What's your retargeting strategy?

Obviously I've been busy at work the last few months...especially since the last blog I wrote was in mid-October!

Trying to think through all the projects I've been working on and something that's relevant enough to share here. Yes, I realize it's Christmas Eve and I'm blogging. I'm also enjoying a delicious ice cold beverage. I would tell you what it is, but I'd rather you guess :)

I'd like to talk about retargeting. We currently don't tackle this with our online ad campaigns (non-marketing related concerns). I think it could be of great value in future campaigns. But I also don't want to create a retargeting campaign that's highly annoying.

Would you like to hear an example of a highly annoying retargeting ad campaign? I'll share...there's a particular site I have shopped for mens underwear. May not seem like a huge deal, but the last thing I want to see when I'm visiting other sites are half naked models in banner ads trying to get me to come back to their site and buy underwear. I don't know if they spend TONS of cash on these ads, but they seem to be everywhere until I delete cookies.

Which brings me to my point or question. Does anyone know if you're able to moderate retargeting ads? I'm very interested in giving them a try, but def want to reduce the annoyance factor. Mainly: there must be a way that the ads know exactly who I am, and know if I'm not clicking, and therefore would stop displaying the ad, right? If not, then I may not be quite ready to take the dive and try retargeting just yet.

Would anyone share their strategy with retargeting ads?

Haters gonna hate

Something I cannot figure out, and maybe you know the answer. More and more people tell me all the time (at least those in the professional digital marketing arena) that they don't like Facebook. They say that Facebook is annoying and is being taken over by brands. I even recently heard that the growth on Facebook isn't new users, it's actually for new brands and other type pages.

So, if all this is really true, and I could see that it very well could be...where is social media headed? At some point, these websites need to make money - and I understand that. If you ask me, the launch of Facebook ads is what started its demise. Now it's overrun with ads and sponsored posts...and don't worry, I add to that as well; with content as relevant as I can possibly contribute! :)

Twitter is starting to allow masses to sponsor tweets and accounts - so, in theory, they could be next to go down the drain when anyone and their dog can start spamming your already cluttered feed.

Instagram is discussing the idea of allowing brands to upload "high quality" pictures into your feed (as an ad). As you may know, Facebook is their parent company, so adding an advertising element is not much of a surprise.

I could go on and on about how this is potentially bad for social media, but I don't think I even need to continue my rant...because it's endless.

I suppose my only question would be: will the big social networks actually ALLOW a user to pay a subscription fee to avoid ads? I mean, in the old days, (ha) that's how it was done. You got an ad-free experience for paying a membership or subscription fee. Or, will social media networks continue to be ad hungry and once they realize they have hooked some users at a fast pace, unleash an advertising network.

Again, I get it. They need to turn a profit. But at what cost? Geocities what? Myspace where?

Expert schmecktert

I just need to put something out there. Digital marketing, social media, email campaigns - and everything in between...continue to evolve daily. DAILY. DAILY.

Thank you for reading the word "daily" three times.

I have something to get off my chest to those folks that call themselves 'experts'. Yes. I'm talking about the people that are "self proclaimed" experts in digital anything. I don't think you can really claim to be an expert when things change daily.

That said, I do think it is okay to accept that as a compliment. For example, if a peer or another digital marketeer said "Josh, you rock out digital marketing. You're the only one I know with this type of expertise and skill set. You're a valuable asset to our organization and the marketing community."

To that I would say, thank you. BUT I think it's something totally different to claim to be an expert at something that changes daily, and you KNOW it changes.

Another example. Let's say you're a barista at Starbucks. Can you be an expert barista? Absolutely. Brewing the perfect cup of coffee is a craft. You have to learn how, and for the most part, things don't change. You've got beans, water and a machine of your choice. You can choose to use that same machine the rest of your life and still make and sell coffee and have it be delicious (just make sure you clean the filters on occasion).

I hope there are others that agree with me. If not, they are probably experts in digital marketing.

Don't Cry Wolf

I'll get straight to the point on this one. If you're complaining about a brand, experience or something similar in social media, I find it difficult to consider your feedback as genuine when I see your compliant and proceed to review your ultra-negative tweet feed.

As a helpful hint, don't abuse your social media channels, especially twitter. Granted, once you post it, it immediately becomes old news. However, for those of us who find a single tweet interesting, if we comb through your other tweets and find that you will rant about anything and everything, without a genuine contribution to the digital community, you lose credability very quickly.

Use your brain when you post. Also, if you can't fit it into 140 characters, link your followers to a blog. Tweeting 5 tweets back to back, telling your story on twitter is rather annoying and defeats the purpose of twitter. It's called microblogging for a reason!

Uh oh, I just blogged a negative blog about negative tweeting. #doublestandard

Digicoma

Perhaps my blog died for MONTHS. #awkward

I just pulled up my blog to see when the last time I posted was, and it was May. Ummmm yeah, it's September. I've been very busy, apparently. On a personal note, we moved (bought a new house, sold the other one)...and we're now living in a new city/state. Not that that's an excuse to not blog, but I suppose I feel this blog has a specific purpose, less about me and more about ppc. So perhaps it's time that I muddied the water a bit and mixed the two. After all, I am just a person...that happens to love digital marketing, social media and ppc. Therefore, I am going to try and fill in the gaps with personal garbage. Now that I've done that...

I think I'm going to talk about Facebook Newsfeed ads. I have a love/hate relationship with those new bugers. If you haven't tried them yet, I'd encourage you to put on a suit of armor (if your get your feelings hurt easily) and give it a try!

I can't recall when FB NF ads came to the real world, but my guess is that it was spring/summer 2013. We decided to give them a try during a summer promotion. My thought was that I wanted to have some of my ads displaying in people's newsfeeds. You know, like all the other cool ads I see on my iPhone 5. (PS - I ordered the 5s and it arrives tomorrow!!)

Ahem, back to NF ads, what I've seen so far with these ads is that they get much fewer impressions but an AWESOME CTR, specifically when you compare them to the right column ads. So, that is really cool, right? People see your ad and actually click on it and check out stuff on your landing page. I even saw a few conversions - which, considering we were asking them to fill out a rather extensive application, I was impressed with.

That said, now it's time for Debbie Downer to weigh in...and this is what you'll need your suit of armor for - the comments. Yes, people can comment on those bad boys. I guess I didn't really think that part all the way through. As many of us know, the newsfeed ads reach beyond your current fb fan base. Therefore, people that DON'T like your page see the ad - and also get the opportunity to tell you what they think. As some of the people that I work with would say, it's like putting an ad in front of someone and handing them a microphone and saying "what do you think of this?" Most digital advertising doesn't allow for people to comment or interact with you, so just be ready for that. You'll probably want your social media manager involved to help you monitor those ads and the comments. We saw questions about "how do I get this" to "here is my phone number, will you call me?"  Yes, I can't make this up. That all happened.

I don't have the strength to share with you some of the comments we saw that were negative. That comes from anyone that has had a negative experience with your brand and has chosen to take their business elsewhere...and then they see your ad and it brings up all those old feelings. Similar to seeing your ex at the bar - doesn't matter if you just broke up or if it's been 3 years, you still have those feelings.

I'd say, there is a value in using newsfeed ads in your digital marketing strategy, and they have a higher success/click rate than the traditional right column Facebook ads. Just be ready for the social aspect if you give them a try. They are not "set it and forget it" type ads.

Cart before the horse

Something I've noticed over the past year is that sometimes other marketing folks get so caught up in the concept of AdWord campaigns (or advertising online with banner ads) that they focus solely on what their ads will look like or say without thinking through what the "end game" will be.

Think of it like this: you just inherited some land from your uncle.  The land is a blank slate.  While you need some main roads to get to the house, you aren't going to decide on where to put the driveway until you have a blueprint for your house.  I mean, sure you could try and pave a driveway before laying the foundation and putting up walls, but that's pretty risky...especially if you haven't even designed the house yet!

The same goes for online advertising.  You shouldn't focus on all these amazing ads without knowing where people are going to "go" or what the landing page will look like (yes, they can be totally amazing ads and I still will feel this way).  Sure you can build any campaign around the ads, but that really doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  The best way (as with traditional marketing) is to design and determine what your marketing campaign and offer will be - then write and design your ads.  Creating your ads afterwards will also help you ensure that the customer's experience will be fluid and consistent and therefore much more likely to result in a conversion (aka a sale)!

So, in conclusion, anytime you're getting ready to initiate a digital ad campaign, as yourself this important question: "What do I want the customer to do?" - that will help you determine call to actions on your page, which will then help you write text and display ad copy.

Design your landing page then design your ads.

Facebook, memes and likes

It seems that Facebook has become the breeding ground for advertising, memes and sharing of interests.  When I first began using Facebook in 2007 I thought of the site as a way to keep up with friends and family.  While I can still keep up with friends, it seems my Newsfeed is constantly clogged with political posts, memes and other irrellavent information.  I believe there is a difference between sharing information about yourself, and sharing each and every single thing that you "like" or find interesting in the social environment.  It's beginning to remind me a bit of Myspace with how junky it is.  I really hope Facebook doesn't continue down this path...

What do you think?  Have you noticed the same thing?

Welcome to my new blog

I have decided to start this blog to share and discuss digital marketing, social media marketing and other digital advertising interests.  I hope you take some time and comment on some of the content here.

In case you are wondering, Klug is German for smart/clever.  The word expert is a little much to describe anyone that has a hand in online marketing and adverting, since it's an ever-changing world.  However, I do believe myself to be educated on various best practices.  Oh, and my last name is of German origin.

I enjoy social media and spending time with my dog Cassie...nevermind the fact that she is one of the most renowned escape artists of her time.  #magician