OOH Advertising: Take Your Campaigns Into the World

Written by: Danielle Gazda

Traditional out-of-home marketing (known as OOH advertising) and digital marketing can coexist and complement each other for your brand’s benefit. Blend the digital and real world together to boost brand awareness, drive campaign success, and promote products and services.

What Is OOH Advertising?

OOH advertising brings your brand directly to the people — specifically, to your audience. Out-of-home advertising goes beyond TV ads and placements in magazines. Instead, it’s about advertising where people are. You passively experience ads every day — from billboards you pass on the highway to planes carrying banners over the beach. Physical ads can still be very effective in this digital age, even when given a digital twist.

Where Can OOH Ads Be Placed?

OOH ads are made for high-traffic areas. The most common places are centered around transportation. Transportation OOH ads can take the form of various types of billboards, and they can be seen on bus shelters and benches, in airports, on top of taxis, and on wrapped vehicles. Other options are more visually dynamic, such as drone shows, murals, skywriting, and wild posters. The last main group of ad locations are experimental. These are more closely related to the type of brand you represent. These can include coffee cup sleeves, coffee or ice cream trucks, or various types of walk-through experiences. The key is advertising where you are in front of your audience.

What Do You Need to Consider When Placing OOH Ads?

Demographic Locations

OOH ads are typically placed in high-traffic public locations. But high traffic doesn’t necessarily mean immediate or considerable success. Your ad placement should not be based only on exposure or foot traffic but also on the demographic you’re targeting. You want to make sure you’re ads are located where your target audience works and commutes from. 

Telling a Story

The story told needs to be succinct and eye-catching, whether you decide to advertise on a billboard, a transit location, or a pizza box. The decision is brand specific, of course, but there are a number of options between both imagery and text to choose from. For text, there can be no wording, one word, a short phrase, or a brand slogan. For imagery, you can choose a bestselling item, the brand’s logo, go bold with vibrant colors, or go bold by being minimalist. The choice is yours, but telling the right story is what will transform awareness into conversions.

How Do I Integrate Digital Marketing With OOH Advertising?

Geolocation Data

There are numerous OOH ads that blend digital and traditional advertising methods. These are often kiosk-style boards like those found at bus stations or in malls, as well as digital billboards such as those found in Times Square. Ads can adapt to target consumers based on information discovered through carrier data, mobile ad networks, GPS, mapping apps, sensors, and beacons. This data offers a host of opportunities for retargeting, as well. 48% of consumers exposed to an OOH ad are more likely to click on a mobile ad for the same brand according to studies.

Digital Add-Ons

Brands can directly integrate digital marketing with OOH ads. A great example of this is adding a QR code to your advertisement. You can send people to download your app, straight to your website, or to a social media page. It makes the transition quick and easy without the consumer having to do the work of finding you. There are other straightforward methods of adding your website URL, social media handle, or physical address to your ad to achieve the same goal. It’s always a good idea to test these methods to see what consumers respond to the best.

If you’re interested in integrating your digital marketing strategy with OOH advertising, reach out to the 270M team to learn more about our latest service. Contact us at info@thisis270m.com or visit our website.

How to Utilize Google Analytics for Your Business

By: Danielle Gazda

Google Analytics is a free website traffic tracking tool. It takes user information gathered from each page of your website and compiles it into reports that help you analyze it. You can discover demographic details, bounce rates for each page, and much more. Most importantly, this information allows you to make better-informed decisions about products and user experience.

You can also connect your Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts to combine user engagement ad campaign data with website data.

Here’s what you need to know:

Tracking Code

After you’ve created your account, Google Analytics will provide you with a piece of G4 tracking code that you’ll need to embed on each page type of your website. This is what enables Google Analytics to gather user data from your website.

The Hierarchy

Here are some primary terms to know after you’ve set up your Google Analytics account.

  • Account- Having an account is mandatory. You’ll provide some general information that relays what type of company you have.
  • Property- For each account, you can determine “Property,” which can either be a website or an app. If your company utilizes multiple websites or a website and an app, they will have to be set as separate properties. They will each receive their own unique G4 codes. You can combine data later in Reports.
  • View- Under each property, you’ll need to set up your “Views.” These determine what data Google Analytics looks at and pulls to process into reports. Limiting a View too much will result in missing information. Always keep a view of “Raw Data,” which contains no limiting factors, and another view that excludes internal company traffic and bots. 

Once this hierarchy has been established and code embedded, you can run Real-Time reports to see the metrics coming in. However, you won’t be able to generate accurate reports until after a few days later — it takes some time to gather enough data to make meaningful reports.

Dimensions and Metrics

Now we get into how to read the data you’re seeing in reports. Most of it is broken down into Dimensions and Metrics. These are the different user variables Google Analytics learns about and reports on.

  • Dimensions- Dimensions are categories of demographic information. This can include the browser and device being used, landing and exit pages, as well as specific user information, like location and customer type.
  • Metrics- Metrics are the quantifiable data that is collected. This includes information about sessions, session duration, page views, conversions, bounce rates, and numbers of new and returning users.

You also can make custom dimensions and metrics if there is specific data you want to see that are not standard options Google Analytics offers.

Reports

There are five different categories of reports: Real-Time, Audience, Acquisition, Behavior, and Conversions. Each report has an overview and then provides various breakdowns of the information.

  • Real-Time Reports provide you with insight into what’s happening on your website at that exact moment. This report won’t be used often. It’s good for checking performance when you implement new filters to ensure everything is running properly.
  • Audience Reports allow you to go deeper into the difference between new and returning users. It digs into demographic, geographic, and behavioral information. These can help inform your ad campaigns as you learn what your audiences are interested in.
  • Acquisition Reports break down traffic by the source. A source is what brought your user to your website. It includes organic, direct, referral, email, social, paid search, display, affiliate, and (Other).
  • Behavior Reports provide you with information about how users interact with your website. Some basics are Landing Pages, Exiting Pages, Page Speeds, Search Terms, as well as sessions and events.
  • Conversions Reports share user behavior as it relates to e-commerce business goals. First, you’ll have to establish goals in Google Analytics. These goals can include newsletter subscriptions, adding products to cart, completing an order, or making an account. If your website is for e-commerce, this will be important to set up.

Conclusion

Google Analytics is a great tool for any business with a website, whether it’s a company site, e-commerce site, blog, or any combination of these. If you have goals for how users will interact with your website, Google Analytics provides detailed reports about users and their behavior to help you optimize your website and ad campaigns.

Would you prefer to have a team manage Google Analytics setup and reports for you? 270M can handle all of your digital marketing needs. Contact us on our website, or email us at info@thisis270m.com.

Should My Brand Be Present on All Social Media Platforms?

By: Sydney Rikk

With so many trending social media platforms, it can feel overwhelming to try and manage multiple accounts. Between the time and the effort it takes to create content and engage with followers, are the results worth it? Does it make sense for your company to have Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn? What about adding a TikTok account to your plate?

It is one thing to grow a following; it is a whole other game to grow an engaged following. At the end of the day, the most important thing to remember, in order to have the most engagement and support for your brand, is that quality is better than quantity. To help determine what platforms you should use, follow these three steps.

  1. Know your audience

In order to attract the right audience, research which social media platforms your desired target is most likely to engage with. For example, older demographics tend to use Facebook, while younger audiences are more attracted to Instagram and TikTok.

Here is a helpful chart by MarketingCharts.com that displays which demographics use which platforms most frequently.

      2. Outline your goals

Deciding on the goals you want to achieve can help you determine which social media platforms to use. Think about whether you’re looking for another way to engage with your target audience on a more personal level, looking to attract new customers or demographics that you weren’t previously speaking to, or simply wanting to learn more about the market you are trying to attract. Narrowing down your desired outcomes can help you gauge which platforms will best fit your brand’s wants and needs.

      3. Create effect content

Twitter is known for memes and brief, clever messages. TikTok is known for short video clips. Pinterest is a visual masterpiece of all kinds of topics. Instagram is known for sharing images partnered with a caption. Knowing what content you are interested in creating and sharing can also narrow down your choice of what platforms to focus on. Creating effective content that your target audience will enjoy viewing will result in a higher engagement rate. 

Once you work through these three steps, you will have a better understanding of which platforms will be most effective and beneficial for your brand. There is no need to spend time and effort on platforms that don’t target your audience or provide positive results. Quality over quantity will lead your accounts to success.

How to Get Started With Instagram Reels for Your Business

By: Charlotte Dwyer

Reels are quickly becoming a staple in the Instagram world. These short, entertaining videos are a great way to connect with your audience while showcasing what you and your business have to offer. Getting started with Instagram Reels can be daunting, but we are here to offer some of our favorite tips for mastering the form. 

  • Use current popular songs and sounds 

This is one of the most important tips to remember when starting your Reels journey. When you use a popular sound or song, your reel gets tagged to that particular sound on Instagram. This ensures that your reel will be exposed to more people, since it is likely that users will be looking for reels that use those trendy sounds. Each day, look at some reels and make a note of the most popular songs and sounds that they feature. Then, use those sounds to brainstorm ideas for your brand.

  • Repurpose old stories, videos, or TikToks for Reels 

Getting started with Reels can be challenging at first. The field is crowded, and having to constantly come up with fresh, new ideas for content can be overwhelming. But there is no need to reinvent the wheel … um, reel, that is. This form is perfect for using old or unused content. For example, you can use photos to create a slideshow, or take an interview that was done with you about your business and use relevant clips from it in a reel.

  • Use closed captioning 

Many people scroll through Instagram Reels without having the sound on, so they will be more drawn to videos that have closed captions on them. This quick fix will allow people to engage with your content, even if they are unable to listen to it.

  • Make your product or service the highlight of your reels

Reels are fabulous for showcasing what you have to offer. You can explain in-depth what your business does or take the time to show your audience details about your product.

  • Put titles on the cover photos for your reels 

If someone is interested in your business on Instagram, they may navigate to the Reels tab on your profile. By including a title explaining what each reel is about on the cover photo, people are more likely to watch and engage.

  1. Don’t get too serious 

Reels are ideal for showing the personality of your brand. Have fun with them! Play into popular trends and show that your brand wants to truly connect with potential customers. 

If you are still unsure of exactly how to use Instagram Reels or how this form can benefit your business, 270M is always here to help. We have experience in the creation of Reels for a variety of clients and businesses and would be more than happy to assist you!

Instagram’s New Plans for Video

Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, consistently posts informative videos on both his Instagram and Twitter accounts, covering frequently asked questions and giving users a behind-the-scenes look at how the Instagram app is run. In late June, he posted a video stating that changes will be coming to video on Instagram, in an effort to keep up with stiff competition. In his video, he stated “We’re no longer a photo-sharing app,” adding “The number-one reason people say they use Instagram, in research, is to be entertained. So people are looking to us for that.” He continued saying “Let’s be honest, there’s some really serious competition right now. TikTok is huge, YouTube is even bigger, and there’s lots of other upstarts as well. And so if people are looking to Instagram to be entertained, there’s stiff competition, and there’s more to do, then we have to embrace that. And that means change.” 

Mosseri and his team are trying to keep up with competitors like TikTok and YouTube by following in their footsteps. For example, similar to the “For You” page on TikTok, Mosseri mentioned creating “recommendations” for users, where video content from people they don’t follow would appear in their main Instagram Feed. Leaning into video as the dominant form of content on Instagram should increase overall engagement. This in turn should make Instagram more appealing to video creators.

The problem with low engagement across the Instagram app, as far as video creators are concerned, is that they have had limited opportunities. There are also other deteriorating factors when it comes to fighting for higher engagement. As seen on AdAge, our founder Sarah Remesch mentioned how influencer agencies have to “charge higher fees for Instagram influencers because they’ve had to put more paid support behind organic posts.” In comparison, it seems as if competitors like TikTok have created algorithms that work with their creators, while Instagram’s algorithms have recently been working against them. 

As it once was, Instagram is becoming more creator-friendly and creators must be ready and willing to adapt if they wish to stay relevant in the social media space.

How to Market Your Brand Based on the Season

By Nicole Holdgrafer

Despite obvious differences, the four seasons of the year all have something very important in common — at least as far as your business is concerned. Each season presents unique marketing opportunities that can help your brand thrive. Here are five tips on how you can tailor your brand or product to meet the changing seasons.

Incorporate New Designs 

Creating new designs for your brand’s packaging or promotions as the seasons change can increase brand awareness and relevancy. For example, if the peak season for your brand is summer but winter is coming up, you could incorporate designs that suggest the mood and imagery of the winter holidays into your online presence and into the product/service itself.  

Produce a Social Media Campaign 

Social media campaigns on platforms such as Facebook or Instagram generally involve a variety of content (pictures, videos, text, etc.) with an overarching theme and message. In addition, brands usually include hashtags — the hash symbol “#” followed by a distinctive word or phrase that helps users searching the platform to find posts — and will sometimes offer giveaways or contests to get customers talking about and interacting with their brand. If you’re producing a campaign for the spring, consider how this might influence your overarching message, your use of specific words and phrases, and your choice of content for this season.

Promote Your Best-Seller

With each new season, it’s likely that your brand will experience fluctuating demand for specific products and services. When you’ve identified a seasonal best-seller, consider going above and beyond in your promotional efforts. Promoting an item online that already sells well during a specific time frame can attract more traffic to your social media platforms and company website, which could eventually lead to further sales. 

Set Clear Expiration Dates Based on the Season

When hosting a giveaway, contest, or sales promotion, you can set a designated time limit based on the season. Providing a clear expiration date for your promotions creates a sense of urgency, which can encourage customers to buy before the season or a seasonal holiday ends. If you’re planning to host a summer blowout sale, for example, consider stating a clear deadline for the offer, so customers will be more likely to buy before it expires: “This Summer Blowout Sale ends at 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 31, 2021. Don’t miss out!”

Plan Ahead 

Never forget: If you snooze, you lose. Always begin brainstorming your marketing plan for the upcoming season well ahead of time. By doing this, you will have a chance to better develop your ideas, and, as a result, they will come across as more organized and original. For example, while you’re pushing out a summer campaign, you might also begin to organize your plans for fall. This way, you will have ample time to stay on top of your marketing goals, fine-tune your ideas, and, with some hard work and a bit of luck, become a trendsetter.

What is Social Commerce? What are Shoppable Posts on Social Media? How Can my Brand Implement These Strategies?

By John Quinn Hardy and Sydney Rikk

Social Commerce is a convenient tool that allows businesses to sell their products directly from their social media posts. 

With the accessibility and convenience of completing the entire transaction process on the social media platform, from discovering the product to purchasing it, the consumer no longer needs to hunt down the product from the retailer’s website. Social media apps that grant companies access to this tool include Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. The elimination of the hassle to travel from app to website to cart to profile information set up can be fixed with an easy solution, social commerce. It’s as easy as “See it, click it, buy it.”*

How do these shoppable posts work?

As you are scrolling through your Instagram feed, you come across a post where a family is sitting under a beach umbrella you’ve been needing to buy for vacation. When you tap on the post, a tag on the picture directs you to a shoppable page in the app. You click “add to cart”, go to your shopping cart, and check out. The entire process took place in the app without having to be directed to numerous web pages or having to manually search for the item on their website. The process is very similar on Facebook and Pinterest where a “buy” button is clearly displayed on the post.

The social media one stop shop creates a seamless experience for the consumer and allows businesses to directly target their audience all in one platform. 

Implementation Strategies

Understanding new avenues of exposure of your brand to the consumer is essential to growing business. Taking advantage of this new form of publication allows insight into what consumers are searching for in your products, and what areas are in need of some adjustments. The social media marketplace is a booming industry, and taking advantage of this gateway is essential to exposure.

This tool can be used to sell products directly to the consumer, regardless of if they are specifically searching for this item or not. It can also be used to “test the waters” of your brand’s consumer-response. Understanding how your product appeals/what it’s missing is better understood with realistic examples. If one product has a high click-rate response a brand might expect to tailor other products to that style. 

What Does This All Mean For You?

This relatively new technology is an open-market for brands to expand their income areas and gain attraction on platforms they might be struggling with. Whether you’re looking for increased viewing of your product or increased sales, social commerce and shoppable posts are an essential step in boosting the brands notoriety. No brands have a specific foothold on this new market, and getting ahead of the curve might just be the essential step your brand is looking for.

Want to learn more about 270M’s content management and creation? Check out our social media services!

What is LinkedIn Live and How Can my Brand Effectively Use It?

By Annie O’Rourke 

LinkedIn Live is a great tool to incorporate into your social media strategy. This technology allows your brand to connect with LinkedIn users on a more personal level. 

The Basics of LinkedIn Live 

The new LinkedIn feature allows users and company pages to broadcast themselves in current time. LinkedIn Live is accessible directly through the platform and available for all users. This technology ultimately allows users and companies to “go live” and stream a variety of concepts such as a new product launch, Q&A about relevant topics, interviews, and more. For example, a digital marketing agency may utilize LinkedIn Live to host one of their clients for an interview regarding the positive aspects that the agency is implementing into their business. To incorporate this feature into your brand’s social strategy, you need to set up the following steps.

This tool requires preliminary start up steps to correctly implement this feature into your account. It is important to ensure that your brand and agency understand the steps and take the correct measures to correctly move forward with this technology. LinkedIn requires each account user to pick a streaming tool from their recommended option list. Once an account user has chosen their streaming tool, it needs to be administered onto your device. After these steps are carefully done, your account and page can go “live” and broadcast in current time. 

Utilizing Live for a Specific Set of Clients 

As one of the world’s leading professional platforms, it’s important to understand how to benefit from LinkedIn. Agencies can increase their brand awareness and gain new followers through the LinkedIn Live platform. Real estate agencies are a great example of a specific client set that can enhance their brand in a strong and competitive way. Real estate companies can ultimately learn, engage, and develop new relationships using this “live” feature on a professional channel. It is important for real estate companies to form and maintain relationships in order for their brand to be successful. This client set could potentially utilize “live” by hosting a Q&A session with former clients, or showcasing some of their recent work. Additionally, real estate companies could also showcase new listings, recent closings, tours of specific homes or condos, and real estate news all through LinkedIn Live. This is a great tool for not only real estate professionals, but other companies and agencies as well. Your business and agency should become familiar with this feature because it optimizes your social media portfolio, and it allows you to develop real relationships in an online setting.  

The Best Tips to Adhere to When Utilizing LinkedIn Live 

As a helpful tool for users, LinkedIn has recommendations for best tips and practices for utilizing the LinkedIn Live technology. It is important to look and familiarize your brand with these recommendations in order to maintain a coherent and professional image on the LinkedIn social channel. LinkedIn best practices suggests ideas about how long live videos should be, using hashtags, and thinking about your audience. For example, LinkedIn recommends you keep your live broadcast to under 15 minutes in order to keep your audience engaged. These tips and tricks will help you successfully master the LinkedIn Live feature.

Start utilizing LinkedIn for your agency to maximize your presence on social media and enhance brand awareness. LinkedIn has all the best items to think about when utilizing this experience.

Advice from An Agency: 3 Social Media Terms You Need to Know in 2021

By Jaci Schreckengost

In 2021, we’ve found three key terms anyone who uses social media should know and why you should know them. 

Crisis management

This is your brand’s plan of how to react when a crisis happens. Crisis is, of course, a broad term and can mean different things for different brands. It’s a good idea to have crisis management in place for varied levels of concern. Examples include an employee posting something inappropriate online or a large-scale event, like the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Why should you know it?

You need to know this term so you can do something about it. Having a preventative plan in place is a great way to stop the shock that initially comes across your team when one of these events happen. 

Does your brand need assistance with public relations? Check out 270M’s services here! 

 

Doomscrolling 

This is the act of continuously scrolling through social media to try to take your mind off more pressing matters, only to find yourself consuming more content that leads you to feel doomed. 

Why should you know it? 

You want to know about doomscrolling so you can avoid it. Even when addressing topics that are difficult, it’s important to leave your audience feeling inspired and ready to take a call-to-action. 

Read also: How Virtual Reality is Changing E-Commerce and Digital Marketing 

 

Ephemeral content

More commonly known as disappearing content, this is something that’s only available to viewers for a certain period of time. Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn stories are all great examples of this. 

Why should you know it? 

So you can use it! This type of content drives people to check it out, because it’s not there forever. Using this content encourages your audience to follow your social media accounts, come to your pages more often, and maybe even subscribe to your newsletter so they make sure they’re not missing out on anything. 

Did we miss one you think should be included? Connect with us over on Instagram and let us know what word you think should make this list! 

What is a Voice Search and How Can I Implement it in my Business?

By Annie O’Rourke

Voice search technology is a way for businesses to be present in millions of homes worldwide.

The Foundations of a Voice Search Feature

Voice search is a technology that is currently up and running for many devices such as Amazon Alexa, and Google Hub. Google Hub is a small 7-inch technological device placed in a home or workspace that allows you to speak into it. This technology encourages you to ask questions, play music, connect with your home or workspace and create “voice searches,” which is the most recent feature that Google is highlighting. The voice search feature ultimately allows you to speak into the Google Hub device and shop and order items just by using your voice. So how can this help my business?

Utilizing Voice Search for your business

Technology and the media space are constantly changing and evolving, and it’s important to keep a close eye on these trends in order for your business to stay relevant. With this in mind, it’s crucial to familiarize your business with the voice search feature. It is shown that AI devices have the ability to increase sales and optimize your brand to be present in thousands of other homes and workspaces.

The voice search feature will also allow your business to grow as it is a new space for digital marketing. It is said that voice commerce is expected to grow to $40 billion by 2022, making AI devices some of the most important places for digital marketers to research and incorporate into their businesses. Voice SEO is imperative to understand and implement into your business as the voice search feature on Google Hub, and other AI devices is growing. For example, Amazon Alexa allows you to add a product to your shopping cart and order all from the voice-activated device. This feature essentially will grow your business by implementing your brand into Voice SEO.

How Businesses are Taking Advantage of Voice Search

Many brands are already taking advantage of the voice search feature on AI devices. For example, you can order Domino’s right from your Amazon Alexa, or even use the Food Network skill to look up recipes. The Food Network is gaining user engagement and increasing their sales just by implementing their brand into the voice search function on AI devices. Specifically, the Food Network has the opportunity to optimize their sales by users looking at recipes and engaging with their company.

Voice search should be the next big step for your digital marketing business. Look into incorporating how your brand will implement voice SEO into devices like Google Hub.