Posted by Melissa Thompson

The entire landscape of TV media consumption has changed in recent years due to emerging technologies regarding the way users interact with their TV. Connected TV advertising is a means of connecting businesses and their target audiences.

What is Connected TV advertising?

Connected TV is a technology that supports smart TV advertising capabilities, which include programmatic advertising. Connected TV devices consist of various gaming consoles, online TV streaming services, and cable providers. 

TVs connected with OTT (over-the-top) is the same as connected TV, in which both need a broadband connection. However, it doesn’t require an active subscription-like cable or TV streaming service. Any provider of video-on-demand is considered an OTT service.

Programmatic TV ad buying is a method used for broadcasting connected TV ads to target audiences using the advantages of algorithmic ad purchasing. Artificial intelligence enables algorithmic purchasing specifically designed for programmatic advertising. In this case, connected TV advertising.

Businesses owe it to themselves to be on the frontline of emerging technologies and tactics for reaching their audiences. As “cable cutters” continue to migrate towards non-traditional ways of consuming TV, such as video-on-demand, it makes sense to incorporate programmatic TV advertising in marketing campaigns. Viewers now have the option to watch what they want when they want. As long as viewers have this control, marketers must find new ways to reach these audiences since “live-TV” is slowly becoming no longer in favor.

Six Reasons on why to use connected TV advertising

1. Younger Generations prefer Connected TV

Studies show, approximately 65% of millennial households utilize connected TV only. Millennials do not share the same attachment as Baby Boomers, and Generation X do to TV. Millennials currently make for the largest demographic of consumers. The majority of purchase power is in the hands of this generation, and it makes sense to target them heavily as opposed to older generations. 

2. Audience Size

In the US, on average, a household has three streaming video subscription services. Nearly half of homes still have traditional pay-TV and streaming subscriptions. Although it is expected for streaming video subscription services to continue to grow on a global scale, traditional pay-TV is still existent. TV audiences, regardless of where they watch, always have a demand for advertisements.

3. Precise Targeting

A considerable advantage of connected TV advertising has over previous advertising techniques is the granular level of targeting. Specific demographics and insights are obtainable that were not previously with cable or dish. Before, ads displayed to all households in regions without knowing precisely who was watching them. Thanks to connected TV advertising, marketers know exactly who is watching, how much they are watching, and what they do after they watch. Key demographics will be targets in campaigns. Additionally, marketers will know in real-time how effective these campaigns are.

4. Audience Segmentation

As previously mentioned, marketers would hope their ad was seen by their target demographic within specific regions. Now, with programmatic advertising, audiences based on certain variables can be niched down even further. For example, sports fans and history enthusiasts will have widely different ads catered to them. Also, similar to the point about targeting, retargeting these segments are just as easy. Which leads to point number five.

5. Cross-platform advertising

As long as viewers continue to stream their TV media over the internet, they will continue to as targets wherever they go. Combining technologies give marketers a big-picture overview of the entire customer journey. What they search for on the internet, where they shop in the real world, how much of a video they watch – all of these and more tell marketers who these people are and their behavior. The next step is to leverage this information into their campaigns, following their audience from device to device. Connected TV advertising is a useful marketing tactic, but it becomes more powerful when combined with strategies.

6. Higher ROI

Precise targeting, real-time insights, and lower entry cost, as opposed to conventional TV ad spots, lead to a higher ROI. Consider the fact that instead of displaying your ad to every household you can, you are instead reaching the devices of people more likely to convert. In turn, this alone leads to a higher ROI. Non-skippable connected TV ads are less of an annoyance to viewers since they understand it is the price of free streaming media. However, these ads are relevant to the viewer, which means better retention of the ad. Higher retention also equals higher ROI.

Final thoughts

Above all, connected TV advertising should be one piece of a giant marketing puzzle. Consumers have become accustomed to being advertised to. Regardless of what platform it is, a consumer understands what is and is not an ad. It’s up to advertisers to grab the attention of these viewers with relevant, targeted ads that make sense to them. With any CTV advertising campaign, these goals are attainable. The six reasons presented give proof as to why marketers should adopt connected TV advertising to their campaigns.

Posted by Melissa Thompson

You can blame social media for a lot of things. You can blame it for misinformation. You can blame it for distraction and strife and stress. But you can also use social media to your advantage. And especially if you’re trying to determine positive health and wellness options, you can decide how to filter out the wrong information from the good.

Several examples will illustrate how these benefits can specifically pertain to you. First of all, you can look to social media for fitness advice. In the past, there have been gatekeepers to positive information about natural ways to stay healthy and fit. Now, social media points you to the proper places. Second, you can use social media to find out options for taking care of friends and family.

You can see the pathways that other people have taken and choose the best one for yourself. Third, you can crowdsource health options. People’s honest and genuine opinions and advice go a long way via word-of-mouth pathways on various social media platforms.

Fitness Advice

Have you ever scrolled around the Internet looking for websites to give you information about good fitness advice? You can run into what seems like a whole lot of advertising and promotions with very little data to back it up. However, if you look at social media for fitness advice, you might find some more realistic explanations and expectations. Because individual actors tend to be more genuine with the reviews, you can join social media fitness platforms and get great advice from people who are in a similar situation to you.

Taking Care of Friends and Family

You can also use social media as a way to connect with people who can tell you how to care for your family members. For example, in certain groups, you might be able to find out that there are programs that pay you to take care of family members. It might have been more difficult for you to find this information out on the Internet without personal stories attached to the descriptions. You can also find people online who have utilized programs like this for themselves, and you can connect with them directly.

Crowdsourcing Health Options

It isn’t very easy these days to figure out what healthy habits you should be participating in. There is so much information and disinformation on the Internet that it can feel overwhelming to try and filter it out. However, if you find discussions online and social media platforms, you can feel like you’re talking to real people about real topics. In this way, you can crowdsource anecdotal information about different health options, and that will give you a much better basis to start asking questions of your own.

Posted by Melissa Thompson

Even minor car accidents can come with injuries, but those that are more severe can lead to various types of disabilities and trauma. These disabilities include physical, cognitive, mental, and developmental conditions that can last a lifetime. Here are the most common types of disability after a car accident. 

Temporary Disabilities

There are several disabilities that are only temporary, healing over an extended period of time. Those that come out of car accidents with these minor injuries are lucky compared to the others on this list. Minor whiplash, broken bones, and strained muscles can all cause temporary disability. 

Any of those three injuries may cause you to take time off work or stay in the hospital for a few days. You can seek compensation for these, with most medical bills being covered by insurance. In some cases, like a torn rotator cuff, you may no longer be able to lift more than 50 pounds. 

Permanent Disabilities

Unfortunately, permanent disabilities are far more common. These come in many forms, each with their limitations and struggles after recovery. Many cause extreme changes in lifestyle and require accommodation to continue working, with other challenged like needing legal aid when ADA violations arise. 

The most common disability comes from traumatic brain injury, leading to shifts in personality and mood as well as PTSD symptoms. Brain injury can reveal itself in minor ways that slowly escalate or lead to crippling mental and cognitive disabilities. 

Amputations are another common injury, which come with a host of issues as individuals learn to adapt without a limb. Amputees often need accommodation to continue working once the recovery process and physical rehabilitation are over. Prosthetics are often required to complete daily tasks. 

Spinal cord injuries are also common, which may simply lead to a lessened sense of feeling in the limbs or cause paralysis in more severe cases. Victims or regular and self-driving car accidents where spinal injury occurs often need a wheelchair for at least the recovery phase, if not for the rest of their lives. 

Reconstructive surgery is sometimes needed in conjunction with these injuries due to the severity of the accident. As the seriousness of the disability increases, intense physical and mental therapy is also vital while victims readjust to daily life. 

Seeking Compensation

Did you know that compensation can extend beyond the immediate accident? In the case of permanent disabilities, a person can seek compensation for their ongoing medical care and lifelong needs. That includes any loss of income, prosthetics, and therapies. 

You can also seek Social Security disability benefits for several permanent disabilities. While the definition under SS differs from insurance and legal terms, most individuals find that they can rely on these benefits for additional income to help make the transition after their accident smoother. 

While finances are important, it’s also essential that disabled victims surround themselves with a supportive group of friends and family during and after their recovery. Adjusting to life with a disability is challenging, but having help along the way can speed recovery and make returning to daily life less of a daunting task. 

Posted by Melissa Thompson

Search engine optimization has become an increasingly popular term used in digital marketing strategies, although, not everyone is entirely clued up with regards to the actual benefits of using SEO for websites. Whether you are a startup in the food and beverage industry or your small scale business manufactures industrial equipment, your business should have a professional website and your site should be taking advantage of what SEO can offer. If you are somewhat sceptical about the real benefits behind SEO, here are the facts.

Organic Searching

Because organic searching is one of the primary sources of website traffic for businesses of all sizes in every type of industry, search engine optimization will ensure your website is visible online. Among the most notable benefits of SEO services, your website will be easily spotted by your target audience as they search for relevant products and services on search engines such as Google. Enhancing your visibility on search engines will ultimately aid brand awareness significantly as search engines will pick up keywords in organic searches that exist on your website, placing your website in the first pages as relevant search results.

Building Credibility

Many elements are used to establish authority online and while SEO services can help to boost the authenticity of your website by creating a strong web presence and enhancing the user experience, the more your audience stumbles upon your website while searching, the more your audience will view your business as trusted and credible. Unfortunately, businesses that do not use SEO in their websites are often overlooked and considered inferior to their competitors. 

Relative Content

The content on your website should instantly appeal to your target audience and with the help of SEO services, your site content will be high quality and relevant. This benefit will directly impact your website traffic numbers by raising them significantly. Because good SEO is associated with website user experience, it has become a staple for business websites. However, it is essential to update your content regularly as fresh content is as effective and vital as quality content. 

Impacting Customer Decisions

Statistics prove that SEO has a direct impact on the buying circle as the vast majority of potential customers will be conducting research to establish the best products and services. Influencing buying power with the proper use of SEO may be one of the most notable benefits as this will increase sales and your number of brand-loyal customers. Search engine optimization works in an intriguing way to enhance your online reputation as a reputable business that offers quality products. 

SEO Practice Updates

Trying to keep up with the developing practices of SEO can be understandably overwhelming, especially when considered that SEO best practices are constantly being improved and updated. For this reason, it is usually best to rely on industry experts to handle the SEO nee of your businesses website as this will ensure that you are always up to speed with the latest tactics and strategies.

Posted by Melissa Thompson

Content is everywhere. If one thing is true of the internet, it’s that’s there is a lot of it out there. So simply having an online presence doesn’t mean that anyone is paying attention at all. So what we need to do is come up with a good strategy that allows your content to be as engaging as possible and stand out from the, very busy, crowd.

Make Your Content As Visual As Possible

One thing that we cannot emphasize enough is to make your content as visual as possible as if a potential customer is scrolling through online content, the last thing that is going to catch their attention is a dry, long wordy piece of text. So make it visual, images and videos are great even if they are accompanying a piece of text, or have you considered using something like an infographic to convey large amounts of info pictorially. 

Produce Content That Speaks To The Audience

People are not going to look at, read or listen to content that they are not interested in. So you have to find a way to make content that speaks not only to an audience but to an audience that is going to engage with your business and buy your products or services. So it’s important to get into the mindset of your preferred customer, think about it this way, if you sell Ferraris then it may get lots of hits to show videos of the cars in stunning locations looking great, but if all of these hits are from 14-year-old boys then you’re not going to sell many Ferraris, are you?

Think About Hiring A Marketing Agency

To help get these tricky aspects of getting your content noticed, and noticed by the correct audience it may be useful to consider the possibility of securing the services of a good marketing agency. Why would we do this? Well if you can afford it then a good marketing agency should always more than pay for itself. But the key is to get a good one, and how to assess this is fairly simple, ask for examples of previous work and as it’s marketing you can see who it was for and even contact their previous client to ask if they were happy with the company’s performance?

The Timing Of Posting Content Is Key

It’s good to make sure that content gets out at the right time and there are two main schools of thought on this, maybe it’s best to get out there and comment and post on something that’s trending and get in on the act, or perhaps it’s better to avoid the rush and make your posts at quieter times. Of course, it’s not as simple as that and who audience also comes into it and when they want to engage.

Choose The Right Platform For The Right Message

We know social media is important, but how do we know what platform to use for what message? It all depends on what you are posting, news and announcements are good on Twitter as it’s very instant, but offers and promotions perhaps work on a slower platform like Facebook.