editor, Author at Mediastreet

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Here’s Why Geotargeted Influencer Marketing Changes The Outreach Game

July 29, 2022 No Comments

In the ever-expanding world of influencer marketing, the sheer number of potential partners and topic niches can seem overwhelming. With one recent report estimating that there are over 200 million creators of various kinds, the main question brands may be wrestling with is who to partner with instead of where.

While finding the right influencer is obviously a critical element of the influencer marketing process, today’s platform technologies offer targeting capabilities that many brands simply aren’t taking advantage of.

Geotargeting allows brands to be even more successful with their influencer campaigns by making branded content more relevant and personalized to its target audience. Brand outreach that’s been tailored to audience locality and behavior has a better chance of reaching the right people at the right time with the right message.

What Is Geotargeted Influencer Marketing?

In a nutshell, geotargeting is a way for businesses to tailor their advertising to potential customers based on specific geographic locations. Geotargeted influencer marketing incorporates the influencer’s location (and their associated influence within that location) into the campaign as a whole.

For example, let’s say a national fast-casual restaurant chain is opening a new location in a specific town. Geotargeting would allow brands to activate area influencers who can raise awareness and drive sales for the new restaurant, connecting with the brand’s intended audience with localized messaging that resonates.

The same campaign could include regional influencers, adding to local-level outreach with bigger-picture messaging that’s still targeted to specific locales as well as national influencers.

Better Results With A Local Approach

Local influencers are ideal partners for local businesses since it’s likely that many of their followers are also in the same area. Partnering with local creators allows local businesses to connect with target audiences that are close in proximity, sharing brand benefits and differentiators through a local’s lens.

This strategy can also be leveraged to support larger brands: Local influencers can help establish and promote regional or national brands with a local presence. Creators with local ties offer brands a built-in community connection, and they often have the local credibility and influence that can help shape a brand’s message.

A few examples of partnering with local creators:

• National clothing brand partnering with a local Pacific Northwest weather reporter to promote their new line of rainwear.

• Rising college basketball player promoting a local restaurant with a new menu item named after her.

• National beauty store partnering with a local makeup influencer to promote a new retail location in the area.

• Southern restaurant chain partnering with local influencers to promote nearby locations that offer regional favourite foods.

• Member of a local dance team promoting a new sparkling water flavour from a national beverage brand.

• Local nutritionist sharing her excitement over the new opening of a specialty grocery store.

People are more likely to try out a new restaurant or product in their area if someone in their social circle recommends it. Additionally, influencers are often able to share brand messaging in a way that doesn’t feel like a traditional ad or sales gimmick.

Increased Authenticity & Brand Impact

Influencer marketing is a way to tap into the genuine consumer needs and interests of the moment, which offers an effective strategy for dealing with ongoing consumer uncertainty.

By partnering with creators who authentically represent their target audience, brands don’t have to rely on spray-and-pray advertising. Instead, they can share incredibly personalized messaging that’s been shaped by influential local personalities.

Geotargeted influencer marketing can contribute to the larger brand story by including relevant local perspectives. Consider the branding upsides of partnering with genuine people who genuinely care about their locality, are known for their local/regional expertise and/or are strongly associated with the area.

The right kinds of geotargeted campaigns can spark authentic reviews and recommendations that drive specific kinds of consumer action. And they can also add to a brand’s overall presence by encouraging genuine consumer connections and points of engagement.

Geotargeted Brand Spend Boosts ROI

Every influencer marketing campaign will inevitably reach some people who aren’t interested in the promoted brand. However, without careful campaign targeting, brands may be wasting their budget reaching out to consumers who don’t even live where they can buy a brand’s products or services.

With geotargeting, brands can deliver content to potential consumers within a specific location, with messaging that’s shaped by locals and relevant to the area. Whether it’s for a local business or a local franchise from a large national brand, geotargeted influencer marketing can work alone or supplement national outreach efforts.

Not only does the spectrum of influencer marketing include the affordable (and surprisingly effective)nano-influencer, but also influencer campaigns can be stopped, started and adjusted on the fly. This offers an enormous benefit to brands adjusting to Covid-19’s “new normal.” Shifting consumer behaviours can be quickly addressed within the campaign. (For instance, if a new store is opening in an area with rising infection rates, campaign messaging can be quickly changed to promote online shopping instead of in-person.)

The Local Mindset

Brands know how important personalization has become for reaching today’s consumers. Local market strategies are increasingly necessary to drive traffic and sales, as well as to strengthen the overall brand.

Location is an important aspect when it comes to marketing personalization, and technological targeting advancements have changed the game for both creators and audiences. Today’s platform tools offer deep-dive demographic insights that simply weren’t available even a few years ago.

Research shows that consumers’ attitudes and behaviors remain highly localized, even in a global context. Adopting a local mindset through geotargeted influencer marketing can help brands foster the kinds of meaningful audience connections that drive real results.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Danielle Wiley

Founder and CEO of Sway Group, an agency that specializes in influencer marketing, branded content and digital advertising. Read Danielle Wiley’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

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Coca-Cola has an ambitious plan to double its number of customers in the next few years

July 28, 2022 No Comments

By Jeff Beer

Global chief marketing officer Manuel Arroyo outlines the OpenX partnership with advertising holding company WPP, and how it will drive new brand growth.

Just today alone, 1.9 billion Coca-Cola products will be sold around the world. Now, chief marketing officer Manuel “Manolo” Arroyo is aiming to double its number of consumers very quickly.

“We’re in the process of deploying QR codes in every package available for all of our brands in the next three years,” Arroyo tells Fast Company. “QR codes are arguably the most unexploited and under-leveraged media vehicle that exists out there. Even if you only get a 3% redemption, imagine the return on 1.9 billion per day, what we can do in terms of first-, second-, and third-party data moving forward. One [strategy] at a global scale, and it’s going to take us to very different places.”

The key phrase there is one strategy. Coca-Cola operates in more than 200 countries around the world, and has traditionally—like many global corporations—operated with a complex network of marketing and advertising partners throughout its worldwide business. But last November, Arroyo partnered with advertising-holding company WPP to create a unique partnership that includes a bespoke internal team dedicated to Coca-Cola globally called OpenX. The CMO sees this as a key tool in achieving his overall goals for the flagship Coke brand, and the company in general.

“First, it’s to make that brand an incredible icon and brand, young and relevant again,” says Arroyo. “But also tap into a tremendous growth potential. We should be able to double this brand [consumer base] very soon if we do things right, and if we do it very differently than how we’ve done it in the past 20 years. I think we have a very clear idea of what it takes to get there.”

A significant part of that idea is for OpenX to help his company be more consistent and efficient in its marketing and advertising, on a global scale. Coke spent more than $4 billion on global advertising in 2019. It saw its spending drop by 35% in 2020 but has since gone back to pre-pandemic levels.

“Even though we have reshaped our portfolio into something more focused, we still have more than 200 brands across the world, and we come from an incredibly fragmented way of marketing,” says Arroyo. “Instead of having one-off campaigns that change every quarter, [we want to have] ongoing, continuous platforms. We know we’re doing Christmas for the next five years, so we don’t need five different briefs for Christmas. We just need one platform, and then update it and shape it based on the [consumer] data.”

In February, the company launched its “Coca-Cola Creations” campaign for Coke, which included a “space-flavoured” cola, that’s all part of an overall global marketing platform the company calls “Real Magic.” And in May, it rolled out a new global campaign for Sprite (the first created wholly by OpenX) called “Heat Happens.”

The idea of a bespoke ad-holding company team for a massive client isn’t new. Omnicom Group created the We Are Unlimited team in 2016, at the time to service McDonald’s (folded in 2019), as well as Team X last year for Mercedes-Benz. WPP itself has tried these models before, in 2006 with Team One for Ford, and Team Energy for BP.

The basic idea is that a global advertising-holding company, with its many agencies and specialties, combines its capabilities into a single, custom-made entity for a major client. It’s an idea that hit trend status a few years ago, only to have some brands swing back to a more traditional multiple-agency model. (In the U.S., for example, both Ford and McDonald’s have picked indie agency Wieden + Kennedy for major ad work.) Prior to OpenX, Coca-Cola worked with about 4,000 different agency partners around the world. Arroyo and Laurent Ezekiel, OpenX CEO and WPP chief marketing and growth officer, insist things will be different this time.

The key is a single contact point, as well as a single P&L, giving Coke a simple partnership format, and preventing WPP’s various stakeholders from competing internally for parts of the business—two things that have often muddled these types of partnerships in the past.

Last year, Domino’s chief marketing officer Art D’Elia lauded the simplicity of an independent agency partner over the complexity of a holding company, telling AdAge, “I really feel that the independent agency model gives us more flexibility and less distractions.”

Another significant development in the OpenX model is that it not only allows, but insists, that if an outside competing agency can help, Open X is obligated to collaborate. It’s all in the name of finding the best possible work for Coke, and removing as many barriers for finding it.

“In a partnership like this with WPP, they’re putting skin in the game on our metric—growing our consumer base—and that will define success for The Coca-Cola Company in terms of marketing,” says Arroyo. “And they’re ready to be compensated or penalized, based on mutual achievement there. So Laurent’s achievement will be the same as what I report to my CEO.”

Ezekiel says this partnership has the potential to influence work beyond a single brand and agency. “I tell my team that we’re in the position to architect the future here,” says Ezekiel. “Genuinely writing a new page in marketing history.”

By Jeff Beer

Jeff Beer is a staff editor at Fast Company, covering advertising, marketing, and brand creativity. More

Sourced from Fast Company

In News

Why the Subscription Economy Needs to Focus on Customer Retention

July 28, 2022 No Comments

By Tue Sottrup

In the subscription economy, brands need to react quickly to keep customer churn to a minimum.

It’s no secret that the subscription economy has been one of the fastest-growing sectors in recent years. According to the Zuora Subscribed Institute, 78% of adults paid for subscription services last year in the US.

Yet, in April, we saw one of the world’s biggest players in the subscription economy — Netflix — announce a net loss of 200,000 subscribers globally. In addition, the company expects to haemorrhage a further two million subscribers over the next few months.

Naturally, this raises the question of whether the subscription economy boom is starting to wane, and if so, what brands can be doing to react, keep customer churn to a minimum, and even keep pace with growth projections.

In my view, a key component to this is the service function, and more specifically service agents themselves. Let’s look at why.

Is the Subscription Boom Waning?

Yes, there are caveats to the Netflix case, chiefly that it suspended its services in Russia. Further, it’s seen increased competition from new players in the space, especially Disney+. However, given that the company is projecting to lose even more of its subscribers, it ought to serve as a warning to the rest of the subscription economy.

If we look more generally at this sector, the immediate driver of any stalling in growth and loss of customers is inflation and a rise in the cost of living. For many consumers, getting notified that another subscription charge has been taken from your bank account will only prompt them to probe whether they have extracted value from that service or not.

This doesn’t mean there is going to be a mass exodus from subscription services — there are subscriptions for just about everything these days, whether that’s streaming services, beauty products or food boxes. They aren’t going to just disappear.

However, it is probably going to be the case that we’ll see consumers going through a process of justifying expenditure and asking: is this thing I pay for monthly really of value to me?

We also need to view these changes in the context of more macro trends in consumer behavior. Firstly, the vast increase in online shopping and boom in services that offer convenience as their unique selling proposition has only heightened consumer expectations of brands. In some places, you can now get a full week’s shop on your doorstep in 20 minutes, ordered on your smartphone. These buying scenarios have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Secondly, this has also been coupled with a dramatic drop in the cost of switching to another brand. It is now no longer a huge undertaking for consumers to cancel direct debits and move to a competitor — it’s just one click away. This is probably why, when we spoke to 3,000 consumers across the US and UK last year, we found that just one poor experience is enough for 95% of consumers to consider never returning to the brand.

Overall, then, convenience is at an all-time high, but brand loyalty and the cost and effort of switching is at an all-time low. Add in the new dynamic of the rising cost of living, it’s easy to see this contributing to the loss in subscriber numbers associated with Netflix, and potentially the subscription economy more broadly.

Retention and Customer Service

And when I say the loss in subscriber numbers, what I am referring to is customer churn. This is why it is critical to focus on customer retention. For subscription services, growth and increasing the number of subscribers has been the key objective. But now, with consumer behaviours changing and costs rising, reducing the churn rate and increasing retention and loyalty now ought to be the key objective.

Yes, there are tactical ways subscription brands can reduce churn and increase retention, such as offering customers the option to suspend subscriptions. But, in my view, the customer service function has a key role to play in reducing churn by increasing loyalty in the sector.

In most digital brands today, reaching out to customer service is the only contact a customer has with a brand, and service agents are the ones managing and nurturing these relationships. They are on the front line and are key to shaping the experience of the customer, and as we know, just one poor experience can mean a once-loyal customer churns.

The challenge is that many brands are getting the service function wrong. In the same survey we conducted, the large majority (66%) of consumers we spoke to said companies are still not getting customer service right; hence why they are willing to switch loyalties more quickly. Crucially, we found that some of the key drivers of this disloyalty are everything from having repeating information across different channels, receiving a robotic service and, in general, high effort engagements with agents.

For brands in the subscription economy, reducing churn through driving retention and loyalty will become the new oil. But if your service agents can’t deliver the experience customers want and demand, helping them see the value in your product, then you’ve already lost. So, how can they get on the winning side in a climate where the brand-consumer relationship is more unstable than ever?

Agents as Drivers of Retention

Last year, we also spoke to around 300 customer support staff that work across retail and ecommerce in the US and UK, with 88% reporting that they are currently losing customers due to poor customer support: 46% say it takes them longer than it should to find simple information such as a customer’s order status, while over one in three (34%) of staff still Google customer problems to find the answer.

In my view, this provides a key part of the answer. Convenience is at an all-time high, but brand loyalty and cost of switching are at an all-time low. Where consumers will be reassessing the value of the services they pay for, giving your service agents what they need to protect, build and strengthen this relationship is vital.

The bedrock of this is ensuring they have the right information at the right time. What is this customer inquiring about? How much have they bought from us in the last three months? Are they part of our loyalty scheme? In having the answers to these questions at their fingertips, agents will have all they need to protect, build and grow the relationship, reducing churn rates and increasing retention in the process.

Overall, the successful subscription businesses will be those that focus on becoming even more customer-centric. Not only does this mean giving customers control over managing the subscription relationship, but also having a focus on providing ongoing customer value through the service function across all contact channels. Prioritizing the latter will mean reducing customer churn and driving high levels of loyalty, which will be vital in a period of consumer-brand instability.

By Tue Sottrup

With over 20 years of experience in customer service, Tue is driven by his passion for the industry. Customer experience and engagement is an integral part of any business, and Tue truly believes that software can empower brands to build stronger and longer lasting relationships, as well as dramatically improve the agent experience.

Sourced from CMS Wire

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Instagram’s Enhanced Creator Tags: Implications for B2B Influencer Marketing

July 28, 2022 No Comments

By Lane Ellis

How can B2B marketers make their content stand out and highlight the talented subject matter experts, creators, and influencers they partner with?

Earlier this year Instagram rolled out new enhanced tagging features that allow digital marketers to do a much better job of indicating and crediting the various influencers and creators involved in the creation of content shared on the platform.

Instagram’s addition of enhanced tagging — which is also available for use in video Reels — offers significant new exposure opportunities for B2B content that has been created by multiple professionals, often precisely the type of content that is either made or co-created by industry influencers.

Let’s take a look at some of the advantages provided by Instagram’s enhanced creator tags, and how B2B marketers can best put them to use.

1 — Straightforward Setup Process

The process of using the enhanced tagging features is fairly straightforward, however there are a few caveats to be aware of as you move to incorporate them into your B2B marketing workflow on Instagram, in order to get the full effect of Instagram’s latest tagging elements.

While Instagram has moved to make more of its features available to desktop users, the enhanced tagging features were initially only available from the mobile app.

Simply having content creators or co-creators tagged goes a long way, and shows a clickable link to learn more about or follow the people involved in the digital assets you find helpful on Instagram. The updated tagging feature can do more, however.

2 — Switch On A Business Or Creator Account

One aspect of the enhanced tagging system takes on even more value, and that’s when the people tagged have gone through the simple process of setting up their Instagram profile as either a creator or business account.

Tagging people with a creator or business account adds a second line of helpful information below the person’s username, containing a category they’ve selected, such as a few B2B-related examples listed here:

Video creator
Digital creator
Writer
Author
Advertising Agency
Marketing Agency
Market Research Consultant
Advertising/Marketing
Internet Marketing Service

To ensure that anytime your brand or the influencers you work with are mentioned using an enhanced tag that also shows category information, it’s easy to switch your Instagram account from personal to professional — there is no waiting period or fee involved — simply access your account settings and select the option to switch to a professional account.

From there you can choose between a creator or business account, described by Instagram as:

Creator accounts are best for public figures, content producers, artists and influencers
Business accounts are best for retailers, local businesses, brands, organizations and service providers

After choosing your account type, you’re given the option to select a category that best fits how you use Instagram, and this will be the category that shows below your username when others include you using enhanced tagging — however keep in mind that you must also tick the “show category on profile box” option.

Instagram uses a search box for finding the most relevant category for creator and business accounts, such as those we listed above, and it can be worthwhile to experiment with the available categories, as new ones may be added over time that better describe your own B2B marketing niche.

3 — Ripe For Implementation By B2B Brands

In the B2B arena, the new Instagram enhanced tagging is ripe for implementation by brands and marketers looking to distinguish their content from the competition, and to highlight the subject matter experts and influencers they partner with.

It’s still early days for implementation of the enhanced tagging, and those brands and B2B marketers willing to put them to use will be among the first to stand out as multiple contributors are highlighted in co-created content.

“The new Instagram enhanced tagging is ripe for implementation by B2B brands and marketers looking to distinguish their content from the competition, and to highlight the influencers they partner with.” — Lane R. Ellis @lanerellis Click To Tweet

4 — From One Influencer To Many Others

When Instagram’s enhanced tagging becomes more regularly utilized, it will represent a powerful way not only for influencers to have the digital work they’ve helped create gain greater exposure, but it will also be a helpful way to find new industry experts who are tagged alongside an influencer you may already be aware of.

These days top performing digital content can involve a slew of talented creative professionals, from marketers and writers to video, audio, and social media specialists, and Instagram’s new enhanced tags make it easy to shine a light on everyone who had a hand in building a successful digital asset.

5 — Tagging Gives Voice To Underrepresented Talent

While not unique to Instagram, the new enhanced tagging features can play a helpful role in giving a greater voice to traditionally underrepresented talent.

Instagram’s augmented tagging features were brought to life through the help of three women in technology, who were each profiled in the Snobette interview, “Meet The Women In Tech Behind The Instagram-Enhanced Tagging Feature.”

“In a world where online visibility directly leads to brand sponsorships and other types of monetary opportunities, crediting is more important than ever,” Alexandra Zaoui, music data analyst at Instagram-parent firm Meta, observed.

“In a world where online visibility directly leads to brand sponsorships and other types of monetary opportunities, crediting is more important than ever.” — Alexandra Zaoui @ZaouiAlexandra Click To Tweet

“One of the biggest challenges about being a woman and particularly a Black woman in tech is not seeing nor working with others like you,” Cameryn Boyd, software engineer at Meta, noted. “I’m passionate about bringing other Black women and underrepresented people into tech because that is how and when some of the best and most equitable innovation happens,” Boyd added.

Just as in the B2C marketing world, B2B influencer marketing can help amplify underrepresented voices, and features such as Instagram’s new enhanced tagging help expand such efforts.

Our CEO Lee Odden featured efforts that give voice to talent as one of the top methods for elevating B2B marketing in 2022, in “Three of the Biggest Opportunities to Elevate B2B Marketing in 2022.”

“B2B marketers are in a unique position to make choices about how they represent their customers in content, who they partner with in content collaborations and the influencers they engage.” — Lee Odden @LeeOdden Click To Tweet

Instagram Enhanced Tagging For B2B Marketing Success

By fully embracing Instagram’s new enhanced tagging capabilities, savvy B2B marketers can lead the way and set a good example for the influencers, digital creators, and industry experts they work with, in a process that’s beneficial for both brands and influencers alike — not to mention both existing and potential customers.

Instagram is just one of the digital menagerie of social media platforms that top B2B brands use to engage audiences, however as an increasing number of B2B firms find success on platforms including TikTok and others, having a solid cross-platform tagging strategy in place will give you an edge over those who don’t.

Creating award-winning B2B marketing that elevates, gives voice to talent, and humanizes with authenticity takes considerable time and effort, which is why an increasing number of firms are choosing to work with a top digital marketing agency such as TopRank Marketing. Contact us to learn how we can help, as we’ve done for over 20 years for businesses ranging from LinkedIn, Dell and 3M to Adobe, Oracle, monday.com and others.

By Lane Ellis

Lane R. Ellis (@lanerellis), TopRank Marketing Social Media and Content Marketing Manager, has over 38 years’ experience working with and writing about the Internet. Lane spent more than a decade as Lead Editor for prestigious conference firm Pubcon. When he’s not writing, Lane enjoys distance running (11 marathons including two ultras so far), genealogical research, cross-country skate skiing, vegetarian cooking, and spending time with his wonderful wife Julie Ahasay and their cat Kukla in beautiful Duluth, Minnesota.

Sourced from TopRank Marketing

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How to find blog topic ideas that improve SEO

July 27, 2022 No Comments

By Stas Pamintuan

Not enough companies dedicate time and effort to blogging, which is a great way of promoting services and connecting with users – new and old. Stas Pamintuan, junior SEO executive at Digital Ethos, shares some fool proof techniques for blogging in style to ensure that posts engage readers.

As Google becomes increasingly sophisticated at determining user search intent, it’s evident that content writing answering your customers’ questions is one of the key ways to develop a powerful SEO blog strategy. Creating topics that address the queries and concerns of your customers allows you to take advantage of Google’s algorithm and searchers’ trends toward longer search strings.

Here’s a little secret – the information you need is readily available for free. All it takes is a few searches, as well as knowing where to look. And if you can figure out what your target audience is searching for, the process of finding blog topic ideas comes quite easily. Not only that, but there are also various tools and resources to help you generate ideas and streamline this process.

Use medium- and long-tail keywords for SEO

When you focus on writing blogs that answer specific questions, you’ll attract buyers who are after what you offer. This is where medium- and long-tail keywords come in as they improve click-through rates and conversions because they answer questions from customers who are in specific stages of the buyer’s journey.

In essence, you’re pre-qualifying your audience. Even if you end up receiving fewer site visits, those that do click through to your site will be more likely to convert into buyers because of this. It’s better to target users who are searching for your products or services and convert, rather than getting more visitors who immediately bounce off of the site.

Check Google Analytics

Reviewing your analytics can help you discover what pain points customers are looking to solve. Are more people clicking on a specific product or service page? Is there a specific blog people are looking at on your site? How many times are they downloading your resources?

Understanding these behaviours can help you find what’s working. You can also find gaps in the content you release, so you can generate more copy to help you resolve your audience’s pain points.

Practice social listening

With so many conversations happening on social media, it can definitely be a challenging space to maneuver if you’re not sure what you’re after. But if you’re able to identify their presence on socials, social listening becomes a tool you can leverage to find interesting blog topics to write about.

Follow hashtags, like pages or join groups that are related to your products and services. This way, you’ll be able to find out about the conversations your audience is having and even their pain points; but regardless, there is an abundance of blog topic ideas as people will always be having conversations, old and new.

Rather than connecting with one person, when you optimize your content correctly you have the ability to connect with everyone in a group.

Keyword tools to help you generate blog topic ideas

To help you get started, here are some keyword research tools you can use to generate blog topic ideas that people are searching for online.

Ahrefs: Ahrefs is a free keyword generator tool that helps you to find relevant keywords from their database of over 8bn queries. You can enter up to 10 words or phrases and even choose from one of six keyword ideas reports. What’s even more useful is that search query relevance can be divided between Google, Bing and Amazon and queries from seven other search engines.

Semrush: Semrush is one more tool that helps you to find keywords based on search queries and questions.

AnswerThePublic: AnswerThePublic is a tool that generates a visualization of questions people are asking about a topic. The good thing here is that there are so many topic clusters you’re definitely bound to find popular blog topics to suit you.

Google Keyword Planner: If you have an existing AdWords account, Google Keyword Planner allows you to find keywords along with their stats and their popularity in your choice of region.

Quora: When you enter a word or phrase on Quora, it generates a list of questions that its users are asking about a particular subject. You can even dig deeper by filtering By Type and selecting Questions or Topics. When you filter by Topics, you’ll see how many times questions about that topic have been asked.

We’re always ahead of the game

As a specialist in content marketing, the team at Digital Ethos can make your business worth discovering. We can work with you to deliver truly consumable content that magnifies your brand and everything it’s about.

By Stas Pamintuan

Sourced from The Drum

In News

Facebook Finally Agrees to Eliminate Tool That Enabled Discriminatory Advertising

July 27, 2022 No Comments

By Ariana Tobin and Ava Kofman

Six years after ProPublica revealed that Facebook allowed advertisers to exclude Black users and others, the company agreed to a settlement with the Justice Department to overhaul its ad algorithm system.

In a settlement announced by the Department of Justice on Tuesday, Meta Platforms — formerly known as Facebook — has agreed to eliminate features in its advertising business that allow landlords, employers and credit agencies to discriminate against groups of people protected by federal civil rights laws.

The deal comes nearly six years after ProPublica first revealed that Facebook let housing marketers exclude African Americans and others from seeing some of their advertisements. Federal law prohibits housing, employment and credit discrimination based on race, religion, gender, family status and disability.

For years, ProPublica and other researchers showed that problems persisted in the delivery of advertisements related to housing, employment and credit, even as Facebook pledged to fix the loopholes that we identified.

This week’s settlement was the result of a lawsuit brought three years ago by the Trump administration alleging that Meta’s ad targeting system violated the Fair Housing Act. The DOJ also argued that Facebook used a machine learning algorithm to restrict and create ad audiences, which had the effect of skewing delivery toward or against legally protected groups. This was the first time the federal government challenged algorithmic bias under the Fair Housing Act.

As part of the settlement, Meta has agreed to deploy new advertising methods that will be vetted by a third-party reviewer and overseen by the court.

The company said in a statement that it will implement a “novel use of machine learning technology that will work to ensure the age, gender and estimated race or ethnicity of a housing ad’s overall audience matches the age, gender, and estimated race or ethnicity mix of the population eligible to see that ad.”

The statement, by Roy L. Austin Jr., Meta’s vice president of civil rights and deputy general counsel, noted that although the settlement only requires Facebook to use its new tool for advertisements related to housing, it will also apply to posts about employment and credit. (Facebook declined a request for additional comment.)

Civil rights attorney Peter Romer-Friedman, who has brought several cases against the company, said that previous negotiations had tried and failed to hold Facebook accountable for algorithmic bias. “Ultimately what this shows is that it’s never been a question of feasibility to eliminate algorithmic bias,” he told ProPublica. “It’s a question of will.”

After we reported on the potential for advertising discrimination in 2016, Facebook quickly promised to set up a system to catch and review ads that discriminate illegally. A year later, ProPublica found that it was still possible to exclude groups such as African Americans, mothers of high school kids, people interested in wheelchair ramps and Muslims from seeing advertisements. It was also possible to target ads to people with an interest in anti-Semitism, including options such as “How to burn Jews” and “Hitler did nothing wrong.”

We later found that companies were posting employment ads that women and older workers could not see. In March 2019, Facebook settled a lawsuit brought by civil rights groups by creating a “special ads portal” specifically for employment, housing and credit ads. The company said the portal would curb advertisers’ targeting options and also limit its algorithm from considering gender and race when deciding who should see ads.

But when ProPublica worked with researchers at Northeastern University and Upturn to test Facebook’s new system, we found more examples of biased ad delivery. Though Facebook’s modified algorithm prevented advertisers from explicit discrimination, delivery could still rely on “special ad” or “lookalike” proxy characteristics that correlated with race or gender.

The research also found that Facebook skewed the audience depending on the content of the ad itself. How many women might see a job listing for an open janitorial position, for instance, depended not just on what the advertiser told Facebook, but also on how Facebook interpreted the advertisement’s image and text.

ProPublica also continued to find employment advertisements that favoured men or excluded older possible applicants, potentially violating civil rights law. Some advertisers we interviewed were surprised to learn that they were unable to reach a diverse audience, even if they tried.

In a press release, the DOJ said Tuesday’s settlement requires Meta to stop using the “Special Ad Audience” tool by the end of the year. It also requires Meta to change its algorithm “to address disparities for race, ethnicity and sex between advertisers’ targeted audiences and the group of Facebook users to whom Facebook’s personalization algorithms actually deliver the ads.” The company must share details with the DOJ and an independent reviewer before implementing changes.

As part of the settlement, Meta also agreed to pay a $115,054 fee, the maximum allowed by the law.

“Because of this ground-breaking lawsuit, Meta will — for the first time — change its ad delivery system to address algorithmic discrimination,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York said in a statement. “But if Meta fails to demonstrate that it has sufficiently changed its delivery system to guard against algorithmic bias, this office will proceed with the litigation.”

By Ariana Tobin and Ava Kofman

Ariana Tobin is the crowdsourcing and engagement team editor at ProPublica, where she works to cultivate communities to inform our coverage. [email protected] @Ariana_Tobin

Ava Kofman is a reporter on ProPublica’s national desk. [email protected] @avakofman

Sourced from ProPublica

In News

14 Smart Ways For Agencies To Deal With The Impact Of Ad Blockers

July 27, 2022 No Comments

Sourced from Forbes

Significant numbers of people use ad blockers, with estimates ranging from about a quarter to a little less than half of all internet users worldwide. The desire to rid the online experience of digital ads is understandable, given how annoying it is for users to see repetitive, intrusive pop-up ads for products in which they may have only once indicated mild interest, or not at all. But ad blockers can make it challenging for digital marketers and advertisers to execute their jobs well.

Whether their audiences are leveraging ad blocking software or using browsers with built-in ad blocking capabilities, agency pros are developing solutions to overcome the obstacles they present. Here, members of Forbes Agency Council outline different ways ad blockers affect agency work and how their agencies are addressing the impact.

1. Diversify Efforts In Less Impacted Areas

Ad blockers reduce reach, but is the reach even what we wanted to pay for? Someone who doesn’t want ads is likely to ignore them anyway. So blockers may help narrow an audience to more relevant prospects, but diversifying efforts in areas that are less impacted by blockers is the most crucial step. Leveraging email, search and helpful content will keep the right users seeing you and moving through the funnel. – Brian Walker, Statwax

2. Never Rely On Ads Alone To Help Clients

Remember when streaming was going to kill TV advertising? Remember when everything digital was going to get rid of paper? There are always changes to what we know; the truth is, we adapt or go out of business. Any agency that was relying on ads alone to help their clients was ignoring a large part of the equation. Successful marketing relies on engaging your clients at a point in time that suits them, not you! – Hamish Anderson, Three Piece Marketing

3. Collect Zero- And First-Party Data For Marketing

Ad blockers are not new to our industry, but the ways we deal with them continue to evolve. Zero- and first-party data is our best friend when it comes to implementing a worthwhile solution and practice to gather accurate and usable consumer insights. Especially now, with updated privacy efforts, how agencies and brands collect zero- and first-party data for marketing efforts makes a difference. – Josh Perlstein, Response Media

4. Use Channels Where Users Watch Ads To Access Content

Ad blockers are a customer’s choice. Instead of dealing with them, move toward channels that encourage ad viewing as a prerequisite for watching video content so that there is a trade-off of the consumers’ attention for the programming they want to view. – Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, Hawthorne LLC

5. Create Quality Content And New Revenue Sources

Ad blockers are here to stay, so agencies need to find ways to deal with them. Agencies can focus more on creating quality content that will be worth consumers’ time even if it cannot be monetized through advertising. Another approach is for agencies to develop new sources of revenue, such as offering services such as consulting or search engine optimization in addition to traditional advertising services. – Evan Nison, NisonCo

6. Try To Reach Audiences Through Many Platforms

It’s all about diversifying your marketing efforts. If a business was 100% dependent on ads, then ad blockers definitely put a big dent in their revenue. However, if you also reach people through social media, content marketing or emails, then the effects of ad blockers start to diminish. The key is to try to reach your audience through as many platforms as you can, including inbound. – Rafael Romis, Weberous Web Design

7. Focus More On In-App Ads Than Ads On Browsers

A lot of ad blockers are more focused on browsers, so optimizing for in-app ads that appear on people’s phones typically alleviates this issue. It’s much more difficult to block ads in apps such as Instagram. – Spencer Hadelman, Advantage Marketing

8. Create Immersive Ads Or Natural Ads

Creating immersive ads or natural ads is an effective strategy for counteracting the effects of ad blockers. Sometimes, they can be even more effective. For instance, while Netflix didn’t have ads for most of its existence, it negotiated in-content product placements that worked products into scripts in such a way that viewers didn’t even realize they were being advertised to. – Mary Ann O’Brien, OBI Creative

9. Leverage Organic Inbound Marketing And PR

Our agency focuses mainly on organic inbound marketing and public relations, so ad blocking has little to no negative impact on our campaigns. In fact, the more consumers use ad blocking and the less they trust ads, the more engagement, trust and traction we see our content and campaigns gaining on behalf of our clients. So in all honesty, ad blockers are great for adding greater demand to our agency’s solutions. – Azadeh Williams, AZK Media

10. Try Emails, Text Messages And Push Notifications

Ad blocking impacts just one channel in the grander scheme of things. As an agency owner, being creative is my job, and while ad blockers do impact numbers on digital, there are still emails and text messages and push notifications! If you see that your ads aren’t getting traction, think of other channels. – Candice Georgiadis, Digital Day

11. Pivot To Other Forms Of Digital Marketing

Ad blockers on various platforms often lead to necessary changes in ad types and audience targeting, and if necessary, even pivoting to other forms of digital marketing. For example, can’t reach Apple customers because of an iOS update? Target Android devices. If it’s getting harder to bring in new customers, focus more on incentivizing repeat purchases from your customers via email or text. – Bernard May, National Positions

12. Offer Quality Content And Email Campaigns To Opt-In Users

It’s clear that users prefer ad blockers. Google is even ending third-party cookies on Chrome to enhance privacy. Agencies dependent on ad clicks will need to adapt by offering quality content and email campaigns to users who opt in. At the end of the day, this approach will deliver more qualified leads. – Marc Hardgrove, The HOTH

13. Don’t Focus On Ad Blockers, Just Create Engaging Campaigns

Ad blockers are reality for marketers and a completely valid way for internet users to create a more private and enjoyable online experience for themselves. At our agency, we don’t see ad blockers as anything to deal with; rather, our job is to create engaging, useful and creative ad campaigns and target the most ideal users. – Dejan Popovic, PopArt Studio

14. Develop Every Channel To Reach New Audiences

If ads are blocked, the ad is non-viewable, and the impression will not be charged. For agencies, this makes ads more efficient because the user who does not engage with ads is self-removed. This also reinforces that brands should not rely on any one channel or any one platform but instead develop every channel to reach new audiences. – Justin Buckley, ATTN Agency

Sourced from Forbes

In News

Meta To End Discriminatory Housing Ads in Midst of ‘Historic’ Lawsuit – How It Benefits Users

July 26, 2022 No Comments

By Yaёl Bizouati-Kennedy

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced it has entered into a settlement agreement resolving allegations that Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook, engaged in discriminatory advertising in violation of the Fair Housing Act. This is the department’s first case challenging discrimination under the FHA, and Meta has agreed to change its ad delivery system, the Justice Department said in a press release.

Among other things, the complaint filed on June 21 alleges that Meta uses algorithms in determining which Facebook users receive housing ads, and that those algorithms rely in part on characteristics protected under the FHA, including race, colour, religion, sex, disability, familial status and national origin. This is the department’s first case challenging algorithmic bias under the Fair Housing Act.

“When a company develops and deploys technology that deprives users of housing opportunities based in whole or in part on protected characteristics, it has violated the Fair Housing Act, just as when companies engage in discriminatory advertising using more traditional advertising methods,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in the release. “Because of this ground-breaking lawsuit, Meta will – for the first time – change its ad delivery system to address algorithmic discrimination. But if Meta fails to demonstrate that it has sufficiently changed its delivery system to guard against algorithmic bias, this Office will proceed with the litigation.”

This settlement marks the first time that Meta will be subject to court oversight for its ad targeting and delivery system, the Department said.

Under the settlement, Meta has until Dec. 31 to stop using an advertising tool for housing ads (known as the “Special Ad Audience” tool) that, according to the department’s complaint, relies on a discriminatory algorithm. Meta also will develop a new system to address racial and other disparities caused by its use of personalization algorithms in its ad delivery system for housing ads. That system will be subject to Department of Justice approval and court oversight.

Meta must also pay the United States a civil penalty of $115,054, the maximum penalty available under the Fair Housing Act.

Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division called the settlement “historic.”

“The Justice Department is committed to holding Meta and other technology companies accountable when they abuse algorithms in ways that unlawfully harm marginalized communities,” she said.

In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, Meta said that it also plans to change its ads related to employment and credit in addition to housing.

“Discrimination in housing, employment and credit is a deep-rooted problem with a long history in the U.S., and we are committed to broadening opportunities for marginalized communities in these spaces and others,” Meta said in a statement posted on its website.

Feature Image Credit: Fritz Jorgensen / Getty Images

By Yaёl Bizouati-Kennedy

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy is a full-time financial journalist and has written for several publications, including Dow Jones, The Financial Times Group, Bloomberg and Business Insider. She also worked as a vice president/senior content writer for major NYC-based financial companies, including New York Life and MSCI. Yaël is now freelancing and most recently, she co-authored the book “Blockchain for Medical Research: Accelerating Trust in Healthcare,” with Dr. Sean Manion. (CRC Press, April 2020) She holds two master’s degrees, including one in Journalism from New York University and one in Russian Studies from Université Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, France.

Sourced from GoBankingRates

In News

Amazon Prime Video named as the best value streamer amid cost-of-living crunch

July 26, 2022 No Comments

By John Glenday

A perfect storm in the streaming sector, squeezed like never before by a crowded marketplace and rampant inflation, has precipitated a new study identifying the services that offer the best bang for your buck.

Uswitch weighed up the number of programs available on each service v the monthly cost for access to calculate a cost-per-title metric, which names Amazon Prime Video as the best choice for savvy viewers.

Amazon Prime Video has been crowned best-value in the UK

While it provides no measure of the quality of content, it gives an idea of the vastness of each library.

The omnipresent consumer goods etailer has amassed a selection of 8,799 titles to binge upon in the UK while conducting your online shopping. Couple this with the second cheapest monthly subscription fee of £7.99 and you get a cost-per-title value of £0.0009.

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Amazon appears a relative bargain. Market leader Netflix rests in the third spot with its 6592 titles – combine that with a £15.99 fee and you get a £0.0024 rating.

Value-conscious streamers seeking to reduce their spending to the bare minimum would be advised to avoid the UK in general, with the country ranked as the 21st best value out of 41 nations surveyed.

Consumers wishing to pay as little to Jeff Bezos as possible while still being able to enjoy The Boys are advised to head to Jamaica, where each Amazon Prime Video title will set you back £0.0003.

Nick Baker, TV expert at Uswitch.com, said: “With the cost of living rising, many households are deciding to cut back on their streaming subscriptions in order to save money. For those choosing between which streaming services to continue to subscribe to, there are a few things to consider, such as the number of available titles per platform and monthly subscription costs.”

The report dovetails with the launch of Paramount+ in the UK as the latest streaming hopeful to join a saturated market.

By John Glenday

Sourced from The Drum

In News

10 Tips for Developing a More Effective Outbound Sales Strategy

July 26, 2022 No Comments

Sourced from Inc.

Kent Lewis, an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member in Portland, Oregon, is the founder and CEO of digital marketing agency Anvil Media, which recently merged with Deksia. We asked Kent about his experience conquering his fear of outbound sales outreach, and how others can do so.

For 22 years, I was the principal salesperson for the agency I founded. I focused primarily on building a sales pipeline via inbound marketing, as I personally despised outbound sales. Three years ago, I received a nudge from my advisory board to “get over my issues” and start prospecting on LinkedIn. That guidance led to our largest client and a new outlook on the power of outbound sales.

Here are my top 10 insights for developing an effective outbound sales strategy:

Be Human

While outbound sales are often associated with call centres, email and LinkedIn are effective prospecting channels. Unfortunately, no channel is immune to automation and its resultant inhumane treatment of prospects. The sales communications I receive from solicitors lack not only personalization, but any sense of human connection. Be different. Be human.

Aim at the Target

I learned a great deal from sending 900+ LinkedIn messages to first-degree connections in my first attempt at outbound prospecting. First, the response rates (not including ‘no thanks’ or ‘wrong person’) were not much higher than direct mail. Second, the warm responses (qualified leads) were all people I knew, even if we hadn’t worked together directly. Lastly, the prospects that turned into clients were familiar with my digital marketing agency after years of monthly email newsletters, my posts on social media, and conversations at networking events. The lesson: Start outreach with your intimate network (past and current clients, partners and vendors) and work your way outward to new contacts.

Keep it Simple (and Brief)

One powerful piece of advice I received is to keep LinkedIn messages short but sweet–no more than two sentences requesting a 15-minute catch up. It was difficult to stay true to that, but it paid off in strong response rates from qualified leads. Most solicitations I receive have multiple paragraphs, images and sometimes attachments. I ignore them all. Don’t expect a different outcome than your own reaction to unsolicited sales pitches.

Maintain Consistency

Consistency is key for any new behaviour to become habit. Similar to social media posts, outbound sales efforts require discipline to maintain momentum. Once my first round of outreach on LinkedIn led to five new clients, I was hooked. Once or twice a year, I reach out to first-degree marketing contacts, manually messaging about 900 people. While there are automated tools, I don’t trust them.

Be Fearless

The primary reason I avoided outbound sales was personal discomfort with outreach to people who didn’t want to hear from me. I based that on my personal disdain for receiving sales pitches. My advisor assured me that my assumption was incorrect. My experience validated her advice: Nobody told me to buzz off. While 98 percent of recipients ignored the note entirely, very few said, “no thank you.” The rest said, “Thanks, let’s talk in 3-4 months.” I rejected the fear of rejection to move forward.

Start Small

Most executives not solely responsible for sales may find manual outreach to 900 contacts off-putting. I understand and even agree. Start small with 5-10 contacts per day. It creates a realistic cadence, and it can be rewarding to see smaller wins consistently.

Utilize an Accountability Partner

Never underestimate the significance of an accountability component. I leverage it with outbound sales by scheduling a monthly check-in with my advisor to ensure I’m on-track and navigating any roadblocks.

Leverage Your Network

After extolling the virtues of networking for 20 years, I hadn’t leveraged my own well-established network of 22,000+ to request introductions to ideal clients. My advisor suggested that I regularly make requests of my network, as friends and other first-degree connections are often happy to help and enjoy making introductions. Warm introductions work wonders vs. cold outreach–particularly valuable for those with established, untapped networks.

Quantity vs. Quality

While I’ve advised to start small, it’s a numbers game. An average response rate of one to two percent means you must reach out to 100 contacts to get a response and 500-1,000 to close a deal. My first outreach generated a five percent close ratio, which was unusually high, and not easily replicated. To compensate, continue growing your list. I still send one to five connection requests a day to relevant contacts on LinkedIn.

Don’t Forget the Fundamentals

While outbound sales are a foundational exponential growth strategy, it’s not the only effective sales strategy. I mentioned that our primary focus for 22 years was inbound sales efforts (search engine marketing, social media and public relations). All channels and strategies should be aligned, integrated and measured consistently. The best channels for qualified leads include search engine optimization (SEO), speaking and network referrals. Email drip campaigns work well for lead nurturing. The single best channel for new clients was our monthly email newsletter, sent consistently for two decades to clients and qualified leads. Regular exposure to our brand was a low touch, but high ROI sales channel.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

Sourced from Inc.