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Why brands can’t keep consumers in the dark on data tracking

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By Thomas Hobbs

Marketers are still not doing a good enough job explaining to consumers how their data is being tracked.

Speaking on a panel at The Drum’s Programmatic Punch event earlier this month, Belle Cartwright, director of data strategy for EMEA at Essence, said that even though GDPR is changing how brands approach data, many are still banking on consumers being willfully ignorant. She argued that this was the “wrong strategy.”

“You have to inform consumers properly on how their data is being used. How many of them know, for example, that their device ID on their smartphone is being stored so brands can look at their viewing habits to programmatically target them in the future? My guess would be not many,” Cartwright explained.

“We need to do a better job explaining why this data is collected and what the value exchange is to the consumers. Banking on them to not ask any questions is the wrong strategy and will only cause more damage in the future.”

Yet Tim Hussein, managing principal at Ebiquity Tech, questioned why marketers would heavily invest in this kind of programmatic advertising in the first place. He called out “mistruths”, likening them to lies told on the infamous ‘Vote Leave’ bus in the Brexit campaign, which give marketers a false impression of the true power of programmatic.

“Generally programmatic ads perform worse than other types of media. A lot of advertisers can pull back from programmatic and it won’t effect their ROI at all,” he claimed. “Publishers are selling programmatic with mistruths. Big DMP companies say it will make your efficiencies go up X amount, but then their cookie pools are inaccurate or these projections aren’t applied to all campaigns. There’s a lot of half truths being told.”

He added: “Right now there’s two extremes out there: you either get told programmatic is the best thing since slice bread or it’s a disaster. The reality is it’s somewhere in the middle.”

Also on the panel was Nick Stringer, vice president of global engagement and operations at Trustworthy Accountability Group, who claimed marketers should brace themselves for even more changes around data and GDPR.

“Yes, in theory, GDPR should cover the challenges we face around data, but it was only six years in the making and with the rapid rate of change we’re seeing technologically, it will almost certainly be altered soon,” he advised. “You would hope policy makers would put something in place that is more robust and covers things like the privacy directive, and reforms electronic communications much more deeply.”

The biggest looming threat approaching programmatic advertising will be the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which comes into place at the start of 2020, according to Jacob Eborn, privacy consultant manager at OneTrust PreferenceChoice. Although it won’t affect the UK, it could well set the tone for global changes.

Echoing Stringer’s comments, he concluded: “Everyone needs to be aware that how you define requirements for GDPR today probably won’t be the same in 18 months time. Thanks to the CCPA, it could soon be a lawyer who makes the case that a brand has been doing some unlawful. If you are a marketer and not comfortable with privacy litigation then you need to get comfy, and fast.”

By Thomas Hobbs

Sourced from The Drum

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Brands have new ways to measure the success of influencer marketing campaigns now that fake Instagram followers are so easy to buy

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By Amanda Perelli.

  • On Instagram, influencers can buy followers, comments, and likes on a post.
  • So instead of using these metrics to measure the success of an influencer marketing campaign, many brands are instead focusing on other metrics, like saves and comment sentiment.
  • Influencers also promote products on YouTube, and on that platform, many brands want to see how many viewers are engaging with a product’s website link, which points they are watching at, and where they are from.
  • But even with these new measurements, some influencers have figured out tricks for inflating the numbers.
  • Click here for more BI Prime stories.

As concerns about fake Instagram followers grow, many brands working with influencers are focusing more on performance metrics like saves and comment sentiment, which are harder to manipulate and can more accurately reflect the impact of a campaign.

Evan Asano, the CEO of the influencer marketing agency Mediakix, told Business Insider that many brands were looking at the quality of comments left on a sponsored Instagram post and the level of engagement from an influencer’s fans.

“As influencer marketing has exploded, brands are looking less and less for the biggest influencer, as they don’t always have the highest engagement or have time to engage with their fans,” Asano said. “Brands are starting to evolve their strategies to do longer-term partnerships with influencers who they consider ambassadors and love the brand. They are looking for a balance of influencers who engage with their fans, create authentic content, and partner with brands authentic to them, rather than anyone who will just pay them.”

Brands will usually come back after a campaign is over and ask for certain performance metrics from the influencer. These metrics vary based on platform, like YouTube or Instagram, and will often determine whether or not that brand will continue a relationship with an influencer.

 

Performance metrics on Instagram, from saves to comments

On Instagram, brands often want to see that an influencer’s followers are engaging with the post. They can measure this by asking for metrics like saves, comments, and likes.

Katy Bellotte, a YouTube creator (470,000 subscribers) and Instagram influencer (166,000 followers), earns money through a variety of ways online, with brand sponsorships at the top, she told Business Insider. In Bellotte’s experience, brands pay more for a package than a single post, she said. A package typically includes one post on Instagram, a story, and sometimes a 30- to 60-second mention in a YouTube video.

Bellotte said that after she posts sponsored content to Instagram, a company typically comes back and asks for specific performance metrics, and recently, she has noticed companies asking for how many views a story got and how many people saved the post to their personal account.

“You’ll notice there are some creators out there who are getting smart about this,” Bellotte said. “Saying, ‘To enter my giveaway, you have to save the post and then do X, Y, Z.’ Then, when brands ask for the save numbers, they have an inflated number because they’ll do things like that.”

Asano said brands were now looking at comments as a part of engagement, and if a majority of the comments are in a different language, then it’s possible the influencer bought comments. He said brands also track if followers are mentioning the company within the comments, or have any intent on purchasing the product mentioned.

Performance on YouTube, from links to viewer demographics

Another way influencers earn money is by promoting products within a YouTube video. In a YouTube sponsorship, a brand can request a timed mention (typically 60 seconds) or a dedicated video.

Dan Levitt, the CEO of the digital-talent management firm Long Haul Management, told Business Insider that he has noticed more brands tracking how many viewers are clicking on a brand’s website after a YouTube video sponsorship.

“Let’s say a creator is doing a video about new product X. In the past, the brand might only care about views, especially in the demographic they care about,” Levitt said. “Now, in addition, they might include a trackable Bitly link to the brand website to buy the product and would track how many visitors to the website the link brought, and how many of those visitors actually made a purchase.”

Mathew Micheli, a cofounder and managing partner at the influencer marketing agency Viral Nation, said brands still have a hard time understanding the value they are receiving from an influencer campaign. He said Viral Nation provides tools to measure in-depth video and post information, like which platform a viewer is watching from, where they are, and which point in a video they are dropping off at.

Other industry insiders told Business Insider there has been an increase in brands asking about the geographic information of an influencer’s audience. Typically, a YouTube manager or agent will send the brand their client’s demographic percentage from their YouTube analytics page. US brands are looking for a majority of viewers to be from the US.

Reed Duchscher, the CEO of the digital-talent-management firm Night Media, told Business Insider that brands ask his clients for channel demographics.

“Most want to see the percentage based in the US,” he said. “A few have also asked for the mobile watch time, like on apps. We get a lot of inquiries about case studies and past brand collabs as well.”

For more on the business of influencers, according to YouTube and Instagram stars, check out these Business Insider Prime posts:

Feature Image Credit: Shutterstock

By Amanda Perelli

Sourced from Business Insider

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New study shows culturally relevant brands are more relevant to consumers

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By E.J. Samson.

A new study shows just how much consumers want brands and culture to mix

Commerce and culture have always intersected—even though it can be a fine line for brands to walk. But what surprised the research team behind MAGNA and Twitter’s new study, “The Impact of Culture,” was just how much consumers—particularly younger people on Twitter—expect and even want brands to be culturally relevant: aligning well with cultural events, promoting trends that define today’s culture and supporting social issues that benefit everyone.

Insight-rich results

Brand involvement in culture is especially important among consumers between the ages of 18 and 35, and those on Twitter versus the general population are more passionate, informed and feel more strongly about brands aligning with culture.

The study found that brands can become more relevant by embracing culture by staying current, demonstrating knowledge of consumers and giving back. When people are deciding which products and services to buy, they’re not only thinking of basics like price and quality—or even more amorphous concepts like reputation. They are also assessing just how much a brand reflects their interests and supports the issues they hold close to their hearts.

Incredibly, a brand’s cultural involvement makes up a full 25 percent of a consumer’s purchase decision. That means being involved in culture is a significant consideration when people are weighing whether or not to buy something, alongside other factors like positive brand perception, price and quality. It’s a finding that should make marketers rethink their focus and strategies, since cultural relevance can be established with one campaign, whereas other factors are relatively more intractable.

twitter1

While jumping on trends and cultural happenings in realms like sports and music are table stakes for brands, the study reveals that people want to go even deeper: Americans might love their reality TV, but survey respondents say they are more informed on issues like gender equality and fair trade than pop culture events.

What does this mean for marketers?

Go where the most leaned-in and influential people are already gathered: A key revelation of the study is that while culturally passionate consumers tend to be younger, what really sets them apart are their media habits. Social media usage is a 25 percent stronger indicator of cultural passion than age. According to our study, culture-focused ads work harder on Twitter than on other premium sites, where audiences of true tastemakers are most engaged and most receptive.

Live out the values of your customers: While there are many ways for a brand to be involved in culture, according to survey respondents, the top ways include giving back to the community, putting customers first, being inclusive of a wide audience and supporting social issues that benefit everyone.

Have a strong POV in your ads: Culture-focused ads succeed in positioning brands as relevant. They also position them as socially responsible and innovative. And they create a more memorable experience for consumers.

This new research makes a strong case for brands to acknowledge, and even actively improve, the culture that permeates all of our lives so fully. And expressing their engagement with culture on platforms like Twitter is the best way for brands to join the liveliest conversations of the day.

By E.J. Samson.

E.J. Samson is the lead content strategy manager for Twitter’s Global Business Marketing team. Follow him on Twitter @ejsamson.

Sourced from AdAge

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Food Leads The Way As Private Label Flourishes

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From Amazon to Target and beyond, there seems no end to the proliferation of private-label brands competing for consumer dollars. Throw in services like the online startup Brandless, and it’s virtually a free-for-all for both established and emerging CPG brands.

The most-purchased private label category is food, with 58% of adult shoppers saying they purchased such items in the last 30 days, according to consumer research provider MRI-Simmons.

From a retailer perspective, this is very appealing given the economics of the grocery business. According to CB Insights, while the average profit margin on grocery store goods is about 1.3%, retailers earn 25% to 30% higher gross margins on private labels compared to manufacturer brands.

Citing one example, CB Insights notes how Kroger has long used shopper analytics to guide investments in its own manufacturing facilities and now has a portfolio of over 40 plants processing everything from Big K Cola to spaghetti sauce. Kroger’s Our Brands line comprised nearly 30% of the company’s unit sales as of March 2018, the research firm says.

In the food and beverage space, purchasing private-label products is the No. 1 money-saving tactic among adult shoppers across all income segments, according to a report from IRI for the first quarter of 2019. That tops trying new, lower-priced brands; visiting multiple retailers; downloading coupons from a retailer/manufacturer website and comparing prices on area retailers’ websites. Those money-saving tactics appear in the exact same order when it comes to the purchase of private-label non-food items, IRI says in a separate report.

These insights have not been lost on Target, which generated headlines this month when it announced a major expansion of its private-label offerings. In addition to the youth-oriented, non-edibles branded More Than Magic line (everything from sportswear to electronics and stationery), Target unveiled plans for its own food and beverages under the Good and Gather tag.

“We know that food and beverage is a big reason our guests like shopping at Target, since nearly three quarters of our baskets have at least one food item in them,” Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer Mark Tritton said while explaining the company’s second-quarter 2019 earnings. “And driven by the improvements we have implemented over the last two years, we have been seeing consistent growth and market share gains in food and beverage for well over a year.”

While Target is aiming to stock some 2,000 private-label items within a year, Amazon Basics is already there and then some, with more than three times as many items, according to data company ScrapeHero. Even though Amazon’s aggressive embrace of its own products — particularly as regards to which brands show up in on-site search results — has angered many of its longtime brand partners, the digital behemoth continues to plunge full-speed ahead.

Then there is Brandless, the online startup that sells food and personal care products, (many priced at $3), which clearly has Amazon in its sights. Launched in July of 2017, Brandless this month landed $240 million in a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund. It represents SoftBank’s second large ecommerce investment in the U.S. (sports-apparel company Fanatics was the first).

Still, according to MRI-Simmons, younger shoppers are the most skeptical of private-label offerings. Those in the 18-34 cohort are more likely than all adult shoppers to agree that private label products are less trustworthy than name brands and that they feel “cheap” when they buy them.

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Sourced from MediaPost

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How New Disruptive Consumers Are Buying Brands

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Nearly half of consumers today (48 percent of all U.S consumers ages 13 and up) are disrupting the traditional purchase path, from discovery through purchase, the new study reports. These consumers are younger, have higher incomes and choose brands that aid their self-expression.

The new IAB Study confirms that word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendations are the highest-valued prompt for direct-to-consumer buyers before trying a new product.

Greater than reviews or social media Influencers.

But the concept of “brand value” is also transforming. It’s no longer about usage or “better, faster, stronger” efficacies. Rather, brand value for nearly half of today’s consumers comes from their ability to contribute opinions, suggestions and sharing the cool things they buy, wear or use on social media.

The fact that they also like to be the first of their friends to post about a purchase experience — means they’re also your first adopters.

If you’re not opening social portals for your consumers, you’re not just losing business. You’re losing the game.

These disruptor brands cater to the new cohort by building consumer loyalty and lifetime value (LTV) through cross-channel interaction.

Brands like to think of themselves as “personalities”—as a wallboard exercise. But today it’s the new rulebook. Imagine, for example, that your product is a YouTube or Instagram star: it pays to spread content across channels. Internet star Zach King, for example, is huge on Vine and YouTube, but also has a major Instagram following. Beauty blogger Huda Kattan writes blogs, but also has a presence on Instagram. Fitness model Michelle Lewin spreads her messages across a swath of social media channels, increasing her audience count each day.

Omnichannel adjacency pays off back inside the funnel: Search, shopping, plus social media sites bundled together equal traditional TV for brand discovery today. Great ads spark trial, but so do great product plus great social content.

This Is A Tipping Point Moment

How do we define brand loyalty for this new cohort? Key drivers include — following the brand on social media, telling others about the brand (WOM), and having a subscription from the brand.

But if you think Influencers are on their way out, you’re way off track. Today there are at least four types of Influencers:

Celebrity/Professional Influencers, 2) experts, 3) ‘Real’ people, and 4) Super Influencers.

According to the IAB study, Influencers are the “advertising” of the modern consumer economy. They not only wield power during initial purchase consideration — via posts, word of mouth and other methods, but also exercise their power further down the purchase funnel.

Disruptor consumers are over 2X more likely to say they only listen to Expert Influencers and 150% more likely to value online mentions by ‘Real’ people.

Roughly 1 in 3 disruptor consumers qualify as Super Influencers — a newly identified cohort who are strategic, deliberate, and prolific in their postings. They take the time and effort necessary to create brand-centric content to publicly build their personal brand. Some of their verbatims read like, “I like to share cool things I buy, wear or use on social media.” “Content I share online is an important part of who I am.” “Content I share online is an important part of how I want people to think of me.”

Not surprisingly, nearly half of these super consumers want samples and free shipping. But only one in five cares about loyalty programs.

Attention Is The Prize

The industry of attention is the largest, fastest-growing segment of the global economy. There are massive inefficiencies in how people’s attention is being extracted and traded and, for 80% of consumers, simply purchasing a brand is not enough to define loyalty: brand engagement and interaction are required.

As DōTerra CIO Todd Thompson, stated last week in Glossy, “The user experience becomes a strategic driver of revenue. Engagement with the customer sets us apart from other companies.”

Seizing people’s attention and holding onto it, represents the largest investment opportunity for companies in the next decade. It used to be that simply putting a product or service on the shelf (or on your site) put you in the game. Today, brands are not becoming thinner, they’re spreading their brandwidth at scale to become more relevant, meaningful and vital. A statement from the IAB study, “When I purchase a new direct to consumer (DTC) brand, I am expressing who I am,” is not a loose declaration. It is conflating human identity and product.

Brands are people, too.

By

Author of Primal Branding

Sourced from Branding Strategy Insider

The Blake Project Can Help: Get actionable guidance from experts on Brand Differentiation and Growth strategy.

Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Growth and Brand Education

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3 HUGE Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs Make that Diminish Their Brand & Cost Them Leads and Sales

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By Marisa Murgatroyd

I’m sure you’ve heard the famous phrase, you don’t get a second chance to make a great first impression.

It’s true about life… and it’s definitely true about business.

A well-crafted personal brand speaks FOR you even before you say a word. It helps you attract ideal customers and clients who are inspired and motivated by who you are and how you show up in the world.

And it demonstrates to your clients and customers that you can do what you say you can do and that they can rely on you to deliver on the promises…

And when that happens, you’ll easily make an awesome first impression in any situation.

From working the room at networking events, to connecting with random website visitors and people watching your FB Lives and reading your blog posts, a powerful personal brand will do pretty much all the hard work of grabbing attention in all the right ways.

But there’s more to a successful personal brand than creating a great first impression.

Personal branding is also about consistency.

It’s about making an awesome “first impression” again and again and again.

I’ve helped countless clients and students build out powerful brands using my Personal Brand Power Framework (I share exactly how to do this in my Ultimate Guide to a Powerful Personal Brand).

And not to be overly dramatic, but a personal brand is a sink or swim kind of deal.

Create a great brand that works for you and it quickly leads to lucrative business connections, steady growth, lots of sales and happy customers.

But get it wrong and you could damage your reputation and demolish your bottom line.

And so many gifted entrepreneurs get it wrong (and don’t even know it).

So,  I’m sharing hidden traps to avoid if you want to create a personal brand that powerfully and consistently establishes your reputation and your expertise.

Brand Trap #1: Being a Jack of All Trades

When you want to build a personal brand that seals your reputation, grows your client base and your income, it’s about lasering in on who you are and what you want to be known for.

But that’s not what most entrepreneurs do.

They try to be all things to all people and this mindset often shows up in their title or designation.

I’ve seen it happen and you probably have too…

I’m talking about people who call themselves a “speaker-coach-author-designer” or something to that effect!

Then there are those who focus on a bunch of different niches and areas of expertise…

I’ve seen super talented designers offering copywriting services and business coaches selling crystals.

They do this thinking that it’s a great idea to get  their “name out there” or they just want to make a quick buck any way possible.

But the result is a confused, uncertain audience and a damaged reputation and credibility because nobody is going to believe that one person can be truly great at so many different things!

When it comes to your personal brand you don’t want to be a “Jack of all trades, master of none.”

You want to laser in on one or two products or services that will establish your expertise so you can get to the top of the charts in specific industry or niche… especially if you’re a new entrepreneur. 

For instance, 2 of the most successful online entrepreneurs around — Jeff Walker and Ryan Levesque — did exactly that…

They focused on a single area of expertise from day one and they’ve stuck to that one thing for years.

Jeff is known as the “launch expert” and he’s built his entire business around the Product Launch Formula while Ryan is known for his wildly successful marketing funnel methodology and software called the Ask Method.

So trying to be an “expert” in a whole bunch of niches right out of the gate — this is one of the biggest personal branding traps entrepreneurs fall into.

Brand Trap #2: Drowning Your Audience 

If you want a powerful personal brand start by focusing on just one thing… your reputation.

A powerful personal brand is built on a rock-solid reputation but it’s where lots of entrepreneurs go wrong…

They think a great reputation is about “overdelivering.”

They want customers and clients to feel like they received a TON of value and got their money’s worth… and then some.

So, they go out there and build massive A to Z, 12-week courses or programs in their area of expertise… maybe for you that’s web design or internet marketing or copywriting or whatever it happens to be.

BAD IDEA.

When you teach people everything you know — when you overshare or “overdeliver”  — what you’re really doing is creating anxiety, overwhelm and confusion for your clients and customers… hit ‘em with everything you’ve got and they won’t know what hit ‘em!

Instead, you need to hone in on one specific thing inside your zone of genius that helps people complete a project or achieve a goal.

If you’re a designer, for example, you could teach your customers how to create a gorgeous logo for their business.

If you’re a copywriter you could show them how to write an effective sales page.

If you’re an internet marketer or business mentor, you could teach them how to create kicka$$ courses that sell (that’s exactly what we did with Experience Product Masterclass and it’s one of our most popular courses of all time!).

And if you’re a transformational life coach, you could teach them how to laser in on and overcome their limiting beliefs around achieving success in business or finding true love.

Whatever you do, don’t drown your customers in value.

The trick is to keep things simple so that they get the results they’re looking for — this is the path to building trust, creating transformation, establishing that awesome reputation and  building a powerful personal brand that works for you.

Brand Trap #3: Focusing on the What 

Most entrepreneurs believe customers and clients want to work with them and buy from them based on what they know

But the most successful personal brands in the world — think Michelle Obama or Oprah or Gary Vaynerchuk — are built on how they make people feel.

The internet changed the world and how it works. Knowledge is SO cheap right now, it’s literally free.

Anything and everything you want to know is at your fingertips and available to you faster than you can say “Google.”

But your energy, your essence, your values and how you share and teach that’s unique because YOU’RE unique.

And that’s what people want…

They want what they can’t find on the internet and that’s who you are and how you make them feel NOT what you know.

So, give yourself permission to be yourself… focus on being vulnerable, authentic and real.

At different touch points in your business — your content, your website, your products and services — ask yourself…

How do you make them feel? 

That’s the #1 thing to think about in personal branding and we’ve helped clients and students build multi-million dollar brands starting with that one question.

So, powerful personal branding starts with focusing on becoming a hit-maker versus throwing a bunch of products and services at your audience to see what sticks…

It’s about creating results over drowning them in value…

It’s about becoming more YOU and how you want people to feel when they connect with you and your business.

That’s how you build a  personal brand that works for you and your business, a brand that projects who you are and how you want to show up in the world, a brand that matters, and creates the income and impact you want.

Feature Image Credit: pixabay

By Marisa Murgatroyd

Sourced from live your message

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Women Entrepreneurs Can Create Better and Successful Brands

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The word ‘entrepreneur’ is derived from the French word ‘entreprenerd’ which means ‘to undertake. Anyone who undertakes the responsibility of running a business venture, giving it time, value and money are regarded as a successful entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur is an attempt to create value through recognition of business opportunity. It is a milestone defining the opportunity for who so ever chooses this path- be it a male or female. Entrepreneurship clearly defies the laws of gender and has got much more to do with how and where one utilizes the opportunity instead of a gender-based label.

However, there has been the emergence of many studies and researches that were done specifically to find out the ultimate results on “who rules the business better” among men and women. As per the research conducted by Centre of Entrepreneurs- “Women entrepreneurs are more likely to work towards controlled, profitable growth with relatively little interest in merely positioning themselves for the lucrative exit.”

And What The Data Says?

Women have the edge in terms of taking calculated risks if the research done by Centre of Entrepreneurship is to be believed which says 87 per cent of women see themselves as financial risk takers as compared to 73 per cent of men. Another finding by the same research institute says that 47 per cent of women are keen to start a new business within the next three years as compared to only 18 per cent of men. One major reason for these attributes can be that women had to break many barriers, shatter many pre-conceived notions before acquiring this position which they hold currently in the business world. This is why women tend to take home a lot of study and homework as compared to men.

It is a fact that more than 75 per cent of business is male-dominated worldwide but when it comes to more effective leadership, women dominate this chart as per a data analysis was done by Fitsmallbusiness.com. The data analysis says that women have a larger appetite for growth and when all statistics are compared, women actually outperform their male counterparts.

Creation of Jobs

Another solid measure to analyse the success of a business is the rate of job creation. Female-owned firms are way ahead in terms of creating jobs and stimulating the economy when compared to male-owned firms.  A longitudinal study conducted by Dow Jones Venture Source found that the firms having three to four female executives have a higher success rate compared to those having one or two female executives.

Not just by comparing various studies, if we go by the basic nature also, women have been multitasking all through their lives for the kind of society we live in. They have been managing the households and basic domestic chores without the blink of an eye, and ever since women took over the business world, they started excelling in that front too. This, in general, makes women more well-organized and delegated. Women are also blessed with a brilliant sense of nurturing relationships, higher emotional quotient, and a dash of empathy. So, the business relationships are built on understanding, trust, and compassion which are truly long lasting, one of the keys for business success.

The Bottom Line

Labelling women as better entrepreneurs in terms of creating better brands might be proven through certain researches and statistics however the word entrepreneur cannot be labelled with the gender tag. These statistics show a bright picture of female entrepreneurs and definitely bring out the true facts but the most governing factor in terms of being a successful an entrepreneur is not your gender alone, but how you grab the opportunity and make the most of it. Anyone who possesses the skillsets of initiating an idea with wider knowledge, and a willingness to take risks with adaptability and an optimistic outlook will make a successful entrepreneur, whatever the gender may be because, in the end, a better leader would be the one who not only ensures his/her own growth but also of the team and the brand. Women are doing a great job though!

Feature Image Credit: Shutterstock

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Sourced from Entrepreneur India

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When it comes to agencies, brands care more about cost than transparency

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By Seb Joseph

Price, not transparency or partnerships, remains the priority for clients when it comes to their agencies.

Last year, agencies pitching for the $1.7 billion global ad account for GlaxoSmithKline were asked to make upfront guarantees on the cost of media, despite it being widely acknowledged that those guarantees can’t be made for digital media, according to an executive who was on one of the pitch teams. Most, of course, complied.

The pitch had gone on for six months and was managed and audited by ID Comms and Ebiquity. It gradually morphed into negotiations over cost savings once the procurement team took over. Before that happened, GSK’s marketers had scrutinized each agency’s operating model and probed how they would provide full transparency into the money made on the media bought.

But the longer those discussions went on, fewer business KPIs and strategic relationships came up. Finally, agency executives found themselves in a corporate box overlooking a rugby pitch, giving GSK procurement team an overview of the savings they could make, said the agency executive.

Following those talks, Publicis won the account. “GSK reviews our media agency arrangements based on a number of criteria including strategic thinking and differentiation, understanding of our business, systems and reporting, quality of talent, the cost of media and contractual terms,” said a spokesperson from GSK, when asked for comment.

Savings often trumps all else if there is no clear winner on other criteria, and even then the numbers need to be highly competitive. It can create a race to fulfill those guarantees with cheap impressions that may not be safe, viewable or real.

Consultant education
Sources said that lack of education by pitch consultants –and agencies refusing to push back on invalid processes or decisions — makes matters worse.

“Running a tender for an agency or technology partner is not the same as procuring steel or glass,” said Ruben Schreurs, managing partner at digital media consulting firm Digital Decisions. “There is so much in-depth nuance in cost structures, and even more so when you go into operating models and strategic fit, that it is simply insane to apply too much weight to the bottom-line pricing in the decision process.”

It’s the standard trajectory of how many big media accounts are handled now. Transparency issues are the reason many advertisers go to pitch, but cost pressures are often what decides the outcome. According to data from Ebiquity, out of the 100 pitches it conducted last year, 54 percent said the top criterion used was cost improvement, and 34 percent said it was “strategic vision and expertise.”

At Adidas, which had a pitch for its $300 million media budget last year, the brand spent six months planning an operating model that went to agencies in the pitch document. The pitch, which was managed by MediaSense, was won by Mediacom. Sources said it was because the agency offered good price guarantees, although the company says the decision was more layered than that.

Progressive advertisers want fair remuneration, but there is still a disconnect between the marketing and procurement teams.

“The dynamic is changing, but I don’t think we are where are we should be,” said Laetitia Zinetti, managing principal for media management at media analytics specialist Ebiquity. “It can be difficult for an advertiser to differentiate between agencies on their strategic capabilities, so they look at how efficient they’re going to be — not just on the media costs but on the remuneration and technology costs too.”

The problem is advertisers are struggling to know what they don’t know about online media, and the pitch consultants are scrambling to fill in the blanks.

“The field of pitch consultants is growing fast, and levels of expertise are not everywhere,” said the media director at a luxury advertiser on condition of anonymity. “For remuneration, we use full-time equivalent payments and an incentive element. We want our partners to be profitable, but ideally at the same rate as we are. We do, however, see a shift in the market toward outcome or performance-based remuneration.”

Clients may even respect when agencies push back: “I worked on a pitch recently where a major agency declined to pitch in a major market because they felt they couldn’t compete on price,” said the marketing procurement director for a global CPG advertiser. “I was surprised, and it was a bit inconvenient for us, but ultimately I respected their honesty — and they saved their people a lot of work for likely little reward.”

This marketer said price guarantees are still useful criteria to judge an agency’s ability to buy digital but insisted the primary focus should be on the effectiveness of that media. “Pitch consultants continue to struggle in this area,” said the marketing procurement director, who is part of a broader push at the advertiser to take both pitch management and media management in-house.

“The KPIs on which we judge agency performance in online clearly need to include price, but should be much broader and encompass how well that agency fits with our strategic priorities such as reach versus quality, viewability or value chain transparency,” said the marketing procurement director. “I have yet to see a structured approach to this from pitch consultants that doesn’t ignore pricing but enables comparison on these broader ‘softer’ metrics.”

New models
Advertisers continue to use price guarantees to award media agencies because the cost of media is easier to determine than its effectiveness. Absolut, BT and L’Oreal have all tried to adopt newer ways of paying agencies in recent years. Whether it’s driving sales, customer loyalty or selling a car, measuring the effectiveness of these outputs is still subjective, which makes it hard to see the value. Few advertisers and agencies can get to the balance of risk and reward.

When Volkswagen ran its media pitch in 2016, one agency on the account proposed a cost-per-car remuneration model, according to one executive on the pitch. The carmaker declined. It’s hard for an advertiser to commit to outcome-based models like a cost per car when advertising is one of several factors that could impact sales, and subsequently hard to attribute a value to it. Scrapping the more traditional commission-based remuneration models like price guarantees is not a simple process.

“There is often a tension in media agency reviews between strategic marketing objectives and the need to demonstrate efficiencies,” said Nick Manning, svp at consulting business MediaLink. “Bluntly put, marketing wants innovation, and procurement wants lower costs for the same media. Digital has to be handled differently. It’s about effectiveness and value, not price, and performance has to be tracked differently. You can’t benchmark digital in the same way as TV.”

By Seb Joseph

Sourced from DIGIDAY UK

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Why Instagram is the New Social Media “Home Base” For Brands

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By Arik Hanson 

For as long as “social media marketing” has been around, Facebook has held the title of most brands’ social media home base.

That is, Facebook is the place where they spend the most time, resources and mone

But, that tide is definitely turning.

First, just look at Instagram’s recent numbers.

  • Instagram just surpassed 1 billion users. The only other platform not named Facebook to do it.
  • 71% of U.S. business now use Instagram
  • Instagram is THE platform for influencers–80% prefer the platform for brand collaborations
  • 59% of 18-29 year-olds use Instagram

Meanwhile, over on Facebook…

  • Facebook saw a 5.6 percent decline in users between 12 and 17 years old.
  • They also saw a 5.8 percent decline in users between 18 and 24 years old. This is the first time Facebook has seen a decrease in users since its inception.
  • Facebook usage dropped–for the first time ever–from 67% to 62% among Americans 12+ years of age.

Obviously, Facebook still has a ton of people using their site and app. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon. But, it is showing chinks in the proverbial armor for the first time. And, at the same time, Insta is gaining traction rapidly.

That’s the story the numbers tell.

But, as we all know, the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

What the numbers DON’T tell us is this:

  • Facebook is an increasingly toxic place for many users. #DeleteFacebook is real. Anecdotally, I’m hearing more and more of it each day. People just don’t want to spend as much time there as they once did, for a variety of reasons.
  • Facebook has taken a beating in the media over the last year. Mostly, for privacy issues. And each time Facebook is mentioned in a negative news story, that’s impacting how people feel about the social network.
  • Facebook has lost it’s “cool” factor. Remember that movie “The Social Network?” The whole reason Zuck got the facebook off the ground was because it had that “it” factor–specifically with young people. It no longer has that. A certain other network does–and it’s starting to show.

So, the numbers aren’t painting a rosy picture.

The anecdotal evidence isn’t much better.

What are marketers and communicators saying?

That Instagram is a more fun and happy place for customers.

That they’re seeing higher engagement rates on Instagram.

That they’re actually driving traffic and selling on Instagram.

Yep, Instagram is slowly, but surely, eating Facebook’s lunch.

And, it is driving toward becoming brands’ number one social media platform.

In fact, for many brands, it already is.

Let’s look at a few:

Adobe

Facebook: 105 engagements per post

Instagram: 10,713 engagements per post

Note: Averages reflect last 10 posts

Maersk Shipping

Facebook: 445 engagement per post

Instagram: 4,866 engagements per post

Note: Averages reflect last 10 posts

Target

Facebook: 707 engagements per post

Instagram: 23,255 engagements per post

Note: Averages reflect last 10 posts

That’s as much as a 300 PERCENT increase in engagements from Instagram to Facebook. And, those brands above are hardly alone. It’s a trend. And it’s hard to ignore.The numbers tell the story.

The anecdotal evidence tells the story.

Marketers are telling the story.

And, results sure as heck tell the story.

Instagram is becoming brands’ social media home base.

By Arik Hanson 

Sourced from Business 2 Community

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Facebook Takes First Step Toward Owning The Entire Influencer Marketing Space

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By Greg Shepard

Facebook recently launched Brand Collabs Manager, a platform designed to connect influencers with brands. The platform will collect influencer information such as influencer age, gender, location, language, type of posts, topical interest area, content focus and other metrics, as well as links to existing branded content and an insights section which will detail the influencer’s reach and interaction with followers. It will all be presented neatly in an online media kit of sorts.

Brands will be able to input their desired campaign and promotional requirements and then conduct a search using a collection of criteria and filters to arrive at a list of influencers who best meet the needs of the brand and the campaign. Search results pages will display a list of influencers based upon the search criteria, a percentage match to the influencer’s followers and a link to the aforementioned media kit which contains everything the brand needs to know about the influencer.

At this point, there is no charge to either the advertiser or the influencer to use the service, though Facebook will certainly benefit from any resulting partnerships that include paid ad campaign activity on Facebook. There are many players in the influencer marketing space. With influencer marketing set to become a $5-10 billion market segment (according to MediaKix), each and every player will, no doubt, do their best to garner the most from this growth.

With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that there is, quite likely, far more to the launch of Facebook’s Brand Collabs Manager than its current iteration as influencer/brand matchmaking tool.

In a way, social media platforms are somewhat held hostage by their own influencers, users and brands. Most platforms have no control over — and no way to monetize — the organic activity which occurs on their platforms either within posts or buried in comments. Sure, there are guidelines in place that require disclosure but those guidelines only capture a fraction of actual activity.

If Facebook — and every other social media platform — had its druthers, every last post, comment, like, favorite, etc. would be monetized. Since this isn’t and won’t be the case anytime soon, other approaches to monetization must be considered.

It’s clear Facebook would like to capture and monetize as much of this organic activity and the ongoing side deals which occur between brands and influencers as it can in the same way Google wanted in on all the side deal action that was occurring in search. For all intents and purposes, Google has its has its hand in most every element of search. The launch of the Brand Collabs Manager tool just might be Facebook’s first foray into sewing up ownership of the influencer space.

Right now, the tool only pairs brands and influencers within the Facebook platform. Instagram, which Facebook owns, could easily be added into the mix. And while Facebook doesn’t own Twitter, Snapchat and other platforms, there’s no reason the tool — either through acquisition of other, already existing tools or through other methods — couldn’t aggregate all influencer data and offer up a full-fledged tool which would serve the entire influencer space; sort of the way Google now serves pretty much the entire search space.

Yes, there are other, smaller players which provide portions of this solution, but Facebook being Facebook, it’s easy to see this as a first step toward further capitalizing on every possible element of brand/influencer interaction in the space.

While Facebook acknowledges it’ll never be able to directly monetize every last social media interaction, it can certainly indirectly capitalize on a large percentage of brand and influencer activity by becoming the single major platform that connects brands with influencers across multiple platforms.

Would advertisers pay for a tool that easily connected their brand with every possible influencer, no matter their preferred platform? Would content creators pay for preferential placement within the tool thereby increasing their chances of being matched with a brand? Do advertisers and content creators pay Google to increase their chances of connecting with consumers? Yes. Yes, they do. It should be no surprise then that Facebook likely envisions themselves as the Google of influencer marketing.

Feature Image Credit: Shutterstock

By Greg Shepard

Serial AdTech and Martech entrepreneur, writer and speaker. CSO/CTO of Pepperjam, an AdTech performance marketing company.

Sourced from Forbes

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