admin In Advertising, Art, Branding, Business, Design, Digital Solutions, Email Marketing, Facebook, Fayetteville, General Info, Graphic Design, Lead Generation, Media Services, Raleigh, Search Engine Optimization, SEO,

What Makes an Ad Stand Out – Good Text, Display, or Video?

As a business owner, it is important to understand the basics of what goes into a good advertisement.

All brands need promotion and the correct kind of promotion is key. In order to expand your business, it’s essential to have an effective advertising campaign. When done incorrectly, money is wasted on ineffective or poor ads. Our goal is to save money with ads and, in turn, make them more money with new clients or customers.

At 219 Group, when clients ask us “What makes a good ad?” – there is no easy answer, as it is largely based on each client. However, we will do our best to answer this in general terms.

GENERAL OVERVIEW OF ADS

It is important to understand what makes a good ad and what does not.

Good ads:

Call to action / tell the prospective customer to do something.
Engage customers based on where they are in the customer journey.
Regardless of channel, it seamlessly translates brand identity.

Bad ads:

Do not follow the rules and get disapproved.
No call to action / do not ask the customer to do anything.

TEXT ADS

In 2021, Google confirmed Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) are the default in new ad accounts. What this means is that strategies need to fit both formats to include the expanded text ads.

RSAs are made up of:

Minimum of three headlines (30 character limit each), maximum of 15.
Two descriptions (90 character limit each), maximum of four.
One path set (two 15-character addendums to your root domain)
Optional tracking templates.

As only the first two headlines are guaranteed to show in a text ad, it is imperative that you pin the calls-to-action in either headline one or two.

In text ads it is important to make sure each headline can stand on its own while being related to the others.

DISPLAY ADS

Display advertising is defined as a mode of online advertising where marketers use visual ads to advertise their products on websites, apps, or social media. It has been mistaken that display is only useful for remarketing; but display ads are good for various parts of the consumer’s journey. Display ads can create and build brand awareness.

The steps for display ads include creative for all the potential spots, or sacrificing some creative polish to use responsive display ads.
If you choose to opt for a responsive display ad (RDA), you are sacrificing some level of brand control in exchange for reach. These ads will open all possible placements to you.

Display and Responsive display ads require:

At least three images or videos, including a logo (can have up to 15 assets)
One long headline
At least one regular headline
At least one description
Business name
Final URL

Display ads have their own downfalls but tend to outperform traditional ads simply because they stand out. They allow more creative either from your website or social or stock images if you prefer.

Display ad tips:

If using video, make sure it is no longer than 15 seconds.
While RDAs will have a CTA button, regular display does not therefore, make sure to build a call to action button into your ad.

VIDEO ADS

Video advertising is the process of displaying ads either inside online video content. This is typically before, during or after a video stream, known as pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll or as standalone ads.

How video ads work on Youtube:

Bumper: 6-second spots serving before or after the main video.
In-stream non-skippable: 15-second spots that serve before/during/after the main video.
In-stream skippable: 30+ second spots serving before/during/after the main video that can be skipped after five seconds.
Outstream: Video spots serving in spots other than main YouTube.

Video ad composition:

Video: If you selected a time-specific format, you’ll receive a warning if your video is incompatible
CTA: 10 characters (“Learn more” is always a good option)
Headline: 15 characters to position your CTA
Final URL: Where your clickable element will lead
Display URL: What the user sees (root domain is the best choice)

The most important thing to remember about YouTube is understanding what you want your audience to do. If your goal is to drive them to a landing page or website, you need to make sure they watch long enough to see the website. If the goal is sales, then do not waste time on the bumper ad for awareness and put your call to action for a sale.

WHICH AD TYPE IS BEST

To decide which ad type is best is to look at the client and goals. A great ad is the result of many things – the right target audience, the right creative and using the channel correctly.

DIGITAL MARKETING YOU CAN TRUST

At 219 Group, we do a lot of things well. Websites, landing pages, banners, newsletters, social media, mobile marketing, search engine optimization, email and paid search campaigns are the best ways to engage with customers in an increasingly digital, mobile and personalized world. We have assembled a team of professionals to create complete digital strategies and tactics that leverage all available forms of digital media at different levels of the marketing funnel.

admin In Digital Solutions, Fayetteville, General Info, Raleigh,

Digital Audience Building – How To Target Effectively And Efficiently

targeting customer audience target market marketing

With the ever-changing ways of the internet, we have to know how to effectively reach our customers. Especially since the existence of COVID-19, we are not interacting with people on a regular face-to-face basis; however, we can influence them through social media and other digital media.

WHAT IS AUDIENCE TARGETING

Audience targeting is a way to make sure that your digital ads are being displayed only to the people that are most like your ideal customer. With roughly 9 out of 10 people on the internet, if you were serving your ads to everyone they would get lost and run the risk of not being shown to your ideal customer. Rather, crafting messaging or ads that feel personalized toward the audience most likely to buy from you is a much better strategy. Audience targeting is performed by taking the available data on your ideal customer or client such as — individual characteristics, interests, and behaviors.

DEFINING YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

As discussed, a social media target audience is the specific group of people you want to reach with your social channels. Begin by asking yourself the 5 W’s – start with Who is your current customer database, your competition, and what is your product.

Age (use a range)
Gender
Education
Location
Some of their interests (list 3-5)
Occupation

WHERE TO USE AUDIENCE TARGETING

Audience targeting can be used on paid social and paid search. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google, and YouTube have interfaces that make it easy to build your audience with the characteristics you want to target.

OTHER WAYS TO HIT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

Audience targeting helps to avoid wasting money on ad impressions. If you want to branch farther than paid search and social you can try some additional targeting techniques such as geofencing and retargeting. You can run either the same ad or a new ad to that same person in hopes of securing a conversion by repetition, a special offer, or improved messaging.

Display Advertising – Display advertising is defined as graphic advertising on websites, apps, or social media through the use of banners or other ad formats made of text, images, video, and audio. The main purpose is to deliver general advertisements and brand messages to site visitors.

Geofencing – Geofencing uses GPS to show ads to people near a chosen location. How it works is a virtual geofence is drawn around a location, ads are then served to anyone browsing the web via desktop or mobile in that area.

Behavioral Targeting – Behavioral targeting is a method that uses historical behavior to personalize the types of ads consumers see. Using this strategy, relevant ads and messages are displayed to users based on web-browsing behavior. It is a powerful method because the data helps match the ads to each consumer’s actual behavior.

Categorical Targeting – Categorical targeting is the method of placing display advertisements on social media, apps, and websites that are categorically relevant to both your company and your customers’ interests.

Mobile – Mobile targeting is where certain target groups are shown ads on mobile devices. User-oriented data is what drives who/when gets advertising and the ads are formatted to the technical requirements of smartphones and tablets.

Retargeting – Retargeting uses data on people who have already engaged with your ads or have visited your website. You can either then show the same ad or a new ad to that same person in hopes of securing a conversion by repetition, a special offer, or improved messaging.

A targeted ad campaign will always perform better than an untargeted campaign; hands-down. Understanding your audience, how to build it, and how to target is crucial to all businesses.

admin In Raleigh, Search Engine Optimization, SEO

Tips on Having Success with SEO

Google states that there are over 30 trillion active websites on the web. Not 30 thousand, not 30 million, not even 30 billion, but 30 TRILLION. That’s a heck of a number and unfortunately out of that number, only a few can make it to the first page, while the rest get lost and ignored amongst the many. To avoid this, we have provided a few tips on how to have success with SEO.

Focus on One Thing

Focusing on one thing is one of the most important steps when you are trying to boost your SEO rankings but unfortunately, it is one of the steps that gets overlooked the most. Don’t get us wrong, your site can cover other things, but you want to make sure that you have a primary focus. Before a choosing a topic, we recommend that you do keyword research.

Use Your Keywords as Much as Possible

There’s a reason why they are called ‘keywords’ and that is because they are the ‘key’ to your site getting a boost in SEO rankings. We know it sounds silly but it’s the truth. That is why after finding your keywords you should use them as much as possible. This includes implementing them in page content, titles, and taglines. If you have a blog category on your website, you should make sure that you are covering at least one in each post (hence why we are writing about SEO because it’s one of our keywords). They should even be mentioned in your title/description for images that you post on your website or on other social media platforms.

Constantly Update Your Site

We tell our clients all the time, you must treat your website like you treat your business. To make it presentable to your customers, you must constantly update it. Updating your site will make it first on the list for Google rankings, helping you reach a larger audience. Updating your site includes adding blogs, changing images, adding/changing content, and even redesigning the layout of your current site. You want to make sure that your site is always up to date. SEO is vital to new companies to receive new patients in order to keep the company above water. New Beginnings Dental Center is one of our new clients that we make sure to have this concept instilled into our SEO plan.

You Are a Human… So, Write Like One

It is key that you make sure the content on your site does not sound like a robot has wrote it. Make sure that the content is relatable to your customers and yet personal because it’s telling your story. You do not want anything generic; your customers can see right through it. Include those keywords and add images of you and your team.

Give Us a Call

Trying to get your site boosted on Google can be a hassle and very time consuming, but luckily, we’re here to help. Our SEO specialists have years of experience and have worked with a long line of clients, helping them get to the number one spot with some of their keywords.

If you looking to be found on Google, then give us a call!!

admin In Facebook, Fayetteville, Media Services, Raleigh

Is Camera-Based Messaging The Way Of The Future?

Is ‘snapping’ and real-time video the way of the Future? Facebook is betting on it.

Facebook just rolled out three new features to its platform, in what seems like a move to remain relevant and dominate in the social media space. These new features are being called Facebook Camera, Direct, and Stories.

The Facebook camera feature, like Snapchat, gives you all the effects and filter fun you can ask for. It provides reactive effects along with style effects that can add things like falling leaves or artistic filters. Integrated with the new camera effects is the stories feature. In stories, you’re able to add photos and videos to a storyline throughout the day which will last 24 hours. To add any photo or video to your story, you simply tap on the “your story” icon in the ‘stories’ bar at the top of your news feed. The main difference is that unlike Snapchat’s pre-approved lenses and filters, Facebook’s camera effects are mainly created by the community. People and pages will be able to develop and submit frames that, once approved, can be used by other people, offering more choices and creativity to the interaction.

The Facebook Direct feature is an in-app messenger which allows users to send photos or videos only to specific friends or family. Once they are viewed, a person can reply or react before they disappear. All three features, when used together, allow you to the same thing you can do in Snapchat, but interacting instead with the friends you currently have on Facebook. By integrating these features, the platform is cementing the idea that camera-based messaging represents the future of social interaction. “Content is changing from text to photo and videos,” says a representative from Facebook.

Thinking about how you can start integrating more visuals and videos into your social media marketing? 219 Group is ready to help your Fayetteville business get in front of your customers and stay on top of these marketing trends. Call us today at 919-483-4749!

admin In Branding, Fayetteville, Raleigh,

How to use Instagram to tell your story and connect with your customers.

Instagram has become a widely popular social media platform over over the last year or so. With 400 million active users every month, it may be something you want to consider using in your social media marketing efforts. It’s important to do this the right way for it to be effective. The most important thing to remember with Instagram is that it’s a visual platform where photos and being able to tell a story through them, matters.

Instagram offers a variety of features that will allow you to connect with your ideal customers. The first of these is the use of hashtags. Using hashtags in your photo posts will help users find you through their mobile instagram searches. You should be using general hashtags when you’re posting product or lifestyle images. If you’re running a particular campaign, use tags that are specific to that, including your business name. Like most other social media platforms, it’s important to monitor your hashtags (specifically for your business name), so that you can respond to customer’s comments and questions.

Some other useful features are Instagram Stories and the Geo Tracking feature. Instagram Stories is very similar to Snapchat in the way that the stories disappear after 24 hours. The story feature allows you to tell a better story to your followers. The geo tracking feature allows you to add your location to your photos when you post. If your building/office is open to customers, you can add your location so they know where to find you.

This platform can be a lot of fun when used correctly. You can use it to show off products and services, show behind the scenes looks into your business and offer exclusive deals. It’s an amazing way to really bring your business to life and put a human face on it. This will help to establish a certain amount of trust between you and your customer and will keep your business fresh in their mind.

For help using Instagram marketing and social media marketing in general to further your business goals and attract more customers, give us a call today! 219 Group is experienced in handling many social media accounts for our customers and would love to discuss how we could help you with yours!

admin In Fayetteville, Graphic Design, Public Relations, Raleigh

How Public Relations and Logo Design Work Together

Looking to increase brand awareness for your Fayetteville business? Let the professionals help!

At 219 group, our award winning team of graphic designers are experts in logo design and will help you take your brand to the next level. Your logo is the first thing customers see when they look for your business. Much like a book cover, your logo design should draw attention and have a wow factor! When you outsource your logo design to our talented professionals at 219, we’ll get you the logo that makes customers remember!

Creativity is our specialty. Our professional graphic design team will not only help you create your logo design but also incorporate it into a full brand. Designing your logo, brochures, ads and more, we’ll make sure every element of your brand is cohesive. Your customers will be able to recognize your company and your brand after our team of designers works with you to develop or even revamp your brand!

Once we’ve developed your logo design, our team of marketing experts will increase awareness for your brand by developing a strategy to increase your public relations in Fayetteville and surrounding areas. Revitalizing your logo and your brand isn’t enough. Our team at 219 knows that you have to work to select and target your ideal audience. Public relations brings your business into the local area and creates awareness for your company as a whole. Together, our graphic design team and our public relations experts work to develop content and design that will increase your presence on the web and in the community.

Don’t stress trying to design your own logo or trying to figure out your own public relations strategy. Let the professionals handle it! Let 219 take your company to the next level in logo design and public relations for continued growth and success in Fayetteville!

admin In Raleigh, SEO

Why Should I Care about SEO?

When you hear about search engine optimization or SEO, you probably think about Google, and you’re not wrong. If you want your Raleigh business to thrive, you need to make sure you are utilizing the best SEO techniques.

In Raleigh, your business is competing against what could be hundreds of other businesses, and that’s just in your city! Imagine competing against companies in surrounding areas when designing your SEO, because you are!

Raleigh businesses need to cover all aspects of digital marketing when implementing their marketing plans. Digital marketing in Raleigh is about more than just creating a website or creating a Facebook and Twitter page. You must take action to increase your visibility on the web through current SEO in your digital marketing strategy.

Something to consider when implementing SEO in your digital marketing plan is determining what keywords customers use when searching for your product in Raleigh. You want to incorporate these keywords into your digital marketing strategy for the best SEO for Raleigh and local areas.

Now, that’s not to say you should just pepper these keywords around your website randomly. For the most effective SEO, you need to incorporate these keywords into quality content. Google is smart and will punish your website in rankings if you try to stuff keywords into your content. Learning the rules of current SEO will help you avoid any unfortunate blunders.

The best SEO techniques should target your local Raleigh audiences. Consumers don’t want global search results when looking for a service or a product. SEO that targets Google Local audiences is extremely cost effective for a Raleigh company.

This is why your Raleigh business should be prepared to allocate money toward SEO when devising your digital marketing strategy. In Raleigh, you want to reach Raleigh customers and customers in surrounding areas for the most optimal profit/cost ratio.

Invest in SEO as part of your digital marketing plan and you’ll see a return on investment for your Raleigh business. Keeping up to date with current SEO techniques will land you higher in the rankings, making your Raleigh business one of the top search results.

At 219, we proudly serve Raleigh and surrounding areas. We’re your digital marketing team that knows SEO. We’ll help you stay ahead of the competition!

Raleigh

Tips on Having Success with SEO

Is Camera-Based Messaging The Way Of The Future?

How Public Relations and Logo Design Work Together

Why Should I Care about SEO?

What Makes an Ad Stand Out – Good Text, Display, or Video?

Digital Audience Building – How To Target Effectively And Efficiently

Nothing Less Than Intentional Graphic Design

Why An Effective Public Relations Strategy Matters

The Essentials of Web Design

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Digital Audience Building – How To Target Effectively And Efficiently

Nothing Less Than Intentional Graphic Design

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