Monthly Archives: marketing
A woman scrolls through the Instagram app on her phone

How Instagram’s Elimination of Likes & Following Tab May Change SMM

Did you notice anything different when you recently opened up Instagram? You’re not the only one. The platform has finally decided to do away with its Following tab, a feature that has caused quite the controversy among users for its expository nature. The newly deleted tab had once allowed users to see what their friends were liking, commenting on, and who they were following in real-time. 

Instagram likes are also currently the subject of a deletion rumor, and if the plan is carried out, it would mean the removal of the most popular, sought after feature of Instagram as a whole.

Why are these changes a big deal? Because it means your behavior and activities on Instagram are once again private. What does this mean for social media marketing? We’ll explain everything you need to know.

How Marketing Companies Made Use of the Following Tab

Though the feature was mostly frequented by typical Instagram users to spy on their friends, coworkers, exes, and significant others (and sometimes even their enemies), it didn’t go unutilized in the social media marketing world. In fact, according to Harper’s Bazaar, the original intention of the Following tab was to allow users to find new accounts and interests through who their connections were interacting with. This, in turn, made it much simpler for companies to actively gain information on targeting specific audiences, find competitors, and keep up-to-date with what content of their own was working well. Essentially, the feature was an extra layer of analysis and insight that businesses can no longer use as a reference.

What Now?

If you’re a company that made particular use of the Following tab as a way to collect data, you may be wondering what tool you can now use to retrieve the same kinds of information regarding users’ patterns. That’s where the Explore page will come in handy. It may not display activity as granularly as the eliminated tab, but the Explore page will help supplement information about what is trending, popular pages, and just a general idea of what’s being liked by the people you are following. Keeping close tabs on this page, along with Instagram’s general insights, will give you an edge when it comes to content targeting and following customer behavior.

What Life Might Look Like Without Likes

According to Instagram, the idea behind getting rid of likes is to remove pressure from users to receive likes, to alleviate the need for validation, and to make an effort to help with self-esteem and mental health. While the withdrawal of the Following tab has already occurred, this change has not yet hit the entire app as quickly. Instagram tested the idea in markets like Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Japan, and several other countries, leaving users in the United States to watch its trial run from afar. Although the move may not affect the average everyday user’s experience with the social media platform, influencers, brands, and companies may be greatly impacted. With likes comes revenue, and now active users looking to grow will only have their follower numbers to increase and rely on. 

How ON Advertising Can Help

With massive Instagram changes being implemented and the possibility of even greater alterations on the horizon, the way analytics and user data is gathered may be experiencing a huge shift in the coming months and years. Need some assistance making sense of it all? ON Advertising can help with that. Our agency offers Digital Strategy Services to ensure that your marketing efforts are aligned with your goals because a formal strategy puts you steps ahead of your competition. Contact us to see how we can help your business navigate these changes and continue to grow. 

A neon sign that reads "data has a better idea" is in front of a background of large buildings.

The Benefits of AI in Advertising

What Is AI in Advertising?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. AI for advertising is an umbrella term that describes technologies like machine learning, computer vision, process automation, and dozens of others. AI has positive impacts on the advertising industry as it can analyze large sets of data more efficiently than humans. The most advanced AI learns from this data and improves its analysis, recommendations, and predictions over time. AI technology predicts how ad copy and creative will work best in an advertising campaign while using insights from consumer interaction to optimize and enhanced performance. 

AI is being utilized far and wide in the advertising and marketing industries. Many tasks being handled by AI, and other machine learning, is making user experiences possible that were not achievable only a few years ago. AI is doing far more than just housekeeping, it is doing the heavy lifting to enable personalization and meet the rising demands of consumers. Keith Eadie, Vice President and General Manager of Adobe Advertising Cloud notes that features within the advertising platform can optimize search, display, and video ads, and that AI is even making adaptive ad buys based on human-set goals. In short, he says “Automation and AI are amplifying what is possible for humans to do.” 

For some time, social media has been immune to AI, much of it happens in real-time and allows for real-time optimization. Working within social media you have to nail the right tone, tenor, and timing, which is something AI hasn’t been able to do. It’s machine learning, you have to teach AI what you want it to know, it can’t just “pick up” a new skill or tone of voice as humans can. But with a new dawn of technology comes new dawn of social media. The data we can now receive from AI goes beyond when our audience is online and what they’re interested in, AI can help us boost our conversion rate by drastically increasing relevance and resonance of copy and imagery. And many tools are helping social media marketers craft ads and copy based on their audience’s historical emotional engagement. How? AI.

How is AI Changing? 

The marketing and advertising industries are at the center of a seismic change in the way people engage in the world around them. The AI-powered conversational intelligence and voice-enabled platforms, like Siri and Alexa, are significantly changing our idea of what digital marketing can do. Now that there are personalized ads tailored to consumers, a general message doesn’t cut it anymore. 

What Does This Mean for the World of Advertising?

AI already has advanced data collection capabilities, however, with growing technology, there is always room for improvement. Within the next few years, the amount of data expected to be analyzed will double. This will allow for an increase in the number of predictions and recommendations AI will use to create better content for the consumer. With less time being spent on analyzing data, it creates more time to connect with the consumer through creative development. 

How Can We Help?

Marketers are highly valuing the world of AI and are already planning to use it to better target their audience this upcoming year. ON Advertising is well-versed in using different strategies to assist and enhance your advertising experience. By using AI techniques, such as customer segmentation and content generation, we are able to personalize content to better appeal to the consumer. All social media platforms and Google offer customization to select an audience for us to target with our ads, which is done through artificial intelligence. We are able to select our audience based upon age, gender, location, behaviors, interests, language spoken and more. This allows us to run ads for many clients at one time and target different audiences based upon what we determine needs to be selected for the client. We use the audience selection to ensure that our message and ads reach the appropriate individuals without spending unnecessary money. For more information on how we can help you reach your AI marketing goals, contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help market your business using AI technology.

Mikaela Copley goes over an assignment with Amanda at her desk in the ON Advertising office

The Ultimate Guide to Advertising to Gen Z in 2019

From Millennials to now what we call Gen Z, the personalities, attitudes, and values have shifted from generation to generation. As new generations are introduced, it is often hard to keep up with and understand them all.

Each generation has had a significant event or tragedy strike in their lifetime; defining who they are, how they live their lives and the decisions they make. Gen Z’s significant life event was the Great Recession/Housing Recession back in late 2007. Watching the rate in which their lives changed and those around them impacted them in a huge way. One way is how they handle their finances. They are careful and meticulous and never make a decision on a whim, instead they research. Looking into every purchase to ensure they will remain financially safe.

The technology era is also a huge turning point for Gen Z. With such technology, they prefer connecting via smartphones rather than face-to-face interactions. They would rather shop online than spend time at a brick and mortar. In addition, print has been undervalued as they prefer getting their news from online sources or through social media. 

A bigger and more pressing question is raised, for businesses at least: “How do we advertise to Gen Z?”

1. Leverage Video Communications

As previously stated, Gen Z prefers connecting via technology; however, they never leave voicemails and prefer text to email. They also are one of the first generations to frequently use, and prefer, YouTube, Netflix, and Reddit. If you can catch their eye and appeal to them in 5-7 seconds with your 2-minute ad before their chosen video begins, then your campaign is a success. 

2. Utilize Influencers

Gen Z was born into a world where social media became incredibly prominent. They value the impact of social media and celebrities influencers which help them to make a decision. Influencers spend a considerable amount of effort and time creating content that will appeal to their accounts followers. When followers are genuinely engaged, it creates a long-lasting relationship with the influencer that they are following. When this happens, it builds trust and loyalty in their minds to believe and trust the advice and recommendations from that influencer.  

3. Mobile Strategy 

Gen Z values their time spent on mobile devices which is why, on average, they engage in over 10 hours on online mobile content per day. By making sites mobile-optimized, they are more likely to be viewed more often. Say goodbye to desktop web browsers and emails, mobile strategy is the way to go!

4. Be Entertaining

As we know, Gen Z values are connected online. They expect authentic, entertaining interactions and experiences that provide what they need before they tell you. To win them over, marketers and advertisers must evolve from simply informing their audience to catching their eye and keeping them entertained.  

5. Provide Them With Information

Gen Z values being well informed before making any big decisions. They want to know who they are doing business with before they do it. Share your company’s message with them, be precise, informative, entertaining, and transparent with what you are selling. Gen Z is different than any other generation, they do their homework! 

Catering to different generations through advertising can take time to get a hang of, but as we grow to find new and innovative ways to and become proficient in how to market and advertise to Gen Z, the creative options are endless which opens an entirely new door for the advertising and marketing industry. 

How can ON Advertising help?

Above are just a few of the types of ways to market and advertise to the newest generation. Finding new, creative, and innovative ways to appeal to a technologically driven audience can be difficult. At ON Advertising, we have done the research for you to bring high investment to your business. We have found new ways to market, advertise and promote your business with the help of our social media and strategy team. Check out some of our many content strategy services and ways that we can help you. If you would like to learn more about content marketing and how it can benefit you, Contact us today!

A close up shot of a Burger King Burger that is being held and in the process of being eaten

Burger King’s #FeelYourWay Campaign

Advertisers are always under pressure to stand out amongst the crowd and out-perform every other ad to get noticed. With the increasing amount of platforms and opportunities for advertising, companies have to be creative when coming up with ad campaigns to grab consumers’ attention. Lately, the trend has been to highlight social problems in advertisements to show consumers that they care about these issues and to give a sense of connection to people.

A few months ago, we talked about the Nike campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick that grabbed attention from the world. Now, we want to focus on another campaign that was released by Burger King that has piqued the interest of users.

One of the latest ads that have sparked attention in the advertising industry is Burger King’s newest campaign called #FeelYourWay. The campaign directly takes a stab at McDonald’s and their ‘Happy Meal’ to bring awareness to mental health issues and stress about life. Watch it here:

In this ad, Burger King is using values-based advertising by trying to be real and down to earth to connect with the younger generation. They wanted to showcase stressors people deal with including, mental health, bullying, sexual harassment, and student debt. The idea of this was to bring awareness that not everyone is always happy and in the mood for a McDonald’s ‘Happy Meal,’ but that people have different emotions and feelings, and that’s okay. This campaign was directly targeting Millennial and Generation Z consumers.

Studies have shown, people in the younger generations, prefer to spend their money on brands that they can emotionally connect with. This is why value-based advertising has become such a popular trend nowadays. It has been reported that 60% of millennials are more likely to buy items that speak to them and their personality. The reason Burger King, and many companies want to target the younger demographic is because of their buying power in the marketplace.

If you’re interested in spicing up your brand’s advertising to be relevant and trendy in today’s competitive world, contact us today. We research and stay up-to-date on the latest trends in the advertising industry, so you don’t have to. Learn more about the services we provide here.

High Rising Schools of Phoenix Logo with colored pencils on the far left

High Rising Schools Phoenix

This week, we are introducing our client, Phoenix Community Alliance. We have been working with the PCA Education Committee on a fun project designed to promote the fantastic schools that are located in Downtown Phoenix. The campaign is called High Rising Schools of Phoenix. We created a pretty nifty brochure, original brand materials, and a whole website devoted to this campaign: https://highrisingschoolsphx.com

So what is High Rising Schools of Phoenix?

The vision behind this dynamic website is to enlighten the business community to the quality schools available in Downtown Phoenix. This campaign will serve as a very useful tool for community and economic development organizations that work to attract, retain and grow companies in Downtown Phoenix. The website is a resource for the families in those businesses who want to learn more about Downtown Phoenix schools.  As more employees want to live where they work, this campaign speaks to the quality education choices that exist in Downtown Phoenix.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by 2030 the population of Phoenix will grow to 2.2 million, and the population of the metro area will reach 6.3 million. 11,000 additional residents are expected to move to Downtown Phoenix in the next 5 years alone. In fact, Maricopa County was ranked #1 for population growth last year. With growth on this scale and more families moving to Downtown Phoenix, having an educational resource like High Rising Schools of Phoenix is important for families moving to the core of the Valley.

How Does ON Help?

Our overarching goal is to help bring awareness to families and business leaders that Downtown Phoenix offers preschool through doctoral programs within walking distance of any type of home or business in Downtown Phoenix.

In addition to our branding work and website management, we also handle the social media campaign for High Rising. By utilizing Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, we can attract a wider audience by showing them the quality of schools in Downtown Phoenix while driving traffic back to the website we created for the audience to explore the High Rising campaign even further. We are also encouraging the schools of Downtown Phoenix to interact and engage with the High Rising social media feed as well as encouraging students, parents, teachers and administrators to share what their favorite part is of being a part of the Downtown Phoenix school system with a social campaign of “What Makes Your School Special”. Our ultimate goal of using social media for this client and brand campaign is to show that Downtown Phoenix is more than just a bustling cityscape; there are excellent quality schools right in the city. We want to show everyone that you can work, eat, play and send your children to an outstanding school all in a 5-mile radius. “It’s an exciting project to be working on especially being located in Downtown Phoenix ourselves. We can speak to the amazing environment the downtown area can offer” says Senior Account Manager, Matt Grodsky who is spearheading the High Rising campaign. We are thrilled to continue this helping the Phoenix Community Alliance spread the word about the excellent schools located right in Downtown Phoenix.

ON Advertising’s mission is to bring ROI for our clients to improve their business. Whether you’re in need of a new website, updated social media, or an advertising campaign, contact us. We can assist you in creating a strategy to help marketing efforts resulting in more business. Learn more about us and the services we provide.

A pennant themed sign with Super Bowl Advertisements on it

Super Bowl Ads Spotlight

Whether you’re an avid football fan or not, you’ve got to admit you’re excited to see the crazy, creative commercials each year at the Super Bowl. We are too. After all, advertising is our gig.

There were plenty to choose from — some great, some not so great. But here are a few of the commercials we want to highlight this Super Bowl season.

Walmart: Famous Cars Pick Up Groceries

“Order groceries online. Pickup for free. No matter what you drive.”

All of your favorite classic movie mobiles including Scooby Doo’s Mystery Machine, the Jurassic Park jeep and Cars’ Lightning McQueen zooming off to the curbside of their choice of a grocery store and greeted by Walmart staff. The commercial was action-packed, humorous and brought some of us back to an earlier time.   

Burger King: #EatLikeAndy

Andy Warhol? In a Super Bowl ad? In 2019? You saw it. Burger King debuted a commercial of one of the most iconic artists eating a Whopper, almost in complete silence. Talk about a major throwback. Many were saying it was the best commercial of the Super Bowl, and some even said it was better than the game itself. This ad represented Warhol as a normal person doing normal things — such as eating a burger, and it sure portrayed the power of silence.

Michael Bublé vs. Bubly

There’s no better person to start a conundrum with Bubly Sparkling Water than Michael Bublé. The entire commercial features Bublé having an argument with people in the store about how to pronounce the name of the drink. With its snarky humor, celebrity guest and use of bright colors, this commercial definitely stood out during the big game.

Olay Killer Skin

In case you’re unaware, women watch football too. This year’s Super Bowl took a step in the right direction, targeting female fans in some of the commercials. This was Olay’s first Super Bowl ad, and it emphasized the brand’s quality skincare products in a 1-minute thriller that was more likely to have you laughing than on the edge of your seat. Olay’s commercial proved female football fans probably have interests other than laundry detergent.

Bumble

While we’re on this female empowerment track, let’s not forget to mention the dating app Bumble also debuted its first-ever Super Bowl ad. With campaign partner, influencer and tennis star Serena Williams, Bumble reinforced that with their app, women make the first move. Football definitely stepped it up in 2019, making women feel like part of one of the biggest games of the year.

Bud Light: Special Delivery

Bud Light? More like Bud Knight. These ads took Game of Thrones fans through an epic adventure in one commercial, leaving them thirsty for the next season (and, perhaps, some beer as well). And when you thought Bud Light was done, they once again entered the Super Bowl scene, this time dissing its competitors like Miller Light and Coors Light, and we’re here for it. It was humorous, majestic and sure to leave its competition on their toes.

Contact ON Advertising today to learn about our services

Sketch of various styles of the letter R

Update Your Logo

Whether its fashion, technology, or graphic design, styles are constantly changing. Logos for a company or brand are no different, it needs to stay current with the latest trends in the industry. Has your brand ever updated theirs? If not, we suggest looking into a branding refresh to stay up-to-date with competitors.

Logos are considered one of the signatures of a brand because they give a visual representation of who the brand is and what they encompass. Unfortunately, the lifespan of these important branding elements are getting smaller and smaller; styles are changing at a faster speed than ever before, forcing businesses to update their brand more often than not.  

Why make a change?

There are many reasons brands change their logos. Sometimes it’s internal factors causing a need for change including a shift in strategy, a merger, or an acquisition. However, external factors also have a big influence on altering a design. Examples of this usually include style trends and graphic design progression.

When to make the change?

Having a marketing team to evaluate when it’s time to modify a logo and look at all variables is the best practice. When we work with clients to asses a need for a new design, some of the questions we ask are:

  • Is the it too old and outdated?
  • Is it too complex?
  • Is it identifiable or not?
  • Is the business changing as a whole?

Taking a closer look and thoughtfully evaluating the brand is the best method to determine the need for a new logo.

How can ON Advertising help?

As you may have seen in a recent blog, in 2018 we changed our logo to rejuvenate our brand, giving ourselves a fresh and modernized look. As an agency, we have grown so much since we have updated our logo, giving us a competitive edge. Our highly-skilled creative team has designed many logos for our clients, check out some of our originals here. Whether you are starting a new brand, want to give a brand a fresh updated look, or are changing a brand’s strategic direction, we can design and create a state-of-the-art branding for you. Contact us to explore how a new logo can help your business grow.

Thank You for a Great Year

As the 2018 year is coming to an end, we are reflecting on the growth we’ve had throughout the past 12 months. At ON Advertising, we are so proud all of our achievements and success during the year and we want to share with you a little bit of what we’ve done. We would like to thank all of our clients for making 2018 such a great year.

Rebrand

Back in the early months of 2018, we had a complete rebrand of the agency. We changed our logo and our website, giving ourselves an updated look. The marketing industry is constantly changing, as an agency, we have to keep up with the latest trends in graphic design and website features and give ourselves a fresh look.

STD/HIV Awareness Ad

As STD’s become an epidemic here in Arizona, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health wanted to educate people on getting tested. We created video ads for them to promote awareness to the public about Syphilis and STD’s.
Click to see our previous blog to learn more about the entire campaign. 
We are glad to play a role in educating the public on the need to get tested for STDs because the risk is not knowing.

New Clients

We have had a tremendous year in servicing new clients. If you have been following us on social media, you may have seen just how many. To mention a few, we have added Chompies, Cavanagh Law Firm, Vintage Industrial, Kobargo Technology Partners, Timeless Wood Furniture, Yandy.com, and more.
Click here to see a full list of our clients.
We would like to thank all of the clients that have worked with us and we are excited to see your businesses grow.
Don’t forget about our Halloween Yandy.com video ads we talked about in our previous blog.

New Hires

In the new year, we have added 4 new people to our dynamic team. Our Account Coordinator Mikaela Copley came to the agency as an intern in January 2018, then became a full-time member after graduating in May. Recently, Brent Barcena and Chris Jones joined the team our Graphic Designer and our Video Producer. Lastly, Courtney Blackman was hired in the fall as our new Traffic Manager.
Here at ON Advertising, we would like to thank all of our clients and employees for making it a tremendous year for the agency. We can’t wait to see what 2019 holds for us! Contact us if you want your business to grow and start thriving for 2019.

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