How are Businesses Advertising in 2020? (Original Research) • Perfect Audience Blog

Research of the Week filters through hundreds of research studies and finds the most interesting and thought-provoking research for marketing professionals. Then we provide practical strategies and tips on how to apply the research to influence your marketing programs. Enjoy!

This week we bring you primary research from Perfect Audience. Perfect Audience is committed to collecting primary data and research to help our clients and the entire marketing community understand what is working, and not working, in digital advertising.

The research study, The State of Programmatic Advertising, was a joint venture with Ascend2, a leading research company. The study was fielded in May 2020 and represents the opinions of 213 marketing professionals from businesses with up to 500 employees.

With advancements in the online ad-buying process, businesses now have access to tools that give them the ability to harness the power of data and apply it systematically to increase conversions from online ads.

But what are the strategies and tactics behind how businesses are using programmatic advertising? In the next few weeks, we will share with you what we learned from the survey and provide valuable tips and insights on how you can use the research to influence your decisions.

The first data set we will review is the primary objectives of a programmatic advertising program.

For results-driven businesses, a well-executed programmatic advertising program provides a channel for increasing their bottom line with maximum efficiency. Driving sales and generating leads are top priorities when executing an online ad-buying program for 57% and 48% of businesses with up to 500 employees.

QUICK TIP from the research: When determining your primary objectives, you must define the purpose of your campaign. Campaigns should have a single objective (drive sales, generate leads, brand awareness), and each objective requires a specific strategy. Each program requires a unique ad set, landing page, call-to-action, and metrics to measure success.

More Insight on Primary Objectives of Programmatic Advertising Programs

An advertising campaign can only serve one purpose, so make sure you identify what the purpose is for your campaign. Is it driving sales? Lead generation? Brand awareness? Social engagement? Something else? Whatever it is, make sure you and your team are laser-focused on the purpose before you start creating ads, building landing pages, targeting audiences, setting-up the campaign, and launching the campaign.

Here is a brief description of the top three objectives from the survey:

Sales

For a sales campaign, you must have a compelling offer and call-to-action. Create a landing page that matches the ad. Use retargeting to reengage with prospects. And always be testing. Test the offer, product, etc.

Lead Generation

Lead generation campaigns are designed to attract new customers who are interested in your product or services. These campaigns will take individuals from an ad to a landing page with a single purpose: collect information that can be used to nurture a lead to a sales opportunity. Your conversion is when an individual takes action on your landing page. For example, that action may be to download an ebook. You will want high-quality content as your magnet to get a conversion.

Brand Awareness

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as, “A name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.” A brand awareness campaign can build trust, make your company recognizable, and associate your brand with a daily routine action (quench thirst = Coke). Like lead generation campaigns, quality content is critical for brand awareness campaigns.

Would you like to meet with Perfect Audience and discuss the objective and strategy for your next campaign? If you want to discuss your programmatic advertising strategy, the Perfect Audience team is available to meet with you. Click here to schedule a meeting.