Connect with us

MARKETING

How marketers can prioritize digital experiences

Published

on

How marketers can prioritize digital experiences

“The pandemic has made customer journeys more digital than ever before,” said Tom Bianchi, VP of marketing EMEA at Acquia, in a recent webinar. “We believe marketing technology can help improve those digital experiences – helping your brand grow and increase revenue.”

Acquia’s Customer Experience report found that 94% of marketers claim their organization had changed their digital customer experience strategy in the 18 months following the 2020 pandemic. And while there are always factors specific to every brand, the pandemic accounts for the bulk of this transformation.

“A big chunk of this was driven by COVID-19,” he said. “Coming out of the pandemic in 2022 – I say that optimistically – many trends in buyer behavior that have changed over the past two years are probably going to stay.”

“We think one of the trends that is going to stay is that people will buy and interact with brands more digitally than ever before,” he added. 

Digital experiences are key to brand success going forward, so marketers need to prioritize and optimize customer interactions across all platforms and channels.

Use marketing technology to help build customer trust

One of the most challenging obstacles facing brands today is the lack of customer trust. According to the same Acquia report, 87% of consumers say that either they don’t remember or didn’t opt in to receive communications from certain brands. What’s more, 26% of customers lose trust in brands due to poor customer service experiences and 21% lose trust due to substandard purchase experiences, according to data from Statista.

To address these issues, Bianchi recommends marketers turn to CX solutions found in marketing technology.

“We asked marketers what they were investing in over the past year and a half,” he said. “55% said they were investing in digital experience platforms, 50% said they were investing in customer data platforms, and 45% of people said they investing in digital asset management software as well as content management systems.”

These technologies – specifically DXPs and CDPs – are designed to manage vast quantities of customer data. Successful digital marketing programs can leverage insights gathered from these data pools, then deploy customer-focused strategies that offer enhanced digital experiences.


How marketers can prioritize digital

Is your marketing team ready for the future of content and experience management? Explore top digital experience management platforms in the first edition of this MarTech Intelligence Report.

Click here to download!


Implement content personalization solutions

“The biggest trend we saw [in the report] was that 83% of marketers struggle to create content that can be released across all their digital platforms,” said Bianchi. “There is an increasing number of channels that we go to market through.”

“Making sure that your content is consistently distributed evenly across all those platforms at the right time is a massive challenge,” he added.

Accelerated digital transformations have made this problem even more complicated, especially when it comes to digital commerce and consumer behavior. More and more digital customers are expecting personalized experiences at every touchpoint, yet marketers often have difficulties keeping up with these needs.

“We have peak screen time and we’re spending more time on devices than ever before,” said Jake Athey of Acquia company Widen in the same presentation. “And there’s declining trust: We’re conscious about security and where we place our time, attention, personal information, and dollars.”

He added, “These influences have increased pressure on marketers to connect with customers in more meaningful ways across a range of channels.”


Get the daily newsletter digital marketers rely on.


According to Athey, content is the key to addressing these difficulties and achieving better personalization.

“Structured content is essential to scaling digital commerce and scaling customer value with rich experiences,“ he said. “Organizations must provide accurate, compelling content to their customers across all channels by creating and employing it strategically.”

Athey pointed to New Balance’s content strategy, which employs a DAM platform to help deliver relevant content to customers on every channel. Its success shows that knowing what customers want out of these digital channels provides a strong foundation for content creation efforts.

New Balance's CS strategy that uses DAM
Source: Jake Athey

Embrace an omnichannel experience framework

Omnichannel frameworks have the potential to improve customer digital experiences. Unlike the multichannel approaches it’s often confused with, omnichannel brands focus on the needs of customers on each channel and then adapt their digital assets accordingly.

“More than ever, an omnichannel experience means being at the tip of your customers’ fingertips anytime, anywhere, and on any device,” Athey said. “Omnichannel is putting the customer at the center of all the ways they interact with your brand over time.”

He added, “Customers remember how they feel after encountering a brand at various connected touchpoints, so regardless of time, place, or channel, the whole of their experiences with that brand leaves them with a memorable impression.”

omnichannel customer experience diagram
Source: Jake Athey

Aside from knowing which channels customers are finding them on, many brands need to gain a better understanding of their audience journeys. The stage of the customer lifecycle will determine what type of brand interactions customers are expecting, so marketers would be wise to let these insights empower their digital interactions – no customer wants to be pushed to purchase a product after just hearing about it, and no one wants introductory reading materials when they’re ready to buy.

“When brands do omnichannel effectively, users should be able to move freely from one channel to the next, building a relationship that improves the overall buying experience and encourages brand loyalty,” Athey said.

Watch this webinar presentation at Digital Marketing Depot.


About The Author

4 ways to build a successful ABM strategy

Corey Patterson is an Editor for MarTech and Search Engine Land. With a background in SEO, content marketing, and journalism, he covers SEO and PPC to help marketers improve their campaigns.


Source link

Keep an eye on what we are doing
Be the first to get latest updates and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address

MARKETING

YouTube Ad Specs, Sizes, and Examples [2024 Update]

Published

on

YouTube Ad Specs, Sizes, and Examples

Introduction

With billions of users each month, YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine and top website for video content. This makes it a great place for advertising. To succeed, advertisers need to follow the correct YouTube ad specifications. These rules help your ad reach more viewers, increasing the chance of gaining new customers and boosting brand awareness.

Types of YouTube Ads

Video Ads

  • Description: These play before, during, or after a YouTube video on computers or mobile devices.
  • Types:
    • In-stream ads: Can be skippable or non-skippable.
    • Bumper ads: Non-skippable, short ads that play before, during, or after a video.

Display Ads

  • Description: These appear in different spots on YouTube and usually use text or static images.
  • Note: YouTube does not support display image ads directly on its app, but these can be targeted to YouTube.com through Google Display Network (GDN).

Companion Banners

  • Description: Appears to the right of the YouTube player on desktop.
  • Requirement: Must be purchased alongside In-stream ads, Bumper ads, or In-feed ads.

In-feed Ads

  • Description: Resemble videos with images, headlines, and text. They link to a public or unlisted YouTube video.

Outstream Ads

  • Description: Mobile-only video ads that play outside of YouTube, on websites and apps within the Google video partner network.

Masthead Ads

  • Description: Premium, high-visibility banner ads displayed at the top of the YouTube homepage for both desktop and mobile users.

YouTube Ad Specs by Type

Skippable In-stream Video Ads

  • Placement: Before, during, or after a YouTube video.
  • Resolution:
    • Horizontal: 1920 x 1080px
    • Vertical: 1080 x 1920px
    • Square: 1080 x 1080px
  • Aspect Ratio:
    • Horizontal: 16:9
    • Vertical: 9:16
    • Square: 1:1
  • Length:
    • Awareness: 15-20 seconds
    • Consideration: 2-3 minutes
    • Action: 15-20 seconds

Non-skippable In-stream Video Ads

  • Description: Must be watched completely before the main video.
  • Length: 15 seconds (or 20 seconds in certain markets).
  • Resolution:
    • Horizontal: 1920 x 1080px
    • Vertical: 1080 x 1920px
    • Square: 1080 x 1080px
  • Aspect Ratio:
    • Horizontal: 16:9
    • Vertical: 9:16
    • Square: 1:1

Bumper Ads

  • Length: Maximum 6 seconds.
  • File Format: MP4, Quicktime, AVI, ASF, Windows Media, or MPEG.
  • Resolution:
    • Horizontal: 640 x 360px
    • Vertical: 480 x 360px

In-feed Ads

  • Description: Show alongside YouTube content, like search results or the Home feed.
  • Resolution:
    • Horizontal: 1920 x 1080px
    • Vertical: 1080 x 1920px
    • Square: 1080 x 1080px
  • Aspect Ratio:
    • Horizontal: 16:9
    • Square: 1:1
  • Length:
    • Awareness: 15-20 seconds
    • Consideration: 2-3 minutes
  • Headline/Description:
    • Headline: Up to 2 lines, 40 characters per line
    • Description: Up to 2 lines, 35 characters per line

Display Ads

  • Description: Static images or animated media that appear on YouTube next to video suggestions, in search results, or on the homepage.
  • Image Size: 300×60 pixels.
  • File Type: GIF, JPG, PNG.
  • File Size: Max 150KB.
  • Max Animation Length: 30 seconds.

Outstream Ads

  • Description: Mobile-only video ads that appear on websites and apps within the Google video partner network, not on YouTube itself.
  • Logo Specs:
    • Square: 1:1 (200 x 200px).
    • File Type: JPG, GIF, PNG.
    • Max Size: 200KB.

Masthead Ads

  • Description: High-visibility ads at the top of the YouTube homepage.
  • Resolution: 1920 x 1080 or higher.
  • File Type: JPG or PNG (without transparency).

Conclusion

YouTube offers a variety of ad formats to reach audiences effectively in 2024. Whether you want to build brand awareness, drive conversions, or target specific demographics, YouTube provides a dynamic platform for your advertising needs. Always follow Google’s advertising policies and the technical ad specs to ensure your ads perform their best. Ready to start using YouTube ads? Contact us today to get started!

Keep an eye on what we are doing
Be the first to get latest updates and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Continue Reading

MARKETING

Why We Are Always ‘Clicking to Buy’, According to Psychologists

Published

on

Why We Are Always 'Clicking to Buy', According to Psychologists

Amazon pillows.

(more…)

Keep an eye on what we are doing
Be the first to get latest updates and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Continue Reading

MARKETING

A deeper dive into data, personalization and Copilots

Published

on

A deeper dive into data, personalization and Copilots

Salesforce launched a collection of new, generative AI-related products at Connections in Chicago this week. They included new Einstein Copilots for marketers and merchants and Einstein Personalization.

To better understand, not only the potential impact of the new products, but the evolving Salesforce architecture, we sat down with Bobby Jania, CMO, Marketing Cloud.

Dig deeper: Salesforce piles on the Einstein Copilots

Salesforce’s evolving architecture

It’s hard to deny that Salesforce likes coming up with new names for platforms and products (what happened to Customer 360?) and this can sometimes make the observer wonder if something is brand new, or old but with a brand new name. In particular, what exactly is Einstein 1 and how is it related to Salesforce Data Cloud?

“Data Cloud is built on the Einstein 1 platform,” Jania explained. “The Einstein 1 platform is our entire Salesforce platform and that includes products like Sales Cloud, Service Cloud — that it includes the original idea of Salesforce not just being in the cloud, but being multi-tenancy.”

Data Cloud — not an acquisition, of course — was built natively on that platform. It was the first product built on Hyperforce, Salesforce’s new cloud infrastructure architecture. “Since Data Cloud was on what we now call the Einstein 1 platform from Day One, it has always natively connected to, and been able to read anything in Sales Cloud, Service Cloud [and so on]. On top of that, we can now bring in, not only structured but unstructured data.”

That’s a significant progression from the position, several years ago, when Salesforce had stitched together a platform around various acquisitions (ExactTarget, for example) that didn’t necessarily talk to each other.

“At times, what we would do is have a kind of behind-the-scenes flow where data from one product could be moved into another product,” said Jania, “but in many of those cases the data would then be in both, whereas now the data is in Data Cloud. Tableau will run natively off Data Cloud; Commerce Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud — they’re all going to the same operational customer profile.” They’re not copying the data from Data Cloud, Jania confirmed.

Another thing to know is tit’s possible for Salesforce customers to import their own datasets into Data Cloud. “We wanted to create a federated data model,” said Jania. “If you’re using Snowflake, for example, we more or less virtually sit on your data lake. The value we add is that we will look at all your data and help you form these operational customer profiles.”

Let’s learn more about Einstein Copilot

“Copilot means that I have an assistant with me in the tool where I need to be working that contextually knows what I am trying to do and helps me at every step of the process,” Jania said.

For marketers, this might begin with a campaign brief developed with Copilot’s assistance, the identification of an audience based on the brief, and then the development of email or other content. “What’s really cool is the idea of Einstein Studio where our customers will create actions [for Copilot] that we hadn’t even thought about.”

Here’s a key insight (back to nomenclature). We reported on Copilot for markets, Copilot for merchants, Copilot for shoppers. It turns out, however, that there is just one Copilot, Einstein Copilot, and these are use cases. “There’s just one Copilot, we just add these for a little clarity; we’re going to talk about marketing use cases, about shoppers’ use cases. These are actions for the marketing use cases we built out of the box; you can build your own.”

It’s surely going to take a little time for marketers to learn to work easily with Copilot. “There’s always time for adoption,” Jania agreed. “What is directly connected with this is, this is my ninth Connections and this one has the most hands-on training that I’ve seen since 2014 — and a lot of that is getting people using Data Cloud, using these tools rather than just being given a demo.”

What’s new about Einstein Personalization

Salesforce Einstein has been around since 2016 and many of the use cases seem to have involved personalization in various forms. What’s new?

“Einstein Personalization is a real-time decision engine and it’s going to choose next-best-action, next-best-offer. What is new is that it’s a service now that runs natively on top of Data Cloud.” A lot of real-time decision engines need their own set of data that might actually be a subset of data. “Einstein Personalization is going to look holistically at a customer and recommend a next-best-action that could be natively surfaced in Service Cloud, Sales Cloud or Marketing Cloud.”

Finally, trust

One feature of the presentations at Connections was the reassurance that, although public LLMs like ChatGPT could be selected for application to customer data, none of that data would be retained by the LLMs. Is this just a matter of written agreements? No, not just that, said Jania.

“In the Einstein Trust Layer, all of the data, when it connects to an LLM, runs through our gateway. If there was a prompt that had personally identifiable information — a credit card number, an email address — at a mimum, all that is stripped out. The LLMs do not store the output; we store the output for auditing back in Salesforce. Any output that comes back through our gateway is logged in our system; it runs through a toxicity model; and only at the end do we put PII data back into the answer. There are real pieces beyond a handshake that this data is safe.”

Source link

Keep an eye on what we are doing
Be the first to get latest updates and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Continue Reading

Trending