A+E’S Precision and Performance Toolkit Advances Media Buying, Planning and Selling

In an industry that continues to adapt to new technology and an overwhelming choice of data options, A+E’s Precision and Performance toolkit stands out for its flexibility and measure-ability. Erica Barnes, A+E Networks’ Director of Strategic Audience Sales and Partnerships, is enthusiastic about the tool’s capabilities in delivering a true one to one marketing solution to brands.

Precision and Performance has been a critical part of A+E Networks’ toolbox since its launch in 2016. Since then it has continued to outpace media industry sales platforms in innovation and personalization. “When we initially came up with this offering it was rooted around the recognition of two things. One - that television is a mass reach vehicle. We needed to find ways to help people lean in and reach a specific audience to make their media impressions more efficient. Two - to help on the back end with performance measurements that prove we were driving real impact to customer engagement after being exposed on our networks. That was the impetus and those core values haven't changed,” she explained.

The toolkit is customizable and targeted with audience based applications that use a variety of datasets and platforms. “Our team is here to provide flexible solutions for our brand partners. What has changed is the quantity of ways in which we can accomplish those same key goals,” she noted. Perhaps the most important aspect of this latest version is the range of options for a brand. “Our biggest marketplace differentiator is that we are flexible. We offer one size / fits one solution. It is an incredibly collaborative process where our main goal is to help our brands and partners accomplish what they are specifically looking for, in whatever way, shape, or form that comes in,” she asserted.

The areas that the toolkit now covers includes, according to Barnes, “audience targeting capabilities and optimizing media proposals that include business outcomes, measurement for all various areas of the funnel all the way from awareness to search to foot traffic to actual sales of products,” and in addition, “we're continuing to offer business outcomes,” that are guaranteed to, “drive a certain amount of lift to whatever that business outcome guarantee is.”

Precision and Performance boasts range of data options that span linear, digital and addressable and activate in both Nielsen and Non Nielsen alternate currencies like VideoAmp. “We are overlaying content and using data to inform where our content is being placed and amplifying partnerships.  And we are now fully cross platform, offering across both our linear and digital properties,” she added.

An important factor in the value of Precision and Performance is that the results of a campaign are independently assessed. “We work with very, very trusted third party attribution vendors. We do not grade our own homework. It's something that we feel very passionately about. Every type of result that we have is validated and vetted to make sure that the statistical significance makes sense that the data is accurate,” she explained.

The results are then contextualized with results delivered to clients with insights and actionable next steps. “We're not just sending raw data back, saying, ‘Here you go, you figure it out.’ We are looking into what the marketplace was like, what the economy was like in that quarter, how their creative drove incremental value, which was more effective, which didn't work so well,” she noted. The download helps to illuminate, “how we can work to improve together and help media be more effective in driving the consumer engagement they're looking for.”

Arguably the biggest challenge is overcoming industry uncertainty and the rapid pace of change. “The biggest challenge,” she mused, “is industry adoption and standardization because when there are so many different options or paths or ways to look at data or analyze a media campaign it can be challenging to standardize. That's why A+E Networks is part of the Joint Industry Committee for Alternate Currency Development to ensure that we're approaching these changes in the industry in a uniform way and providing that white glove best in class service to our brand partners.” The key here is to be flexible. “We know that the marketplace is challenging. We know our industry is challenging and viewership is changing. How can we be flexible and offer solutions that gets (the client) what they need and not what we need?”

Looking forward, Barnes intends to, “continue to keep a finger on the pulse. Tools are constantly evolving so it's important to evaluate new partners and look into different solutions such as AI and alternate currencies. How can we make sure that we are moving at the speed and honestly little bit ahead of the speed of where our marketplace is going, so that by the time a brand partner needs something, we're already there, and we have those solutions in place.”

 

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

Understanding Digital Syndication with Eric Dolan and Manoli Katakis

As someone who has been writing for publications for many years, I was intrigued about the concept of digital content syndication which has been gaining traction in the industry. For writers, digital syndication doesn’t necessarily offer paid compensation. Rather, it is often structured as barter, offering free re-use of web-based content such as blog posts articles and videos to third-party websites. So while digital syndication is a revenue stream for distributors, it might be considered more of a marketing and branding opportunity for content creators.

For Eric Dolan, Founder, Publisher and Editor of PsyPost and Manoli Katakis, Founder, MuscleCarsAndTrucks.com, digital syndication offers important advantages to all participants.

Charlene Weisler: What are the advantages of digital syndication for the various interested parties?

Eric Dolan: It allows you to expand your market presence. Thanks to Nordot, PsyPost is now syndicated on MSN News and the SmartNews app, which can both generate a hefty number of pageviews. I would not be able to reach these audiences otherwise. It’s also a bit of a hedge against adblockers (depending on who your syndication partners are). If people are reading your article in Apple News or Facebook’s “Instant Articles” (rather than on your webpage), then they aren’t blocking ads.

Manoli Katakis: The main advantage has to be the extra reach that digital syndication provides, thus creating a favorable revenue stream that hedges against low ad revenue payouts. Recently, it's been a great boost.

Weisler: What are the negatives or pitfalls for the various interested parties?

Dolan: The main downside to syndication is that you lose control of your content. Your article might end up on a website with a less than stellar reputation or with a wacky clickbait headline. I have not found this to be much of a problem. But I could see how it might be a concern to those who are extra sensitive about their branding.

Katakis: One negative... is perhaps the detachment between the syndicated outlets and the platforms doing the syndicating. It might be more comprehensive if there was more collaboration between the parties, so as to provide optimal content that will drive the most traffic and revenue.

Weisler: Does the owner of the content have access to data from the syndicator or client company and if so, what is generally available? 

Dolan: Most syndication platforms provide basic traffic information, such as pageviews, and unique views. Some (such as Apple News) also provide demographic information about the readers.

Weisler: Are there best practices and if so what are they?

Dolan: There is a benefit to syndication that often gets overlooked, and that is its SEO potential. You can build up a portfolio of high-quality backlinks if you’re diligent about adding links to your other content within your articles. If you include 10 links to your other content within your article, then syndicate that article to five other outlets, you’ve just gotten yourself 50 backlinks. (And there is a good chance that your syndication partners will have high domain authority.)

Weisler: Where do you see digital syndication three years from now?

Dolan: I think the need for syndication will only continue to grow as the internet becomes more diverse, divided, and disunified. It used to be that online publications could rely on Facebook (and only Facebook) to provide them with web traffic. But Facebook is no longer king. Algorithm changes and the rise of new social media platforms have led to it no longer being a great traffic booster. If you want your articles to reach a wide audience, then they need to be present on a wide range of different platforms. 

Katakis: Digital syndication could see growth in the next three years, especially as traditional revenue streams go through a downturn cycle.

 First published in www.MediaVillage.com Thought Leaders

 Artwork by Charlene Weisler

Digital Syndication Explained. An Interview with Madavor’s Matthew Martinelli

Digital content syndication has been around for a while and is gaining traction in the industry. Unlike traditional syndication where writers are monetarily compensated by a service that sells the content to various outlets, digital syndication is essentially run as a barter system, allowing free or revenue-share based re-use of web-based content such as blog posts, news articles and videos on third-party websites. The value, according to digital syndicators, is marketing exposure for the writer’s materials and the site's brand to a larger audience, linking back to the original site, and/or a revenue-share. 

Is this the syndication format of the future? Matthew Martinelli, Content Director, Madavor Media offers his insights into where digital syndication is today and where it is going.

Charlene Weisler: Explain the framework of digital syndication. What is the current lay of the land? How does it differ from legacy syndication?

Matthew Martinelli: Our legacy content is usually accessed by libraries and universities, most of it being our titles that have some niche interest: JazzTimes, BirdWatching, The Writer. For this, digital issues of our print magazines tend to be in demand. Years ago, it would be wire syndication, where perhaps Cox Media Group or some other media wire would run some stories or columns on its wire, which was accessible to any publication that paid for access. Digital syndication, however, is far better for news-focused websites since it’s a real-time story that’s being accessed and disseminated. And for our syndication agreements with Nordot and MSN, we get a price per click. If a hot story gets in front of the right eyeballs, that can be a win-win for publisher and syndicator.

Weisler: How does digital syndication work in content ownership? Does the initial creator generally own the rights or does it vary? What are the generalities?

Martinelli: As a publisher, we own the rights to the story/image, and we grant the syndication company rights to use it or find a partner who will syndicate it. Then, we split up the ad-related revenue based upon an agreed share.

Weisler: Does the owner of the content have access to data from the syndicator or client company and if so, what is generally available? 

Martinelli: Yes, we have a dashboard that allows us to track what story gets what clicks on each site.

Weisler: What are the advantages of digital syndication for the various interested parties?

Martinelli: One advantage is your brand can find new audiences. If someone is visiting MSN or sees a Nordot widget, then they might see a piece of content from one of our sites that they were unfamiliar with. In so many ways, social media can be preaching to the choir after a while. It’s hard to find new sites or voices on Facebook or Twitter, but with syndication, you’re possibly reaching an audience that might not be familiar with you. If they end up liking your stories, then you might have just gained a loyal follower. 

The other advantage is it’s an additional source of revenue. There’s no million-dollar solution to publishing woes, so you need to make up for it with 10 little ideas. Syndication is one of those ideas. It can’t support a publisher on its own, but it can help add a little bit of revenue, which hopefully can help in the long run.

Weisler: What are the negatives or pitfalls for the various interested parties?

Martinelli: It’s not appearing on your own site, so it can be hard to work with any custom plugins for galleries, etc. We ran into this problem, and it was eventually solved, but for a while we stopped sharing a specific story format as it was causing RSS feeds.

Weisler: Are there best practices and if so what are they?

Martinelli: I think you want to be a bit more general with a story that’s being syndicated since it’s not for a niche audience. But it’s a good idea anyways to make your stories less “jargony” and more accessible.

Weisler: Where do you see digital syndication three years from now?

Martinelli: I think digital syndication will increase. Everyone is looking for an alternative to Twitter, right? But it’s not just looking for a new community. It’s looking for a new place to get your news. Before Twitter, I personally used Google News as a way to get the latest headlines and stories. And I’m on the hunt for a new aggregator. I think digital syndicators can be one solution in that.

This article first appeared in www.Mediapost.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

 

 

B2B Digital Sales Generation Explained. An Interview with Ruth Stevens

If you ever want to know more about digital marketing, ask Ruth Stevens whose consultancy has been in the forefront of B2B marketing since 2000. Her work has taken her on a global journey and has given her great perspective on the ins and outs of the digital business. 

Stevens is a sales and marketing veteran with a corporate career spanning Time Warner, Ziff Davis and IBM.  Her specialty is in B2B sales lead generation, “because it’s a category less well served than consumer marketing and also because it’s more complex, and thus more fun,” she explained.

Charlene Weisler: How has digital marketing changed over the course of your career?

Ruth Stevens: Speaking to the B2B side, digital has changed EVERYTHING, first by becoming the dominant channel for marketing communications (although business events are still an essential element of the marketing mix)  and second by changing B2B buying behavior.  Buyers are increasingly comfortable buying for their companies from someone they’ve never met which was unheard of in the past.

Weisler: What are the most important best practices for advertisers now? For companies now?

Stevens: B2B customers are so valuable, and the number of individuals involved in the purchase decision continuing to expand, B2B marketers need to pay close attention to the accuracy and completeness of the data they collect about customers and prospects.  Sadly, many marketers have not grasped this principle yet.  They may delegate responsibility for data maintenance and hygiene to a data administrator.  But I urge them to take responsibility and get deeply involved—it’s that important.

Weisler: How can a company best build its digital marketing side of the business?

Stevens: We’re lucky, in a way, that new entrants to the marketing profession are generally very familiar with digital media and practices.  So the future is bright.  A judicious combination of in-house and outsourcing is what I recommend.  Digital marketing communications—programmatic buying, search optimization, for example—change so fast, it’s probably best to deploy outside expertise in such categories.  But the company website—arguably the single most important digital channel—should be maintained in house, to ensure it’s on brand and serving the needs of the company and the customers perfectly.

Weisler: Has B2B changed during the pandemic and now that we are more post-pandemic, where do you see the landscape in the future?

Stevens: I mentioned above the changes in buying behavior thanks to improved ecommerce functionality.  This accelerated dramatically during Covid, and is here to stay.  Marketers have become very deft at breaking down the B2B buying process, and moving pieces of it online.  Like delivering a quote, or submitting a purchase order.  Another example is event marketing, which consumes on average 24% of the B2B marketing budget.  The introduction of virtual events has taken root, and while we all want to get back to in-person events, hybrid and virtual will continue to add value in providing access to international buyers, and lowering the cost per contact in our marketing mix. 

 First published in www.MediaVillage.com Thought Leaders

 

Contentsquare Reveals Consumers’ Digital Behaviors and Impact on Businesses

As the digital landscape becomes more competitive and complicated, the importance of monitoring all aspects of a digital channel has never been more critical to success. 

Contentsquare, in their 2022 Digital Experience Benchmark Report, advised businesses to adopt an expansive, respectful and sensitive view of current and potential customers by understanding their digital behavior across platforms and ad categories.

Findings

According to the report, which examined data from 2021, online traffic peaked in November during the prime pre-holiday shopping period resulting in $201.32 billion in sales. As people continued to work from home, the study found that although mobile continued to dominate with 58% of total online traffic, desktop traffic increased +18% from 2020 and mobile traffic decreased -9%. This varied by industry.

The data also showed that online experiences are fragile, resulting in great variations in the consumer shopping journey. Eighty-five percent of people said that they are unhappy with their online experience and 54% of shoppers said that they visit multiple websites before deciding. Therefore, only about half (51%) of traffic consists of returning users across all industries on average. For businesses trying to attract and retain customers, the report noted that unpaid traffic has far greater traffic impact than paid (75% compared to 25%).

Stickiness is also a challenge. On average consumers spent 55 seconds per page, 4 minutes and 17 seconds per session and 5 viewed pages on average per session. Overall, desktop offered greater average time spent than mobile across all industries as well as a higher average order value than mobile.

Takeaways

So what are the next steps for marketers? Contentsquare suggested the following takeaways to maximize success:

Ø  Don’t Get ‘Channel’ Vision – In the global marketplace, potential customers are everywhere and these customers are transacting all the time on multi-devices in and out of home. As consumers head back to brick-and-mortar stores, the most successful brands will look beyond digital and embrace a more holistic view of the customer journey – both online and offline.

Ø  Consumers Want to be Respected – Be respectful of your customers’ time with a smooth and simple navigation and checkout process. Seamless experiences help customers remain loyal. Load time delays can impact conversion rates.

Ø  Expectations are Higher – The average bounce rate increased from 47% in 2020 to 50% in 2021. At the same time, there was a +328% increase in page views in sessions where a conversion took place. This indicates high consumer expectations and increased online research to find the best deals. “Understanding exactly how and why your shoppers behave the way they do online at each stage of their journey is the magic ingredient for unlocking the perfect online customer experience,” the study concluded.

The study was based on anonymized and aggregated data from 46 billion user sessions across 3,870 global websites from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021. Data was collected from desktop, mobile web and tablet across 14 industries to learn more about the evolution of online experience and how customer behavior has changed. Online behavior was tracked according to origination, new or returning and device used. 

This article first appeared in www.Mediapost.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler