Professional stand-up comedians are known to practice their routines with smaller audiences in preparation for their big shows and HBO specials. They do this in order to find out what works and what doesn't and to hone all the elements of their routine: timing, delivery, wording and so on. That way, when they hit the big stage, they have the confidence that they are delivering an optimized routine. This is not unlike the "lean startup" approach described by Eric Ries in his book, The Lean Startup. In it, he advocates the "build-measure-learn" cycle, which puts experimentation, measurement [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column | Display Advertising: Programmatic Media Buying

Marketing technologies and strategies are like a runaway train these days -- if you blink, you’ll probably miss the latest techniques; and, if you don’t hold on for dear life, they will pass you by entirely. The good news? It doesn't have to be this hard. An evolving market has far more benefits than disadvantages, if only you know how to wrangle them. Personalization is just one example of this, especially within site retargeting. Before you scratch your head and think that personalization is already in full force within site retargeting, take a step back and let me explain. I'l [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

[caption id="attachment_39268" align="alignright" width="350"] Image via Magnetic[/caption] More and more Web browsers are blocking the use of third-party cookies by default, a development which has sparked a fierce debate in the digital ad industry. Firefox is the latest browser to make the announcement, forcing marketers, ad technology companies and ad agencies to discover another means for reaching consumers with targeted advertising. This controversy began with Safari, but because Safari had a mere 5% market share, it didn’t ruffle many feathers. However, over time, other browse [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column | Retargeting & Remarketing

There is power in teamwork, but it also takes the right combination to make a great team. In the Google Display Network, combining strategies can help you increase traffic while refining your audience. The wrong mixture of strategies can mean too much or too little traffic, or you could end up with a too-broad audience or one that is too small to justify their own campaign or AdGroup. Topic targeting used all by itself can also be very powerful, especially for branding, new product launches or to get on a wide variety of sites relevant to your topic. With topic targeting, if you were releas [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column | Google: Display Advertising | Retargeting & Remarketing

For marketers that want to run online display ad campaigns, choosing between direct channels and real-time bidding (RTB) platforms might seem a little unclear at first. After all, the ultimate result is the same: you are placing your ads on a website somewhere. The process that a marketer must follow, however, to reach that end goal is very different depending on the approach, and each has its pros and cons. To help you understand which approach may be best for you, we’ll begin by contrasting some of the characteristics of traditional direct buys and RTB, and what they mean to brands, age [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column | Display Advertising: Programmatic Media Buying

Buying display ads through an ad tech platform is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get – and this can be disastrous to programmatic media buying. Instead of being strategic about your ad buy, you’re forced to take your vendor’s word for it that the consumers you’re targeting are actually being targeted. This is unfortunate at best and reckless at worst. After all, these are the interwebs. There’s data everywhere! Is the lack of transparency a result of a true blind spot in technology? Or is your vendor holding back key data on your campaign due to a [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

Premium inventory. What exactly does that mean? We think we all know: it’s that custom ad placement on ESPN.com, or the full-page takeover on NYTimes.com. Some of us may think a gaming site like IGN is premium; others may disagree. Overall, the basic premise is that premium inventory is the media found on a well-known and well-respected publisher. Clean, Well-Lit Inventory Personally, I prefer “clean, well-lit” inventory as an expression of what’s good rather than “premium.” The popularity of sites can wax and wane so rapidly that it’s impossible to keep up with the top [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

I have a passion for filters, especially in partnership with Excel, the AdWords User Interface (UI) and AdWords Editor. Regardless of whether you are working with small campaigns or very large campaigns, filters can help make reporting and management much faster. [caption id="attachment_35765" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Campaign Code Filter[/caption] Coming Up With Code Names In The AdWords UI & AdWords Editor Codes may be your secret power against time. There are so many options now for setting up your Google Display campaigns that you really need a way to stay organized when y [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

One of the most common questions that marketers face in buying display advertising is whether to contact a publisher or ad network directly to purchase inventory (called a Direct Buy), or through indirect channels using real-time bidding (RTB) systems. To those with experience in the RTB realm, it's well understood by now that there is an element of unpredictability and fluctuation in the availability and consistency of volume from specific publishers or sources of ad inventory. This can often lead to frustration, especially when trying to optimize and automate your campaigns. To appreci [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column | Retargeting & Remarketing

Data is so often discussed and so very misunderstood! Data is nothing more than values of qualitative or quantitative variables. It turns out that the term [Data] is as generic as the term [Food]. There are all kinds of food, food groups, and food ingredient combinations. You see, data is the lowest level of abstraction. On its own, Data carries no real meaning. Data viewed in context then produces information. Information tested and interpreted then results in knowledge. Experimental Data In online advertising, there is a potential treasure trove of audience data. The lowest level of kno [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

[caption id="attachment_33146" align="alignright" width="300"] Image via iStockphoto used under license[/caption] According to a recent comScore study of a dozen major brands, including Allstate, Ford and Kellogg’s, 31 percent of online ads go unseen by consumers. Recently, I moderated a panel of experts in the field, and they all said they’d seen typical rates of unseen ads coming in at over 50%, and, in the worst cases, up to 80% of ads are going unseen. How can this be? Perhaps because of where an ad is placed (below the fold, in another window, etc.), page load times, or in th [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

Many of you have taken the first steps toward setting up Google Display Network (GDN) remarketing campaigns. It may be time to review and refine those strategies. This exercise should give you clarification about your remarketing objectives, show you where you may be overlapping audiences across campaigns and show you where you may be missing exclusions. It may open up some creative thoughts that lead to additional audiences, tags and campaigns. Remarketing Review Objectives Using a spreadsheet, make a list of your all your current and/or potential remarketing audiences. Here is a list o [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

Many newcomers to online ad buying have questions regarding the traffic they can buy through a demand-side platform (DSP). How much does it cost? How much of it is available? What is the quality like? The answers are actually interrelated, and require an understanding of the mechanics behind how real-time bidding (RTB) works. Industry Terminology Explained First, a clarification of some industry terminology. The first page that a visitor views -- more often than not the home page -- is called the "first impression." The second page is the "second impression," and so on. Since most adve [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column | Retargeting & Remarketing

There are literally thousands of online publishers seeking to monetize the “unique” traffic visiting their websites. Concurrently, there is a thirsty crop of data brokers lining up to assist publishers in connecting their data with the ever-growing advertising demand online. We live in an era of increasing concern about privacy, which makes sense, given there is simply more non-personally identifiable information (non-PII) than ever before on virtually every consumer online -- regardless of device, age, race or geography. This non-PII information includes where you browse, what you [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column | Retargeting & Remarketing

In today’s increasingly data-driven world, it’s interesting that there remain a number of misconceptions and hesitations surrounding big data. The most significant misconception is that many marketers refer to big data as a thing when it is simply a trend. While some marketers are wary of it, others are excited and ready to use the insights that big data can offer. It’s not far off to say that big data has forever changed the advertising industry. Data touches every channel – TV, social, mobile, video, display, search and so on. And as it’s produced on an ongoing basis, marketers [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

Most of my local clients over the years have had one thing in common – shoestring marketing budgets. With so little money set aside specifically for marketing, there was usually much deliberation over where they should invest those marketing dollars to increase their local discovery. As a local business, you may recognize some of the most common recommendations for a local marketing strategy: 1. Website (for marketing landing pages, local SEO, directions, etc.) 2. Social Marketing (Facebook Page, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) 3. Video Marketing (YouTube -- where you host videos for you [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column | Google: Display Advertising

I believe display advertising is actually in its infancy. There are powerful dynamic variables at work that are creating major challenges for the advertising technology industry at large. Depending on the vendor, its technology stack and its level of commitment to legacy beliefs, this is either a problem that is of  concern or the opportunity of a lifetime. Either way, evolution is at work. Reality Check In the 1940's, science fiction writers began dreaming of a medium that looked something like our beloved Internet does today. By the 1960’s, key discoveries were being made and impl [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

It’s been an explosive year for the ad industry, particularly in the online sector. From ad targeting’s important role in the presidential election, to Facebook’s recent IPO, online advertising is continuing to grow and evolve in our ever-expanding digital world. As 2012 winds down and we head into the New Year, I have included a few predictions below as to what we might expect to see in the industry over the next year. 1. Facebook Will Allow You To Serve Ads Using Your Own Ad Server Although Facebook began to allow other ad servers on its platform in certain circumstances in 20 [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

If you haven’t married your AdWords account with your Analytics account, now is a good time to take that step forward. Otherwise, you are missing out on data that you can only get with true integration. Google is constantly upgrading Analytics and adding new features for AdWords. Some of most recent upgrades include a new feature that now allows AdWords advertisers to add columns to their campaigns for Bounce Rates, Pages Per Visit and Average Duration. Remarketing lists can also now be created in Analytics and then added into your AdWords campaigns. Along with the more recent changes, [...]

Related Topics: Analytics | Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

Back in May, I wrote a blog post documenting the top 10 alternatives to “Last Touch” attribution. Last touch is the common practice of awarding credit for an online conversion to the last advertising vendor to put an impression in front of a user before that user returns to a website and converts. This methodology for awarding credit to a display vendor is very common, often manipulated and highly illogical. I wish I could say that the absence of common sense begins and ends with “last touch,” but, alas, it gets worse. Very often, direct brand and agency contacts buying display m [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column