Yabsta Digital » advertising

An Introduction to Content Marketing

Paul Dobinson — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 17:34:54 +0000

Marketing used to be much simpler. There were print publications, posters, newspapers, TV or radio (if your budget allowed), mailshots and, well, that was pretty much it. Over time, it has grown to include more and more media channels, creating a mix that can be overwhelming, at times, for the advertiser.

The digital marketing sphere includes banner ads, websites, online articles, social media, blogs, email, advertorials and more, and the list continues to grow. Web users are becoming increasingly web savvy, leading to an increased need for thoughtful, engaging tactics.

According to the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer 63% of consumers need to hear company claims 3 to 5 times before they’ll actually believe them!

In today’s advanced day and age, it’s easy for users to avoid your message. Mobile browsing has overtaken magazines in waiting rooms and favourite television shows are frequently downloaded, allowing users to skip through commercials or avoid them altogether. Many businesses are experiencing a decline in online advertising Return On Investment as the popularity of banner ads on the Web decreases and people click less on them unless they have a clear call to action.

Instead, the informed buyer is now doing their own research. Rapidly consuming digital content, they are carrying out research online, finding content from local resource sites and search engines like Google and Bing. As such, it’s important to ensure that your details are in front of them when they are looking for you, across multiple channels.

More and more, as marketers and business owners, we need the target audience’s permission to engage with them – and content marketing (link to in-depth explanation) is a great way to do this. Creating high quality, relevant and valuable content aimed at your customers, and publishing it far and wide, ensures that your message is waiting to be seen. Additionally, capturing the interest of your audience allows you to personalize and tailor future messages. Many publishing and analytics tools (link to one?) allow you to further refine where and when you publish content, increasing your marketing efficiency.

Content marketing allows you to:

Be seen – your customers will read your material because it is relevant and they are ready for it

Build trust – you will be seen as an expert in your field

Be smart – out-manoeuvre without outspending your competition

Want to learn more? Call a Yabsta Digital representative today. We can put you on the map!

Images courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

The Advertising Potential Of Snapchat

Charles Doyle — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 16:35:05 +0000

SnapChat, the photo messaging app currently taking the world by storm, is one of the newest social media platforms to have skyrocketed into extreme popularity in a relatively short time. Having recently rolled out it’s first set of paid advertisements, it’s marketing potential has piqued our curiosity here at YaBlog, and as one who has the app and quite enjoys it on a personal level, I’ll now speculate on three possible ways that they could creatively harness their advertising potential:

Pre-Video Ads

As anyone who’s spent time on YouTube knows, most videos are preceded by short video advertisements that typically make you watch for 5 seconds, then give you the option to skip the rest. Though potentially annoying to some, this type of in-your-face functionality allows the service to stay free, and eventually becomes the inoffensive “norm” to most users. SnapChat would have to do things a bit differently, though: since their videos are personalized between friends and can be no longer than ten seconds, it’d make sense that the preceding ads would have to be even shorter than five seconds. This could prove creatively difficult, but if the SnapChat developers have proven anything about their platform so far, it’s that they’re up to the challenge.

Self-Destructing Promotional Codes

One cool thing about SnapChat is that unless you specify otherwise, all photos and videos sent to your friends will disappear forever after a maximum of ten seconds. This dynamic raises some interesting possibilities in terms of exclusive promotions. It could be something simple as a business sending a photo from their official account to their followers along the lines of “Quickly! Write down this code and enter it on our website for a discount.”, so that the users have to really be paying attention in order to catch it in time. This type of client interaction would be unprecedented of sheer speed, and wouldn’t be difficult or expensive for businesses, even small ones, to adopt.

Photo/Video Contests

Businesses, particularly ones that sell physical/tangible products or services, would be wise to encourage their users to advertise their wares for them by offering some form of incentive. For example, if, say, a fashion label is releasing a new seasonal line, they could offer their customers the opportunity to model their clothing in a public SnapChat forum in exchange for some form of discount or stipend if the photo happens to be selected. This would create an atmosphere of competition and visual flare that would benefit both the business and the end user.

What Is Native Advertising?

Chelsea Oliver — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 14:18:55 +0000

Native advertising is growing in popularity and small business owners everywhere need to understand what it is and why it’s beneficial. It is defined by ShareThrough as “a form of paid media where the ad experience follows the natural form and function of the user experience in which it is placed.” To expand on this, native ads match the visual appearance of the content they are placed in, thus looking and feeling natural. They function naturally and are consistent in behaviour with the native user experience.

A big industry buzzword, native advertising is being adopted by today’s Web giants at a staggering pace. Unlike more traditional forms of online advertising, such as display and banner ads, native ads are non-disruptive and, most importantly, relevant (think pastry tips for baking aficionados). They fit into the UX seamlessly and offer value, arguably the most important aspect of content marketing.

Seen on websites like Buzzfeed, Twitter, YouTube and more, let’s take a closer look at the example shown above. If you look closely at the article entitled “Ad of the Day: Coke Designs A Friendly Bottle That Can Only Be Opened By Another Bottle” you’ll see that it is presented by adweek.com on Buzzfeed. A clever example of native advertising, it fits right into the layout of the homepage, distinguished only by the immediate background colour. The topic suits the site’s typical content stream; it flows seamlessly and provides value on the basis of unique, interesting information – don’t you want to see this cool new bottle?

Native advertising is the new “it” thing because it offers what traditional advertising does not. According to Dedicated Media, it generates an 82% increase in brand lift and purchase intent is 53% higher for native ads. Viewed over 50% more than banner ads, native ads are read for nearly as much time as editorial content – 1.2 and 1 second respectively, according to Sharethrough. The icing on the advertising cake? Click-through rates for traditional display ads dropped significantly in recent years, from 9% in 2000 to 0.2% in 2012.

Native social advertising revenues are predicted by BIA Kelsey to grow to $4.6 billion by 2017 and it’s time to hop on board. The case in favour is strong and knowing the basics is the first step in a new direction.

Good Advertising Techniques for Small Businesses Online

Chelsea Oliver — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 12:56:14 +0000

If you’ve recently launched a small business, chances are you’re looking into affordable and effective advertising options. Working with a limited budget, what is the best way to reach current and potential customers in 2013. Today’s consumers spend countless hours surfing the Web, and online advertising is both effective and budget-friendly. It’s up to you to take advantage of the marketing tactics available to establish your company and develop relationships with users. Pay-per-click campaigns, local listings and guest blogging are a few of the good advertising techniques available for small businesses online.

Pay-Per-Click

Pay-per-click or PPC is one of the most popular forms of Internet advertising. In PPC, marketers pay their publisher only when a user clicks on their ad. Commonly done through search engines, PPC allows you to target your audience through keywords that relate to your small business. Ideally, this kind of advertising places a link to your company’s website in front of people who are looking for what you have to offer. The beauty of PPC is that, even though you’re only paying for people who are actually interested, you can still reach a sizeable audience. You can also get a bigger bang for your buck, and increase your conversion rate, by sending “clickers” to a specialized landing page offering a free related resource, such as an eBook. An easy-to-navigate PPC option is Google AdWords.

Local Listings

Local listings are a simple, effective, often free way to guarantee that your small business is showing up on the Web. Establishing, maintaining and expanding local business listings makes it much more likely your company will appear in related search results. Resources such as Google’s Places for Business, the Yellow Pages online, Yahoo Local, Bing Local and Yabsta’s own jurisdictional platform allow you to advertise to customers in your area. Some even let you add photos, videos and current promotions, all things that attract and engage potential customers. Reach an even wider audience by optimizing your listings for a relevant keyword, such as “Toronto digital agency.”

Guest Blogging

Guest blogging is another incredibly useful tool for small businesses (is there anything blogging can’t do?). This low-cost technique involves crafting valuable, interesting posts and submitting them to relevant websites within your industry niche. Aim to build trust and credibility – you want to position yourself as an industry leader. Avoid blatant self-promotion and instead focus on content that relates to your services and products. Utilize guest blogging to forge partnerships with other companies and get your name out there. Always remember to return the favour on your website.

In today’s digital world, business communication doesn’t need to be expensive to be effective. Pay-per-click campaigns, local listings and guest blogging are three ways to be seen by users without breaking the bank, which is especially important if you’re just starting out. If you’d like to learn more about advertising for small businesses, check out our posts on banner ad design and integrating popular print and Web tactics.

Image Credit: Morningstar Multimedia