Are You Ready For SEO In The Age Of AI?

It’s a whole new ballgame with SEO since AI platforms have gained in dominance.  Google’s recent core updates emphasized originality and relevance to rank high on a search page.  Meaning you will be rewarded for content that offers unique insights and value rather than relying on generic or AI-generated material. Businesses should focus on creating well-researched, user-focused content that aligns with Google’s E-E-A-T principles, while optimizing for local and zero-click searches to maintain visibility in an increasingly competitive digital landscape.

Key Take-Aways:

• Google’s core algorithm updates give greater preference to content that demonstrates originality and helpfulness, impacting businesses rankings and signaling a preference for unique, insightful, and user-focused, informative content over generic, promotional or AI-generated material.
• Businesses should prioritize creating content that shows Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, including naturally incorporated keywords, relevant visuals and engaging layouts to improve user experience.
• With Google’s AI Overview and zero-click searches reducing organic traffic, businesses should optimize their Google Business Profiles, focus on local SEO with geo-specific keywords, and create content like FAQs and blogs addressing customer questions.
• Key factors for SEO success include factors that a business can do themselves and Technical SEO that should be done by a professional SEO expert. In this post we will explore both.
• Actively managing online reviews, engaging with customer feedback, and maintaining accurate business listings in directories help improve search rankings, build credibility, and enhance visibility across platforms.

What Are Google Core Updates:

Google had 4 “core updates” to their algorithm in 2024 (March, August, November & December) and all 4 had impact on how they rank content on websites. Many believe that these core updates signal Google’s war on AI generated content on websites.  Does Google penalize AI content on your website?  In various forums, Google representatives have said that Google doesn’t automatically detect and penalize AI-generated content.  What they have said is that Google highly values originality. This means that repeating generic or widely available information without adding new insights can harm content rankings, as search algorithms prioritize unique, helpful content.

The proof?  In a study of websites relying on AI content, they lost an average of 17% of their traffic and dropped eight positions in search rankings. Conversely, 85% of marketers saw increased rankings for content that offers original insights or perspectives.   According to Google’s Search Central Blog, they’re focused on “helpful” content, regardless of whether a human or AI created it. Content that lacks credibility, is generic (easily found on AI platforms) and not original, or fails to add user value, may be demoted in search rankings.

Sources: https://www.inc.com/ben-sherry/googles-latest-search-update-suggests-business-owners-need-a-new-content-marketing-strategy/91019074; https://neilpatel.com/blog/googles-spam-update/; https://writesonic.com/blog/does-google-penalize-ai-content

What Should A Business Do?

• Focus on creating unique, insightful content that goes beyond superficial, well-known information.
• Google core updates emphasized E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Enhance AI-generated content with human insight and expertise.  Show trustworthiness and authoritativeness by showing well-researched information with proper citations and sources.
• Incorporate keywords naturally rather than repetitive keyword use. You should aim for a keyword density of 2-5%. (If you use your target keyword 10 times in a 1000-word blog post, you’ll have a keyword density of 1%.)
• Articles with relevant images get 94% more views than text-only articles. To keep users engaged: organize your content into short paragraphs under clear, short paragraph headlines, use bullet points and lists (formatted like this blog!).
• Look at time spent by visitors on your pages (Google Analytics). If someone stays on your content, it signals to Google that they found what they were looking for, but if they bounce back to search results quickly, it thinks your content wasn’t helpful.
• Google also rewards pages that load quickly and are easy to navigate. Check your website loading speed at https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights

Sources: https://www.inc.com/ben-sherry/googles-latest-search-update-suggests-business-owners-need-a-new-content-marketing-strategy/91019074; https://neilpatel.com/blog/googles-spam-update/; https://writesonic.com/blog/does-google-penalize-ai-content

Example Of Optimizing A Blog:

• A unique and engaging graphic (you can ask an AI platform to create one).
• Have a strong headline that usually is formed as a question or an answer to a perceived question.
• An opening sentence that describes your overall proposition for the article and is in a larger font than the rest of the article.
• A “takeaways” section towards the beginning which outlines 4-6 bullet points that are the key points of the article. (Upload your post to an AI platform and ask it to summarize in 4 bullet points).
• Ask yourself: Is this content going to provide the reader with useful information that can’t easily be found anywhere else?
• Use AI to research information and provide idea starters but you need the human touch for originality, to maintain credibility and quality in your content, and avoid being penalized by Google.

 Zero-Click Searches – What A Business Should Do:

• Google “AI Overviews” continue to eat into the organic search traffic volume, the SEO traffic is predicted to drop 30% for informational queries in the next year because users get their info from the Google AI Overview Snippet. This is called a Zero-Click Search.
• Optimize Google Business Profile to ensure your client’s Google Business Profile is fully claimed and verified. Complete every section.
• Actively encourage and respond to customer reviews, which appear prominently in zero-click search results.
• Use Google Posts in the Google Business Profile to share news, promotions, or events. This will help ensure a Knowledge Graph appears when the business name is Googled.
• Focus on Local SEO using local geo-specific keywords like “best pizza in [city]” in website content, meta descriptions, and Google Business Profile.
• Collaborate with local blogs, newspapers, and directories to gain relevant backlinks. Include terms like “near me” in your content where relevant, to optimize for near me searches.
• Create FAQs, blogs & optimized content to address common customer questions directly on your website. These could be selected as featured snippets or directly answered on SERPs or AI platforms.
• Maintain active social profiles, as they may show up in search results. Share regular updates, promotions, and customer testimonials to maintain engagement.
• Ensure website is mobile-friendly since most zero-click searches are conducted on mobile. Test loading speed and navigation.
• Monitor local search metrics using tools like Google Analytics, Google Business Profile Insights to see traffic and engagement. This will help you determine what content is resonating with visitors.

Appearing In AI Platform Results – What A Business Should Do:

• How does a business get mentioned on an AI Platform? AI Platforms (LLMs) are taught their information and one of the key inputs is Google Search results. So all of the things that get you noticed by Google will in turn get you noticed by LLMs!
• Getting reviews from more sources than just Google (angie, yelp, bbb.org). Adding reviews from customers and testimonials to the home page of the site.
• Use superlatives, and describe the quality of your work in your content (LLM’s seem to take things very literally – if you say “we provided excellent customer service” they believe it.)

Pay-Per-Click Ads & Organic Listings:

• A business appearing as high up in the Organic Listings of Google is critical.
• It’s important to appear at the top of Google’s organic listings for your primary keywords, because the first 3 organic listings get more than half the clicks.
• On average, only about 1% of all website traffic to a business website comes from paid search ads. The other 99% of website traffic comes from organic search or other websites.
• Why is organic traffic so important?
• It’s free exposure on the Google search page.
• You can reach people who have never heard of your brand before.
• You can bring visitors with a relevant and specific intent to your site.
• You can reach people locally or worldwide.
• It can be targeted and scaled with a content/SEO strategy.
• It can build your credibility.

Sources: https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/397414/nearly-two-thirds-of-google-searches-stay-within-i.html; Datos; SparkToro

The info we’ve covered in this webinar so far, are all things you can coach your clients to do on their own to improve their SEO rankings.  Now we look at how our SEO campaigns help them improve their SEO rankings.  We do the “Technical SEO”.

Technical SEO:

On-Page SEO Factors:  Title, Meta and ALT Tags, URL Structure, Keywords, Quality of Content, Site Maps, Inbound & Outbound Links, Speed, Error Messages, Voice Search Optimization.

• TITLE TAGS are html code on a business’ website that displays on search engine results pages as the clickable headline for an organic search result. They are meant to be an accurate and concise description of a page’s content for both the search engine and the user. Every page of a website should have a unique title tag. This helps search engines understand that your content is unique and valuable, and also drives higher click-through rates.
• META DESCRIPTION TAGS provide descriptions about the webpage, which can be used by search engines to help categorize the page correctly and users to understand what is on that webpage. Every page of a website should have a unique meta description tag. It’s like a free snippet of advertising for your business.
• ALT TAGS are used by search engine crawlers to decipher what an image represents.
• URL STRUCTURE is what search engines look at to analyze a website. If it is confusing they may index only a fraction of the website’s pages.
• KEYWORDS utilized on your website help search engines connect searchers to your site. We’ll determine what keywords the client can rank for. One strategy is to focus on long-tail keywords when you’re in a highly competitive keyword vertical. These are keywords that generally have lower search volume than short-tail keywords (or “head terms”). For example, rather than trying to rank for “pie,” you target “homemade blueberry pies near me”.
• QUALITY, FRESHNESS OF CONTENT refers to how often content is added, updated and linked to, how authoritative and trustworthy it is. Fresh content impacts SEO in multiple ways: It enhances the user experience, encourages frequent crawls by search engine bots, improves relevance and authority within your niche, targets long-tail keywords, boosts user engagement, opens up opportunities for valuable backlinks.  With our SEO campaigns we discuss content strategy on earning higher search traffic for core keywords and we optimize the client’s content for SEO once published.
• Research has shown that video content is many times more likely to appear at the top of Google search pages than a web page with just written content. Encourage your clients to put video on their website. Videos have been found to boost on-page engagement, which is a powerful rankings factor. The majority of web users prefer watching a video to reading words. Using videos on a landing page can increase conversions by 86%. The average user spends 88% more time on a website with video.
• INBOUND & OUTBOUND LINKS refers to the amount of traffic on your site and the number of quality links coming into your website from other websites and links you have on your website to other websites.
• ERROR MESSAGES such as Page Not Found can lower your rank position.
• VOICE SEARCH OPTIMIZATION is helping a business to be featured in the Google AI Overview or the Featured Snippet at the top of a search page which means that users who voice search will hear that read aloud by the voice assistant.
• How does our technical SEO help a website get featured in the AI Overview & snippets? Analyzing the website’s loading speed and making suggestions. Suggesting long tail keywords on the business’ website not just stand-alone keywords. Optimizing the URL structure and internal linking are effective ways to ensure that Google can easily crawl and index the website.

 Off-Page SEO Factors:  Online Directories, Submitting to Search Engines, Online Reputation Management.

• SEARCH ENGINE SUBMISSION includes the top 3 (Google, Bing, Yahoo) and also important but lesser known search engines.
• DIRECTORIES SUBMISSIONS is important because directories rank well for search terms and give you relevant links to your website from the directory’s website.
• Getting your local business’ NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) information listed on directories, online business listing sites, and citation sites helps to improve visibility of your website. Backlinks from these sites (the sites linking back to your website) can also have a benefit to your search engine ranking.

Before You Talk To A Client Or Prospective Client About SEO

• You should do some research to see if they even need SEO help.
• Do a Google search related to that business and see where they come up on a Google search results page. Jewelry store, Jewelry store near me, Engagement rings
• Google the name of the business, does their Knowledge Graph come up and is it accurate?
• Put in a Research Request to Vici and get back a Digital Audit Report. It will give you an SEO overview (including keywords and competitor keywords for that particular client).

Online Reputation Management:

• Consists of monitoring, improving, and maintaining the publicly available online information about your business. We set our advertisers up on a monitoring platform that scrapes the internet for any mention of their business, every 24 hours to alert them about what is being said online about their business.
• Online reviews are not only influencing consumers, they’re also influencing search engine results. Search experts believe that reviews account for about 7-13% of the local organic ranking factors considered by Google.
• Have a review display & review generation widget on the website. Ask for reviews via email without the risk. Upload a list of customers, and send a customizable email message asking for a review.

What Should My Clients Do If They Get Bad Reviews?

• Read what they wrote and respond to what they wrote, but don’t attack or be rude. Be honest about mistakes, but don’t apologize for things that are policy, or won’t change. Explain policy when relevant. Write in plain language. Reach back to the goals of the company, that you want people to be happy – vow to do better. Don’t offer a discount. Respond with a confidence in your business and your employees.
• When contacted about a negative review: 34% of users deleted the negative review, 33% of users changed the review into a positive one.

Source: Harris Interactive, Retail Consumer Report

Now you are primed and ready to take on SEO in the Age of AI!  Go get ’em!

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What’s The Lay Of The Land For Native Advertising This Year?

Native ads work because they seamlessly blend into the look and feel of the platforms where they appear, capturing over twice the attention of traditional banner ads while building trust through educating and informing. With trends like branded native video hotter than ever, combined with content-driven landing pages, Native ads are set to remain a powerful, non-intrusive tool for digital marketing success.

Key Takeaways:

• Informative, Educational Content: the preference for educational over aggressive sales tactics indicates that consumers are looking for more than just a product; they seek value and knowledge. Native ads cater to that! Brands that provide informative and educational content are likely to foster loyalty and trust, which can lead to higher conversion rates.
• Importance of Landing Pages: The effectiveness of Native ads is highly contingent upon the quality of landing pages. Users are more likely to convert when they land on content-rich pages that provide detailed product information and benefits.
• Native Ads vs. Display Ads: Understanding when to use Native ads and when to use traditional Display ads is crucial for marketers.
• Content of Native Ads: the success of Native ads is significantly influenced by the quality of copy and visuals used.  Think attention grabbing headlines and informative text.
• Rising Trend of Native Video: with Native Video accounting for a substantial portion of video ad spending, it’s clear that this format is becoming increasingly vital for brands.

 Why do Native ads work?

First, recall what they are – Native display or video ads go across all devices and match the look, feel, and context of the website or app where they are seen, using our targeting strategies. Why do they perform?

• Attention: Native ads receive more than 2x the attention of banner ads. Native ads are read, not just seen (like Display Ads). Most of the visual focus is on a Native ad’s text rather than the image.
• Consumer Trust: 70% of users prefer ads that blend seamlessly with content rather than disrupting it​​. They are perceived as more trustworthy (31% more trusted than social ads).
• Personalization: 90% of Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X prefer personalized Native ads over traditional formats​.

(Stats Source)

Are there Native ad trends that can be leveraged in 2025?

Yes! Leveraging new trends is the name of the game and staying ahead of the curve with digital advertising is critical. Keep a pulse on:

• Implementation of Native Video: Branded videos embedded in publisher content create higher engagement and awareness​. Clients often confuse outstream video or pre-roll/mid-roll video ads with Native Video ads. They are not the same thing.
  • Outstream Video ads are embedded in the content but there is no branding (client name, headline, description text), no matching to the webpage’s format, no customization. It disrupts user experience.
  • Pre-roll/Mid-roll Video ads play before or during the content the person has chosen. It is not a part of the content of the webpage.
  • Native Video ads are embedded in the content but disclose the brand name, and include descriptive, informative text that match the publisher’s look and feel.
• Content-Driven Landing Pages: Native ad clicks should lead to pages rich with product benefits and educational value, not generic homepages, to improve conversions​.  When Native ad users click on Native ads, they want to land on content-oriented landing pages that provide valuable information about products or services – to be informed and educated. These landing pages should not simply redirect users to the homepage but rather offer insights into:
  • Product Benefits: Clear explanations of how the product works and its advantages.
  • Value Communication: Educational content that aligns with the interests of the target audience.

Directing ad traffic to the homepage, if it doesn’t contain the info the user wants, leads to low conversions.  Content-rich, educational landing pages drive better engagement and ROI.

When should you use Native ads and when should you use regular Display ads?

Each type of ad can be beneficial in their own way because they really do different things.  This graph shows the strength of each and when to use:

Targeting of Native ads:

There are many ways to target your Native ads.

• Machine learning via AI Targeting optimizes ad delivery based on real-time engagement, ensuring relevance​ and that the Native Ad is shown to more people like the ones who have engaged with it.
• We have hundreds of thousands of Behavioral Targeting categories to choose from so that we can match up the Native ads to target people who have shown an interest in what the advertiser is offering.  We also have premium B2B and recruitment categories we can use.
• Keyword Targeting is ESPECIALLY effective with Native ads.  This is where we can target a list of keywords that relate to the advertiser’s business and when they appear on webpages the Native ad is displayed.  Think about it, people are already reading about a topic – how great if your Native ad appears on that page and relates to what the person is reading about.
• With Native ads you can Geo-Fence and Geo-Retarget.  This is where we draw a virtual fence around an area the advertiser is interested in (maybe a competitor?) and serve Native ads to people while they are inside the geo-fence and follow them after they leave the go-fenced area and continue to serve them ads.
• Do you have a database list?  We can use Custom Audience Matching, which is where we take your list of people you want to reach and find them when they go online and then serve them the Native ad.  Additionally, we can generate a Lookalike Audience of the people on your list and serve the Native ads to them as well.

We recommend mixing and matching multiple targeting strategies to maximize performance.

Advantages of Native advertising

• Informative and Educational: Content-rich and context-aligned ads improve user interaction and return on ad spend​​. Native ads have more valuable text real estate available to communicate a message, tell a story, inform, and educate the target audience within the ad unit itself, instead of ONLY relying on a landing page to do this for you. Descriptive headlines can improve brand perception and using descriptive words that align with the brand’s values will make them more memorable to the Native ad viewer.
• Call-To-Action:  With Native ads your call-to-action link can say whatever you want – get creative and go beyond “Learn More” and “Click Here.”
• Wide Applicability: Native ads work across all industries and types of companies, including regulated sectors like medical, CBD​​ and cannabis, weapon’s, fireworks, alcohol, tobacco, and adult clubs.
• Seamless Integration: The dynamic nature of Native ads ensures ads match the publisher’s format, increasing user trust​​.

Native ads are more relevant than ever for digital in 2025 with their ability to deliver personalized, non-intrusive, and contextually relevant content. Prioritize creative alignment, advanced targeting, and engaging landing pages to maximize effectiveness.

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WHAT DIGITAL TRENDS SHOULD I USE IN 2025?

The post WHAT DIGITAL TRENDS SHOULD I USE IN 2025? appeared first on Vici Media Inc..

OTT/Connected TV AND On-Site Visit Tracking has ARRIVED

When I was younger, ok MUCH younger, I used to watch the Jetsons during Saturday morning cartoons. If you are not familiar, the Jetsons was about a futuristic family that premiered in 1962 and it was set 100 years in the future, so 2062. So, what did the Jetsons predict that is already here in 2021? Well, things like video calls and robotic vacuums to start. Smart Watches and Flat screen TVs as well. Crazy back then, common place now!   A handful of years ago, while running a digital marketing training session, I had my own Jetsons moment. I said something like, “I believe we will see a day where we can marry online behavior with offline behavior and be able to track ROI by showing people who saw an ad, and then came to the advertisers store.” It was mind blowing to think about back then. Now, it is an absolute reality.  We already have this technology in place with one product at Vici called Mobile Conquesting, however we are about to blow minds again when we launch something totally new and different that will also marry online and offline behavior. Enter: OTT with Visit Tracking!

Let me briefly introduce you a rollout coming late October to all Vici partners, OTT with Visit Tracking!

So how does it work?

Step one: We build an audience based on where people have been. Take me for example, today I have been to my local Starbucks, my local Mercedes car dealership, and I also dropped my dog off for a grooming appointment. If you were trying to reach “coffee lovers” or “pet owners” or “people interested in luxury vehicles” you could target me based on where I have been (with my phone of course, I have not been microchipped…yet ).

Step two: We get more techy. Because I had my phone with me, my device id, say Mobile ID1234 was tracked at Mercedes, which means I am now in the targeting category of “In market for luxury auto” audience through a patented technology called blueprinting. All because I was at Mercedes dealership. Through another technology layer, we can see Mobile ID1234 is tied to my household IP address of 12.34.56. A match has been made and BOOM, another way to target. Magic! Okay not really magic, but now I am synched and primed for step three.

Step three: Now because of where I was and where I live, I might be served an ad for a local Audi dealership because they are targeting people “in-market for luxury auto” – while streaming and watching a show on my Connected TV (remember this type of advertising in streaming video is also called Over The Top or OTT). Let’s say this ad is for a new luxury SUV and it inspires me enough to go check it out.

Step four: I go with my mobile phone (remember I’m Mobile ID1234 and I never leave home without my mobile device) to the Audi dealership. I am now tracked as a visit and that visit is attributed to the OTT campaign the Audi dealership is running. Done. This technology is validated by a 3rd party insights company to verify the precision of data at retailers. This data is utilized by comScore for their metrics and it the best in the industry. In August 2021, our visits are now also Media Rating Council (MRC) Accredited.

Insane!! And that is just one example. We have been busy testing this product and here are a few client campaigns that have used OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking very successfully.

Success Story #1:

On-Site Visits Can Be Tracked For People Who Have Been Served Your Ad

We can track people who see the ad and then come to your business within two weeks, and show that on your monthly reports

Home Furnishings Store sees a spike in visits from OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking

Retail – Home Furnishings

Background:
A Home Furnishings chain with two store locations specializing in every type
of furnishings needed for a home. From furniture, mattresses, bedding, rugs,
lighting and more, there was one goal.  It was to expand their reach to an already successful digital campaign. Previously their advertising had included Amazon Video Targeting and Mobile Conquesting Display & Video.  Amazon Video Targeting is using Amazon targeting data to reach people with video and OTT ads on Amazon owned properties and thousands of other websites and apps Amazon has partnered with, across all devices. Mobile Conquesting allows us to reach people with display and video ads on their mobile devices using targeting strategies including Behavioral, Geo-Fencing and Geo-Retargeting.

Strategy:

With Video being a predominant part of their messaging, adding OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking was a natural fit. This product allows us to target specific individuals on their Connected TV devices. (Our OTT inventory is served 100% on Connected TVs.) Then utilizing mobile tracking, it can also track “on-site” visit data of people who saw their video ads and then visited one of their locations. That was important to the client to track ROI and was one KPI. The behavioral targeting included the same audience and categories like, “In-Market for Home Furniture, Mattress, Recently Moved and Home Remodeling” with the addition of Artificial Intelligence to  narrow in on their target.

Results:
The results for this campaign were HUGE!  After the addition of  OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking, they saw a total of 166 verified store visits across their two locations. For a verified visit to be counted, a consumer must be served an ad, then visit one of the client’s locations within two weeks of being served an ad, have locations settings enabled on their phone and be actively browsing online. Plus, we verify all visit data using a two-prong approach, using Numerator and Media Rating Council for accuracy. With all this in mind, the visit data was remarkable. The client was so happy they have decided to renew this campaign again.

Success Story #2:

Sporting Goods And Outdoor Retailer Harnesses The Power Of Connected TV To Drive Sales And In-Store Traffic.

Client:  Regional Sporting Goods Store

Category:  Retail

Background: 

The client is a large sporting goods retailer with 5 stores in the local area. They initially launched a campaign using Facebook-Instagram and Mobile Conquesting. The targeting strategies consisted of Behavioral Targeting, and Retargeting. The primary target audience they were looking to engage were active consumers who loved the outdoors. A Key Performance Indicator they wanted to track was In-Store Visits. Through Behavioral Targeting, we were able to target Adults 18+, Parents with young children, parents with preteens, parents with teenagers, outdoor enthusiasts, sports and sports equipment, online shoppers and interests in camping, fishing and hunting.

Strategy:

After their initial campaign, they added in OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking to monitor how many people saw their ad on a Connected TV and then subsequently walked into one of their store locations. OTT is an umbrella term for video programming transmitted via the Internet that bypasses traditional cable or broadcast (linear) distribution. Our OTT inventory is served 100% on Connected TVs. We were able to capture how many people saw the client’s OTT ad, and then went to any of their locations within a two-week period. By using a third-party insights company called Numerator, we were able to verify the accuracy of visits for targeting and measuring the campaigns performance. We also used Behavioral Targeting and targeted some competitors in the area with Geo-Fencing as well as Geo-Retargeting with our Mobile Conquesting display product.

Results:

The initial campaign delivered a 0.53% CTR and in one month of running OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking, plus delivered 38 verified visits to the 5 locations We were the first provider to link OTT to physical in-store visits so the Sporting Goods retailer could easily see their ROI.

Success Story #3:

Health & Fitness Campaign Success Story:

Build Relationship, Gain Trust & Recommend New Strategies

Category: Health & Fitness

Background:

A wellness membership specializing in medical weight loss, regenerative therapy, physical therapy, massage therapy as well as games, health, and fitness for kids, wanted design a strategic digital campaign to promote their brand.  The overall goal for this campaign was to increase attendance in their summer youth programs for kids.  From sports camps and swim lessons, to birthday parties and summer pre-school, the goal was to drive top of mind awareness amongst parents in their region.

Strategy:

During the first month of their campaign, the client initially marketed with OTT, Mobile Conquesting + Cross Platform Targeting, and Native Ads.  Being able to target the parents that were streaming was a big focus for this center.  In addition, they also wanted to track on-site visits.  At the start of month two, we added in OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking as an additional product. 

Results:

After the first 3 months, the campaign served over 500,000 impressions, sending 1,250 people to their website.  The OTT itself delivered a 95.99% completion rate and was able to verify 20 visits during that time of people who saw the client’s OTT ad while streaming video and then walked into one of their locations. After month 3, the client was so pleased with the engagement they renewed for another 4 months.

Get excited, the official rollout is October 27th!

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Are You Using Digital for Recruitment?

R-E-C-R-U-I-T- Find out how to do it dig-it-tal-ly! It seems like no matter where you’re going these days, you’re constantly seeing signs hanging in the windows or in the ground outside a business stating, “We’re Hiring” or “Apply Here” or “Join Our Team.”  I’ve seen it everywhere; the grocery store, local restaurants, trucking companies, drug stores, and hair salons. That is just one way that businesses are looking for help. Other avenues they might choose to look at for gaining new employees could be radio ads, TV ads, referral incentives with current employees, and digital ads. There are many perks to using digital as the medium to reach future employees, and it also allows businesses to reach a targeted audience with diverse digital products using targeting strategies.

Now before you go diving into the digital realm and placing ads to fill open positions, it is important to make sure that you have a good foundation set in place so that when users see your ad, they are intrigued to learn more and continue to take that next step. For example:

89% of job seekers agree that an employer’s career website is important for finding key information
Job ads that include a salary range for the job role got 75% more engagement than the job ads that don’t
51% of job seekers are more attracted to an organization that had posted job listings with visual elements (such as images, videos, or both) than to others that didn’t

The first thing you want to make sure when advertising for positions within your company, is to never land a user on the homepage. Why? If I see an ad for a certain position and I click on it, I expect to be brought to that particular job listing/posting, or at least a careers page.

One thing to be cautious of, however, is you don’t want to lead people to then fill out an application and land them on a page that looks like this:

I clicked on the ad because you piqued my interest and now I want to know more. What are the qualifications of the job? What is the salary? What are the requirements? What shift is it? I am not ready to apply to this position that I just saw briefly in the ad; I now want more information and that’s what that landing page should be about.

The next things to consider are, what exactly is that information that a job seeker wants to see? Give the old “elevator pitch” on your company. Talk about the company history, what makes you different than your competitors, what are your company values? Believe it or not, almost 70% of workers want a career change and say they’d take a better work-life balance over higher pay. Mention the fringe benefits that you might offer such as health insurance, company car, vacation time, etc. Some other tips to get that landing page to garner more applicants is to show photos or videos of your staff in real work situations or even outside-of-work gatherings like an employee appreciation luncheon or a holiday party. The candidate application rate goes up by 34% when a job post includes a video. Give a glimpse into what the real-life work culture is like.

This is also a great opportunity to brag about your company. What are the best things about your company? What awards for employee retention or workplace environment have you won? What do current employees say about working there? You’re also allowed to be picky with who you’re looking for, so list the attributes and qualities of the type of person you want to hire. Then last, but certainly not least, you want to have a very thorough job description of the open position(s) that you’re hiring for and explain what the hiring process is like so the applicant has an idea of what kind of timeline they are looking at.

This is all information that you want to include on that landing page so once someone sees the ad and clicks on it, this is what they are seeing. Here is an example of a solid landing page for recruitment from a company named TaskRabbit that lists all the elements that we just went through:

Digital ad campaigns drive awareness, engagement, and strong applicant flow, so now that we have a solid foundation for when job seekers see the ad and click on it, let’s talk about the different types of digital advertising that works well for recruitment:

Facebook and Instagram
Social Mirror
Mobile Conquesting
Video Ads
Native Ads
Display Ads
Amazon
Online Audio
Google Pay-Per-Click

The goal of the campaign is going to help be a deciding factor when determining what product(s) are the best to use for that particular recruitment campaign. If the goal is to find part-time workers, college aged students, to fill entry level positions, or attract those with general skills, the two best products would be Facebook and Instagram, and Social Mirror.  These two products allow for a little more flexibility with how much text is allowed in those ads, and they also typically drive higher conversion rates.

Now, when we are looking at Facebook and Instagram for recruitment, you want to keep in mind that there are restrictions when it comes to how we are targeting job seekers. For example, if you are looking for a very highly specialized type of person like a mechanical engineer, you can’t target by that job description for recruitment. That is one reason we recommend using Facebook and Instagram for more general positions that have more mass appeal. Because of the restrictions in targeting specific job titles on Facebook or Instagram we recommend other digital products if you need to find someone highly specialized.

If the goal of a campaign is to target a highly specific type of worker or a certain type of profession, then you’ll want to look at running Video, Social Mirror, Native, and/or Display Ads. All of these products have over 100,000 categories that we can target by, including B2B and Recruitment categories. With the recruitment specific categories, that allows us to target people of a certain skill, or by specific job titles. We can also utilize Keyword Targeting, Artificial Intelligence, and Retargeting with those products.

So for the example ad above we were able to target people who had job titles such as Security Guard, Police Officer, Corrections Officer.

Now maybe you’re a business that is trying to fill more blue-collar type positions or trying to reach Moms, fast food workers, or want to target employees at a competitor’s location.  This is where you’ll want to utilize Mobile Conquesting.  With this product we can target by Online and Offline Behaviors, and we can also use Geo-Fencing and Geo-Retargeting to reach potential employees at their current place of employment.  With Mobile Conquesting, keep in mind that most people are typically applying for jobs on larger devices like laptops and desktops. They might see the ad on their mobile device and then later go to their desktop to read more about the position and apply, which is going to cause the conversion rate to be lower for Mobile Conquesting.  Something that will help increase those conversion numbers would be adding in Cross Platform Targeting where we are now following people who have been served the mobile ads (whether they clicked on the ad or not), onto other ad platforms on ANY devices they use.

So maybe I see an ad for Infinity on my phone while I’m at work, but I don’t want to apply while I am work, so I don’t click on it. Later that night I go home and get on my desktop and now I have the potential to see that same ad on my desktop. Cross Platform ads can be Display, Native Display, Video Pre-Roll, Facebook and Instagram, and Social Mirror Ads.

If a company is looking to do a recruitment campaign that is tailored more towards driving traffic to their website or reaching a wide audience or increasing branding and awareness, some products to consider would be Amazon Targeting Ads, Online Audio, and/or Google Pay-Per-Click (aka Google Ads). These products would be good for a business that wants to get their name out there for reaching a large, vast audience. With Amazon, we can target by behaviors, or maybe they have a list of people that have applied for positions in the past. We can use that list and serve ads to people while they’re on Amazon.com, using Amazon owned properties (IMDb.com, IMDb TV, Fire TV), and across Amazon Publishers.

Online Audio is a great way to reach individuals who are currently employed and not actively looking for a new job, but who may be open to a good career opportunity if one came along. This audience is also known as a “passive job seeker”. You might be able to grab their attention with an Online Audio ad while they are sitting at their desk at work. They hear that ad after having a not so pleasant encounter with their boss, and then check out the website to get more information.

Google Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads are going to be a good fit for businesses that have a lot of brand recognition and a larger budget. Using PPC as a strategy for recruitment can get expensive because it can become a challenge to keep the cost per click low when using certain search terms like “new career”, “now hiring”, “recruitment”, and “job openings”. Since these words are considered competitive keywords, they are going to cost more to bid on which can chip away at a budget quickly.

As I stated earlier, there are a lot of businesses with open positions to fill these days in all different types of the workforce, but how do you make it so your ads capture someone’s attention and not your competitors? It is found that 95% of purchasing decisions are subconscious, and reaching someone for job opportunities isn’t any different. Take a look at this for example:

People are spending more money on things that have been branded for certain feelings, emotions, or status symbols. Starbucks isn’t the best cup of coffee, but it’s been branded as a coffee that makes you feel happy. When you see someone wearing a Lacoste shirt, you immediately think “Wow, they spent a lot of money on that shirt” and it becomes a status symbol. Recruitment advertising is the same type of situation. You want to relate to people on an emotional level. I saw a video recruitment ad for a trucking company that hit the nail on the head. They were looking for drivers and they did a video with a high school aged girl talking about her dad always missing family dinners, her volleyball games and track meets because he was on the road working. She then went on to say that ever since he started working at “XYZ Trucking”, he’s been home every night to enjoy family dinner, and he is there to watch her volleyball games and track meets. I am not even looking for a new job, but that video ad speaks to me!

People will not only purchase goods and services based on emotions, but they will also make big life changes based on emotions and that ad right there was a great example of using emotion to reach someone. I’ll leave you with some other clever ads that are making that business stand apart from their competitors by grabbing the attention of job seekers using humor:

The post Are You Using Digital for Recruitment? appeared first on Vici Media.

What Is Twitch And How Do I Use It For My Video Ads?

Sometimes it happens when I’m stressed. Sometimes it happens when my husband leaves his dirty clothes RIGHT next to the laundry basket. Sometimes it happens when I’ve had too much caffeine. We’ve all been there; we’ve all had an eye twitch at one time or another. Well, what if I told you we are now offering a new type of twitch, and it happens to be in the digital advertising world?

Twitch (also called Twitch TV) is the world’s leading live streaming platform for gamers and entertainment seekers and is owned by Amazon. The live streaming service once only for video game live streaming and e-sports competitions, now includes traditional sports, (the Olympics were on the platform in 2021), music broadcasts, concerts, creative content, and “in real life” or IRL streams where you can watch people perform their everyday activities.

When Twitch was first described to me, I had no idea what it was, and the concept was hard for me to wrap my head around (whoa- I feel like my parents now). Think of Twitch as a lot of Facebook Live Streams (but on steroids), being more interactive, and offering ad space. The main demographic of those using this live streaming platform is a younger demo, with over 70% of users falling within the 13-34 age range.

Twitch is a great product for businesses that are looking to reach that younger demographic, gamers, entertainment enthusiasts, males, and/or sports fans. Let me give you a quick rundown of the interface, what kind of ads run on Twitch, and where they appear.

If I wanted to hop onto Twitch and watch people while they are playing various games live, I could click on games and do just that.

After clicking on what type of category I want to watch, now I can choose what type of game I want to watch people play live and can interact with them through a live chat stream.

In the example above, if I want to watch the first choice, someone playing “New World”, I click on that and it will bring up the live steam of a person playing the game where I can now watch live, and can also interact with the gamer themselves, and other viewers with the chat stream.

From here, Twitch Web Video can show an ad prior to seeing content, and it counts down until the ad is over, which is an un-skippable ad. These video ads can be pre-roll or mid-roll:

The same experience occurs on the Twitch mobile app where an ad will appear and then the user sees the content:

Because these ads are un-skippable, there have extremely high completion rates with an average of 96% completion on our beta tests. For those that are less, it’s typically because someone exited out of the content and shut down their stream while an ad was playing. When you are talking to businesses about Twitch as an advertising platform, be sure to set those expectations and let them know they will not have a high click through rate (CTR), but with that comes a high completion rate, which means people are watching the ad in its entirety. Ads are clickable but it is mainly a branding platform.

Since Twitch is owned by Amazon, it will now be included in all of Vici’s Amazon Premium campaigns. At this time there isn’t enough inventory to run Twitch on its own due to limited ad space opportunities, so we include it in our Amazon Premium offering for video only. Amazon Premium is what we call all the placements that are available within the Amazon platform to serve ads- Amazon.com, other Amazon owned properties such as IMDb.com, IMDbTV and Fire TV, and Amazon Publishers. Amazon Publishers is a network of apps and websites that Amazon has partnered with, so ads can be seen on other websites and apps all while using Amazon targeting data. It will also follow the same type of restrictions as a regular Amazon campaign, but one difference is that they do allow real estate and recruitment ads.

Twitch video ads can be targeted through Behavioral Targeting and Retargeting, and ads can also appear on Twitch through a Custom Audience/Lookalike Amazon campaign.

In addition to all the Amazon targeting categories that are available to target users on Twitch there are also some additional new behavioral categories called “Twitch Audiences” which can run across Amazon Premium Display/Video/OTT. These are behavioral categories generated by the users on Twitch and targeting users both on and off Twitch.  New Behavioral Targeting categories include:

Twitch- Console Game Viewers
Twitch- Esports Viewers
Twitch- Game Viewers
Twitch- Mobile Game Viewers
Twitch- New Game Viewers
Twitch- Non Gaming Viewers
Twitch- PC Game Viewers
Twitch- Sports Viewers
Twitch- Top Game Viewers

When it comes to reporting for Twitch, there are two placements that will show if the ads were viewed on the Twitch mobile app or the Twitch website:

Now that we have a little bit of a foundation for what Twitch is and how it works, let’s talk about the benefits of utilizing it as an advertising platform and why advertisers should care. If a business is looking to reach the Millennial audience, especially males, this is absolutely a platform they want to take advantage of because 50% of millennial males in America use Twitch. There are also 15 million daily active users, 2.2+ million unique content creators per month, and people are watching 106 minutes of content per person, per day.

Twitch is more than a live streaming service; it’s a lifestyle. With the average person watching over 100 minutes per day, users are extremely loyal. By having a streaming service that centers around live interaction, it allows users to be “in the moment” and gather real reactions from players and other gamers. This is also a great way to enhance influencer marketing because they are establishing relationships with those gamers and other viewers, creating more loyalty.

Another benefit to advertising on Twitch is that it isn’t oversaturated. The platform itself has been around since 2011, but the user interface isn’t overloaded with ads, which allows for advertisers to reach an audience that might be untapped by your competitors. If you’re a business that is looking for a “new” audience, this is a great opportunity. A lack of saturation also means your ad will have more of impact on that audience and the possibility for a higher frequency.

With so many ways to advertise on the world wide web and through mobile apps, business owners should always be looking for the newest, latest and greatest way to reach new and existing customers, and Twitch is the perfect platform to achieve those goals.

The post What Is Twitch And How Do I Use It For My Video Ads? appeared first on Vici Media.

OTT & On-Site Visit Tracking: Two Great Strategies Come Together

In my last blog OTT/Connected TV AND On-Site Visit Tracking has ARRIVED, I referenced the Jetsons and Saturday morning cartoons, which I know showed my age. If you are old enough to have experienced Saturday morning cartoons and the Jetsons, you may also recognize this next reference as well! During those Saturday morning cartoon marathons, we also had awesome commercials. Anyone remember the “You got your chocolate in my peanut butter?” Two fun young people walking the busy streets, both with a Walkman on, one eating peanut butter (because isn’t that a great on the go snack?) and one eating chocolate.  They round the corner and collide, and “Reese’s” is born with the tagline: “Two great tastes that taste great together!” The moral of this nostalgic memory is that some things just make other things better, and I would argue peanut butter is that thing. Am I right Jelly?

So, let’s now take something that is already good – OTT. OTT is already good, and if you do it with Vici, it is better than good, it is great! It is premium and desirable. Sort of like chocolate.

Now what if we add some PEANUT BUTTER. Okay, not actually peanut butter, because weird, right? But what if we add VISIT tracking to our OTT? BAM, something new and cool and I would argue delicious is born. OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking. Two great strategies that are even more impactful together!

Let’s break down how it works, and start with our definitions of OTT (Over the top), and what makes our OTT premium:

Now let’s talk about how you could use OTT and your Targeting Options for OTT Ads WITH On-Site Visit Tracking. It starts with Behavioral Targeting, but not with online behaviors, this is based on where people have been with their device.

Take my past weekend for example. On Friday night, I dropped my younger son and his friends at the movies, and I went shopping while they watched and hit several boutiques nearby. I attended a festival with friends on Saturday, full of live music and beautiful weather! On Sunday I did a Costco run, I hit my gym for a class, and then I was at soccer complex watching my older son play.  Because I had my phone with me the whole time (using RetailMeNot while shopping, snapping selfies at the festival, I used my shopping list app for Costco, I checked into the gym with my phone and I took a few videos of my son saving goals), I have put myself into several targeting categories based on my physical proximity like: Big Box Shopper, Fashion Shopper, Health Clubs and Gym, Live Event Attendee, Sport Enthusiasts.

From my movements and interests, my mobile ID can be mapped to my household IP address, and I can be targeted with ads that match my categories on my Connected TV. INSANE!

Now, let’s say my local grocery store is having a sale and they want to reach big box bargain hunters. Their marketing team can use this product to run an ad within a radius of their store, targeting my big box shopping behavior on my connected TV. If I am inspired to go to their location (with my phone and shopping list), I can be recorded as an on-site visit and shown on a monthly report to demonstrate ROI.  Incredible!

The official definition of OTT with In-Store Visit Tracking is showing your up to :30 OTT video ads to specific consumers on Connected TVs streaming programming and then tracking them if they come to your on-site location.

Here is a visual journey of what I just shared:

There are thousands of categories available to choose from, this is just a sample, and my weekend put me in more than a few of these:

Keep in mind we only run on 100% Connected TV’s and provide publisher reports each month.

If you want more specifics on how it works, let’s get technical: we use a cross-device graph (TapAd) to identify IP Addresses connected to CTV/OTT, Desktop and Mobile.  When that mobile device enters a Blueprinted location, that is recorded as a visit post ad exposure.

You may have more questions, and we have answers! In fact, for our Vici Partners, we have a whole new set of FAQ’s on this product. Here are a few:

Can you track conversions through a container tag with OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking?

No (same as our other OTT products) but we recommend tracking ROI through off-line visit tracking.

Is OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking 100% CTV like our other OTT?

Yes!

What’s the average CTR of OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking?

Because it’s connected TV devices only, the CTR is very low. Our average was .01% since most people can’t click through on a full-size TV screen.

Can I get a heat map of where my impressions ran?

Yes, with the location reports down to the zip code level.

Are OTT with Visit Tracking Ads skippable?

They are not unless you shut off your tv.

Are OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking Ads protected by DoubleVerify?

Yes they are.

What are additional reports I can request for OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking?

On-Site Visit Break Outs By Geo:
We can break out on-site visits by States, DMAs, or Zips Codes and also show impressions, clicks, as well as visits. (Keep in mind CTR for OTT with Visit Tracking is very minimal due to running 100% on CTV devices).

On-Site Visit Break Out By Location:
If a client is tracking visits to multiple locations, we can break out each location’s number of visits.

DNA Report By Click:
If we are Geo-Targeting areas (geo-targeting is targeting all devices in large geos), we can pull a DNA Report that shows top categories for people who were in the Geo-Fence that clicked on the ad. (Keep in mind CTR for OTT with Visit Tracking is very minimal due to running 100% on CTV devices).

DNA Report By On-Site Visit:
If we are Geo-Fencing areas (geo-targeting is targeting all devices in large geos), we can pull a DNA Report that shows top categories for people who saw the ad and then visited the client’s location.

Who validates our OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking visit data?

The technology is through Numerator, who in 2019 purchased Market Track and InfoScout, a third-party insights company built from the largest U.S. purchase panel to verify the precision and coverage of its data at retailers. This data is utilized by comScore for their metrics and it the best in the industry. In August 2021, our visits are now also Media Rating Council (MRC) Accredited.

Now we have a two-prong approach: Numerator measures our accuracy and MRC vetted our entire methodology/accuracy of visits for targeting and measuring campaign performance.

Our OTT with On-Site Visit Tracking is accredited for:

Visitation data set

Place data set (i.e., Blueprints)

Location data set (i.e., location accuracy)

Okay, so that was more than just a few FAQ’s! We are super excited about this new product. It is DVR proof, and it’s not something you have to watch 4 minutes of ads, it is a spot or two and then it’s back to content so you’ll see excellent completion rates. It’s extremely user friendly since there aren’t a lot of competing ads. We have blueprinted every major retailer in the U.S. and are actively adding other points of interest. On average we add 200,000 blueprints per month. We run 100% on connected TVs- full screen and because we run on full size TVs, CTRs are going to be low, so it’s always hard to track return on OTT.  That is- until we had visit tracking data! We can track the device in the household (their phone) who is served the connected TV ad who then walks onto your clients’ locations.

So there you have it. Modern day version of two great tastes that taste great together, now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m craving a Reese’s.

The post OTT & On-Site Visit Tracking: Two Great Strategies Come Together appeared first on Vici Media.

What are LinkedIn Ads?

Have you ever wanted to reach a specific type of person at a specific business? Or wanted to try and recruit a specific job title or person in a certain field? Well, now you can with LinkendIn ads. With more than 72% of full-time employees on LinkedIn and 4 out of 5 people on LinkedIn “drive business decisions” it is a great place to be for B2B and Recruiting needs.

LinkedIn allows you to use the largest professional network to reach the people you want to target, in their News Feed and on the LinkedIn Audience Network, across all devices.

So let’s talk about all the options LinkedIn has to offer.

First, where do the ads run?

At Vici the ads can run in two places. The traditional News Feed and LinkedIn Audience Network. The News Feed is consistent with most social media platforms. When you log into the LinkedIn platform on your device, you naturally scroll top to bottom to see the latest posts and news. Ads will appear along that feed to targeted individuals. The ads include a Call-To-Action button and Like, Comment, Share, and Send buttons. Advertisers also have the option to add placement in the LinkedIn Audience Network. Much like the Facebook Audience Network (FAN), it enables you to extend the reach of your ads by delivering them beyond the LinkedIn News Feed, when members go onto other websites and apps who have partnered with LinkedIn. Examples of some of those partner websites and apps are Fox News, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Daily Mail, USA Today, Tech News and many more. It is recommended that the LinkedIn Audience Network is added to any campaign as it increases the ad reach by 25% and 2 x higher view thru rates.

Now, what kind of ads can I run?

LinkedIn has many ad types, again very similar to other social platforms. Allison- instead of a graphic with the blue underlines on it can you copy and paste the test? Also better for SEO.

There are four different types of LinkedIn ads.

Single Image Ad– LinkedIn Sponsored Content ads average 28x higher CTR than right-hand column text ads. *We do not run, Right-hand column text ads. They only show on desktops and do not perform well.
Video Ad– These ads run in the News Feed and auto start on mute as the person scrolls and the ad comes into view.  LinkedIn users are 20x more likely to re-share a video post.
Carousel Ad– This multi-image (display only) ads run in the News Feed.  Each image can link to a different page on your website.
Lead Ad– When clicked the ad opens to a lead generation form with the questions you select and pre-populates with the person’s contact info

Let’s talk targeting!

LinkedIn has several targeting options, it’s like winning the lottery for ad targeting.

The first option is Category Targeting. This is showing your ads to specific LinkedIn members by choosing targeting categories from information they have provided about themselves and their companies. There is a comprehensive list of targeting to choose from like, Member Age, Member Gender, Degrees- Any, Fields of Study- Any, Member Schools- Any, Job Seekers, Open to Education, Open to Relocation, Recently Promoted, Recently Relocated, Recently Switched Jobs, Job Titles- Any, Job experience and more! In addition to this, there is company targeting options like, By Company Name, By Company Size, By Company Category, By Company Connections, By Company Follower of, By Company Growth Rate and By Company Industries and more!

It is also one of the only digital products where you can PAIR your targeting for example:

Company Name (s) + HR Professionals or Industry Type + Job title. It makes targeting that specific individual even easier.

The next type of targeting available is Custom Audience Matching & Lookalike. This is showing your ads to LinkedIn members who match to a database list you provide and targeting a Lookalike audience of similar members. There are two options:

Member Contact List: That Includes At Least One of The Following Fields (the more fields the higher the match rate): Email address, First & Last Name, Job Title, Company
Company List: That Includes At Least One of The Following Fields (the more fields the higher the match rate): Company Name, Company Website, Company Email Domain, LinkedIn Company Page URL, Stock Symbol, Industry, Address

LinkedIn recommends a starting list of 10,000 entries, (requires a minimum of 1,000) and to run campaign 300 matches are needed. If your list has at least 300 matches, you can add a Lookalike Audience!

Lastly, we can also include Retargeting for LinkedIn ads. This is following people after they leave your website and showing them your ad when they go onto LinkedIn and the LinkedIn Audience Network (if desired). Retargeting assists with frequency on a campaign to drive web conversions. 98% of web traffic does not convert on their initial web visit.

With 50% of companies using LinkedIn for marketing exposure, it begs the question, “Does it really work?” And the answer is, “Yes it does!” Research has found the LinkedIn is 277% more effective at generating leads over Facebook and Twitter. And lead conversion rates are 3 x higher than other major ad platforms like Google Ads.

Plus at Vici, we have had our success stories to share.

The first success story is for a transportation company that was trying to target a niche audience.  National transportation and logistics company was looking to reach decision-makers in logistics and supply chain managers to launch its newly designed fleet. Digital had not been something this company had utilized in the past because they felt their audience could not be reached this way.In order to reach a specific niche audience of business type + job title as well as an existing database of prospects the client had, LinkedIn Custom Audience matching and LinkedIn Member Targeting was recommended.  Ad creative included a combination of LinkedIn video to visually showcase the new fleet advantages as well as single image and carousel ads highlighting multiple features for the transportation of bulk products.

The results from this campaign were through the roof! The campaign averaged a .51% click-thru rate across three months. And in 3 months’ time, it yielded over 1800 click conversions and over 2,000 view thru conversions. Conversions included going to specific fleet web pages, the company page to learn more about them and most importantly many conversions to the Contact Us page. Ultimately the campaign yielded a great amount of exposure to a captive audience to assist in the sales process and many sales contacts and leads.

The next success story was for utilizing LinkedIn for recruiting for a Building Supply and Construction company. A dominant and innovative leader in the building supply sector shifts its focus to online marketing with a primary focus on B2B targeting contractors and builders. A second strategy was also launched to recruit hourly workers at multiple locations and improve and grow the flow of applicants.   The goals were the following: Drive awareness with Contractors and builders, attract new employees, engage them after they leave the “careers page” on the site, increase/improve the quality of applicants.

A comprehensive online campaign was designed and launched in the Summer of 2021. The primary target was builders and contractors targeting specific zip codes and using Native Display-Mobile Conquesting – OTT/Pre-Roll Video and Social. Each month there were approximately 300,000 ads served and the CTR for all tactics was in the 0.30% range or 4x the national average. The campaign was performing so well, a decision was then made to use LinkedIn to bolster their recruitment efforts and drive awareness- applicant consideration and engagement.  The target profile were those unemployed or employed part-time, high school grads or job seekers who were looking for entry-level positions and a company that would provide training and development. Conversions being tracked were visits to the “Careers” page on the website as well as overall applications.

The LinkedIn recruitment campaign results just in the first month, saw great traction. It ran for one month and served 62,222 ads with  an engagement rate of 0.39% or 5.5x the national average.  In addition, the client saw 28 post click conversions and 64 “View Through” conversions. The client was very happy with the engagement and saw an increase in applicant flow. In just it’s first month, the campaign contributed to hiring 4 new employees.

So if you have been searching for a new B2B or Recruitment digital tactic, look no further.

The post What are LinkedIn Ads? appeared first on Vici Media.

How To Use Digital Ads To Target Travelers For Tourism & Travel Businesses

I’m leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again. (Did you just reread that so you can sing it?)  OK, I’m not currently taking a trip, though that sounds amazing right now, but a lot of people are.

It’s no wonder that people who were homebound for a majority of 2020, had a lot of time to plan their next adventure.  So when local and state officials began easing travel restrictions and mask mandates, those adventures became a reality!

According to TSA, Memorial Day generated a 60% increase of consumers that traveled more than 50 miles from home in 2021 compared to 2020.  And, according to MediaRadar, air travel during that same time period was up 450% from 2020.  That math equates to 1.3 million people and an average of 52,947 people traveling through the airport that weekend alone.

The travel didn’t stop there.  The surge continued through July as 48 million Americans took to the roads during the 4th of July weekend, just shy of a 50% increase over 2020.

When it comes to advertising, Media Radar shows that travel brands spend more than $210 million in US Advertising during June alone, more than double what they spent in 2020.

If you are a business looking to target people interested in traveling for business or pleasure, digital advertising has excellent ways to reach them and access to strategies that can make your money work for you.  To do this, let’s look at a few key factors when it comes to travelers, both business and leisure.

Business Travelers.  What do we know about them?

They are Dependable. Typically business travelers are “regulars”.  Whether that’s once a quarter, or once a month.  Besides, business travelers usually travel year-
They are loyal. Once a business traveler gets used to a place, they will become loyal to that business.
They are easy to please. Business travelers usually have so much going on while they are traveling, they tend to overlook the fine-tuned details in exchange for good, convenient service.
They aren’t typically price sensitive because their company usually foots the bill, or at least part of it.
Business travelers don’t have a lot of time on their hands. So, they go for convenience.

Looking at the above pieces of information, the first strategy that comes to mind is Mobile Conquesting.  With the average business traveler checking their smartphone 34 times per day, this is a great place to reach them.

Once you’ve decided on the geographic area you want to target around your business, we’d first layer in behavioral categories to reach this audience.  Here are a few that would work well:

Business Traveler
Commuters
Frequent Travelers
International Travelers

Then, once we’ve got the behaviors locked in, the next strategy would be to add in some Geo-Fencing and Geo-Retargeting to target these travelers in specific locations.  For example, you could target hotels, airports, car rental agencies and be able to target these business travelers while they are inside of these locations and continue to serve them ads after they leave.

Remember, business travelers are all about location and convenience.  With this product, your ads can showcase how far the viewer of the ad is from your location withy dynamically updating ads.   The business traveler can see exactly how far they are from your location.

Another great aspect to this strategy is the ability to track on-site visits. One of the major key performance indicators (KPI) that sets our Mobile Conquesting apart is being able to track if someone saw an ad and physically walked into a client’s business, as long as their GPS is enabled. Typically, this data is tracked throughout the duration of the campaign, but we’ve found visits continue to happen days after a campaign has ended. To make sure we are capturing all information relevant to a campaign, we’ve extended all visit data to be tracked up to 14 days after a campaign has ended, so marketers can continue gathering data without the ad spend.

Now, let’s look at Leisure Travelers.  Here’s where the real fun and opportunity begins to unfold.  According to Waze, more people are driving today than even pre-pandemic, but their patterns are different.  “Commutes are way down, and leisure travel and weekend driving is way up.”

What are some of the best ways to reach Leisure Travelers? Social Media.  People on vacation are always sharing their experiences with friends and family through Facebook and Instagram.  Whether they’re updating their profile, sharing to their stories, or reading reviews on local businesses, people on vacation are spending time on Social Media.  That’s great news for you!

As you know, there are a LOT of places within the Facebook and Instagram platforms where you can advertise.

But, the question really come down to what type of messaging should you use.  Personally, I love carousel ads.

These ads allow you to highlight multiple services or attractions that may connect with different people.  As the user swipes (or clicks) through the carousel ad, they can find something that resonates with them.  Maybe it’s the happy hour special?  Maybe it’s the ATV rental?  Maybe it’s a specific display at the children’s museum?  A benefit to this type of ad is that each panel can link to a different page of your website.   Got different tours that you offer?  Have each panel link to that specific tour’s booking page.  A great way to make it easy for your soon to be customer to book a tour with you!

Also, if you’re a business that hosts events, using Event Response Ads are a great way to educate these travelers about events they may be interested in.   Event Response ads can work with all kinds of events because you get to choose the targeting criteria.   Facebook layers thousands of targeting categories according to who you want to reach, like where they are, their job title, their age, gender or interests,  to target potential attendees inside their News Feed.   When someone expresses interest in your event by clicking “Interested” on your ad, Facebook continues to remind those who are interested by posting alert reminders about the event as it draws closer.   Your event also will show up in those people’s friends News Feed as something they could be interested in.

When it comes to Facebook targeting, there are probably hundreds of ways to identify travelers.  Here are a few:

Adventure Travel

Air Travel

First Class Travel

Travel & Leisure

But then, think about the services/products that you offer.  For example, if you’re a restaurant, look at categories that make sense for restaurants:

Fast Casual Restaurant

Fast Food Restaurant

Or, if you’re in the outdoor adventure business, you could also target categories like:

Outdoor enthusiasts

ATV’s

Off Road Vehicles

As you can see there are a lot of ways that you can target on Facebook and Instagram.

What if you could plant a seed before someone starts their travel journey?  With talking to a local ski rental company in Colorado, we discovered that this was a target of many businesses that rely on the travelers to support their business.  So, whether you’re a hotel, an amusement park, or a conference center, one tactic that you can use to reach travelers before they travel, would be Social Mirror Ads.

Social Mirror ads look like your social media display or video posts but appear on other websites and apps, linking back to the social media platform and your website, and run across all devices using our targeting strategies. We are “mirroring” the EXACT look of your social post as an ad that runs on thousands of OTHER websites and apps, targeted just to the people you want to reach across all devices.

For this to work, you should know where (what city) the majority of your customers come from.  For instance, talking with this ski rental company, most of their clients came from Dallas/Ft. Worth, New York City, Tampa, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. One way to know this is to look at your Google Analytics Geo Report.

If you could get in front of them while they are searching for, or making travel plans, don’t you think that would increase the likelihood that they would do business for you?

Keyword Targeting is one of the strategies used with Social Mirror campaigns.  With Keyword Targeting, what we do is show your ad to people when they visit a website (or app) that contain keywords related to your business.

With this ski rental company, some of the keywords they wanted to focus on were Ski Resort, ski rentals, snowboards, winter gear, snowfall, and specific ski resorts within a certain distance.  If someone in Tampa was reading an article on ski resorts, this company could potentially have their ad showcased on that website and get that individual to think about traveling to Colorado and renting gear from them.

Keyword Advertising is only one of the strategies that Social Mirror has the ability to use.  You could also utilize Behavioral Targeting and target people interested in skiing, snow boarding, and outdoor enthusiasts.  You could utilize Artificial Intelligence to find people similar to those interacting with your ads (maybe those that just haven’t fallen into those behavioral categories yet).  You could also utilize Retargeting to follow those people that come to your website and leave without doing business with you.

No matter how you want to target the traveler (business or leisure), there are lots of ways that you can accomplish that.  Just keep in mind these few tips:

Know your target consumer. Do your homework and know who your customer is so you can target them better.
Social Media helps travelers find inspiration for their destinations and discover exciting activities and attractions.
Identify key moments on the booking journey. From dreaming about their vacation, to planning, booking, and actually being on vacation and experiencing their vacation, you can target them across all moments.
Know which devices they use and when. (think Mobile Conquesting)
Encourage your current patrons to leave reviews so when these travelers come in and do their homework, they see how great of a time others have experienced with you.

The post How To Use Digital Ads To Target Travelers For Tourism & Travel Businesses appeared first on Vici Media.

Are You Considering a New Digital Provider?

Are you an ad agency considering or perhaps re-evaluating how to manage all your digital advertising for clients? Whether you are a one-person agency, a startup, or a team of seasoned professionals, everyone reaches the point where they can not efficiently do it all on their own. Hiring and training staff members to specifically work on digital marketing can be time consuming, expensive, and extremely stressful. Oftentimes, you need several people with different talents to bring it in house. You need people in between full-time and part-time, and you also need them to be experts in a wide variety of digital strategies and execution. You also need them to be Google certified, navy seals of all prominent DSPs and constantly learning about and testing new strategies to remain on the forefront of digital. That’s a tall order and usually not the way to make digital a profitable powerhouse for your agency.

Enter Vici Media! We work with boutique agencies across the country to expand their offerings beyond traditional media buys. We have cutting-edge digital products and reporting that will wow your clients. We have a fully staffed team of experts who offer unparalleled customer service and support, and we provide full digital training and implementation. We also stay white labeled and behind the scenes, an extension of your agency who act not just as a partner, but part of your team.

If you have a need for a group of rock stars like this, or perhaps you want to replace your current band, I’ve got some tips and questions you should consider asking any providers you are considering hiring (or replacing). To make it really simple for you, I’ve also included our answers!

Top 10 Questions You Should Ask Your Digital Provider

What digital products are available to me?
Can your mobile ads or OTT ads track people who see the ad and then come to my client’s location?
What types of video products are available?
What type of reporting will I receive – do you have an online dashboard for agency and our agency clients?
Do you measure View Throughs and Conversions on my client’s website?  How can I show them Return On Investment?
What types of targeting do you do on Facebook & Instagram? News Feed ads or Right Hand Column ads?
Can you target ads down to individual households or just neighborhoods?
Can you target people who see the ad on one device and then follow them onto another device?
Do you offer a Live Chat function for my client’s website?
How do you protect my campaigns from fraud?

Here are Vici’s Answers:

What digital products are available to me? Here is our list of products and a short description of each.

What is Live Chat?  Get more leads by engaging your prospects with a chat box on your website.

What is Display? Display ads go across all devices, appearing on websites or apps, using targeting strategies including Retargeting, Behavioral Targeting, Artificial Intelligence, and Keyword Targeting.

What is Online Audio? Audio ads served to targeting online listeners who are consuming audio content across all types of devices, using the targeting strategies of Behavioral Targeting and Artificial Intelligence.

What is Facebook and Instagram Targeting? Targeting people across all devices with display or video ads on Facebook and Instagram in their News Feed, on Facebook Audience Network, Messenger, Facebook Instant Articles, Stories, Marketplace, Search, or a custom audience of your database of emails or addresses; using any of the types of Facebook/Instagram ads.

What are Native Ads?  Native display and video ads go across all devices and match the look, feel and context of the website or app where they are seen, using targeting strategies of Retargeting, Behavioral, Targeting, Artificial Intelligence, and Keyword Targeting, or to a custom audience of your database of emails and lookalike audience.

What is Mobile Conquesting? Reaching people with display and video ads on their mobile devices using targeting strategies including Behavioral, Geo-Fencing, Geo-Retargeting, Geo-Retargeting Lookalike, and Weather Triggers. OR a custom audience of your database of addresses. On-Site Visit Tracking to your business is available.

What are Video/OTT ads? Video can be Pre-Roll ads that play before the content someone has clicked to watch and appear on websites or apps across all devices, or can be Over-The-Top (OTT) video ads which are embedded into programming content people stream on their Connected TVs. On-Site Visit Tracking to your business is available with OTT.

What is Household IP Targeting? Matching IP addresses to your database list of names and street addresses and showing your display, native or video ads only to those people, across all devices.

What is SEO and Reputation Management? Improving and promoting a website to increase the number of visitor the site receives from search engines.

What is Pay-Per-Click? Showing your text ads on the Google Search Engine Results Page when a user searches keywords related to your business, across all devices.

What is Geo-Framing? Going back in time to previous events where we have captured people’s mobile Device ID’s, mapping to their homes, and showing them display ads now.

What are Amazon Premium Ads? Using Amazon targeting data to reach people with your display, video, or OTT ads on Amazon.com, Amazon owned properties and thousands of other websites and apps Amazon has partnered with, across all devices (display only on Amazon.com).

What are Social Mirror Ads? Social Mirror ads look like your social media display or video posts but appear on other websites and apps, linking back to the social media platform and your website, and run across all devices using our targeting strategies of Retargeting, Behavioral Targeting, Artificial Intelligence, and Keyword Targeting.

What are LinkedIn ads? Using the largest professional network to reach the people you want to target, in their News Feed and on the LinkedIn Audience Network, across all devices.

2.  Can your mobile product track people who see the ad and then come to my client’s location?

Yes!  With our Mobile Conquesting product, we can track “on-site visits.”  It’s an additional way for you to see return on your advertising investment.  This product can also track the top 10 characteristics of people who either click on your ad or come to your location whom we have been geo-fencing, and report on what those characteristics are.  With our OTT With On-Site Visit Tracking product, we can track people who have been served your OTT ad on a Connected TV and then visit your location with two weeks of seeing that ad.

3. What types of video products are available?

We do many different types of video products: Retargeting, Keyword Targeting, Behavioral Targeting, Artificial Intelligence Targeting, IP Targeting, Facebook/Instagram video, YouTube, Native video, LinkedIn video, Amazon Targeting video (including Twitch TV), and OTT/CTV. We buy across multiple video exchanges:  SpotXchange, GoogleADX, BrightRoll, LiveRail, Facebook/Instagram, Amazon owned properties.

4. What type of reporting will I receive?

We provide you monthly reports that include impressions, clicks, conversions, and view throughs on all reports.  In addition, for certain products we are also able to provide website/app breakout, creative performance, video completion, and device performance. Compare our reports to other providers!  We also provide an online dashboard that you can log into to view your campaign’s progress and give your client’s access as well.

5. Do you measure View Throughs and Conversions on my website?

Yes, we do.  A conversion is any action that a person takes on your website including filling out a contact us form, making a purchase, downloading a coupon or info, signing up for a newsletter, scheduling an appointment, and many others.  A View Through is when we track when someone sees an ad, doesn’t click, but returns to your website via search or directly typing in your website address at a later date.  Most people don’t click on an ad (less than 1 in one thousand people) so tracking the people who see your ad, don’t click, but come to your website later (View Throughs) is an important indicator of the effectiveness of your ad.

6. What types of targeting do you do on Facebook & Instagram?

Carousel News Feed, Collections Ads, Event Response Ads, Branded Content Ads, Job Listing Ads, Lead Ads, Offer Ads, Custom Audience Matching to Email & Phone Database, Lookalike Audience Ads, Video.  These types of ads go across all devices (Right Hand Column Ads are desktop only so we don’t buy those).  We also run across Facebook Messenger, Facebook Audience Network, Facebook Marketplace, Facebook & Instagram Stories, Facebook Search and Facebook Instant Articles.

7. Can you target down to individual households or just neighborhoods?

Yes, we can target individual household with Household IP Targeting or Mobile Conquesting Address Targeting and Address Retargeting. We can target:

Any data list you have.  All you need is: First Name and Last Name (if possible) and Full Address
Any data list that can be purchased from a direct mail vendor – any public data

8. Can you target people who see the ad on one device and then follow them onto another device?

With our product called Mobile Conquesting we can target people on their mobile devices and then use our Cross Platform Targeting to follow them onto other devices and platforms they might use.  This includes display ads, native ads, video pre-roll, Facebook and Instagram and Social Mirror Ads.

9. Do you offer a Live Chat function for my client’s website?

Yes, we have Live Chat which can be customized to the information you want conveyed to your website visitors.  It is staffed 24/7 by the Live Chat agents and they are humans, not bots.  You receive an emailed transcript of the chat immediately after it concludes.  You only pay for the chat lead if the agent has gathered the person’s name, email or phone, what they are interested in is something you offer, and that the person is in your designated service area

10. How do you protect my campaign from fraud?

Your digital advertising with us will automatically include a DoubleVerify filter layered on top of the campaign.

What is DoubleVerify?  DoubleVerify authenticates the quality of digital ad impressions for the world’s largest brands ensuring fraud-free, brand-safe, ad environments.  With this partnership, we now will only bid on inventory that matches your stipulated targeting strategies AND is on websites/apps that are authenticated by DoubleVerify.   This comes at no additional cost to you.  With most digital providers there is an additional surcharge to use DoubleVerify’s filters.  We are absorbing that cost.

In addition to the questions and answers above, you should also ask who their technology partners are. Here is some additional information about Vici and terms to know:

We work with an estimated 444 Private Marketplaces (PMPs) and 1385 Ad Exchanges, through our Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) partners.

Some of the major Ad Exchanges we work with are:

Our Behavioral Targeting data comes from our partnerships with 3rd party data providers including:

What is a Private Marketplace (PMP)?

PMP is a programmatic marketing term that stands for Private Marketplace. Private Marketplace is a private advertising auction, as opposed to public marketplaces. Advertisers can only access the private marketplace with an invitation, and it’s a real-time bidding environment.

Typically, top publishers (websites and apps) take part in private marketplaces and offer their ad inventory to highest bidders among the select advertisers.  The buying platform or DSP directly enters the publisher’s inventory, each buyer gets a Deal ID, the terms are pre-negotiated, and the advertiser needs to get approval to buy the advertising space.

This approach allows publishers to select who advertises on their pages, and they retain exclusivity. On the other hand, ad buyers (like Vici) can create a relationship with the publisher, get access to premium inventory, and custom deals.  Another advantage of a PMP includes access to inventory not available on open auctions and premium access at a lower price.

What is an Ad Exchange?

Ad exchanges are digital marketplaces that enable advertisers and publishers to buy and sell advertising space, through real-time auctions (also called buying programmatically). They’re most often used to sell display, OTT, video and mobile ad inventory.

Ad exchanges work with multiple seller sources to auction off impressions through real-time bidding or programmatic direct. Ad exchanges often connect to DSPs and SSPs, which are software platforms that link up to the exchanges’ inventory and enable you to place the bids.  Those bids are made in real time based on information such as the previous behavior of the user an ad is being served to, time of day, device type, ad position and more.

What is a Demand-Side Platform (DSP)?

It is a technology platform that allows buyers to manage, purchase and optimize programmatic inventory from multiple ad exchanges and SSPs through one interface. Inventory can be purchased through real-time bidding or programmatic direct.

What is a Supply-Side Platform (SSP)?

A technology platform that allows publishers (websites and apps) to manage, sell and optimize programmatic inventory for advertisers to bid on. SSPs connect to multiple ad networks, exchanges and DSPs at once to maximize the opportunity to sell inventory.

For example, a publisher (website or app) has an ad space that’s coveted by multiple advertisers. Its supply-side platform will tell the ad exchange that the space is available and wait for the different demand-side platforms (DSPs) to send their bid. Here’s the difference between an SSP and a DSP:  The role of a DSP is to aid media buyers in bidding and optimizing digital inventory across the entire media landscape. The purpose of a SSP is to help publishers manage how they sell impressions, manage their inventory and its price, as well as maximize the advertising revenue. In a way, it’s the publisher’s counterpart of a demand-side platform.

What DSP do we use?

We use multiple DSPs (Demand Side Platforms) to offer the most diverse and targeted product set and our inventory reaches a majority of online inventory. Additionally, we integrate with top 3rd party data providers like BlueKai, DoubleVerify, Eyeota, Factual, Lotame, and Oracle, so almost any audience we want to target is available to us.  We work closely with our technology partners and are involved in “beta tests” for new products and offer feedback and direction to shape and improve the platforms we buy across.

Vici Media is the best in the business and we’ll back that up with references from our clients. Vici moves at the speed of your business. Our Vici Trainers and operations teams offer support in multiple time zones on the phone, via email, or login to our “Frequently Asked Questions” portal that gives you instant access to a vast array of answers on digital topics, which is updated every week. We pride ourselves in above and beyond customer service for all of our clients.

Even better? You will see a 50% profit margin with NO additional overhead or expense.  Want to learn more? Get in touch and let me show you what 250 Agencies have already discovered!

The post Are You Considering a New Digital Provider? appeared first on Vici Media.