Hey readers,
Welcome to the sizzling summer edition of your ultimate marketing newsletter! As August continues to heat up (shout out to all our Midwestern readers braving the heat with us!) so does the opportunity to fire up your brand’s strategy. Let’s turn up the heat and make this summer your brand’s hottest yet! (How many more of these can we fit into this edition?).
As a group of certified digital gurus, we aim to provide you with a cool resource to stay updated in this ever-evolving landscape. And if you’re looking for a curious, gritty, and – if we may say so ourselves – downright smart team to support you, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Happy reading, and may all your campaigns sizzle through these summer months! 📈
~ The Editors
In this Edition you’ll find:
- Graphs, Charts, and Data – Oh My!
- Upcoming Webinars & Events
- Case Study Feature: Restore Hyper Wellness
- Tips, Tricks, & Guides
- Platform Updates & Industry Trends
- “That’s Hot!” Moments in the Industry
- An in-depth review of Hill’s Pet Nutrition Success: Meta’s Target Frequency Beta
Graphs, charts, and data – oh my!
Some refreshing stats for a hot day…
Chart #1: eCommerce Usage Distribution on the Entire Internet
This chart spills the tea on which eCommerce platforms are ruling the web. Shopify’s the queen, with 26% usage, followed by WooCommerce Checkout at 18%, Wix Stores at 19%, and Squarespace Add to Cart at 12%. Ecwid’s holding its own with 5%, while the rest, a mysterious 21%, falls into the “Other” category. Did we miss any key players?
Source via BUILT.
Chart #2: Sponsored Content is Still King
Key Highlights:
- Brands are now smarter with their influencer budgets, thanks to data-driven optimization: bigger budgets go to long-term, multi-channel campaigns with a smart blend of micro, mid-tier, macro, and mega influencers.
- ROI Focus: top metrics include audience growth (61%), awareness (53%), and conversion rates (48%)
- Affiliate marketing is booming, driven by platforms like TikTok Shop, Amazon, and LTK.
- Brands see creators as a new content studio, boosting creator content as paid ads. Content licensing allows brands to run ads from creator accounts, reaching new audiences.
Brands are going all-in on influencer marketing but are becoming more strategic and selective. Long-term partnerships, multi-channel campaigns, and a strong focus on measurable results are the new norm. Smaller creators shine in affiliate marketing, while mid-tier creators face unique challenges, namely competition with small and large creator tiers: the former, as mentioned, being ideal for affiliate marketing, and the latter better maintaining long-term partnerships.
Are you still struggling with understanding which type of creator (micro, mid, macro, mega, etc.) is right for your brand? While the true answer is “it depends” (every marketer’s go-to) on what type of influencers are right for your media strategy, consider the below from HubSpot’s Marketing Trends Report from 2023. Of marketers polled, 47% saw the most success with micro influencers, followed by 29% that saw the most success with macro influencers. Of those responses, some of the popular “reasons why” were:
- 44% say they’re less expensive to work with AND easier to establish relationships with.
- 41% say they engage tight-knit communities AND are more accepting of feedback.
- 37% say they drive higher engagement with their content.
- 37% say they drive higher engagement with their content.
Hear from Head of Influencer Marketing: Kristina Coughlin, Head of Influencer Strategy:
“While many brands opt for micro-influencers due to budget constraints, our data shows that for clients focused on full-funnel strategies, mid-tier and macro influencers often deliver stronger results. Micros are excellent for driving engagement, but they typically fall short in achieving full-funnel outcomes compared to more established talent. At the end of the day, each type of influencer helps drive business outcomes in different ways. We recommend working with a team of experts to identify what mix is best suited for your business.”
If you’re wondering how to navigate all of this, have no fear: AdParlor is here! With us, brands get the most bang for their buck, and creators enjoy meaningful, profitable collaborations. Plus, with our fully-managed services, you can make your influencer efforts stretch even further with amplification support.
Upcoming Webinars & Events
Enjoy this list of hand-selected webinars and in-person events that excite our team or where you might find us! This list was independently curated by our Editors for this edition of AdParlor’s Newsletter, we’re not sponsored by any feature.
The State of Cookieless Future and First-Party Data
WHEN: August 6, 12:30AM EST
Register HERE
Third-party cookies, the cornerstone of digital marketing for over a decade, are crumbling. By the first quarter of 2025, industry giants like Google are phasing them out, prioritizing user privacy and responsible data collection. This ushers in the “Cookieless Future,” a new digital landscape where first-party data is the new gold standard. Are you prepared to embrace this shift?
Brand Positioning: Digital Marketing and Beyond
WHEN: August 2, 12:30PM EST
Register HERE
Traditional brands concentrate on putting their brands in their customers’ minds when creating a brand strategy or a marketing plan, whereas digital brands concentrate on putting their brands in their customers’ lives. Interesting, isn’t it? Join Method To Madness to talk about the potential use cases for your business or to get firsthand knowledge of how leading companies in your field have distinguished their offerings to their clients.
Ad Creative at Every Stage of the Funnel
WHEN: On Demand!
Register HERE
Pro Tips to Drive Engagement from Awareness to Purchase Creative is critical for ad performance, but knowing the right type of creative to use how and when can be a challenge. Join us for a live Tech-Talk Webinar, presented by Smartly. Our guest will share findings from new exclusive research of 9,500+ consumers across six countries to better understand what creative makes the right connection.
AND, if Podcasts are more your thing 🎧:
Check out this episode of The Daily. The podcast dives into “The power of full funnel activation, a shifting path to purchase, and what’s next for in-store retail media”. It helps uncover ways the shopper journey is evolving, how retail media is shifting, and how in-store retail media can help bring a brand’s shopping message to life, particularly during holidays and events.
Case Study Feature: Restore Hyper Wellness
Restore Hyper Wellness partnered with AdParlor to supercharge their national, multi-channel digital program and achieve a positive ROAS. Their goal was to optimize their national brand budget across multiple channels and drive significant website sales.
The Results?
- 50% More Efficient SEM CPA
- 68% More Efficient Meta CPA
- 5.4x Greater Total ROAS
Want to learn how we did it? Check out the full case study HERE
Tips, Tricks, & Guides
Navigating Prime Day (and more) in 2024
We are now entering some of the largest days in online retail. Christmas in July is a real thing as consumers await a myriad of deals from their favorite online retailers. Amazon’s Prime Day launched in July, along with a number of events that were spawned to compete against the retail giant, kicking off the unofficial promotions season through the rest of the year.
This editor personally splurged on a few Prime Day deals, one being the biggest and best double-basket air fryer on the market. I can’t justify paying so much for it, but Prime Day was the day my kitchen dreams were fulfilled 😏
- Amazon’s 2024 Prime Day 48-hour event, which launched on June 16th, was the retailer’s biggest year ever, driving record numbers, both in terms of sales and items sold.
- According to Adobe Analytics, total ecommerce spending during the event hit a record $14.2 billion, marking an 11% year-over-year (YoY) increase.
- One major takeaway from this year’s event (and good news to competitors) is the ripple effect Prime Day is having on rival retailers’ summer sales growth (graph below).
- To compete in the space, TikTok announced their “Deals for You Days” that launched a week before Prime Day. TikTok’s big push, which began on July 9, featured a series of live events from users’ “favorite brands,” according to TikTok’s press release.
- Best Buy kick-started this year’s events in late June with its Member Deals Day that offered discounts on thousands of items for the paid tiers of its membership program.
- Target Circle Week, which features discounts on summer and back-to-school essentials, also ran a week ahead of Prime Day, July 7-13, for members of its free Target Circle loyalty program.
- Walmart’s Walmart Deals sale, which the retail giant promised would be its “largest savings event ever” across categories such as electronics, home, toys, and travel, ran from July 8-11, with Walmart+ members able to access the discounts early.
So how should you prepare for the next Prime Day? Let’s dive in.
According to a recent Kantar study, 75% of shoppers are likely to buy a product they discovered before Prime Day. While running campaigns during Prime Day is essential, pre-event campaigns can maximize visibility among shoppers who are planning their purchases in advance. It’s crucial to diversify your consumer reach across various touchpoints, considering that 73% of retail consumers utilize multiple channels for shopping, making them three times more likely to make a purchase when engaged across these channels.
Today’s consumers prioritize seamless, multichannel shopping experiences, with social media increasingly influencing their buying decisions. Leveraging tools like Shoppable Media and Where to Buy can elevate your Prime Day strategy, facilitating a comprehensive approach before, during, and after the sales event.
Prime Day presents significant opportunities for increased sales, traffic, and brand recognition. According to Amazon’s internal data, brands that advertised before and during Prime Day experienced a 216% increase in awareness and a 214% rise in consideration compared to the preceding week.
The impact of Prime Day extends beyond Amazon, benefiting other major retailers and direct-to-consumer brands alike. Internal data from ChannelSight shows that Walmart, Target, and Best Buy all enjoyed increased traffic, revenue, and conversion rates during Amazon’s flagship promotion week.
You can read more insights from ChannelSight’s report here.
How to drive brand attention for Holiday 2024
As we quickly approach the holidays (anyone else already planning Q4 strategies while it’s 100+ outside?), a few insights from the DoubleVerify Global Insights 2024 Trend Report caught our collective eye.
Quick Question…
Q: DoubleVerify this, DoubleVerify that… What is DoubleVerify?
A: At a very high level, DoubleVerify’s focus is on providing tools and solutions that help advertisers, agencies, and publishers ensure the quality, performance, and effectiveness of their digital advertising campaigns.
Seasonal variation and major media events exert a profound impact on audience attention. During peak marketing periods like the fourth quarter, characterized by heightened digital activity around Halloween and Christmas, attention levels often fluctuate. Post-holiday periods typically witness attention recovery following the initial festive rush. Interestingly, Thanksgiving stands out as a period of heightened attention, particularly due to its association with significant online shopping events.
Why all the fuss around measuring attention now? As a whole, DV’s teams have noticed that attention measurement has steadily gained importance in recent years, with 2023 marking its integration into many advertisers’ core media strategies. Looking ahead to 2024, 47% of media buyers intend to incorporate attention-based metrics into the majority of their media purchases. Attention measurement metrics empower advertisers with actionable insights to refine their strategies, enhance audience engagement, protect brand reputation, and ultimately drive better results from their advertising investments.
Ultimately, ad placements, seasonal patterns and campaign goals play a crucial role in shaping optimization strategies and driving attention. Leveraging attention-driven approaches can help advertisers uncover fresh opportunities to support specific campaign objectives.
Download DoubleVerify’s full guide here for additional insights.
Platform Updates & Industry Trends
Tired of feeling like you’re stuck in a game of marketing whack-a-mole, desperately trying to keep up with platform updates and industry trends? Don’t worry, we got you covered with the hottest tips and all the hot-off-the-press updates.
Instagram’s Unskippable Ads:
Instagram is shaking things up with a brand-new feature: unskippable ads (did your mind jump straight to YouTube, too?). Imagine scrolling through your feed, only to be met with a countdown timer as you watch a video ad.
Already feeling hot around the collar at the prospect of yet another forced ad experience? Never fear, Meta is still in early test mode with these new, unskippable ads. Tests are currently being conducted in Facebook’s Feed and Instagram’s Feed and Stories. Only a small portion of Facebook’s and Instagram’s users are in the test pool – let us know if you’re one of them!
HOT off the press – Reddit Announces Today They’ve Acquired Creative Intelligence Platform, Memorable AI
Over the past two years, Reddit has integrated machine learning and generative AI into its advertising, enhancing user experiences and client results. Recently, they acquired Memorable AI, an ad creative optimization platform, to further boost campaign performance. This acquisition provides Reddit advertisers with advanced tools for better creative effectiveness and automation, powered by Memorable AI’s industry-leading foundation model.
Ready to launch your Reddit program? Reach out to us here!
Read more on the acquisition here.
Pinterest Platform Updates:
Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) is currently in alpha, and it’s a feature you’ll want to keep an eye on. DCO will allow you to automatically tailor your ads to individual users based on their preferences and behaviors: AKA more personalized ads and ultimately, higher conversion rates.
Expanded 3P Measurement Partnerships: Pinterest is expanding its market coverage and measurement capabilities through new partnerships. These partnerships will provide deeper insights into your campaign performance and help refine your strategy.
Beta Testing and MMM Reports: Ever wish you could download those precious MMM reports directly from Ads Manager? Your wish has been granted. This feature is currently in beta and promises to make your reporting and analysis process much more efficient.
Pinterest’s new Media Planner looks strikingly similar to Meta’s campaign planner, and it’s definitely going to be a hit. This tool will help you plan and optimize your campaigns with ease, ensuring you get the most bang for your buck.
These updates are game-changers for anyone in paid media and marketing. From split testing to dynamic creative optimization, Pinterest is giving us the best tools to boost our campaigns and drive results. Happy Pinning! 🥳📌
“That’s Hot!” Moments in the industry
Trending news we just HAVE to comment on.
Hush’s “Iced” Cooling Blankets Ad
Hush’s new ad for their Iced Cooling Blankets is a masterclass in cool marketing… literally! With the summer heat hitting 34°C, they tap into the sizzling weather, making their cooling blankets super relevant. The ad’s weather app look is instantly relatable – we check it WAY too often during this heatwave – and the “Don’t let 🥵 ruin your 💤” tagline perfectly nails the problem and their solution. The big CTA and simple design makes it a no-brainer for anyone wanting to beat the heat.
Coors Light Time Capsule Commercial
While most of our team may be a little biased being from Kansas City and fans of the Chiefs, we are buzzing over the latest Patrick Mahomes x Coors Light “Time Capsule” commercial. In case you didn’t know, active NFL players are prohibited from promoting alcohol. BUT that hasn’t stopped this dynamic duo from finding a few loopholes. In the video, Mahomes appears on set of the commercial shoot that is then called off after a closer reading of the NFL rules. As a solution, the teams decided to bury the full commercial in a time capsule, an event that was then live streamed on June 28. Hats off to the creative minds behind the concept! You can watch the full commercial here.
From the Desk of Sierra Underhill
Welcome to “From the Desk Of” – a unique feature section where the talented minds at AdParlor share their insights, expertise, research, & experiences with our readers. We love a good dose of creativity so you’ll see these topics change from month-to-month with a consistent focus on innovation, strategy, & creative in the paid social industry.
This month, we’re diving into Hill’s Pet Nutrition’s success tapping into Meta’s Target Frequency Beta by Sierra Underhill!
By Sierra Underhill, Team Lead, Sr. Campaign Manager
TLDR: AdParlor tested Meta’s new Target Frequency Beta to help Hill’s Pet Nutrition find the perfect ad frequency. This new tool allowed them more control and showed that the right frequency can significantly impact sales and brand recall. Through a 16-day A/B test, Hill’s Pet saw higher average frequency, an 11% increase in video completion rates, and a 35% boost in ad recall.
Want to find out if your brand could benefit from Meta’s Frequency Beta? Read the full blog HERE!
About the Author: Sierra Underhill, Team Lead, Sr. Campaign Manager
Sierra is a boomerang back to our team, originally joining the AP crew in 2019 as a Campaign Manager to help service some of our key retail clients. Her passions include: live music 🎶, slow mornings and rainy days with a good book 📚, her dogs 🐾, visiting new coffee shops ☕, ‘splorin the outdoors 🏕️, and (for now) training for her first 10K 🏃🏻♀️
Want to explore more? Check out our full blog here!