The Ultimate Guide to Podcast Advertising and Sponsorship According to research by Podcast Insights, there are more than 2 million active podcasts and counting. As a marketer for a small to mid-sized business, you might be interested in podcast sponsorship, but not know where to start. Mainly because there are so many podcasts to choose from. How do you know which podcasts your target audience is listening to? To help you determine what ad strategy is right for you and where to put your podcast dollars, I spoke to HubSpot's podcasting team and did some additional research to comprise a list of helpful strategies for finding, vetting, and advertising on a podcast that aligns with your brand. Podcast Advertising Terminology Tips for Finding and Sponsoring Podcasts How to Advertise on Podcasts Navigating Podcast Sponsorship Podcast Advertising Terminology Before we discuss the ins and outs of podcast advertising, let’s review the terminology you need to know before reaching out to podcast hosts and networks. CPM Rate: CPM stands for "cost per mille." The CPM represents a flat standard rate advertisers pay for every 1,000 impressions. Host-Read Ad: a pre-recorded ad that is voiced by the host(s) of the podcast. Dynamic Insertion: the use of software to automatically insert ads into pre-existing podcast audio. These ads can be easily changed across a podcast’s entire catalog without making changes to the original audio file. Programmatic Ad: pre-recorded advertisements that do not feature the original host...

What is Search Retargeting & How Does It Work? When a user is on Google and searches for "athletic shoes," companies like Nike and Skechers probably want their ads to continuously show up for those users online because they're currently in the market for a product they sell. But how could they do that when the user isn't searching for them and perhaps doesn't even know that their company sells athletic shoes? That's where search retargeting comes in. With this behavioral targeting, companies can have their ads show up on search engine results pages (SERPs) and social media sites after a user types in certain keywords. This is a popular strategy among marketers. In fact, 68% of marketing agencies and 49% of brands have a dedicated budget for retargeting. Additionally, it's also popular among online users -- 25% of online viewers enjoy seeing retargeted ads. In this post, let's discuss what search retargeting is, how it works, and how you can use it to reach new audiences. Continuing the example above, if a user searched for "athletic shoes," they might go on Facebook a few days later and see an ad for Nike or Skechers. This would mean that the company has set up a digital campaign to retarget users who are searching for athletic shoes in search engines. Now you might be wondering, "How does this work?" Let's dive in below. How does search retargeting work? Essentially, search retargeting works through automation. Once a user searches for...

The Most Annoying Types of Ads & What to Do Instead A 2019 Edelman study found that three out of four consumers avoid ads. In fact, 47% said they have changed their media habits to see fewer ads while others use ad blockers to prevent them altogether. The reasons why vary. Personally, I hate repetitive ads. For about a month straight, every time I would watch a YouTube video, I would see the same ad and it got more irritating every time. Mostly because I wasn't interested in the brand or its services. But the incessant nature of the ad led to me develop a negative association with the company. So, how can brands deliver ads that audiences want to see? To know that, let's first look at what they definitely don't like. The Most Annoying Advertisement Types We surveyed 302 people using Lucid to ask them about what ads they're most annoyed by. When we asked the random survey pool, "What's the most annoying type of digital ad?", a whopping 58% of respondents said pop-up ads that negatively impact the user experience. Data Source While advertising can be unavoidable for brands based on their goals, there are ways to produce ads that don't annoy your audience. Below, we dive into the two most annoying ads types and explain how marketers and advertisers can navigate. Pop-Up Ads. When you think about it, this result isn't too shocking. We've all gone through it. You land on a...

A Marketer's Quick Guide to Dynamic Ads Remember when you'd go to the mall, see something you liked, but then leave without it? Then you’d leave the mall and think about it the whole drive home, wondering if you made the right decision until you forgot about it. That was until you saw someone else with the exact item we wanted. Ah, the good ol’ days. Today, you can’t leave an item in your cart without it following you everywhere online. Who do we have to thank for that? Technically, a lot of people – marketers, retargeting tools, Al Gore’s internet – but for the purpose of this article, we’ll focus on one: dynamic ads. Dynamic ads allow brands to change the ads shown to users based on their behavior. Let’s dive into what exactly dynamic ads are, their benefits, and how to use them on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook. Dynamic ads are often used in remarketing campaigns to reach users who have already interacted with a brand. More on that here. Static ads, on the other hand, do not adapt based on external data, so they tend to target broader audience groups for brand awareness or product launches. A banner ad can look like this: Or like this: They range in size and placement depending on the platform on which they’re displayed. The Benefits of Dynamic Ads Ad personalization is one of the biggest advantages of using dynamic banner ads. In a 2020...

What is Comparative Advertising? Advertising is the process of creating messages that raise awareness of your brand. These messages can have various purposes like attracting potential customers, promoting upcoming sales, and introducing new products to market. Most advertisements center around one business, but a unique type, called comparative advertising, centers around two. When done right, comparative ads can successfully convince consumers to do business with one brand over another. But, when done wrong, companies may find themselves in the middle of a lawsuit. Given this, using comparative advertising requires care and attention. In this post, we’ll explain what comparative advertising is, give examples from real-life businesses, explain the legality of using the strategy, and present pros and cons that you can use to make the best decision for your business. These ads can directly or indirectly mention a competitor, but consumers can typically deduce who the other business is through product features and call-outs. Comparative ads also give customers a direct point of comparison between two companies, as they can view products and assess features all at once, rather than needing to seek out information from multiple sources. Although they may feature two businesses, it is important to note that one company creates the ad for their benefit, so its tone is swayed in their favor. That being said, businesses aren’t allowed to make false claims about their competitors, so consumers are presented with factual information. There is no set template for comparative advertisements; they can be...

How to Create an Advertising Proposal Whether you're part of an internal marketing team or an agency developing an advertising pitch, it's imperative to nail your advertising proposal to gain stakeholder clarity and secure their buy-in. After all, advertising is expensive, and a poorly managed campaign results in wasted funds and resources that fail to deliver a return on investment – which could hinder a company's ability to hit its awareness and sales goals. Executives need to know that an advertising project has been well thought-out from all angles before they front the money to develop creative and buy advertising space. And the best way to inform and persuade these decision-makers is with a crystal clear and actionable advertising proposal. In this article, we'll outline the actions to take, templates to use, and questions to answer when developing your advertising proposal, so you can get moving on your advertising project faster and maximize revenue from it. Follow along with HubSpot's free Advertising Proposal Template for PowerPoint. The template is completely customizable to your business's needs and makes developing an advertising proposal presentation simple, covering sections thorough proposals need to have such as: Project timeline. Project team. Project budget and fees. … And more. While the template is best-suited for marketing agencies, it can easily be adjusted for in-house marketing teams for internal project management. Download the template now to get started. How to Make Your Advertising Proposal 1. Plan your advertising project....

The Future of Advertising In a world of banner blindness, I'm sure you're concerned about the future of advertising. If you're in marketing, I'll bet it's one of your bigger concerns. But it's a new dawn and it's a new day. And as technology and advertising continue to evolve, so will your strategies. Below, let's dive into the future of digital, mobile, video, and TV advertising. Future of Digital Advertising Let's start out with some stats: 91% of respondents agree ads are more intrusive today compared to two to three years ago, and 87% agree there are more ads in general (HubSpot) 42% of consumers feel that ads across digital media are irrelevant to their needs, an increase of 10% since last quarter (RevJet) 73% of consumers dislike companies with repetitive messaging, representing a 15% increase in negative sentiment quarter over quarter (RevJet) 62% of companies have, or plan to have, an omni-channel marketing strategy (AdWeek) Conversion rates actually increase the more users see an ad within remarketing campaigns (WordStream) Nearly all ad buyers expect digital advertising to comprise more than 50 percent of their total marketing budget in two years (Accenture) Today, buyers and sellers on average use programmatic for only 17 percent of their inventory. Within two years, that will more than double (Accenture) Digital advertisers believe automation would have an impact on achieving their goals (Forrester) Consumers are are more likely to engage with...

7 of the Best Ad Management Tools for 2020 Time is one of the most valuable resources we have — that's why efficiency is something so many people strive for. The good news is that there are a plethora of marketing tools available today with the power to help you boost productivity and streamline monotonous processes or tasks — ad management tools are among the many options.  Ad Management Tools In this blog post, we’ll talk about what ad management tools are, why they’re beneficial for all businesses, and which ones you may want to use. Let’s dive in. What are ad management tools? Ad (advertising) management tools have the power to streamline and automate different aspects of advertising including ad and campaign planning, collaboration, execution, sharing, monitoring, and analysis. Why use ad management tools? Ad management tools have many benefits. Here are some examples: Save advertisers and marketers valuable time. Improve productivity and efficiency. Make collaboration simple. Run cross-channel campaigns with ease. Optimize your campaign structure. Create insightful and customized reports with powerful analytics and reporting tools. Visualize your data in a way that makes sense for your business and goals. Increase the chances of successful ads and campaigns among your target audience. Now, let’s review seven powerful ad management tools, meant for different types of ads, goals, and teams. 7 Best Ad Management Tools 1. HubSpot Ad Tracking Software Source HubSpot’s Ad Tracking Software helps you with your inbound...

The Beginner's Guide to Reminder Advertising When I go to bed every night, I have to set about five alarms for the morning. I'm just the type of person that needs a lot of reminders to wake up on time. In a similar vein, marketers use reminder advertising to stay top-of-mind with potential customers. And it makes sense. In the world of sales, 80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls after a meeting. For marketers, it's no different. Essentially, you have to nurture and continuously remind your audience who you are to convert leads. In fact, companies excelling at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost. Below, let's learn more about reminder advertising and see what it looks like in action. Reminder advertising is a paid method of marketing that targets people in your audience who are in the consideration stage of the buying process. During this stage, users are reviewing their options. They're aware of their problem and the companies that might be able to help them. Now, they're trying to figure out which solution is the right way to go. In this stage, it's important to stay at the forefront of your audience's mind. That's where reminder advertising comes in. Another way to use reminder advertising is if you own a retail or ecommerce store. With a reminder ad, you can inspire customers to buy more products from you. In this case, reminder advertising can help customers remember that they like your...