by Population Science | Feb 7, 2022 | Digital Marketing
Social media allows organizations to tell their story and connect with their audience. With a strong social media strategy and the ability to create engaging content, you can engage supporters and increase brand awareness, leading to overall success.
Social media is a vital component of overall marketing efforts. But where do you start? Understanding current and relevant social media statistics can help shape your social strategy and define and set goals. Here are 10 social media stats to consider when crafting a strong social media strategy.
1) 57.6% of the world’s population uses social media. The average daily usage is 2 hours and 27 minutes (October 2021).
Meet your audience where they are already spending their time- on social media. With the majority of the world spending time online every single day, implementing a social strategy with a strong foundation presents a huge opportunity to reach a variety of supporters.
2) 84 percent of US adults aged from 18 to 29 are active social media users (Pew Research Center, 2021).
This number falls slightly to 81 percent for the 30- to 49-year-old age group and further to 73 percent for those aged from 50 to 64. US adults who are 65 years old and above use social media the least.
Understanding your target demographic and which platforms they use most will allow you to deliver the most effective strategy. The best way to find your target audience is by first thinking about the specific needs your organization fulfills. Start by defining your audiences’ questions, concerns, and problems and build your strategy from there.
Facebook continues to be a social media leader. No matter your industry, you should be able to find your desired audience on Facebook. From ad formats, targeting options, and measurement capabilities, Facebook is a great place to start with any marketing strategy.
4) When asked what type of content they like to engage with, 68% of consumers preferred images, 50% preferred videos and 30% enjoyed text-based posts.
Your strategy should include a mix of text, image and video to keep your content interesting and your audience engaged. Experiment with what form of content performs best on your page and use that information to decipher what your audience wants to see.
5) 85% of marketers rate short-form videos as the most effective type of social media content.
Video marketing should be a critical aspect in your social media efforts. Video marketing allows you to share a great deal of information with your audience in a quick and captivating manner.
Your social media should reflect your brands voice. Your social media should cover your organizations basics, be engaging and informational, and inspire your audience to act.
First impressions matter. Your social media will often be the first impression a prospect has of you. When consumers have a positive experience with you it builds trust leading to brand loyalty and affinity and generates sales.
8) In a 2021 HubSpot Blog poll of 1,000+ global marketing professionals, 79% of marketers report buying paid advertising on social media. (HubSpot)
Paid advertising presents an opportunity for reach that isn’t always able to be accomplished organically. Social media advertisement allows you to find, target, and reach your desired audience that can fit any budget you have.
9) 83% of marketers believe the quality of social media posts is more important than the quantity. (HubSpot)
Quality and consistency are key to social media success. The more often you can share quality content, the better. Start by researching the specific social platforms you use and determine the amount of content that performs best for each platform.
With most social media users using mobile devices, accessibility is key. It is crucial your social media content and layout are optimized for mobile.
Social media marketing presents a huge opportunity to reach and engage your audience. Use these 10 social media stats to help shape your social media strategy by gaining better insights into the world of social media, and how to maximize your results using these resources.
by Population Science | Oct 20, 2020 | Programmatic
Programmatic, Channel Spotlight, Tactic Spotlight – October 20, 2020
This blog post is the first in a series that will highlight channels, tactics, and the intersection of how to leverage both to create highly targeted programmatic campaigns.
Today we highlight the Connected TV (CTV) channel along with the contextual, hyperlocal and first-party targeting tactics.
Channel
Connected TV (CTV) is video inventory that is streamed from an internet connection.
The connection is made via a streaming device like a Smart TV, gaming system, Roku, Apple TV, Fire Stick, etc.
You will see many people in the industry refer to CTV interchangeably with another acronym, OTT (Over The Top). The term “over the top” comes from the fact that the video content circumvents traditional video delivery bypassing satellite and cable distributors (or goes “over the top” of them, directly to the consumer via an internet connected device).
Currently, more than 80% of American consumers stream at least some of their TV content via CTV.
Tactics
CONTEXTUAL
Contextual targeting allows advertisers to select keywords and topics that are relevant to the product or service they are marketing.
Contextual targeting can be done multiple ways programmatically. The most commonly used methods include:
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Hand-picking domains (known as “whitelisting”) to serve ads on
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Creating private marketplace partnerships with relevant publishers
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Using 3rd party data providers that scan context for keywords and relevancy
LOCATION
Location targeting is exactly what it sounds like: it allows marketers to target people based upon location.
In the age of big data, machine learning, and AI, location targeting has a number of implementations that allow marketers to precisely target audiences based upon where they are and even where they have been.
FIRST PARTY DATA
This is the data that you collect directly from your customers and audiences that visit your website(s) and app(s).
First Party Data is generally stored in your CRM, DMPs, CDPs, and/or within pixels. It can include everything from name, address, email, phone number to device IDs, survey data, purchase history, and more.
The Intersecting Opportunity
TV advertising is incredibly powerful. There are few opportunities to get 15 or 30 seconds of undivided attention to pitch potential customers on a product or service.
Unfortunately TV advertising has been a dream for most marketers due to the high cost and inefficiency of targeting too wide of an area.
ENTER CONNECTED TV.
As more consumers stream television over their internet connection marketers can now place TV commercials programmatically. This allows advertisers to target using many of the same tactics you can use for other digital ad buys, including contextual and location targeting.
The implication for local and regional advertisers is enormous. Especially for brick and mortar advertisers.
There are a number of studies that correlate proximity to consumer purchase behavior. Essentially, patronage decreases the further a customer lives from a place of business.
With CTV, advertisers can drop a pin on their location(s), analyze their first party data to see a heatmap of where their customers live, and target TV ads to streamers accordingly based on their location (i.e. likelihood that they will actually visit their place of business).
Additionally, advertisers can select contextually relevant content to place their ads around. For example, if you own a sporting goods store you can choose to advertise on relevant networks like ESPN and Fox Sports as well as sporting events when they appear on network channels.
When combining context, location, and first party data with a powerful marketing channel like Connected TV you can drastically decrease the cost of TV advertising.
By shrinking the geographic location where your ads are shown to target an area and audience that is highly likely to be interested in your product or service AND likely to visit your place of business you can create an affordable TV advertising campaign with a high return on ad spend for your business.
READY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CONNECTED TV? CONTACT POPULATION SCIENCE TODAY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CUSTOMIZED SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR BRAND AND BUSINESS.
by Population Science | Aug 3, 2020 | Programmatic
Programmatic – August 3, 2020
The dream of a fully open and accessible internet for digital advertisers has taken a lot of shots in the last few years. At this point, it’s safe to say the digital ad buying landscape will remain fragmented for the foreseeable future.
So how can we make the digital media buying experience as efficient as possible for today’s advertisers? In my opinion, it starts with taking a deep dive into private marketplaces (PMPs) that are accessed programmatically.
What is a Private Marketplace (PMP)?
A PMP is a deal that is negotiated with a publisher or exchange that provides access to specified inventory.
These deals are bought programmatically so you can leverage economies of scale across various PMPs as well as open exchange buys at the same time. This makes it easier to manage frequency, targeting, etc across a larger segment of your ad buy.
For experienced programmatic traders, a PMP is essentially a deeper relationship with a specific publisher or group of publishers.
Why should we leverage Private Marketplaces?
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PMPs can come with access to a publishers’ first party data. Do you want to target 25-40 year olds streaming their television content? There is a solution for you.
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Secure guaranteed ad placement. Do you want to ensure 80+% viewability? Want to do a full page takeover? There are solutions out there for that too.
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Get really creative with the types of deals you put together with publishers. It also gives you the flexibility to work on incredibly niche deals. Are you looking to get in front of millennial gardeners and you know of blogs they typically flock to? Set up a PMP!
In an era when Facebook, YouTube, et al seem to be constantly moving the goal posts in terms of what audiences you can reach and how you can reach them, it’s good to know that there are opportunities to reach your audiences beyond the walled gardens.
If you are a brand that has squeezed all of the efficiency that you possibly can out of search and social, the next step for you is testing PMPs!
Contact Population Science today to learn more about how to leverage PMPs for your brand!
by Population Science | Jun 22, 2020 | Digital Marketing
Programmatic – June 22, 2020
With uncertainty around whether or not any traditional ground game will be feasible this cycle it is imperative that candidates build a cohesive digital ground game. Population Science is actively working with clients to deploy paid, owned, and earned media strategies to compensate. While there is no one size fits all strategy for political campaigns, there are two tactics that we feel can be universally deployed:
Geofencing
Go neighborhood, by neighborhood with targeted, digital messages across various channels. The information you can get back from short-run, micro-location targeted campaigns can be invaluable. You can measure engagement rates as signs that certain locations might be more interested in your campaign.
Campaigns can take learnings and apply them to wider targeted campaigns. For example, did you notice neighborhoods with a median age of 36 responded better than a median age of 51? Maybe you should be investing more of your digital budget in a younger voter across all of your campaigns.
Influencer Recruitment
Take your endorsement game to the grassroots level. Anyone who reaches an audience of potential voters via social media can easily sway small numbers of voters your direction. Community activists, neighborhood leaders… really anybody that can reach an audience of tuned-in voters. This is especially important in local elections.
You need to create content that is shareable and has the ability to go viral. Here are some ideas:
2020 might be the most bizarre campaign cycle in modern history. Get ahead of the game by lining up your digital ground game today!
by Population Science | May 7, 2020 | Programmatic
Programmatic – May 7, 2020
As I talk with clients and prospects about adapting to changing media consumption, one theme seems to be emerging: nobody is interested in talking about their retargeting strategy.
Reasons given include:
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Marketers have simply put retargeting on cruise control using “set it and forget it” programs.
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With cookies disappearing in two years, what is the point to revisit?
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Marketers have been focused on new and emerging trends.
It’s easy to fall into a trap of thinking you’re already maximizing your retargeting program. The truth is you probably are not.
Programmatic has changed the game when it comes to retargeting consumers. Emerging channels are being woven into the equation, creating new opportunities to retarget with video, rich media, and voice.
As consumers are using more digital channels to learn about products and services, it is imperative to engage site abandoners with the right message, on the right channel, on the right device, at the right time.
Here are some thoughts on how you can ensure you’re getting the most out of your retargeting program:
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Audit your pixel placement. It amazes me how few digital marketers have no clue if their retargeting tags are properly deployed across all product/service pages.
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Reassess your customer journey. Is your website properly guiding potential customers across the finish line?
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Integrate video to provide site abandoners a compelling reason to return and convert.
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Negative target audiences that don’t need to be reengaged. For example, you likely don’t want to retarget people looking at your website from your own office. Also, do your clients access a login to use your service via your website? Consider if you should negative target that CRM file.
Retargeting is the highest ROI channel next to email, and it is the foundation of any digital strategy. Once you have implemented a retargeting strategy, or simply given your old strategy a tune-up, you are ready to take retargeting to the next level.
Opportunities abound to optimize your campaign by retargeting visitors to a physical location or past customers in your CRM database… more on those opportunities soon in future blog posts.
If you are ready to review retargeting your strategy or explore implementing a new one, contact Population Science today for a free audit and consultation!
