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Top Companies Hiring Graphic Designers in 2022

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Graphic designers are a vital part of digital advertising, and the best companies for graphic designers use their valuable skills to increase their digital presence and create brand awareness. Creating visually appealing designs has proven to be an effective strategy in both online and traditional marketing in this advertising age.

If you are a professional graphic designer looking for a career change, you should consider applying to the highest-paying graphic designer companies. In this guide, we will discuss these companies in detail, disclose their salaries, and explore whether or not each company is worthwhile based on employee reviews.

What Is a Graphic Designer?

Graphic designers, or graphic artists, create and design digital materials. These could be images, digital marketing materials, print materials, book design, or web page layouts. They use design software and apply graphic design techniques to create decorative effects and design elements.

Graphic designers are highly independent and often work as freelancers. If a graphic designer works within a graphic design company, they are often part of a design team that works on projects for the biggest clients. Designers with advanced skills and work experience can earn supervisory positions or become art directors.

How to Get a Graphic Design Job

To be a graphic designer, you need to have the appropriate skills, qualifications, and creativity. There are five standard steps to becoming a professional graphic designer. Below is an explanation of each of these steps.

  1. Get a bachelor’s degree. A degree in graphic design or fine arts will provide the knowledge you need to become a professional graphic designer. Find a school accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design to study digital design.
  2. Enrol in a boot camp. Even if you have a bachelor’s degree, you can improve your resume and credentials by enrolling in a boot camp and earning a certificate. You can enrol in advanced web design courses or learn specific design software.
  3. Enrol in short design courses. Basic art and design certificate courses are ideal for those with a high school degree who wish to become graphic designers. Some bachelor’s degree programs require students to take short courses before enrolment in their degree programs.
  4. Apply for an internship. Apply for an internship in graphic design agencies or other companies that give you a creative workload. Companies prefer to hire employees with internship experience because it means they have hands-on experience with design processes from concept to completion.
  5. Secure licenses and certifications. You can earn certifications from product software vendors. Having a license or specific software certification shows competence, giving you an advantage over other job applicants.

Top 10 Highest-Paying Graphic Design Companies

Company Salary for {Professions}
Microsoft $84,000
Airbnb $79,288
Adobe Systems, Inc. $70,262
IKEA $68,000
Cisco Systems, Inc. $64,428
Intel Corporation $63,052
Amazon $62,500
The Home Depot $59,981
Saatchi & Saatchi $58,715
Apple, Inc. $55,000

 

Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is a technology company that produces consumer electronics and computer software. Microsoft is well-known for products such as Windows and Xbox, ranked as one of the top three global brands in terms of valuation

What Does Microsoft Pay Its Graphic Designers?

The average annual salary of graphic designers at Microsoft is $84,000. Art directors, creative directors, or other mid-career professionals earn closer to $107,000, with the addition of benefits and bonuses.

Microsoft Reviews

Based on reviews on Indeed, Microsoft has an overall review score of four out of five stars. The company’s highest-scoring categories include its compensation and benefits, as well as its culture. Job security and advancement, however, scored lower.

Airbnb

Founded in 2008, AirBnb, Inc. is headquartered in San Francisco, California It is an online platform that serves as a marketplace for travel information and booking services. Airbnb offers lodging, home-stay, and tourism services via websites and mobile applications with a global clientele.

What Does Airbnb Pay Its Graphic Designers?

The average annual salary of graphic designers in Airbnb is $79,288. The estimated annual salary range is between $60,000 and $102,000. Their benefits include group health care coverage and group life insurance. They also offer generous pension and welfare benefits.

Airbnb Reviews

Airbnb scores fairly well among employees with a four out of five-star overall rating. The company received its best reviews on its work-life balance and company culture.  However, Airbnb does not appear to be very highly regarded in terms of job advancement opportunities.

Adobe Systems, Inc.

Adobe Systems, Inc. is an American multinational company specializing in computer software and digital products for the creation and publication of content. They have a global team of graphic designers, program managers, researchers, and prototypers.

What Does Adobe Systems, Inc. Pay Its Graphic Designers?

Adobe hires graphic design specialists who receive an average annual salary of $70,262. The estimated pay range is between $52,000 to $97,000 annually, depending on the level of experience and work arrangements.

Adobe Systems, Inc. Reviews

Employee reviews describe Adobe Systems, Inc. as a great workplace with friendly colleagues and an inclusive environment. Although they sometimes have long work hours, they provide decent pay with benefits and opportunities for career advancement.

IKEA

IKEA is a multinational conglomerate that focuses on designing and selling home furnishings and kitchen appliances. There are 422 stores in 50 countries and have 225,000 IKEA employees worldwide.

What Does IKEA Pay Its Graphic Designers?

IKEA hires graphic designers who receive an average annual salary of $70,262. The estimated pay range is between $52,000 to $97,000 annually, depending on the level of experience and work arrangements.

IKEA Reviews

According to employee reviews, the IKEA work environment does not discriminate. The company culture promotes togetherness where employees work as a team. Although work can be stressful because it is mainly customer-cantered, it is a great place to learn new things every day.

Cisco Systems, Inc.

Cisco is a multinational corporation that develops and sells software, networking hardware, telecom equipment, and other high-tech products. The company hires designers to actively participate in the design process and help shape products and user experiences.

What Does Cisco Systems, Inc. Pay Its Graphic Designers?

Cisco Systems pays its graphic designers $64,428 as a median annual wage. The pay range is from $46,000 to $89,000, depending on the employee’s skills, job title, and range of experience. Employees at Cisco are given comprehensive health insurance, profit-sharing, and a defined contribution pension plan.

Cisco Systems, Inc. Reviews

Cisco employee reviews state that the company has a very healthy work culture. They provide numerous opportunities to develop technical skills. Employees typically work long hours in a fast-paced environment.

Intel Corporation

Intel is an American multinational corporation located in Silicon Valley, and is the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductor chips. They have 121,100 employees serving customers worldwide. Intel is the leading supplier of microprocessors for computer system giants such as Acer, HP, Dell, and Lenovo.

What Does Intel Corporation Pay Its Graphic Designers?

The average annual salary of graphic designers at Intel is $63,052. The pay range is from $45,000 to $90,000, depending on the job type and range of experience. Senior positions are open, including senior level and layout designers, with an average salary of $138,149.

Intel Corporation Reviews

Employee reviews commend Intel for its generous employee benefits and excellent work culture. They foster personal growth and promote continuous learning by providing multiple training options. Some employees complain of politics within the organization and long work hours, but the company continues to regulate and improve critical internal issues.

Amazon

Amazon is an American multinational ecommerce company that also offers digital streaming, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing. In 2020, the company employed 1,289,000 full-time and part-time employees and had $386 billion in net revenues.

What Does Amazon Pay Its Graphic Designers?

Amazon pays its graphic designers $62,500 as a median annual wage. Employee benefits include health insurance, life insurance, and temporary and long-term disability insurance.

Amazon Reviews

Employees say that life at Amazon is fast-paced and competitive, but in a fun and challenging way that is not stressful. The workload is well-distributed among employees, creating a good work-life balance.

The Home Depot

The Home Depot Inc. is a home improvement retailer with headquarters in Cobb County, Georgia. It’s the biggest and most popular home improvement and building-material retailer in the US. Its vast operations require several design jobs including graphic, instructional, kitchen, and UX designers.

What Does The Home Depot Pay Its Graphic Designers?

The average annual salary of graphic designers at The Home Depot is $59,981. Its employee benefits include paid holidays, a 401k, profit-sharing, and a defined contribution pension plan.

The Home Depot Reviews

Employee reviews say that the work is challenging but rewarding. Despite the physical demands and long work hours, the company’s appreciation for hard work and monetary compensation is well worth it.

Saatchi & Saatchi

Founded by brothers Charles and Maurice Saatchi in 1970, Saatchi & Saatchi is a marketing agency and communications services company. Conducting its operations internationally, the company is one of the world’s most renowned advertising agencies. It offers electronic media, print design, search engine optimization, and corporate branding for advertising customers such as Toyota and Procter & Gamble.

What Does Saatchi & Saatchi Pay Its Graphic Designers?

The average annual salary of graphic designers at Saatchi & Saatchi is $58,715. The estimated annual salary range is between $45,000 and $76,000. They also hire junior graphic designers for $41,413 annually, while the art director position earns $62,324.

Saatchi & Saatchi Reviews

Based on employee reviews on Indeed, Saatchi and Saatchi has an overall review score of four out of five stars. Its highest scoring categories include company culture and compensation, while its lowest-scoring categories include job security and advancement.

Apple, Inc.

Founded in 1976, Apple Computer Company developed into Apple Inc., a globally celebrated company that is involved in product design, manufacturing, and marketing of personal computers, tablets, smartphones, and accessories. It also offers a range of services related to its physical products, such as app design.

What Does Apple, Inc. Pay Its Graphic Designers?

The average annual salary of graphic designers at Apple is $55,000. If a graphic designer improves their art direction skills and is promoted to an art director role, their annual salary can increase to $97,307, while the senior art director can receive as much as $137,304. It also hires layout artists, UX designers, and digital producers.

Apple, Inc. Reviews

Based on Apple employee reviews on Indeed, Apple has an overall review score of four out of five stars. The company scores the highest in culture, compensation, and benefits. However, it scores a bit lower in terms of work-life balance, job security, and advancement.

Why You Should Become a Graphic Designer in 2022

There are a lot of opportunities for graphic artists in 2022, and the job outlook for graphic designers is generally stable at three percent between 2020 and 2030. Whether you have a bachelor’s degree or not, you can improve your chances of getting hired by enrolling in a graphic design bootcamp.

Due to the tough competition in this profession, the median pay for graphic designers is only $53,380. This salary may not be as high as other IT-related jobs, but the income opportunities for graphic designers are promising.

Best Companies for Graphic Designers FAQ

What is the highest salary for graphic designers?

The highest salary of a graphic designer is $84,000. Those earning more than this are usually graphic designers promoted to higher positions, such as an art director role.

What industries hire graphic designers?

The top employer of graphic designers is the specialized design services industry, employing nearly 18 percent of graphic designers. The other top hiring industries include advertising, printing, publishing, and design consultancy.

How do graphic designers get rich?

Graphic designers get rich by holding a job in a high-paying creative agency with growth opportunities. Some choose to go the freelance route to offer visual design, packaging design, and product design services. On the other hand, some establish their own graphic design firm or graphic design studio.

Is it hard to get a job in graphic design?

Yes, it is hard to get a job in a graphic design studio or a graphic design company, mainly because of the competition. It is especially hard if you’re a beginner-level designer. Taking short courses and doing practice projects will help hone your skills to increase your chances of getting a job as a graphic designer.

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Sourced from Career Karma

Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication.

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How can you effectively measure social media marketing?

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By Jenny Stanley,

Social media ROI is one of the most important key performance indicators (KPIs) in marketing. It is often expressed as a percentage. KPIs allow you to compare and contrast different marketing channels to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of each channel.

Unlike measurements such as likes or shares, which are specific to social media, you can easily compare the ROI of all your social networks to that of your search engine advertising or email campaigns. This is because analysing your ROI across various channels allows you to rationalize the impact of all your marketing efforts with one clear concise single measurement. This analysis helps you identify immediately which social networks are most profitable as well as cost-effective for your business.

How do you measure customer engagement on social media?

Engagement is often considered to be one of the most valuable metrics for measuring lead generation on social media. However, you need to consider a multitude of factors when it comes to customer engagement. For example, are you addressing the right audience, how will your audience interact with your brand, and what does your audience do to engage with your brand and spread your content? A large follower base and many quality posts mean nothing if users are not genuinely interested in what you are offering.

To measure engagement, you need to measure user reactions. The reality of modern social media is that people see a lot of news and fresh content every day. If a consumer is interested in a piece of content, they will take a moment to comment on or like a post. Customer engagement on social media is a one-time thing. In effect, it shows that the user is interested in your brand’s publication in a well-filled community.

Measuring customer engagement

Retweets, likes, bookmarks and time spent watching your stories or videos can be monitored in real-time. To do this, you need to use social analytics software and web tools. You can also measure customer engagement using a specific formula: customer engagement = (amount of interactions/reach of posts) x 100.

Measuring negative customer engagement

Negative feedback is another form of customer engagement. You can know how a customer feels about your company, even with a negative comment. By taking the time to express themselves, the consumer is in a way showing that they expect a correction, which in turn can improve their experience.

How to measure the success of social media marketing?

As stated above, KPIs help in your company’s decision-making process. There are a few indicators that will be discussed in turn below. Each indicator should be monitored according to the objectives you have set yourself. For ease, we will group them into four sub-categories.

Reach

The reach metric lets you know how far your content reaches in terms of audience. In other words, it is an indication of the number of people who have seen your publication once. However, using reach as a metric for success should be done with caution. This is because the reach metric is often an estimated figure. However, the benefit of this is that it allows you to quantify the size of your potential audience. For example, a reach of 10,000 means that 10,000 people will see your publication at least once in their news feed.

Impressions

The impressions metric should be distinguished from reach. It corresponds to the number of times your publication has appeared on the screen. This content can be seen several times by the same person. For example, if your reach is 1,000 as in the previous example and the number of impressions is 10,000, it could be assumed that users have seen the publication 10 times.

Mentions

Mentions are the number of times your content has been mentioned by a person or influencer. This is one way to reach more people. Being mentioned often can mean that your content is liked for its quality. For example, when a person or influencer mentions you in a post or shares your content, they use the @personname feature. You will receive a notification that they have mentioned you.

Community

This indicator corresponds to your number of subscribers. You can follow its evolution. Its increase or decrease should be closely observed as it is directly correlated to the quality of your content. This indicator also allows you to learn more about the profile of your community (for example, their gender, age or location).

To measure the reach of your posts, impressions, mentions and your community, you can use social media tools such as Facebook Insights, Instagram Insights and Twitter Analytics. Each platform has its specificities. For example, with LinkedIn Demographics, you can learn more about the professional characteristics of your site visitors. Facebook Insights will allow you to know the hours of activity of your community.

There are alternatives to the integrated tools for knowing the results of your actions on social networks. This is the case of tools such as Hootsuite or CX Social, to name but a few.

How do I optimize content for social media marketing?

Ensuring an effective presence on social networks is a marketing challenge for all companies. Global login statistics show that potential customers are online more than elsewhere. This means that companies need to get involved in digital, which is now at the heart of marketing strategies.

Methods for social media and optimizing your marketing strategy

While all companies are now present on social media, not all have the same results. Information with high added value for internet users is needed, but the publication medium plays an equally important role. Even when communicating about your products, the approach must be designed to arouse the curiosity of the user.

Adjusting your brand to your audience

On social networks, you must adjust to the sensitivities of your community, depending on the medium on which you are communicating. As a rule, long texts are not welcome. The preferred format on social networks is images and videos, which may explain the growing success of TikTok and Instagram Reels.

When should I post on social media?

The timing, frequency and target audience of each post should be carefully considered.

Some platforms help you to automate your communication on social networks. From one interface you can control all your social media pages, plan and schedule up-to-the-minute posts, and analyse your marketing strategy.

One of the main advantages of such a tool is of course the possibility to synchronize your posts on all social networks. In addition, you can track your audience in real-time to measure and analyse the reach of each action.

Communicating on social networks to make money is a more demanding and complicated process than you might think. Having innovative tools at your disposal to automate and professionalize this communication can only help the company to achieve its objectives.

Conclusion

In conclusion, when approaching your social media strategy, it’s important that when considering all of the factors mentioned above that they are always considered in light of your brand’s marketing KPIs to determine the success of your campaigns.

By Jenny Stanley,

Jenny Stanley is managing director at Appetite Creative.

Sourced from The Drum

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Hit them in the feels: how to generate emotive customer experiences

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By Hannah Atherden

It’s no secret that creating amazing customer experiences is a key component of all brands’ marketing strategies. If that’s not the case, then quite frankly you’re missing a trick. In 2021, where the majority of a customer’s interaction with a brand is online, customer experience (CX) becomes even more important. eMarketer’s 2021 Customer Experience report finds that 93% of US adults described themselves as very likely to make more purchases from companies across all industries that provided ‘very good’ CX. On top of this, the Global State of Customer Experience report tells us that three-quarters of consumers switch to a brand competitor after just one bad experience. In short, if you want to retain your customers and drive more sales, a positive customer experience is key.

Customer experience covers an extremely broad area, as it can be defined as every touchpoint that a customer has with your brand, from pre-purchase, to the purchase process (if they get that far) and consumption, to post-purchase interactions.

So, if you’re looking to improve your customer experience, where should you start?

Hit them in the feels

In my opinion, creating emotive experiences is one of the key considerations for driving exceptional CX. Customers respond well to brands when they feel heard and understood, or when they are surprised and delighted by the experience they have with a brand. A study conducted by Forrester and Focus Vision showed that the way customers feel during a brand experience (delight or disgust) has 1.5x more impact on the actions they take with that brand (for example, purchase) than the way they think about the brand (for example, it fitting in their with lifestyle). The study also found that increasing the average number of positive thoughts or feelings about a brand increases a customer’s likelihood to purchase in the next three months by 11%, and their likelihood to advocate for your brand by 15.4%.

Driving emotive customer experiences doesn’t necessarily come easily. I believe there are three key considerations to keep in mind to achieve this:

  1. Empathize with your customers
  2. Surprise and delight your customers
  3. Make your customers feel unique

Empathize with your customers

The best customer experiences are born from an outside-in approach: listening to your customers and responding to their needs. Collecting data from your customers (including from social media comments and product reviews) is a great place to start. However, it’s not just about listening – it’s about hearing what your customers have to say and empathizing with them. Sometimes they will tell you something you don’t like, or something unexpected; adapting your strategy based on their genuine feedback is the way to win.

Bloom & Wild demonstrated a great example of this in 2019. Despite Mother’s Day being the busiest day of the year for florists, for some Bloom & Wild customers persistent email marketing reminding them of the occasion was upsetting. Bloom & Wild heard this and were mindful of the fact that Mother’s Day can be a difficult time for a variety of reasons. In response, Bloom & Wild adapted its CX, giving customers the chance to opt out of Mother’s Day-specific marketing, while still receiving the same offers and discounts. This resulted in 18,000 opt-outs of the Mother’s Day campaign, and over 1000 responses from customers to thank Bloom & Wild for its thoughtfulness – a perfect example of pivoting your CX through empathy.

Surprise and delight customers

Many brands now offer a similar standard of customer experience, especially digitally, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Driving joyful, unexpected experiences for your customer is a great way of standing out among competitors. No one particularly enjoys having to interact with brands, and contacting brands directly is typically out of necessity or to complain. Using a direct contact opportunity with your customer to surprise and delight them can tap into driving up their positive thoughts or feelings. As mentioned previously, this could increase the likelihood of future purchases and brand advocacy.

Octopus Energy have done a brilliant job here. Max McShane, head of digital, recently talked at Econsultancy Live about their focus on “outrageously good customer experiences”. Its strategy includes treating customers to personalized hold music based on the year they were born in a bid to up their positive feelings about the brand while they wait. This has worked wonders, with McShane claiming: “Every week we get a comment that says, ‘can you put me back on hold, I’m listening to an absolute banger.’” Identifying even the smallest moments where your brand can increase a customer’s positive feeling can be the difference between a good CX and a great one.

Make your customers feel unique

Staying on the theme of personalization, making your customer feel unique is another way of generating emotive customer experiences. Spotify has always done this well. Ever since it started creating its ‘Daily Mixes’ for its customers, personalization has been inherent to its CX. However, it took this up a notch recently by launching its ‘Only You’ campaign. This campaign uses your listening data to highlight the artists, songs, genres and listening patterns that are both unique and important to you. With this campaign, Spotify doesn’t just make the customer feel special – although it has done the same for everyone, there is novelty in the idea that this is ‘just for you’ – the content that comes with it is also very shareable. Spotify’s retention rate is also benefited by this unique customer experience, as the creation of ‘Only You’ playlists gives customers ready-made content that would be a lot effort to replicate on a competing music streaming service.

Key takeaways

  • The importance of great customer experience is not going away, so brands must ensure CX is considered as an integral part of their marketing strategy.
  • With that in mind, creating emotive customer experiences can be extremely powerful, especially as research has shown the effect positive customer feeling has on interactions with brands.
  • Collect as much data as you can that helps you to understand your customer’s needs and desires, and pivot your CX strategy accordingly.

If you are keen to explore how improved CX can drive growth in your business, then get in touch with Capgemini Invent.

Feature Image Credit: Capgemini Invent provides tips for marketers looking to improve their customer experience

By Hannah Atherden

Senior marketing consultant at Capgemini Invent.

Sourced from The Drum

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The on-demand economy will fuel shoppable video

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By Thomas Hobbs

The global pandemic has boosted consumer appetite for shoppable video and accelerated the move towards an on-demand economy.

At The Drum’s Digital Transformation Festival, during a fireside chat, Stuart Heffernan, head of e-commerce at Pernod Ricard, and Nicola Spooner, vice-president of strategy for Unruly, asserted that post-pandemic consumption habits were here to stay and would fuel a shoppable content boom.

On-demand e-commerce

“This past year has been revolutionary for e-commerce,” said Heffernan. “In the space of a year, on-demand retail and players have boomed globally.”

Uber’s acquisition of the drinks delivery platform Drizly, Pernod Ricard’s recent stake in on-demand grocery platform Glovo and the rise of delivery apps in mature e-commerce markets such as the UK all suggest this trend will continue.

Heffernan also remarked: “On-demand will stick around because people get hooked on convenience and are prepared to pay a premium for it. Uber Eats’ alcohol sales have increased significantly – that’s a premium price point for standard products because it is pure speed and convenience.”

Connected TV growth

The two also spoke about the rise of ‘hometainment’ and how it dovetailed with the rise in super-fast, on-demand e-commerce.

Spooner said: “Consumers are accessing more content in an on-demand capacity than ever before. We don’t predict that slowing because now that people have trialled that kind of method of indulging in content, they’re not going to want to let it go.”

She added that while she could foresee a consolidation in subscription services, there would always be a thirst for on-demand quality content. “For brands, that brings an exciting opportunity because we’re delivering a lot of creative shoppable solutions.”

According to a recent study from Unruly, 72% of UK advertisers say connected TV (CTV) is a key part of their video advertising strategy. There is also a huge amount of optimism about the medium’s future, with all media agencies and 77% of brands saying they plan to invest more in CTV during the next 12 months.

The pandemic-induced boom of branded ‘hometainment’ experiences, such as showing how to make cocktails or advice on pairing food and wine, has readied consumers for shoppable content from brands.

Heffernan argued that this would continue to be the case even after lockdowns ends.

“Even if the pandemic has completely gone away by January next year, it will still be cold and wet and I will still be sitting at home. So, if a Jameson brand ambassador reaches me through the right media targeting, then yes, I will engage because it’s something to do on a Wednesday night.”

Unruly’s Spooner said that making branded content shoppable and serviceable by the on-demand apps consumers have grown to depend on during lockdown will induce impulse purchasing.

According to Unruly and research consultancy MTM, 90% of digital advertisers plan to increase their CTV spend in 2021.

“Shoppable content really opens the doors to impulse purchasing,” said Spooner. “If you are watching content around cooking and there is the contextual placement for Jameson’s cocktails or Viejo wines, I – as a consumer – could be inspired and take action immediately.”

From awareness to conversion

Both panellists agreed that TV is no longer about brand-building but about conversion, adding that advertisers should now augment campaigns with shoppable elements.

“There are plenty of ways to add shoppable elements to campaigns,” said Spooner. “It could be a light touch brand bar over the top of an amazing TV creative or an on-screen QR code so that consumers can scan it with their phone, which is location-enabled, and have that experience in their front room in moments.”

Ultimately, shoppable video will allow marketers to build video into every stage of their marketing plan rather than simply viewing it as an awareness boosting tool.

By Thomas Hobbs

Sourced from The Drum

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How creativity can drive business results: Adobe, Lego, Unilever, IBM and Diageo will show the way

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By amit bapna

A year on from Covid-19’s first lockdowns, nations and economies seem to have better control and growth is on the mind as a semblance of recovery is in sight, particularly in Asia Pacific.

Even within this chaotic situation, the region has shown signs of faster recovery than many other parts of the world and are even providing learnings to other parts of the world on how best to navigate through the challenges. While that is heartening news, it also leads to the question on how ready are brands from a creative standpoint to navigate this new and emerging reality?

To help marketers unravel this critical puzzle, The Drum and Adobe have put together a power-packed panel with senior representatives from formidable brands like Lego, Unilever, IBM and Diageo. These top brand leaders will come together for a 60-minute session with live Q&A and deep-dive into the key challenges that the marketers and creatives are facing in producing content that engages customers as well as connects with them, at scale.

The session will discuss how a good mix of talent and technology can help in unlocking the answers to these challenges and allow collaboration to thrive in a new hybrid way of working. It will also look at the following key themes:

  • The changes that the brands have had to navigate and adapt to since the pandemic began
  • ​The evolving creative approaches
  • Raising the role of creativity in driving business goals
  • The emerging face of creative collaboration in the new world

The discussion, on 21 April 2021, will be moderated by Charlotte McEleny, The Drum’s Asia Pacific publisher, who will be joined by Michael Stoddart, director, strategic business development (APAC) at Adobe, Grace Astari Italiaander, creative lead – innovation at Diageo, Primus Nair Manokaran, head of creative at The LEGO Agency (APAC), Kartik Chandrasekhar, global brand vice president of Lifebuoy at Unilever and Isabella Bain, sales and creative associate director at IBM.

By amit bapna

Sourced from The Drum

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Programmatic: Why building a curated marketplace should be a priority for buyers in 2021

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By Michael Feeley

Anyone working within programmatic advertising is likely to hear the phrase ‘curated marketplace’ a lot in 2021 – but what does ‘curation’ really mean in this context and why should it be a key priority for media buyers over the next 12 months?

Michael Simpkins, Marketplace Commercial Lead at Xandr explains, as the programmatic landscape has become increasingly cluttered and complex over the past decade, many people now assume that media buyers operating their own ‘curated marketplace’ are simply looking to work with fewer partners in the advertising supply chain. However, this is only the first step and barely scratches the surface of how curation can help improve the effectiveness of a media strategy.

Going back to basics

With the rapid growth of the programmatic industry, the supply chain became fragmented, resulting in a loss of control and transparency for both buyers and sellers. Buyers are also facing increasing pressure to justify return on ad spend, but siloed spending, rigid metrics and a convoluted supply chain make it hard to prove marketing impact on business outcomes.

As a collective, the industry has matured in the past few years to take a step back and simplify the complex landscape. Direct relationships between buyers and sellers are being rebuilt and big steps are being taken to improve supply chain transparency. Marketers, now more understanding of the supply chain, are seeking to regain control not just over their ad spend but over their campaign performance too and, with the deprecation of the third-party cookie, these objectives take on even greater importance. On the other hand, with the proliferation of header bidding, publishers want to make sure their most important media buyers are still able to reach and value their inventory effectively. It is important for companies to deliver unique value across the advertising ecosystem from consumers, buyers and sellers. One of the ways we at Xandr are able to do this is through our curation offering, which brings buyers and sellers together on our platform, offering buyers a simplified and dedicated workflow to easily build out their own curated marketplaces from the supply available on our premium advertising marketplace.

Regaining control of the supply chain

By building out a curated marketplace, buyers gain control within the SSP (sell-side platform) and can apply macro business rules to supply before it hits the DSP (demand-side platform) for targeting, significantly reducing risk in a diverse supply chain.

Through curation, buyers are able to maximise their investment by having full control over supply decisioning and ensuring all media is run across brand safe environments and eliminating non-essential pass throughs in the supply chain. Costs can also be reduced as buyers streamline supply sources, campaign workflows and operational complexity while also having the ability to negotiate price and priority within publishers. Buyers are able to receive regular reports on supply-side fees and auction dynamics, strengthening cross-industry relationships and supporting our industry’s quest for supply chain transparency.

As collaboration becomes even more important in 2021 and beyond, curating a marketplace on a single platform can reduce the risk even further. With fewer partners you’re able to work together on market and regulatory changes, niche audience targets and specific campaign needs together.

What is curation?

Today, we are used to a two-party transaction with a buyer using a DSP to purchase inventory and a seller using an SSP to surface their inventory to the buy side. Curation moves us to a three-party transaction where we now have a curator that sits between the SSP and DSP and works alongside the publishers to decide what inventory is allowed into their marketplace and then packages and merchandises that inventory via a curated multi-seller private marketplace (PMP) to make it available to the buy side to trade in their DSP.

Creating your own curated marketplace does not have to be a huge undertaking – in fact, it involves just four key steps:

  • Identify what you want to get out of the curated marketplace. Is it fee and auction dynamic transparency? More control on your supply paths? Performance gains? Setting a clear objective and strategy for the curated marketplace will make the process clearer for all parties involved.
  • Establish who you want to partner with to build out the curated marketplace. Pick a technology partner that has the supply coverage, tools, expertise and service models to implement a successful curated marketplace.
  • Work with your technology partner to understand what supply to bring into your marketplace and how to work with the publishers to do so. A curated marketplace should bring buyers and publishers closer together, not act as a blocker.
  • Optimise your curated marketplace. These marketplaces shouldn’t be static and should constantly be optimised based on performance, market changes and pricing.

As consumers continue to access media content across numerous devices, their attention becomes increasingly difficult to capture and hold. To catch their audience wherever they are viewing content means marketers are having to reconsider their strategies for planning, buying and measuring advertisers. We have to introduce an option for those who want to buy advertising and access to consumers on all devices and formats in one place, and that option is curation.

By Michael Feeley

Sourced from The Drum

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Quick-fire tips for optimizing your Google My Business page

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By Sally Newman

Google My Business is the home of your local online presence and the information hub for potential customers in your area. In this article, we fire through all the key steps of completing and optimising your profile to bring more customers to your business – both online and in store.

Make your NAP & business info 100% accurate

Accurate business information, especially your name, address and phone number (NAP), is one of the strongest signals in local search. So make sure your details are 100% accurate on your Google My Business page and that they match the business information you have listed on your website and third-party sites (directories, review sites, etc).

There are four pieces of basic business information that you need to specify right away:

  • Your business name
  • Your business category
  • Your business address
  • Your service area

You will have chosen a business category when you created or claimed your business in GMB but you can now add further categories to help Google show your listing to relevant searches with greater accuracy.

Provide opening times to encourage store visits

People searching for businesses in their local area might be looking for takeaways open late on a Sunday, shops that are still open on their way back from work or stores where they can look at a product before actually buying it. This means having accurate opening times on your GMB listings can win you customers.

Google My Business encourages you to add opening times to your listing and you absolutely should. Make sure you accurately fill these out and keep them up-to-date so people can always trust the information on your profile.

Capture web and phone leads from GMB

You can track phone calls from Google My Business by using a phone tracking service and entering your tracking code as your primary phone number.

Bonus tip: add your real phone number as an additional number and make sure it matches with the number you’ve got listed elsewhere (area code is important) to show Google that this is, in fact, your business number.

You can also track website visits from GMB by creating a UTM (Urchin tracking module) using Google Analytics Dev Tools.

Once you’re done, simply copy the URL and paste it into the website section of your Google My Business page.

Add products to your GMB profile

If you sell products online or in-store, you can add them to your Google My Business profile to drive in-store visits and clicks through to your website.

You need to name each product and select or create a new product category. You have the option of showing prices or price ranges for each product and you can add a product description, as well as an optional call-to-action button.

Make your business stand out with attributes

Attributes help users choose the ideal business for their needs and also increase the quality of leads you generate from Google My Business.

You can specify that your business has on-site parking or free wifi, for example, or show which Covid-19 measures you’re taking, such as staff wearing masks. You can also list services you provide, like free delivery, takeaways, in-store pickups and other options that could win the customer.

Optimise your business description?

Your business description is one of the few places in your GMB profile where you get to explain what makes your business unique. You get 750 characters to tell people why they should step through your door or buy from you over the other alternatives in the local area (if there are any).

The more competition you face, the more important your description could prove to be. Make sure you’re honest and try to focus on the characteristics of your business that appeal to your target customers.

You can find out what not to include in your business description on this Google My Business Help page.

Show the best of your business with quality photos

Google My Business allows you to upload images of your business and this is one of the most underutilised tools in GMB. These images, quite literally, shape the mental image users build about your business and you want to make sure these photos create the right impression.

Get yourself a professional photographer and upload high-quality images of the following:

  • Your business logo (this shows when you post a photo or reply to reviews, questions, etc)
  • Your GMB cover photo
  • Your exterior building
  • The interior of your business
  • Products/services
  • Covid-19 measures
  • Images showing the attributes in your profile

You can also upload videos to Google My Business so think hard about the kind of message you want to put across, such as your company’s history or a compilation of video reviews from a selection of happy customers. For more tips on optimising your Google My Business page, check out this video.

By Sally Newman

SEO specialist at Vertical Leap

Sourced from The Drum

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In no-spectators era, digital platforms are turning sports sponsorship on its head

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By Caroline Parry.

Nothing beats the thrill of watching live sporting events unfold. Those impossible acts, the surprise results and glorious victories – there is nothing else like it. Sport is emotional, it is engaging and it has the power to unify.

There is a huge global appetite for sport and, after the Covid-19 pandemic forced many spectator sports to shut down for much of 2020, fans became hungrier than ever for the excitement of live events.

While many rescheduled tent-pole sports events are due to take place over 2021, all eyes will be on the Tokyo Summer Olympics, set to launch on 23 July. Although organisers are working tirelessly to ensure the Games go ahead, there is still a real possibility that fans will be unable to attend in person.

For brands, this presents the challenge of connecting with fans without them being physically in the stadium. However, it also creates new opportunities for brands to engage fans at home and enhance their mobile and digital experience.

Without a doubt, it will be a different experience for sports fans, but new viewing patterns and behaviours were already evolving. Live sports broadcasting is being disrupted by digital devices and online platforms, meaning it is no longer a linear TV experience.

This change was already apparent in the viewing figures for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, where 3.2 billion people watched on a combination of TV and digital devices. Today, according to the research firm GlobalWebIndex’s (GWI) data from Q3 2020, 54% of global sports fans watch coverage or highlights online.

Digital viewing for the Olympics Games has been soaring since Beijing in 2008. According to e-Marketer’s Sports OTT Landscape report from January 2019, it was expected to hit new heights in 2020 with video views predicted to top 3.5bn. TV views were projected at around the 3bn mark.

Fans are also taking their conversations online as highlighted by GWI (Q3 2020) showing that two-thirds of sports fan use social media while watching TV. With duel-screening now almost universal, brands should note that mobile sports consumption is increasing multi-faceted. According to Facebook data, there are 700 million sports fans on Facebook and 400 million fans on Instagram.

The 2016 Summer Games in Rio also demonstrated how the behaviour of sports fans is changing. Facebook saw 1.5bn interactions during the games from 277 million unique users, while Instagram registered 916m interactions from 131 million unique users. The last Football World Cup generated 5.3bn interactions.

More than half of viewers are also chatting with friends via platforms such as WhatsApp sharing key sporting moments, while a third is reading the news, playing games or searching for products related to what they are watching. What does this mean for marketers, particularly sponsors?

Sports sponsorship has long been big business for brands, offering a vast, often international, reach, and a culturally relevant audience. According to the research and data company Kantar, sports sponsorship will account for 10% of all global advertising spend in 2021, hitting nearly $50bn.

Tracking the performance of those campaigns and measuring success has always proved tricky for brands. At the same time, sponsorship properties have often only been available on long-term contracts. It is no surprise then that Kantar research also found that 44% of marketers believe sponsorship is the least understood media channel in terms of return on investment.

However, digital and online platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, are turning the sponsorship model on its head. The opportunities for bespoke content and agile and trackable campaigns allow brands to target their campaigns more accurately and assess their success more quickly.

Andy Childs of Facebook’s Central Europe Connection Planning unit explains: “Sports sponsorship is in transition, with brands all vying for consumer share of mind and share of wallet. With our platform and analytics, Facebook and Instagram offer brands a unique opportunity to grow – to reach mass audiences, enhance the fan experience, trigger relevant purchases and importantly measure the business impact of sport sponsorship.“

It means not only are brands seeking shorter, more targeted sponsorship opportunities than are the market norm, but there are more ways for non-sponsoring brands to get involved in tent-pole sporting events.

With more opportunities for brands to get involved in the 2021 Summer Games, the need for creative campaigns that cut through the noise will be more critical than ever. To do this, marketers should consider these creative thought starters:

Amplify brand association

A brand should develop a meaningful link with its chosen sports event among its audience, and cut through the clutter by demonstrating its interest and reason for getting involved with the sport. Where fans are aware of the link between sponsor and property, there is a 30% uplift in commercial effects compared to where fans are unaware of the correct linkage.*

It is vital to identify a different emotional space to other sponsors, particularly close competitors, while also targeting a broad audience with content such as snackable video. Use in-stream advertising to build a stronger association.

Enhance the fan experience

To reinforce the connection between the brand and the event, offer fans something exclusive or innovative that enriches and deepens that emotional connection. Where fans are aware of the linkage and further believe that there is benefit to the property and to the fan experience (arising from the sponsorship), there is a 71% uplift in commercial effects.*

Meanwhile, offer fans a 24/7 experience through branded content and increase relevance through contextual and geo-targeting. Sponsors can also seek to augment and gamify sports consumption.

Trigger consumption opportunities

The third way to grow with sports is through sales – generating a commercial return is the most important overall objective for sponsors or non-sponsors alike. The best way is to Integrate a brand’s product or service into the fabric or experience of the event. By focusing on products connected to an event that are a natural fit or can be enjoyed during the event. Campaigns should promote relevant products or services at relevant moments, including athlete participation, home matches or weather triggers. This strategy will help improve understanding of sports event ROI.

The whole sports community from the fans and sportspeople, athletes and teams through to leagues and associations, media and influencers to advertisers and brands have all embraced this brave new world of sports. It is an evolution that has the potential to enrich the experience for everyone.

Even when fans are allowed to return to live sports events, online platforms and brands will continue to enhance and build on that experience. The potential, the reach and the creativity that online platforms can offer are only beginning to be realised.

* Professor Tony Meenaghan, Jamie Macken and Mark Nolan, Core Ireland, 2018

By Caroline Parry

Sourced from The Drum

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Social commerce: transforming the online shopping experience

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By Josh Tilley

Social media has been a key marketing channel since its conception and has increasingly played a role in how people shop. But up until now, shopping behaviour was limited to discovery and consideration, with purchase taking place off-platform on a brand or retailer website.

Today, social platforms look poised to ’close the loop’, meaning users will be able to browse, shop and purchase seamlessly and entirely within one connected social media experience. This development has the potential to fundamentally transform the way we buy online.

Welcome to the future of ‘social commerce’.

To better understand shopper behaviours, attitudes and beliefs in this space, we polled a nationally representative audience of UK shoppers, discovering that nearly two-in-three people would be more likely to purchase from a brand if they could browse and shop entirely within a social media platform.

From this, the evidence is clear: the winners of tomorrow will be the brands that embrace social commerce as a real tool for customer acquisition and retention. For those that fail to act, loss of market share could become a tangible concern. In a social world, learning how to navigate these waters is no longer just a ‘nice to have’.

The rise of social commerce

According to the latest research, social commerce is a market with a remarkable growth trajectory, with analysts projecting it could be worth $600bn in the next seven years.

As we’ve seen in the past year, Covid-19 has accelerated existing trends in shopper behaviour. The latest figures suggest an extra £5.3bn will be spent via e-commerce in the UK alone in 2020 as the fallout from the pandemic has forced more people online than ever before. Early figures suggest this behaviour is set to stay as we emerge from the pandemic.

Although shoppers are flocking online, social commerce is still a fairly nascent market in the UK and US. In fact, studies suggest that only 6% of UK consumers have purchased directly on a social platform, in part due to the lack of in-platform purchasing options in these markets.

In more advanced countries like China, however, social commerce is an integral part of the online shopping experience. Tencent’s WeChat delivered $115bn in social commerce sales in 2019 alone, while Pinduoduo, a group-buying app where friends can purchase together on social media, has grown from an innovative startup to China’s second most valuable online retailer.

As US platforms look to replicate some of this functionality, China provides us with a model of how social will likely evolve for commerce in the west.

Shopper thinking will be crucial to navigate social commerce

Today, brands have more opportunities to interact with people than ever, across an increasing number of digital touchpoints. Digital and social platforms have succeeded at meeting new customer expectations, with values such as convenience, ease of use, customisation and control redefining the shopping experience.

It’s not surprising, then, that social media is uniquely positioned to deliver on these needs. Based on our research, however, social will remain a nuanced and highly intricate channel. Careful consideration of different shopper motivations and barriers, as well as brand experience across the shopper journey, will be key to maximising shoppability across brands’ social media channels.

Consumer behaviour in this channel is anything but homogenous; in fact, our research suggests adoption of social commerce will differ by age. Being able to buy within platform would encourage 75% of 21- to 34-year-olds to purchase with a brand, suggesting that demographic differences will necessitate careful persona planning.

Price also seems to be a determining factor in whether or not someone would purchase on social, with our research suggesting that big-ticket items such as travel and luxury are much less popular than more affordable items.

Different categories also differ in their appeal, with respondents ranking fashion, beauty, wellbeing and grocery as the categories they would most like to shop for on social.

Taken as a whole, these findings are representative of a shift towards social media as a new and growing e-commerce channel, but they also demonstrate a need for smart planning. For brands, understanding where, when and how to activate a social commerce strategy as part of a connected shopper experience will be key as we move into 2021.

Social platforms at different levels of readiness

Another consideration is that the platforms themselves are at different levels of ‘readiness’ when it comes to social commerce.

Instagram, for example, has beta-tested its Checkout feature, which allows users to search and shop directly within the app. The mass rollout of this feature will transform how people shop with brands online, making it more convenient to shop not only directly from a brand’s posts, but from influencer posts too. These platform changes will make the social shopping experience on Instagram feel effortless and seamless – all the way from discovery to purchase.

The rollout of Shops across Facebook, meanwhile, allows brands to create digital storefronts, with links to purchase products either on the retailer’s website or directly within Facebook itself.

Even YouTube and TikTok are experimenting with social commerce. YouTube Shopping allows customers to make purchases directly on-site by browsing through catalogues offered by sellers, while TikTok’s partnership with Shopify allows merchants to create and show shoppable content on the platform.

Even before these functionality considerations, each platform lends itself differently to the shopping experience and users’ openness to brand advertising. Instagram, for example, feels like a natural fit for commerce as its highly visual nature emulates a glossy magazine, where products feel native and premium.

This was validated in our research findings, which showed nearly half of all shoppers (45%) would prefer to shop on Instagram, with Facebook (41%) coming in a close second.

These two platforms appear, at the moment, to be far ahead in terms of delivering on shopper expectations, with YouTube (9%) and TikTok (5%) capturing a much smaller percentage of shopper interest.

The sophisticated targeting options available to brands through Facebook Advertising (which includes Instagram) and Google (YouTube) also present opportunities for personalisation and disruption along the shopper journey.

Moreover, social commerce is a particularly exciting development for brands that sell exclusively through retailers, since it presents an opportunity to provide shoppers with a more personalised experience (in lieu of a true direct-to-consumer offering).

We spoke with Joseph Harper, e-commerce marketing manager at Kellogg Company, who notes: “The way people shop in the future will be totally different – it will be completely interactive and personalised.

“We know that retailers are starting to see themselves as media platforms and media platforms are starting to see themselves as retailers. That, in essence, is the crux of social commerce.”

Creating a connected experience for consumers

For a marketing channel with considerable upside, social commerce looks set to have a significant impact on the way shoppers discover, browse and buy. E-commerce has already lowered the barriers to entry, enabling new digital startups to burst on to the scene while forcing legacy brands to rethink existing strategies.

Social looks set to do the same again, challenging traditional brand and retailer relationships and ways of marketing to consumers.

But for the forward-thinking brand, success will come from more than just taking advantage of new platform innovations. Brands need to build connected experiences across all touchpoints that deliver on the values of a new generation of shoppers.

Whether researching on Amazon, being inspired on Instagram, watching adverts on TV or unpacking an order at home, there’s an ever-expanding ecosystem of places shoppers can engage with brands.

Marketers need to focus on optimising the customer journey and include social commerce as a key touchpoint in this. In doing so, brands can take one step closer to delivering a truly connected omnichannel experience.

Feature Image Credit: Initials advise marketers to better optimise the customer journey using social commerce

By Josh Tilley

Josh Tilley, senior strategist at Initials.

Sourced from The Drum

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Why are businesses still taking a shot in the dark when launching a new website?

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By Rich Chapman

Since being in digital I have seen a standard timeline for businesses developing their websites. Make a new one every four or five years to experience an evolutionary leap forwards.

Is this still the right thing to do given the technology and options available to us today?

Basically no, it was never a great option anyway. Building websites, in general, is a difficult task and these days, websites are key revenue drivers for businesses, making it increasingly risky if it goes wrong. I still see cases where organic rankings plummet and conversion rates drop after so much hope has been pinned on a new site launch. It’s an emotional rollercoaster of stress, a sense of achievement on launch day and then panic.

Nowadays there is so much more available to us to mitigate the risk of launching a new website. Yet it is still untapped and companies are reticent to make the additional investment which is a small percentage of the overall cost. We all need to feel we are getting a good deal right so its an element regularly dropped from proposals.

So how do we improve this gambling situation? We need to be able to see into the future and find out how a new site will perform on launch. Good news! We can! Well, sort of…

No, we don’t have a time machine… but we can pre-test a website to see how it performs before exposing it to our entire user base and business to the new unknown. In my experience a lot of stakeholders want to have input on designs and battle for site real estate, this then defines how the new website is designed, from internal opinion alone and HIPPOs. To avoid this trap there are two ways which can give unbiased insight:

User testing

User testing outside of your own web environment can give you a level of feedback and information you simply can’t get from internal stakeholders and outside help. Even as an experienced CRO I can’t tell you for sure which new design is going to be better than your current one. We have to ask user testers what they think.

There are various techniques such as preference tests where user testers will vote for their preferred version, this type of feedback is great at the design stage of a website build.

Another is a click test, this involves finding out what a user would click on first upon landing on the new design. This ensures users are engaging and clicking the call to action most relevant for the business.

One of my favourites is the five second flash test. Users are shown the new version for five seconds and then asked some non-leading open questions: “What does the company do?”, “What would you click on first?”, “Which page element stood out the most?”. The answers from this type of test tell us how scan readers interpret the new design. Businesses can also run this test on the current version and see how the answers compare.

Any of the above can settle design debates and give real information on what users will respond best to. Designs can be updated and retested until 90% of user testers prefer a version. Not so much a shot in the dark now.

A/B testing

The other option is to start testing new designs and website experiences on the live website through A/B testing software. The software enables us to send a percentage of live traffic (usually 50/50) to a new version which is measured against the original. So let’s say designers have followed an internal brief, come up with a new homepage design and some stakeholders like it and some don’t, that’s normal. To find out if the new design really is better (and who is right) it can be tested against the original.

These rounds of testing can be done piece by piece on different layouts, images, fonts, branding, journeys and more. Gradually this gives valuable information on how users respond to the new design and importantly, to change.

Top tip

If you have a large user base and a high amount of returning visitors you can let them know that you will be launching a new website. Send them emails with a launch date combined with a promotion maybe.

One step further is to create a beta site and get feedback from users before the big switch is done. Companies like the BBC and Facebook regularly use this technique. It is a staple in the gaming industry, gamers are invited to use a beta version knowing it might break. Their reward for giving feedback is early access and feeling like a VIP, the game producers get free insight and debugging, win win.

Round up

Adding user testing and a/b testing does make a web build a more lengthy and expensive process. However, from experience, it is worth it. Web site changes can be vanity driven and a “need” to be done at a fast pace leading to errors. Going with a user led approach may be longer but it will help safeguard the business.

It’s also a mindset change, moving from completely changing a site every three to five years to constant tested small changes and evolution. An iterative tested approach removes stress, big lump sum costs and keeps websites up to date.

By Rich Chapman

CRO consultant at Impression.

Sourced from The Drum

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