Programmatic advertising or Programmatic marketing is an automated technique of Real-Time bidding on a specific inventory for a specific set of people. The ad marketplace runs the auction for the ad slot available on a specific publisher’s webpage (and apps) and selects the one with the highest bid to place their advertisement on the virtual space. Programmatic advertising has emerged as the future of online advertising due to the immense possibilities it holds.

While there are multiple programmatic platforms, Google Marketing Platform (GMP) has a powerful suite with GMP’s DV360 (Display Video 360) being the market leader. The advantages of leveraging programmatic advertising through DV360 include delivering faster and smarter marketing based on Google Marketing Platform’s machine learning algorithms, gaining control of your investments, and understanding the audience at a granular level.

What is Fantasy Cricket?

Most of you might already know what fantasy cricket is and how it works. But for a better understanding, fantasy cricket is an online game of betting on the players who are playing the actual game of cricket and we will be rewarded with cash in terms of points based on the performance of the players we bet on during the actual game.

About Gamezy

Gamezy is the latest offering from Gameskraft – India’s fastest-growing gaming platform. This app is a fantasy cricket platform designed for the user to select their choice of eleven players from both the teams in a cricket match. Based on the performance of the cricket players in the real game, the users of the app will be rewarded with cash prizes. 

How is Gamezy different from other apps?

Gamezy allows the user to change the playing XI at the end of the 1st innings based on the actual performance of the cricket players.

USPs:

-  Available in 8 languages

- Players can be changed before the 2nd innings starts

- 5-a-Side (an option to play without having to choose 11 players a side)

-   Daily Contests and Head to Head games.

Campaign Strategy

• Platforms Used: On Display and Video 360, which is a Demand Side Platform (DSP) on the programmatic space, we have leveraged both display and video networks. Display network with static and GIF format creatives were run initially followed by YouTube which has worked well with different video categories that helped in increasing the number of installs and in-app actions.

• View Through Conversions (YT): Videos have played a major role in scaling up as well as improving the performance of the campaigns. View Through Conversions refer to the installs that happen after a person has watched our video as an ad on YouTube. We have seen a significant rise in the number of purchases or Add Cash through the View-Through Conversions.

• The most important targeting which has helped the performance of the campaigns is the targeting on DV360 through the interest category of “Fantasy Games”. By selecting this, we were able to relax all other demographic filters applied.
• One important feature to mention is the accuracy of the post-click conversion numbers on DV360 was far better compared to the numbers on Google Ads. This was the power of insight-driven marketing.

• Different creatives (Animated/Influencer): As mentioned, the different categories of videos which were used include Brand videos, User Generated Content (Influencer Videos). Animated Videos, USP based videos, Event/Theme-based videos etc.,

Themed Influencer Campaign refers to an example where we have used a “couple as influencers” to talk about how to earn money on Gamezy which makes it easy for them to buy their Valentine’s day gifts.

USP-based videos where the advantages of using Gamezy over other competitors like 8 Languages, 5-a-Side, and 2 Innings were shown as short stories or a slideshow to increase the Install rate.

• Automated Bid Strategy: “Maximize conversions” was used as the bidding strategy to increase the number of conversions and to scale up at the same time. This was the main advantage of using AI for better audience targeting.

• Managed Placements: Optimizing the placements on YouTube Channels/YouTube Videos to exclude the junk placements and run separate campaigns with top converted placements. This helped in improving the overall performance.
• Retargeting is not possible on Google ads for Real-Time Money based businesses to run campaigns but it is possible on D360 due to the server-to-server integration.

Results:

Within a period of 2 months, we were able to see a 226% increase in Installs with a 50% decrease in cost per Install. Since this is a real-time money based application, ‘Add Cash” is one of the most important in-app events to achieve. We have been successful in getting a 378% increase in Add Cashes with a 66% decrease in cost per Add Cash.

What is programmatic advertising?

Programmatic advertising is not as complex as it sounds. It is a way to buy automatically & manage digital campaigns, rather than buying them from publishers directly.

Programmatic advertising is an automatic approach of RTB, which will be used on a particular inventory for a particular set of users. 

Demystifying the Jargons of Programmatic Advertising:

Real-Time Bidding (RTB): Buying and selling of advertisement space online through real-time auction that occur in milliseconds. 

Demand-Side Platform (DSP): A software which is utilized by publicists to purchase advertisements consequently. A portion of the main DSP stages are Turn, MediaMath, Invite Media, and DataXu. 

Supply-Side Platform (SSP): Technology stage utilized by distributors to sell publicizing space consequently. A portion of the main SSP stages are Google, OpenX, Right Media, and PubMatic. 

Data Management Platform (DMP):  An information stockroom that is basically a product that has data about purchasers and clients. DMP holds data principally through cookies that are utilized for publicist focusing on.

Ad Exchange: Digital commercial center where publicists and distributors purchase and sell advertisements. A portion of the main advertisement trade stages for automatic publicizing are OpenX, The Rubicon Project, and Google. 

First-Party Data:  First-party data comes legitimately from the source, either the computerized distributer or the stage holder. For example, in the event that you decide to publicize on Facebook, you can get data about the crowd to tailor your campaign. 

Third-Party Data: Third-Party Data is any data gathered by an element that won't have an immediate relationship with the client the information is being gathered on. More often than not, It is gathered from an assortment of sites and stages and afterward is bunched together by outsider information suppliers, for example, DMP.

Self Serve Programmatic: Google offers their programmatic solutions only to agencies and not to brands - but there are agencies like Social Beat that offers a self serve option to brands and other agencies where they can use the existing DV360 access to run campaigns. This is known as Self Serve programmatic advertising.

Types of programmatic advertising

• Programmatic RTB: 

Like Google ads calculate the bidding in real-time for all advertisers, the same applies to Programmatic RTB.

RTB is done programmatically and the highest bidder's ad is displayed. Below are the steps on how it works -

1. The User visits a website
2. The Website communicates with an ad exchange/SSP
3. SSP offers information to DSPs
4. Advertisers place bids through a DSP
5. Highest bid wins the ad

• Private Marketplace (PMP):

Private marketplace works as RTB in similar sectors, which is available only to advertisers that require invitation. Usually publishers block or reserve premium ad inventory for some selected advertisers. Most of the demand side platforms have their own private marketplace which is exclusively available to DSP customers.

• Preferred Deals:

This is a type of deal where the advertisers chooses the ad inventory even before displaying in the private marketplace by open auction at a fixed price.

This is also called spot buying as the purchase and negotiation happens on the spot and targeting, pricing etc are agreed by both the parties.

The advertiser also gets to see the publisher’s ad inventory which can help in deciding whether or not to make a purchase depending on the ad impression.

• Programmatic Guaranteed:

This type of deal follows the usual path of media buying, where publisher & advertiser is given a chance of negotiating on one-on-one basis. Bidding process is not followed in programmatic guaranteed. Once the negotiation is over the inventory is sold to the advertiser.

Programmatic guaranteed is also called programmatic direct or automated guaranteed.

How does programmatic ad buying work?

Step 1: User clicks on a Landing page or website

Step 2: The owner of the site puts the ad up for auction

Step 3: Advertisers including competitors offer bids for the ad impression

Step 4: Highest bidder in the step 3 wins the auction

Step 5: winning ad is served on the website to the user who clicked on the ad

Last Step: Hopefully the user who clicked on the ad, converts!

The framework will assess the client examination once an advertisement is purchased on a portion of the measurements which is Behavior, Social commitment, Engagement level, Time per visit and Location. 

The above information from the measurements will help the framework in arranging, estimating and choosing what setting would be applicable to a particular client. In like manner the promotion would be shown as an advertisement on the applicable situation. 

For instance, when clients filter a few web journals which are identified with "Wellbeing and Fitness", The advertisement tech framework assesses and gauges the client conduct and shows a promotion that is identified with "offers on GYM Equipments" or "Sound eating routine food diagram". 

Through the above measures we can focus on the correct promotion to the ideal individual at the perfect time which reflects in expanding the proficiency of an advertisement campaign. While Google only offers their programmatic solutions only to agencies and not to brands - there are agencies like Social Beat that offer a self serve option to brands and other agencies where they can use the existing DV360 access to run campaigns.

Key Benefits of using Programmatic Advertising:

-Programmatic advertising works towards targeting your KPIs more closely which results in improving and increasing your overall ROI.

-With Programmatic advertising, advertisers have access to adjust metrics such as CPMs, CPCs, CPVs etc. which helps us in cost-effectiveness.

-There are a lot of things which we can explore on this platform. Gaining customer insights is one of them, and will enable you to take the learnings through programmatic technology and apply them across all types to improve overall advertising campaign performance, which results in a comprehensive marketing approach.

-Programmatic helps you to achieve your goal by reaching a larger audience which results in diversity and scalability. 

Frequency Capping Across Platforms

Control the frequency and analyze the performance of ads across multiple channels like Google, Facebook, YouTube, Native, OTTs and Publishers with the help of campaign manager and DV360

-Avoid overexposing ads to the same user across platforms 

-Acquire a wider pool of audience within the same budget. Thus, programmatic can help you get the best ROI.

-Get a single view of your audience across platforms 

Innovative and Interactive Ad Formats:

Create exclusive, interactive ads like Parallax, Flipbook, Cue Cards, and Audio banners

-Give your audience a better experience

-Drive engagement with your target audience 

-Helps increase CTR and boost Ad Recall

Premium Inventory & 3rd Party Lists:

-Access a more premium inventory and expand your reach across various publishers, OTT’s, audio streaming services, and third-party lists.

-Leverage 3rd Party Lists to reach niche audience segments relevant to your business

Improved Tracking on Programmatic:

-With improved targeting, you can optimize budget allocation with efficiency and produce elevated results

-Track impressions served to a single user across platforms

-Gives a view of the entire customer journey and overlap of audience across platforms for better Media Planning decisions

-Run Sequenced Messaging campaigns even on the Display Network to drive your audience down the marketing funnel 

Comprehensive Targeting:

-With comprehensive targeting options paired with audience insights and mining, you can optimize campaigns to deliver maximum results 

-Improved targeting using AI & Machine Learning with advanced bid strategies and data-driven creatives to deliver personalization to a target audience

-Leverage Combined Audience - Create a combined audience using Google Audience, 1st Party Audience & 3rd Party Audience to target even niche audiences effectively. 

Example - Your target audience is a CEO/CXO of a company size between 200-1000 in the US? 

That can be done!

The benefit with First-Party Data:

- As some of you might know, third Party Cookie tracking will be depreciated from Jan 2022 from Chrome (and soon other browsers). This is going to lead to many brands trying to build their first-party data and programmatic is best suited to manage this and build on your existing user data.

YouTube Trueview via DV360:

-Provides precise tracking with extensive targeting abilities 

-Explore Google Audiences, 1st and 3rd Party Data, also create combined audiences to reach the right target audience 

-Track post view and view through conversation for large scale trueview and bumper campaigns

-Leverage AI & ML for better-optimized campaigns

-Track Completed views and CPCV and not just views and CPV. 

Few Disadvantages of leveraging Programmatic Advertising:

Transparency from your agency: Since programmatic is usually executed via the agency, it’s very important to have access to the dashboard to understand key metrics. Most programmatic platforms also allow partners to add a % of their fee to the media cost (screenshot from DV360 below). It is known as Partner Cost in DV360. For example, if the CPM is INR 200, the partner can add a 20% margin on it wherein your dashboard would show a CPM of INR 240 (20% higher than INR 200)

Privacy issues: Privacy concerns have arisen as programmatic ads are based on individual internet user's information. This applies to most forms of digital media advertising.

Ad blockers: Most internet users complain about how the ads pop up then have resorted to using ad blockers or using search engines like DuckDuckGo and this trend is likely to increase.

Create a Programmatic campaign in just 3 steps:

Step 1 — All about Strategy

Firstly select your marketing campaign goal, then choose the type of programmatic ad campaign which would be suitable to your goal and strategy and lastly in the first stage would be to sign up for the right demand side platform.

Step 2 — Execution

First step in the execution is to set the estimated budget of your advertising campaign. Next would be selecting the basic targeting options. Last option is to select the creative type and upload the same.

Step 3 — Optimization

-To optimize the campaign the first step is to Receive Real-Time Reports and Analyze the data.

-According to the Analyzed data optimize the campaign settings

-Customize the targeting based on the analysis and Retarget the users who didn't convert

Optimization Secrets:

1. Allow the campaign time to collect enough data so you're able to take a data-driven approach, Try not to optimize excessively fast 
2. Similar to the previous point, Try not to optimize too often or too rarely as this will again not give the system enough data to collect. Always give enough time, spend & data between the changes.
3. It is important to monitor all the progressions made even if it’s a small one. This record will help us to see what changes produce what results so that you can measure and alter the changes accordingly

Deep dive into Display & Video 360

DV360 is the extended version of DCM (DoubleClick Bid Manager), Campaign Manager, Data Studio & lastly Audience Center. This tool acts as a single tool which can be used for planning, organizing, designing, finding inventory, buying inventory, measuring & optimizing campaigns. Find out how we achieved a greater brand reach for a BFSI client using DV360.

What can be done in Display & Video 360?

-Collaborate across teams

-Gain transparency and control

-Get faster, smarter insights

Display & Video 360 is grouped around five integrated segments:

1. Campaigns: 

This is where you build and execute the media plan. You can create, optimize & monitor the campaigns, Line items & Insertion orders.

2. Audiences:

This is where you manage your audiences. Audiences can be set based on frequency caps, Audience bucket can be created & Audience profile analysis also can be made in this segment.

3. Creatives:

Here, you tie your creative strategy to your data and your media plan. There are different variations of creatives, below are the following-

1. The ad Canvas: You can design the ads visually with real-time previews on the Ad Canvas
2. The Format Gallery: You can discovery new innovative formats, experiment them on Ad canvas & also browse Google Web Designer templates for custom solutions

c: Data-driven Creatives: You can create a variation of your message which suits with different audiences

4. Inventory:

This segment allows you to discover and manage high-quality inventory from top broadcasters and publishers, which also includes exploring new opportunities in Marketplace and negotiating deals

5. Insights:

All the campaign metrics can be found in this segment which helps in analyzing and measuring the performance across Display & Video 360 and take action on those results.

With the deadly virus and the national lockdown upon us, there has been very little to look forward to during this year. But thanks to OTT (Over the Top) platforms and the nation’s undying love for cricket, we are now anticipating the return of the fun-filled Indian Premier League (IPL) in the second half of this year. The 2020 IPL, like so many other events this year, will be held like never before. For one, the stadiums won't be packed with tens of thousands of passionate fans, as the tournament will be conducted in UAE with limited spectators. More importantly, the advertising engine that drives revenue for the IPL will be largely limited to digital platforms. OTT platforms like Hotstar are in prime position to capture even greater audiences and thus, have become the sole focus for brands. If you want to grab eyeballs during the 2020 IPL, a keen understanding of advertising on OTT platforms is crucial. 

What are OTT platforms?

OTT platforms are one of the fastest-growing networks of today’s Indian online marketing world. With more people turning to digital platforms for all their needs due to the lockdown, these platforms have witnessed a tremendous spike in the last couple of months. With the current speed of growth, it is now roughly estimated that by the end of 2023, the Indian OTT marketing world would have a whopping 500 million viewers online. 

One of the nation’s very own OTT platforms that is also the most-subscribed app in India, is Hotstar. Hotstar is owned by Novi Digital Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Star India. As of May 2020, there are 8 million paid subscribers and 300 million active subscribers on Hotstar alone. Since IPL streaming is a service provided to paid subscribers, we think it is safe to say that we can expect another spike in the number of subscribers for the sake of the Indian Premier League.

But as marketers and advertisers, is Hotstar just a mere OTT platform and the IPL, just a game? Or a spectacular opportunity for advertisers to create brand awareness?

Ultimately, video advertising is one of the most effective forms of advertising. An average person in India spends approximately 3.5 hours on video streaming on smartphones. In addition to that, 69% of internet users have one or more entertainment or video applications downloaded on their phones. With more than 95% of Indian households being single television households, the video-in-hand demand has made a huge difference to video advertising. This is probably why the 2019 IPL broke viewership records with up to 462 million viewers watching the game online and upto 300 million viewers watching it on Hotstar. 

Why should brands advertise on Hotstar in the 2020 IPL?

The following are some of the reasons why brands should advertise in this nation’s most awaited game on Hotstar:

1. Higher viewership:

   After last year’s record-breaking viewership of 462 million viewers (300 million from Hotstar alone), this year we expect an outstanding increase in the viewership rate owing to the lockdown as well as the Disney+Hotstar audience pool of 250 million viewers.

2. Lower IPL advertising rates:

   With the previous IPL advertising rates being expensive and affordable only to the biggies of advertising, many small scale businesses could not advertise in the IPL. This year, however, the IPL offers a starting package of 1 lakh INR only - which means more brands will be advertising on this medium.

3. Hotstar audience interest:

   As per the audience interest, 66% are annual travelers, 60% are monthly online shoppers, 40% are degree/diploma holders, 70% are investors of stocks and MFs, and 90% have paid subscriptions. This opens up a vast variety of opportunities for brands to reach their audiences. 

4. High Ad inventory:

   With around 56 matches, each match has around 2,300 seconds of ad inventory. 

5. High Engagement:

   Hotstar advertisement in  IPL 2020 offers remarkable engagement from viewers right through Pre, as well as Post live show updates and Highlights. 

6. Option to choose from different ad formats as per your marketing goal.
7. Option to filter your potential brand audience through location, gender, interests, etc.
8. An increasing number of viewers on Disney+Hotstar applications each day.

Who must absolutely advertise on Hotstar IPL 2020?

• Brands that want to boost their sales after being sidelined by the lockdown.
• Brands that want to introduce new products/services to a larger audience
• Brands whose target audiences are young, digital-first, and/or urban.

Best Advertising Options for Hotstar IPL 2020:

Since the public will not be able to physically attend the matches this year,  the IPL experience is going to be different from the previous years. The same goes for advertising in IPL. Some of the most popular Hotstar advertisement practices in IPL are as follows:

• Billboards:

  Similar to an outdoor advertising billboard, a billboard is a big banner of your brand that can be in the form of an image, video, or a series of images as a photo carousel. A billboard may be placed on any content page such as the home page, news, sports, movies, etc.

• Midrolls:

  10-30 seconds of unskippable ads that play during live match breaks/between programs. This is the most popular form of advertising used by a larger number of brands.

• Features:

  These ads are non-clickable ads that pop up during the crucial moments of the game. This ensures high engagement and visibility that offers a remarkable boost to your brand.

• Branded Cards:

  These are banners that carry the brand logo and their message and are placed right below the live streaming of the match in the social live feed.

IPL Advertising is a great opportunity for both moderate as well as high budget advertisers. It is used by a variety and a large number of brands in order to reach their target audience. Since Hotstar is the most subscribed application and IPL is the most-watched game, the two put together a remarkable number of viewers and a large audience of different likes and dislikes. With reduced rates and higher user engagement after the Disney tie-up with Hotstar, now is the best time to invest in advertising on Hotstar!

Branding Campaigns with YouTube Trueview on DV360

YouTube Trueview campaigns on DV360 provide more precise tracking with comprehensive targeting abilities. Advertisers can leverage Google audiences, 1st Party and 3rd Party data and create combined audiences to reach just the right target audience. It can track even view-through-conversions along with click-through-conversions at scale, completed views and the cost for a completed view while automatically optimizing for lower CPCVs and higher view rates using AI & ML. 

About Sundaram Mutual

Sundaram Mutual is an Asset Management Company that manages funds that cater to the investment needs of investors with different risk, reward and liquidity preferences. It is committed to making mutual funds accessible to everyone and is backed with a strong research team and robust processes. It is also an innovative thought leader that is the first to launch funds in new themes like Mid-caps, Capex, Leadership, Rural India, and Micro caps and Services that enhance value for stakeholders while upholding the highest degree of ethics. 

Campaign Objective

Sundaram Mutual wanted to launch a new fund called Sundaram Equity Fund and wanted to maximize the awareness of the NFO. It also wanted to increase consideration for the fund and drive conversions with the audience created in the branding campaigns to push them down the marketing funnel. 

Objective for TrueView Campaign on DV360

• Maximize brand awareness and reach 
• Drive more views on the video at a lower CPV
• Effectively measure the impact of the campaign 

Campaign Execution and Optimization 

Tested different videos - In the beginning we created the campaign with 2 videos; one with a voiceover and the other without a voiceover. We ran the campaign for 2 days and evaluated which video had a higher view rate at a lower CPV and then directed the budgets of the campaign to that video.

Leveraged various audience types and optimized budget allocation - We leveraged broad upper funnel audiences like Google audience lists, created custom audiences of competitors and investment platforms, alternate investments, 3rd party lists and combined audiences. After this, we evaluated which audience lists worked better and directed more budgets to that audience list.

. 

Automated Bidding - We used an automated bidding strategy of “Maximizing Views” to leverage AI & ML to drive more completed views at a lower CPV and higher view rates. 

Frequency and View Caps - We leveraged campaign level frequency caps to avoid over-exposure of ads to a single user across multiple targeting options and maximized the number of unique users reached with the budgets. 

Results 

87% of the views were completed views 

63% decrease in CPV which drove 0.6x incremental views 

66% decrease in CPM which drove 0.7x incremental impressions 

50% higher views compared to YouTube Masthead in the previous campaign 

161% increase in brand search queries on Google Search 

Programmatic advertising leverages the power of automated bidding for inventory in real time, which helps advertisers in delivering faster and smarter campaigns. India has seen exponential growth in programmatic advertising with 80% of the advertisers seeing efficient gains due to its effectiveness and the control it gives. The adoption of programmatic advertising in India is projected to grow by 52% till 2021. Programmatic advertising is the future of advertising in India and it is about time that advertisers start leveraging programmatic advertising to make the most of their advertising budgets. In this blog we’re going to talk about 

• How programmatic helps advertisers make the most of their marketing budgets 
• What advertisers can do to help programmatic drive maximum ROI 

How Programmatic helps in making the most of your advertising budgets

• Automated & Smart Bidding 
• Data-driven creatives for personalization
• Brand Safety
• Advanced Targeting Options on DV360
• Advanced Tracking with DV360 and Campaign Manager
• Transparency in PG deals 

Automated & Smart Bidding 

Programmatic Advertising through DV360 offers bid strategies that leverage machine learning to improve campaign performance by serving impressions or increasing bids for users based on the likelihood of achieving the KPI set by the advertiser. DV360 gives advertisers control over setting a goal for their campaign example CPA goal - 500 and tell the system what to optimize for example - maximize clicks/conversions and also choose what to bid on example - spend the entire budget while minimizing CPA or set a target CPA. 

Advertisers have various goals to choose from for Branding which include CPM, Viewability, and CTR while optimizing their campaigns for maximizing their impressions or minimizing their CPM and Performance campaigns include goals like CPA, CPE, and CPI while optimizing their campaigns for either maximizing clicks or conversions with bidding strategies focusing on a specific CPC/CPA or spending the budget while achieving the CPA/CPC the system can achieve.

Use the right bidding strategies for your campaign to show ads only to relevant users helps to make the most of our budgets and maximizing results 

Pro Tips 

1. Start with CPC as a goal for a performance campaign, optimizing for maximum clicks and bid on spending the entire budget while minimizing the CPC/maximizing clicks, to let the system gather learnings for better optimization. Once you have enough conversion data in your campaigns, move to smart bidding strategies like setting a CPA goal or maximizing conversions. Starting with bidding can have an impact on the delivery of the campaign or will not have enough data to bid smartly to generate desired results. The same strategy method can be used for branding campaigns as well. 
2. Leverage OBB (Outcome Based Bidding) to only pay for clicks and not to impressions served to save campaign budgets.

Data-driven creatives for Personalization 

Programmatic advertising campaigns on DV360 lets advertisers leverage the power of personalization with data-driven campaigns and creatives paired with rich media formats for increased performance and engagement. 

Advertisers can choose from various formats, upload images and copies suitable for different personas of their target audience and set the target audience for a campaign. The system automatically serves the most relevant combination of images and copies for each user based on machine learning. It involves using data to sub-segment audiences showing the right creative to the right audience at the right time instead of going the traditional route of showing one ad to an entire audience segment. This enables personalization and automation at scale, which means we don’t have to work on 10 different creatives with different copies and create different campaigns for each audience segment. Instead, we can easily do that with data-driven creatives on DV360 paired with interactiveness which helps maximize relevant engagement with the target audience and increases ROI. 

An example of personalization with data-driven creatives 

Brand Safety 

DV360 offers various brand safety control options to advertisers to prevent their ads from being displayed on sites with content that is not good for the brand’s image like Adult, Drugs etc. and tools like Ad Fraud prevention which can be used to exclude either High Risk or Medium Risk or High and Medium Risk Websites. Excluding high risk has worked the best in terms of minimizing ad fraud, however, excluding high and medium might impact the delivery of the campaign or increase the CPC. TRAQ Score is like a credit score for a website, the higher the TRAQ score, the safer the website. The scores range from 250-1000. Using scores between 500-1000 has worked the best for our campaigns, which helped prevent ads being displayed on spammy websites in just a few clicks without a huge impact on the cost for each click. 

This helps advertisers make the most of their advertising budgets by reducing irrelevant clicks which in turn reduces wasted advertising budgets and gets more clicks from relevant users.

Advanced Targeting Options on DV360 

DV360, one of the biggest digital innovations in recent times, offers various targeting options to advertisers to choose where they want their ads to be served to who they want to and do not want show their ads

Placing Ads - Advertisers can pick the environment like website or apps, categories and placements, choose specific apps or app categories, browser, viewability on the browser, above or below the fold, devices and even the connection speed of the browsers. The ad exchanges can be used to eliminate environments that are not relevant or generating ROI. Example - If ads placed on apps are generating too many accidental clicks and reducing the ROI, apps can be excluded in just a few clicks. 

Audience Targeting Options - Along with Google Audiences and custom audiences, advertisers also have access to 1st party lists, premium 3rd party lists and created combined audiences of any Google Audience, Custom Audience, 1st party or 3rd party list. For example, if you want to target CEOs of companies with employees of more than 5000, we can target those audiences using a combined audience of 3rd party lists. This helps advertisers reach the most relevant audience however niche it is and save impressions served to users that might not be relevant.

Audience Exclusions -  Exclude any 1st or 3rd party list, Google audience and also create an audience of users based on impressions already served to exclude them from your campaigns. For example A user has been served 3 impressions for one offer. You can create an audience for this and exclude it from the other offer to avoid overlap and save impressions and clicks which can be used to engage with more users. 

Advanced Tracking Options using DV360 and Campaign Manager

Programmatic advertising offers advertisers advanced tracking options when Campaign Manager is used. A few of these are:

Tracking Frequency & Journey across Platforms

Campaign Manager lets advertisers track the number of impressions a user is served across platforms like Google, Facebook, OTTs, Publishers and cap it across all platforms. This helps advertisers get a single view of a user and track the entire journey across platforms and avoid overexposing ads to a single user, since they are tracked as different users on different platforms, save wasted impressions and reach more users in the same budgets. 

Audience Overlap

Campaign Manager lets advertisers evaluate the overlap of audiences across platforms and helps make better media planning decisions. Example - we ran campaigns on two different platforms but the overlap of the audience on both the platforms is 85% which means the audience on both the platforms are the same and one of these can be removed from our media plan for the next campaign. 

Transparency in PG Deals 

Leverage programmatic advertising for placing ads on different publishers like Moneycontrol or NTDV has several benefits that can lead to optimizing the efficiency of campaign budgets:

1. Tracking a user across platforms and capping frequency at a user level
2. Programmatic offers 100% transparency of impressions served and clicks received, whereas in a direct deal, advertisers have to depend on reports shared by the publishers. 

What advertisers can do to help Programmatic drive maximum ROI 

• Set clear objectives 
• Use the targeting options in the best way to reach your audience 
• Test, evaluate and optimize

• Give the system time to learn and start working for you 

Set clear objectives

Setting clear objectives before starting the campaign helps in better optimization. The objective of the campaign shapes the entire structure of the campaign right from the goal, what we are optimizing for, the bidding strategy, the audiences that are targeted and creatives that are used. Making too many changes to these elements of the campaign can have a negative impact on the learnings. 

Use the targeting options in the best way to reach your target audience

With so many targeting options available on DV360, we can target even very niche audience segments to reach relevant audiences, paired with the relevant placement of the ads with data-driven creatives to be as relevant and interactive as possible. 

Test, Evaluate & Optimize 

Check which creatives work - Leverage rich media creatives and see which format and communication works better 

Check with audience works - Test different custom audiences, combined audience, look at the audience analysis report to check which audience list has an overlap with your 1st party list and define your target audience

Check which frequency works - With advanced tracking options advertisers can analyze which media platforms and which frequency works the best to drive ROI and optimize campaigns accordingly. 

Check which publishers have an overlap of the audience and choose the one which is more cost-effective - Analyze data from existing campaigns to make better media decisions and budget allocations based on the cost-effectiveness of each channel to reach the same audience.

Analyze Campaign Performance - Check all elements of the campaign like which environment, age, geo, day of the week, time of the day, placement, ad exchange, position, the bid strategy works the best for increasing ROI from a campaign. 

Give the system time to learn and start working for you 

A lot of times, advertisers initiate campaigns but pause it if there are no immediate results, however programmatic advertising, like any other advertising platform, requires machine learning to generate results and ROI. Advertisers should evaluate the performance of a campaign not just by the direct results but also by the impact it creates in terms of the consideration a campaign creates, how does the remarketing to this audience work in campaigns, etc. 

Now leverage DV360 (Display Video 360) in Self Serve mode

Google offers their programmatic solutions only to agencies and not to brands - but there are agencies like Social Beat that offers a self serve option to brands and other agencies where they can use the existing DV360 access to run campaigns. This is known as Self Serve programmatic advertising.

Gone are the days when marketing used to be about intuition and gut feelings. Today, in a world where people use their phones for about 60% of their day, it’s extremely important for brands to understand what a typical day would look like in the lives of their consumers. What time would they wake up? What kind of breakfast would they prefer? Would they take a cab to work, ride a bike or drive their own vehicle? Where do they work? Do they come home to a nuclear family or a joint family?

The questions are endless, and while it may seem that brands are trying too hard to sell emotions rather than products, well it is true! Maybe it’s time to stop a moment and ask yourself, do you buy a product or do you buy the emotion attached to it? 

It is because of this very fact, that brands are paying a lot more attention to deriving insights into their consumers and their lifestyles. Insight-driven marketing is nothing but tapping into your consumers at the right time and place with the exact communication that they would want to receive. Insight-driven marketing can help you navigate your way closer to your consumer, and it also plays a vital role in formulating strategic business decisions based on the marketing insights you receive from your consumers.  

How Insight-Driven Marketing Can Help Build Your Brand

Get to know your consumers, as you’d like them to know you!

Understanding the demographics and habits of your consumers is not just a matter of numbers but is an art in itself. With an exhaustive insight-marketing driven approach you will be able to dive deeper into the following:

1. What your consumers prefer,
2. Which channels you will find them on,
3. Are they likely to buy your products,
4. Are your price points suitable to them,
5. Do they resonate with your brand communication,

And many more such questions, which then allows you to optimize your marketing strategy to deliver the best results.

Here are an astonishing few facts that we found online from a study that dives deep into consumer behaviour - 

Did you know?

55% of people interested in grocery online are men

51% of women are interested in social and casual gaming

60% of men are likely to be in-market for jewellery 

56% of fathers online are interested in being a chef

Build your brand persona, one piece of communication at a time

Tapping into your consumer at the right time, using the right channel, with the right communication, can result in higher conversions, higher engagement and higher revenues in return. Many brands in today’s era are looking at diversifying their persona and communication, making it more personal and customised for their consumers. For example, a brand that’s available in Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities may want to communicate with their consumers in each tier differently, based on the kind of content each group resonates with, and the different channels each of them would be present on. 

Cross-sell and Upsell to add more value to your consumers

Knowing the consumer behaviour and patterns through first-party data is crucial, helping brands cross-sell and upsell products that may add value to the lives of our consumers.

Being able to track their behaviour and journey helps us dive deeper into whether or not they would be willing to purchase more products at even a higher price.

Product development and business expansion decisions

If a brand initially thinks of venturing into a new line of services, building a new product or expanding the current business in different markets, these decisions can be made a lot stronger and effective if they are based on facts and insights taken from the marketing data and their consumer’s behaviour.

While all this may seem a tad bit overwhelming, here’s a step by step process on how you can go about analysing your data and putting it to effective use.

Step 1: Analyse the data that you have

While you may have run umpteen campaigns for your brand over the last year, giving you access to tons of data to look into, what’s really important is how you collate it, organise it and study the data. It’s extremely crucial to look for trends between your consumer demographics, age, gender, lifestyles and professions. For many brands, their data may not just end at consumer names, which cities they reside in, their age, profession and likes and dislikes, but also depend on which part of the communication did they most resonate with, that influenced their decision of buying the product or service.

Hence, for any brand that believes in connecting with their consumers, it is fundamental to understand:

1. The Demographics of their consumer
2. The lifestyle of their consumer
3. Communication routes that they would prefer
4. Creative routes that they would resonate with

Step 2: Learn and apply the marketing insights as you move forward

Let’s follow a simple rule: Gather data points ------> Derive marketing insights -------> Jot down a way forward and implement

More often than not, marketing professionals pause at stage 2 - Which is deriving digital marketing insights from the data points. The key here is to apply all the insights to your campaigns and communication routes, which will, in turn, help the brand see improved business results and higher conversion rates, where consumers will start to resonate with the brand on a personal level.

Step 3: Reflect, Compare, Repeat

Once you have implemented the marketing insights, the key is to compare data, both past and present, to be able to optimise your campaigns and strategy as you keep going. This will help retrospect on whether you’ve seen a rise in the sale of products and services of your brand and how much your brand has benefited from your insight-driven marketing approach.

Case Study

Here’s one such example of insight-driven marketing implemented by us for Tata Mutual Fund’s – #NoToKatauti Campaign

Brief:

To drive investments for their ELSS (Equity Linked Savings Scheme) Fund between November to March – which is the period when people resort to filing their taxes in India.

Process to gain insights:

We asked a bunch of 20-30 people over calls and video conferences, on how, when and under what circumstances they file their taxes. 

Insights:

1. Most people in India file taxes in February and March, just a few weeks before the deadline
2. Most people also file their taxes only when the fear of their salary getting cut arises to eat them up
3. Most people hate not getting what they truly deserve, their income being one such factor

Hence from this very thought, stemmed the campaign idea of #NoToKatauti!

Consumer segmentation based on data and behaviour analysis:

We divided our audiences based on four major factors in India, namely people’s love for cricket, love for food, the housewife community, and students.

Not only did we first deliver the video to them that they resonate with most, but we also followed it up with the other three in line, creating a ripple effect and building tremendous brand recall.  

Results:

38.1% increase in brand lift

216.2% increase in brand interest

13.1% increase in brand awareness

25% of leads from YouTube

Case Study

Here’s another example of insight-driven marketing implemented by India’s No.1 cookware brand, Wonderchef:

Brief:

To create brand awareness, strategize and devise a campaign for a good cause. 

Insight:

We pulled out sufficient data to support the fact that the majority of men in India don’t cook, they don’t help out in household chores and they don’t have sufficient knowledge of ingredients. While we try to preach ‘Gender Equality’, are we really all that ‘Gender Equal’ as a country?

This very thought led us to create the campaign idea of #DearManHoldThePan.

Campaign Execution:

We got out on the street to ask men their thoughts and gather more information on whether they knew basic ingredients, herbs and how to even break an egg without ruining its yolk! And guess what? The results were hilarious, but very satisfying in terms of numbers, reach and the appreciation we received. Not only did this make our case point stronger, but also helped us develop more content, in the form of posts, influencer videos and a whole lot more!

Results:

Reach – 14 Million

Engaging about 3 Lakh Viewers

And we turned a whole lot of eyeballs!

Insight marketing to drive growth

Various examples have shown us time and again that personalised marketing is a digital trend that adds a whole different dimension and layer to any campaign or brand. By reflecting different facets of an audience’s personality, a product or campaign is bound to be a success. Relatability makes room for connection, and thus engagement, which is why marketing insights will never fail you. And with performance marketing, the insights only ever grow, enabling you to drive growth continually for your brand.

With the advent of technology and social media, a consumer’s journey to make a purchase has become very complex. Consumers can now easily discover new brands on various social media platforms and are researching multiple brands, choosing to compare the pricing/offers before making a final decision. This new consumer decision journey has given rise to a highly evolved and aware consumer. 

So, how can brands modify the marketing funnel to engage with this new digital-age consumer? The full-funnel approach is one of the most significant aspects of a marketing strategy as this helps brands convert the prospective audience into customers. This can be done on digital platforms by showcasing relevant messaging to the target audiences, moving them along the funnel from ‘Awareness’ to ‘Consideration’ and finally ‘Conversion’. 

Most marketers, however, tend to focus on the bottom-of-the-funnel directly and optimise all digital campaigns to drive consumer action. However, this could lead to increased cost per acquisitions and lower conversion rates. While performance-based campaigns are key as these drive business results, it would not be an optimal strategy to focus on these alone as consumers need to be aware of the brand and build an affinity towards the same before making a purchase or enquiring.

With the shift from traditional to digital, it is also essential that a brand adapts their marketing funnel with a digital-first marketing strategy. This approach implies that it is essential for the brand to have a mobile-first approach for all digital assets in order to reach and engage with potential customers. Brands should leverage Accelerated Mobile Pages to improve the speed of landing pages and interactive ad formats to ensure the best experience for consumers. 

Create brand awareness by using video for top-of-the-funnel campaigns

In the first stage, the focus should be on creating awareness of the brand and its legacy. It is considered a good idea to leverage short videos in this stage to engage with potential buyers. Brands should also look at highlighting the benefits for the consumer by showcasing how the product or service can help them and resolve a pain point. 

The top-of-the-funnel should be looked at as a process of casting a wider net to reach potential consumers. The users at this stage might not be familiar with the brand and only be cold prospects. Using the full-funnel marketing strategy, brands could push consumers towards the next stage of the marketing funnel.

Brands could explore various options like masthead on YouTube or Reach & Frequency campaigns on Facebook/Instagram to drive the high-impact reach for the brand’s top of the funnel strategy. One other interesting option could be to explore vernacular videos for brand awareness depending on the brand’s target audience. With the launch of Jio, smartphones and data plans have become quite affordable, leading to increased consumption of vernacular content. In the current scenario, brands should look to adopt a multi-lingual marketing strategy to tap into the next billion users. 

Which Ad Inventory To Explore?

YouTube: Bumper Ad, Masthead, TrueView For Reach are the best ad inventories to explore using YouTube.

Facebook/Instagram: Reach & Frequency Campaigns and Brand-Awareness are instrumental in ad inventories to explore using Facebook/Instagram.

What metrics to track?

The metrics to track go as Cost Per Thousand Impressions and Cost Per Video View.

Keep In Mind: As brands, avoid using product-specific/sales material in this stage of the funnel. 

Prompt video viewers to consider the brand

Users who engage with the brand’s top-of-the-funnel activity will have to familiarise themselves with the brand through more details about the product/service via relevant content. It is recommended to leverage the power of thumb-stopping content to re-engage with these users. Brands should share more context about the product/service so that consumers could consider engaging with them and finally making the purchase. The middle of the funnel should be looked at as a broad set of interested audiences who are not customers yet but are strongly considering the particular brand. 

At this stage, the key focus should be on showcasing educational content in order to build trust and consideration for the brand. Case studies, Blog posts, White Papers, Ebooks, etc. are simple yet very effective tools for the brand’s middle of the funnel strategy. On Facebook, brands could explore Instant Experience ads which can help nurture intent and further drive engagement.  

Which Ad Inventory To Explore?

YouTube: Bearing Ad Inventory in mind, Trueview In-Stream Ad is typically explored on YouTube.

Facebook: In terms of Ad Inventory for Facebook, the way to go is through Traffic, Engagement, and Video Views.

What metrics to track?

To track metrics, CPC, Ad Recall and Landing Page Views are taken into account.

Keep In Mind: Alongside sharing educational content, brands should start positioning their product/service at this stage. 

Drive the brand’s most engaged audiences to convert

Once users are aware and have developed consideration for the brand, it is time to drive action with focused creatives and clear Call-To-Actions. At this stage, the consumer is already aware of the brand and is in a ready-to-buy frame of mind. With the right communication strategy, the users can easily convert into customers from a prospect lead. The focus here is to make the final pitch and keep it straight forward with the brand’s product/service details and pricing. Some potential buyers might require the extra push in the form of a time-bound offers/discounted prices to make the final decision. In the last state of the funnel, brands should highlight why consumers should opt for their product/service instead of their competitor’s as part of the content strategy.  It might also be interesting to segment different audience types based on demographics/behaviour and show customers highly personalised content in this stage to drive the conversion. 

By following a full-funnel, approach brands should be able to generate high-quality leads as the users have gone through the entire customer journey of awareness and consideration before purchasing or enquiring from the brand. This is especially important in industries such as Real Estate where the purchase cycle is relatively long, and consumers are continually researching options. 

Which Ad Inventory To Explore?

YouTube: TrueView For Action is often explored bearing YouTube Ad Inventory in mind.

Facebook: The best Ad Inventory to explore using Facebook is Lead Gen/Website Conversion.

What metrics to track?

CPL is typically used to track metrics. 

Keep In Mind: Showcasing a time-bound offer in this stage can create an urgency and prompt consumers to take action. 

For a more in-depth explanation on full-funnel marketing, take a look at this video:

Analyse those leads, work on strategies that converts them to customers, and drive revenue to the business. At the end of the day, a full-funnel strategy involves a lot of work and time, but with an efficient marketing machine, the battle is half won. 

As the saying goes - The world is becoming a smaller place and digitisation is definitely contributing to it. Speaking of digitization, online advertising is considered a boon for businesses to keep their audiences interested in their brands. However, targeting the right audience is the first challenge faced by advertisers. This is where Taboola emerges as a game-changer in the sector of native advertising. With multiple options and settings, brands are able to create relevant and consistent content for ads that are published in multiple webpages and are synced with the design and behaviour of the users on the page. The best part of using Taboola is that advertisers can reach out to a large target audience to make their content visible and thereby converting potential users to customers. 

On the other hand, managing ad spends is the next challenge faced by digital advertisers. This is when Google DV360 comes to your rescue. DV360 is a service platform that helps online advertisers to optimise their campaign with data-driven insights. This platform integrates various advertising tools to create ads that are impactful and efficient. With DV360, it has become easy to manage ad spends and revise the strategies for maximum ROI. 

The best of both worlds

The good news for digital advertisers is that Taboola inventory is now directly integrated with Google DV360, Google's Programmatic Platform that is also available in India. This means marketers can now access Taboola using the DV360 platform and enjoy the convenience of optimising their campaigns while reaching a relevant target audience. This integration comes in as a blessing for advertisers to make constructive decisions to run campaigns that meet all the goals while managing spendings to yield the best results.

How to activate Taboola on DV360?

If you are already using DV360, activating Taboola is a simple process. Here is a step-by-step guide to activate the Taboola Exchange option on the DV360 platform.

• Firstly, log in to your DV360 account. On the left menu, select the settings and click on the basic details option.
• Then, spot the exchanges section and find Taboola exchange from the list of options on the page.
• Tick the box next to Taboola exchange and save your changes.

Now you are all set to start your ads and bring out the best results as per the objectives of your campaigns. 

Online advertisers have started leveraging both Taboola and DV360 to run successful campaigns by making the right decisions and targeting a wide range of audiences with innovative creatives, audio and video ads.  If you have still not used these tools, hurry up and leverage these valuable platforms to build your brand and generate maximum ROI.

The ubiquitous term ‘marketing mix modelling’ has been around for decades and with good reason. This strategy allowed marketers to identify the best channels and marketing techniques to maximise product performance. But as the channels themselves change, new digital trends emerge and customers begin to evolve, how relevant is traditional marketing mix modelling? Do the factors for a brand’s success still solely rest upon product, price, place and promotion? And if so, how has each of these 4 P’s evolved in the digital age? 

The changing face of marketing mix modelling

The concept of the 4 Ps was created at a time when data remained largely stable, technological advancements were slow and consumer habits were predictable. Today, in the age of digital disruption, each of these facets has undergone a wave of change. In this climate, traditional marketing mix models are simply not equipped to deliver a realistic marketing strategy and accurate channel-wise attribution. 

 This change is primarily because of the following features of the digital environment:

1. Advertising mediums do not exist in a vacuum

A typical consumer today is bombarded by more advertisements on more platforms than at any other time in history. They might be exposed to a brand while watching a video, while reading a blog, or while listening to music, to name just a few. Because of this, it can be close to impossible to evaluate the performance of each ad in isolation. Each instance of exposure has a cumulative effect on the buying decision of a consumer. Most marketing mix models are not equipped to handle a multi-touchpoint customer journey.

2. Technology and data is in a state of flux

Traditional marketing models are built on data extending from over one year. Marketers generally analyse long-term patterns of data to reach a conclusion on future trends. The digital age, however, does not afford the luxury of long-term analysis. Technology, platforms and algorithms can change within a matter of a few months, throwing even the most carefully crafted marketing mix model into disarray.

3. Speed and adaptability are critical

In a traditional marketing plan, platforms and budgets would be decided upon based on a marketing mix model, the plan would be executed and the learnings would be dissected later on. Today, however, digital marketing empowers marketers to completely overhaul their budget allocation and platform-wise strategies at the click of a button. A modern marketing strategy isn’t truly over until budgets are exhausted. Marketing mix models need to be adaptable and scalable in order to be successful. 

How to build a digital-ready marketing mix model

Today’s changing market is completely different from what it was in the 1960s, which was when the concept of a marketing mix model was first introduced. Naturally, as a result, the traditional understanding of the 4 P’s needs to evolve to adapt to our current reality. 

Here’s how marketers can reimagine the 4 P’s and build digital-ready marketing mix models for a full-funnel marketing strategy.

1. Sell experiences, not products

Reduced manufacturing costs, less expensive advertising channels and the rise of a thriving startup culture have lowered many of the entry barriers for new companies. As a result, the market is more competitive than ever before, with numerous similar products vying for the same customer. In this scenario, a brand’s product cannot sell based on a utilitarian guarantee alone. Customers now want to purchase a product that sells them an experience. They want a product that they believe will help them reach their ideal self, aligns with their values and sells them a lifestyle. Brands who capture this essence will ultimately capture the market. 

2. Be present where your customers are

Previously, the concept of ‘Place’ in a marketing mix model referred to the selection of optimum distribution channels to reach a customer. These channels in the modern age, however, are not as clear cut as they once were. Customers divide their time between numerous platforms; watching videos, scrolling through social media, reading blogs or listening to podcasts. Additionally, they can also make a purchase decision at any time of the day and in any place, for instance, during their morning commute to work. The introduction of Whatsapp for Business has allowed brands to penetrate even further into a consumer’s routine. Because of this, the focus needs to shift from having a physical presence in an area where the target audience is present to simply being everywhere each member of the target audience is, virtual or otherwise. 

3. Influence rather than promote

On the whole, customers today are a more cynical lot than customers from previous periods. They seek information on product ingredients, are more discerning of what they consume and are more aware of marketing strategies. Because of this, it is highly unlikely that a consumer will believe your product’s USPs at face value. Brands need to eschew a hard focus on promotion alone and instead supplement it with efforts to build credibility. Two tools have become indispensable for brands looking to do so: influencer marketing and content marketing. Influencer marketing builds awareness of a product using ‘influencers’ whom consumers already trust while content marketing helps brands inform and educate customers and develop long-term relationships with them. 

4. Shift the focus away from price

Price is no longer the key differentiator it once was. This change can be attributed to two reasons:

(i) Improvements in technology and efficiency have allowed average prices of consumer products to hit an all-time low. Today’s customers need to pay less for a product than at any other period. As a result, most products are similarly priced and a consumer’s final purchase decision will rarely depend upon the price alone. 

(ii) With customers seeking experience over utilitarianism, many are willing to pay a higher price for perceived quality. For instance, an eco-friendly sustainable brand might be priced higher than similar products, but customers will be willing to pay the higher price for what they believe is greater value.

How to ensure accuracy in modern marketing mix models

Ushering in the age of digital marketing might mean saying goodbye to traditional marketing models, but it opens up endless possibilities for marketers. The availability of granular details, real-time analytics and diverse platforms enables marketers to create more effective marketing strategies than ever before. 

1. Create a shorter time frame

With rapid technological innovation, analyzing the impact of channels and strategies for a period longer than 6-12 months would be futile. Technology and ad formats from over a year ago might be irrelevant or non-existent today. Limit your analysis to just 6-12 months at the most - anything extending beyond that is ancient history. To ensure accuracy of the analysis despite the shorter time frame, you can use more granular details at multiple relevant geographic and demographic levels. 

2. Delve into granularities

Most digital marketing strategies today are characterized by their hyper-local, hyper-personalized nature. Unlike nationwide TV campaigns of the past, digital strategies now revolve around delivering personalized communication to customers. For instance, marketers might choose to speak to newly married women working in an IT job in Bangalore to promote their women’s health product. With such a wealth of targeting options available, it becomes critical for marketers to evaluate campaigns at an equally granular level. This allows them to uncover patterns and identify key drivers to further improve campaign performance. 

3. Split marketing elements by ad formats

With traditional advertising, budgets are usually allocated platform-wise, for example, separate budgets for television, radio and print. A common misconception is that the same technique can be used for digital platforms, for example, creating a separate budget for YouTube, Facebook and Search. However, digital platforms cannot be as easily segregated because multiple ad formats can co-exist within a single platform. On YouTube, for instance, brands can choose between masthead ads, 6-second bumper videos, TrueView videos or In-Stream ads depending upon your marketing objective. Each ad format will thus require a separate budget allocation.

4. Analyse format-wise performance

In the same way that budgets need to be segregated by format not platform, performance analysis also needs to be done format-wise. The wealth of ad formats that digital marketing offers requires marketers to do an in-depth analysis of the performance of each to uncover which format resonated the best with the target audience. This type of analysis is important because marketers might uncover that whereas one platform as a whole performed better than the others, a specific ad format on another platform out-performed other formats. This can help optimize future budgets and campaign strategies. 

Case study: How we generated 6000+ leads in 100 hours through a digital marketing mix

Objective

Our client, a leading real estate developer based in Chennai, approached us to help them reach a massive goal. For just 100 hours, their projects would be available at highly-discounted prices. Within this limited period, we had to maximize their reach, ad efficiency and results. 

Strategy

To achieve this ambitious goal within such a limited time period, we had to set up a flexible and adaptable digital marketing mix. We developed two strategies: one aimed at raising awareness among a consumer base who was not aware of the developer's luxury segment and one who were aware of the brand, but needed the final push to invest in a home. 

As part of the marketing mix, we leveraged a number of platforms and formats, including YouTube bumper ads, promotions across social media channels, Gmail video ads and countdown ads on Google. To create a holistic approach, we also launched roadblock ads on traditional print media, including many of India's leading newspapers such as The Hindu and Times of India. 

Results

This highly-segmented strategy delivered phenomenal results. Within the 100-hour window, we were able to generate an incredible 6,152 leads. These results highlight the fact that an adaptable digital marketing mix is critical for brands looking to drive business results. 

Watch the youtube bumper Ad below:

Marketing mix modelling has long been an indispensable part of marketing literature. Rather than do away with this tried-and-tested method completely, marketers should adapt each of the principles of traditional marketing models to the digital world.

It is the Internet era where people consider Google to be the universal encyclopedia that has answers for every query under the sun. As much as users love browsing information, interactive platforms like Quora have made their way through the plethora of information available online. For the past decade, users have embraced Quora for the concept that common people can share their thoughts as answers. It has emerged as a powerful tool that brings like-minds together on common grounds for knowledge sharing. It has also grown as one of the best platforms to amplify your content and ads.

Recently, Quora has introduced three new targeting options for ads that advertisers can utilise to enhance customer engagement, with an interested and valued audience. Here are the three new features added to Quora.

                                                                  Source: Google

Keyword targeting

Advertisers can customise their Display Ads to a relevant audience depending on their history of content consumption. Targeting is based on the keyword search, or related questions read previously. Say, for example, let the keyword be ‘baby food chart’. If users search or read questions regarding baby food or nutrition, then Quora narrows down the target audience and displays your ads in their feed and question pages. Advertisers can target audiences who have typed in the keyword in their search or read related questions in the past 20 days. This feature enables advertisers to focus on the interested audience, thereby improving the number of leads.

Gender targeting 

Gender targeting paves the way for more specific targeting of ads. If your product is women-centric, like cosmetics, then you can opt to display your ads in the Quora accounts of women. Similarly, for products relating only to men, the same principle applies. You will be able to find this option under the demographic category in the ‘Ads Manager’ search box. This streamlines your ad spends on targeting the right users who are potential customers.

Browser targeting

If your ad pertains to any software that is useful for a particular browser, you can choose to target customers with respect to the browser that they are using. This is an add-on to the existing feature, in which Quora targets the users depending on the mobile and device usage.

It is always exciting to experiment on different ad platforms. Now is the time to leverage the interactive Q&A platform of Quora with the new features introduced for targeted customer engagement. Implement these latest strategies to accelerate lead generation through Quora and reap maximum benefits.