Author: Shatanjeev

How to rank well on Amazon? Performing SEO on Amazon

Introduction

It all started in the year 1994! A company named Amazon was founded and established in Bellevue, WA. During the initial years, the journey was not so smooth for Amazon. People around the world were not familiar with the online shopping experience and took them a series of the year to put their trust in the brand. However, soon the consumer and the market started realizing the potential of online shopping, the ease and effectiveness of ordering a product through an online portal. It was amazing how the world changed in the favor of Amazon and soon everyone was on the internet. It was not very long that social media came into picture and applications like Facebook and Instagram was launched. People started spending more time on the internet and the number of people utilizing the internet for their needs increased at a tremendous pace.

Even the brands in the market started realizing the potential of the internet. They showed interest in reaching to their consumers digitally and approaching them to purchase their products. People around the world found the method innovative and convenient and thus they started spending their time on different digital platforms on the internet. The advancement was unstoppable and soon the term digital marketing came into existence.

The digital market has seen tremendous growth in the past 10 years. As more traffic grows on the internet, the need to market the product to the right audience increases. People used different techniques to generate traffic on their websites. Some of the most common techniques used by people to generate traffic are:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Social Media Marketing (SMM)
• Content Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Affiliate Marketing and many more.

The population of consumers on the internet is expanding at a tremendous pace. New brands are emerging to fulfil the needs of the consumers. Every day hundred’s of new businesses are entering the competitive world of marketing and advertising. All of them have something unique to offer to their customers. They are analyzing and developing an understanding of the current market trends. They are studying the existing scenarios and performing different tactics to attract customers towards their product. However, it becomes really difficult for new brands to make themselves visible to the right audience. Due to the changing trends in the market, it is hard to guess the next best step to predict the upcoming trends in the market. The uncertainty leads to the wrong strategy and sometimes to failure.

Brands use every possible technique to overcome the fear of failure. However, sometimes they make the wrong decisions in peer pressure and sometimes they hire the wrong people to work for them. According to a survey conducted by the Adscholars, nearly 90% failed businesses hired the wrong people to work for them which lead to failure. Therefore, it is always advisable to outsource your business to the pros, if you are unsure or uncertain of things.

Usually, the smaller brands do not have the adequate amount of resources to develop their team for digital marketing. Therefore, it is always advisable for them to hire help from outside. Outsourcing advertising firms have the right amount of experience and exposure to handle your business. Thus you can do research and find out the best outsourcing advertisement firm and pay them to get the job done. Trust me! It will save you a tremendous amount of money and effort.

Amazon is the biggest shark of the e-commerce business around the world with only a few competitors. The biggest reason for the success of Amazon is that it started at the initial stage of the emergence of the digital world. Now it is providing opportunities to millions of people to sell their product on its platform. However, it is not a charitable organization and does charge a hefty fee on every transaction. Yet, people find it profitable to sell their product on its platform. 

People have earned millions by selling their product on Amazon. The ease of selling provided by Amazon is admiring. With time using the right strategy, Amazon has gained the trust of its consumers. Amazon realized the true potential of the consumer market and it makes them comfortable in their homes. Now, a consumer does not need to leave home to purchase things that are required by them. All they have to do is move their fingers on their phone, explore through the wide range of products listed online and hit buy now! And just like that your order is placed and delivered to you with the most secure and fastest delivery around the globe.

Understanding the algorithm of Amazon

Before you start selling your products on Amazon, it is crucial that you understand the working of its algorithm. Getting to know the algorithm of Amazon will give you an edge to sell your product more effectively to your audience and you can devise a better strategy to sell more and you can be visible to the right audience at the most opportune time. It will also help you to improve your ranking among your competitors.

Amazon algorithm which is also known as A9 is a bit complicated. However, it is highly effective and it works flawlessly. Amazon algorithm is the reason the company has managed to achieve such a huge user base with sellers having the ease of doing the business.

The algorithm(A9) is named after its creator and it is the engine responsible for driving the Amazon to the top. A9 is a customer-centric algorithm and is designed to flash products which are best in terms of selling, having a great margin and provided by the sellers who value their customers. Therefore, if you want to be visible to your customers on Amazon, you have to make sure that you keep these three factors in mind.

It even allows the sellers to develop and set their algorithm to serve their customers more effectively. Recently, Amazon has made some effective changes in its algorithm getting more customer-centric. Hence, some people have started calling the algorithm A10 after these updates.

You do not have to be a programmer to understand the working of Amazon algorithm(A9). You can just get a basic idea of its functionality and plan your strategy accordingly. Here are the few basics that you must look into before setting up your store on Amazon and listing your products:

• A9 is a basic formula developed by the company to arrange the products according to the customer’s search and their preferences. It scans the products, reads through the descriptions, and analyzes the data attached to the product which is listed on Amazon’s marketplace. It is based on the technology of artificial intelligence(AI) and thus, works independently and smartly.

• The algorithm is smart and makes sure that it goes through the history of the customer’s last journey before presenting the customers with new preferences.

• The products which are placed on the front line are the best selling products on the platform, having an adequate margin and sold by the seller who has a customer-centric approach( Good service, value for money, on-time delivery and better return policy.)

• This is nothing new, mostly every eCommerce website has a similar algorithm placed in its core. However, Amazon keeps on evolving and always making the algorithm better for its customers.

• Four crucial metrics contribute to a better listing on Amazon. These factors are looked by the algorithm in specific detail before placing the product in the list:

1. The number of sales the seller has done so far and the revenue generated.
2. The relevance of searched keywords by the customer.
3. Best price for the product.
4. Availability of the product.

By following these simple observations, you can design a better campaign for your products and brand.

Key factors responsible for the ranking on Amazon

As we have stated above, the algorithm of Amazon is customer-centric and the more effective and efficient you are with your customers. There are better chances of you ranking in the top list. The four crucial factors that are responsible for the front line listing are:

• Sales: The algorithm analyzes your sales channel on the bases of your sales and value generation on the platform. It looks into your performance so far based on the dollars that you have earned for yourself and the platform.

• Relevant description and keywords: Secondly, it looks for the keywords that you have entered into your listing. The more relevant it is to the searched terms by the customer, there is a better chance that the algorithm will choose your product to be shown as the front line of the results.
• Pricing: When pricing your product you must pay extra attention and it is always advised to have a strategy for the pricing of your product. Most of the brands fail in business due to their poor pricing strategy. Several pricing techniques are available, some of the most crucial pricing techniques are:

Competitor based pricing technique: The formula for pricing your product based on this strategy is:

    Competitors Price = Your Product Price.

Cost-plus Pricing technique: The basic formula for calculating the pricing for your products using this strategy is:

    Cost Of Production + Margin = Cost of the final product (Cost-Plus Pricing).

Value-based pricing technique: This is the best strategy to price your product. According to the technique, you must price your product only after performing thorough market research and analyzing the value by checking every possible factor that can influence the pricing of your product. The formulae for pricing your product according to the value-based pricing is:

    Value of the product = Brand Advantage + Value of Product

Therefore, it is important to note that if your brand does not have an advantage of popularity, you must charge the customer only for the value of the product.

Benefits of SEO

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the most crucial aspect of digital marketing. The technique helps you to stay visible to your audience, leading to high traffic on your page and website. It helps you to increase the credibility of brand and products and make you popular in the market.

For example, whenever we search something on Google, we only see the tops 10-20 results. Even though there may be a million more similar search results but we stick to the top results as we only trust them to be appropriate and related. Similarly, the top 3-5 results or links are among the most visited. This is because we don’t trust the credibility of other results shown by Google.

Similarly, if your website is listed and ranked among the top 5-10 search results on any search engine, there are high chances of people visiting it and trusting it for their work and even for purchasing products online. Hence, we provide you with several reasons why SEO can prove to be fruitful to your business.

• Better experience for the users: The users of the internet holds utmost importance in providing growth and revenue for any business running online. Therefore, it is crucial that you provide optimized and better experience to the users.
• The best source to generate leads: By optimizing your website or web page with SEO, you can generate leads effectively. The method has proven to be a sure shot success and helped millions of businesses to achieve unexpected targets in their businesses.
• Higher rate of conversion: The method not only helps in generating leads but also prove an asset when it comes to conversion. If you are looking to achieve high targets in your business, SEO can be the one good option that you can invest in wholeheartedly.
• Cost-efficient: Instead of investing hundreds of dollars on outbound resources, SEO can help you get inbound traffic and save all the extra money and investment that you will spend on outbound teams and data.
• Helps in getting physical customers to your stores: There is a higher chance that people who will see your store and website on the internet will visit your store or outlet physically.
• Increasing brand credibility: If you have a better rating and user traffic on your website, it will automatically boost the credibility of your brand.
• Created awareness for the brand: SEO is useful in creating brand awareness and will help your brand flourish in the market. The results and outcomes achieved by this technique are far more superior than any other method in the market.
• Makes your website mobile-friendly: SEO helps in optimizing your website according to the mobile interface. As most of the customers are using their phones to access the internet these days, it proves to be highly profitable in generating leads and in the process of conversion.
• A long term strategy for marketing your product: SEO proves to be a long term strategic approach and helps in expanding business over the years.
• Helps in establishing your business on social media platforms: The tool is useful for mobilising your business on social media websites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other useful platforms.

How to perform SEO on Amazon?

As Amazon is the big shark of the eCommerce market, it becomes important to understand how to perform SEO on its platform. There are almost ten-millions items listed on the platform and making your product outshine them all is very difficult. However, you can achieve this goal by performing SEO.

Just like any other SEO performed on search engines, it is easy to perform SEO on the platform of Amazon! You can use the technique of SEO on Amazon to make yourself visible to the audiences. Like any other search engine, customers use the search bar to search their queries on the platform. The algorithm of Amazon makes sure that it provides the user with the most relevant results by searching its catalogue through different categories. 

In research conducted by Adscholars, it was found that if the searches are relevant, customers won’t even pass the first page on the website. Therefore, it is crucial that the products are described and the keywords are placed appropriately. 

It is important that we set our priorities right, the reason to use the platform of Amazon is to sell products. Amazon wants to strike the perfect balance between the customer and the seller. It wants the customer to be happy and the seller to earn more money by bringing back the customers to the platform for every purchase that they make.

Keywords are the most crucial factors that will affect your listing on the platform. Therefore, it is crucial that you place them correctly and according to the relevance of the product that you are selling. We will discuss more the usage of keywords on the platform in the upcoming headings.

What not to do when performing SEO on Amazon

People often tend to get carried away while listing their products on eCommerce websites and they tend to overdo things to make sure that they rank well! However, overdoing things results in poor ranking as the algorithm is not able to determine the correct path for your product.

People usually write lengthy, irrelevant descriptions for their products in the listing which leads to improper search results by the platform and the products lands to get poor ranking in the list shown in the search results. 

As we have mentioned, keywords are the most crucial aspect if you are willing to improve the ranking of your product in the listing. Therefore, it is highly relevant that you place the right keywords in the listing of your product. For example, a product “ Frypan” should not be labelled as “egg pan” or “ Pancake maker” in keywords as it can lead to confusion for the algorithm and the product will not be listed in the top searches if someone is looking for a “ Frypan” in particular.

Therefore, it is always advisable to keep your keywords simple and relevant according to the description of your product.

Also, you must not try to spam the algorithm by putting any fake links or by providing fake rankings to your competitors. These shortcut methods can put you in huge trouble and you might end up losing your credibility on the platform. There are high chances that your account might get suspended due to foul play or behavioral misconduct.

Performing keyword research

Performing keyword research is a crucial part of the listing of the product. There are hundreds of tools available in the market that you can use to see the most appropriate searches made by the people on the internet for any particular product. 

You have to be particular when putting the keywords in your listing. The algorithm on the Amazon platform also checks for the bounce-back time of the customer. Let us say that a customer clicks on your listing but leaves quickly after exploring the items. This will raise a doubt in the mind of the algorithm that probably the item is not relevant to the search result. Therefore, there is a huge chance that the platform will not show the same result in the future for the searched keyword and it will skip your product due to irrelevance. 

Hence, using the right tools and placing the right keyword is very crucial. 

Some of the best tools available for searching the keywords are:

• Amazon keyword tool
• Google Keyword planner
• Keyword tool

Also, the title of the product must be crisp and clear. It will help the algorithm to have a better understanding of your product and you will be able to grab the best rankings on the list.

Using Amazon keyword tool for searching relevant keywords

If you are willing to use the keywords for the SEO of your products on Amazon and looking for keywords, we would recommend you to use the Amazon keyword tool for the best keywords. It is the best way to find the most relevant keywords for your listing on Amazon.

Here, you must understand that Amazon is not just a selling platform. It is a smart selling platform which is innovative and not traditional in its approach. It provides every possibility for the seller to help enhance the selling experience for their customers. By providing efficient tools and techniques to its sellers, it helps Amazon to increase its credibility in the market, and it has proven to be highly effective for the company so far.

You must understand that keywords are not just for SEO. Keyword proves crucial when you are looking for the conversion on the platform. Planting the right keyword in your listing will not only help you to increase the traffic and appear in listings, but it will also help you to generate the right traffic for your product which will have the greater chance of a conversion.

If you are unfamiliar with the conversion rate and do not know how to calculate it for your brand here, we have the formulae which will help you to calculate it the right way:

Conversion rate = Number of sales/ Number of page views x 100

Achieving a high conversion rate is crucial. You must understand that a greater conversion rate is fruitful for both revenue and credibility of the brand. It will help in increasing the visibility, relevance and conversion of your brand and products.

One of the best ways to achieve them is keywords. As the algorithm A9 gives special importance to the factor!

Amazon already has the largest user database. All you have to do is utilize it effectively. However, if you perform the SEO for your products there are chances that you can increase the proportion of your sales twice in just a few months’ time frames.

To use the tools for keywords on Amazon, you can download extensions like KDSPY, which is a valuable tool working effectively with the platform. Then you can search for the desired product on the tools and lookup for the conversion rate for the similar products, variation in prices, the keywords that are used in their listing and also check the best titles and modify them for your product.

Utilizing the Amazon search bar for keywords search

Amazon’s search bar is itself a magnificent tool for performing keyword research. It is always advisable to look for related keywords in the search bar to obtain the best efficient ranking on the platform.

Every time you enter something in the search bar of Amazon, it starts populating with related phrases that people search using those terms. These search terms are useful for both; consumer and seller. These search options are visible in the drop-down suggestions on the platform helps a consumer to search for the relevant product. Whereas, it helps the seller by assisting the customer to make the right decision while searching for products. The target automatically leads the consumer to the right path.

These suggestions are highly useful while performing SEO on Amazon. You can utilize these suggestions in the search bar as keywords, and the algorithm will choose your product as per the relevance of the products. As these suggestions are provided by the algorithm itself, there is a huge chance that putting these keywords in your listing will help your product to make the cut of top 10 relevant products on the first page.

You can try the same by searching for something in the search bar. For example: As soon as you enter “T-shirts” in the search bar, it will provide you with suggestions like “T-shirts for men”, “T-shirts for women”, “Round neck T-shirts”, “Polo T-shirts”, “Cotton T-shirts” etc. Thus, you can use these suggestions as your keywords, if you are selling t-shirts on your store at Amazon. You can perform similar searches for other products as well!

Optimizing your product listing

An optimized product listing can do wonders on Amazon. A well-optimized listing has a higher chance of being visible in the top 10-20 items. As we all know, no one wants to scroll through 100 pages to find the right product. People only check for the first few pages, and if they do not find what they are looking for, they go to the search bar and try a different search keyword for searching the same product. Thus optimizing the product listing can help you to achieve the milestone of being the best seller on the platform with millions of customers visiting your listing daily. 

Here we have the appropriate optimizations that you can perform on your listing to get the best results for your channel and store on Amazon:

• Optimize your store by using the techniques of SEO. If you are unable to perform SEO efficiently, you can always outsource SEO to digital marketing agencies who are experts in the field.
• You should optimize your product for all Amazon platforms i.e. Amazon business, Amazon Prime and Amazon for consumers.
• You should perform optimization on the pricing of your product and offer discounts in your listing prices.
• Optimizing the inventory and shipping method for your products can do wonders for your brand.
• Review management is paramount to achieve the goal of being the best seller on the platform.
• Investing in sponsored product ads has proven to be highly effective. In a survey, it was found that almost 55% of people visiting the platform click on the sponsored product advertisement. It will increase the viewership of your new product or an existing one.

An appropriate title for the products

The title is the first thing that a consumer notices while checking the product in a list. Amazon’s algorithm also looks for the most appropriate title matching the search term of the consumer. Therefore, one must pay undivided attention to the title.

By exploring the listings on Amazon, you will realize that people usually tend to write long length titles for their product. However, we would say that it is not the perfect way to put the title.

The title of your product must be crisp and bold to attract the attention of the customer. It needs to be relevant to the products, and you must not stretch it to lengths to prove your point. Also, you must include the primary keywords for your products in the title. It will make your products more visible to the algorithm, and it will pick your product on priority when the relevant keyword will be searched.

The title must be short as you get the description part in your listing to describe your product.

Describing your product

A product description is a vital part of the product listing. One must pay extra care and ensure that all the essential information is presented to the customer. The description of the product is the most significant part of any product and investing attention while you work on the description is essential.

Following these few vital tricks, you can see the increase in the credibility of your product. However, if you are finding it difficult to put your efforts into product descriptions, you can always outsource the work to the professionals. People usually hire professionals for writing the description, as it gets a little tricky when you have to explain the details of your product in just a few words. However, if you are working on the descriptions for your products on your own, here are a few things that you must remember while describing the product.

• The description must not contain any unnecessary information. For example, avoid adding details of things that you have already mentioned in other fields like the color of your product.
• Avoid writing long paragraphs and try to break things down into bullet points. It will help you to explain your product effectively to the audience, and even the audience will have a better understanding of the products.
• Use keywords in the description field. It will increase the relevance of the keywords and will help increase the overall ranking of the product.
• Avoid answering questions while describing your product. You have the column for FAQs which can be utilized to address the most inquisitive questions of the customers.
• Try being more verbal about the quality and superiority of your product. Highlight the USP’s of your products which will help you to sell your products better.

Assigning keywords for the backend search

Backend listing plays a crucial role in providing growth to your products and brands. Therefore, it is vital that you optimize both; front end and the backend product listing of your products. Though the backend listing is not visible to your customers, the algorithm A9 has full access to your backend listing, and it is a decisive factor for the ranking of your products and brand.

Before the year 2015, the word limit for the characters per field was merely 50. However, with the evolution of time and the growth of the platform, Amazon lets you include 1000 words in a field. Therefore, including keywords in these fields can help you rank better on Amazon. This way you can optimize your backend listing effectively.

Although, there is much space to write a description in every field you should refrain yourself from doing so. Writing irrelevant details can damage the chances of growth on the platform. However, you can include long-tail keywords which will help you to gain effective ranking on the platform.

Importance of user reviews on Amazon

User reviews hold the utmost importance on an eCommerce selling platform like Amazon. Positive user reviews can help your brand rise to the top in just a few months, and the negative ones will damage the image of your brand in a similar timeframe. Therefore, it becomes very crucial that you work efficiently on customer satisfaction. The satisfaction of the customer can be achieved by providing them with a great service which includes

• On-time delivery,
• Quality of product,
• Describing the product correctly,
• Making no false promises,
• Easy return policies,
• Listening to their queries and answering them with all the best possible solutions,
• Working on their complaints with a wholehearted resolution approach and
• By going an extra mile for the customer.

However, it is not possible to always get a positive review by every customer. If you can achieve such conditions then there is no stopping you! But, it is not realistic as there is always an unsatisfied customer who finds something wrong with every perfect product. Therefore, if you also have such unsatisfied customers who are putting negative reviews on your store, you can deal with it by the following two methods:

1. Resolve their issues and once resolved, request them to remove the negative feedback: This is one of the most effective ways of dealing with the negative reviews. It helps you to address the issues of the customer first hand and build trust towards your brand.
2. Addressing the issues by writing back to the customer: Even by addressing the issues you can gain the trust of customers. When some other customer will see a negative review and will see that you tried to address the issue in a reassuring way it will help him to put trust on you looking that at least you tried your best to resolve the issue. Therefore, you must confront every bad review and build the best strategy to deal with it positively.

Following these techniques will help you in increasing the credibility and brand value.

Amazon Q4 trends in 2020

The Q4 or the festive season brings numerous opportunities for every seller and customers. There is an accelerated flow of traffic during this quarter, and Amazon is known to generate high revenue during this time frame. Therefore if you have yet not decided a strategy for the Q4, you must do it quickly and start a campaign for this exciting season of revenue generation.

“In economics, things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could.”

— Rudiger Dornbusch, Economist

Due to the pandemic outbreak across the globe, the market has seen a tremendous shift towards online shopping platforms. People are opting to stay home and purchase their goods and items over the internet. Therefore, this year revenue generated by Amazon is expected to hit a higher curve as compared to the last few years. Hence, you should buckle-up as the roller coaster of revenue generation is going to hit its highest speed this quarter.

This year anticipation shows that there will be a huge increase in new customers which can even go up to 7.4 billion. Yes! That is a huge number and amazon being the most trusted platform for online shopping among consumers you can expect a huge crowd turning towards the platform for their needs.

This is not limited to just the festive season, as most countries are still fearing to be hit by the second wave of the pandemic and imposing lockdown larger retail brands like Walmart are also shifting their business online to serve their customers better.

According to a few pieces of research conducted online, nearly 43% of the worlds total population is shifting towards online purchasing due to the pandemic breakdown. Hence, a strategy must be adopted to get the best out of it. Here are a few points that you can consider in your while making a strategy for this quarter:

• Offering discounts: Offering discounts is the best strategy to attract customers towards your products. People are compelled to purchase products at discounted rates. 

• Describing your product clearly: A well-described product has more chances of selling than a product with distorted information. You can also mention the details about its usage and its USP to make the description more attractive.

• Combo offers: You can create a combo of products and provide them on discounted prices. It can prove to be an attractive way of selling more products.

• Resolving the queries of consumers: Customers queries must be resolved, on a priority basis. An unsatisfied customer will provide you with a poor review and rating, which will decrease your chances of selling better.

• Travelling the extra mile for the customer: It is always good to do a bit more than expected by the customer. If you make sure that you provide the customers with a bit more than they are expecting from the product, it will help them feel special and eventually increase the value of your brand. For example, you can include a pair of 3-layer masks or a small bottle of sanitizer with every package that you ship. This small gesture will make your customer feel special and cared and will ultimately lead to good reviews and increased credibility.

Conclusion

If you are planning to expand your business online the time is most opportune. People are shifting their focus from physical stores to eCommerce. One of the biggest factors for this change is the current Covid outbreak which has forced people to stay indoors and make their purchase online. However, it has proven to be a fruitful situation for online sellers.

Amazon is the biggest market for online shopping and includes a wide category of products. It has gained peoples trust over the period, and now people prefer it for their day to day purchase. Thus, setting up your store on Amazon can prove to be highly beneficial for the sellers as they will automatically have heavy traffic of customers.

However, it is not easy to sell your product when there is already a wide range of products available online. Therefore, you must devise a strategy so that you can achieve the spotlight among thousands of competitors. Price of a product plays a crucial role in selling a product. However, there are several other factors which can help you sell better on the platform.

SEO or search engine optimization can help you achieve your targets easily and effectively. The technique includes several steps which have been explained above. However, if you are unsure or uncertain about the techniques, you can always seek out for help.

Outsourcing business is always fruitful as it allows you to share your workload with a trusted team which will help you grow. Outsourcing your business is easy! All you have to do is find a perfect partner who can help you in your endeavors.

At Adscholars, we believe in understanding the emotions and feelings of a person attached to the business and accordingly devise a strategy which supports the value and policies of the business. We have a high success rate, and we keep ourselves updated with the latest trends and techniques of the market. Our team consists of highly trained professionals who have been working and reshaping the demographic of Digital marketing.

— Rudiger Dornbusch, Economist

Advertise Your Brand in the Metaverse: The Future of Digital Advertising

The world is expanding beyond the physical boundaries of humans. Metaverse is one such example! Metaverse is a virtual world that can be accessed using augmented reality and virtual reality headsets.

Facebook Introduced Metaverse to make social interaction realistic. Although events happen in virtual reality, they feel natural. It has opened numerous doors of opportunities for businesses across the world. Users are purchasing lands, and building real estate by creating their avatars. Therefore, it opened a doorway of opportunities for brands to advertise their products.

Metaverse has generated numerous possibilities. Brands are eager to grab this opportunity and explore futuristic ways to create an everlasting impact on their audiences in this new virtual universe. Thus, the time is opportune to get started and establish a milestone in the metaverse.

The concept of the metaverse is not new. It was first coined in the year 1992 in a science fiction novel “Snow Crash”. The term was used to describe a fictional or advanced universe. A virtual land filled with opportunities!

Since then, the word creates an image in the mind of readers painted with the world of a sci-fi movie. It created an image of new possibilities and advancement. As we proceed, we will discuss the area of possibilities and opportunities of advertising in the metaverse.

Guide to getting started with advertising in the Metaverse

We have learned that the metaverse is an augmented reality designed by humans to expand the horizon of their experiences. Virtual reality promises far more than what we can experience in our physical reality. Therefore, it will not be false to say that advertising will require additional efforts in the virtual world.

Metaverse is a promise! It is a leap in the future beyond imagination. Therefore, to make your brand worthy of advertising in the Meta-universe, brands must re-invent. They must re-think and re-evaluate their brand following the new reality. Advertisers must design their campaigns following their virtual audiences.

Metaverse has been evaluated to be a trillion-dollar market. No one can have it all! Thus, everyone will get a chance to sustain the audience by using the best creative minds in the market.

Factors to be considered before advertising in Metaverse

Before we get started with our advertising endeavor in Metaworld, we must understand the area of opportunities. As every game has its own rules, so does metaverse. Here we are listing some key categories that one can try their hands on if they are planning to start their journey with advertising in Metaverse.

Expansible: Metaverse is a multi-million business due to the presence of millions of people on the platform. People are creating their avatars and coexisting in the metaverse.

Easy to access: The world is accessible to all without any boundaries. You can be of any age and ethnicity. You can belong to any region or background, metaverse will provide you with similar opportunities.

Social hive: Metaverse is the key attraction for people. Everyone in the metaverse is trying to explore possibilities. Therefore, this could be the best time for brands to step in and establish themselves through fine-crafted advertising in the virtual universe.

Unique content: Users are using interactive and immersive content. It is helping to shape the virtual reality of the metaverse. Users are exploring the boundaries of the Metaverse and trying to achieve goals that they find unattainable in the physical world.

Patching the gap: Metaverse gives their users a real-world experience where they can interact with one another, explore products and enjoy the services. Therefore, this makes the metaverse a perfect place for advertising.

Understanding Metaverse:

Before we start advertising in the metaverse, it is crucial to understand the basics. These basics will help advertisers to portray their products effectively. The word Metaverse is a combination of “Meta” meaning beyond, and “Verse” meaning universe. It is often defined as the land of opportunities and origin. Using the virtual world as a platform to portray their products, brands will no longer be enslaved or will feel bounded. They will have maximum opportunity to sell their products to the consumers.
The possibilities in the metaverse are endless, and users can multitask. It gives the virtual world an edge over the physical world. For example, users can purchase from their favorite brands while attending concerts or dining at their favorite restaurants.

Here are some terms that advertisers should familiarize themselves with as they start advertising in the metaverse.

Virtual Reality (VR): Virtual reality is a simulated reality created using a 3D technique. It is similar to a hologram. However, unlike a hologram, people can see their projected avatars and other avatars in a 360-degree virtual simulated environment. Using head-mounted devices (AR/VR) users can sense, feel, and get audio feedback. This experience is interactive and immersive.
The technology is still maturing, and we might get past the limitations of VR headsets in the future.

Augmented Reality (AR): AR is a technology that uses computer-generated imaging. These images are superimposed to achieve a single image. This image occupies physical space in the real world. To enhance the immersion, sound and visuals are added.

Mixed reality(MR): Using the technology of AR and VR, mixed reality is designed. Mixed reality lets users interact with artificial content in the real world. AR and VR are the components of mixed reality. These create a bridge between the real and digital worlds.

Extended Reality (XR): Extended reality is a step forward. It is created by immersion in AR, VR and MR technologies. XR enhances the experiences through a bridge between human and machine interaction.

Avatars: The word is self-explanatory, and most of us have already seen the movie “Avatar”. The phenomenon is the same as it was in the movie. In the metaverse, one can create an avatar and experience virtual reality using these avatars.

Blockchain: A method enabling digital security and storage of digital data. This data can be stored on a local server or over the cloud. The technology has been proven successful and empowers cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin. It has also proven to be helpful in the succession of NFTs in the metaverse.

Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrencies are virtual currencies. They are used for payments in the virtual world. These currencies are usually stored in digital wallets. To make the storage and transaction secure blockchain technology is used. Some common examples of cryptocurrencies are Ethereum, Bitcoin, etc.

Non-Fugible Tokens (NFTs): These are unique assets(digital) stored in blockchain. These represent real-life products/items such as art, music, and other collectible items. You will gain true ownership of these items in the digital world.

Trends Of Advertising In Metaverse

We have already understood the scope of opportunities and possibilities in the metaverse. However, it is crucial to understand the ways and trends that will help us to advertise in the virtual world. Metaverse is still at its inception. It will not be unjust to say that it is still a sampling, and calculating its true potential will not be justifiable. Therefore, in this evolving technology one must understand the ongoing traits and trends.

Virtual Influencers: We have already seen the power of influence marketing. Platforms like Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat have already proven the possibilities and impact of influence marketing. Similarly, metaverse empowers brands to choose their favorite influencers and create a high-impacting campaign. These campaigns are not only effective but also cost-efficient. Dior, Valentino, and Calvin Klien are using influencers like Imma, Shudu, and Lil Miquela to advertise their products in the virtual universe. R3 a marketing consultancy has already emphasized the impact of influencer marketing in the metaverse. Therefore, it is a proven technique to establish your brand in the virtual universe using influencer advertising.

Events In Metaverse: We all understand the value of advertising at major events. Concerts, summits, Super Bowl, and sports events gather huge audiences. Therefore, placing your products or campaigning with a full-time advertisement help to create an impact on consumers.
Ariana Grande, Lil Nas, and Travis Scott’s concerts gathered millions of fans. Hence, creating huge revenues for the brands.

MetaCommerce: People love to follow trends not just in the physical world but also in the metaverse. Users are spending money to recreate their avatars. They are spending money to purchase all types of products, clothing, and accessories with the help of the in-app purchase. The in-game purchase market has already seen huge success. The in-game purchase market is already predicted to surpass the milestone of 74.4 billion USD.

Similarly, Metaverse is also seeing a high demand for in-app products that users are purchasing to recreate the value of their avatars. Metaverse is also monetizing the products using its economic currency used to exchange goods. The currency used is NFTs, and brands like Coca-Cola, Tommy Hilfiger, Wendy’s, Samsung, and Gucci are offering their NFTs in the virtual world. Users can also the NFTs are non-fungible tokens supporting virtual economies. They can protect their ownership of products using NFTs.

Direct Advertising in Metaverse: One of the oldest and most eye-catching ways of advertising is digital advertising. We all can agree that this old and proven method is not going to vanish any time soon. Virtual platforms are already providing virtual billboards, and brands like Samsung, Coca-Cola, Adidas, and Balenciaga are already trying to grab all the attention by capturing the maximum presence that they can get their hands on.

Wrap Up

1. Metaverse is at its primitive stage, and several developments are going to happen with time. People are still trying to figure out the most suitable ways to gain the best out of it. Therefore, creating a footprint in the metaverse is easy at this stage of its evolution.
2. Continuous study of the latest trends and areas of possibility will prove to be beneficial in the long run perspective.
3. The possibilities are endless! As there are no barriers to creativity one can explore multiple dimensions of opportunities and enhance the user experience by providing them with a hassle-free journey through their products and services.

Disney+ Is All Set To Lure Advertisers And Enhance Options For User Targeting.

Disney+ plans to get innovative with its user advertisement policies. Earlier, Disney+ offered the best package for users costing $7.99/ month. In this package, users can enable parental control. Advertisers were not allowed to target specific audiences with Disney+ advertising. However, with new policies framed, advertisers will get the independence of targeting the audience and households according to their choices. Meanwhile, Disney+ will also ensure the privacy of the users.

Users will get a variety of subscription options to choose from. Some of these subscriptions will support advertisers, as the package will enable advertisers to show ads to their audiences. Since Disney+ has always been strict about user privacy, it enables filtering advertisements following the appropriate age groups. The profiles of users under 18 years of age will receive the advertisements according to their age criteria.

“Expanding access to Disney+ to a broader audience at a lower price point is a win for everyone – consumers, advertisers, and our storytellers,” said Kareem Daniel, Chairman. He added, “More consumers will be able to access our amazing content. Advertisers will be able to reach a wider audience, and our storytellers will be able to share their incredible work with more fans and families.”

Disney+ has been one of the premium digital content providers. Streaming services like Hulu is one of the top-notch ad-supporting streaming services, providing on-demand video subscriptions.

Rita Ferro, President of, Advertising, highlighted her statement given to Digiday,

Since its launch, advertisers have been clamoring for the opportunity to be part of Disney+ and not just because there’s a growing demand for more streaming inventory.

She mentioned that, 

Disney+ with advertising will offer marketers the most premium environment in streaming with our most beloved brands, Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, and National Geographic. I can’t wait to share more with advertisers at the Upfront.

Now, advertisers will get options to target their audiences based on gender, age, and geo-location. Rita also hinted that from July, Disney+ would launch a much more sophisticated suite empowering advertisers to do more.

Disney+ aims to achieve its desired user target of 230-260 million by FY24. It will be a large pool of audiences for the advertisers, resulting in higher conversions. Disney+ builds its user database by collecting helpful information and the behavior of its users from different platforms.

However, advertisers should not worry if they are unable to get the minute details of the users through Disney+. Advertisers can take help from data brokers and sync that data with the Disney+ platform. Advertisers can use the “data clean room” to pipeline their data to target specific audiences.

Since data privacy has proven to be a threat in the past decade, companies are working to eliminate the risk of data theft and misuse of data from outside sources. In accordance brands like Apple, Facebook, and Google have implemented strict policies and introduced new ways to enable data privacy. And discontinuation of third-party cookies is one such major step. Similarly, Disney+ desire to introduce its platform for advertisers is considered to be one such step in the direction of its user’s data privacy.

The plans are yet to be introduced and to be specific with the budget and targeting of their audiences. Hence, advertisers might have to wait till the end of July.

Success Story Of First Programmatic Campaign In Gulf!

One of its kind and the most awaited event in the history of advertising took place in Sheikh Zayed Road. Sheikh Zayed Road is the most iconic and busiest road in Dubai. The event was an Out Of Home campaign by The Trade Desk and L’Oreal recorded by BackLite Media.

James Harrison, The Chief Commercial Officer at BackLite Media, shared a post on his LinkedIn profile congratulated all involved in the campaign over its success.
 

“Something I’m very proud of and really excited to share. Back in March, we recorded a first for the region. In collaboration with The Trade Desk, Marie-Christine Kienlen, Morgane Desessard, UM MENAT, the guys at L’Oréal and through the efforts of our fantastic team here at BackLite Media with Ashin John at the forefront. We launched the first Programmatic Out of Home campaign on Sheikh Zayed Road, the busiest and most iconic road in Dubai.”

The event was the first programmatic DOOH campaign launched in the Middle East, and because of its huge success, it is inevitable to see more such events in the future. The Trade Desk has already started strengthening its bonds with the local brands active in the Middle East.

James Harrison further stated that “ I salute all involved, for taking this step and showing the region what can be done through Data-Driven Out of Home. It’s the first step of many, and we’ll be along for the ride, helping the market understand the importance of data when planning Out of Home.”

With the help of this campaign, L’Oreal successfully reached 1.4 million individuals. L’Oréal, was able to target audience groups by geography using The Trade Desk’s platform, based on where programmatic DOOH was accessible. 

“We have invested heavily in our data analytics platform, BackLite Intelligence, and will continue to do so, to provide a robust and transparent platform to plan and buy programmatically,” stated James Harrison.

Relief To Advertisers As Google Postpones The Elimination Of Third-Party Cookies Till 2023.

The news has given some time to the advertisers to look for options. Google has decided to continue using third-party cookies in its browser till 2023. That is an extension of two years.

Earlier, Google did set this deadline for January 2022. It has now extended to late 2023. An announcement was made by Google regarding this today!

There are several reasons why Google decided to do so. Let’s have a look at them in detail:

The United Kingdom was building pressure on Google

For a year, it is chaos, and advertisers were clueless about their operations without the third-party cookies. However, the speculations are that Google decided under building pressure from the UK government.

Google was under continuous monitoring by the European Commission, and it failed to provide any clear perspective on its Privacy Sandbox. Google is facing several antitrust lawsuits, and according to the CMA, the discontinuation of third-party cookies and the creation of the Privacy sandbox will centralize power at Google.

CMA took this quite seriously, and to please the committee, Google has agreed with a long list of commitments to CMA. According to Google commitments, the company will restrict giving priority to its system. Also, it will not use “sensitive information provided by an ad tech provider or publisher to Chrome in a way that distorts competition.

To prove the point, Google stated that “Subject to our engagement with the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and in line with the commitments we have offered, Chrome could then phase out third-party cookies over three months, starting in mid-2023 and ending in late 2023.”

Federal Learning Of Cohorts(FLoC)

Google will continue testing FLoC and Privacy Sandbox. The trials for FLoc will continue and concluded by 13th July. Currently, only limited supply-side publishers and ad-management firms related to them will be able to FLoC during the trial phase. Once the tests complete, Google will share the results. These results will help in the improvements and can be applied to the existing system, and other agencies and advertisers can conduct the ability tests for demand-side platforms and ad-targeting.

It is not surprising that Google has paused the FLoC trials. The advocates of privacy are raising their voices about the foul play and violation of privacy due to the enabling of new tracking techniques. However, several browsers declined to enable these techniques of data tracking.

Google received a setback after the eCommerce giant Amazon, which has also declared that they will not be enabling the FLoC tracking techniques.

Demand for higher transparency

The delay in the release of FLoC and the dismissal of third-party cookies is causing frustration in the industry. According to an executive, “I wish they would just do it. Stop justn — excuse me — dicking around the whole industry. Let everybody get to a new normal. It’s hard to strategically plan this way,” said one publishing executive.

However, the delay in the dismissal of third-party cookies can be a step to make things more transparent as Google does not want to bear more criticism and lawsuits from the authority.

Google has already committed to CMA that they will be disclosing the exact time for the proposals for Privacy Sandbox publicly. It will also release the API and inform about the transition period for the discontinuation of third-party cookies.

Google has also promised the CMA that they would assess all alternatives for individuals and the aftermath of the discontinuation of third-party cookies. Google also stated that these steps will be taken before providing a 60-day countdown for the discontinuation of the third-party cookies. During this period if found any discrepancies, CMA can reopen the investigation and can impose additional measures to avoid any harm to the competition.

According to Google promise, they will “engage with the CMA in an open, constructive and continuous dialogue in relation to the development and implementation of the Privacy Sandbox proposals.”

End Of Third-Party Cookies, What Is There For Marketers: Takeaway!

Introduction

Google has announced that Chrome will not support Third-party cookies. Following this, other browsers are following the footsteps of Google. Also, one must not forget that Google has the largest market share of the advertisement business. Therefore, it would not be false to say that it is the end of an era and the inception of effective advertising is taking place. 

Understand the behavior of Third-party cookies!

Since the Third-party cookies will perish soon, it is not a tutorial on how the third-party cookies work. However, you can consider this as good information. It will help you understand and devise new strategies for launching an upcoming advertising campaign effectively.

Cookies

Every time you visits a website, a cookie-enabled website monitors the user behavior. It stores the information in its stores so that when someone visits the website next time, it can populate the results according to the choices made by the user on their previous visit. 

Cookies are small storage units that can save a proportion of data for the user, and later the advertisers can use the data to study the user behavior and ease their experience by providing them with the results according to their interests. The cookies used by the website are known as first-party cookies. It solely belongs to the website and can only be accessed by the development and advertising teams of the website. They use this data for understanding the user behavior, and populating advertisement and results based on the user’s preferences.

However, the Third-party cookies do not belong to any website. They connect to an advertising server that also reads the user behavior the same way as the first-party cookies. Third-party cookies are independent of any website and can use the data to trace the overall journey of a user on the internet and later map the data and provide advertisement across the internet as per the preferences made by the user on any channel that they might have used. This data is vulnerable and can be accessed or purchased by different organizations to fulfil their goals of running successful advertising campaigns and portraying their products so that users can be drawn to a particular website and compelled to purchase products.

How advertisers will be affected by the discontinuation of Third-party cookies?

The news has created a commotion in the advertising world and left the advertisers thinking about their next step. There is a rumor that things will worsen for the advertisers, and there will not be a freeway that will lead them to success. However, it is not all true!

Yes! Ending third-party cookies will have some drawbacks, and the small advertisers who were gaining benefit from small investments in the marketing world will have to suffer for a short period. However, the ending of third party cookies has opened a void that is also a gateway for opportunities for the new ecosystems to emerge. An example of this is the emergence of Amazon who is ready to fill the void with its informative system. Amazon is in word with several companies to come together and create a new informative system that will be solely working on the Amazon ecosystem. 

Soon the other companies will see the opportunity and will try to Ancash it with their ecosystems. Therefore, there is a greater chance that Google will lose its monopoly in the advertising world.

Firstly, it will help the advertisers to frame their campaigns better. Keeping in mind their needs and the audience they want to reach. Secondly, it will ensure that the user data is safe and secure. If there is a breach user will know whom to blame.

The step to end the Third-party cookie is an aftermath of continuous interrogation and questioning about the security of user data by authorities of various countries. Companies like Google and Facebook have faced a lash from government authorities for their failure to prevent the security breach on their server. Hence, the discontinuation of Third-party cookies is seen as a positive reinforcement to prevent the user data from getting public and sold on the dark web.

Due to this step, there will be more transparency, and advertisers can benefit from it along with the users. It will lead to an authorized sharing of data with authorized publishers and with trusted partners only. Hence, creating a secure ecosystem for all.

It will lead to security, and now the advertisers can even make a stronger bond with the customers as the end-users will be able to put deeper trust in the brands. The approach will end the leakage of the data to unauthorized sources. It will give an upper hand to the brands which customers trust and ultimately eliminate the untrusted brands creating a sustainable ecosystem. However, this does not mean that new brands can not emerge. They will have to go through vigorous security checks and have to prove their loyalty to the customer and promise the security of their data.

Revolution has started!

The revolution has already begun! Advertisers and marketers have already started shifting their focus from third-party cookies to first-party data. It is a good thing as there will not be any manipulation in the data received from the first-party websites and the campaigns can be run effectively generating better results for the advertisers.

In the age of pandemic, people were forced to shop online on a more frequent basis compared to earlier. Hence, the first-party data can prove to be highly useful for the advertisers as things have started to relax. Advertisers approach the user more confidently with trusted data provided by the authenticated websites.

Yet, there is a larger population of advertisers who are still relying on third-party data. According to research conducted by Forrester for Permutive, it was concluded that approximately 41% of marketers are still relying on the data generated by third-party vendors. However, they must understand that it is a peak time to change their approach or they will perish along with the third-party data suppliers. Hence, it is time to get rid of the old ways and adapt to the change.

The Future is here!

As the sun is setting for the third-party cookies, it is expected that approximately 95% of the web will become anonymous. Therefore, creating a huge void on the web providing a basket of opportunities for new ecosystems to emerge and establish a milestone and registering their name and catering for a huge audience.

It is crucial to note that cookies will be of paramount importance in the future. Publishers will have to establish the connection with the users using the cookies, and there will not be another way around.

Using the first-party cookie data by the publishers can build an effective strategy to overcome failures. They will get the data directly from the websites instead of putting their trust in any third-party vendors.

Google has announced its Federal learning of Cohorts (FLoC) which will determine the preservation of privacy. Hence, providing a mechanism that will help advertisers select advertisements based on the user interest.

The cohorts at the publisher’s end will ensure that privacy is maintained preventing leakage of data. It will also allow them to gather and categorize information, as the data and inventory will be connected.

Even though the collection of data via first-party channels will get painless and authentic. Yet, advertisers are in dilemma and unsure about moving to a first-party ecosystem. However, there is no need to panic! It’s all about finding the right partner who can welcome you to their ecosystem and make you feel like family.

Conclusion

We understand that many of you are looking for answers to this problem. However, it is not a time that one should spend worrying. It is an opportunity that must be explored for building a strategy and start experimenting with the ecosystems. It will help you gain momentum and have a better understanding of the ecosystems. Remember that we live in a world of uncertainty, and being prepared for the unexpected is the best we can do.

Dmexco Decides To Go Digital Again In 2021

For the second consecutive year, Dmexco has decided to hold its conference digitally. The conference will be held digitally in Cologne, Germany. It is speculated to be one of the biggest yearly ad tech conferences. According to the sources, the event organizers wanted to hold a hybrid event with people witnessing it at the venue and many others attending it digitally. However, with pandemic rage, it has become impossible to do so.

Due to the travel restrictions imposed around the world and as the vaccine is still on the rollout across the globe arranging a live gathering could lead to a widespread. Hence, Dmexco has decided to go all-digital. The event will be live on 7th – 8th September.

“Unfortunately, many of the exhibitors and visitors at Dmexco–particularly those based in the Americas and Asia – are still subject to in-house requirements that will not permit foreign travel and trade fair visits before the end of the year,” “After extensively consulting with exhibitors and partners, we have therefore decided that, although the incidence rate is currently falling in Germany and many other European countries, Dmexco will once again be held as a digital-only event in 2021.”

–Oliver Frese, COO of host venue Koelnmesse.

It is not the first time that a major international event is organized digitally. Following are some of the events that were organized digitally:

• South by Southwest: The event was all set to be organized in May. However, due to the pandemic unleashed, the event was organized digitally in the month of March.
• Cannes Lions: The festival is held each year in the south of France. The festival will be held virtually this year in the month of June.

Dmexco is planning to organize a hybrid event next year. However, the organizers of the event have registered their hesitation and they are afraid that people will be hesitant to attend the event due to the ongoing event. 

The chief advisor at Dmexco revealed that last year’s digital event was attended by 20,000 participants. He also stated that the conference program did last for more than 160 hours.

There are two categories for the tickets for the event:

1. Standard: It will cost $48 (39 euros).
2. Premium: The cost will be $121(99 euros).

Booking are open! Book your tickets now by clicking on the link below.

Tickets

Amazon Is Creating Ripples In The Digital Market With The Announcement Of Its Identifier.

Discarding the third-party cookie by Google is the hot topic of discussion in the technology market. By this move, Google is trying to benefit its publisher services and DSP. However, this has created a void in the market, and Amazon is all set to fill this void.

To make sure that the void is sealed the eCommerce giant is meeting various leading companies to discuss and plan techniques that will help them track the customer journey over the internet using Amazon’s advertising ecosystem. It has been found that three prominent companies are already in discussion with Amazon regarding this. Therefore, one can soon expect to have an identifier by Amazon. However, the timeline has not yet been shared by the tech giant.

There are several open identifiers available in the market like Live Ramp and Trade Desk. However, Google has made it clear that they will not be supported any longer. On the other hand, the new identifier launched by Amazon will be limited to its ecosystem. It could be a concern for many advertisers. However, they must understand that it is time to choose a side and decide which boat they will be sailing.

“They are thinking about it more in terms of Google’s ‘ppid,’ where it’s siloed to a particular network of O&O sites,”. “It would be more as a means to inform their DSP of frequency and attribution while maintaining an identity silo.” The statement was released by one of the companies which is in talks with Amazon regarding its new identifier.

Even though the date for the launch of the identifier is yet not released, it has created a wave of commotion in the advertising industry. It is reported that Amazon is working vigorously to make things possible. However, its priority is to make the security non-penetrable. When compared to Google, Amazon is a small fish in the advertising industry. Therefore, such a bold step was not expected by Amazon as there is so much to invest before Amazon can eat the fruits of success. According to a spokesperson the identifier will be operative following Amazon’s opt-out policies, privacy notice and interest-based ads.

However, it is a speculation that once things are in motion, it can turn the tables around and end the monopoly of Google in the field of advertising. It is not just a speculation, but after monitoring last year results of a survey conducted by the Advertisers Perception, it was found that Amazon’s DSP ranked first among other DSP’s.

It will not only help Amazon to set a firm foot in the field of digital advertising but will also help in boosting its APS business.

APS was always going to be a differentiator for them, An identifier’s kind of a door opening to push this more,”
#MightyHive, commerce practice director, Nicholas Seo.

As stated above, the identifier can create a new era where advertisers have to choose or invest more money in their advertising strategy.

According to a source of the company, in talks with Amazon about its new identifier stated:

“I do wonder if the buy-side is ultimately just going to have to settle for a set of further fragmented buys than what they do today”.

However, there are no executives available who can give a clear perspective of this new identifier and answer the queries of an individual. Yet it has been said that the identifier will be only available to those who will fulfil the requirements of Amazon.

Google is yet to work on the fundamentals of Publishers Provided ID, and it is in an experimental stage. It is important to note that PPI has played a crucial role in deals made in the private marketplace.

However, the ability of Amazon to map the transactions has given him a better hand with a stronger DSP. It is sure going to give Amazon an upper hand.

“As advertisers look to navigate the future, they are going to continue to look to partners in the near term who can do 1-to-1, both targeting and measurement, the measurement front, the partners that have that closed-loop look are going to become increasingly important”.
#Lauren Fisher, Advertiser Perceptions, EVP of business intelligence at the research firm.

Advertising On Taboola: An Efficient Tool For Advertisers

Getting to know Taboola – An Introduction

Taboola is the first preference of advertisers for native advertising. Taboola has expanded its user database at a tremendous pace and is growing every minute, adding new users to its list. Its reach is on every possible website, and people are using it for effective advertising. If you search for the platforms for native advertising, you will find Taboola on every list.

The platform is so popular that it reaches 1.4 billion new users every month. Is it not amazing? The market share of the platform is 13.6%. Therefore, we have no restraint in saying that it is one of the most admired platforms for advertisers.

Here we will be providing all the necessary information for the beginners who wanted to start advertising on Taboola. Therefore, if you are looking for a solution for your native advertising marketing campaigns, you must go through this blog to obtain a better understanding of every aspect of the platform.

Understanding the potential and working of Taboola.

As the tag line for the tool says, it is a worldwide popular tool for native advertising and content discovery. Taboola is the first preference of the advertisers and publishers. It is useful to advertise or publish an advertisement on the blog posts. The advertisement location is usually on the top, bottom or in the form of a widget of blog posts.

Here are some images which will give you a clear idea of how your advertisement will look on a blog if advertised using Taboola.

Following are some of the statistics that you might want to know if you are planning to get started with Taboola:

• Nearly 10000 premium brands and publishers are working with Taboola or vice-versa!
• Approximately 44.5% of the total world’s population view the advertisements published by Taboola.
• Out of 10000 top websites worldwide, 1783 generate traffic using Taboola.
• 56% of the total website population on the internet using the technique of content curation are advertising with Taboola.

Understanding, the working of Taboola!

Taboola was founded in the year 2007! Since then, it has been established as one of the prominent sponsored content providers on prevalent websites.

Is easy to use Taboola and pretty straightforward to use:

• Firstly, the advertisers must create their content and decide on a budget that they want to spend on pay per click (PPC). Then they have to decide on what type of audience they want to reach. Finally, all they have to do is wait for their advertisements to bring traffic to their website or landing page.
• The publishers of your advertisement earn money by displaying your advertisement on their page. They assign a widget on their website for Taboola to advertise the content of its users.
• Taboola makes sure that the advertisement is placed appropriately and is visible to the maximum number of people for better conversion.

Creating a campaign on Taboola

As soon as you signup on the platform on Taboola, you will be directed to the page which will demonstrate and display the process of campaign creation.

Choosing the right content

Type of content matters! The content you are publishing can be educational, entertainment or just some information. It could be a photo gallery, blog post or a video. Considering the likes and dislikes of your audience when promoting the content is crucial. It will help your advertisement to perform better and bring more traffic to your website.

The chart shown below will give you an idea about the performance of different types of content on the internet. 

Looking at the chart, it is visible that the visual content ranks the highest in terms of attracting the customers and making them click to view the details.

Content for Advertisement

Unlike any other platforms, Taboola lets you enter the title, brand text, add images and target Url in the initial steps of your campaign.

It increases the effectiveness of your advertisement, and it enhances the chances of people liking it in the first glance. Hence, it already keeps you halfway towards success.

The Title-

Taboola lets you add a title of 60 words allowing you to express the initial idea of your campaign and let you convince them to click your advertisement on a priority.

With a word limit, it becomes crucial that you utilize the word resourcefully. The title plays a vital role in conversion, and you must keep it clear and crisp. 

Using power words in your title is the best way to attract audiences. Power words are useful in generating emotions in a person’s mind and heart, and thus he gets reluctant to click on the link. These words could express joy, pride, sorrow, grief, anxiousness etc. Here is a list of power words that you can choose in your title according to the emotion you want to express! 

Using a few statistics in your title can help you build user trust. For example, “ 7 out of 10 people like this blog!” You can do better according to the situation and as per your requirement.

Being precise is the prime objective that you have to achieve while framing a title.

Thumbnails-

The thumbnail is the image that is attached to the link or sometimes acts as a link. Therefore, it is paramount that the image you use is of high resolution and delivers your message to the larger audience.

If you are lacking, with the imagination for your advertisement, you can also check for the Taboola Trends to get ideas for your thumbnails and title. Before finalizing the title and the thumbnail, try various options and variations and finalize the item which looks best.

Objective for marketing

There could be several objectives for your marketing strategy! Some of the most common objectives achieved by people using online advertising are:

• Online purchases
• Web engagement
• Brand awareness
• Lead generation
• Installation of mobile applications

Targeting the audience

Before signing up to Taboola, you get only two options for targeting your audience, these options are:

• Targeting by country
• Targeting by device

However, the moment you complete the procedure of signing up to the platform, it opens up a wide variety of options for the targeting of the audience. Following are the options which will be available to you at Taboola after you sign up:

• Targeting by the operating system
• Targeting using the variety, in types of audience.

1. 1. My audiences
   2. Lookalike audience
   3. Campaign Clickers
   4. Marketplace audiences

My Audience: Using this option, you can target the audience visiting your website.

Lookalike audiences: These audiences are those people who have a similar taste to your customers. Due to the resemblance in their interests, they will be targeted by the tool!

Campaign Clickers: These audiences are those who click your advertisement using other campaigns running online.

Marketplace Audience: These are the usual filters that you can apply like based on the interests of the audience, demographic location, intention of buying and their behavioural approach.

Considering a Few things as you proceed:

• Never be overconfident about your audience, even if you know them inside out, you should keep testing to make your campaign better at every step.
• Splitting your campaigns by the segment of your audience by adjusting the settings is always useful( eg. Creatives, CPC etc.) for each segment.
• Remember that selecting audiences from several audience types will limit your chances of reaching maximum audiences.

Assigning the correct schedule for the campaign

Just the way other native ad networks work, Taboola also lets you select the timeframe of the campaign. Also, you can specify the timing when you do not want your advertisement to be visible.

However, the targeting time of the audience generally depends on the location. Below we have a chart showing the variation of users’ behaviour in a week. 

Budget and strategies for bidding

There are two options available with Taboola for bidding: Smart bidding and Fixed bidding. We all must be familiar with the method of Fixed bidding. However, let us understand how smart bidding works!

Using the method of smart bidding, you can maximize the conversion, and by effectively utilizing your marketing strategy. Firstly, you have to decide the base amount for the bidding. Once the base amount is decided and set, the smart bidding method will look up into the history of campaigns and accordingly see if the impression is good for getting the conversions. 

If the smart bidding method is used, Taboola uses the A/B testing method. It will compare the fixed bidding strategies and the automated bidding strategy on a real-time basis.

You can set the budget for your campaign for a month or for the duration your campaign will be live on the internet.

Another interesting option that will intrigue your curiosity is the option to decide the pace of the campaign. Usually, Taboola offers balanced pacing. The option will help your campaign run at a constant pace, throughout the month.

You also get the option to set your campaign budget at an accelerated pace. It will help you to reach a larger audience in minimum time, but also you will exhaust your biding budget at a greater speed.

You can also choose the option of Strict pacing. In this, you can select an everyday budget that you will like to spend each day.

Optimizing the performance of your campaign

The moment you launch your campaign, you can view the performance of your campaign at many different levels. You can view the performance of your campaign by applying several filters. Here is a few information that you can get by monitoring your campaign:

• You can view the data by location,
• Data by time,
• Data by platform,
• Data by the hour or day,
• Data by campaign items
• And by applying several other filters.

You will be able to see the following metrics in any report generated:

• CTR
• Impressions
• Clicks
• CPC
• CPM
• Conversions
• Conversion rate
• Views
• Competed views
• Viewable impressions.

Conclusion

Taboola is one of the most superior tools available in the market for native advertising. It has a wider database of users, publishers, brands and websites on the internet. The best part about Taboola is that it is easy to use and is effective to achieve long term goals.

Due to its reach worldwide, Taboola can be used, generate traffic from any part of the world. With tremendous potential, it also provides an opportunity to view reports on real-time bases, which helps users to see the shortcomings of their campaigns. It is the reason, the tool is trusted by millions of users across the world.

It is easy to sign up on the platform, and by following a few simple steps, you can get used to the platform and start spreading your wings on the internet. Hence, what are you waiting for?

A Step Towards Innovation In Media Planning By Kochava

Some of the top brands in the industry has always dominated the media market. Brands like Facebook and Google has always been the first preference of advertisers. However, there are several other vendors in the market which provides a more effective advertisement and marketing on their platforms through advance technical tools and innovative approach. In several matters, these providers are more capable of delivering efficient services compared to the overhyped ones.

However, to work efficiently, they all need a diverse database which helps them in their decision making. On several occasions, advertisers end up paying huge amount of money to test campaigns which are often of no use to them. They even fall in traps of vendors who do not perform well and ultimately end up failing the advertising campaigns or even businesses. It becomes difficult for them to integrate the advertisement campaigns with the new tools available in the market.

Therefore, Kochava media index presented the advertisers with a perfect solution. The solution will help them look for the perfect vendors for their advertisement. It will work worldwide and will help in creating an unbiased standard in the media industry. It will develop a transparent and robust methodology which will help marketers research for the ad vendors and will also ensure that vendors to anticipate the potential buyers. All this has become possible due to the acquisition of the largest research database; Thalamus.

The Kochava index is highly useful as it holds the data of almost 500k buyers/marketers and around 50k ad vendors. The information that it provides about them includes:

• Mobile data
• Alexa traffic
• Pricing model
• Site data
• Location of the inventory
• Creatives run by vendors

The data provided by the index is transparent to the viewers, and it helps marketers make better decisions based on their research conducted using the information. The index also highlights the top-performing assets and media partners which can be utilized, to craft better strategy while developing a campaign.

Vendors get the flexibility of researching the data by applying the desired filters. These filters can be utilized based on the following factors:

• Media channels
• Geolocation
• Key performance indicators
• Filters for the inventory

The ranking of the vendors is created based on the data they provide, available data on Kochava and the reviews they have.

Kochava media index is determined to create a more informative and transparent ecosystem for the marketers by continuously updating and evolving its platform.