THE DIGIBLE DUDE

Branded search campaigns are a paid advertising tactics where a business can target search keywords that include or are related to relevant brand names. These ads are significantly less expensive compared to their branded counterparts, and running this type of ad gives several benefits to businesses. The Digible team has been experimenting with this tactic for some time, and on today’s snack episode, we talk all about branded search campaigns. Joining us today are two paid media specialists from Digible; Adam Walters, Director of Paid Media, and Megan Haase, Digital Strategy Lead at Digible.

We start the discussion by talking about how these ads are different from others and the purpose they serve in a sophisticated marketing strategy. We talk about the experiment conducted by the Digible team, the tactics they used, and what they observed in terms of form-fills, user sessions, bounce rate, session duration, and several other metrics. One of the most outstanding observations of this experiment was how branded search ads affected the form-fills. Adam talks about what may have contributed to this observation.

In the next section, we talk about writing ad copies for branded search ads, how to set up budgets, and allocating a healthy amount of money for branded search campaigns according to your marketing strategy. Wrapping up the episode, we talk about how the way users respond to ads has evolved over the years and what marketers should keep in mind about user behaviors.

[0:31] Why Brand Search – Megan dives into the conversation with a brief review of what brand search campaigns are and their purpose.

[01:42] The Experiment – What the Digible team observed when trying branded search campaigns in terms of user sessions, bounce rate, and other metrics.

[03:24] Form Fills – Adam shares his take on how the branded search campaigns affected the number of form-fills they got from ad campaigns and some of the possible reasons for this outcome.

[07:25] Ad Copy – How to prepare effective ad copies for branded search campaigns.

[09:06] Cost and Budgeting – How the cost of brand ads compare against non-brand, and how to prepare budgets according to your marketing strategy.

[12:24] User Evolution – How more and more users are developing a habit of skipping ads to look for organic content and how it affects the performance of ad campaigns.

Last week, the Apartment Innovation and Marketing Conference, aka the AIM conference, held another virtual chapter, AIM RECONNECT. Representing DIgible, David and Reid conducted a round table session on fair housing. In today’s episode, David and Reid recap the highlights of the event, their favorite sessions, and what they learned throughout the virtual conference.

David & Reid dive into the discussion, talking about the background of the event, the way it was arranged, and some of the sessions. They dive into one of the key points they learned in the event, which is dealing with having to iterate the same set of things over and over again and how to keep your mind excited while iterating.

Conducting a virtual session is quite different from an in-person session and having a virtual session has its own unique perks. David talks about how the virtual event experience was for him and why he loved the chat option so much. Moving on to the guests, David and Reid talk about some of the guests who made the event interesting, including Robert Turnbull from BetterBot, our guest for episode 65 of the Digible Dudes.

In the last part of the episode, David and Reid dive into the technologies developed by businesses that attended the event. They talk about how the impact of these new technologies and what they think about the future and sustainability of the new technologies.

[01:10] The Event and the Keynotes – David & Reid start the conversation with a brief review of the background of the AIM Reconnect 2021 and its sessions.

[08:00] Dealing with Repetition – David gets into an aspect of business leadership where leaders have to keep repeating the same things over and over again. They talk about how it relates to the event and how to deal with it in business work.

[12:00] Virtual vs. In-Person – Due to the current situation, the event was conducted as a virtual event. David talks about how the experience felt different and some of the cool benefits of having a virtual event as opposed to an in-person event.

[16:00] Guests – David and Reid talk about some of the interesting guests who went the extra mile to make their sessions more interactive and energetic.

[21:07] Digible’s Session – David and Reid conducted a roundtable session on fair housing. They talk about the key points discussed in the session.

[28:30] New Technologies – Sessions about new technologies that came up in the event and what David and Reid think about the future of them.

[39:00] Issues with Technologies – Reid talks about some of the issues he sees with the advertising technologies used in today’s real estate markets.

Paid search platforms such as Google are introducing new and smarter features every year to help advertisers get more sophisticated control over their ad campaigns. In today’s Digible Snack episode, we talk about another metric that comes in handy for paid search campaigns; Search Impression Share. Joining us today are two paid media specialists from Digible; Adam Walters, Director of Paid Media, and Megan Haase, Digital Strategy Lead at Digible. Throughout the episode, we talk all about how search impression share works and what we can learn from it.

We dive into the conversation with a brief review of what search impression share is, how it works, and what it tells us about the performance of a paid search campaign. Megan dives into the way they’ve been monitoring the search impression share for paid search campaigns of clients as a part of the study. We also talk about the relationship between the search impression shares and performance of campaigns, and the occupancy rates. Wrapping up the episode, Adam shares some tips and tricks that help you implement some of the learnings from this study in your paid search campaigns.

[00:17] Experiment – Adam and Megan share how they monitor the search impression share for clients and the experiment they conducted by combining it with some automation.

[01:52] The Philosophy – Adam shares how he views the value of the impression share metric with regard to the goals of an ad campaign.

[03:48] Impressions and Occupancy – Megan shares what she saw in the findings of this case study about how impression share correlated with the occupancy rate.

[05:04] Impact on ROI – Adam shares his thoughts on the impact impression shared had on the return on investment of a campaign.

[06:47] Takeaways – Megan and David share some of the key takeaways they learned from the study.

[09:20] Applications – Adam dives into how marketers can implement the new learnings from the study in their campaigns.

We start the conversation by diving into Everett’s background prior to starting Amenify, the story of Amenify, and the unique value proposition Amenify offers to residents, communities, and service providers. Everett shares with us the nuts and bolts of their business model and what goes into choosing the services they provide and the services they don’t provide.

Starting a business venture at the wrong time can cause a lot of trouble for the business down the road. Everett shares with us some of the reasons and market trends that made him decide that 2016 is a good time to start this new venture. We also talk about their target market in terms of customers and partners.

Another crucial factor that affects the success of a business venture is the organizational structure. Everett shares with us how Amenify has designed its organizational structure, How they allocate their resources, and the priority they have gives for innovation, research, and development. Furthermore, we talk about the performance metrics utilized at Amenify to keep track of their success and some of the strategic plans they have for the next few months.

Towards the end of the episode, we talk about Amenify’s BHAG or the big hairy audacious goal for the next decade and the thought process behind deciding what that goal is. Wrapping up the episode, Everett shares some tips and tricks for those who plan to enter the property technology market and some of the books that have inspired Everett’s business journey.

[16:31] Getting to Know Amenify – Everett talks about his background in the tech industry, what Amenify offers and how the venture started and grew.

[20:57] The Value Proposition – Everett dives into what Ameify has included in their value proposition, their unique business model, and the way they’ve selected the services they provide.

[27:00] Right Timing for Business – Why timing is an important factor in starting a new business venture and why Everett thinks 2016 was the right time for them to start Amenify.

[30:07] Partnering, Customers, and the Target Market – Everett talks about the characteristics of their ideal customers and companies they want to partner with.

[38:07] Organizational Design – How Amenify has structured its resources, budget, and staff, and the way they prioritize their research and development.

[43:25] Evaluating Success – Everett dives into the way they set expectations for success and the performance metrics they use for evaluating their success.

[50:22] Future Direction – Everett shares his take on what their customer base looked like in the beginning and where Everett sees the industry heading, and how their trajectory may change according to new market conditions.

[57:18] Challenges & Competition – Some of the biggest challenges Amenify has to face in their business and the measures they take to stay competitive.

[1:07:17] The BHAG – Everett talks about the vision of Amenfy for the next ten years and what markets they hope to expand into.

[1:12:11] Innovation and Growth – How companies can make sure they’re pursuing the right innovations and keep their growth steady.

[1:17:03] Business Philosophy – Everett shares his take on the practices they do to maintain healthy relationships with their stakeholders and some tips & tricks for people who wish to get into the property technology industry.

[1:24:11] Books that Inspired Everett – Some of the books that heavily influenced Everett’s trajectory in different phases of his career.

Welcome back to another snack episode of the Digible Dudes podcast. Today we have two guests on the show; Megan Haase, Digital Strategy Lead at Digible Inc, and Adm Walters, Director of Paid Media at Digible Inc. Throughout the last few weeks, Megan and adam have been trying out a new ad strategy; remarketing lists for search ads, aka RLSA, which is a feature of Google ads that lets you customize your search ads campaign for previous visitors of your website, and customize your bids and ads to these visitors when they're searching on Google and their partner sites.

Megan starts the conversation with an explanation of what RLSA ads are, how they work, and how it differs from traditional retargeting ads. She dives into the results of their experiment on RLSA ads and what they learned from it. Another area we focus on today's episode is managing keywords. Keywords are a crucial aspect of any ad campaign. Adam and Megan share their thoughts about how keywords come into play for RLSA ads and strategies for determining keywords that target the most relevant people for the ads.

In the next part of the episode, we dive into the money management aspect, where Adam talks in-depth about strategies for budgeting for RLSA ad campaigns. Wrapping up the episode, David and Adam share their thoughts on combining RLSA with other channels and how it can be beneficial to campaigns with small budgets.

[00:51] Introduction - Megan explains what RLSA ads are and how they work.

[03:28] Tests Results – How the Digible team's test on RLSA ads went and how the ads performed throughout the experiment.

[05:08] Keywords – Megan dives into what sort of keywords work best to reach the most relevant users and what marketers should keep in mind about keywords for RLSA ads.

[07:03] Privacy Measures – Adam weighs in about the technical aspects of tracking used for RLSA ads and how Google's cookie ban may impact it.

[09:26] Budgeting – Adam shares his thoughts on the best ways to set realistic budgets for RLSA ad campaigns.

[11:19] Combining with Other Channels – David pivots the conversations to a tactic for businesses with small budgets where they can take advantage of combining RLSA ads with other inexpensive channels that gets traffic to websites.

Welcome back to the Digible Dudes podcast. We are back again with another interesting episode of David and Reid dedicated to a most recent book they read, Beyond Entrepreneurship by James M. Collins. Stay tuned until the end of the episode, where David and Reid dive deep into how that book impacts them and how they are going to launch the parts of that book into the company.

Starting the conversation, David shares how he became aware of the author Jim Collins saying that he couldn’t keep down his book Beyond Entrepreneurship because he believed that this book would help him to have a better idea about long-term disciplines to grow the company.

Then, David and Reid share their attitude about the books you need to read if you are an entrepreneur or a founder or if you are just looking for answers, but according to David, it depends on your intentions.

In the next part, David and Reid both share their key takeaways from the book, saying that the book helped them to figure out what needs to be done next for the company because the company has got a big deal of reputation in a short period.

Further down to the episode, David and Reid share their motivation for the carrier, saying that it’s not the money but the influence showing Patagonia clothing company as an example of a business that influences society rather than earning money.

Continuing the conversation, David digs deep into the term Discipline in an organization, saying that building discipline is super hard as well as it’s super important.

Then, David talks about the risks you are about to get when launching a new product and saying you can’t fail too often because you have a reputation to maintain.

Wrapping up the conversation, David and Reid talk about the one last question they want to ask from James Collins, the author of Beyond Entrepreneurship, saying that they want to ask him what they should care about in Digible among those valuable lessons mentioned in the book.

[06.09] Jim Collins - Who is Jim Collins and his book Beyond Entrepreneurship.

[08.20] The Best Books – David & Reid talk about some of the best books for an entrepreneur or a founder; The Lost And Founder by Rand Fishkin , Jim Collin’s Beyond Entrepreneurship.

[16.42] Key Takeaways from the Book - Getting aligned with purpose, mission, and vision and building core values happen to be the key takeaways of David and Reid from the book.

[26.36] Motivation for Carrier – Best career motivation is not money but social influence like putting the right people in the right places.

[00.35] Discipline- What kind of discipline an organization needs to have, and how hard it to be achieved when a company is growing fast.

[09.02] Launching a New Product - How it is to launch new products for a company like Digible and James Collin’s attitude about a new product launching in his book Beyond Entrepreneurship.

[17.16] One Question for James Collins - What they should pay attention to and what they should ignore when it comes to Digible.

Resources:

Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup:

Beyond Entrepreneurship: Turning Your Business Into an Enduring Great Company:

Welcome back to the Digible Dudes podcast. We are here with another interesting episode dedicated to diving deep into a fascinating marketing concept: white-labeling. Throughout the episode, we talk about what white labeling is, the pros and cons of white labeling, common concerns of marketers regarding white labeling, what questions you should ask if you are interested in white labeling. Stay tuned until the end of the episode, where David and Reid dig deep into this concept.

Reid shares the cause of getting into white labeling after his conversation with Melissa Robins, a marketer. Beginning the conversation, Reid explains what White Labeling and some of the traits white labeling has in common sub-contracting.

Then, David talks about the two types of white labeling, the services aspect of white labeling and the technical side of white labeling. Furthermore, they dig into those two types and discuss things like if there are negative effects of white labeling, the process of the technical aspect of white labeling, and the people who you work with within the service aspect of white labeling.

Then David and Reid share their take on outsourcing work to another company like Digible and the alterations they have for that within Digible. In the next part of the conversation, David shares his thoughts about how does and does not scale the white labeling saying that, if you are a businessman, then you are in a better position of doing that.

Then David and Reid pay their attention to the pricing in white labeling. According to David, it’s not dissimilar to the marketplace in the management fee, pointing out some of the statistics of management fees in white labeling. And Reid says it’s challenging to deal with staffing in the whole equation of account management and campaign management.

[00.23] Why White-label?- The reasons for a company to utilize white labeling as a marketing strategy.

[09.46] Understanding White Labeling - What is white labeling, and how it works.

[14.10] Types of White Labeling- The two aspects of white labeling and when to use each type.

[29.30] Comparison – David & Reid discusses several aspects of white labeling versus not white labeling.

[34.11] Outsourcing – How outsourcing fits into the white labeling and how marketers can improve their strategies by outsourcing certain tasks.

[37.09] Pricing of White Labeling- The management fee in the marketplace of white labeling and the challenges that come up when doing the staffing in account management and campaign management.

Welcome back to the Digible Dudes podcast. We are here with another interesting episode dedicated to industry partnerships. Stay tuned until the end of the episode where David and Reid talk about how Digible is going to approach them.

Entering the conversation, Reid shares his thoughts on SEMRush as a data provider to Fiona saying the whole process surprises him and then they discuss some statistics about SEMRush in the past and the present.

Next, Reid shares the reason for having partnerships in Digible, saying that they were not focused on partnerships in the past as a company, but now it’s time to start partnerships with other awesome companies out there.

Then, David shares his attitude about having partnerships with other people and what motivates him to have official partnership conversations with people.

Further down to the conversation, David and Reid share their attitudes about the categories of partnerships saying specifically that they have to figure out what’s the connection between the real partnership versus being friendly with the partners.

In the next part of the conversation, Reid talks about the principles of partnerships saying that having partnerships is not just about business, but the core values in them because they have to be careful about the people with who they are dealing.

Then, David shares his attitude about selecting a company to have a partnership with core values, saying that it’s better to examine how that company maintains their core values not only the business because the well-being of the working people is important as much as the partnerships.

Wrapping up the conversation, David shares that what they mostly look in a company to understand the different concepts of them hoping that they would do the same for them.

[00.51] SEMRush Move - What are SEMRush and their growth in expanding their position internationally on paying customers since 2010.

[11.54] Partnerships for Digible - The reason why they didn’t focus on having partnerships in the past and the reason why they are hoping to have partnerships now.

[14.4] Relationship with other people - The relationship they had with people at the very beginning of Digible and the reasons why they like to have professional partnerships with people out there.

[21.35] Classification of Partnerships - The types of partnerships, and how they differ from each other.

[03.03] Principle’s of Partnerships- The core values of partnerships and how to deal with the people you are working.

[07.52] Core Values - The importance of having core values of the partnership company and how it connects with the working people.

Recently, Google announced that Chrome browser will no longer allow using 3rd party cookies, starting from 2022, in an attempt to take another step in improved user privacy. Although Google isn’t the first tech giant to follow this path because Firefox and Safari had started this process long before, Google’s decision will have a bigger impact on the digital marketing arena. Nicole Brennan, Director of Client Services, joins us today to talk about the impact of this change.

David and Nicole dive into the conversation by talking about what types of cookies are going away, different types of cookies, and how they are distinct from each other. They also talk about some of the other options available for retargeting once cookie-based retargeting becomes unavailable.

Another area David & Nicole focuses on is contextual targeting. Nicole talks about how contextual targeting may come in handy for marketers when Google implements this new approach. Wrapping up the episode, David & Nicole talk about how location-based marketing comes into play with regard to the cookie ban and some tips and tricks for communicating with stakeholders about Google’s cookie ban and its impact on advertising campaigns.

[01:38] Cookies – Not all cookies are going away. Nicole talks about what goes away, what stays, and the differences between the two types of cookies.

[02:54] Alternate Options – Some of the other options available for marketers for retargeting once this cookie ban is implemented.

[05:14] Contextual Targeting – How contextual targeting works and how it may be beneficial once the cookie ban is implemented.

[06:54] The Motive – David & Nicole talk about the reasons why Google may have decided to disallow 3rd party cookies.

[10:04] Location-Based Targeting – How the new change may affect location-based marketing and what marketers need to keep in mind about it.

[13:37] Stakeholders  - How marketers can effectively communicate with their stakeholders about the impact of Google’s cookie ban.

The state of Maryland just passed legislation to place a tax on digital advertising in an attempt to raise around $250 million to resolve the budget gaps related to the COVID pandemic. However, this legislation caused some serious concerns in the digital advertising community as it created several complexities when it comes to the execution of the tax. In today’s episode, David & Reid dive into what this new legislation covers, how it affects the tech giants as well as small businesses, and what it means for marketers.

David and Reid dive into the conversation with a bit f background on the new law. They talk about the trends that influenced this legislation, the possibility of this law being adopted in other states, and what this means for small businesses in the advertising industry. Moving on, David & Reid review the key components of the legislation and how the tax brackets work in this new legislation. They also talk about the possibility of the impact of the tax being rolled down to small businesses and customers, despite the tax being imposed on tech giants.

The digital advertising industry is significantly complicated, with lots of middlemen involved in the process. And this tax adds more complexities to the already complex environment. David & Reid talk about how this may affect the industry, how it might specifically affect online listing platforms, the effect on businesses located in other states.

There are a few organizations that went to court with the intention of getting this legislation repealed as they view it as unfair legislation. Wrapping up the episode, David & Reid talk about what might happen in the courts and how marketers should be prepared for what’s coming.

[01:38] Big Tech & Tax – The motive behind this legislation, the possibility of widespread adoption, and what this means to relatively small businesses in advertising.

[05:52] The Legislation – Reid and David talk about the key aspects this legislation covers and how the tax brackets work in this new legislation.

[09:11] Affect on Small Businesses – How the impact of the tax on big tech may roll down to small businesses and their clientele.

[12:05] Middlemen – The digital advertising arena has a significant amount of middlemen in the chain. David talks about how this new tax process might get complicated when it comes to working with middlemen.

[15:13] Online Platforms – How the tax may affect platforms such as CoStar, apartments.com and how these companies may respond to the tax.

[20:00] Other States – How the Maryland tax legislation might affect advertising businesses in other states.

[25:54] Countermeasures – There are few organizations filing lawsuits to argue that this tax is unfair. David and Reid talk about what might happen in courts and how the advertising platforms may handle this until the legal disputes are resolved.