Blog - Media Planning & Buying

Over a decade ago, I attended a lunch and learn with RocketFuel to understand programmatic digital advertising. Promising precise ad placement in milliseconds, RocketFuel and MediaMath introduced AI-driven real-time bidding, revolutionizing digital ad buying. Today, there are countless DSPs offering similar capabilities. The question now is not whether to buy media programmatically, but which DSP is right for your needs.

In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll explore demand-side platforms, their selection process, and the best providers for your business.

In this issue of Plain Talk, we’ll build on past articles and discuss how the convergence of digital and traditional media and the increase in on-screen time have evolved media expectations, particularly for young people. We’ll then discuss how technological advancements and generational preferences have evolved to better support this digital marketing dinosaur. In doing so, we’ll argue that in this blended digital world we live in, YouTube banner ads should be viewed as online billboards, and thus they should be bought and measured primarily as top-of-funnel awareness tools… just like roadside billboards.

When you think of Gen Z (age group 11-26) and media, a litany of words come to mind: social media, influencer, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, video games, Netflix, podcast, livestream, etc. But as far back as early 2017, research by Kantar Millward Brown found that 55% of Generation Z respondents view out-of-home (OOH) positively. This is consistent with their view of all traditional media (cinema 53%, magazines 51%). It’s also a whole 20 points higher than any online option (desktop display 32%, search 32%, and mobile display 30%). In 2018, AdAge/UNiDAYS affirmed this when they found “84 percent of Gen Zers surveyed said they pay attention to digital out-of-home ads in familiar media placements such as trains, malls, airports and taxis.” In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll discuss why out-of-home (OOH) media is one of the most surprising Gen Z media trends and how to leverage it to reach this audience.

Gen Zers will decide, almost immediately, whether or not they are interested in something. This includes which brands they love and which businesses they hate. In a world where skippable ads and subscription services are the norms—where ads are optional and only require a quick swipe or click of the skip button to get rid of them—how can you use your marketing dollars to reach and influence this massive consumer segment? In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll look at Gen Z media consumption. We’ll also offer three insights on using your media budget to reach, influence, and convert this audience.

Have you ever been to a webpage that wasn’t optimized for your phone properly, and the ads blocked the content? How about waiting so long for an ad to disappear that you clicked on the ad, then clicked the back arrow just to see if it would end sooner? Well, you’re not alone; 90% of those surveyed find digital ads annoying. In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll look at problems with programmatic advertising and the damage targeting top-of-funnel metrics, like impressions and clicks using broad ad networks, can have on your brand.

In an effort to be more efficient and more effective, today’s advertisers are pushing to get more targeted by eliminating “waste” and driving results. While this pertains to all media, the biggest and most exciting benefit of digital media is you can reach, as the old saying goes, “the right person at the right time with the right message.” It seems simple, right? “The more targeted, the better” seems to be the new motto. But what happens when you take that too far? Or when your campaign doesn’t work, despite being 100% honed in on the “ideal” target audience. In today’s edition of Plain Talk, we’ll examine three major targeted marketing strategy mistakes we see and discuss how you can avoid similar pitfalls in your campaigns.

We’re on the phone, trying to check the weather, prepping for the workday, and getting kids off to school and all the while being hammered with ads on TV, the car radio, the cellphone and the laptop. And it’s not our imagination either. The latest statistics show that in addition to being over scheduled, the average adult is exposed to between 4,000 and 10,000 advertisements each day. Attention is a valuable commodity, and sometimes there isn’t enough to go around. In today’s Plain Talk, we’ll pay attention (get it?) to just how to catch attention in advertising and make sure your ads can break through.

Whether your focus is on B2B marketing or B2C, there are few topics more relevant today than generating qualified leads to move your sales forward. There are a great number of ways to do this (in combination for best results), but in today’s edition of Plain Talk, we’ll discuss the anchor tactic for “pay-per-click” advertising: paid search marketing. We’ll cover six paid search best practices to get the most ROI from your efforts.

Podcast advertising has moved from an emerging trend to an essential part of modern media planning. In today’s Plain Talk, we’ll look at why podcasts have become such a powerful channel. Discover when it makes sense to add podcasts to your media strategy and find best practices to help you get the most from your investment.

Ad dollars are on the move in the financial space—increasingly shifting from traditional to digital, specifically to mobile. While financial services have historically relied on more traditional vehicles, times are indeed changing. In this edition of the Compound Interest series, we’ll discuss why it is time to look at digital ads for financial services and how to do it.