Any emerging technology inevitably enters the ring of advertising. Augmented and virtual reality, visual search, chatbots and voice commerce have all been on the radar of retailers as the next big possibility of marketing. Let’s take a look at one of the newest kids on the block – Voice Assistants. Smart speakers, like Amazon Echo and Google Home have exploded onto the scene with a velocity and a pervasiveness that is pretty much unprecedented in the history of consumer electronics.

Perhaps the most noticeable change in the field of data analytics is how rapidly it’s growing. Every year companies are able to gain more data from their customer interactions, and the lag time between feedback and insights continues to shrink. It’s also true that customers are often very informed, coming to your website already knowing what they want, and how much they’re prepared to spend. Data analytics is the means by which companies can better connect with those savvy customers.

Data is the reigning king of marketing, and continues to increase in power as technology continues to proliferate throughout the industry. It’s not so much the actual data that is so important, but what it is that marketers can do with it in the world of programmatic digital advertising. 75% of all marketers interviewed agree that a lack of understanding of data analytics is a big barrier to making important decisions based on data insights.

In May of this year (2018) Genius Monkey announced that we became part of an elite group of companies that had earned the TAG Registered Seal, issued by the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG). We became one of the earlier companies to earn this seal, as we are hyper vigilant about the importance of trustworthiness in the advertising industry. We want our clients to feel at ease, knowing that we always take every measure we can to keep the products of their adspend free of fraudulent activity.

As a marketer in this day and age (as well as marketers from yesteryear), you will most likely agree that one of the most important elements of spreading the good word is to know your target audience well enough to determine what it is that they want and need. Once this is accomplished – deliver it! If this is done, your targeted audience members will be willing to give you what YOU need … their business.

The researchers at Google are as dedicated at watching shoppers as avid bird watchers are at tracking down the ever-so-rare Helmeted Hornbill. This year, Google is scouting out the holiday Bargain Hunters – who they are, where they shop, and how to reach out to them during this festive (and active) season. More than half of all Bargain Hunters shop using a smartphone – even when they are in the store 60% of these Bargain Hunters’ online purchases are made with a mobile device A large percentage of Bargain Hunters are millennial dads between their late 20s and 30s 96% of these millennial dads said that they had searched online for the items they were looking for 1 in 3 of these millennial dads indicates that he would prefer to do all his shopping during the four days of mad shopping … Black Friday through Cyber Monday Of these four-day Bargain Hunters, 70% said they bought because the item was on sale Who are the Bargain Hunters?

A significant landmark was formed when, just in the first half of 2018, US advertisers spent just under $50 billion, which is an all-time high for the ad industry. To put this in perspective, that figure indicates a YOY increase of 23%, and shows no signs of slowing down! This, according to the Internet Advertising Revenue Report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). Last year at the same time, the figures were at $40.

Anyone who has ever done any road-traveling here in the U.S. has surely seen multiple signs for businesses that claim to have the “world’s best” coffee, or the “nation’s best” doughnuts, or the “best burgers” in the state … you get the picture. So how can one be confident that what they would get by ordering from one of these establishments that boasts of having the “best” of anything is really, truly the absolute “best?

Retargeting is like a bullet that ricochets off of a boulder and comes back at you, only it’s not really a bullet … it’s more of a reminder. You know, just in case you forgot or failed to purchase an item that should have been purchased. It’s like getting a second, third or fourth chance for redemption. Here are a few reasons why: 3 out of 5 US buyers notice ads for products they’ve viewed on different sites 30% of consumers have a positive reaction to retargeted ads, 11% do not like them, while 59% are apathetic towards them Email retargeting CTRs are 3-5% higher with upsells Retargeted ads can increase branded search exposure by 1,000% or more The average CTR for retargeted ads is 10x that of display ads In part one of this article, we pointed out the fact that retargeting has proven to be a very effective method of increasing sales, and that it’s imperative that you know your audience, and their needs.

Retargeting is a way to connect with people who, based on their digital actions, previously interacted with your website or mobile app. It allows you to strategically position your ads in front of these audiences as they browse online, thus helping you increase your brand awareness, or to remind those audiences to make a purchase. With retargeting, marketers are able to display their ads to consumers who abandoned a cart, made a purchase or bounced from a website.