Social Media Reset

When did I sign up to be sold?

Well, it’s finally happened – social media networks are being forced to come clean about how and where they make their vast fortunes.  To most of us, these networks started as benign play things where we could post pictures and inflate our digital persona to make us look cooler than we actually were. As with most technology platforms, investors became involved and what started as a noble endeavor to make the world a better place was replaced with “how can this be scaled and monetized?”

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Are Google Ads – Search and Display Internet Advertising Right For You?

Executed correctly, a Google Ads Search and Display advertising campaign will complement your organic search results.

We’ve grown accustomed to believing that the search and social media platforms on the internet are a free service. The truth, however, resides in the fact that paid advertising on those mammoth digital platforms keeps all those bits and bytes flowing in and out of your smart phone, tablet, and desktop computer.

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Why brands should establish ethical principles for data collection

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Data collected should provide value to all concerned parties

The Altimeter Group published “The Trust Imperative: A Framework for Ethical Data Use.” The report gathered information from several different sources to provide a well-rounded view of how consumers view data collection and how organizations are starting to rethink data collection practices. Continue reading

Digital Ad Targeting – What Do Marketers Know About You?

More than you suspect – first, second, and third party data

The adoption of programmatic advertising has given rise to digital ad targeting that uses captured data for ad placement across ad exchanges and networks.

This captured data is referred to as first, second, and third party data. Depending on which side of the buy/sell equation you stand on — advertiser or publisher — these terms have different meanings. What is important to keep in mind is just about all programmatic advertising is data driven marketing, with the intent of making more efficient targeted ad buying.

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Ad Technology: Programmatic Advertising

Welcome to the high-speed trading desk for automated digital advertising placement

Marketers spent more then $3.37 billion on programmatic advertising last year. eMarketer is estimating the programmatic advertising will top $9 billion by 2017. Research studies by the Association of National Advertisers and Forrester indicated that only 23% of marketers said they used and understood programmatic advertising and that 26% indicated they understood the concept but needed to learn more about how to apply it to campaigns.

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Marketing Automation Platforms (MAPs)

The promise of Marketing Automation Platforms is to integrate and automate marketing functions

Marketing Automation Platforms (MAPs) are receiving lots of attention in the B-to-B marketing sphere. Most of these platforms are targeted toward companies with large database records that execute the majority of their marketing efforts online. For originations that fit the aforementioned criteria, MAPs promise greater marketing efficiency, integration with sales CRM software, reduced external resource expenditures, and ROI tracking for each marketing event.

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The Precarious State of Advertising & Marketing

Creativity and experience matter more than ever.

Daily we are subjected to a constant barrage of marketing messages. From text messages for discounts from our favorite yogurt establishment, to emails from strangers, to online advertising featuring talking Geckos backed by Berkshire Hathaway’s unlimited media budget. It seems that there are neither limits nor boundaries that marketers will not exceed to try to get our attention.

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Aviation Marketing: Learning to Love HTML Code

Learning HTML code is about attitude, not aptitude.

Digital ad spending in North America is projected to top $51 billion in 2014. This figure does not take into account the additional spending for digital inbound marketing for websites, emails, landing pages, and newsletters. Now, almost every marketing channel relies on HTML code (Hyper Text Markup Language) to deliver the marketing message.

Why then do so many marketing practitioners shy away from learning the language of HTML code?

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