are look native in the user’s feed, creating a less disruptive advertising experience. Additionally, Pinterest has new AR features that allow users to try out products virtually before purchasing. People use the platform to discover and research products and brands, making it the ideal platform to reach your audience before competitors do.

Types of Pins

There is a diverse range of ad formats you can leverage on Pinterest. Idea pins, how-to pins, downloadables, video pins, idea pins, shopping pins, and collection pins are just a few examples. Some of the newer and more valuable formats that marketers can utilize are idea pins, try on pins, and collection pins.

Idea Pins

These pins are Pinterest’s interpretation of the “story” concept that other platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram have used. Idea pins are short form video content or a series of images. These pins are usually demonstrations or how-tos. 

Pinterest Idea Pin Example

Try-On Pins

Try-on pins use augmented reality technology to allow the user to test out a product before purchasing. From trying out makeup to seeing how a new couch would look in their living room, try on pins allow users to visualize the product in their life before purchasing. 

Pinterest Try-On Pin Example

Collection Pins

These pins consist of several elements – one large main hero asset and three smaller secondary assets. Once clicked, collection take users to a page where they can view the hero asset up close next to the secondary assets. This can help brands showcase multiple complementary items or highlight different product features in one view.

Pinterest Collections Pin Ad Example

Who Uses Pinterest?

The platform has over 400 million monthly active users, who utilize the platform to plan projects, make purchases, and become inspired. Pinterest’s user base is primarily female, with 60% of their global audience consisting of women. Unsurprisingly, women are also the most likely to make purchases on Pinterest.

However, the user base is steadily diversifying, with male and Gen-Z users growing by 40% this year. Additionally, 45% of social media users who bring in an average household income of over $100K are active Pinterest users, meaning Pinterest users are high earners and high spenders.  People in many different life stages, and with many different interests (from new homeowners to hobbyists to gift shoppers), utilize Pinterest. 

How to Advertise on Pinterest

To start advertising on Pinterest, you must first create a Pinterest Business account. This gives you access to analytics, exclusive pin formats, and the ability to create ad campaigns. From there, you will receive a prompt to select a campaign objective. 

Pinterest advertising objectives include: 

  • Brand awareness – Brand awareness helps consumers to discover your brand, products and services
  • Video views – Video views optimize the quality and duration of views, as well as completion rates
  • Web sessions – Web sessions drive visitors to your website and increase awareness and consideration
  • Conversions – Conversions encourage users to take action, such as signing up for a mailing list, or adding items to their cart
  • Catalog Sales – Catalog sales aide in the discovery process, helping users find products and services

These objectives determine your spend and ad formats, so choosing one that most accurately reflects your company’s business goals is important. 

How to Target on Pinterest

Advertisers have several options when it comes to targeting. You can target users who have already interacted with your brand online, find new customers through lookalike modeling, target by keywords, or even create a target audience by uploading a mailing list.

Pinterest also gives users the ability to target by interest with their premade interest targeting options. For example, if you were advertising a modern chair, you could select “contemporary design” or “modern home aesthetic” in order to refine your audience even further.

4 Pinterest Advertising Tips

Here are four best practices to maximizing your advertising efforts on Pinterest:

  1. Keep it Visual: On Pinterest, visuals are everything, so it is important to tailor your creative to the platform. Users are looking for pins that look good on their boards, so make sure your creative is high quality and aesthetically pleasing. 
  2. Mix it Up: The most successful Pinterest marketing campaigns are experimental, so vary the type of pins you use. Like many other platforms, short-form video content typically performs well on Pinterest. Video ads autoplay on mobile devices, which highlights your ad against other pins. Mix in different styles of content to keep your audience engaged. 
  3. Lean into Analytics: Pinterest ads manager allows advertisers to track their campaigns and access valuable analytics. Use these metrics to understand trends and optimize business goals. 
  4. Be Descriptive: Utilize the description for each pin to give the user helpful, inspiring context and let them know why they should save your pin. 

Pinterest ads offer brands a great opportunity to reach reach and persuade niche audiences. If you’re in search of a new platform to breakthrough the noise and engage consumers, don’t over look Pinterest.

For more tips, view our 2023 Social Media Advertising Trends article here.

CTV Advertising Best Practices: Q&A with The Trade Desk 

Posted on by Coegi

Your CTV advertising questions answered.

If you’re interested in streaming television advertising but have never run a campaign, you likely have many questions. How do I create an effective campaign? Is it worth the time and money? How will I know if it’s working? 

In this Q&A article, we sat down with two CTV experts – Jake Richardson, Director of TV Partnerships at The Trade Desk, and Hannah Schatz, Director of Programmatic Operations at Coegi. They answered common questions about connected TV so you can feel confident using this high-impact channel to reach your brand goals. 

What is something most marketers don’t know about connected TV advertising?

Jake: One of the biggest unlocks we hear from clients is that certain TV shows or events are not available for programmatic purchasing. While that was once true, we’ve made great strides with our TV partners. They have realized the value of having programmatic inventory. Now, anything available on linear can be reached via streaming or connected TV. That even includes things like live sports.

Hannah: Connected TV is not bought, sold, or delivered the same way as traditional TV advertising. With CTV, ad slots are not determined by certain air times or channels. Rather, CTV ads are shown one at a time to a specific target audience/viewer.

What’s the biggest misconception among advertisers about CTV?

Jake: Pricing – many believe connected TV is less ‘efficient’ than linear TV on a household reach basis. However, the true power of CTV advertising is that marketers can tap into consumers on a more precise data-driven basis, with individual households. This makes that inventory substantially more appealing than traditional TV where targeting can be limited to a DMA or age and gender at best. What’s a better use of budget: spending it on households that are not interested in your product or spending it on audiences that have shown interest or even purchased previously?

Hannah: The idea that premium TV content is only available on one platform. For example, a brand wanting to reach Bravo viewers can access them on Hulu, but also on other streaming platforms such as SlingTV, DirectTV Stream, and FuboTV.

How can brands ensure they are running ads on high-quality CTV inventory?

Hannah: Look at what you are buying before launching your campaign. DSPs, like The Trade Desk, package their premium CTV inventory into private marketplaces (PMPs) of different categories (News, Live Sports, Entertainment, etc). Without executing through PMPs, the buy is open to all inventory coming through as “CTV” in the bid stream. This can result in buying less desirable ad slots.

For more tips on selecting CTV inventory to maximize your budget, view the video below:

What targeting approaches should marketers consider to reach their audiences on CTV?

Jake: One of the most important pieces of advice we give to our clients and brands is to start with an audience-first approach. With linear TV, we use contextual parameters to help narrow our audience. However, with CTV we have incredible user data that allows more granular targeting. Relying on contextual parameters in an audience-first world hinders your ability to unlock CTV’s full potential.

Hannah: Consider what is more important to you: the platforms your brand appears on or the audience you want to reach. If you want to target a niche audience AND only be on 2-3 streaming platforms, you will likely lack scale. Instead, be open to casting a wider net in terms of inventory if targeting a small audience. On the other hand, be open to targeting a broader audience if you only want to appear on a few streaming platforms. 

How can brands control CTV ad frequency?

Jake: Ad oversaturation isn’t just wasting money. It diminishes the consumer experience with your brand. The benefit of buying CTV via platforms like The Trade Desk is that it allows for holistic frequency capping. This means you can control and leverage frequency across not just CTV buys, but across the entire media mix. 

How can marketers measure the impact of CTV advertising on business results?

Jake: Traditionally, we don’t think of CTV as a direct response channel. By combining CTV buys with your omnichannel digital approach, marketers can track traditional digital KPIs – even on CTV inventory. Leveraging the power of multiple digital channels working together gives advertisers the most out of their CTV buys. 

Brands and advertisers can also evaluate campaign efficacy in real-time and shift accordingly when marketing goals change. Also, you can add in data from retail media partners like Albertson’s, Target, or Walgreens for greater performance insights and, in some cases, to measure tangible sales results.

Hannah: CTV advertising success is not just measurable by front-end metrics like video completion rates or cost per completed view. I often recommend running a brand lift study. This provides insight into how your video ads impacted an audience’s awareness or consideration of your brand. CTV also allows for offline conversion tracking. This records how many times a viewer was exposed to your ads before taking a key action. 

What strategies can brands use to connect measurement results from omnichannel campaigns?

Jake: Omnichannel measurement is one of the key differentiators of platform-based buying, as compared to buying television in siloes. We counsel clients to bring as much of their existing digital buys into the platform. Then, they can measure campaigns across all of the publishers and channels. By leveraging linear TV audience data via our Audience Accelerator product, advertisers are also able to understand their linear TV footprint and adjust their digital channel strategies to ensure these buys complement one another.

Hannah: It’s important to take advantage of real-time measurement and optimization. CTV advertising offers more flexibility than linear TV. For example, CTV can measure which creative message worked best, as well as what audience responded the most with the final action, such as a product purchase. Those converted users can then be suppressed from targeting on other channels running in tandem. This ultimately leads to less media waste.

How is CTV advertising evolving to drive lower-funnel conversions?

Jake: Much of this shift is being driven by the addressability of CTV measurement; but also by emerging channels. More and more, we are seeing interactive creative that evokes a response. This comes through both third-party vendors and publishers themselves. We’ve found that new creative formats are increasingly able to drive toward brands’ KPIs thanks to technological innovation in the space.

Hannah: Pixels, site visits, and site activity can be tracked on any programmatic campaign, including CTV. As a result, you can measure CTV by the number of lower-funnel activities such as: 

  • Number of site visits driven
  • Cost per site visit 
  • Conversion rate of on-site actions. 

This allows us to refine TV campaign objectives beyond broad awareness and reach. 

What should marketers consider when balancing cost and effectiveness on CTV?

Jake: Since marketers can now activate in real-time on an individual household level, they can better determine which impressions are worth their dollars. Instead of spending money on ‘cheap reach’, media buyers can make every impression count. While CPMs may be more costly on a per-unit basis, omitting out-of-demo impressions results in biddable CTV with much greater inherent value.

Hannah: Consider what placements are going to elevate your brand’s position. Some are more costly but have powerful engagement. For example, supplementing your buy on a large live sporting event to reach many users on multiple streaming platforms can have a major impact worth the premium. 

What should marketers consider when putting together their CTV creative strategy?

Jake: Marketers should treat CTV creative much like they do traditional television creative. This is a chance to tell a story. It’s also an opportunity to engage closely with your customer on the largest screen in the room. 

Also, keep in mind that you can target a very specific set of viewers. For example, a food delivery service using the offerings at The Trade Desk could activate real-time weather data to target streamers with warm dinner options in Kansas City when it’s raining. I cannot understate the effectiveness of this kind of real-time pivot.

Hannah: As you tell your story, keep a cohesive narrative, whether you have 15 seconds or a full minute. Also, ensure your video is of the highest quality possible as premium publishers have thresholds on things like bitrate. Finally, run A/B tests to determine which creatives resonate best with your audience. 

How can brands be more innovative with CTV advertising?

Jake: One of the best things about CTV is the speed and agility and the ability to test and learn more quickly. You can improve campaign relevance and effectiveness in ways that can be challenging to achieve on linear. 

Hannah: Consider incorporating emerging ad formats and tactics to increase overall ad relevance and engagement. For example: 

  • Interactive ad elements such as map functionality or QR codes 
  • Dynamic creative optimization to deliver personalized ads to target audience groups
  • Real-time geographic data to deliver CTV ads to your target audience based on their location/environment 

Finally, what are your best tips for running a successful CTV campaign?

Jake: Iterate, iterate: iterate! The power of CTV is real-time feedback. Taking the data and measurement that comes part and parcel with a CTV buy will allow you to quickly adjust buying behavior. The end result is higher return on ad spend and less waste.

Hannah: To maximize CTV campaign success, focus on three key areas: audience, context, and measurement. 

  • Audience: Avoid wasting media dollars by taking advantage of addressable CTV targeting. Activate first-party audiences by purchasing data from partners like Catalina, retail media providers, or exposure data from Samba TV.  
  • Context: Make sure your ads are running around high-quality programming that is relevant to your audience. 
  • Measurement: Establish CTV campaign KPIs that are clear, meaningful, and trackable. This will enable you to attribute success and see its value in your overall strategy. 

Download our CTV Ecosystem Infographic here to understand the key terms and players in the streaming landscape. 

For more strategic tips and information, access our Connected TV Advertising Guide.

3 Myths of Influencer Marketing: Debunked | Webinar

Posted on by Coegi

 

Are you falling victim to one of these common myths of influencer marketing? 

  • Influencer marketing is an awareness-only tactic
  • Influencer marketing is too expensive 
  • Influencer marketing is only for CPG brands 

If this is you, it’s time to change your mindset! 

Hear from Coegi and our guests from TikTok, Tagger and @BakerBanter as we reframe these three major biases around influencer marketing. 

What you’ll learn:

  • How to influence your bottom line using influencers
  • Innovative strategies to maximize your influencer budget
  • Why nearly all brands should be using influencers

Watch Now: 

Why should brands use influencer marketing?

Nearly ⅔ of US brands worked with influencers, often called creators, in the last year, and for good reason. Brands are seeking solutions to build brand authenticity, especially among younger generations who value genuineness over polish. 

Consumers tend to trust creators’ recommendations more readily. So adding the weight of an influencer’s opinion has a myriad of benefits: 

  • Adding relatable faces to represent your brand 
  • Reaching highly engaged, diverse audiences 
  • Improving customer acquisition, retention, and loyalty 

Despite these benefits, brands often believe influencers are not a viable option due to their particular industry, budget, or goals. So we brought together experts to shed light on the three key myths of influencer marketing.

Three Common Influencer Marketing Myths

Myth #1: Influencer is an awareness-only tactic

Whether your goal is top of the funnel, bottom-funnel, or somewhere in between, social media creators can influence buying decisions and drive measurable impact. Yes – influencer marketing originated as an upper-funnel, awareness tactic. But the creatorverse, and social media at large, have expanded and evolved since its beginnings. 

The recent proliferation of influencer-driven social commerce is further indicating this down-funnel shift.  With trackable coupon codes, UTMs, shoppable posts, and more now being incorporated into influencer marketing tactics, brands are able to more easily tie business results to this content. 

Myth #2: Influencer marketing is expensive

The cost of a sponsored influencer post can range anywhere from $10-10K+, making it a viable option for ANY marketing budget. Nano and micro-influencers with smaller, but highly attentive, follower bases are a lower-cost option for growing brands looking to build a reputation, whereas macro-influencers come with a heftier price tag but can make a significant splash. Additionally, the barriers to entry for influencer marketing are much lower than many other digital channels with the right reach out and process. 

Myth #3: Influencer marketing is only for CPG brands

Sure, having a physical, consumable product an influencer can hold up, wear or demonstrate is visually effective. But service-based brands, non-profits, and B2Bs, among other brands across a wide variety of industries, have also established strong influencer relationships that pay dividends. Some prolific examples of this are Audible.com, BetterHelp, and Robinhood. 

Best Practices of Influencer Marketing

Ready to get started? 

Here are three key influencer marketing tips to launch a successful strategy: 

  • #1 Incorporate influencer into your broader media strategy

Influencer should be woven into a holistic marketing strategy, not treated as a one-off tactic. Consolidate your paid media and influencer within one agency so budgets and channel activation can be handled fluidly and with greater agility. 

  • #2 Be strategic with your influencer selection

Find influencers that authentically match your brand values, have a following that overlaps with your target audience, and use photography and video that complement your brand aesthetics. 

  • #3 Build accountability through measurement

Take a blended approach of measurement tactics to tie influencer spending back to meaningful metrics. For more clearly attributable sales, use discount codes or affiliate links that allow backend tracking. 

For help capitalizing on the true ROI of influencer marketing, reach out to Coegi for a strategy consultation today.

To continue learning more, download The Practitioner’s Guide to Influencer Marketing.

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