Upper Funnel Advertising: How to Use Display & Video ...

Upper funnel advertising refers to messaging that reaches users before they are aware of your brand, product, or service. Example formats ... Advertisement SEJ  »  PaidSearch BenWood March20,2019 9minread VIPCONTRIBUTORBenWood DigitalDirectoratHallam Bio Follow  / March20,2019  /  9minread 854 SHARES 19K READS ForPPCmarketersjudgedongeneratingareturnonadvertisingspend,it’stemptingtofocusonbottom-of-the-funneltacticstogeneratelast-interactionconversions. However,upperfunneladvertisingisvitaltosustainablegrowthandavoidingstagnation.Afterall,youcan’tgetmorecustomersiftheyaren’tawareofyourcompany,product,orservice. Upperfunneladvertisingreferstomessagingthatreachesusersbeforetheyareawareofyourbrand,product,orservice.Exampleformatsincludevideo,display,andsponsoredcontent. Whendoneright,targetedadvertisingtobuildawareness willputyouinfrontofidealcustomersbeforetheystartlookingforcompetingservices,lettingyouemergeasthetopchoice. Upperfunneladvertisingshouldbeablendofreachandquality.Theperfectplacementwillpositionyourbrandinfrontofthelargestpossibleportionofyourtargetaudience. Let’sexploreafewcommonadvertisingtacticsusedtotargetcustomersatthetopofthepurchasefunnelandbuildawarenessofyourbrand,product,orservice. DisplayAdvertising DisplayadvertisingcanberunacrossnetworkssuchastheGDN(GoogleDisplayNetwork)and numerousotheradvertisingnetworks. AccordingtoGoogle,itsdisplaynetworkreaches 92percentofallInternetusersexpandingacross2millionsites! Anexampleofdisplayforgeneratingawarenesscanbeseenintheadbelow. Agrocerystoreiscreatingawarenessofdealsin-store. Thisadwilllikelyneverbecreditedwithconversionvalue.Itssolepurposeistodriveawarenessofanofferthatpeoplemayeventuallyconsider. Tomakethebestuseofdisplayadvertising,you’llneedtoleanontheoptionsavailabletotargetuserswhosharedemographicinformationandinterestsmatchingyourtargetcustomerpersonas. I’vepreviouslywrittenaposthereonSEJcoveringsomeadvanceddisplaynetworktargetingtactics.Butifyourgoalistoreachasmanypeopleaspossible,thenyoumightnotwanttoaddtoomanytargetinglayerstoyourdisplayadgroupsandreducepotentialreach. Youshould,however,setupmultipledifferenttargetingmethodsinseparateadgroupssoyou’reabletomodifybidsoneachcombinationwithoutlimitingoverallreach. Herearesomebasiccombinationstogetyou startedonGoogleDisplaynetwork: Age+Gender+AffinityAudience Affinitytargeting islikeinteresttargeting,matchingyouradswithuserswhovisitsitesofthesametopic.Consideranaffinityalong-terminterestinaparticulartopic. ManagedPlacements Amanagedplacementmeanscontrollingthewebsitesyouradsareplacedon.Thisisthemostdirectwaytotargetawebsiteyoudeemrelevanttoyourtargetaudience. Topics+AffinityAudience+Placements Topictargetingallowsyoutotargetsitesmatchingadefinedtopic. TopictargetingwillallowyoutoreachawideraudiencethanmanagedplacementsbutthesitesyouappeardependingonGoogle’stopiccategorization.Placementsmaynotbeasrelevantassitesyou’vechosenyourself CustomAffinityAudiences Customaffinityisamorerefinedversionofstandardaffinitytargeting. Criteriaforsettingupacustomaffinityaudienceisaminimumoffivedifferent interests,URLs,placesorapps thatdescribetheaudienceyou’relookingtotarget. Forbestresults,IwouldrecommendstickingwithacombinationofinterestsandURLs: MeasuringDisplayAdvertisingSuccess Displayadvertisingoftenwon’tresultinadirectconversionandsoshouldbeassesseddifferentlytobottomofthefunneladvertisingactivity,typicallyjudgedonlastinteractionattribution. Performancemetricsyoushouldbeusingtojudgethesuccessofadisplaycampaigninclude: BrandAwareness AnyincreaseinsearchactivityresultingfromadisplaycampaignshouldbemonitoredandannotationsshouldbeusedinGoogleAnalyticstodenotethedatesinwhichyourdisplaycampaignslaunched. Usemetricssuchasnewsitevisitors tojudgehowsuccessfulyourcampaignsareatincreasingbrandrecognitionandoverallsitetraffic. Impressionscanbeusedasameasureofhowmanytimesyouradshavebeenservedontargetedsites. Reachandfrequencymetricswillshowmanypeoplehavebeenservedyouradsandhowfrequentlythesamepeoplewereshownthemoveracertainperiodoftime: Engagement Thisistheamountofinteractionwithyourdisplayadvertisementscanbemeasuredusingmetricssuchas: Engagementshappenwheneverausertaps,clicksorexpandsyouradifusinglightboxads. Clicksthroughtoyourwebsitelandingpages. DirectResponse Thenumberofdesiredconversionactionstakenwheneveryouradshavebeenserved–metricssuchas: Viewthroughconversions:Trackthecontributionfromdisplayonconversionswhereauserhasviewedadisplayadandlaterconvertedviaanotherchannel.(Morehere.) Assistedconversionvalue:Trackthecontributionmadebydisplayonoverallconversions(peoplewho’veclickedthroughtoyoursiteandlaterconvertedthroughanotherchannel). Afteryou’vebeenrunninganydisplayactivity,regularlycheckbothGoogleAnalyticsandSearchConsoletomonitoranyincreasesin: Directororganictraffic. Organicbrandedsearchvolume. VideoAdvertising Muchlikedisplay,videoadvertisingcanofferhugereach. VideoadvertisinghasbeenmorecommonlyusedforB2C.But recentstatsreleasedthroughThinkwithGooglereportthatvideoishavingmoreinfluenceintheB2Bdecisionmakingprocessthanoriginallythought. NearlyhalfofallB2Bresearchersaremillennialsandreportedlywatchvideoduringtheentirepathtopurchase. Nearlyhalfoftheseresearchersareviewing30minutesormoreofB2B-relatedvideosduringtheirresearchprocess,andalmostoneinfivewatchoveranhourofcontent! Whenitcomestoonlinevideoadvertising,there’slittledoubtthatYouTubeisthemarketleader. YouTube YouTubeofferthefollowingvideoadvertisingoptions: TrueViewskippableads: Adswhichcanbeskippedafter5seconds.Advertisedbefore,during,orafteravideo. Advertisersarebilledifaviewerwatchesforatleast30secondsorclicksonelementsofthevideo. TrueViewdiscoveryads:Adsthatappearbeneathavideo,onsearchresultspagesorontheYouTubehomepagetoencourageuserstowatchanad: Advertisersbilledwheneverauserclicksthead. Non-skippablevideoads:Non-skippableadsthatappearpre-,mid-,orpost-rollwhileviewingpartnercontent. AdvertiserschargedonaCPMbasiswhichcanbemoreexpensivethanotheradformats. Bumperads: Non-skippablevideoadsupto6secondsthatplaybeforeavideocanbeviewed. AdvertisersarechargedonaCPMbasiswhichagaincanbemoreexpensivethanotheradformats. ConsiderusingYouTubeifyoualreadyhave(orarecapableofcreating)highqualityvideosthatyoucanusetorunasawarenessads. YouTubeTargetingOptions YouTubeprovidesadvertiserswiththesametargetingoptionsasGDNactivity. Adscanbetargetedbasedon: Demographics. Interests(includingcustomaffinityandin-marketaudiences). Topics. Keywords. Placements(YouTubechannelsandvideos). UsingSocialMediaforVideoAdvertising SocialnetworksincludingFacebook,Instagram,andSnapchatareprimerealestateforgeneratingawareness. Usageresearchindicatesthat: 81percentofadultsage18to29areonFacebook,alongside78percentofadultsage30to49. 64percentofadultsare18to29areonInstagram,alongside40percentofadultsage30to49. Withamultitudeofsocialnetworksavailabletorunvideoads,youneedto: Startoutbydefiningwhoyourtargetaudienceis. Matchyourtargetaudiencewith therightsocialmediaplatform. Spendingmoneyonaplatformthatlacksactiveusersfromyourtargetaudiencewouldbeahugewasteofadvertisingbudget! MeasuringVideoAdvertisingSuccess Ifyou’relookingpurelyatconversionmetrics,expecttoseealowconversionrate,andhighCPLonYouTubeads.Measuresyoushouldbetrackingtoanalyzetheperformanceofyourvideoadsinclude: Awareness Measuretheimpactyourvideoadvertisingishavingonbrandawarenesswithmetricssuchas: Impressionsandviewrate:Measuringhowmanypeoplesawyourvideosandwhowatchedthefullad. YouTubeadvertisersservingover1.5millionimpressionscanalsotakeadvantageof brandlift.Thisisusedtoassess“directimpactYouTubeadsarehavingonperceptionsandbehaviorsthroughouttheconsumerjourney.” Engagement Engagementmetricsincludewatchtime,likes,shares,andcomments.Thiswillprovideabasicbarometerofhowyouraudienceisrespondingtoyourvideos. Conversion Thoughnottheaimofupperfunnelads, youcanmeasuretraditionaldirectresponsemetricssuchasclicksandconversions(includingviewthroughconversions)relatedtoyourvideoadsintheGoogleAdsinterface: Othermethodsofassessingtheimpactofvideoadsonbrandawarenessinclude Googleconsumersurveys.Thistoolwillallowyoutocreateshortsurveysforapproximately$3.00performsubmission(oraslittleas$1.50forasinglequestionsurvey). Conclusion Measuringthesuccessofupper-funneladvertisingisawell-knownindustrychallenge. It’seasytomeasuredirectresponse(conversion)metrics.However,marketersstilllackaconsistentmeansofmeasuringtheeffectivenessofupper-funneladvertising. Last-clickattributionmodelsincentivizemarketerstotargetuserswhoarealreadyawareofabrand,product,orservice. Upperfunneladvertisingtacticstendtoreceivelessbudgetbecausetheyreceivelesscreditfortheparttheyplayinsales. Displayisn’tallocated thevalueitdeservesinmostcases.Manyadvertisersarestillmeasuringitssuccessthroughlast-clickmodels,whenweknowthatonlyasmallfractionofuserseverclickondisplayandvideoads. Astheindustrycontinuestodevelop,attributionmodeling shouldallowadvertiserstoshiftbudgetsacrossthefullmarketingfunnel.Advertisersmustunderstandthateachuserisdifferentandthepathtopurchaseislesslikelytobelinearastimegoesby. Fornow,usingamixofupperfunneladvertisingtacticswillhelpyounurturemoreleadstowardpurchase.Andultimately,thiswilllaythefoundationforsustainablegrowth. MoreResources: DevelopingaSustainablePPCStrategy:WhatYouNeedtoKnow 4KeyGDNSettingstoCheckforSmarterAdSpend PPC101:ACompleteGuidetoPay-Per-ClickMarketingBasics ImageCredits Allscreenshotstakenbyauthor,March2019. 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BenWood DigitalDirectoratHallam BenWoodistheDigitalDirectoratUKbaseddigitalagencyHallam,andhaspreviouslyworkedatawellknown...[Readfullbio] ADVERTISEMENT SuggestedArticles TipsForTop-PerformingBrandAwarenessCampaignsOnFacebookAds WhatMakesaGoodText,Display,orVideoAd? 12WaysToUseContentMarketingToBuildBrandAwareness SubscribetoSEJ Subscribetoourdailynewslettertogetthelatestindustrynews. JobTitle*AgencyManager/DirectorAnalyticsManager/ProfessionalMarketingDirector/ManagerMarketingProfessionalSEODirector/ManagerSEOProfessionalSocialMediaProfessionalSocialMediaDirector/ManagerPaidSearchDirector/ManagerPaidSearchProfessionalOwner/PartnerITProfessionalITManager/DirectorSales/BusinessDevelopmentOther Topic(s)ofInterest*SEOPPCContentSocial Byclickingthe"Subscribe"button,IagreeandaccepttheprivacypolicyofSearchEngineJournal. 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