Advertise Better in 2016

This past year has taught us a lot about advertising and the consumers who make our jobs possible. The millennial generation became an extremely important demographic to advertisers with their strong spending habits and digital engagement with content. The increase in ad blocking made publishers get smarter about their web content. And Google’s “Mobilegeddon” made many legacy businesses realize the importance and power of the mobile audience. Overall, it was an exciting and very successful year for many of us. But in order to keep success going, we must take what we’ve learned and use that information to be better going forward. Thanks to Adobe, we have some key tips for increasing engagement with your target audiences. Enjoy!Create Campaigns for the Reality of Multiple ScreensOut of the 12,000 or so individuals surveyed by Adobe, 83 percent use more than 2 devices at the same time. Some of the most common devices being smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. What this means is that content could be viewed on any one of these devices, each with vastly different screen real estate. So how do content creators and advertisers handle this? They make sure that the content they are creating, such as ad creative, comes in multiple sizes in order to be viewed properly across all devices. However, getting the content to all devices is only part of the solution. Of those same individuals surveyed, more than half listed good, appealing design as important. The old “one size fits all” style of advertising will no longer be as effective as good design and presentation. One thing we recommend when creating ads, is to have someone who knows nothing (or very little) about the product/service being advertised, and see if they can understand what the ad is for.Know Your AudienceI like to touch on this point a lot because I believe it’s very important. In order to create better relationships and increase engagement with your audience, you must understand how they access their content. This “digital environment” plays a big part in the type of content you present to them. If they normally view content that is short and simple, make sure yours is as well. If they normally enjoy longer pieces of writing, such as this blog post, then give them something they will enjoy. In addition to knowing what type of content they view, remember my previous point, and make sure that what you show them displays well on the device(s) they prefer. An example of this is for those advertising in the Facebook News Feed. This media offers simple, to the point copy which is great for an audience who may spend less time reading and more time viewing the images.It's Ok To Be FunnyMany brands focused on humorous ads this past year when they saw how they increased engagement. Adobe noted that Globally, “making people laugh” was the biggest reason for sharing content in 2015. When brands or companies show their funny side, it makes them more relatable to the audience they are trying to connect with. Now we aren’t recommending that every ad needs to make milk come out of our nose, but if you can work in some humor while remaining authentic and relevant to the content, then go for it.There is no doubt that 2016 will be full of exciting moments for content creators and advertisers. As long as we aren’t afraid to try new strategies and continue to innovate on what we already know, we will all be successful. If you have any questions about how to work these tips into a digital campaign with Vici for this upcoming year, feel free to let us know! We would be happy to help. Thanks again to Adobe for providing us with this awesome info which can be found here.