MARKETING

Ban These Words and Phrases From Your Communications Right Now (an A-to-Y Guide)

Published

1 year ago

July 13, 2022

Ever play jargon bingo?

You mark off a square on your card every time you hear one of those words or phrases that sounds like fingernails on the chalkboard. Maybe it’s a word so frequently used as to render it almost meaningless. Or perhaps it’s an acronym that makes readers have to pause (or Google) to remember what it means.

The winner of jargon bingo crosses off all the squares in a row or diagonally first (yep, basic bingo rules).

But, in truth, nobody wins when jargon sneaks into content.

To help you avoid these content no-nos (or know you’re not alone in your frustration), we asked the speakers at Content Marketing World 2022 to share their “favorite” (i.e., most hated) jargon.

Amy Higgins, senior director, content marketing, Twilio, couldn’t pick one: “I hate all jargon. I wish we could speak simply and reduce the number of acronyms we use in our day-to-day business. Most jargon will not translate well or mean the same thing across audiences.”

Meg Coffey, managing director, Coffey & Tea, isn’t a fan of using big words just to sound smart. “If anything, once you start using the big words, I assume you are covering for something else and tune out.”

Let’s start with some of the words and phrases that bug them the most.

Activation

I wish “activation” would die and never come back. Who talks like this? Other than businesspeople who never talked to their customers about their needs. Do customers say, “If only this were activated …”? Nope.”

Kathy Klotz-Guest, founder, Keeping it Human

I wish activation would die and never come back. Who talks like this? Do customers say, If only this were activated? Nope, says #CMWorld speaker @kathyklotzguest via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet

Business-speak

There is no such thing as business-speak. If an outsider does not understand specialist jargon, it’s up to the specialist to explain it as one might to a young child or a golden retriever.

For insiders, jargon functions, well, just like NFL play calls. They work fast and effectively as long as anyone on the team can make a golden retriever or CEO understand the meaning AND ensures everybody has the same understanding of the jargon word.

Bert van Loon, strategist, CMFF

Change management

It has grown to have a negative connotation and causes employees to wince when they hear it. Whether you are putting new processes in place or changing your team structure, nobody wants to feel like they are being “managed” through change.

Let your employees lead the change. Let them tell you what is working and what is not. Then respond to those concerns. Focus on the positives for them in the change (not the positives for the company). And let’s face it, most people have been through so much change in the past few years that they are exhausted. That doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t want change. Most people are not averse to change if it makes their lives better.

Andi Robinson, global digital content and brand leader, Corteva Agriscience

Change management causes employees to wince. Nobody wants to feel like they’re being managed through change, says @hijinxmarketing via @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Check out

The phrase “check out …” is the most vapid, lazy call to action ever invented. Stop it. Verbs are your friends, people.

Think about it: When’s the last time you ever checked out anything anyone ever told you to check out? Never? Exactly. Because it’s such an empty, valueless call to action, “check out” undercuts your authority and suggests “spam city.”

What will happen should I click whatever it is you want me to “check out?” Tell me. Give me a good reason to click that sucker. Make me trust you.

Kate Bradley Chernis, co-founder and CEO, Lately

Check out is the most vapid, lazy call to action ever invented, says #CMWorld speaker @LatelyAIKately via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet

Content

The word content is so overused that it’s practically meaningless. When I speak about content, I try to be as specific as possible about the type of content or its purpose so everyone around me is clear.

If you talk generally about content in a meeting, one person comes away imagining a video; another is ready for a series of blog posts; and another is envisioning an influencer marketing campaign. Even if you don’t yet have a specific content plan, be clear about the types of content that will or won’t be effective to manage everyone’s different expectations about what the content is.

Monica Norton, head of content marketing, Yelp

The world content is so overused that it’s practically meaningless, says @monicalnorton via @CMIContent #CMWorld. Click To Tweet

Content strategy

This one isn’t on my list, but there are people who don’t like when content marketers use the term “content strategy” because technically, content strategy includes all areas of content, including non-marketing content (i.e., internal docs).

When most people say “content strategy,” they usually mean “content marketing strategy.” It’s an implied difference, but some people get really worked up about this.”

Andy Crestodina, co-founder and chief marketing officer, Orbit Media Studios

When most people say content strategy, they usually mean content marketing strategy. Some people get really worked up about this, says #CMWorld speaker @crestodina via @CMIContent Click To Tweet

Engagement

I shiver anytime a marketer talks about engagement. What exactly is engagement? Ask 20 marketers what they think it means, and you’ll get 20 different answers. So, next time you catch yourself about to utter the word “engagement,” stop. Ask yourself, what exactly do you mean?

Andrew Davis, author and keynote speaker, Monumental Shift

Next time you catch yourself about to utter the word engagement, stop. Ask yourself, what exactly do you mean? #CMWorld speaker @DrewDavisHere via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet

Holistic

It’s any time someone says they offer “holistic” services. No one offers everything. The marketing and business world is far too diverse for that to even be possible. Soup-to-nuts doesn’t exist here. So, shut it.

Jason Falls, senior influence strategist, Cornett

Holistic services. No one offers everything. Soup-to-nuts doesn’t exist here. So, shut it, says @JasonFalls via @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Learnings

Learnings is on my personal list because it sounds like something a toddler would say. Plus, we already have two perfectly good words that express the same meaning: lessons and takeaways.

Domain-specific jargon can be useful as shorthand when you’re communicating with other people in your field (e.g., SERP, click-throughs, bounce rate). But general business jargon is unnecessary – and exclusionary. People who don’t speak English natively often struggle with “corporate speak,” which should give all of us pause as our customers and teammates are becoming more globally diverse every day.

Sarah Goff-Dupont, principal writer, Atlassian

Learnings sounds like something a toddler would say. Plus, we already have good words for the same meaning: lessons and takeaways, says @SarahGoffDupont via @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click To Tweet

North Star

It might not seem contentious, but to an audience based in the Southern Hemisphere having a North Star as your guiding or underlying principle is confusing, illogical, and just plain wrong. We have the Southern Cross, but we don’t use that as a guiding light. Why not just use the terms “guiding principle” or “core message” instead?

Gina Balarin, director and content queen, Verballistics

PMS

We are moving into the product management service industry. So every day, I see PMS. And every day, I think of the other one.

Viveka von Rosen, chief visibility officer, Vengreso

We are moving into the product management service industry. So every day, I see PMS. And every day, I think of the other one, says @LinkedInExpert via @@CMIContent. #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Perfect

This word is overused. Perfection is a myth. Stop calling everything “perfect.”

Bernie Borges, vice president global content marketing, iQor

Phygital

Making events virtual (digital) as well as in-person (physical) makes them more accessible and means that more diverse voices will be heard. But I cannot stand the word “phygital.” It is the worst portmanteau of all time, and I shudder every time I hear it.

Jacqueline Baxter, senior digital strategist, DX, Sitecore

I cannot stand the word phygital. It is the worst portmanteau of all time, and I shudder every time I hear it, says @JaxBaxter via @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Reach out

I’m going to “reach out” to Katie. How about we just go back to saying “contact”?

Justin Ethington, partner, TrendCandy

Instead of saying reach out, how about we just go back to saying contact, asks Justin Ethington of TrendCandy.

SEO optimized, SEO content

Early in the existence of these terms, they were used to transition a legacy flow to something that could perform. Over time, the terms have been associated with low-quality or checkbox processes.

Building content that is high quality and has the potential to perform is the silo breaker, while SEO edits and the debasing of SEO by classifying content as “SEO content” create silos.

Jeff Coyle, co-founder, CSO, MarketMuse

Single source of truth

It’s hard to pick a winner for this one, but for content marketing, I’ll have to go with “single source of truth.” There’s simply no way to have a single source of truth if you’re doing your job correctly. So martech and CMS vendors, please stop contacting me on LinkedIn telling me you’ve got a solution for this.

Jenn Vande Zande, editor-in-chief, SAP Customer Experience

There’s no way to have a single source of truth. So martech and CMS vendors, please stop contacting me on LinkedIn telling me you’ve got a solution for this, says @jennvzande via @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Solution

It makes me cringe. I’ve read so much B2B copy where a company talks about providing a solution but leaves me with absolutely no idea of what they actually do.

Is it software you’re selling? Hardware? Consulting? What? Don’t get me wrong. The ability to solve a prospect’s problem is huge. However, when people can’t determine what you’re offering – how it is that you can actually help them — it makes your solution less appealing.

For example, the company promising the solution to my need to get more customers could be peddling marketing automation, media, creative services, research, printing, or something else.

Skip the hackneyed phrase. Proceed directly to specificity and clarity. At least, that’s the solution I’d offer (wink, wink).

Nancy Harhut, CCO, HBT Marketing

Solution makes me cringe. Skip the hackneyed phrase. Proceed directly to specificity and clarity, says @nharhut via @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click To Tweet

But it’s not just words and phrases that are irritating to hear and read. How many of these sentences (and one question) do you come across in a week?

Add value

I encourage all marketers to ditch this business phrase. We need to think of another way of talking about the purpose of our content reviews because reviewers often feel like they must make an addition to something to make it stronger.

Too often, this means that people we ask to review a piece of content or a creative brief feel obligated to add ideas just for the sake of adding something new. Sometimes you don’t need to “add value.” Sometimes you need to recognize other people’s value and acknowledge that their draft perfectly meets the need of the project or campaign.

Erika Heald, founder, lead consultant, Erika Heald Marketing Consulting

Sometimes you don’t need to add value. Sometimes you need to acknowledge that a draft perfectly meets the need, says @sferika via @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Can you make this go viral?

This tells me that a client doesn’t understand how public relations/content marketing work. Going viral became a thing back in the 2000s. Quora says the term to “describe rapid and widespread social proliferation of a meme or product” started picking up steam in 2008. I imagine it’s been causing marketing folks headaches ever since.

Clients need to understand that the only way to ensure you’ll be featured is to pay for an ad. Public relations and content marketing take time and dedicated effort. Very little success is had overnight.”

Michelle Garrett, consultant, Garrett Public Relations

Going viral became a thing in the 2000s. PR and #ContentMarketing take time and dedicated effort. Very little success is had overnight, says @PRisUs via @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Content is king

Can we throw this phrase out yet? Content is most definitely royalty (insert hair flip here), but it’s not a domineering force that can claim its rightful throne in search results just by existing. Showing up on page one of search results takes work. Driving qualified traffic takes work. It takes only a birthright to be king. Existence does not equal excellence.

Haley Collins, director of operations and content, GPO

Can we throw content is king phrase out yet? #Content is most definitely royalty, but it’s not a domineering force that can claim its rightful throne in search results, says Haley Collins via @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Done is better than perfect

OK, I understand how positive an agile mindset is. However, I see many teams using this quote as permission to create low-quality content. Done is better than perfect only when it comes to the first step of a project. During the rest of your life, please make sure your content creators will always run after the perfection stage.

Cassio Politi, founder, Tracto Content Marketing

I hope this email finds you well

I don’t necessarily hate it, but I don’t understand where it emanated from. Why wouldn’t you just say you hope the person is doing well?

Michael Bordieri, senior content solutions consultant, LinkedIn

It is what it is

It is an awful saying, which I am trying not to use anymore. It normalizes a status quo that is immovable and defeatist. I believe anything can change, and as content marketers, we know the power and impact of words, imagery, and video to make what it is, everything it can be.

Karen McFarlane, chief marketing officer, LetterShop

Let’s table that

Whenever someone doesn’t want to make an actual decision, this phrase comes out. No better way to leave something unaddressed until it becomes a real issue than by leaving it “on the table.”

Brian Piper, director of content strategy and assessment, University of Rochester

Think outside the box

What does that even mean, anyway?!

Chris Ducker, founder, Youpreneur.com

What does think outside the box even mean anyway, asks @ChrisDucker via @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click To Tweet

We need to push

When I am in a marketing strategy meeting and hear the words, “We need to push.” Nope. Who wants to be pushed into anything? It needs to stop.

Instead, let’s start with better questions about the consumer or potential client’s mindset. “How can we engage?” and “Who cares about this product or service?”

Jacquie Chakirelis, chief digital strategy officer, Quest Digital/ Great Lakes Publishing

What keeps you up at night?

I was just put in my place when I asked a client, “What keeps you up at night?” He looked at me and said, “Mike, you can do better than that.” He went on to tell me that what keeps him up at night has nothing to do with business or the services I sell. It’s his kids, gun reform, the war, and other things. So I hate what I used to say.

Michael Weiss, vice president of consulting services and solutions, Creative Circle

You’re on mute

OK, this isn’t business-speak per se, but it’s a line you hear in every business meeting. Over two years in with “all Zoom, all the time,” I don’t know why we’re not better trained to unmute ourselves before we speak. Maybe the video meeting platforms will solve this challenge using technology (e.g., have an optional setting to automatically unmute you when you start speaking, using AI to adjust for when the dog barks).

Dennis Shiao, founder, Attention Retention

Before this article is concluded (because a list like this is never complete), let’s hit on some broad categories that can thwart and disrupt the audience’s consumption of your content.

Acronyms

Technical B2B industries are huge abusers of acronyms. There is a place for them, of course, but to limit confusion and ensure your message is received, do these things:

Create an acronym guide for internal reference
Always spell the full phrase at first mention with the acronym in parentheses.

Wendy Covey, CEO and co-founder, TREW Marketing

Technical B2B industries are huge abusers of acronyms. To limit confusion, always spell the full phrase at first mention with the acronym in parentheses, says @wendycovey via @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Gendered language

We all need to think about our audiences and make everyone feel included and respected. Stop saying “you guys” in meetings. Replace “man-hours” with “people-hours.” Think about industry-specific terms that may isolate people and aim to be more inclusive. Speak up to help others shift toward kinder, more culturally appropriate language.

Penny Gralewski, senior director, product and portfolio marketing, DataRobot

Stop saying you guys in meetings. Speak up to help others shift toward kinder, more culturally appropriate language, says @virtualpenny via @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Hustle mentality language

I hate any and all jargon promoting the hustle mentality, such as “Just put your head down and grind” and “Work until it’s worth it.”

This makes people feel like the goal is to serve your business, but your business is supposed to serve your family and other people.

If you’re always working, you aren’t serving anyone well. Obviously, you have to work hard, but that can’t be the only thing you do. You must invest time and money into things that bring you energy and joy. Otherwise, you are hustling forever. At the end of it, maybe you have a lot of money, but you no longer have any relationships to enjoy it with you.

Tim Schmoyer, founder/CEO, Video Creators

Why Y?

I hate the gratuitous addition of “y” to words like relevance, competence, and resilience. There’s no distinction in the definition, and it’s gratuitously cluttery. Whyyyyyyy?

Carmen Hill, principal strategist and writer, Chill Content

I hate the gratuitous addition of y to words like relevance, competence, and resilience. There’s no distinction in the definition. Whyyyyyyy? @CarmenHIll via @CMIContent. #CMWorld Click To Tweet

Think before you speak (or write)

Christopher Penn, chief data scientist, TrustInsights.ai, says he’s most bothered when people use jargon to exclude others or obscure the truth: “When you use jargon, you’re intending to make things less clear, less obvious, less accessible, less inclusive. Given that many of us have pledged to be more inclusive, jargon is contrary to that goal.”

Are you guilty of using any of these? Which ones make you tune out, stumble, or scream silently as you read? Share in the comments.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

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MARKETING

Intro to Amazon Non-endemic Advertising: Benefits & Examples

Published

8 hours ago

December 4, 2023

Entireweb News Bot

Intro to Amazon Non-endemic Advertising: Benefits & Examples

Amazon has rewritten the rules of advertising with its move into non-endemic retail media advertising. Advertising on Amazon has traditionally focused on brands and products directly sold on the platform. However, a new trend is emerging – the rise of non-endemic advertising on this booming marketplace. In this article, we’ll dive into the concept of non-endemic ads, their significance, and the benefits they offer to advertisers. This strategic shift is opening the floodgates for advertisers in previously overlooked industries.

While endemic brands are those with direct competitors on the platform, non-endemic advertisers bring a diverse range of services to Amazon’s vast audience. The move toward non-endemic advertising signifies Amazon’s intention to leverage its extensive data and audience segments to benefit a broader spectrum of advertisers.

Endemic vs. Non-Endemic Advertising

Let’s start by breaking down the major differences between endemic advertising and non-endemic advertising…

Endemic Advertising

Endemic advertising revolves around promoting products available on the Amazon platform. With this type of promotion, advertisers use retail media data to promote products that are sold at the retailer.

Non-Endemic Advertising

In contrast, non-endemic advertising ventures beyond the confines of products sold on Amazon. It encompasses industries such as insurance, finance, and services like lawn care. If a brand is offering a product or service that doesn’t fit under one of the categories that Amazon sells, it’s considered non-endemic. Advertisers selling products and services outside of Amazon and linking directly to their own site are utilizing Amazon’s DSP and their data/audience segments to target new and relevant customers.

7 Benefits of Running Non-Endemic Ad Campaigns

Running non-endemic ad campaigns on Amazon provides a wide variety of benefits like:

Access to Amazon’s Proprietary Data: Harnessing Amazon’s robust first-party data provides advertisers with valuable insights into consumer behavior and purchasing patterns. This data-driven approach enables more targeted and effective campaigns.

Increased Brand Awareness and Revenue Streams: Non-endemic advertising allows brands to extend their reach beyond their typical audience. By leveraging Amazon’s platform and data, advertisers can build brand awareness among users who may not have been exposed to their products or services otherwise. For non-endemic brands that meet specific criteria, there’s an opportunity to serve ads directly on the Amazon platform. This can lead to exposure to the millions of users shopping on Amazon daily, potentially opening up new revenue streams for these brands.

No Minimum Spend for Non-DSP Campaigns: Non-endemic advertisers can kickstart their advertising journey on Amazon without the burden of a minimum spend requirement, ensuring accessibility for a diverse range of brands.

Amazon DSP Capabilities: Leveraging the Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform) enhances campaign capabilities. It enables programmatic media buys, advanced audience targeting, and access to a variety of ad formats.

Connect with Primed-to-Purchase Customers: Amazon’s extensive customer base offers a unique opportunity for non-endemic advertisers to connect with customers actively seeking relevant products or services.

Enhanced Targeting and Audience Segmentation: Utilizing Amazon’s vast dataset, advertisers can create highly specific audience segments. This enhanced targeting helps advertisers reach relevant customers, resulting in increased website traffic, lead generation, and improved conversion rates.

Brand Defense – By utilizing these data segments and inventory, some brands are able to bid for placements where their possible competitors would otherwise be. This also gives brands a chance to be present when competitor brands may be on the same page helping conquest for competitors’ customers.

How to Start Running Non-Endemic Ads on Amazon

Ready to start running non-endemic ads on Amazon? Start with these essential steps:

Familiarize Yourself with Amazon Ads and DSP: Understand the capabilities of Amazon Ads and DSP, exploring their benefits and limitations to make informed decisions.

Look Into Amazon Performance Plus: Amazon Performance Plus is the ability to model your audiences based on user behavior from the Amazon Ad Tag. The process will then find lookalike amazon shoppers with a higher propensity for conversion.

“Amazon Performance Plus has the ability to be Amazon’s top performing ad product. With the machine learning behind the audience cohorts we are seeing incremental audiences converting on D2C websites and beating CPA goals by as much as 50%.”

– Robert Avellino, VP of Retail Media Partnerships at Tinuiti

Understand Targeting Capabilities: Gain insights into the various targeting options available for Amazon ads, including behavioral, contextual, and demographic targeting.

Command Amazon’s Data: Utilize granular data to test and learn from campaign outcomes, optimizing strategies based on real-time insights for maximum effectiveness.

Work with an Agency: For those new to non-endemic advertising on Amazon, it’s essential to define clear goals and identify target audiences. Working with an agency can provide valuable guidance in navigating the nuances of non-endemic advertising. Understanding both the audience to be reached and the core audience for the brand sets the stage for a successful non-endemic advertising campaign.

Conclusion

Amazon’s venture into non-endemic advertising reshapes the advertising landscape, providing new opportunities for brands beyond the traditional ecommerce sphere. The blend of non-endemic campaigns with Amazon’s extensive audience and data creates a cohesive option for advertisers seeking to diversify strategies and explore new revenue streams. As this trend evolves, staying informed about the latest features and possibilities within Amazon’s non-endemic advertising ecosystem is crucial for brands looking to stay ahead in the dynamic world of digital advertising.

We’ll continue to keep you updated on all things Amazon, but if you’re looking to learn more about advertising on the platform, check out our Amazon Services page or contact us today for more information.

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MARKETING

How Does Success of Your Business Depend on Choosing Type of Native Advertising?

Published

1 day ago

December 3, 2023

Entireweb News Bot

How Does Success of Your Business Depend on Choosing Type of Native Advertising?

The very first commercial advertisement was shown on TV in 1941. It was only 10 seconds long and had an audience of 4,000 people. However, it became a strong trigger for rapid advertising development. The second half of the 20th century is known as the golden age of advertising until the Internet came to the forefront and entirely transformed the advertising landscape. The first commercial banner appeared in the mid-90s, then it was followed by pop-ups, pay-by-placement and paid-pay-click ads. Companies also started advertising their brands and adding their business logo designs, which contributes to consumer trust and trustworthiness.

The rise of social media in the mid-2000s opened a new dimension for advertising content to be integrated. The marketers were forced to make the ads less intrusive and more organic to attract younger users. This is how native advertising was born. This approach remains a perfect medium for goods and services promotion. Let’s see why and how native ads can become a win-win strategy for your business.

What is native advertising?

When it comes to digital marketing, every marketer talks about native advertising. What is the difference between traditional and native ones? You will not miss basic ads as they are typically promotional and gimmicky, while native advertising naturally blends into the content. The primary purpose of native ads is to create content that resonates with audience expectations and encourages users to perceive it seamlessly and harmoniously.

Simply put, native advertising is a paid media ad that organically aligns with the visual and operational features of the media format in which it appears. The concept is quite straightforward: while people just look through banner ads, they genuinely engage with native ads and read them. You may find a lot of native ads on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – they appear in the form of “in-feed” posts that engage users in search for more stories, opinions, goods and services. This unobtrusive approach turns native ads into a powerful booster for any brand.

How does native advertising benefit your business?

An average Internet user comes across around 10,000 ads a day. But even physically, it is impossible to perceive this amount of information in 24 hours. So, most of them use adblockers, nullifying all efforts of markers. Native ads successfully overcome this digital challenge thanks to their authenticity. And this is not the only advantage of native advertising. How else does your business benefit? Here are just a few major benefits that prove the value of native ads:

Better brand awareness. Native ads contribute to the brand’s visibility. They seamlessly blend into educational, emotional, and visual types of content that can easily become viral. While promotional content typically receives limited shares, users readily share valuable or entertaining content. Consequently, while you incur expenses only for the display of native ads, your audience may go the extra mile by sharing your content and organically promoting your brand or SaaS product at no additional cost.

Increased click-through rates. Native ads can generate a thrilling click-through rate (CTR) primarily because they are meticulously content-adaptable. Thus, native ads become an integral part of the user’s journey without disrupting their browsing experience. Regardless of whether your native advertising campaign is designed to build an audience or drive specific actions, compelling content will always entice users to click through.

Cost-efficient campaign performance. Native advertising proves to be cheaper compared to a traditional ad format. It mainly stems from a higher CTR. Thanks to precise targeting and less customer resistance, native ads allow to bring down cost-per-click.

Native ads are continuously evolving, enabling marketers to experiment with different formats and use them for successful multi-channel campaigns and global reach.

Types of native advertising

Any content can become native advertising as there are no strict format restrictions. For example, it can be an article rating the best fitness applications, an equipment review, or a post by an influencer on a microblog. The same refers to the channels – native ads can be placed on regular websites and social media feeds. Still, some forms tend to be most frequently used.

In-feed ads. This type of ad appears within the content feed. You have definitely seen such posts on Facebook and Instagram or such videos on TikTok. They look like regular content but are tagged with an advertising label. The user sees these native ads when scrolling the feed on social media platforms.
Paid search ads. These are native ads that are displayed on the top and bottom of the search engine results page. They always match user’s queries and aim to capture their attention at the moment of a particular search and generate leads and conversions. This type of ad is effective for big search platforms with substantial traffic.
Recommendation widgets. These come in the form of either texts or images and can be found at the end of the page or on a website’s sidebar. Widgets offer related or intriguing content from either the same publisher or similar sources. This type of native ads is great for retargeting campaigns.
Sponsored content. This is one of the most popular types of native advertising. Within this format, an advertiser sponsors the creation of an article or content that aligns with the interests and values of the platform’s audience. They can be marked as “sponsored” or “recommended” to help users differentiate them from organic content.
Influencer Advertising. In this case, advertisers partner with popular bloggers or celebrities to gain the attention and trust of the audience. Influencers integrate a product, service, or event into their content or create custom content that matches their style and topic.

Each of these formats can bring stunning results if your native ads are relevant and provide value to users. Use a creative automation platform like Creatopy to design effective ads for your business.

How to create a workable native ad?

Consider these 5 steps for creating a successful native advertising campaign:

Define your target audience. Users will always ignore all ads that are not relevant to them. Unwanted ads are frustrating and can even harm your brand. If you run a store for pets, make sure your ads show content that will be interesting for pet owners. Otherwise, the whole campaign will be undermined. Regular market research and data analysis will help you refine your audience and its demographics.
Set your goals. Each advertising campaign should have a clear-cut objective. Without well-defined goals, it is a waste of money. It is a must to know what you want to achieve – introduce your brand, boost sales or increase your audience.
Select the proper channels. Now, you need to determine how you will reach out to your customers. Consider displaying ads on social media platforms, targeting search engine result pages (SERPs), distributing paid articles, or utilizing in-ad units on different websites. You may even be able to get creative and use email or SMS in a less salesy and more “native”-feeling way—you can find samples of texts online to help give you ideas. Exploring demand side platforms (DSP) can also bring good results.
Offer compelling content. Do not underestimate the quality of the content for your native ads. Besides being expertly written, it must ideally match the style and language of the chosen channel,whether you’re promoting professional headshots, pet products, or anything else. The main distinctive feature of native advertising is that it should fit naturally within the natural content.
Track your campaign. After the launch of native ads, it is crucial to monitor the progress, evaluating the costs spent and results. Use tools that help you gain insights beyond standard KPIs like CTR and CPC. You should get engagement metrics, customer data, campaign data, and third-party activity data for further campaign management.

Key takeaway

Summing up the above, it is time to embrace native advertising if you haven’t done it yet. Native ads seamlessly blend with organic content across various platforms, yielding superior engagement and conversion rates compared to traditional display ads. Marketers are allocating higher budgets to native ads because this format proves to be more and more effective – content that adds value can successfully deal with ad fatigue. Native advertising is experiencing a surge in popularity, and it is to reach its peak. So, do not miss a chance to grow your business with the power of native ads.or you can do digital marketing course from Digital Vidya.

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MARKETING

OpenAI’s Drama Should Teach Marketers These 2 Lessons

Published

2 days ago

December 2, 2023

Entireweb News Bot

OpenAI’s Drama Should Teach Marketers These 2 Lessons

A week or so ago, the extraordinary drama happening at OpenAI filled news feeds.

No need to get into all the saga’s details, as every publication seems to have covered it. We’re just waiting for someone to put together a video montage scored to the Game of Thrones music.

But as Sam Altman takes back the reigns of the company he helped to found, the existing board begins to disintegrate before your very eyes, and everyone agrees something spooked everybody, a question arises: Should you care?

Does OpenAI’s drama have any demonstrable implications for marketers integrating generative AI into their marketing strategies?

Watch CMI’s chief strategy advisor Robert Rose explain (and give a shoutout to Sutton’s pants rage on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills), or keep reading his thoughts:

For those who spent last week figuring out what to put on your holiday table and missed every AI headline, here’s a brief version of what happened. OpenAI – the huge startup and creator of ChatGPT – went through dramatic events. Its board fired the mercurial CEO Sam Altman. Then, the 38-year-old entrepreneur accepted a job at Microsoft but returned to OpenAI a day later.

We won’t give a hot take on what it means for the startup world, board governance, or the tension between AI safety and Silicon Valley capitalism. Rather, we see some interesting things for marketers to put into perspective about how AI should fit into your overall content and marketing plans in the new year.

Robert highlights two takeaways from the OpenAI debacle – a drama that has yet to reach its final chapter: 1. The right structure and governance matters, and 2. Big platforms don’t become antifragile just because they’re big.

Let’s have Robert explain.

The right structure and governance matters

OpenAI’s structure may be key to the drama. OpenAI has a bizarre corporate governance framework. The board of directors controls a nonprofit called OpenAI. That nonprofit created a capped for-profit subsidiary – OpenAI GP LLC. The majority owner of that for-profit is OpenAI Global LLC, another for-profit company. The nonprofit works for the benefit of the world with a for-profit arm.

That seems like an earnest approach, given AI tech’s big and disruptive power. But it provides so many weird governance issues, including that the nonprofit board, which controls everything, has no duty to maximize profit. What could go wrong?

That’s why marketers should know more about the organizations behind the generative AI tools they use or are considering.

First, know your providers of generative AI software and services are all exploring the topics of governance and safety. Microsoft, Google, Anthropic, and others won’t have their internal debates erupt in public fireworks. Still, governance and management of safety over profits remains a big topic for them. You should be aware of how they approach those topics as you license solutions from them.

Second, recognize the productive use of generative AI is a content strategy and governance challenge, not a technology challenge. If you don’t solve the governance and cross-functional uses of the generative AI platforms you buy, you will run into big problems with its cross-functional, cross-siloed use.

Big platforms do not become antifragile just because they’re big

Nicholas Taleb wrote a wonderful book, Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder. It explores how an antifragile structure doesn’t just withstand a shock; it actually improves because of a disruption or shock. It doesn’t just survive a big disruptive event; it gets stronger because of it.

It’s hard to imagine a company the size and scale of OpenAI could self-correct or even disappear tomorrow. But it can and does happen. And unfortunately, too many businesses build their strategies on that rented land.

In OpenAI’s recent case, the for-profit software won the day. But make no bones about that victory; the event wasn’t good for the company. If it bounces back, it won’t be stronger because of the debacle.

With that win on the for-profit side, hundreds, if not thousands, of generative AI startups breathed an audible sigh of relief. But a few moments later, they screamed “pivot” (in their best imitation of Ross from Friends instructing Chandler and Rachel to move a couch.)

They now realize the fragility of their software because it relies on OpenAI’s existence or willingness to provide the software. Imagine what could have happened if the OpenAI board had won their fight and, in the name of safety, simply killed any paid access to the API or the ability to build business models on top of it.

The last two weeks have done nothing to clear the already muddy waters encountered by companies and their plans to integrate generative AI solutions. Going forward, though, think about the issues when acquiring new generative AI software. Ask about how the vendor’s infrastructure is housed and identify the risks involved. And, if OpenAI expands its enterprise capabilities, consider the implications. What extra features will the off-the-shelf solutions provide? Do you need them? Will OpenAI become the Microsoft Office of your AI infrastructure?

Why you should care

With the voluminous media coverage of Open AI’s drama, you likely will see pushback on generative AI. In my social feeds, many marketers say they’re tired of the corporate soap opera that is irrelevant to their work.

They are half right. What Sam said and how Ilya responded, heart emojis, and how much the Twitch guy got for three days of work are fodder for the Netflix series sure to emerge. (Robert’s money is on Michael Cera starring.)

They’re wrong about its relevance to marketing. They must be experiencing attentional bias – paying more attention to some elements of the big event and ignoring others. OpenAI’s struggle is entertaining, no doubt. You’re glued to the drama. But understanding what happened with the events directly relates to your ability to manage similar ones successfully. That’s the part you need to get right.

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

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