by Hannah | Nov, 2021 | Content
When Bidtellect recognized it was time to switch to HPE Ezmerel for its data needs, we knew migration would be a massive undertaking. Despite this pressure, we achieved it in just five weeks with no service interruption. In this joint case study feature published by HPE, read how Bidtellect was able to save money and improve performance. Here are 3 takeaways:
1. Change is good!
The motivation to switch came from increasing in prices along with the need for better functionality and performance. Change is (usually) never a bad thing!
2. The data needs
Bidtellect is a highly competitive demand side platform that runs online bid requests and auctions for digital advertising. With that, there is a lot of data that needs to be processed. Migrating to a new vendor would not be easy, and HPE Ezmerel would need to be up to the challenge of our data and performance needs.
3. Key advantages
The migration to HPE Ezmeral has allowed for real-time feedback. There are four key advantages that have been a direct outcome in this migration: more efficient date storage, higher performance, improved security, and an easy-to-access file system architecture.
by Charlotte Otremba | September 11, 2020 | Content, Native Advertising | 0 Comments
This week in Digital Advertising: September 11, 2020: pharma marketing’s answer to covid-19 and the rise of telehealth, Google, eMarketer’s CPG predicting, blocking coronavirus content, and more.
by Charlotte Otremba | October 10, 2019 | Culture, Native Advertising | 0 Comments
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) will go into effect in January 2020. What does it mean? How does it compare to GDPR? Here’s everything you need to know.
by Karl | November 12, 2019 | Product and Technology | 0 Comments
Whether you’re ready to switch to automation testing or not, here’s everything you need to know to make the switch worthwhile (and profitable).
by Charlotte Otremba | July 3, 2020 | Content, Native Advertising | 0 Comments
B2B sales during coronavirus are holding steady thanks to ecommerce. Adapting to work-from-home and digital events is key. The golden opportunity is digital advertising, according to data.
by Charlotte Otremba | January 28, 2021 | Content, Native Advertising | 0 Comments
Cannabis is considered the fastest growing industry in the United States and Canada, but well behind in its digital spend. How shifting perceptions and COVID’s impact leave a massive opportunity for digital and programmatic.
by Missy Steiner | November 8, 2016 | Native Advertising | 0 Comments
Bidtellect is proud to announce that its pre-bid Brand Safety is now powered by AdmantX, which can be layered onto campaigns as a targeting feature.
by Hannah | Nov, 2021 | Content
It’s the final countdown! While preparing your holiday advertising campaigns, we rounded up our top tips and trends you do NOT want to forget.
1. It’s the Happiest Time of Year – Keep it Positive!
Keep it positive! Consider making small tweaks to your website (if you don’t already have one, contact the likes of Cefar to get one designed) and use positive adjectives in headlines coupled with happy images to increase CTR. Cold, monotone creatives do not bring joy. Bonus: add puns or rhymes to make it even more…puntastic.
2. Which Images and Creative Units Perform Best?
Photographs perform better than animated images. Always. On that note, children, pets, and people in images perform best. Smile! Go solo: if using images with products, one solo “feature” product performs better than a group.
Take your static images up a notch with cinemegraphs, scroller units, and carousel units. These are highly effective at telling a short story and conveying a specific setting or emotion. They also drive maximum in-unit engagement. One advertising agency found that cinemagraph content tends to have more virality, with 71% higher organic reach than still photographs. Don’t believe us? Check out this case study or this one.
3. Make It Personable! Build Trust.
Holidays can be the most amazing, yet most stressful time of the year for families – especially given the last two years. As a brand, bringing a “human” and empathetic touch to your messaging can make your holiday campaigns more attractive and build trust with your consumers. When asked by eMarketer which emotions were most effective at making consumers feel connected to brands, admiration and trust were the overwhelming choice. Gain trust by being personable and building a connection with your consumers. This can be through family-forward images, warm and inviting copy, and inspirational content and stories. Don’t forget the importance of brand safety tech controls – i.e. where your ad is placed on the page – consumers can quickly lose trust in your brand if it’s placed next to unsavory and/or user-generated content.
4. Count on Heavy Ecommerce Holiday Shopping
Last year proved that consumers were just as – if not more – willing to spend money online while shopping for the holidays. Even with the ability to shop in-store this year, ecommerce will continue to grow, and forecasts predict record-breaking ecommerce sales this holiday season. So it is essential for small and local businesses that are online to see how Local Search Engine Optimization can work at this time, as well as take on other digital marketing steps. It would be important for them to start this off just before the season begins so it can have enough time to reach their intended audience and drum up business. They may also want to change their payment processing system if their current one has had faults, they do not want to have a jam or issue as the season begins because it could lose them money. Checking out websites like https://www.easypaydirect.com/merchant-accounts/high-risk-merchant-accounts/ as well as similar others, can show them what is available for the type of business they have.
Retail ecommerce sales are projected to make up 18.9% of total holiday retail sales, up from 17.5% last year according to eMarketer. Thanksgiving Day ecommerce sales are expected to hit a whopping $6.21 billion, per eMarketer forecasts. (For reference, Thanksgiving Day ecommerce sales reached $4.13 billion just two years ago in 2019.) And as we mentioned, Cyber Monday was the heaviest online spending day in history, rising 15.6% to $10.78 billion. This continued through the end of the year, especially online, driving a dramatic 47% increase in ecommerce sales during the traditional holiday season, according to Facebook.
5. Help Holiday Shoppers With Context Discovery
Half of all shoppers polled by Facebook experienced some difficulty knowing what to buy for others, while 63% of global shoppers surveyed enjoyed discovering items they weren’t actively looking for. Call it Discovery Commerce, online discovery, point of intent, content marketing – the point is the same: consumers want a bit of help when it comes to shopping, and there’s no shame in that. So, when you are planning your advertisements this season with your chosen resource, whether that be though a company like Creatopy or an in-house team, you will want to discuss the range that you can do for your customers so they can be helped along.
Creating digital ads – discovery aides – that help shoppers determine what to buy based on what they are likely to love (thanks to context clues and audience groups, for example) is crucial to success. Maximizing contextual targeting and context-driven optimization will ensure your ads and content find your target shoppers. Make your consumers’ holiday shopping job easier. Don’t just meet them at their needs; anticipate them.
6. Black Friday is Starting Early This Year – So Get Ahead
Companies are coming out with Black Friday deals earlier and earlier every year! Do not miss the chance to jump ahead on early deals in order to gain the attention of your target market – because they’ll be more likely to shop with you. New data from Criteo found that 30% of consumers will try a new online store because of early holiday deals, and one-quarter of consumers research purchases one month before their Black Friday buys. Amazon has already started rolling out their Black Friday Deals, and “when the biggest power in ecommerce sets an early start to a shopping season, others quickly follow to avoid missing out.”
by Charlotte Otremba | January 17, 2018 | Product and Technology | 0 Comments
2017 has been a pivotal year for the ad tech industry. P&G executive Marc Pritchard set the tone for the year in January when he declared that it is time for digital to grow up and clean up its act. Since this call for transparency and safety, leading brands,...
by Charlotte Otremba | September 1, 2021 | Content, Native Advertising | 0 Comments
B2B sales during coronavirus are holding steady thanks to ecommerce. Adapting to work-from-home and digital events is key. The golden opportunity is digital advertising, according to data.
by Charlotte Otremba | April 11, 2022 | Content | 0 Comments
Here’s what you need to know to plan your Father’s Day campaigns this year. Trends, data, & strategy recommendations to set you up for success.
by Missy Steiner | July 10, 2017 | Native Advertising | 0 Comments
Enhance Your Visual Storytelling with Captivating ImagesWhat is a Cinemagraph? Cinemagraph literally means part cinema (moving image) and part photograph (static image). The format combines the movement of a video with the stillness of an image. One part of the image...
by Charlotte Otremba | September 29, 2017 | Product and Technology | 0 Comments
Back in May of this year, the IAB released their guidance around what would be their next initiative to protect advertisers, publishers and consumers against ad fraud. Ads.txt, put simply, is a text file that domains publish as a publicly accessible notice that...
by Karl | August 13, 2019 | Product and Technology | 0 Comments
I didn’t start out hating the term “Quality Assurance,” but “Quality” had to transform from gatekeeper to integral collaborator.
by Charlotte Otremba | July 23, 2018 | Content, Culture, Native Advertising | 0 Comments
We told you what NOT to do…now here are some top tips for what you SHOULD do. [b]+studio is back with the top 5 tips for writing headlines for Native ads or “sponsored posts.” Read more!
by Charlotte Otremba | Jul, 2021 | Native Advertising
We asked Bidtellect’s in-house creative services team for their mandatory tips for maximum holiday creative engagement. Remember, no matter how great your platform’s placement and optimization capabilities, bad creative will kill engagement faster than you can say “naughty list.”
It’s also a process – a circle of refreshing copy and images. Make creative recommendations throughout campaigns to optimize performance. “Going live” is just the beginning.
BTW, scroll down to download our onesheet!
1. It’s the Happiest Time of Year – Keep it Positive!
Keep it positive! Use positive adjectives in headlines coupled with happy images to increase CTR. Cold, monotone creatives do not bring joy. Bonus: add puns or rhymes to make it even more…puntastic.
2. Refresh Your Holiday Creatives Constantly
Switch up your holiday creative assets! Better yet: rotate based on the event, as you count down to Black Friday, that big holiday sale, or new holiday release. Bidtellect’s advanced platform optimizes to best-performing creatives (read more on Dynamic Creative Optimization) and our team will manually rotate creatives to find your best performance.
3. Keep the Holidays Front of Mind
‘Tis the season: remember to include at least one holiday reference in the image or copy, or you’ll risk seeming out of the loop (as well as suffering poor engagement).
Use the concept of “gift guides.” Offer helpful, valuable tips and create content that’s great to drive to. Think: find the perfect gift for “X” which doubles as calling out the targeted demographic, but in a fun, holiday way. Be a holiday thought leader – and help your shoppers out!
4. Make Sure You Offer Deals and Promotions in Your Headline
Everybody loves a sale – especially during the holidays! So include deals, discounts, incentives, and reward programs in your holiday creative copy. Bidtellect’s [b]+studio consistently sees highest performance for headlines including a discount. Examples: promo codes, flash sales, bundle deals, free shipping, etc. Combine promotions (discounts or a special offer) with the shipping deadlines to incentivize your customers to start shopping. If you have the budget for it, you could go a step ahead and expand the geographic zones you ship to. Whether it’s Truck transport to Slovenia, or cargo plane shipping to Thailand, you will have it covered. International shipping can be a big plus for your brand, and the reason why some people would choose you over a competitor. As long as you make sure your packaging materials, e.g. plastic boxes are sturdy and can withstand constant moving and handling, then you should have happy returning customers. This can potentially increase your customer base to include most of the world! Offering affordable shopping and shipping options to your customers could also encourage them to shop for more. Further, most predict consumers will start shopping even earlier this year.
5. Which Images and Creative Units Perform Best?
Photographs perform better than animated images. Always! On that note, children, pets, and people in images perform best. Smile! Go solo: if using images with products, one solo “feature” product performs better than a group. That said, get hold of a professional photographer, perhaps someone from the likes of Evelyn Images (click here to learn more about them), who can give it their best shot for you. Remember that the key to grabbing the attention of customers is to use lively, colourful, and meaningful images. For instance, if you are selling Christmas decorations, then the best way to go about it would be to feature a little kid who is busy decorating their Christmas tree.
Besides this, take your static images up a notch with cinemegraphs, scroller units, and carousel units. These are highly effective at telling a short story and conveying a specific setting or emotion. They also drive maximum in-unit engagement. One advertising agency found that cinemagraph content tends to have more virality, with 71% higher organic reach than still photographs. Don’t believe us? Check out this case study or this one.
6. And Finally…
CHECK YOUR SPELLING AND GRAMMAR. Misspelled words and grammar errors (unless it’s a common colloquial phrase) are a bad look.
P.S. “Your” is possessive, while “you’re” is a contraction for “you are.” Apostrophe before an “s” indicates a possessive noun; drop the apostrophe for plural, i.e. Happy Holidays!”
by Hannah | February 24, 2022 | Content, Product and Technology | 0 Comments
Bidtellect is excited to announce its expanded partnership with Bombora for the industry’s most precise and comprehensive cookieless B2B targeting capabilities for advertisers.
by Karl | November 12, 2019 | Product and Technology | 0 Comments
Whether you’re ready to switch to automation testing or not, here’s everything you need to know to make the switch worthwhile (and profitable).
by Luke | May 17, 2018 | Native Advertising, Product and Technology | 0 Comments
In a nutshell, the GDPR establishes rules on how companies, governments, and other entities can process the personal data of EU citizens or residents. Here, we breakdown relevant elements of the new multi-faceted regulation and what it means for SSPs and DSPs, including Bidtellect.
by Charlotte Otremba | Jul, 2019 | Native Advertising
Planning campaigns for the busiest shopping day of the year need not be overwhelming (we promise!) We put together everything you need to know as you prepare for Black Friday 2K19.
Here are the stats that matter from Black Friday Shopping Season 2018:
Black Friday 2018 (Thanksgiving Day plus Black Friday) raked in $9.9 billion in online sales – a 19.7% increase over 2017
(Adobe Analytics)
$6.2 billion spent on Black Friday and $3.7 billion spent on Thanksgiving (a growth of 28% year over year)
(Adobe Analytics)
14.8 million online transactions were processed on Black Friday 2018 and 13.7 million were processed on Thanksgiving
(Hitwise).
Average per-person spending was $313.29 during Thanksgiving weekend 2018 ($217 spent on gifts)
(NRF)
The Buy Online, Pickup In-Store (BOPIS) model saw a 50% increase year-over-year during Thanksgiving weekend 2018
(Adobe Analytics)
Retailers with physical stores drove 28% higher conversions online
(Adobe Analytics)
Mobile represented 51.4% of site visits (43.6% smartphones, 7.8% tablets) making it the first Cyber Monday where more than half of visits came from mobile.
(Adobe Analytics)
Mobile accounted for 34% of revenue (26.3% smartphones, 7.7% tablets)
(Adobe Analytics)
What does it mean for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday Holiday Shopping Strategy? We’re so glad you asked!
Scale: Don’t Restrict Inventory and Set Aside Your Biggest Budget
The most reach is critical.
Black Friday weekend raked in $9.9 billion in online sales and counted 28.5 million online transactions. That means a massive amount of shoppers are already ready and willing to shop online. Now is the time to go big or go home. Set aside a large budget.
Run nationally-targeted campaigns utilizing all 3 ad formats (in-feed, recommendation widget, and in-ad) across all 3 devices (desktop, tablet, and mobile) to ensure we are able to find relevant users at any time on any device.
Get access to as many placements as possible. Bidtellect is partnered with more than 30 supply partners for the most expansive network in the ecosystem, which means access to 58 million distinctly targetable placements and 10 billion Native auctions daily.
Performance: Optimize and Measure Post-Click for Qualified Site Traffic
It’s not enough to reach far and wide – aim for more qualified site traffic with placement level optimization, dynamic creative optimization (DCO) and qualified engagement measurement. Dive deeper into the success of your Native Advertising campaign by using Bidtellect’s Engagement Score, unique proprietary technology for a deeper understanding of consumer engagement, so you can measure and optimize towards post-click engagement metrics such as page views, bounce rate and time spent on site.
Creative Insights: Copy + Image Matters For Maximum Engagement
[b]+studio is Bidtellect’s award-winning in-house creative team and they are experts in creating copy and images that draw in consumers and lead them to your content. Based on Black Friday (and all year long) performance, here’s what you should know:
- Include a promotional code
- Be sure there’s a holiday reference in the images or copy
- Children, pets, and people in images perform best
- If using images with products, one solo “feature” product performs better than a group of products
- Photographs perform better than animated images
- Content/Thought Leadership: offer tips for the best gifts or creative ideas.
.
This was a best-performing Black Friday 2018 image with an eCPA of $2.16.
This was a best-performing Black Friday 2018 image with an eCPA of $2.31.
Consider the Customer Journey: Target and Retarget
Since a consideration cycle is generally required to make a purchase – especially with so many choices and sales during Black Friday weekend – supplement a prospecting strategy with retargeting to drive prospects back to the site to purchase. Make it even easier to buy online and pick up in store, too. The (BOPIS) model saw a 50% increase.
Account for Mobile
It should be obvious, but maybe it isn’t. Before setting up campaigns, check that the landing pages you will be directing traffic to are as mobile-friendly as possible, from easy scrolling to readability to ease of purchasing products. Mobile represented 51.4% of site visits and accounted for 34% of revenue.
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by Charlotte Otremba | May, 2019 | Content, Native Advertising
The first Father’s Day was celebrated in Spokane in 1910, but it wasn’t until President Calvin Coolidge officially established Father’s Day as a national event in 1924 that it became a dedicated holiday to “establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations” (U.S. Census). Now a day of celebration and – yes – gift giving, here are some tips to get your campaigns ready for the upcoming shopping rush to honor dear ol’ dads!
1. Know Your Numbers
We’ll help you out with this one. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, roughly 6 in 10 men in the U.S. are fathers – that’s 75 million! Of those, 54% have adult children who are at least 18 years old and 1 in 4 men are grandfathers.
2. Who’s Shopping?
An estimated 77% of Americans will celebrate Father’s Day (t: 1. Drive Sales, 2. Drive Traffic to Blog Content, and 3. Offer-Driven Creative. Get your ad campaigns ready: make sure your creative is relevant and up-to-date, reflecting the holiday and any sales or special offers (some tips in here: What NOT To Do: 6 Creative Practices to AVOID When Writing Your Next Native Headlines!). If you’re working with a platform like Bidtellect, we can optimize towards these goals for you, ensuring that your Father’s Day campaigns are bringing consumers to high-quality content and – most importantly – helping your bottom line.
4. What Kind of Gifts Are They Buying?
According to NRF spending data, here’s a ranking of Father’s Day Gifts based on highest spend:
- “Special Outing” gift (concert, sporting event or dinner) ($3.2 billion)
- Clothing ($2.2 billion)
- Gift cards ($2.1 billion)
- Consumer electronic ($1.8 billion)
- Home improvement supplies ($878 million)
Offer some gift ideas within each of these categories in a blog post or article and distribute it as Native Ads! For example, in the category of home improvement, you might go for some of the best acrylic prints to advertise as decorations within the home. Dads love this! They love little DIY projects and making their home their own. In other words, anything they can get their hands on, such as fixing something, making something from scratch, or even placing wallpaper in the interiors, they might be interested. Therefore, anything in this department would go down a treat no doubt. You could even go ahead and help him out by procuring some landscaping supplies like from suppliers who could provide you materials similar to gravel richmond va to beautify your driveway or garden! There is no greater pleasure than helping your dad out in the things he loves the most. Be it Father’s Day, or any normal day – this should never go out of practice. After all, it is the simple things that we do that matters the most to them. That said, we’re very lucky to have a host of options online these days, to give us some simple ideas that our dads would love, no matter which category we choose. This does two things: establishes you as a thought leader during the holiday and increases the likelihood of engagement and sales! (Just see those stats below).
⇒ Wondering what kind of article? Try a Listicle!
5. Content Matters
As we always say… Content matters. Consumers are much more likely to buy from a brand they trust, are an expert, or they have built a relationship with – especially when it comes to gifts for someone they care about! Content makes consumers 131% more likely to buy (Twitter via Nudge); content can help double website conversion rates from 6% to 12% (Shopify) and marketers who prioritize blogging are 13x more likely to generate a positive ROI (Shopify).
Happy Father’s Day!
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