Asking Smarter Questions » Channels

The Virtual + Visual: Paint your Home Online

Jeff Adelson-Yan (@jeffadelsonyan) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 22:00:14 +0000

Home goods faced a serious problem when we all got online. After all, products like textiles and paints relied on the ability for the consumer to look and touch to be persuaded into buying. The reality was that these products and the brands that represented them had to come up with a way for consumers to design their homes online. And tools were built, optimized and refined to what they are today.

Paint brands allow you to actually download photos of your home and virtually paint the walls whatever color you like. There is, of course, the option to choose from hundreds of stock-like images as well. It allows you to play with color without purchasing the wrong one, taking it home and being disappointed. Looking for complementary colors? Well, they’ve got you covered there too.

via Sherwin-Williams

via Glidden

Additionally, paint brands have developed mobile apps that allow you to take photos of an object and match a paint color. Additional information that can be found on these home material sites are painting how-to videos, tips, safety data and support for builders as well as consumers. So what is the future for these brands? Aside from the potential for mobile domination with additional tools on apps, augmented reality (AR) is going to open up a lot of opportunity. As more tools are developed, it’s obvious that it is the future of retail marketing. Homebuyers are already using the technology to explore potential houses and their neighborhoods. An app that would virtually decorate and paint your home using AR, then save all the materials needed and let you buy them within the app could be an extremely powerful tool. Realty companies are already using AR tools to help consumers make housing purchase decisions:

via Forrester

In order to create the best interactive website, mobile apps, augmented reality tools and more, paint brands must first leverage consumer data. What is it that consumers want most out of their paint? Perhaps they want to save time by not having to apply a base coat. Perhaps they want their paint to be recyclable, pet and child-friendly, easy to clean or just plain durable. Perhaps richness of color is the most important. Whatever the case may be, each brand will have to develop an AR and digital strategy that targets their perfect consumer.

Here’s a simple example: if your paint brand is more expensive than most, your target audience is probably one that would be concerned with quality over price. Therefore, that brand might consider developing a virtual experience that caters to individuals who own a home or multiple homes, who have a deeper interest in design aesthetics and individuals with fewer pets and children. A value brand paint might consider targeting young people or families, who want to add color to their walls without a huge investment, or who will feasibly need to touch-up the walls often. In this way, the creative can echo the consumer data and provide the best engagement with the app, site or ads.

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Improve Profitability of Remarketing Campaigns

Jeff Adelson-Yan (@jeffadelsonyan) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 22:12:51 +0000

Display ads can be costly if not executed properly: there’s the creative, the copyrighting, media planning/buying and then management. So it doesn’t make sense when people halfheartedly throw together a display campaign of any kind–especially remarketing. The audience you should be targeting in your remarketing campaigns should be a highly profitable one. After all, they’ve already shown interest in your product, brand or service by visiting your website. Here are three tips that can help maximize your return from these campaigns:

1. Segment, segment, segment

As I said before, display can be expensive. So you want to be sure you get the most out of your remarketing campaign. That’s why you need to segment out your audiences. You can segment by the last time the user visited your website and what kinds of products/services they viewed. Getting granular with the messaging presents a big opportunity to convert the user.

For example, if a user is on your retail eCommerce site and views multiple product pages involving tools, you can remarket that user with the product’s image, pricing and that product page’s destination URL. Another example: If a user fills out an information request form, but does not actually book a service, remarketing that user with a reminder to book a service could be helpful. Use the remarketing ad copy and images that are appropriate for where that user is in the purchase funnel.

2. Tests

In the aforementioned examples, companies can test how long after the product or service is viewed is an optimal time for people to be remarketed. Another test can help you determine which products are the highest converters from remarketing campaigns, judging by click through rate (CTR) as well as conversion rates. If a remarketing conversion costs you an average of $25, for example, you might not want to spend time remarketing $7.99 wrenches on your tool site. Media placement tests are also pertinent. If a user is on weather.com, it might be beneficial to remarket them with display ads of jackets they looked at a day ago. However, if they’re on an informational page about DIY crafts, the jacket might not be on their minds. There is much that can be determined from testing your messaging, placement, products and images.

3. Getting granular with code

The fact is that no marketing campaign is worth doing without implementing tracking code. And having a remarketing tag is not enough. Add fields for content messaging tests, segmented audiences, product images and media placements. Being able to assign a true ROI relies heavily on the ability to take all of the variables into consideration. Optimization requires the ability to isolate all of the variables that made your ad a success or failure as well, which is why it is absolutely imperative to get granular with code (possibly even more granular than you think you should). After all, the more data you have, the more you can use.

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Super Bowl or Bust: Preparing for Campaign Greatness

Lori Terrell — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:56:51 +0000

With just a few weeks left in the regular season, teams are starting to stake their claim for playoff greatness. And as the Texans and Falcons know, it’s never too early to start planning your strategy for the biggest game of them all: the Super Bowl. If you’re a brand with commercials airing during Super Bowl XLVII, or if you’re a marketer looking to pick up some tricks for supporting your television campaign, read on for three important considerations to help you win big:

Be Present Before & After

So now that you’ve got your 30-second time slot, all that’s left to do is shoot the commercial and wait for sales to skyrocket, right? If this is your approach, you may be missing out on the valuable weeks leading up to Super Bowl Sunday where brands compete for buzz and consumer interest. Last year, Super Bowl advertisers leaked teasers of their commercials as early as January 1. That leaves six weeks of prime campaign build-up, which can be used to whet the appetites of future viewers with sneak peaks and outtakes on your website, social channels and email communications.

When Super Bowl Sunday arrives, make sure to have a hefty presence in paid search and video search (YouTube) results when viewers are clamoring to see your ad a second, third and tenth time. Industry experts recommend allocating at least 10% of what you spend on your commercial buy to digital marketing channels such as display, paid search and social media advertising to support your television investment. Keep in mind that video views spike during the game itself, but often remain elevated for several days after, so it’s important to maintain a presence even after the big event.

Integrate for Impact

In order to provide a seamless experience between your television commercial and your digital support, integration across channels is a must. Incorporate visuals and messaging form your commercial into your digital presence, and make sure to provide direction for audiences to transition from one platform to another. YouTube overlays directing to your consumer website or links within your Twitter messaging directing to exclusive content on Facebook are great examples of integrating for impact.

Don’t forget that mobile and tablets play a pivotal role in the Super Bowl experience, as audiences are more likely to be at bars or parties or on the couch using a portable device. Integrating mobile versions of your ads across digital channels will ensure you are capturing these viewers looking for your content during the big game.

Keep your Eye on the Prize

Though it can be tempting to get caught up in all the Super Bowl glitz and glamour (after all, it doesn’t get much bigger than the Super Bowl for a brand or marketer), your goals need to remain forefront in your planning. Is your main objective to raise awareness or increase sales? Maybe it’s the completion of an action on your consumer website from those who saw your commercial. If your goal is get visitors to your website, include proper calls to action and links to your site. Put all initiatives through a quick gut check to ensure they are in line with your objectives.

And above all else, have a measurement plan in place. If you objective is to increase sales, make sure you have a proper process in place to link sales to your commercials and digital media. If you’re looking for maximum exposure of your commercial, consider embedding directly from YouTube when promoting your video assets through other media channels so that you have a proper view count all within one source. You’re likely investing a good portion of your budget toward these initiatives, so do your due diligence to measure if they are returning the outcomes your desire.

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[INFOGRAPHIC] Who Uses Search Engines?

Steve Parker, Jr. (@sparkerjr) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:17:16 +0000

Did you know 82.6% of all people on the web use search engines? Really, though, that statistic really shouldn’t be all that surprising. Think about it for a second: whenever you’re sitting around with friends and a random question comes up in the conversation (“who sings this song?” or “what was the name of that creepy guy in Kill Bill?”), but no one really knows the answer, it’s almost like a race to see who pulls out the smartphone first to plug that little query into a search engine. Or let’s say you’re on vacation and want to find a good sushi restaurant nearby. Maybe you’ve recently been getting migraines and want to figure out what might be causing them. Whatever the reason may be, the destination is always the same: search engines.

Searching the web for answers has become such a normal part of our daily lives that it’s hard to remember a time when you couldn’t just whip out your smartphone and find answers or recommendations in seconds. But when it comes down to the nitty gritty, who actually makes up this 82.6% of people? For marketers, the answer to this question is crucial if you want to use search engine marketing to reach a target audience. For example, do women make up a greater portion of search engine users or do men? How does this group break down in terms of age, income and education levels, or race? And how often are each of these groups taking advantage of search?

To answer these questions and more, Levelwing put together a new infographic – the first of a two-part series. Check it out!

Using Search Engines Part 1: Who Uses Search?

Advertising Standards Association (ASA) Bans Nike Twitter Campaign

Steve Parker, Jr. (@sparkerjr) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:34:22 +0000

A Nike campaign involving two professional soccer players has been banned by the ASA. It’s the first time the Association has banned a Twitter campaign according to Mashable. The tweets in question involved motivated messaging about resolutions from the athletes. The problem was, however, that it was not obvious that the tweets were advertisements. An anonymous complaint generated some interest in the campaign’s tactics and the ASA decided that the campaign was, in fact, misleading.

This is likely to become an even bigger issue in the future with Facebook advertisements slowly being integrated more and more into the news feed (sponsored stories, which are paid ads, are already appearing in the news feed on the mobile app with the word “Promoted” in the top right corner). The lines between promoted, paid and organic digital marketing becomes more blurred by the day. Do you think that the ASA was right to ban this Twitter campaign or do you think that it’s the responsibility of the consumers to educate themselves about a celebrity’s endorsements?

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