Video streaming numbers plummet on Facebook

Video streaming numbers reported by Nielsen on Facebook have been devastated after a change in the way they are measured in the wake of a misreporting scandal that happened last year, with streams plummeting 94%.

Last year the digital industry was rocked when it was revealed Facebook had vastly overestimated its video views based on the admission that segments of videos were being measured as separate streams rather than one stream.

What you need to know about Programmatic buying

Programmatic buying is the increasingly popular way to buy online advertising. It’s a much more technical way to buy online advertising then what we are used to but it has benefits. Programmatic Buying describes online advertising that is analysed through multiple software systems according to demand, inventory avails, user engagement and more, all to provide a more optimised and performance driven result for the advertiser.

How mobile friendly are you?

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Mobiles and tablets are becoming the most used internet device, taking over desktop computers and laptops.

And, it’s forecasted that their use with only continue to grow.

Now, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your brand and customer experience on a small device is your number one priority.

There is no point ignoring the rise of the smart phone as your business will be left behind.

Besides getting your website mobile friendly there are many ways you can utlilse the rise of smartphone use to benefit your business…

Apps – Work great for online stores or where you can offer an extension of your services.

Advertising – There are various forms of mobile advertising including In-App & In-Game advertising. App use equates for 80% of mobile use so this can be an effective tool when you want to engage in very specific targeting.

SMS Marketing – An easy way to get a message or offer to your target consumers wherever they are and whatever they are doing.

Most of us are permanently connected to the internet these days, you only have to lift your head up when out at a café to see how many other patrons have their head down consumed in their smart phones.

If you haven’t considered how mobile friendly your online presence is, or you don’t even know if your website is mobile friendly, now is the time to call QA. We can arrange an assessment of your website and online offerings and advise you on the next steps you need to take.

Does anyone pay attention to Online Advertising?

We all know there is advertising online because we have all seen it. But when it comes to placing online advertising, clients always ask with hesitation ‘Does anyone pay attention to Online Advertising?’

Roy Morgan research reveals that consumers do notice online advertising but the level of engagement is linked to their age.

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Source: Roy Morgan, July 2012 – June 2013 (n = 9,743).

Generational definitions: Pre-Boomers: born pre-1946; Baby Boomers: 1946-1960; Generation X: 1961-1975; Generation Y: 1976-1990; Generation Z: 1991-2005

As to be expected, the younger the audience the more engagement they have online. The younger generations of today have grown up in the digital revolution and as more of them are online, own smart phones and watch online video, they are much more likely to see and also notice online advertising. The 65+ market are the least likely to get engaged with online advertising, both because there are less of this age group online, and because they are less likely to trust online advertising.

How to best target your audience online?

According to Roy Morgan Research consumers aged 39 and under spend close to 17 hours online a week, and 40% of them are willing to click through on an online ad. This is an age group you could effectively target online through banner ads, display ads and digital videos.

If you want to target the 50+ market online, who spend an average 5 – 13 hours online a week you will reach a higher audience with an email newsletter rather than that of a banner ad. 65% of the 50+ market are willing to read an email newsletter, as opposed to only 35% of the 39 and under market. The older audience are more trusting to a personalised email and more likely to engage.

The next thing to get right of course is your creative! (And that’s another topic in itself!) You won’t get any success from online advertising if your ad is annoying, intrusive or simply not informative.

Contact Sunny Media and we help plan your online campaign. Check out our website for more information www.sunnymedia.com.au

Digital Marketing 101 – What YOU Need to Know for 2014

Matt Travers is a Campaign Manager at Reload Media, Sunny Media’s digital marketing partner. Reload and QA work together to ensure that clients have an integrated marketing strategy across traditional and digital mediums. If you find this article useful, please share on your preferred social channel.

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” – Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.

What do you need to know about digital marketing in 2014? Well, there definitely is a world marketplace for more than 5 computers; in fact by the end of 2014 the number of personal computers in use is expected to topple 2 billion.

Take in to account the number of internet connected smart phones, tablets, watches and toasters (I wouldn’t be surprised) and you get yourself a great deal of consumer touch points if you’re a marketer.

In order to establish what you need to know about digital marketing in 2014, we need to take a step down Google lane and see how the industry has evolved so far.

Major milestones include the extreme growth of Google AdWords, display advertising and the uprising of mobile internet use.

So what can we expect this year?

Content marketing has already taken shape as one of the most important activities that your site/brand should be undertaking.

2014 will see content marketing not as an add-on to your digital marketing activity, but a necessity. If the Google search results were a mountain and your website a car, you better hope your filling the fuel tank with the premium unleaded 98 version of content; that provides value and helps your target market. Once your fuel tank is full, it’s all about how you drive it to ensure you reach the top of the mountain.

Mobile continues to grow rapidly, with search advertising on mobile devices expected to grow by 76% in 2014 and mobile banner advertising expected to grow by 100%. Mobile is a piece of the digital marketing pie (it’s a big pie) that you can’t ignore!

Social media is another hot topic when it comes to digital marketing. From a recent survey, 100% of business decision makers use social media for work purposes, 79% of marketers have integrated social media into their traditional marketing activities, and 33% of consumers cite social networks as a way they discover new brands, products or services. Social media is proving to be a great introduction piece to your marketing. Is your business utilising social to it’s full potential?

Driving a well-planned content, mobile and social strategy is all well and good…from a micro perspective. Making sure you look at the bigger picture and try and gain as much leverage off each channel is really what 2014 is going to be all about. Marketers will be looking to gain as much leverage as possible from offline channels to the online world, which, as proven by Google, is where the majority of consumer research is undertaken when looking for a product or service.

So don’t be surprised if more and more TV/radio ads plug specific URLs instead of a phone number or if a newspaper offer is redeemable purely online rather than in store.

So in short, what you need to know is leverage, leverage, and leverage. Visualise your marketing plan on a cork board and connect the dots if you have to, because chances are that there are consumer touch points you are missing out on due to placing your marketing activity in silos.

Remember, if you found this article useful, feel free to tip the author by sharing this article on your preferred social channel.

Matt Travers, Campaign Manager, Reload Media

Matt Travers, Campaign Manager, Reload Media

 

 


Traditional and digital media proving to be good partners

Traditional media still has an important place in advertising campaigns as long as its understood how to leverage the benefits of an integrated digital campaign according to Sunny Media director Roger Delaney.

“Two years ago it became quite clear to us that as a media advertising agency we needed to embrace and lead the way in the digital space for all our clients. At that time we searched the country looking for a suitable partner who could help integrate traditional strategies with the brave new world of digital media and we eventually partnered with a Brisbane based digital marketing firm called Reload Media.

“Reload now works with our clients to boost their digital marketing performance and as one of the few Google accredited agencies in Australia we now work side by side on all media strategies.  We’ve seen firsthand how traditional and digital media can work together to help improve our client’s overall presence in the marketplace.

“We call it the ‘leaky bucket theory’ and that ensures our traditional advertising spend is not wasted when people go to find the business on the internet,” he said.

Rhys Furner from Reload Media says businesses may have recently seen their websites drop in the Google rankings and this is a result of its recent change of its algorithm, now called Hummingbird.

“Hummingbird is a new program which will better reward those businesses who have invested in producing great quality content and optimised websites. It is designed to give people better search results for their query.

“Essentially Google has become more efficient at determining what information a searcher wants to see and the key to improving a site’s Google ranking is to produce high quality, unique, genuinely helpful and shareable content on your website through a blog or resource section such as articles, infographics or videos.

“We are working with Sunny Media’s clients to improve their search presence and rankings so that Google will pick up on the themes around this content and begin to identify their relevance for particular search phrases.

“Google’s goal is to give people the information they want so when you align this with your website, you will reap the rewards from search engines, especially Google,” he said.

Roger Delaney, Managing Director Sunny Media

Roger Delaney, Managing Director at Sunny Media

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Rhy Furner, Digital Strategist at Reload Media

What YOU can be doing to help boost your business

Here are a few tips from QA that you can try yourself to help your business grow.

Get personal with your customers

Your customers are the heart of your business – without them, you would cease to exist! By interacting with them you can develop a powerful relationship.

When a customer makes a purchase, or signs up to your newsletter etc, have them receive a welcome email.  Something simple like this reduces cognitive dissonance (the feeling of ‘oh god, what have I done’ after a purchase or decision) and allows them to feel supported in their decision.

Get social

By incorporating social media into your everyday business, you can connect with tones of potential customers.

People go on Facebook to be distracted – so give them something worthwhile to turn their attention to!  Refer to our previous Instagram blog post to find tips on how to use Instagram for your business.

Leave the office

Increasing your public profile through conferences and networking events can be beneficial to the success of a business.  So any events that are suitable to your industry you should consider attending.

Be the leader/ expert in your industry

Consider who the influential leaders are in your industry.  How can you get amongst them?

Offer insights to bloggers, journalists or become a guest editor to give your opinion.  Customers relate to knowledgeable and powerful figures.

Know your users

If you don’t understand what it is you customers want, there is no point implementing any of the above tips.  Engage with them to find out what kind of product, information, insight, services it is that they are after.

This can be found by finding out what keywords are trending in your space through Google’s free keyword search tool.

Here at QA we love to hear about what is working to boost your business, and we love giving advice so contact QA if you would like to chat about other ways we can help you boost your business.

We hope you enjoy reading the Sunny Media blog. For more information please visit our full website www.sunnymedia.com.au

The multi screen household & online video… you need to get on board!

Although Australians of all age groups continue to spend the majority of their screen time with their home TV set, new screen technologies have entered the home which are being used to complement TV viewing.

Changing viewer behaviour is evident with homes acquiring internet-enabled TV sets, people using tablets in place of desktop and laptop computers, and smartphones taking over. Currently, 27% of Australian homes have each of the four screen types: TV, PC, tablet and mobile phone, up from 16% only a year ago.

These days you can use the internet as a broadcast medium delivering tailored site, sound and motion communications to target audiences at scale while controlling a desired reach and frequency. Digital media is now changing so fast, the big question is, are you keeping up?

It should come as no surprise that online video has hit the mainstream in a big way, although it also has a long way to go. Here are some interesting facts:

  • Almost one third of Australians have a tablet in their household, this has doubled from 2012 – 2013 (OzTam)
  • Australians spend 8.53 hours per month watching online video on devices other than a TV (OzTam)
  • 74% of online Australians engage in simultaneous screen use of TV and internet, with 30% doing it daily! (OzTam)
  • Online video now accounts for 50% of all mobile traffic (Bytemobile)
  • Globally, online video users are expected to double to 1.5 billion in 2016 (Cisco)
  • Globally, online video traffic will be 55% of all consumer Internet traffic in 2016 (Cisco)

Some early investigations are showing that removing 25% of the display budget and investing it in video drives a significant uplift in online conversions.  All of this points to a medium that we need to understand better!

So, if you are asking yourself ‘where do I start with online advertising’, ‘how do I promote online videos’ and ‘what is a YouTube channel used for’… Ask the team at QA, we can help review your options and show you how best to use online to compliment your existing advertising presence.

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