Is Your Biggest Marketing Problem Wasted Money?

Marketing is a tricky and constantly changing industry. Over the years marketers have had to do their best to try and keep up with the cultural and technological shifts.
One of the biggest changes to the industry was the introduction of the internet and the subsequent proliferation of social media. The earliest incarnation of the internet emerged way back in the 1960’s. Though admittedly primitive by today’s standards and at the time only available to a few for data sharing, it was the genesis of a world changing technology. The internet we all know and love today was came from Sir Tim Berners-Lee with the invention of the “world wide web” in 1989. As of June 2017, over 51% of the global population, 3.88 billion people have access to the internet.
Pioneering sites like MySpace (yes apparently it still exists) began to start an online social revolution that allowed people to connect and interact like never before. This once obscure idea has taken the world by storm with over 3 billion people active on social media today. Currently more than 1 billion people are on Facebook alone.
These amazing innovations have opened up new and exciting ways for marketers to reach their audience. But with the massive size of the internet and plethora of advertising options, many marketers still find themselves missing the mark.
No matter what new tools become available, at its heart marketing has always been about finding and keeping customers. Companies have a product or service and they want to reach the masses with their message. Money doesn’t grow on trees and marketers have a limited budget, so making sure they spend funds wisely and their messaging doesn’t fall on deaf ears is hugely important.
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Wasted money in marketing is nothing new.

 
The world of modern marketing as we know it today started around the time of the industrial revolution. Prior to that most simply produced what they needed for themselves or traded with others. During the industrial revolution time period, however, mass production and technological advancements made it easier for people to simply buy the products they needed rather than taking the time to make it for themselves.
John WanamakerOne of the most successful businessmen of the time, John Wanamaker, was quick to take advantage of this. He opened the first department store in Philadelphia, which also happened to be one of the first large scale department stores in the entire United States.
In addition, Wanamaker introduced a few key firsts. He is generally acknowledged as being the first to use price tags on items within his store. And in 1874 he became the first to print copyrighted sales advertisements. His ads led to a boom in business and others soon followed his example.
Even with these brilliant moves that help to set the standard for generations to come, Wanamaker realized he had a problem. Though advertising had been good to him, he was wasting money on his marketing. Without being able to target and deliver his message to exactly the right people there was always going to be a certain amount of wasted efforts as messaging was reaching those that either could not afford or simply weren’t interested in his store.

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” – John Wanamaker

Just as John Wanamaker’s introduction of printed product advertising changed the game way back then, the technological advancements of today are offering a whole new approach with performance marketing.
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Performance marketing seeks to eliminate the fundamental problem with traditional marketing.

 
As Wanamaker noted well over a century ago, the problem with marketing has always been wasted money. With traditional means of print, radio, or television ads it has always been more of a “spray and pray” approach. Just put the messaging out to try and reach as many people as possible and hope that some of the people are receptive.
Today’s world is more connected than ever with the internet and social media. This has presented marketers with a new option moving forward. Performance marketing.

Why performance marketing?

Performance marketing is centered around providing trackable and measurable outcomes. By setting a clear goal, whether that be calls, clicks, or conversions you can track the progress of a campaign and only pay for the performance of the campaign to your set goal.
This provides a wonderful way to test new channels allowing for the adjustment of the campaign over time to reach your goals and attain maximum efficiency and success. Randall-Reilly’s performance marketing team works with a variety of channels such as Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. In addition they are always looking for new and better ways to successfully deliver messaging. The following are some of capabilities and techniques that have proven most effective.
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Performance Marketing Capabilities by Channel:

 
[one_third]Targeted Display[/one_third][two_third_last]

Targeted Display

Tagging browsers (based on purchase, download, or browser history) allows tagged users to see your ads on any display network site. Randall-Reilly provides a unique audience not accessible through any other partner. You can target our website visitors, newsletter subscribers, prospects in our databases and much more. These audiences can be refined by almost any relevant parameter.[/two_third_last]
[one_third]Media Targeting[/one_third][two_third_last]

Media Targeting

Targeting the audiences of our brands’ websites and newsletters lets you access prospects directly. You gain the advantage of contextual targeting by placing your ads next to high-value content. All campaigns utilize both our newsletters and websites, and your ad rotates banner positions until your budget is at capacity. [/two_third_last]
[one_third]Search Targeting 2[/one_third][two_third_last]

Search Targeting

By targeting the right keywords on search engines, you can reach prospects in the buying and research phase. Our team will build a keyword list tailored to your needs, provide SEM insights, and manage your daily bidding to pave the way toward SEM success. Randall-Reilly provides an extra advantage by utilizing our exclusive audience within our SEM efforts.[/two_third_last]
[one_third]Facebook Marketing[/one_third][two_third_last]

Social Targeting with Facebook and Youtube

Facebook: Facebook is one of the most effective means to reach prospects through social media. You can leverage our exclusive audience to run paid advertising campaigns on Facebook, where your ads can appear as sponsored posts in the News Feeds of your ideal prospect (and supplemented by ads on the right-hand rail of the News Feed).[/two_third_last]
[one_third]YouTube Icon 2[/one_third][two_third_last]
YouTube: YouTube is the place to be for video advertising. Your video ads can be placed before or during a video of related content. YouTube provides an option to skip videos after five seconds of viewing, but if your video is skipped, there’s no charge.[/two_third_last]
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Align to outcomes that drive revenue.

 
The key to successful performance marketing and marketing in general for that matter is driving outcomes. Meaning if you know what outcome you want to achieve, what steps can you take to ensure that reach those outcomes?
Performance marketing can help you make sure that you are reaching the right people and help you align your marketing strategies to achieve your desired outcome. The flexibility allows you to eliminate areas that don’t work for you while bolstering efforts in areas that have proven successful.
Randall-Reilly’s team can help put you on the path to success and eliminate wasted marketing spend. Using EDA data and audiences combined with your first-party data, a highly specific and custom audience can be created to allow you to target exactly the right people over multiple channels.
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