The Evolution of Marketing:

Marketing has come a long way from traditional methods to the digital juggernaut it is today. Print, radio, and TV advertising once dominated the scene, but the rise of the internet has reshaped the entire marketing paradigm. Social media, content marketing, influencer collaborations, and data-driven strategies have become the new norm, demanding marketers to evolve or risk becoming obsolete.

Embrace Technology

The cornerstone of staying relevant in a marketing career is embracing technology. Automation tools, artificial intelligence, and big data analytics are not just buzzwords but powerful assets that can enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Understanding how to leverage these technologies can give you a competitive edge in an industry that is increasingly becoming tech-driven.

Marketing Automation:

Automation tools streamline repetitive tasks, allowing marketers to focus on strategy and creativity. Platforms like HubSpot, Marketo, and Mailchimp enable automated email campaigns, lead nurturing, and customer engagement, saving valuable time and resources.

Artificial Intelligence (AI):

AI is reshaping marketing by providing insights, personalizing user experiences, and predicting consumer behavior. Chatbots, predictive analytics, and machine learning algorithms are becoming integral parts of marketing strategies, enabling businesses to deliver more targeted and personalized messages.

Data Analytics:

In the age of information, data is king. Analyzing consumer behavior, website traffic, and social media engagement can unveil valuable insights. Google Analytics, social media analytics tools, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems help marketers make informed decisions and optimize their campaigns for better results.

Master the Art of Content Marketing:

Content remains the backbone of any successful marketing strategy. However, the nature of content has evolved. Consumers are no longer passive recipients but active participants in the content creation process. To stay relevant, marketers must master the art of content marketing.

Quality Over Quantity:

While consistency is essential, the focus should be on producing high-quality, valuable content. Search engines prioritize content that meets user intent, engages the audience, and provides solutions to their queries.

Diversify Content Formats:

Text-based content is just one facet of the content marketing landscape. Embrace diverse formats like videos, podcasts, infographics, and interactive content to cater to different audience preferences. This not only keeps your strategy fresh but also reaches a broader audience.

User-Generated Content:

Encourage your audience to become content creators themselves. User-generated content, such as reviews, testimonials, and social media posts, not only builds trust but also adds authenticity to your brand.

Stay Socially Savvy:

Social media has become the epicenter of digital marketing. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn offer unparalleled opportunities to connect with audiences. Staying socially savvy is not just about posting regularly but understanding the nuances of each platform and adapting your strategy accordingly.

Platform-Specific Strategies:

Different social media platforms have distinct user demographics and content preferences. Tailor your content to align with the platform’s culture and engage with your audience authentically.

Influencer Collaborations:

Influencer marketing has emerged as a powerful tool to reach wider audiences. Identify influencers relevant to your industry and collaborate with them to amplify your brand’s reach.

Community Building:

Create a sense of community around your brand. Engage with your audience, respond to comments, and foster conversations. A loyal community can become your brand advocates, driving organic growth.

Develop a Growth Mindset:

In the fast-paced world of marketing, having a growth mindset is non-negotiable. A growth mindset is the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work. It’s about embracing challenges, learning from failures, and continuously improving.

Lifelong Learning:

Stay on top of industry trends by investing in continuous learning. Attend webinars, workshops, and conferences to gain insights into emerging technologies and best practices. Online platforms like LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, and Coursera offer a plethora of courses tailored for marketing professionals.

Adaptability:

The ability to adapt to change is a hallmark of successful marketers. Be open to trying new strategies, experimenting with different approaches, and learning from the results. What worked yesterday might not work tomorrow, so staying nimble is key.

Networking:

Build a strong professional network within and outside your industry. Attend industry events, join online forums, and connect with peers. Networking not only provides valuable insights but also opens doors to potential collaborations and career opportunities.

Cultivate Soft Skills:

While technical skills are essential, the importance of soft skills in a marketing career cannot be overstated. Effective communication, creativity, collaboration, and adaptability are crucial attributes that can set you apart in a competitive landscape.

Communication Skills:

Clear and concise communication is the bedrock of effective marketing. Whether it’s crafting compelling copy, presenting ideas to stakeholders, or engaging with your audience on social media, honing your communication skills is paramount.

Creativity:

Creativity is the heartbeat of marketing. Cultivate a creative mindset by exposing yourself to diverse experiences, staying curious, and thinking outside the box. Creative campaigns not only capture attention but also leave a lasting impression.

Collaboration:

Marketing is a collaborative effort that involves working with cross-functional teams. Develop strong collaboration skills to seamlessly work with designers, developers, sales teams, and other stakeholders. A cohesive team can produce more impactful campaigns.

Conclusion:

Riding the waves of change in a marketing career requires a proactive approach, a commitment to lifelong learning, and a willingness to embrace innovation. By staying tech-savvy, mastering content marketing, leveraging social media effectively, cultivating a growth mindset, and honing soft skills, marketers can not only stay relevant but also thrive in an ever-evolving industry. The journey may be challenging, but the rewards of staying at the forefront of marketing innovation are immeasurable. So, buckle up, embrace change, and ride the waves towards a future where your marketing career not only survives but thrives in the face of constant transformation. Happy marketing, and here’s to many more years of success!

The post Riding the Waves of Change: Staying Relevant in a Marketing Career appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The following is a guest contributed post from Gareth Noonan, General Manager, Americas at Smaato.

When it comes to major sporting events like the Super Bowl and World Cup, inventory in sports apps is a hot commodity — and rightfully so. These apps represent an excellent way to reach engaged sports fans at contextually relevant moments. But if you’re an advertiser looking to make the most of these big-game moments, you should also think more broadly about your mobile in-app strategy.

During flagship sporting events in the first half of this year, sports apps’ mobile ad spending and eCPMs saw significant spikes, according to Smaato platform data. The Super Bowl in the U.S. is a prime example of this trend. As consumers turned to their mobile devices on game day, both ad spending and eCPMs spiked more than 120 percent above the monthly average. And that makes sense, given the continued popularity of the Super Bowl as a mega-viewing event. More than 100 million U.S. viewers watched the game in 2018, representing more than 30 percent of the entire country. Among these viewers, over 2 million streamed the game via mobile, desktop, or CTV.

Regarding mobile ad spend and eCPMs, we saw a similar — and, in fact, more pronounced — trend around this year’s FIFA World Cup, especially in Latin America. Sports fans’ enthusiasm in this region piqued advertiser interest, causing sports app ad spending to increase 289 percent and eCPMs to increase 46 percent in the first two weeks of the World Cup alone.

Major sporting events are an ideal time for advertisers to reach engaged users. Even while watching the game on TV, sports fans are often using their phones to check stats and interact with the game in various ways. But they do a lot more than that. According to Statista, second-screen activities while watching sports on TV in the U.S. include using social networks, sharing with friends, and reading emails. Notably, from an in-app advertising perspective, they also include the following activities:

• 40% read the news while watching sports
• 40% play games
• 31% search for products to buy

This broader app usage while watching sports represents an excellent opportunity for advertisers looking to build a more-comprehensive mobile strategy around major sporting events. News apps, gaming apps, and shopping apps all offer strategic advertising inventory during such events, but without the dramatically higher eCPMs seen in sports apps around these time frames.

The key to leveraging these apps as a part of a broader strategy is to align a brand’s messaging and offers with the audience’s second-screen behaviors during sporting events. For example, offers for franchised sports apparel within a shopping app might resonate particularly well around game time, while a pre-halftime pizza delivery discount within a gaming app might be particularly appealing to a user who has the big game on in the background.

Sporting events like the Super Bowl and World Cup represent important shared experiences among audiences, but that doesn’t mean individual activity ceases on viewers’ small screens. The best game-day mobile strategy enables an advertiser to find the right audiences in a relevant way in both the obvious and less-obvious places.

Author bio:

Gareth oversees all of Smaato’s sales and operational activities in the Americas region, leading the region’s account management and business development teams to drive revenue growth and ensure the highest level of client satisfaction.

Gareth has over ten years of experience in mobile and desktop video advertising technology and M&A. As the General Manager of Video for blinkx (now RhythmOne), Gareth built a consistent Top 5 comScore video property and also participated in M&A on five deals totaling over $100M in value. This helped position RhythmOne as a true cross-screen leader in the video space. Gareth has also served in several consulting and advisory roles, spanning established mobile exchanges and publisher networks to seed-stage and funded start-ups.

Gareth holds a degree in Business and Economics from Trinity College, Dublin

The post The Sports Spike: Why Mobile Advertisers Need to Go Broader Around the Big Games appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The report analyzes aggregate data from the ADYOULIKE platform and provides benchmarks, plus key takeaways around creative length, engagement and growth of native video based on 30 million infeed video views run across the platform in the first 4 months of 2018 (January – April 2018).

“The report shows that smartphone users are more likely to spend time engaging with long-form video ads compared to 6 second ads when executed correctly,” reads a report summary provided to MMW. “72 percent of mobile users that have watched 6 seconds will continue to watch and engage with video up to 22 seconds. When native video reaches 15 – 22 seconds in length across premium publisher environments, mobile and tablet users that have watched this far are significantly more engaged than desktop users.”

The data contradicts the perceived wisdom that mobile users have limited attention spans and are only interested in short video content. The ADYOULIKE 2018 data indicates that across premium publisher environments mobile users do and will continue to engage with longer video content when the content interests them. There is no fear of watching longer content on these devices.

“Key data in this report disrupts well-held assumptions that less is always more around optimal video length. Perhaps of equal importance, this Native Video report counters one of the modern myths of digital advertising – that there is a fundamental decline in user attention due to the growth of online feeds, smartphone penetration and the myriad different distractions we face digitally nowadays,” said Dale Lovell, co-founder of ADYOULIKE.

To download the full report, click here.

The post New Native Video Report Sheds Eye Opening Insight appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The following is a guest contributed post by Alexei Chemenda, CRO for Apps and Managing Director, U.S., Adikteev

Mobile users prefer playable ads to most other ad formats. Yet, as of last year, only 4 percent of advertising budgets were going to playable ads, even though 71 percent of advertisers found them effective. Part of the lag in adoption is because marketers, and even vendors, don’t really understand how playables could, and should, be used.

For example, marketers most commonly use playables for user acquisition, but they can be powerful tools for retargeting, too. Marketers also think of playables as a gaming tactic, but brands across a variety of verticals use playables to engage their audience. Let’s take a closer look at the most common mistakes the industry is making when it comes to mobile playable ads.

1.     Playable ads aren’t just for user acquisition

Most large mobile advertisers use playables, but they are only using them for user acquisition – not retargeting. This is a missed opportunity. Marketers can create playable ads to target people who have stopped using an app, or to target active users to get them to spend more time and money within the app.

It’s a truism of marketing that it costs more to acquire a new user than to retain an existing one. Playable ads are a great tool for maximizing the value derived from your existing user base. One of the reasons app marketers have shied away from targeting their existing users is because they are worried about wasting spend. Their specific concerns are usually around wasting impressions targeting users who would have taken action anyway, even if they hadn’t seen an ad. It’s easy to neutralize this challenge by using incrementality –the measure of revenue lift provided by an advertising spend—in addition to Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). Incrementality allows you to compare the audience you are retargeting to a control group that is not served ads so you can better evaluate the effectiveness of your campaign.

2.     Playable ads aren’t reserved for gaming

Playable ads are a tactic for capturing a user’s attention. Sure, gaming app publishers might do that by showcasing the game they are promoting, but brands in other verticals can create all sorts of interactive experiences designed to first, engage users and second, deliver some sort of targeted message. The e-commerce platform Wish demonstrated just how effective this strategy can be when it used a series of playable ads for a retargeting campaign that delivered better results than any of its static banner campaigns. The creative included a Spin The Wheel experience, in which users spun a virtual wheel to receive a free gift they could open inside the app, and a Choose The Right Box game, in which users had to guess which box a free gift was under after the boxes were shuffled.

3.     Don’t overinvest in your first playable experience

Advertisers and vendors often invest a lot of resources crafting their first playable experience in an effort to make it “perfect.” Marketers would be better off approaching their first playable iteration as a testing ground where they learn which elements perform best and then tweak their creative accordingly. Let’s take a simple gaming example. Rather than choosing one character from your game to highlight in your first playable, try letting users choose which character they want to interact with. After you have measured performance, you can double down on what is working and create iterations that feature the most popular character.

4.     You can overcome creative fatigue

One of the critiques of playables is that you can saturate your audience quickly. If you show the same playable ad too many times, users will start to ignore it and performance will suffer. This is a real advertising challenge, but it is not limited to playables. Serve any ad too frequently and performance will drop. Creative fatigue is perceived to be a  particularly big problem for playables because marketers often think that the playable experience has to mimic the app they are promoting. The aim of a playable ad isn’t necessarily to give users a sneak peek of the app. Its objective should be to capture a user’s attention. Then you can deliver the relevant marketing message.

With this in mind, marketers can create multiple versions of their playable ads and optimize them the same way they do with static banners and native Facebook ads. It is possible to create 20, 30, even 50 versions of the same playable ad. Doing so allows you to test out different scenarios, optimize per different audience groups and avoid creative fatigue.

5.     You can’t measure playable ads the same way you measure banners

With static mobile banners, marketers measure click-through rate (CTR) and installs, as well as what happens post-download, so they can determine the value of the user and the Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). With playables, marketers can go even deeper with the data. You can measure which buttons a user clicks and in what order, as well as time spent within the experience. The volume of available data can be overwhelming, and it can take time to determine what to measure and what to do with what you have learned. The insights can be used to improve your next playable experience, your audience targeting strategy or even other marketing campaigns. But one thing is certain—you can’t glean these takeaways if you are using the same reporting tools you use for your static mobile ads. Marketers need reporting dashboards that are specifically developed with playables in mind.

Playable ads aren’t just a tool for acquiring new high-value users. With the right strategies and measurement tools in place, marketers across all kinds of verticals can use them to retain existing users and keep them engaged.

The post Here’s Why Marketers Aren’t Spending More on Mobile Playable Ads: 5 Common Misconceptions about Playable Ads appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Together, the partners will work “to ensure high ad quality and a clean marketplace that offers a safe and engaging user experience.”

The mobile advertising industry is battling several challenges around ad quality with a rise in auto-redirect, auto pop-up and other malicious ads appearing over the past year. InMobi and GeoEdge have independently worked tirelessly to ensure the mobile apps are safe and free of malicious ads that may otherwise damage the user experience, or negatively impact the trust between publishers and their audiences.

This partnership emphasizes InMobi’s continued investment in its machine learning based real-time solutions with partners such as GeoEdge, with its rapid independent review, to bolster all defenses against ad quality issues.

GeoEdge’s technology is integrated with InMobi to ensure that every single creative meets the ad quality guidelines established by the publishers, removing any that don’t, and to guarantee a positive end user experience.

“InMobi has a reputation of creating award-winning ads that users want to see, and we have invested heavily in this area to create a seamless user experience that will also benefit our publisher partners,” said Abhay Singhal, co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer at InMobi. “While every player in the industry is eager to ensure buyers are shielded from the sell side fraud, we don’t want to forget our trusted partners on the sell side. By deploying GeoEdge, we are fully committed to solving this trust-eroding issue that affects the whole ecosystem.”

The post InMobi, GeoEdge to Regulate Ad Quality Standards and Improve User Experience appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The following is a guest contributed post by Rebecca Lerner, Executive Vice President at MAD Network

The advertising technology industry is broken, at least in its current form. That’s not breaking news.

Despite constant calls for transparency from brands, tech solutions continually stay the course, ignoring safety issues that affect advertisers as well as consumers. The desperate rush to collect as much data as possible has blinded adtech to the purposes behind these placements to begin with: creating something that connects with consumers.

Procter & Gamble has been one of the biggest brands to pull the plug, and its $200 million cut in digital ad spend has reportedly yielded a 10-percent increase in results — all by taking its operations in-house. Unilever’s pondering similar actions, as are other large brands. Adtech is starting down a crisis of its own creation. Unless it chooses to evolve.

But evolution can’t just be shining a light on fraud and transparency issues at this point. We’re too far down the road from where the industry should be. It’s time for the whole operation to be scrapped.

Where does it go from here, though? Ends up some brands are already exploring those possibilities for themselves.

Who’s actively looking for what’s next?

AT&T and Bayer are two companies looking toward blockchain technology to fix what ails digital advertising, at least for their own respective businesses. For programmatic advertisers, it’s always been a priority to know where money and placements are going, and how ads are measured. Yet, the industry currently fails to address those concerns effectively. If implemented correctly, blockchain initiatives can clear up many of those transparency concerns by reinventing the digital advertising ecosystem with privacy by design.

A brand like AT&T seems willing to do just that, though. One of the country’s largest advertisers, AT&T has an invested interest in protecting data and knowing where its money goes. The company has taken steps to improve its place in digital advertising in the last year, not only by looking into blockchain, but also by completely pulling out of YouTube due to brand safety concerns. That was last March. They’re still not back.

But is avoiding platforms like YouTube, or applying blockchain to the current industry norms a long-term fix, or just a short-term stop-gap ignoring the industry’s largest issues with fraud?

Customer data’s under the microscope right now with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) soon taking effect. The industry at-large has collected data without permission for a long time, and now suddenly, the threat of fines from the GDPR is going to deter them?

Why would actors that created the current paradigm be all that willing — or capable — of ushering in a new one that doesn’t find ways to step outside the lines once more?

This is where blockchain could work — not just as a solution for adtech’s woes, but as a hard reset for an industry that desperately needs a course-correction from outside of its current confines.

The second act

Blockchain represents a new way of transacting. So many platforms seem to be slapping a blockchain on the existing insecure workflows. And that’s a start, but what the industry needs right now is actual innovation — not just another “ad tax” to point out bad behavior. There is no proof that will reduce costs or fraud.

What the decentralized nature of blockchain represents is a true technology solution, not simply a new kind of plumbing behind an advertising face.

The supply chain is clearer within a shared ledger. Advertisers would see exactly which vendors are involved in transactions, and there would be no unnecessary middlemen added to the process. Transparency would be at the center of this infrastructure. There would no longer be questions about where ads are placed, where money is spent, or most importantly, where data is going.

Protecting customer data is essential to any ad tech fix, and it’s also where blockchain is at is most useful. With blockchain, companies can both collect data and respect privacy all at once. Customers can opt into sharing data and receiving targeted advertising, without giving up physical possession of their information. It’s privacy by design, and a convenient side effect for both regulators and companies.

As pressure mounts for digital advertising to repair itself, the industry’s leaders must look to a fundamental change, versus the light fixes that treat the symptom of the problem instead of the problem itself. Blockchain can usher in a new dynamic for digital advertising that prioritizes transparency and combats fraud, but only if implemented as a solution to the underlying problems. Some might say the industry’s survival demands as much. Hopefully its actors are willing to see the long-term benefit now, while they still can.

The post Blockchain Can Fix Ad Tech: Here is How it Can Address Fraud appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Fast-following the announcement of AI Marketing Orchestration for cross-channel messaging coordination, Urban Airship has unveiled what it calls the industry’s first in-app automation engine.

So how does it work?

In-app messaging is a proven lifeline for apps to engage all users, but limitations in triggering and delivery timing meant there was always the possibility for messages to be seen as irrelevant, annoying or interruptive. With Urban Airship’s new in-app automation engine, brands can create rich, interactive in-app messages that instantly display based on customers’ multiple behavioral and lifecycle events with automation logic included in the app itself. This ensures messages are seen in the exact moment that matters most to each individual — in-session, in-context and on specific screens.

Marketers and mobile app product owners can now use Urban Airship’s marketer-friendly UI to fully customize native templates or custom HTML for different rich, interactive message layouts, define automation logic, edit messages and view their performance.

The company says that this skips the uphill battle of getting developer resources during app update cycles for instant in-app messages, saving marketers time and expense, and offering new levels of flexibility to address key onboarding and engagement opportunities.

“The vast majority of customer journeys today are self-directed, and digital offers consumers effortless, limitless choice, so it’s more important than ever to engage people as they learn about brand offerings and features — it’s their point of maximum influence,” said Brett Caine, president and CEO, Urban Airship. “We’re on a mission to disrupt the status quo of digital customer engagement, making it easier and more automatic to use customer data and drive action across all digital channels.”

The post First Look: Urban Airship Expands its Platform to Revolutionize In-App Engagement appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The following is a guest contributed post by

Advertising has always gotten a bad rap. For every great ad there have always been hundreds or even thousands of awful ones, the ones that “ruin it for everyone else.”

And now, in the digital space, despite the capabilities we have to serve high quality ads to the right people, at the right time, in a way that adds value to their lives instead of annoying them, we are starting to see a frightening decline in quality. Mobile web ads that appear on your screen while you are navigating to a distinct URL, actively seeking content, and completely distract you from your search. They’re like the original pop-up desktop ads of the early 2000s, reimagined for the mobile device!

Much of this has been by the need to standardize, the need to template advertising that can be delivered at scale, through an increasingly automated means. And that is certainly the future, it simply has to be.

However – the ads don’t have to be bad. They don’t have to be disruptive. They don’t have to destroy user experience. We can create ads that people control and request, and not just because they are clever, or cute. We can serve ads that entertain and inform, and that people are choosing to see, not being forced upon them.

You can make ads people like, and you can deliver them in the way they want them. And you can serve those ads to the right audience, at the right time, with massive efficiency – programmatically, which is the way that media from this point can and should be bought and sold.

Ads people like…

How do you create a “likeable” ad? According to a recent customer-first marketing survey, it’s all about bringing more joy to your ads. As one respondent noted, “Unless they are about medication or other very serious matters, companies should integrate more humor into their ads.”

Other studies on emotion-centric marketing strategy back this up. Evoking positive emotion in your viewer is essential to concentrate attention, retain viewers and drive digital sharing. Specifically, the most effective is to create a sense of surprise, which is then quickly followed by joy. To be even more effective, the Harvard team suggested taking that joy away, and then bringing it back again, ultimately creating an “emotional roller coaster,” a cycle that hooks viewers and increases their likelihood of continuing to watch a digital video ad to completion.

Take note, too, that mood matters beyond just the ad itself. When consumers are in a positive mood due to the content they are consuming, perhaps using an app that makes them happy, advertisers can use that build a positive connection with the user, and with that comes the trust that leads to a purchase action. Consumers have reported being happiest while playing mobile games (77%), for instance, which could be one reason why mobile ads – whether they be rich media banners or full-screen videos – in gaming apps perform so well.

In the way they want them

Another oft-overlooked component of delivering the best ad experiences is format. Sure, advertisers use a variety of ad formats, but how often do they think about which format the consumer wants? How often do they put the customer first?

We must refocus on the consumer, and user-initiated advertising is the way to do that. When a user is in a digital environment that contains solely ads you can opt-in to, they perceive it as a highly private arena in which they are in control. Brands must ask permission, in the right way, to enter their world. And, once they enter, the brand must add relevant value to the experience, based on what they know from behavioral triggers  – or risk breaking that trust.

When they do so, though, they are rewarded with higher performance:

• Embedded, user-initiated ads within apps have received 8X more mental engagement, 3X more time spent with the brand and a higher brand recall than the usual interstitial video ads.
• Value exchange, or rewarded video, ad units drive a 34% lift in awareness and a 26% increase in purchase intent, surpassing Nielsen’s benchmarks by 3.5X and 5X respectively.
• Playables are now found by more than 7 out of 10 advertisers to be effective, and 45% find them to be the most exciting ad unit for 2017, as well.

Instead of buying impressions, the advertiser is earning the user’s attention. Another benefit is that you cannot teach bots to perform these levels of engagement, so advertisers know they are reaching an actual person.

Bought the way media should be bought

You can deliver compelling creative, and in the right format, but it won’t matter a bit if you cannot reach your audience at scale, or if your campaign cannot benefit from the great promise of automation – delivering the right ad, to the right person, at the right time, and at the right price.

Traditionally, that’s what programmatic has been about: Audience and scale. And while the industry for years has been predicting the death of the standard mobile display banner, it’s not going anywhere soon. There’s too much ease and scale wrapped up in those units.

However, it’s now clear that we have evolved to the point where full-screen and interactive display units – the expandable rich media, HD video and playable ads I refer to above – can be bought and sold programmatically. Budgets for these units have grown nearly 50% in the past year, and usage has also grown by 61% in that time.

With this shift from remnant inventory and low-denominator ad types to premium apps and highly engaging units, we can see that programmatic is now a tool for efficiency, reach and to help achieve lower-funnel brand outcomes, not just media outcomes.

From this moment forward…

Digital ads, including mobile, do not have to be a source of annoyance or discontent with consumers; they can delight, entertain and provide valuable information for their daily lives. As an industry, we must commit to delivering these experiences, and in the moments and places that the consumer chooses to receive them, rather than at our own whims.

This is where mobile is going, and the best global brands are already leaning into this movement – it’s time for everyone else to do it, too. As more marketers jump on board and move into automated, scalable delivery of these types of ads, mapping them to downstream KPIs, everyone will benefit.

The post Mobile Ads for the On-Demand Era– At Scale? appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The following is a guest contributed post by Seamas Egan, Director of Marketing and Sales at Campaigner.

It’s officially time for marketers to conduct an annual review of the strategies and tactics they’ve implemented throughout the past year. As the pace of technology innovation continues to accelerate, it seems marketing undergoes a new transformation each month. It’s critical that marketers ensure they are equipped with tools and tactics to meet the dynamic challenges of digital marketing. By thoroughly analyzing and measuring how successful 2017’s campaigns were, marketers can make informed decisions about the tools and strategies they should use in 2018.

Campaigner recently conducted a survey about their 2017 strategies and proposed changes for 2018. Read on for the findings and tips that will help other marketers prepare for the year ahead.

Top-of-the-Class Social Media. Facebook Gets Top Marks as LinkedIn Gets Honorable Mention

Social media continues to prove itself as a critical medium for marketers with 73 percent listing it as a top strategy used in 2017. However, all social media platforms are not created equal. Tech behemoth Facebook received the most support from email marketers with 48 percent planning to invest in the site. Surprisingly, the more esoteric networking site LinkedIn will also attract greater attention from marketers, with 11 percent planning to invest.

At variance with Facebook and LinkedIn, Snap and Instagram aren’t inspiring that same confidence among marketers. In fact, only 1 percent of marketers will invest in Snap, and only 8 percent in Instagram, for 2018. Marketers should account for this as they allocate resources for the year ahead and shift their expectations toward platforms that have proved successful in the past, such as Facebook.

Predictive Analytics – Coming to You in 2018

While we’ve certainly all heard the phrase “predictive analytics” used within the marketing realm, it’s a concept that will begin making headwinds before we know it. Throughout the course of 2017, only a few businesses have truly experienced first-hand how predictive analytics is shaping up to be a great way to sell smarter and sell more.

As the year progresses, the applications of predictive analytics will come into focus as it pushes to the forefront of the digital marketing space. In fact, while only 5 percent of marketers implemented predictive analytics in 2017, 44 percent expect to see more of it in 2018. Marketers should take heed of this and be sure they’re shifting their budgets and staff toward digital development, especially when it comes to predictive tools to make smarter and more effective marketing decisions.

Content Over Everything

Throughout the course of 2017, content continued to be a critical marketing pillar for engaging subscribers. In fact, 81 percent of marketers noted they have used newsletters in their email marketing strategies, surpassing tips, infographics, videos, and slideshares in popularity.

When planning for 2018 marketers should make sure they are allocating funds to content development, specifically for newsletters. Crafted and relevant content must be a part of every marketing campaign, especially if marketers want to keep subscribers loyal to their brands. Email marketers can get a head start on 2018 by building a strong pipeline of newsletter content now to keep subscribers engaged throughout the course of the year.

In order to ensure a fruitful 2018, marketers should keep these findings and suggested best practices top of mind as they plan their campaign strategies for the year ahead. They should plan to hone in on Facebook and LinkedIn, incorporate predictive analytics for more targeted campaigns and focus on creating great content to keep readers coming back for more in the new year.

The post Time for Marketers to Conduct an Annual Review of Their Strategies and Tactics appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The following is a guest contributed post by Seamas Egan, Director of Marketing and Sales at Campaigner.

It’s officially time for marketers to conduct an annual review of the strategies and tactics they’ve implemented throughout the past year. As the pace of technology innovation continues to accelerate, it seems marketing undergoes a new transformation each month. It’s critical that marketers ensure they are equipped with tools and tactics to meet the dynamic challenges of digital marketing. By thoroughly analyzing and measuring how successful 2017’s campaigns were, marketers can make informed decisions about the tools and strategies they should use in 2018.

Campaigner recently conducted a survey about their 2017 strategies and proposed changes for 2018. Read on for the findings and tips that will help other marketers prepare for the year ahead.

Top-of-the-Class Social Media. Facebook Gets Top Marks as LinkedIn Gets Honorable Mention

Social media continues to prove itself as a critical medium for marketers with 73 percent listing it as a top strategy used in 2017. However, all social media platforms are not created equal. Tech behemoth Facebook received the most support from email marketers with 48 percent planning to invest in the site. Surprisingly, the more esoteric networking site LinkedIn will also attract greater attention from marketers, with 11 percent planning to invest.

At variance with Facebook and LinkedIn, Snap and Instagram aren’t inspiring that same confidence among marketers. In fact, only 1 percent of marketers will invest in Snap, and only 8 percent in Instagram, for 2018. Marketers should account for this as they allocate resources for the year ahead and shift their expectations toward platforms that have proved successful in the past, such as Facebook.

Predictive Analytics – Coming to You in 2018

While we’ve certainly all heard the phrase “predictive analytics” used within the marketing realm, it’s a concept that will begin making headwinds before we know it. Throughout the course of 2017, only a few businesses have truly experienced first-hand how predictive analytics is shaping up to be a great way to sell smarter and sell more.

As the year progresses, the applications of predictive analytics will come into focus as it pushes to the forefront of the digital marketing space. In fact, while only 5 percent of marketers implemented predictive analytics in 2017, 44 percent expect to see more of it in 2018. Marketers should take heed of this and be sure they’re shifting their budgets and staff toward digital development, especially when it comes to predictive tools to make smarter and more effective marketing decisions.

Content Over Everything

Throughout the course of 2017, content continued to be a critical marketing pillar for engaging subscribers. In fact, 81 percent of marketers noted they have used newsletters in their email marketing strategies, surpassing tips, infographics, videos, and slideshares in popularity.

When planning for 2018 marketers should make sure they are allocating funds to content development, specifically for newsletters. Crafted and relevant content must be a part of every marketing campaign, especially if marketers want to keep subscribers loyal to their brands. Email marketers can get a head start on 2018 by building a strong pipeline of newsletter content now to keep subscribers engaged throughout the course of the year.

In order to ensure a fruitful 2018, marketers should keep these findings and suggested best practices top of mind as they plan their campaign strategies for the year ahead. They should plan to hone in on Facebook and LinkedIn, incorporate predictive analytics for more targeted campaigns and focus on creating great content to keep readers coming back for more in the new year.

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