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Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius

Google Reveals 4 Factors Affecting Online Ad Viewability

magnifying glass viewabilityOnline advertising is a key component of most brand marketing plans, but how many of the ads that are paid for by brands are actually viewed by consumers?

Based on the industry standard identified by the Media Rating Council, an online ad is considered viewable when at least 50% of the ad’s pixels are actually in view on the screen for a minimum of one second. Using that standard, Google reviewed its entire display ad platform to determine what factors affect ad viewability, which ads are performing better in terms of viewability, and which ads are performing worse.

Google measured performance using a viewability rate, which was calculated as the percentage of ads that were viewable out of the total number of ads that were measured. The results of the research are enlightening with four key factors rising to the top as having significant effects on display ad viewability.

1. Publishers

A total of 56.1% of display ads served by all publishers were non-viewable, but those ads were served by a small number of publishers. Overall, the average publisher non-viewability is 48.8%.

2. Position

You might think that ads at the top of a web page are the most viewable, but that’s not true based on Google’s findings. The most viewable online ad position in this study was immediately above the fold, not at the top of the page. In fact, this position was most viewable for 300 x 250, 728 x 90, and 320 x 50 ad sizes. Overall, viewability rates were higher in this study for ads positioned above the fold (68%) than below the fold (40%).

3. Size

The most viewable ad size is 120 x 240 (55.6% viewability rate). The least viewable online ad size is 300 x 250 (41.0% viewability rate). It’s important to note that vertical ad units, which stay on the user’s screen longer as they scroll down the page, are the most viewable ad size overall. The complete breakdown of viewability by ad size is as follows:

  • 120 x 240 = 55.6%
  • 240 x 400 = 54.9%
  • 160 x 600 = 53.7%
  • 120 x 600 = 52.5%
  • 468 x 60 = 48.2%
  • 300 x 600 = 46.3%
  • 970 x 90 = 45.2%
  • 728 x 90 = 45.0%
  • 300 x 250 = 41.0%

4. Industry

Google reports, “Content that holds a user’s attention has the highest viewability,” as you’d expect. Viewability rates were highest for the reference (51.9%), online communities (48.9%), games (48.4%), arts and entertainment (48.0%), and jobs and education (47.8%) industries. Viewability rates were lowest for the business and industrial (47.2%), computers and electronics (47.1%), science (46.6%), internet and telecommunications (46.4%), and hobbies and leisure (44.8%) industries.

As you develop your display advertising plans for 2015, be sure to consider these research findings. They are very likely to affect your ROI!

Image: Paul Barker

5 Key Elements of a Great Brand Story

keyboard brand storyBrand storytelling is a hot topic these days but most marketers don’t know how to craft a compelling brand story. Unless you’re one of the marketers who actually took a creative writing class in college and you still have your copy of William Zinsser’s On Writing Well (yes, I still have mine), storytelling can be challenging.

To help you get started in developing stories for your own brands, here are the five key elements that every great brand story needs to have. Without this elements, it will be very difficult for audiences to connect with your story or your brand, and that means lower results and lower profits.

1. Identifiable Character

All great stories have a primary character who the audience can relate to and identify with. The audience roots for him or her as the story progresses. For a brand story, your primary character could be a customer, but make sure the customer is one that your target audience will actually want to succeed in overcoming the story’s conflict (see #2 Problem / Conflict).

2. Problem / Conflict

A great story has a core conflict that the main character must face and overcome. For a brand story, the core conflict can be a problem that your product or service can solve for consumers.

3. Beginning

The beginning of a great story offers the information that the audience needs to identify with the primary character, visualize his or her surroundings (i.e., the story’s setting), and understand why the core conflict matters to him or her (and to the audience). For a brand story, use the beginning as an opportunity to set up the story. However, don’t fall into the trap of getting too detailed in the beginning and slowing the pacing down so much that the audience gets bored and stops reading (or listening or watching) before the story really gets going. Be compelling from the start.

4. Middle

The middle of the story is where you can get more detailed. Since you’re writing a brand story, this is where you need to look for opportunities to create situations, settings, and secondary characters that lead your primary character through to the climax followed by the resolution of his or her core conflict (see #5 End).

5. End

The end of your story should provide resolution to the primary character’s core conflict, which should mirror or seamlessly translate to a solution to the audience’s problem that your brand, product, or service provides. You can mention your brand, products, or services directly or indirectly at the end of your brand story. Just be careful not to turn your interesting brand story into a self-promotional piece. If the brand story you create is compelling enough, sales will increase organically without any heavy-handed sales language.

Do you write brand stories? What do you think are the key elements of a great brand story? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Image: Aman Anderson

Germany Ranks as Best Nation Brand 2014

world map puzzleSince 2009, the United States has held the top spot in the annual Anholt-Gfk Nation Brands Index SM, but according to the July 2014 survey of over 20,000 people in 20 countries, Germany has stolen the top spot as the best nation this year among a total of 50 ranked countries.

The study measures perceptions of countries based on 23 attributes that are mapped to six national image dimensions: exports, governance, culture and heritage, people, tourism, and immigration/investment. Germany’s impressive increases in perceptions related to “sports excellence,” “honest and competent government,” “investment in climate,” and “social equality” propelled it to the number one position as the best nation brand of 2014 while the United Sates slipped to number two.

The top 10 nation brands of 2014 according to this study are:

  1. Germany
  2. United States
  3. United Kingdom
  4. France
  5. Canada
  6. Japan
  7. Italy
  8. Switzerland
  9. Australia
  10. Sweden

Interestingly, the only change between the 2013 and 2014 rankings among the top 10 nation brands is the shift between Germany and United States in the first and second spots.

The Rise of Place Branding and How It Affects Corporate Brands

Place branding, including national branding, regional branding, city branding, and even small town branding, has been rising in popularity for years. Many locations have created brand identities, complete with their own logos, not only to promote tourism but also to develop a brand persona for business, government, culture, and everything else you can think of.

A prefect example is Sweden where the country’s Council for the Promotion of Sweden launched a comprehensive rebranding in 2013 in order to help the Council’s five agencies—Visit Sweden, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry for Enterprise, Energy and Communications, Business Sweden, and the Swedish Institute—communicate and promote the Sweden brand effectively and consistently. The result was a new logo and a detailed brand identity website described as, “a manual aimed at people who work with ‘Brand Sweden’.”

As FutureBrand explained in its 2014 research report, Made In: The Value of Country Origin for the Future of Brands, country branding has an effect on corporate brands that can be significant when corporate brands leverage country brands as assets and differentiators. The report authors explain:

A strong country brand has a halo effect on consumer brands—if we think highly of a country overall, we are more likely to think highly of brands associated with it—but this effect is only indirect. Country of Origin, on the other hand, is a key driver of every day consumer choice and can directly impact GDP by generating revenues through sales of products and services (both at home and abroad). The true distinction between a country brand and a Country of Origin brand is that you can enjoy the latter without needing to visit the place. In other words, you can buy a little bit of Germany and what it stands for when you purchase a BMW, but you do not need to be in Germany to do it.”

Country brands and Country of Origin matter and they’ll continue to grow in importance to consumers. As you ramp up your 2015 marketing efforts, look for opportunities to indirectly and directly promote and differentiate your brand by leveraging country brands and Country of Origin, and make sure they’re part of your marketing plan.

Image: spekulator

The Influence of Blogs on Purchase Decisions

blog mouseThe power of blogs in influencing consumer purchase decisions is stronger than you might realize. According to data from a research study conducted by Research Now, nearly nine in 10 consumers (84%) make purchases after reading about a product or service on a blog. Among consumers between the ages of 18-34, blogs ranked as the most important source of information to make buying decisions. Among consumers between the ages of 35-54, blogs ranked as the second most important source behind friends, family, and colleagues. Even older consumers (55 and older) value blogs when making purchase decisions ranking them third in terms of importance behind friends, family, and colleagues and editorial articles.

For brands, this data is critical. The research found that blogs influence household purchase decisions for 54% of the survey respondents, gifts that consumers are buying for themselves (45%), and gifts they’re buying for other people (30%). In fact, 25% of respondents indicated that they buy something each month based on blog content!

Consumers are turning to blogs for specific reasons as they travel through the path to making a purchase. Nearly one in two (46%) use blogs for initial product investigation, and 43% use blogs for inspiration. One in three consumers (33%) use blogs to narrow down their purchase options while 30% use blogs to confirm their purchase choices. In other words, blogs play a role at every stop along the marketing and sales funnel.

Blog advertising (display and text) as well as sponsored posts offer excellent ways for brands to get in front of consumers on blogs. However, brands are missing key opportunities to seize useful sponsored content opportunities. Popular bloggers and smaller, niche bloggers with coveted audiences receive dozens or even hundreds of blog advertising and sponsored post pitches every day. Most of these pitches are templated email messages sent to many bloggers which go directly to the email trash can. When brands do successfully connect with a blogger, they often provide self-promotional content that is either irrelevant to the audience or so self-serving that it would damage the blog’s reputation and audience’s trust in the blog too much to publish it. Trust me. I get these pitches for my blog every day and there are very few that I actually respond to.

Brands that invest the time into finding the right blogs to connect with their target audiences, craft pitches that are exclusively for those individual blogs, and provide useful, meaningful content that the blog’s audience would be interested in will reap the rewards. Blog are not dead. For brands, they’re more powerful than ever but they have to be leveraged correctly.

You can see more data from the study in the infographic from Research Now below.

influence of blogs on purchase decisions infographic

Do you have a blog strategy in place for your brand?

Image: Svilen Milev

Black Friday and Cyber Monday Brand Marketing Must Shift with Consumer Behaviors

holiday shopping saleFor consumer product brands that offer their products for sale in the United States, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are very important sales days. For years, brand marketers have reduced prices, opened retail locations early, and invested heavily in advertising to get a jump on holiday shopping sales. However, consumer behaviors are changing, and brand marketers have to shift their marketing strategies to meet changing consumer demands.

Whether consumer behaviors are changing by choice or they’re changing as a result of brand marketing is a debate I’ll save for another post. For now, let’s focus on how brand marketers can leverage changing consumer holiday shopping behaviors to improve their early sales volumes and return on marketing investments. Following are three consumer shopping behavioral shifts to consider as you develop your holiday marketing plans:

1. Black Friday is Already Too Late

When it comes to holiday shopping and getting the best deals, U.S. consumers are looking days (or weeks) before Black Friday. While many stores are opening earlier than ever for Black Friday, and some are even opening on Thanksgiving Day, many retail locations were already offering holiday shopping sales before Halloween arrived. In mid-October, it was not surprising to see Christmas decorations and hear Christmas songs in large retailer’s stores. By the time Black Friday gets here, many consumers will already have some of their holiday shopping done!

2. Cyber Monday is the Top Priority

Online sales are more important than ever with more consumers doing all or most of their holiday shopping online in 2014. Brand marketers who don’t prioritize Cyber Monday—and online advertising and promotions overall—will lose sales and revenue to competitors who understand how consumer holiday shopping behaviors have changed.

3. Price Wars Dominate

With holiday sales and promotions starting well before Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year, there is already a greater focus on price competition than ever. Brand marketers who can differentiate their holiday marketing to effectively bypass the price wars will reap the rewards. However, getting through those price wars to capture consumers’ attention won’t be easy. Brand marketers have to start their marketing efforts early and come out strong to break through the price messaging clutter that will dominate leading up to and continuing long after Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

How has your brand marketing changed to leverage the consumer behavior shifts of the holiday shopping season? Leave a comment and share your thoughts on Black Friday and Cyber Monday brand marketing in 2014.

Image: Jay Lopez

IAB Takes Another Step Toward Standardizing Selling and Buying of Premium Online Ad Inventory

apiIf you advertise your brand online, then you’re familiar with the challenges in buying and selling premium online ad inventory for advertisers and publishers. Last year, Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo! and Yieldex started working on a standard API that would standardize buying and selling of premium inventory through programmatic technologies.

The group set a goal to shift more than 50% of inventory that was sold manually to programmatic trading. Ultimately, they hoped the shift would also cause a shift in how advertisers spend their budgets by moving offline advertising budget dollars to online advertising. On the publisher side, they hoped  the standardization would enable premium publishers to use programmatic technologies without damaging the premium perception of their own properties.

This week, a big step was taken in finalizing the standard API when the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) released OpenDirect API Specification Version 1.0 for public comment.

Public comment will be open through December 3, 2014, so now is the time to read the 102-page document and have your say. Once the public comment period closes, the IAB Digital Advertising Automation Task Force will review all comments received and make any necessary revisions before a final version will be released.

According to the IAB, the goal of OpenDirect is to make automated transactions more reliable, which would benefit publishers through improved efficiency, reliability, pricing, and delivery. Scott Cunningham, Vice President of Technology and Ad Operations for IAB explained, “This common set of API specifications sets the stage for direct programmatic ad sales and will allow buyers who want to access guaranteed inventory via automated processes to avoid multiple, costly, custom integrations.”

Furthermore, agencies will benefit once publishers adopt OpenDirect through improved access to more unique users. They’ll also benefit from increased efficiency because they’ll only have to integrate one API across multiple platforms rather than integrating multiple APIs. Furthermore, agencies will be able to book guaranteed delivery to advertisers and provide access to media offerings that aren’t available through exchanges.

It’s important to note that OpenDirect prioritizes advertisers:

“The API takes an advertiser first approach. Both advertisers and agencies must sign up with the publisher and receive credentials. Advertisers may perform their own buys or provide consent to have an agency perform buys on their behalf; for an agency to perform buys on behalf of an advertiser, the advertiser must provide consent. The process of signing up and providing consent is publisher defined.”

What do you think of OpenDirect? Do you think it will gain wider industry adoption when the final API is released after the public comment and revision period ends? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

Image: Dan Craggs