Mediastreet
Author

editor

Browsing
In News

5 ways to build a personal brand focused on impact, not ego

No Comments

By Rusty Shelton

Branding means creating an image in the minds of your audience.

Few phrases generate grimaces from professionals at the same rate as “personal branding.”

In fact, be honest—did your stomach turn a little bit when you just read it?

For many, when they read that phrase, their minds immediately go to people who have ego-driven, “Hey, look at me” kind of brands.

In my experience, having this kind of aversion to personal branding is typically a good sign because it means that you’re not interested in building visibility focused on your ego which is a foundational mindset for building a great brand. But just because many people don’t build their brand the right way doesn’t mean you can’t—or shouldn’t.

Your personal brand matters more today than ever before, and it not only needs to be visible and authentic, but also must build trust before you get in the room. Today, the first place most potential employers, partners, clients, and employees will come in contact with you likely won’t be in person—it will be online after a quick search of your name.

The frank reality is that your brand is what Google says it is. Branding means creating an image in the minds of your audience, and if the first image your audience sees is online, you need to be intentional about it.

The good news is that the more visible and authentic your personal brand is, the more of an impact you can make on others, and the more leverage it gives you personally. Here are five ways to build a personal brand that is focused on impact, not ego:

1. Understand your “why”

The best personal brands are built when an individual is focused on being the messenger, not the message. To do this well, you must have a clear impact that you want to make. Get clear on your message from the start because building a strong brand takes commitment.

2. Conduct an online-brand audit

Before you can focus on growing your brand, you must understand your foundation. Do you have a “brand name” you can own? If someone does find you, is what they find going to encourage them to take a next step with you, or cause them to question whether you are the right fit? This first impression is happening based on your online brand whether you like it or not, so you should be thoughtful about it.

3. Build authority-by-association

Ideally, you want the visuals that make up your brand to say what you shouldn’t say about yourself. For instance, “She’s a credible thought leader with something to teach and not an operator with something to sell.” Make sure you are associating yourself with brands that your audience knows, trusts, and respects by going beyond stock photos or headshots. Be sure to highlight any media coverage you may have received, photos of you speaking, and other images that establish trust by putting you in a setting that builds credibility. Even if you don’t have a ton of media or speaking experience, you can showcase visuals that put you in a setting that connotes authority.

4. Create an intentional content strategy

Most well-meaning people who try to build thought leadership end up focusing entirely on strictly professional content, which often results in slow growth. Instead, blend “you-driven” content (your perspective, pictures, and stories), news-driven content (timely content that connects to the headlines), and relationship-driven content (such as an interview series or podcast) with your professional content.

5. Be your fullest self

In this age of ChatGPT, more content is getting created than ever before, so the only thing that will set you apart is you. Resist the urge to play some kind of role you think you need to play to be a thought leader, and instead be more of yourself by leaning into your personality, interests, and quirks. This will give real value to your audience. Who you are and what makes you different is ultimately the only reason why people will follow you instead of all the other choices out there.

Whether you like it or not, others are getting an image of you online, so be intentional about creating one that accelerates trust and is authentic to who you are. By doing so, you’ll create a bigger impact and avoid the ego-driven branding trap.

Feature Image Credit: Karolina Grabowska/Pexels

By Rusty Shelton

Rusty Shelton is founder and chairman of Zilker Media and strategist for Forbes Books. He is the coauthor of The Authority Advantage: Building Thought Leadership Focused on Impact, Not Ego.

Sourced from Fast Company

Read More
By
In News

5 Artificial Intelligence Use Cases More Promising Than ChatGPT

No Comments

By Tim Clark

If you’re reading this article, chances are good you’ve had a chance to play around with ChatGPT or similar Artificial Intelligence (AI) offerings that are moving the AI adoption needle. And make no mistake, that needle will be redlining for the next few years. According to IDC, as companies incorporate AI into their business operations, spending on AI-centric systems will rise at a compound annual growth rate of 27% between 2022 and 2026, to exceed a staggering $300 billion. Obviously, there’s more than meets the AI when it comes to real uses cases. Here are five promising ones you may not be aware of.

Generative AI Won’t Take Off Without 6G

6G connectivity is waiting in the wings to help companies make AI models more efficient and responsible while data from machines and connected devices continues to grow, according to the recent Forbes article, Generative AI Won’t Take Off Without 6G. “Imagine the possibilities in a world of unlimited immersive experiences,” said John Licata, innovation foresight strategist at SAP. “We’re talking about going beyond initial data inputs from AR and tapping into it in new hyper-personalized and hyper-contextualized 3D experiences generated by AI and used by businesses both ethically and responsibly.”

There Goes The (Search Engine) Neighbourhood: AI Generated SEO Is Here

If you haven’t yet subscribed to the weekly AI newsletter, The Neuron what are you waiting for? Weekly AI gems are delivered right to your inbox daily, like this one that highlights a Twitter thread showing how AI can significantly boost SEO efforts. While the results—using 100% AI-generated content—are impressive, marketing creatives will be delighted to know that Step #1 in the process involves “understanding the target audience” and that a large part of successful AI content campaigns is “knowing what your audience is searching.” Amen!

Madison Avenue Rocks AI For Innovative Campaign

Advertising Agency BBDO New York relied on generative AI to help enterprise software firm SAP create awareness about the speed of business in a new campaign in which the creative changed daily based on current events in culture and business.

Here’s how it worked: AI software generated a composite image of each day’s headlines (based on four inputs), and a human illustrator finalized the images for the Digital out-of-home-advertising boards. Here’s what Ada Agrait, senior vice president of corporate marketing at SAP, told AdAge in a recent article: “Business-built AI gives organizations the agility to be ready for whatever comes every day. This campaign activation exemplifies an organization’s ability to continuously pivot when AI is infused into its business processes.”

AI Podcasts: Boring or Better?

A recent Wired article makes a pretty good case as to why we really don’t need more podcasts, let alone AI generated ones. “Apart from listening to the podcast because of its technological advancement, there’s no point. It’s just wasted time, said Hugo, creator of The Joe Rogan AI Experience, the first AI-generated podcast to take off. Indeed, “robot chit-chat” may not be for everyone, so perhaps the more reasonable AI advancement is for Spotify to use AI to make host-read podcast ads that sound like real people?

AI Helps Businesses Address The Talent Gap

Companies face a growing challenge as they manage the gap between the skills they have in their work force and the skills they need for the future. Closing that gap means optimizing how they recruit and hire new talent in today’s competitive market, as well as how they deliver learning and development programs to help employees grow. In an effort to address these challenges SAP has integrated generative AI into SAP SuccessFactors. Amy Wilson, senior vice president of products and design for SAP SuccessFactors, highlighted some of the capabilities during a demonstration at the Sapphire conference. “It understands requirements for a position and helps HR professionals create job descriptions and interview questions,” said Wilson. “It also provides ideas and tips for planning a recruiting campaign. Aligned with customers’ business strategy, AI will be able to find out the skills that employees need to acquire in the coming years.”

By Tim Clark

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn.

I am a former Editor-in-Chief and now Head of Brand Journalism for SAP, leading the company’s native advertising strategy.

Sourced from Forbes

Read More
By
In News

Google To Delete Inactive Gmail, Drive Accounts

No Comments

By

Some potential customers are going to disappear from Gmail as Google updates its inactive account policy.

“Starting later this year, if a Google Account has not been used or signed into for at least 2 years, we may delete the account and its contents – including content within Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar) and Google Photos,” Google states in a blog post.

The reason: security. Google feels that if an account hasn’t been used for an extended period of time, it is more likely to be compromised.

“This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised, haven’t had two factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user,” Google writes.

Google’s internal analysis shows that “abandoned accounts are at least 10x less likely than active accounts to have 2-step-verification set up,” the blog continues. Once compromised, they can be used “for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam,” it adds.

This may not have an immediate impact on email marketers. If a consumer has not signed into Gmail for two years, it is likely that the person is inactive in ecommerce accounts, too.

However, they could be using another email service.

Google points out that the policy “only applies to personal Google Accounts, and will not affect accounts for organizations like schools or businesses.”

In any event, Google will not start deleting accounts until December 2023.

Consumers can maintain their accounts by taking one of these actions:

  • Reading or sending an email
  • Using Google Drive
  • Watching a YouTube video
  • Downloading an app on the Google Play Store
  • Using Google Search
  • Using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service.

By

Sourced from MediaPost

Read More
By
In News

How to Use Pop-Ups on Your Website Without Annoying Users

No Comments

By Itai Sadan 

Pop-ups are potent tools for web conversions. Here’s how to use them without driving your users away.

If you’re a marketer, advertiser or any other related position, pop-ups are one of the many tools at your disposal. They can be very effective at generating conversions and leads by prompting users to take action like signing up for a newsletter or using a coupon code to make a purchase.

Today, websites can have many different types of pop-ups and banners, from cookie notifications to first-time visitor pop-ups to exit intent pop-ups. Despite their value for lead generation, pop-ups can be problematic from a user experience perspective, and using pop-ups incorrectly can actually drive users away. How you execute these pop-ups can mean the difference between users converting or quitting the site entirely. The challenge is to find the right balance to achieve your goals without annoying your users.

Knowing what kind of pop-ups to use, as well as how to use them effectively, will keep your users happy. Here are a few things to know about strong pop-ups, as well as some options you can consider when working on your next pop-up strategy.

Pop-ups are good at what they do

When done correctly, pop-ups are powerful converters. Data from one million live Duda sites shows that, on average, sites that used pop-ups saw a conversion rate four times higher than sites that didn’t use them. Sites without pop-ups saw a 3.7% conversion rate, whereas sites with pop-ups had a 16% conversion rate.

Knowing what type of pop-up you need will also keep users satisfied. There are pop-ups for marketing purposes, and then there are pop-ups for compliance needs. For marketing, 8.4% of our live sites leverage pop-ups for marketing offers or to deliver timely information. These pop-ups drive top-level conversion growth, and they typically offer a discount or encourage users to fill out a form.

There are also required pop-ups, such as cookie policies for GDPR compliance. Duda data shows that out of one million live sites, 25% use GDPR-related pop-ups.

Keep user goals in mind

To create an effective pop-up strategy, you need to ask yourself a few questions. What are your goals, and what kinds of pop-ups accomplish those goals? Additionally, what problems can your pop-ups solve for your users?

The most effective pop-ups are those that keep the user’s needs at the forefront and deliver value that is worth their while. To accomplish this, you need to first understand what your users are looking for and then serve them a pop-up that delivers a clear and compelling solution to that need. We consistently see websites that leverage pop-ups get higher conversion rates, sometimes 3-5 times higher, when using a pop-up instead of other methods, like banners, on a web page.

Be considerate of timing

No one wants to be approached the second they walk into a shop before they’ve had the chance to even look around. The same is true for your pop-ups. Not only are immediate pop-ups bad for your Google search rankings, but they’re also the type of pop-ups users are likely to find the most aggravating. A better practice would be to time pop-ups either as a user is leaving or time it so they’ll close automatically after a few seconds.

Use accessibility best practices

It may go without saying, but you should make sure your pop-ups are accessible and easy to read. Do they have a strong visual focus? If they take up a portion of the page, is it visually distinct from the rest of the page? Do they have clear CTAs? Is it obvious what the user is being asked to do?

Common accessibility issues include tab loops, missing labels, tab focus and keyboard support. According to Duda’s data, these issues represented 8-10% of the total issues detected during typical audits. Clearing up these issues will go a long way toward making your pop-ups more successful. Additionally, any third-party content that appears within an inline frame as part of the pop-up could introduce inaccessible content that would be difficult to correct.

Despite their negative connotations at times, pop-ups are very effective at driving top-level conversions and generating leads. If you’re a marketer or agency professional, they’re an important part of your strategy. But there is a right way to do them that doesn’t wear out your user’s trackpad trying to find the “X.”

By Itai Sadan 

Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor. Itai Sadan is the CEO and co-founder of Duda, a professional website builder for agencies and SaaS platforms.

Sourced from Entrepreneur

Read More
By
In News

The Algebra Of Advertising On Meta’s Platform

No Comments

By Nate Lorenzen

Meta, the digital advertising giant with billions of users, continually adapts its algorithms to remain competitive. As a performance marketer in 2023, comprehending Meta’s evolving ad ecosystem is crucial for optimizing your brand’s CPA (cost per acquisition) or ROAS (return on ad spend).

Many marketers, however, struggle with understanding the essential components influencing CPA or ROAS. But don’t worry—mastering three straightforward formulas can help streamline your approach, save money and give you a competitive edge on Meta’s platform. In this article, I’ll demystify these formulas and demonstrate their impact on your marketing strategy.

Years ago, when I started in user acquisition, I wish someone had clarified how these elements intertwine. Grasping these formulas can eliminate confusion, improve testing plans and ultimately drive your marketing success.

Formula 1: APM

Finding the action rate or its cousin APM (actions per mille impressions) helps to get an overall idea of the effectiveness of a campaign. To find the action rate, you’re going to multiply the click-through rate by the conversion rate:

Action Rate = Click-Thru Rate (CTR) * Conversion Rate (CVR)

For the mathematically minded, you will notice that the action rate can be computed more simply as conversions/impressions. So, you can find the APM with the following formula:

APM = (Conversions/Impressions) * 1000

In Meta’s auction, action rate is used as a measurement of an ad’s relevancy. Based on how this metric compares to other ads in the auction, Meta sometimes penalizes or subsidizes ads that are not up to par. Relevancy is very important to Meta’s algorithm. The action rate makes up one part of how the algorithm measures an ad’s total value metric, which basically weighs how relevant it is to the end user. The ad that wins an auction is the one with the highest total value.

Total Value = Advertiser Bid * CTR * CVR + Ad Quality

or

Total Value = Advertiser Bid * Action Rate + Ad Quality

In the formulas above, ad quality is a combination of feedback from users that includes likes, comments, shares, x-outs, etc.

Scaling action rate into APM is quite handy. As APM is directly tied to action rate, it means optimizing APM is the key to winning Meta’s auction.

Formula 2: CPA

Turning the action rate into APM means:

CPA (cost per acquisition) = CPM (cost per mille)/APM

Many marketers overlook this relationship. Uncovering it enables swift performance marketing evaluation. In brand audits, we identify underperformance and create targeted action plans. Instead of vaguely aiming to “improve CPA,” it’s more effective to state, “We’ll enhance CPA by increasing the conversion rate while maintaining CPM and CTR.”

To improve one’s CPA, you need to either decrease your CPM while holding APM steady, increase APM while holding CPM steady, or do both in concert by decreasing CPM while increasing APM.

To help tackle this, Meta is increasing the volume of ads on the platform to decrease CPM while improving the efficiency of the ad delivery environment, which will improve APM.

Setting up your internal monitoring to reflect CPM and its relation to the components that build APM will allow a marketer to quickly triage and act on how to improve their performance marketing.

Formula 3: ROAS

As stated earlier, APM is a useful metric that is the lynchpin of common KPIs for advertisers. Outside of APM and CPA is ROAS (return on ad spend), which is the other most common metric leveraged by advertisers. Lo and behold, APM allows the construction of ROAS in a unique fashion that highlights the important building blocks of the return.

ROAS = (APM * AOV) / CPM

As we already know that APM is how efficient the advertising is at closing a sale, this shows that ROAS is also constructed with how large of a purchase a person makes on average, AOV (average order value). Also, the costs that the advertiser pays to show the ad is the denominator since your return will decrease as costs increase.

This might seem complicated, but as a marketer, you already know that you can increase ROAS by increasing someone’s purchasing frequency when seeing your ad (APM); increasing how much they purchase (AOV); and/or lowering your ad cost (CPM).

Again, we see that Meta’s focus on ad volume and ad efficiency will drive an increase in ROAS for the advertisers on its platform. Also, it’s useful to understand that CPA and ROAS are intimately linked and not two different views of the world. They are constructed from the same component parts, which means that building out plans that can help decrease CPM, increase APM or do both at the same time is worthwhile for all performance marketing organizations.

Conclusion

The next time you face a marketing challenge on one of Meta’s platforms, try using these three formulas. They can help you get to a solution more quickly!

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Nate Lorenzen

Founder of dysrupt. Want to work with dysrupt? Click here! Read Nate Lorenzen’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

Read More
By
In News

Social Media Shake-up? Instagram Planning To Challenge Twitter’s Dominance With New App?

No Comments
By Ajay Sharma

According to recent reports, a leaked marketing clip has provided a sneak peek into Instagram’s rumoured text-based app that could compete with Twitter.

According to recent reports, a leaked marketing clip has provided a sneak peek into Instagram’s rumoured text-based app that could potentially compete with Twitter. The app, which has been codenamed P92 or Barcelona, is referred to as “Instagram’s new text-based app for conversations” in the slide, according to The Verge report.

Users will have the convenience of signing in to the app with their existing Instagram username and password. Furthermore, their followers, handle, bio, and verification will seamlessly transfer over from the main Instagram app, the report said. The leaked marketing slides reveal that the new app resembles a combination of Instagram and Twitter, featuring a feed where users can make text posts up to 500 characters long, complete with attached links, photos, and videos.

Is Instagram planning to enter the Twitter arena?

According to the reports, Meta, the parent company of Instagram, seems to prioritise moderation controls from the outset. The leaked marketing slide mentions that users will have settings to manage who can reply to their posts and mention their accounts. It also suggests that any accounts blocked on Instagram will carry over to this new text-based app.

In an intriguing move, the app will also introduce an element of decentralisation. The slide indicates that compatibility with certain other apps like Mastodon is in the works, allowing users from these apps to search for, follow, and interact with profiles and content on the Instagram text app. This compatibility is likely to be achieved through ActivityPub, a protocol explored by Meta and other technology companies.

Should the app be widely released, it could further solidify Instagram’s popularity as a social media platform. As Twitter faces ongoing challenges, many users are actively seeking alternative platforms to share tweet-like updates. Instagram’s potential entry into this space could present a compelling option for those seeking a new online destination.

While the leaked marketing clip has generated excitement, official confirmation and further details from Instagram or Meta are still awaited, leaving users and industry observers eager for official announcements.

Feature Image Credit: Unsplash/Representative

By Ajay Sharma

Sourced from REPUBLICWORLD.COM

Read More
By
In News

YouTube is bringing unskippable 30-second ads to TV

No Comments

By Jess Weatherbed

The longer commercials will appear in place of two consecutive 15-second ads. The company will also show ads when you pause videos.

Watching YouTube on your TV is about to get more frustrating if you’re not paying to avoid ads. As announced at the YouTube Brandcast event on Wednesday, YouTube will soon add 30-second unskippable ads to top-performing content watched on connected TVs.

YouTube says viewers will see a single 30-second ad instead of two consecutive 15-second ads, though that doesn’t mean that those shorter ads will be disappearing entirely. 30-second ads will be available to advertisers via YouTube Select, a curated advertising platform that targets the top five percent of YouTube content. YouTube claims 70 percent of YouTube Select impressions come from TVs, making it the ideal platform for longer ads.

YouTube is also testing ads that will appear on paused videos

“More and more, viewers are tuning into YouTube on the biggest screen in their home,” said YouTube CEO Neal Mohan during the Brandcast event (seen via Variety). “Viewers — especially younger viewers — no longer make a distinction between the kind of content they’re watching.”

YouTube also announced that it will start testing ads that appear when the viewer pauses a video on a connected TV. It’s similar to the pause ad feature rolled out by Hulu a few years back, and has been dubbed “pause experiences” by YouTube. Judging by the example image published by AdWeek, YouTube’s pause ads will appear as a banner around the video and can be removed by selecting the “dismiss” button.

A screenshot of a YouTube video with an example of a YouTube pause ad overlayed around it.
The paused video will shrink down to accomodate the banner-style pause ads, but at least they can be dismissed.Image: YouTube (via AdWeek)

YouTube hasn’t mentioned when either of these changes — 30-second unskippable ads and pause ads — will be rolling out, but we’ve reached out for detail and will update if we hear back.

Yesterday’s announcements follow a recent crackdown on ad blockers by the video hosting platform. Last week, YouTube revealed that it’s experimenting with pop-up messages that state “Ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube,” encouraging viewers to instead subscribe to YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience.

Feature Image Credit: Alex Castro / The Verge

By Jess Weatherbed

Sourced from The Verge

Read More
By
In News

Spending the Most Really Does Win the Most Customers. Here’s Why

No Comments

By Sean Allen

Customers are the lifeblood of your business. You don’t want to cheap out when it comes to customer retention.

“Whoever can spend the most, wins.” This is an adage in marketing that happens to be 100% true. If your business is prepared to meet the ever-increasing customer acquisition cost in today’s hyper-competitive digital and traditional media landscape, you are well on your way to dominating the market.

However, this does not mean that you can simply throw money around willy-nilly and hope to get the results you want. Being willing to spend big to win big is great, but it’s only half of the battle. You also need to be strategic about how you spend your money to win over the competition.

Companies with deep pockets that can spend more to acquire a customer will get more customers. If this sounds like you, keep reading to learn the most effective ways to put “whoever can spend the most, wins” into practice.

1. Invest in the right digital media channels

Spending on digital advertising is expected to exceed $600 billion in 2023. Your business needs to be heavily invested in this space if you want to maximize your market share.

Of course, where you spend your advertising budget is an important consideration. Google Ads provides multiple robust pay-per-click campaign options (e.g., text and display ads). With Google Local Services Ads, businesses in select industries can dominate local search results for professional services. You will likely need to invest in social media ads on one or more platforms, too.

All of these channels are highly competitive and, therefore, expensive. However, once you determine how customers find your business (i.e., via organic and paid search, social, etc.), you can start spending on digital ads that will maximize your visibility and drive customers to you over the competition.

2. Don’t ignore traditional media

Investing in traditional advertising (such as television, billboards, etc.) is still well worth your time and money if it means reaching your target customers on a massive scale. Mass media is a tried-and-true strategy for bombarding the market with your message. Not everyone will convert, but spending the money to make your name inescapable will drive far more customers than a limited investment in traditional channels.

We see this with legal advertising. The law firms you see all the time on TV, on bus benches, on billboards, etc., are counting on the millions of dollars they spend to drive multi-million-dollar cases.

It might seem strange to invest in traditional media when digital has taken over the space previously occupied by television and other strategies. However, considering that you are likely thinking of a local law firm’s slogan or phone number, there is no disputing the effectiveness of a major investment in TV and other traditional advertising venues.

3. Invest in your employees

Relationships are a cornerstone of marketing. While much of the discussion centres on engaging customers digitally, you should never underestimate the importance of hiring customer-facing employees, training them to be the “face” of your business, and empowering them to bring you new customers.

This goes beyond fully staffing your office to handle phone calls and emails. Depending on your industry, it might mean hosting community events, wining and dining business prospects, and more.

Customers are the lifeblood of your business. You don’t want to cheap out when it comes to hiring customer success managers, event planners, and other employees who can take your business to the next level.

4. Define your brand

Inconsistency is one of the greatest dangers when making a massive investment in marketing. Although you can distribute your message across seemingly endless advertising channels, your return on investment (not to mention your market dominance) will suffer if the message is unfocused and inconsistent.

Before making a big splash and getting more customers than your competitors, you need to nail down your brand identity and key messaging. The brands people love have a clear identity and a consistent message. They also know their customers and tailor their marketing and advertising to maximize sales.

You don’t have to be a multinational corporation to dominate your market. However, you have to understand your unique offering and consistently communicate to customers why they should buy from you over anyone else.

5. Follow the money

As the saying goes, “Fortune favours the bold.” The businesses with the money and the mindset to shoot for the moon and take the biggest piece of the pie are the ones that typically find the greatest success.

However, your dollars must be tempered with sense. You must carefully identify your target audience by age, demographic, income, buying habits and other key characteristics. In addition, you need to understand what your competitors offer and how you can stand out. Finally, you must drill down on the geographic area you want to target.

With all these components in place, you can develop an intelligent strategy for maximizing the business you gain from a substantial marketing and advertising spend. Both digital platforms and third-party vendors should provide detailed reporting on how your money is being spent, the results of each campaign, and your return on investment.

You won’t achieve dramatic growth if you are overly concerned about being cost-effective. However, a strategic approach that relies on data and tracking only ensures that you spend money wisely. This reduces the customer acquisition cost and results in higher profits.

By Sean Allen

Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor. CEO of Twelve Three Media

Sourced from Entrepreneur

Read More
By
In News

Are we finally seeing the end of the noughties internet? Ad execs on web futures

No Comments

By Sam Anderson 

Era-defining publishers (first Buzzfeed, then Vice) on the rocks; social giants sweating over TikTok; rapid cultural changes. The 00s version of the internet finally feels like it’s slipping away. But is it – and what comes next? We asked leaders from The Drum Network.

Alistair Robertson, creative partner, Nucco: “Search will change more in the next 18 months than it has since the noughties began. That will affect the broader digital ecosystem.

“AI-delivered information will soon take centre-stage on search pages, meaning far less real estate for anything other than a very small (and valuable) brand and product set. For consumers, this could be positive, for smaller brands, probably less so.

“These search changes will materially affect the amount of marketing content created. Branded content will no longer be needed at such high volume to channel consumers through a sales journey. Those changes will affect digital advertising’s opportunity to do a job. AI could yet be the killer of the humble banner.

“There’s much changing, and consumers will be the big winners. For brands, perhaps the latter 2020s will be about sponsorships and, dare I say it, quality creative ideas that people want to watch and share!”

Charlie Wade, global executive director of growth and innovation, VMLY&R Commerce: “The internet is constantly evolving. It started as a broadcast ‘message board’, before moving to content sharing, from music to photos. Now, web3 and AI have ushered in an age of decentralization, giving people the power to reimagine worlds, songs, and even the Pope.

“The internet is lauded for the disruption it has fostered: critics have receded in the face of consumer reviews; mass media usurped by social. While this initially brought immediacy and a widening aperture of information, the downside has been an erosion of authenticity, which the decline of legitimate publishers could compound. From fake sneakers to fake news, the ubiquity and the relative ease with which nefarious actors can spread misinformation is real. Those who control platforms (Musk or the masses) must imbue protocols around what is being positioned as authentic.

“Reader habits have morphed, placing stress on revenue models: sponsored editorials and mass advertising wilted, so companies needed new income sources, such as e-commerce integration. Marketers should think about the internet as episodic, with each stage impacted by user needs and technological developments. The 00s era is over. Its replacement offers both opportunities and challenges for brands.”

Matt Belanger, vice-president, director, digital communications strategy, Momentum Worldwide: “The (current) digital revolution comes amid a heightened desire for authenticity and realness. With technological advancement comes knowledge and experience as more people become seasoned social media users. The skill of spotting clickbait, ads, and content that doesn’t add value to our lives has sharpened to the point of skipping right past without a thought.

“As we see media companies who focused traditionally on selling advertising as their source of revenue start to fall, it signifies an opportunity for marketers to guide these shifts. Content creators stand out because they are the voice of authentic human beings, gaining trust (and sometimes financial support) from their communities. Providing authentic value is key to standing out, whether that’s an opinion, education, or just entertainment.

“We’re hopeful for the future. If we take great care to create quality, relevant content, consumers will flock to it.”

Nina Goli, digital strategy director, Radley Yeldar: “The internet of the 00s is not dead. It defined the era of the profile and laid the foundation for future developments. Societal dependence on the internet became more evident in the 2010s, bringing forth toxic aspects of web addiction.

“As we progress further into the 2020s, we’re witnessing a resurgence of omni-web experiences with a nostalgic twist. Challenges arising from regulators and a ‘big brother’ mentality present organic opportunities for marketers and publishers to redefine authenticity and credibility in online relationships with audiences.

“In addition to emerging technologies like influencer marketing, user-generated content, AR, and AI, publishers should tap into the gap that exists: a need to reintroduce the human aspect of digital communication. This human touch was instrumental in forging strong bonds with millennials during the early 00s and is now being reclaimed by Gen Z. While challenges persist, there is hope that innovation and adaptation will lead to an improved digital landscape, but we should prepare for further disruptions and adjust our strategies accordingly.”

Danielle Dullaghan, social strategist, Social Chain: “We have to learn from the mistakes of social publishers. Relying on platform functionality for your business model is not possible in an ever-changing landscape. Today, there’s power in TikTok; tomorrow it could be something completely different. Social publishers built their business off Facebook link clicks and video formats, and when Meta pivoted their algorithm, publishers were left in the dust.

“00s internet is not dead, but used in different ways. Facebook favors meaningful engagement; groups and marketplace are absolutely thriving. But social publishers are struggling to organically monetize on a platform that has changed their business model so drastically.”

Dan Bermingham-Shaw, senior digital PR consultant, BuiltVisible: “The new internet age requires fluid, transformative change. Big institutions like the NYT and BBC have kept up by adapting and creating diversified digital businesses, while smaller, punchier companies have done important, valuable work but failed to retain momentum and adjust to new demands.

“Those lessons in failure help push others to improve and create platforms suited to our needs; the successful publishers of tomorrow will be able to incorporate audience convenience in as flexible a way as possible, making use of tools like AI to capture audience minds and interests. The internet is always moving and there will be many more crumbling publishers in the future, but they will fall in order to build something better and more suited to what audiences demand. We loved Vine, but TikTok took the concept and doubled it with huge success. It’s a pattern we’ll continue to see.”

James Crooke, chief technology officer, Rawnet: “Web 2.0 (The 00s version) is far from dead. It remains highly relevant for brands in today’s digital landscape. It has revolutionized brand engagement through interactive and collaborative user experiences, along with social networking and user-generated content.

“Despite challenges faced by publishers such as cookie consent, ad-blocking, and the shift towards closed ecosystems (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Netflix, Twitch, YouTube, etc.), web 2.0 technologies continue to evolve, offering new opportunities for personalized experiences and improved customer interactions. To thrive in the uncertain future of the internet, brands must remain agile and adaptable, aligning themselves with evolving audience needs and expectations, allowing them to connect with customers and build strong relationships.”

Feature Image Credit: Alexander Andrews via Unsplash

By Sam Anderson 

Sourced from The Drum

Read More
By
In News

Is Celebrity Endorsement a Futile Exercise For Many Startups?

No Comments

By S Shanthi 

According to a report by TAM Media Research’s AdEx India, 27% of the overall ad volume share on TV were celebrity endorsements in 2021

Celebrities continue to dominate the endorsement space even today when digital ads have taken over print and television ads. Even though there are multiple other avenues to market a product, new-age brands, just like their legacy counterparts, also seem to be going in for celeb marketing, even if it means burning a hole in their pockets. And, within celebrity marketing, film stars still dominate the industry, followed by sportspersons and now content creators. According to a report by TAM Media Research’s AdEx India, 27% of the overall ad volume share on TV were celebrity endorsements in 2021 while the remaining 73% were non-celebrities ads.

But, do these brands get the anticipated visibility and awareness post the release of these ads? Given that, every celebrity, be it movie stars, sportspersons or content creators, is today endorsing multiple brands at one time. For instance, actor Ayushman Khurana has been the face of many brands including The Man Company, Magicbricks, Toyota Urban Cruiser, Tide, Balaji Wafers, Nestlé’s KitKat Bajaj Allianz, Samsung Galaxy and many others. Amitabh Bachchan has endorsed Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, upGrad, Flipkart, Navratna Oil, Dr. Fixit, Gujarat Tourism, Mankind, Pepsi, Rin, Ghari Detergent, Tata Sky, Cycle Agarbatti, FirstCry, Tanishq and Kalyan Jewellers. The list goes on. However, not all these advertisements have been successful in popularising the brands.

With ‘skipping ads’ a choice today, does it make sense for startups to spend so much on onboarding celebrities? If yes, what is the right time to opt for these expensive marketing techniques?

Why do brands go for celebrity endorsements?

“Celebrities and brands have had a long-standing relationship for years across geographies, categories and media. In today’s time, with the smartphone generation, breaking through the clutter and grabbing your target audience’s attention is a matter of moments. Plus, India is a trust-deficit market and so tying up with celebrities builds a certain credibility as well as helps brands stand out instantly,” said Megha H Desai, Co-founder, ENGN, an athlete representation company.

Further, if you’re entering a crowded category like fashion, beauty, snacks, etc you not only want your brand to be noticed but you also want your customer to believe this ‘new entrant’ has some gravitas, she added.

Experts feel that a celebrity association if done well, can immensely help in the initial funnel metrics of consideration, intent, etc for a startup especially.

For established brands, celeb advertisements drive trust and give them a competitive edge. For brands that are just starting out, these ads are aimed to propel brand awareness. “We look at it more as awareness. We are young and we have ambitions. We want to reach out to more people and tell them that hey, we’re doing something and you should give us a chance. But what you have to imagine is that if you want to buy a mobile phone, you talk to friends, you read all the reviews online, and then you buy. But, if you’re getting surgery, which is our core job, it is a serious business. So, marketing is not a gimmick for us. It is just a means to create awareness about the availability of a choice in front of consumers,” said Harsimarbir Singh, co-founder, Pristyn Care.

Is it worth it?

Often, in this race to stay ahead of the curve, startups end up spending a lot of money on onboarding celebrities. But more often than not, they fail to build brand recall. This is because today most categories in India, be it in any sector, have too many brands and companies.

“Any good marketing idea needs to have the right mix of relevance, authenticity and consistency. This is Marketing 101 and is non-negotiable even while deciding on spending the big bucks for a celebrity. There is no doubt that clever & creative communication done with a celebrity will help the brand build awareness and even affinity in a lot of cases. That’s an immediate, short-term return and if that’s what the marketer is looking for, then you have got a home run. The challenge comes in sustaining it beyond this short-term return – that’s where the category connects with the brand and the celebrity is important,” said Desai.

At what stage should startups look at onboarding celebrities for marketing? While there is no particular answer to that, burning cash or putting all your eggs in one bucket, to go in for celeb marketing, is not a wise thing to do either. Instead, go in for many micro-influencers, says Aman Gupta, co-founder, boAt.

“Celebrity marketing can create huge awareness for sure even if it doesn’t end up in conversion. But, today, you have the option of micro-influencers. So, instead of betting on one big celebrity who is endorsing many other products, go for micro-influencers. People in India today like the trust that comes from them,” Gupta said at the recently-concluded Retailer India’s Irec Summit 2023.

Feature Image Credit: Unsplash

By S Shanthi 

Shanthi specializes in writing sector-specific trends, interviews and startup profiles. She has worked as a feature writer for over a decade in several print and digital media companies.

Sourced from Entrepreneur India

Read More
By
Load More