Brian Meert's Blog, page 126
March 4, 2018
Mobile Insights: How Users Spend Their Time on Mobile Devices
March 4, 2018Anna Hubbel
@Emarketer shared its US estimates on mobile behaviors to help marketers get the most out of their mobile strategies in #2018. #mobileapps #digitaladvertising #adspend
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The various ways users engage with their mobile devices reveal valuable information about the best way to market to them. Marketing data and research analyst Emarketer shared its US estimates on mobile behaviors to help marketers get the most out of their mobile strategies in 2018.
US Mobile Internet Usage
Smartphone Internet users make up 93.4 percent of all Internet usage in the US, according to Emarketer. Out of 223 million mobile phone Internet users total, 219.8 million are smartphone users (up 6.1 percent from 2016). An estimated 157.4 million users are tablet Internet users (up 4.6 percent from 2016).
Mobile-only Internet users (including tablets, smartphones, and feature phones) are up 11.1 percent from 2016, whereas desktop- and laptop-only Internet users are down 11.8 percent from 2016. While users may continue to use a combination of desktop or laptop and mobile to use the Internet, Emarketer expects desktop- and laptop-only Internet usage to continue to decline.
Mobile Ad Spend
US mobile ad spending totaled $58.38 billion in 2017, up 25 percent from 2016. An estimated $45.26 billion of that total went towards in-app ads. Additionally, ad spend invested in mobile was double the ad spend in desktop.
Mobile Ad Formats
Mobile display formats (video, rich media, and banner) make up 51.8 percent of mobile ad spend. Within that percentage, mobile video makes up 10.2 percent, mobile rich media makes up 16.7 percent, and mobile banner or other makes up 24.9 percent. In contrast, mobile search makes up 44 percent of mobile ad spend. Emarketer attributes the bigger investment in mobile display formats to the increasing consumer usage of social networking and mobile video consumption.
Mobile and Social
About 174.4 million users take part in social networking on their mobile phones (up 6.9 percent from 2016). One hundred fifty-seven users engage with Facebook on their mobile phones while 84.7 million and 79.2 million engage with Instagram and Snapchat on their mobile phones, respectively. Although the growth rate for mobile social networking has decreased to single-digit percentages, Emarketer says growth for mobile is still faster.
Mobile Time Spent and Activities
Primarily, Emarketer says users spend their mobile time in apps, making up 84 percent of total mobile Internet time. As for time spent in browsers on mobile devices, it’s frequent, but very brief, making up only 15 percent of total mobile Internet time.
Out of the total amount of time spent on mobile Internet, 34 percent is spent on tablets and 65.3 percent is spent on smartphones. Tablet browser usage makes up only 23 percent of tablet Internet time, with tablet app usage making up 77 percent of tablet Internet time. Smartphone browser usage makes up only 11 percent of smartphone Internet time, with smartphone app usage making up 89 percent of smartphone Internet time.
As for app usage overall, mobile social-network app usage makes up 23.9 percent of mobile app time; mobile game apps make up 14.3 percent; mobile video apps make up 18.7 percent, and other app activities make up 43.1 percent.
When considering mobile strategies, it’s also important to create stunning app designs.
The post Mobile Insights: How Users Spend Their Time on Mobile Devices appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
March 3, 2018
Facebook 3D Posts Now Support Standard glTF 2.0 File Format
March 3, 2018Anna Hubbel
@Facebook #3D posts now support the standard glTF 2.0 file format. #ARadvertising #ARcommerce
Click To TweetPhoto Courtesy of TechCrunch
Back in October, Facebook teased interactive 3D objects in News Feed. Now, Tech Crunch says Facebook is adding the final touches to stages one and two of its 3D posts, and the results are exciting for both developers and users alike.
According to Tech Crunch, these 3D posts will now support the standard glTF 2.0 file format, which means developers can enjoy textures, lighting, and realistic rough or shiny rendering for their models.
How It Works
Developers can now make 3D modeling apps or cameras to share on News Feed. Even websites can be featured as 3D posts.
On the user side, 3D objects can be dragged, moved, and dropped into News Feed, as well as brought into Facebook Spaces, the network’s VR hangout space, as a post.
When creating a post containing a 3D model, Tech Crunch says users can choose a background color and texture.
“We’re trying to make 3D a native part of the Facebook ecosystem. Stage 3 is getting these 3D objects into AR,” Facebook’s creative director for social VR, Ocean Quigley, says in a Tech Crunch article. “We’re trying to lay the foundational steps so Facebook can go with users into their 3D worlds of VR and AR.”
The ultimate hope is that the process of developing and sharing 3D posts is as seamless and convenient as possible, requiring only the minimum level of tech skills so anyone can do it.
With glTF 2.0 referred to as the “JPEG of 3D” by Quigley, Tech Crunch says Facebook is open sourcing converters on GitHub to make it easy to convert to this file type, which is preferred by Facebook.
The Future: AR Commerce
As Facebook continues to explore new AR (augmented reality) capabilities, the future of digital advertising will likely come in the form of AR commerce. Rather than displaying products in photos or static images, advertisers would create 3D models of their products for a more interactive and exciting shopper experience.
Facebook’s AR exploration is a direct response to competition presented by Snapchat. In December, Facebook rolled out AR Studio, a creative tool for making AR experiences, to creators worldwide.
One thing is definitely certain: the future of digital advertising is going to be advanced by AR capabilities in one way or another. The only question is how soon.
The post Facebook 3D Posts Now Support Standard glTF 2.0 File Format appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
March 2, 2018
Snapchat Is Offering Free Ads to Small Startups
March 2, 2018Anna Hubbel
#Snap is offering #free @Snapchat ads to small #startups. #YCombinator #digitaladvertising
Click To TweetSnap CEO Evan Spiegel, Photo Courtesy of Recode
Snap is the Oprah Winfrey of social media advertising as of late, announcing yet again more free ad giveaways. Only this time, the company is offering free ads to startups linked with Silicon Valley startup accelerator programs such as Y Combinator.
Earlier this month, Snap announced that it was offering free ad credits to advertisers who use Instagram, trying to lure the market away from its biggest competitor. Now, according to Recode, Snap is luring companies currently participating or having participated in these accelerator programs with hundreds of dollars’ worth of free Snapchat ads and first dibs on new ad products and creative tools.
Building Relationships
This free ad giveaway is Snap’s attempt to build stronger relationships with advertisers and, subsequently, increase the number of bids for ad spots. Currently, because there aren’t many competitive bids taking place for Snapchat ad spots, prices and ad revenue don’t increase. The bottom line: better relationships mean more advertisers, and more advertisers mean more bids, mean higher prices.
According to Recode, Snap is also looking at the following accelerator programs: General Catalyst’s Rough Draft Ventures, First Round Capital’s Dorm Room Fund, Berkeley-based The House and San Francisco-based Runway.
The post Snapchat Is Offering Free Ads to Small Startups appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
March 1, 2018
Facebook to Remove Redundant and Outdated Ad Metrics in July
March 1, 2018Anna Hubbel
@Facebook to remove redundant & outdated ad metrics in July. #admeasurement #digitaladvertising
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In addition to making clearer labels for its ad metrics, Facebook plans to remove some metrics that have been deemed redundant, outdated, not actionable, or infrequently used. Facebook believes removing these metrics will allow advertisers to easily analyze their metrics and determine which are most insightful and useful in constructing optimal marketing strategies and campaigns. The following metrics are the ones Facebook plans to remove come July 2018, along with suggestions for alternative metrics to use in place of them.
Actions, People Taking Action, Cost per Any Action
In place of these metrics, Facebook advises advertisers to customize their own composite metric to represent actions of significant insight specific to the business.
Amount Spent Today
Facebook’s dynamic date selector is more useful than the amount spent today metric when it is used to see results for today and then analyzed in comparison to other date ranges.
Button Clicks
Facebook says this metric is nearly identical to measurements reflected in link clicks, event responses, and offers saved, which, once the button clicks metric is removed, should be used instead.
Canvas Component Time Percentage
Since this metric isn’t often used, Facebook recommends using canvas view time and canvas view percentage instead.
Carousel Card
This metric will no longer provide a breakdown of conversion metrics or of any calculated metrics because it is rarely used. However, Facebook says link clicks can be broken down by carousel card to see conversion results.
Link Click Destination
Outbound clicks and landing page views can be used for the time being to measure clicks leading to off-Facebook destinations. These metrics can also provide a more effective granular insight to app deep links or app store destinations.
Mobile App Actions Conversion Value
Facebook says using specific app event conversion values such as mobile app purchases conversion value is more useful than this metric.
Page Mentions, Cost per Page Mention
These metrics are outdated and do not reflect any significant insights, according to Facebook. Page likes or page engagement are recommended in place of them.
Page Tab Views, Cost per Page Tab View
These metrics are redundant and not as meaningful as page likes or page engagement.
Positive Feedback, Negative Feedback
Similar to the relevance score metric, these two metrics will only confuse advertisers. Relevance score is more useful in understanding how well a target audience is responding to ads.
Social Reach, Social Impressions, Social Clicks (All), Unique Social Clicks (All)
Facebook says these metrics are outdated and are similar to reach and impressions.
The post Facebook to Remove Redundant and Outdated Ad Metrics in July appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
February 28, 2018
3 Marketing Trends to Look for in 2018 According to Marketing Experts
March 1, 2018Anna Hubbel
The year 2018 is expected to be one of excitement, opportunity, and even fearful uncertainty for businesses that incorporate digital advertising into their marketing strategies. Bronto, a lead email marketing service provider for e-commerce retailers, recently shared predictions from e-commerce marketing experts regarding digital marketing trends for 2018. Here are the major points of interest the experts discussed about the future of digital marketing.
3 trends to look out for in 2018: #AI & #MachineLearning, #Amazon, and #Personalization, #Brand, & Unique Content. #BrontoPredictions #marketingexperts
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1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Peter Sheldon, vice president of strategy at Magento Commerce, says although the idea of artificial intelligence (AI) is exciting and will make small advances in 2018, it isn’t something brands should dedicate most of their marketing efforts on quite yet.
“You might see it in conversational or browserless commerce, but I think we’re kidding ourselves if we think there’s going to be some drastic change in the way consumers buy through digital channels because of AI,” says Sheldon.
However, Zak Stambor, editor at Internet Retailer, says, “For most retailers, AI and machine learning seem most likely to transform the way retailers approach their digital marketing efforts.” Going into 2018, Stambor predicts a spike in marketing strategies that incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning. Retailers will need to keep up with these technological advancements and find ways to stand out in the crowd.
Greg Zakowicz, senior commerce marketing analyst at Bronto Software, says although browserless devices (e.g., Amazon Echo, Google Assistant) are increasing in popularity and becoming the norm, brands or sites with high reviews or low-cost but good-quality products don’t need to worry yet. However, browserless commerce is still something businesses will need to keep an eye on as technological improvements continue at a fast pace.
Zakowicz offers the following thoughts:
“If browserless shopping and voice search become an everyday occurrence, could offline marketing come back into play? Are there ways to rent or purchase data from companies that have browserless systems to pair with existing customer relationship databases? The data needed by retailers to narrowly target customers will be owned by whatever company is collecting it through their [sic] device. Retailers could purchase or rent targeted data from these companies for direct mail or other types of advertising techniques. Theoretically, they would even be able to fine-tune the types of customers they are targeting (e.g. location, lifestyle and real-time browse history).”
2. Amazon
For independent brands, Amazon is either a friend or a foe in the e-commerce world because it is rising as a competitive advertising platform. According to Zak Stambor, if a brand doesn’t want to give Amazon a chance, they need to find a unique way to stand out on their own.
“Retailers that don’t want Amazon to take their market share need to be different,” says Stambor. “They need to find ways to distinguish themselves.”
Peter Sheldon, too, believes staying away from Amazon is a “dangerous game.”
“If you haven’t embraced their marketplace, now is the time,” says Sheldon. “It’s where the eyeballs are.”
3. Personalization, Brand, and Unique Content
An example of a Dynamic Product Ad Saima Alibhai, managing principal consultant at EMEA believes “the trend for 2018 is how you use technology to connect with your customer[s], anticipate their needs and supply them. It’s not about promoting what you want to promote.”
In other words, brands need to think one step ahead, using information they’ve gathered about each individual customer through technology to predict what’s important to them.
Vivek Sharma, CEO of Movable Ink, says machine learning will be an effective tool in 2018 for personalizing the brand experience for consumers. But that shouldn’t be mistaken for handing over the creative process to machine learning entirely. Sharma explains that machine learning should be used to scale human creativity, enhancing a brand’s creativity by automating communication for a personalized experience.
“The intriguing aspect of visual personalization is that it doesn’t require the message to be constantly changed out,” says Sharma. “You could conceivably breathe a bit of life into what is, technically, a batch-and-blast email, just one that will automatically render differently depending on the recipient.’’
Authenticity, engagement, easiness, and creativity will be crucial in 2018, according to John Swords, chief product officer at TurnTo. Specifically, he believes user-generated content (UGC) will be popular.
“UGC outranks all other forms of marketing, including search engines, when it comes to shopper influence,’’ Swords says. He adds, “[UGC] helps build trust and offers a more authentic shopping experience.’’
It’ll be worth it, Swords believes, for brands and retailers to somehow incorporate UGC into their marketing strategies in 2018.
Dylan Whitman, founder and CEO of BVAccel, says embracing technology is going to be extremely important for retailers in 2018, but that it will only be effective if the brand doesn’t have a unique element that gives it value.
“You deliver truths with every interaction with your customers,” says Whitman. “You build a relationship of trust with that customer so they’ll pick your brand based on that relationship over others.”
One of the ways brands can make this juxtaposition is through personalized and automated emails, says Whitman.
Peter Sheldon concurs that unique content is going to make it or break it for most brands in 2018. “The firms that are obsessed with unique content, how-to guides and videos are going to succeed,” says Sheldon.
Greg Zakowicz says retailers are starting to combine their online and offline efforts to bring more customers to their brick-and-mortar stores.
“Buy online and pick up in-store (BOPIS) is gaining in popularity,” says Zakowicz, “so streamlining this experience will be critical for retailers that want to encourage consumers to get off the couch and go to the store.”
Zakowicz explains that joining online with offline to form an omnichannel experience creates a bond between brand and consumer, which is vital in establishing brand loyalty. In addition, connecting with customers online to get them to visit the brick-and-mortar store increases the likelihood that they’ll make more purchases on top of the ones they made or planned to make online.
In addition to these experts’ predictions, Emarketer forecasts that 10 percent of total US ad spending in 2018 will go towards Facebook.
The post 3 Marketing Trends to Look for in 2018 According to Marketing Experts appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
3 Marketing Trends to Look For in 2018 According to Marketing Experts
March 1, 2018Anna Hubbel
The year 2018 is expected to be one of excitement, opportunity, and even fearful uncertainty for businesses that incorporate digital marketing into their advertising strategies. Bronto, a lead email marketing service provider for e-commerce retailers, recently shared predictions from e-commerce marketing experts regarding digital marketing trends for 2018. Here are the major points of interest the experts discussed about the future of digital marketing.
3 trends to look out for in 2018: #AI & #MachineLearning, #Amazon, and #Personalization, #Brand, & Unique Content. #BrontoPredictions #marketingexperts
Click To Tweet
1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Peter Sheldon, vice president of strategy at Magento Commerce, says although the idea of artificial intelligence (AI) is exciting and will make small advances in 2018, it isn’t something brands should dedicate most of their marketing efforts on quite yet.
“You might see it in conversational or browserless commerce, but I think we’re kidding ourselves if we think there’s going to be some drastic change in the way consumers buy through digital channels because of AI,” says Sheldon.
However, Zak Stambor, editor at Internet Retailer, says, “For most retailers, AI and machine learning seem most likely to transform the way retailers approach their digital marketing efforts.” Going into 2018, Stambor predicts a spike in marketing strategies that incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning. Retailers will need to keep up with these technological advancements and find ways to stand out in the crowd.
Greg Zakowicz, senior commerce marketing analyst at Bronto Software, says although browserless devices (e.g., Amazon Echo, Google Assistant) are increasing in popularity and becoming the norm, brands or sites with high reviews or low-cost but good-quality products don’t need to worry yet. However, browserless commerce is still something businesses will need to keep an eye on as technological improvements continue at a fast pace.
Zakowicz offers the following thoughts:
“If browserless shopping and voice search become an everyday occurrence, could offline marketing come back into play? Are there ways to rent or purchase data from companies that have browserless systems to pair with existing customer relationship databases? The data needed by retailers to narrowly target customers will be owned by whatever company is collecting it through their [sic] device. Retailers could purchase or rent targeted data from these companies for direct mail or other types of advertising techniques. Theoretically, they would even be able to fine-tune the types of customers they are targeting (e.g. location, lifestyle and real-time browse history).”
2. Amazon
For independent brands, Amazon is either a friend or a foe in the e-commerce world because it is rising as a competitive advertising platform. According to Zak Stambor, if a brand doesn’t want to give Amazon a chance, they need to find a unique way to stand out on their own.
“Retailers that don’t want Amazon to take their market share need to be different,” says Stambor. “They need to find ways to distinguish themselves.”
Peter Sheldon, too, believes staying away from Amazon is a “dangerous game.”
“If you haven’t embraced their marketplace, now is the time,” says Sheldon. “It’s where the eyeballs are.”
3. Personalization, Brand, and Unique Content
An example of a Dynamic Product Ad Saima Alibhai, managing principal consultant at EMEA believes “the trend for 2018 is how you use technology to connect with your customer[s], anticipate their needs and supply them. It’s not about promoting what you want to promote.”
In other words, brands need to think one step ahead, using information they’ve gathered about each individual customer through technology to predict what’s important to them.
Vivek Sharma, CEO of Movable Ink, says machine learning will be an effective tool in 2018 for personalizing the brand experience for consumers. But that shouldn’t be mistaken for handing over the creative process to machine learning entirely. Sharma explains that machine learning should be used to scale human creativity, enhancing a brand’s creativity by automating communication for a personalized experience.
“The intriguing aspect of visual personalization is that it doesn’t require the message to be constantly changed out,” says Sharma. “You could conceivably breathe a bit of life into what is, technically, a batch-and-blast email, just one that will automatically render differently depending on the recipient.’’
Authenticity, engagement, easiness, and creativity will be crucial in 2018, according to John Swords, chief product officer at TurnTo. Specifically, he believes user-generated content (UGC) will be popular.
“UGC outranks all other forms of marketing, including search engines, when it comes to shopper influence,’’ Swords says. He adds, “[UGC] helps build trust and offers a more authentic shopping experience.’’
It’ll be worth it, Swords believes, for brands and retailers to somehow incorporate UGC into their marketing strategies in 2018.
Dylan Whitman, founder and CEO of BVAccel, says embracing technology is going to be extremely important for retailers in 2018, but that it will only be effective if the brand doesn’t have a unique element that gives it value.
“You deliver truths with every interaction with your customers,” says Whitman. “You build a relationship of trust with that customer so they’ll pick your brand based on that relationship over others.”
One of the ways brands can make this juxtaposition is through personalized and automated emails, says Whitman.
Peter Sheldon concurs that unique content is going to make it or break it for most brands in 2018. “The firms that are obsessed with unique content, how-to guides and videos are going to succeed,” says Sheldon.
Greg Zakowicz says retailers are starting to combine their online and offline efforts to bring more customers to their brick-and-mortar stores.
“Buy online and pick up in-store (BOPIS) is gaining in popularity,” says Zakowicz, “so streamlining this experience will be critical for retailers that want to encourage consumers to get off the couch and go to the store.”
Zakowicz explains that joining online with offline to form an omnichannel experience creates a bond between brand and consumer, which is vital in establishing brand loyalty. In addition, connecting with customers online to get them to visit the brick-and-mortar store increases the likelihood that they’ll make more purchases on top of the ones they made or planned to make online.
In addition to these experts’ predictions, Emarketer forecasts that 10 percent of total US ad spending in 2018 will go towards Facebook.
The post 3 Marketing Trends to Look For in 2018 According to Marketing Experts appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
Facebook Adds Marketplace to Placement Options
February 28, 2018Anne Felicitas
@Facebook adds Marketplace to its ad placements. #digitaladvertising #digitalmarketing #facebookads
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Facebook recently added its buy-and-sell platform Marketplace into its list of ad placements. To serve ads to Marketplace, advertisers must click the Marketplace and the native, banner, and interstitial option. Without the latter, advertisers can’t use the former.
When advertisers choose to serve ads to Marketplace, their ads appear within its feed, among Facebook users’ listings.
Facebook advertising expert Jon Loomer finds an ad in Marketplace.Facebook rolled out Marketplace in 2016 to mimic Craigslist. Much like the buy-and-sell website, Marketplace allows Facebook users to list items they want to sell. Buyers can then search for items based on category, price, or location. All transactions occur outside of Marketplace and Facebook.
Whether or not Facebook created Marketplace to serve as another advertising platform is unconfirmed. Facebook did, however, explain that Marketplace was created for the high volume of Facebook users using groups to buy and sell items.
Advertisers can now choose Marketplace as a placement.Although Marketplace appears as a placement option, because Facebook has not released a statement about an official rollout, it is likely that this placement is still a test and therefore not yet available to all advertisers.
Fortune first announced the testing of ads in Marketplace in 2017. However, at that time the placement did not yet appear to advertisers.
Marketplace is located in the left column of news feed.The Benefits of Marketplace
Purchase intent differentiates Facebook’s advertising platform from rival Google’s: while the former is a discovery platform users use to socialize with friends and family, the latter is a platform that users access to search for items to buy. However, because Marketplace users use Marketplace to search for items for sale, it allows Facebook to be both a discovery and a selling platform. The audience that see ads in Marketplace are more likely to convert than any other audience because of their high purchase intent.
But high conversion is not the only benefit Marketplace may bring to the table. Because Facebook’s news feed is already overpopulated by ads and organic posts, the competition for ad space is much more intense. Marketplace serves as an extension of Facebook’s ad platform, freeing space from Facebook’s news feed.
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A Guide to the New Snapchat Interface
February 28, 2018Anna Hubbel
Photo Courtesy of Paste MagazineAlthough data shows younger users are migrating from Facebook to Snapchat, some Snapchat users find the app’s latest update confusing. Here’s a guide to help you navigate the Snapchat app’s new interface.
The updated @Snapchat organizes #Stories, #chats, & #GroupChats differently. #SnapchatGuide #productupdates
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Stories
Previously, you had to swipe left on your camera screen to view Stories from friends. Now, however, you swipe right to where your chats and streaks are located to view Stories.
When a friend shares a Story, a bubble preview will appear next to their name (in place of their Bitmoji). Simply tap the bubble as you normally would to view the Story.
Once you’ve viewed a Story, a preview of another friend’s Story will pop up. Tap the screen to watch it, swipe to skip, or swipe down to exit.
You can also re-watch a friend’s Story by tapping their Bitmoji to open their profile.
Story Management
To see your Story’s number of views, delete Stories, or create a new Story, you can select the icon at the top left corner of the main camera screen.
This is also where you can add new friends or sync contacts.
Friends and Chats
Everything to do with friends is now condensed into one screen when you swipe right on your main camera screen. Individual chats, group chats, streaks, and Stories are all viewable in this location.
For better clarity and less confusion, Snapchat is reportedly planning to add three distinct tabs to the Friends page: Stories, Groups, and All. This will allow you to view the content you want to see in an organized fashion.
Additionally, Snapchat’s new algorithm no longer orders Snaps and Stories chronologically. Instead, content is prioritized based on who you interact with most on Snapchat. In order to view Stories by friends who you aren’t in frequent contact with, you need to either scroll down or search their name at the top of the Friends page.
Snaps
While taking a Snap is the same as always, sending it looks a little different. When you’re ready to send your Snap, the top eight friends you engage with the most are listed as your top recipients. Above that list are three main options: adding to your Story, Our Story, or Group Stories.
You can search for other friends by selecting the icon at the top right of the send screen.
Discover
The new Discover page isn’t as drastically different as the other sections of the Snapchat app. You still swipe left to view Discover content, which includes articles and shows from publishers. Additionally, this is where you can access Snap Map, Our Story, and Snaps from creators.
In Discover, you can subscribe and unsubscribe to certain content, as well as opt to “See Less Like This” to customize this page to your preferences.
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February 27, 2018
Facebook Is Simplifying Its Ad Metrics with New Labels
February 27, 2018Anna Hubbel
@Facebook is simplifying its ad metrics. #facebookbusiness #admeasurement
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Facebook’s plethora of ad metrics can be intimidating or confusing to some advertisers. After considering feedback it was receiving, Facebook announced the rollout of new, clearer labels for select metrics, as well as the elimination of unnecessary metrics.
New Labels
Estimated
When a metric is labeled “estimated,” this means the outcomes are based on sampling or modeling. In other words, since Facebook tries to update its metric calculations quickly, it will use findings from a sampling to generate an estimated measurement to represent a metric at scale.
In Development
Metrics under this label are subject to evolving as Facebook improves ad products and measurement methodologies. For instance, the automated measurement of ad recall lift (consumers who recall a brand after viewing an ad) is still new and thus will undergo changes as Facebook works to improve it; therefore, it would be labeled “in development.”
Metrics to Be Eliminated
Facebook says it will remove 20 ad metrics come July. Facebook is eliminating these metrics because of feedback from advertisers who say the metrics are unnecessary, redundant, and complicated. For example, the metrics social reach and reach are nearly identical. Having both offers no meaningful insight that is beneficial to advertisers. These are the metrics to be eliminated:
Actions
People Taking Action
Cost per Any Action
Amount Spent Today
Button Clicks
Canvas Component Time Percentage
Carousel Card
Link Click Destination
Mobile App Actions Conversion Value
Page Mentions
Cost per Page Mention
Page Tab Views
Cost per Page Tab View
Positive Feedback
Negative Feedback
Social Reach
Social Impressions
Social Clicks (All)
Unique Social Clicks (All)
Full descriptions and information about substitute metrics for the above list are provided by the Advertiser Help Center.
To help businesses better understand their metrics, Facebook is also offering a new program called Measure What Matters starting in March. The program consists of two tracks: one for brand objectives and the other for direct response objectives.
The post Facebook Is Simplifying Its Ad Metrics with New Labels appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
February 26, 2018
4 Crucial Steps to Converting the Online Window Shopper
February 25, 2018Anna Hubbel
A well-designed and perfectly-timed email can make all the difference in transforming a product view into a purchase. Oracle + Bronto, a lead email marketing service provider for e-commerce retailers, shares four steps to convert the online window shopper, resulting in more purchases and, subsequently, higher ROI.
@Bronto shares 4 steps to convert the online window shopper, resulting in more purchases and, subsequently, higher #ROI. #digitaladvertising #emailmarketing
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Step 1: Track Event Data
Bronto says this step is crucial because it helps you determine who should be on the receiving end of your emails and what type of personalized message to send. For example, if a consumer is viewing a specific product, the appropriate type of email they’d receive might include a personalized message that asks the shopper if they are still interested in buying the product. By tracking data that indicates each shopper’s browsing activity, you can deliver personalized promotions that can turn into purchases.
If you’re worried about shoppers considering this type of tracking intrusive, Bronto says 56 percent of consumers understand that sharing their personal information makes for a better shopping experience.
Step 2: Configure Rules and Settings
This step involves configuring the information that will trigger personalized messages to send to shoppers based on their browsing activity (which is tracked in the first step). Bronto offers three important tips for configuring rules and settings:
Make sure rules don’t overlap. An overlap could interrupt the sending of appropriate emails.
Configure emails to send shortly after abandonment. Once a shopper leaves a product page, you want an email sent to them not long after they leave to rekindle their interest in the product they were viewing.
Make sure visitors who are progressing through the buying cycle are receiving the full campaign of messages by allowing different rules to send frequently.
Step 3: Design Personalized Emails
All that tracking and configuration will do you no good unless you use it to design high-quality emails. How? By making the emails personalized and relevant to each consumer. Consumers want to feel special. Help them feel special by giving them a positive experience to associate with your brand.
Additionally, your emails should remind shoppers what they were browsing, using images, reviews, and a call to action that invites them to complete the buying cycle. Or use the shoppers’ browsing or past purchase behaviors to offer product recommendations just for them.
Step 4: Observe and Optimize
This step is results driven. Based on the outcomes of your personalized and configured email campaigns, you need to observe what is working and what isn’t so that you can optimize where needed.
These are the four questions Bronto says you should ask when observing the analytics from your campaigns:
“Are your metrics for a particular rule significantly lower than others?” If so, Bronto says you should take another look at your settings and configurations to make sure there are no overlaps or to spread rules out a bit.
“Are your overall open, click or conversion rates lower than expected?“ In this case, the relevance of your email messages and subject lines may need some tweaking.
“Is revenue lower than you’d like despite positive open, click and conversion rates?” Bronto says this typically means your campaign is actually performing well but that you simply need to send more emails. Acquire more emails from consumers to add to your email campaign list.
“Are your loss rates higher than normal?” Your emails are either sending out too frequently or the content of your messages is off-putting to shoppers. Reduce the frequency at which your emails are sending and alter your content to improve its impression on shoppers.
Obtain more email addresses for your campaigns by adding a MailChimp sign-up form to your Facebook page.
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