Advertising Campaign Conventions & Best Practices

Advertising Campaign Conventions & Best Practices

Purpose We seek to streamline the process of advertising creative production and trafficking of deliverables and offer advice on improving the user experience to deliver the best ROI possible.

1. Project Initiation Once the media plan is approved, we begin! The first stage includes a discussion about media plan assets and timing

Kick-Off Meeting Richardson Media Group Organize an initial meeting, ideally in person, with all members of the team to discuss scope of work, responsibilities and production deadlines Provide a full list of media deliverables, advertising specs and media deadlines based on the approved media plan Open a Dropbox folder to save files and ship out all advertising deliverables KOR Group/Client Open a new project in Basecamp or other project management application. Save the Dropbox link to the project management application for team access.

Additional Steps Richardson Media Group Request campaign URL s/utm codes from client; share with media vendors Acquire tracking pixels from digital vendors; send to client to be dropped into website/landing page Discuss tracking goals and work with client to set up conversions and event goals in Google Analytics KOR Group/Client Client shares access to Google Analytics and gives agency admin/business manager access to social channels Obtain and share campaign URL s/utm codes and send to Richardson Media Group Place tracking pixels into website or landing pages Publish an approved privacy policy on website Set up custom dashboards to follow specific conversion goals

2. Explore Media Placements Thinking about how the target audience consumes information on different media platforms and how that influences messaging

How does media placement influence messaging? On which media platforms will the ads in this campaign be running? What are the characteristics of each media platform selected for the advertising campaign? How does the media vehicle or advertising platform influence ad messaging? Example 1: People driving by an outdoor billboard at 65 MPH will have little time to read or process content. This means messaging and CTA must be visible front and center. We should assume the audience is distracted because they are driving. Keep it simple and direct. Example 2: Social media ads are consumed in a more personal way, on the user s private device or desktop computer. Social media messaging should convey the product or service s perceived value for the audience. It must answer the question: what s in it for me?

3. User Experience and Campaign Design Considering ad campaign user experience when embarking upon the creative design process.

What factors influence media campaign design? User Experience. Are we making the ad easy for the user to understand? Desired Call to Action. What are the action steps we want the user to take after ads are served? Do we want the user to make a phone call, complete a form or survey, or take some other action step? What Impacts User Behavior? Here are a few recommendations for advertisements that can help impact user behavior: Where possible, let the context of the placement direct the creative. Ad copy should always be simple & easy to consume. (See slides 10 & 11 for a few samples) There s a psychology to ad color choices. Consider A/B testing to explore which colors drive more engagement. (See slide 12 on Color) Try to find the balance between ease of use and aesthetic beauty. They can exist together!

320x50 Mobile banners don t leave much room for copy!

Desktop ads like this page takeover by Macallan Scotch connote luxury through generous use of space. The ad seems to embrace the content by appearing on either side of the page. The CTA clicks through to a landing page for a sponsorship Macallan is doing with entrepreneur.com.

Let s talk a little more about color... This article is very recent and full of great examples of how color affects CTA button engagement. Bottom line is there are many opinions on which colors work best, and why, especially for those tricky CTA buttons. Here are some best practices: Think about how color is interpreted by factors such as culture, gender & context. Consider the rest of the ad design when deciding what color button to use. Look for button contrast and use compatible colors. Keep in mind the brand s color palette and be consistent. CTAs should be prominent and eye-catching. Increase contrast between button and background colors. Think about how colors represent emotion or feeling. Keep color consistent - i.e. all action buttons same color. That color will become a visual link to an action step.

4. Deployment of Creative Assets Enough abstract thinking! It s time for the nitty-gritty: naming protocols, ad delivery and production timelines

File Naming Protocols Use an underscore _ between each section of the file name. No underscore is needed after the date: 3-letter client initials (WSU, STJ, BCT)_ Target audience detail, when necessary (CBI, PI, P2, P3)_ Media description (Display, Radio, Social)_ Unit size (300x250, 30, 1/2p4C)_ Round and version numbers (r1v2)_ Date approved ad was sent to Richardson Media Group (00000000) File type (.pdf,.gif,.jpg,.mov) Example: WSU_CBI_Radio_30_r1v2_09012017.mp3

Delivery Protocol If team communication begins via Basecamp (or other project management program) messages related to ad delivery will continue on that platform A separate channel should be set up on the project management platform for final production files Richardson Media Group will set up a dedicated Dropbox for each client campaign and share access with the team When files are ready to be trafficked, creative team will upload them to a shared Dropbox folder and send a message to Richardson Media Group through the project management platform* Richardson Media Group will confirm receipt through the project management platform Richardson Media Group will traffick files to media vendors directly from Dropbox * In our experience, files delivered directly through Basecamp sometimes appear resized or their quality has been compromised. Dropbox is a designated file sharing program that does not pose the same problem for creative assets.

Production Timelines At the initial kick-off meeting, Richardson Media Group will provide the creative team with all necessary ad specifications and deadlines An ad specifications and deadline spreadsheet will be stored in Dropbox and shared via Basecamp Richardson Media Group will take responsibility for highlighting ad due dates on Basecamp or other project management calendar

5. Web and Landing page Best Practices Media plans perform better when the website or landing page where we are driving traffic is optimized for search.

General Search Optimization Google, the world s largest search engine, demands some baseline best practices from every live website and landing page online and on mobile. Implement HTTPS protocol This tells Google (and other search engines) that your website lives on a safe platform. You ll need to get a SSL (secure socket layer) certificate. By end of 2017 nearly 60% of page 1 search rankings were HTTPS Chrome browsers will send a warning if a site doesn t have this designation. Write web content that will answer organic searchers specific questions about the brand. This content can appear in a blog, FAQs or anywhere on the site where the search bots can find and grab answers to searchers questions. Search engines may include a feature snippet of this well-crafted content in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

In this example from our blog, you can see that this article contains keywords about digital media, which is one of the search terms we want Google to associate with our company. We keep adding more of this type of content to the blog to keep Google happy.

General Search Optimization cont d Mobile Requirements All websites must use the most current mobile design template. Pages must load quickly. Content needs to be prioritized for a small device screen. Forms or other CTA should be easily accessed and not require a long scroll. Images should be right-sized for mobile. Social and other share tools should be front and center. Page navigation is key. Think about local SEO. At the least, make sure the business has a Google For Business Listing and appears on Google Maps. Make sure information on all directory listings is consistent and accurate. Add photos to directory listings where possible. Review the Top 50 List of Local Directories.

Yelp and Alignable are two examples of local directories that help optimize a company s website for search.

Landing Page Best Practices For media campaigns built to generate and convert leads, we recommend building dedicated landing pages Landing pages should be designed to meet the information needs of a user who has clicked on the ad or arrived via another non-digital CTA Landing page user experience (UX) is key to preventing high bounces Use the same look and feel from the ad experience Headline should be front and center; catchy and clear Use high-resolution, attractive images that tell the same story Reflect on why the user is visiting; acknowledge the offer, product or action step they ve already seen Use numbers, bullets to break apart paragraphs of copy Include customer testimonials or reviews Keep form length at a minimum: don t ask for more than you need Place essential information above the fold Reduce or remove backlinks or navigation. The purpose of the landing page is to restate the offer and convert the visitor. The more landing page s included within a media campaign, the better!

To go back to the Macallan Scotch example, this is the landing page that explains the sponsorship promised in the ad. Landing page copy directly fulfills what the user expects from clicking on the ads. Note the button that offers a purchase front and center!

CTA Forms There s a lot of research on how to present forms and what types of forms perform best in lead gen campaigns. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce friction and enable easy form completions. Here s some top-level advice: Keep forms as short as possible Only ask for as much information as you need. Amount should be relative to the pay-off. For example, name and email may be enough for a white-paper download, but more info might be necessary when registering someone for a private consultation Make the form interactive and intuitive so people can figure out how to use it quickly Include field labels and prompts where necessary Indicate (*) which fields are mandatory and which are not Use radio buttons and drop-down menus to keep typing to a minimum Depending on the personality of the brand/product/company collecting the leads, consider using visual elements like icons instead of words Consider including a progress bar

Some examples of short & sweet forms.

Sources: Which Color Button Converts Best? SEO Trends: How to Rank Higher on Google in 2018 The New Google SERP Layout Local Search Impact The Ultimate List: 50 Online Local Business Directories 8 Keys to Landing Pages that Improve Your Lead Conversion 10 Landing Page Best Practices for Boosting Conversions How to Master Lead Gen Form Optimization

Thank you! Questions? Feedback? Let us Know! Richardson Media Group, Inc. 21 Water Street, Suite 7 Amesbury, MA 01913 (978) 834-6885 anne@richardsonmediagroup.com www.richardsonmediagroup.com