In this week's episode, Korena sits down with one of our digital specialists to discuss the difference between OTT and CTV.  

During their conversation, Luke explains that CTV gives marketers more control when it comes to placing their ads. It also gives you more in-depth reporting.  

Although OTT can be a powerful tool, it is not hitting all of the TV watchers out there. We know that 2 million people cut the cord in 2019 and even more in 2020. This has allowed CTV audiences to grow and give marketers more opportunities to reach the right people.   If you want to learn more about CTV and how you can leverage it in your marketing strategy, visit www.keymediasolutions.com.

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Last week, we talked about how 3rd party data sources will affect the accuracy of your website analytics and the limitations that we are beginning to see as a result of new regulations. Sometimes, it feels as if we are taking 10 steps backward in our targeting capabilities, audience insights, and campaign performance.   

The answer to your marketing teams’ woes – your own first-party data!  

• Where does first-party data come from websites, customer feedback, surveys, your own CRM, social media.  

• First-party data is the most reliable data because you are the one collecting it. This is also the least expensive data you can find.  

• First-party data also can create trust in your customers.  

• Operating on first-party data helps you comply with global data protection laws. First, first-party data stays in the hands of those who collect it, and that gives more control and transparency over what happens with that data.  

• First-party data enables targeting content recommendations and advertising messages at a more granular level. Think “recommended products” from Amazon or songs from Spotify.  

If you have not already started, start implementing systems that will allow you to gather key data points on your customers and prospects. It can start simple enough with name, business, address, and email.   

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It is all over the marketing world, 3rd party data is going away and marketers are preparing for a cookieless world.  

What is 3rd party data? It is data that is collected on users that is then used by other companies to be able to market to those users.   

If you have not already, you will begin to see that data is being misreported by analytics software. A common one we see often is that there has been a weird bump in web traffic from Coffeyville, Kansas. No, people are not just randomly moving to this small town in the Midwest, but Coffeyville is the digital center of the United States. This means that when an analytics software cannot determine a user's location, they attribute it to Coffeyville, Kansas because of the lack of 3rd party data and other data privacy restrictions. This is just one of the many misattributions we are beginning to see across multiple analytics accounts.  

So what does this mean for companies that are relying on 3rd party data? It means that building out your first-party data is now more critical than ever!  

You can begin preparing for this change by building out your current CRM and getting as much information on your current audience as possible. Review your tech stack and see what capabilities they have to ethically collect 1st party data.   

Finally, you can consistently monitor your analytics and start figuring out where data is starting to be misattributed.

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Last month we had the opportunity to attend the second annual Marketing Artificial Intelligence Conference (MAICON). It was a packed 2 days of great information about where AI is in the marketing world, where it is going, and what we can be doing now to utilize this great technology.   

The most important thing we took away (minus all the great nuggets below) is that we are NOT behind when it comes to incorporating AI or machine learning.   

Here is where your organization can start: 

1. Examine you ad tech stack you currently utilize and ask how are they using artificial intelligence and machine learning. Ask them about their plans to build out more AI.  

2. Set an expectation that everyone in your organization gets a baseline understanding of what AI is and how it is impacting your organization.  

3. Start small and identify one use case that you can utilize right away.  

Here are a few uses cases to get things kick-started for you:  

1. SEO: find keyword ranking opportunities, optimize website content, & create briefs  

2. Copy Writing: generate ideas, outline content, write content, answer questions   

3. Google Ads: optimize, manage, and report on ad buys   

4. Social Media: predict ad performance, recommend images and keywords   5. Email: write subject lines, auto-populate content (conversion.ai, rasa.io)

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Much like Halloween, budgets can be spooky.  

But there are easier ways for you to work and plan your budget, whether it be for the coming year or just for an event you plan to host.  

These are three things to consider when you start to plan your next budget.  

1. Set Clear Expectations. Understand your business as a whole, know where money should be going, and plan for where you want to spend. Also, understand the goals and the expectations of your company and your team. What is your sales goal? What is your growth goal? These can help you clearly define your budget expectations.  

2. Allocate Properly. Marketing sometimes can be an afterthought when it comes to business expenses. Often times it is certain pieces of marketing that get forgotten or left out. Don't let this happen to you! Allocate the proper amount of funds based on current and target cost-per-acquisition. Plan for expenses you know are coming or are possible, like a new website, new ads, printouts, branded swag for a trade show, etc.  

3. Use a Budget Calculator. This is a tool that can greatly help you plan. It gives you ideas, possible expenses, projections, etc. This is the same tool we use to help plan our budgets! Try it for free: https://bit.ly/3vwHrYC

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To Develop a Strategic Plan.

The biggest buzzword in marketing is in fact not geofence, but STRATEGY!  This week on Down & Digi, we talk about the importance of a strategy-based approach to your marketing efforts.   

Some things to consider when developing your strategic plan:  

1. Start with your goals in mind. From there work backward to develop everything else.  What is it you want your customers to do or accomplish? Once you establish this, then you can sculpt your plan around getting them to that point.   

2. Understand who is buying from you. This is can differ from who listens to you. But understanding your buyer will give you perspective into who they are, where they are, how they engage with your brand, etc. It will also help you understand why they buy from you as opposed to your competition. Once you know this, develop a persona around these buyers, work that persona into your plan, messaging, all of your marketing efforts!  

3. Knowing where your buyer is. Physical location is good, but in a social sense, what social media apps do they use, what are they searching for on the internet, what shows are they watching? If you know where they are, then you can easily ensure you are in front of them.  

4. ALWAYS BE TESTING. Test your message, test your delivery, test your placements, test your tone, test, test test, and never stop testing.  

5. Be flexible. You never know how your product, company, or buyer will evolve, therefore be ready and willing to change when they do.  

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...With Less Work

Over the last few weeks, we have talked at length about how important content is, which types of content you should focus on, and more.  

This week, we are showing you 4 ways that can maximize your content and have it effectively distributed to your audience:  

1. Repurpose Content: Take that 3-minute video you just created and cut it down into small bite-sized clips that can be used across various channels like YouTube or Connected TV ads. Take your written content and pull out quotes to share on your social channels or turn a blog series into an ebook.  

2. Share Your Blog: Don't just post your blog on your website, share it as a long-form post on LinkedIn or Reddit. Create a partnership with another organization that you can post your blog on their website and they can post one on yours.  

3. Understand Your Audience: You know your audience best! You know where they spend their time and the types of content they consume. Make sure your distribution plan accounts for this.   

4. Have Your Team Share: Your employees are proud of where they work. Give them an opportunity to share the content they helped create with their friends, family, and clients.

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Last week we talked about having a strategy when it comes to utilizing content in your marketing.   

This week, we are going to help you begin that strategy by giving you some content pieces that could, and should, be a focus for you.  

1. Blogs - Everyone is blogging these days, but not everyone is doing it effectively. The best blogs are the ones that answer specific questions for the customer. Give them a specific answer to a specific question. A great way of doing this is turning some of your FAQs into individual blogs. 

2. Video - This is a very versatile piece of content, allowing you to use it in multiple ways to give your customers unique perspectives and looks at how you operate. It can be used to answer questions, showcase products, or however you want!  

3. Whitepapers - Having detailed whitepapers offers more than just answers to a customer's question. It also showcases your expertise.   

4. Evergreen Content - This is probably the easiest piece of content for you to maintain, but it doesn't apply to all content. Evergreen content is what you can use repeatedly without having to worry if it is still relevant or not. This piece typically comes in the form of case studies and client success stories.  

5. Infographics - Take everything we have mentioned above, now turn it into a visual piece of art. Infographics are great for taking your stories, blogs, whitepapers, etc., and turning them into a visual that can be easier to consume for your customers.  

6. Podcasts - It is no secret podcasts are exploding right now. Starting a podcast takes a decent microphone and recording software (which 99.9% of computers have now) and your off. You can distribute your podcast for free and it allows you to develop more long-form content.  

7. Social Media - This is where your customers spend their time outside of work. Be there. Check out our earlier episode on Social Media for more information: https://youtu.be/zr4uHshUVoA  

You do not need to do all of these. Focus on the pieces that fit you and your organization and begin there. Most importantly, just be consistent! Your audience wants consistency from your products as well as your brand voice.  

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Without a Strategy!

Successful content marketing begins with:

Consistency is key. Search engines will rank you higher and consumers will come to view you as an informational source if you are consistently updating your digital content.

Create Content You Can Repurpose. As you create new blogs, website pages, social posts, and videos, think of all the ways you can use it to drive traffic to your website. Squeeze out as much as possible without repeating.

Newer doesn’t always mean better. Spend the time to generate quality content that will remain relevant for years to come. Not everything you do will be evergreen but capitalize on what is and find ways to repurpose it.

Stick with What Works. Research what types of content your consumers are engaging with and create more of the same.

What to get out of content marketing:

· Driving traffic to key landing pages

· Brand awareness

· Building relationships

· Bringing in revenue

· Generating social shares

It is important to use different forms of content marketing. If you are trying to sell a product you may show an image on social of the new product. But then you can also create a YouTube video giving instructions to use the new product or all the features the product might have. Or you might be a service-based company, you can share industry news and helpful tips on your website and socials. Then create a blog or video series just like Down & Digi to share information.

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Technology emerging and evolving faster than most of us can track. It can do more than we can dream in many cases…   

Ways that technology will help you integrate your sales and marketing efforts: 

It’s worth it. Companies that have some type of communication and service level agreement between sales and marketing more frequently exceed sales goals. Companies without integration often struggle to meet sales goals.  

Request Demo: https://bit.ly/3khz3bv  

Learn More About MasterKey: https://bit.ly/3ddg0Zu

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