Next Generation B2B Advertiser?

Here's what we got when I handed my daughter a pencil and blank sheet of paper and asked her to contribute some creative assets for Programmatic B2B. Pretty impressive for a recent graduate of Barlow Mountain Elementary School (BMES). Most interesting is the fact that I never brought up the meaning or concept of a CTA (Call-To-Action), yet this ad page is covered with them.

The images are appropriate as well. Consider the creative combinations of goat and switch with man plus machine. And if you are wondering about the goat IQ, then consider this. Goats are not just cute and somewhat comical, but also surprisingly intelligent, new research finds according to Smithsonian.

These furry, hoofed eating machines appear more sheep- or mini-cow-like in their demeanor, but their IQs likely put even the most astute steer to shame, the researchers—real men and women who stare at goats—found.

Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/never-underestimate-goat-not-stupid-looks-180950265

Programmatic Testing 1-2-3

For small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) only... or maybe not? The testing of programmatic advertising is still getting mixed reviews from B2B marketers. While most of the same factors affecting B2C advertisers are relevant to B2B, there is another challenge. Audience targeting options for B2B are significantly limited when compared to all of the targeting attributes, machine learning and AI available for B2C advertising.

Nevertheless, programmatic advertising for B2B is on the rise and so are the companies supporting it across the digital advertising landscape. The BPA Media Exchange is a great example of how a global assurance provider is delivering access to demand from major trading desks, demand-side platforms and brands, as well as guaranteed inventory sold by business publishers. It's a great bet on success for the future, especially given the trends in privacy and concerns related to bots, fraud and measurement. In the meantime, transparency still matters -- and for businesses with limited budget and unlimited desire to test and learn, there need to be cost-effective options.

Marketing automation has come a long way, but implementation costs are high for the most effective multi-channel marketing solutions. With the intent to deliver cross-channel insights and results, a new 3-month B2B digital advertising test program was developed for account-based marketing.

From babies to bots (b-to-b), anything can happen.

I love this video from Adobe. Advertisers continue to spend billions on clicks without truly understanding the source of resulting engagement. A renewed emphasis on data-driven marketing and the IAB Data Transparency Standards are helping, but anything can happen when man is disengaged from the machine.

What matters most is that advertising begins with clearly defined objectives. Many key performance indicators (KPI) are still being applied to campaign results without context or critique. The average cost-per-click (CPC) for a Programmatic B2B paid social ad campaign can range from $0.05 on Twitter to $5.00 on LinkedIn with similar audience targeting criteria and segmentation applied.

The problem doesn't necessarily go away when you optimize for conversions, especially for B2B marketing campaigns that are optimized for lead capture. How many vendors (supply-side) get lured to your landing pages, only to distract your new business development teams from what matters most -- generating revenue (demand-side).

For effective B2B marketing, it is important to remember three things (and not only these) before pulling the trigger on ad spend:

1. Be crystal clear on your objective and its value to the organization.

2. Address the right business audience with relevant value and unique insight.

3. If you are unable to truly validate the impact of campaign results on your objective, then don't jump to conclusions based on activity alone.

Qualitative review is more important than ever, so invest the time on understanding what is valuable and what is not. This applies to campaign planning, execution, measurement and beyond. Machines are here to serve their masters, so let's remember to keep them in line.