Since spring weather in New England is known to be temperamental, AdDaptive was thrilled to travel to the Digiday Media Buying Summit in Palm Springs April 5-7. We love attending every year and presenting in front of our peers while our on-site sales executives were able to engage in meaningful discussions with folks around the industry. It was great to get a pulse on what topics the market is focused on. Here are a few highlights.

How Analytics Inspire Strong Vendor Selection

When choosing an AdTech vendor to partner with, analytics capabilities should be top of mind. This concept was discussed in our VP of Sales Ted McNulty’s presentation at the summit as well as in our recent Digiday byline. Many vendors offer targeting solutions, but the differentiating factor is the insights you receive during and after your campaign. AdDaptive provides actionable insights that identify which accounts are interacting with your site through your ad campaign and where they are in the buying process. This allows you to alert your sales team to these accounts so they can have the personalized conversations needed to move prospects through the funnel. You can also directly tie account engagement back to your ad campaign to prove return on ad spend as well as build more precise segments with every campaign iteration. The use of analytics in B2B advertising was a trending theme at the conference and will continue to drive conversations and product enhancements across the industry for the foreseeable future.

A Fast-Approaching Cookieless Future

As the depreciation of third-party cookies looms closer and more alternatives are tested, many people at Digiday spent time discussing the future of B2B targeting. While many rush to accommodate the change, AdDaptive is continuing our usual cookieless targeting methods that not only abide by privacy laws but also can accommodate clients whether they bring their own first-party data, need to build an audience with our platform, or are utilizing their analytics and ABM insights from a previous campaign.

Meeting Clients’ Audience Goals

Agencies discussed being pulled in two directions by being asked to only target within a client’s core audience while also being asked to grow the core audience and reach new people. Creating a balance between these two competing priorities is made much simpler with access to insightful analytics and a strategic team to discuss next steps with. Being able to identify accounts engaging with your website as a result of your ad campaigns and determine how far along they are in the buying process opens the door for more strategic conversations around informed targeting for future campaigns. Now instead of being pulled in two directions, agencies can tackle both sides with ease.

The Growing Nature of B2B CTV

CTV ads were also a hot topic during the conference. More brands and agencies are looking into expanding their multi-channel campaigns to include B2B CTV in order to reach prospects in the work-from-home environment. Since CTV is a relatively new method in the B2B space, the reach and reporting were discussed. AdDaptive’s B2B CTV solutions ensure your ads reach the right audience through delivery on premium CTV inventory. Some companies blend their CTV and video offerings into one while our approach is to strategically optimize them separately, access premium inventory that best applies to each creative type, and use them as individual touchpoints in the customer journey. AdDaptive’s precise, up-to-the-minute analytics complement this omnichannel offering allowing for targeting enhancement along the way.

The Digiday Media Buying Summit always proves to be an incredibly insightful experience. The “new normal” in the AdTech industry is constantly changing from targeting options being added and taken away, to newer digital advertising methods, to the changing office and employment landscape. Focusing on building strong, lasting partnerships with the ability to change and adapt to the times is crucial in the B2B advertising industry.

A partnership that evolves with the times? That’s the AdDaptive advantage.

Ready to speak with a digital advertising expert? Book a meeting below.

The 2021 Digiday Media Buying Summit took place October 18-20 in sunny Miami, live and in person! Small, mid-sized, and industry-leading advertising agencies and publishers were all in attendance.

Being the first in-person event in just over a year and a half, much of the focus was on the impact of COVID-19 on various aspects of the advertising business such as budgets, employee retention, and how to properly adjust marketing and advertising strategies with so many people now working from home.

Many of the conversations among attendees throughout the course of the 3-day summit revealed that the main pain point for agencies is currently the inability or struggle to in-house their advertising initiatives. Managed services are now much more popular than they were pre-pandemic, since these services help agencies reach their tight deadlines without overstretching.

“The theme of managed service vs. self-service goes deeper, more now than ever before. There was a buzz around this at Digiday: “The Great Resignation.” Employees are tired of being burnt out. The point is agencies need help to run their B2B campaigns.” – Joe Paratore, Senior Account Executive at AdDaptive Intelligence

With agencies being hit hard by the Great Resignation, the power of managed services – such as those offered by AdDaptive – are being recognized as a time-saving, strategic solution for agencies and publishers alike.

AdDaptive Intelligence sponsored the Digiday event, sending on-site industry experts to engage with attending agencies regarding their current struggles and overarching advertising strategies. While each agency has its own unique angle or approach, AdDaptive’s strategic advertising and analytics solutions are customizable to the needs of each B2B advertising agency and are also able to fill the gaps recently created by The Great Resignation. The transparency of AdDaptive’s numerous analytics offerings in particular helps agencies feel comfortable in trusting a managed service to run their campaigns and elevate their marketing strategy.

Ready to speak with a digital advertising expert? Book a meeting below.

In October, our VP of Sales, Ted McNulty, gave an impassioned speech about the B2B programmatic advertising industry at the Digiday Media Buying Summit in Austin, Texas. While nothing can replace the feeling of being in the audience for a “Ted Talk,” here’s the basic gist of what you missed.

Major Takeaways:
* A major gap in the industry lies in the inability of B2B agencies or companies to have accurate data at scale, a comprehensive targeting solution, and transparent analytics. Many companies rely on third-party data to target niche audiences, a technique that is not very effective in the B2B world.

* There are tools that show how cookies have categorized you based on your browsing behavior, proving that cookies, when executed on alone in B2B initiatives, do not tend to have the reliability as other more comprehensive solutions. Most of the technologies that use cookies alone for targeting are not powerful enough to weed through the misclassifications or do not incorporate reliable enough data to zero in on narrowly defined B2B segments.
* Incorporating other unique digital identifiers and connecting offline and online data provide B2B companies with a stronger targeting approach that will get their ads in front of interested parties, thus minimizing wasted impressions and using budget wisely.
* AdDaptive Intelligence has developed that very solution. Right now, no other company in the industry has the technology, data, or strategic acumen to be able to provide B2B brands with narrow, accurate targeting at scale as well as transparent analytical insight into the viewers of their digital advertisements. Our proprietary technology is powerful enough to sort through billions of data points in real-time to match your intended audience with key business influencers at your target accounts. Using a combination of validated data, AdDaptive can ensure your budget is going to good use, as impressions are delivered to the business professionals you want to see your ad. Our accounts management team continually refines your targeting to ensure optimization of your campaigns, and follows through with a fully detailed, post-campaign report.

Ted then walked Digiday Media Buying Summit attendees through AdDaptive’s tool, Platform, to show how we achieve accuracy and scale for our clients’ B2B digital advertising campaigns. He not only illustrated how we can target – based on NAICS codes, sales volume, number of employees, years in business, job title, and many more filters – but also how our enhanced reporting capabilities are taking the industry by storm. Agencies and brands alike are exceedingly pleased with the level of transparency AdDaptive offers at a B2B level, further differentiating us from our competition and proving our power firsthand.

If you are interested in learning more, we encourage you to schedule a free demo with one of our experts today. No commitment, no upfront costs – we simply want to make you aware of how you are being classified by many advertisers and how our technology is more effective than anything you’ve experienced before. Gain access today!

Tee shirts. Pens. Can cozies. Binder clips. Even a squishy owl.

The vendor hall at Digital Summit Boston was bustling with budding young marketers, seasoned industry veterans, and everyone in between. Attendees networked with professionals from various companies, grabbed free branded goodies as souvenirs, and chose their sessions on their conference brochures. Energy was high; the hall buzzed as marketers from all industries and various levels of expertise convened to share best practices, tell stories of their experiences, and learn from each other. The feeling of community permeated the Westin concourse, the excitement for professional development was palpable, and the smell of coffee wafted into each of the three session halls. The conference was about to begin.

Fast forward to the end of day two, and everyone was tired in the best way possible. Speakers had challenged beliefs, proposed new frameworks, and shared the results of daring experiments, like mad scientists proclaiming their findings. Attendees absorbed as much information as possible, took notes as quickly as their hands could write or type, and discussed amongst themselves how these valuable lessons could be applied to their projects and teams once they returned to the office. As the conference emptied, aside from a few lingering networking enthusiasts, drinks still in hand from the closing reception, attendees walked away invigorated, inspired, and ready to transform their businesses for the better.

Now, here’s the fun part: What happened in between?

It’s a noisy world out there.

73% of people produce more marketing content today than they did a year ago.

42% of marketers spend more money on their marketing efforts than they did a year ago.

But only 35% can say for certain that their content marketing strategy is effective.

Why don’t those numbers add up?

The biggest challenge marketers tend to face today is the ability to consistently produce engaging content that our target audience wants and uses and waits for and loves. It’s not as simple as it sounds.

There are a LOT of messages being pushed out there in a variety of ways – aggressively, quietly, creatively, and otherwise. It is often the job of the marketer to figure out how to cut through the noise and distinguish a company’s brand among the myriad digital messages we receive each day. Subsequently, the main lesson for marketers is that what you do is more important than how much you do. How you execute matters more than how much money you spend on it. In other words, brains over budget. Strategy over money. Quality over quantity.

One way to do that is to sell a lifestyle instead of a product. Another approach is to change the narrative by disrupting the marketing world and powering your strategy with a captivating story. A third technique is to focus on having a brave perspective and strengthening your tone of voice to resonate with your intended readers, viewers, and customers.

The way to cut above the noise is to be as “you” as you can be. Define your context, story, and perspective, and be confident as you amplify your voice across digital channels and reach the right people through effective targeting solutions (by using advanced technology such as the offering developed by AdDaptive).

Human connections aren’t a thing of the past.

The biggest differentiator in content production – and in its reception, which is quite possibly the most important part – is a company’s point of view.

Every company has access to the same functionalities and capabilities; all marketing tools are readily available for purchase by any company with the budget to afford them. The difference lies in the way you use those tools.

Do you reflect your culture?

Do you tell your unique story?

Do you pay attention to the way people connect with your brand?

These are important questions to ask, answer, perhaps even document, and use to guide your marketing strategy.

Alignment can only strengthen your strategy.

Whether you are looking to create one email or develop an entire marketing department from scratch, all marketing efforts should be aligned with your organizational goals and strategies.

Regarding marketing in particular, every aspect – from the data you collect to the messages you send – must reflect your brand, which embodies your entire company. Your brand is an extension of your company’s product offering, culture, reputation, leadership, and everything in between. Aligning marketing efforts with strategy and overarching organizational goals will ensure consistency, which builds credibility.

One proven way to do so is to know your “why” (fans of Simon Sinek will appreciate this reference). Knowing why you operate the way you do, the reasoning behind your strategies and goals, the justification behind your approaches, and the reason you are communicating and marketing the way you are will help you better understand your company’s identity. Knowing and communicating your identity internally and externally will ensure your company moves like a well-oiled machine. Employees will be able to utilize the same phrases, give the same elevator pitches, and reflect your brand consistently across the board, and people who engage with your brand will be able to understand how it can benefit them and add value, which puts you on their radar and guides you one step closer to converting them into a loyal customer.

Apply new frameworks to existing methodologies for better results.

Have you ever tried to apply design thinking to your marketing? Have you ever looked at your initiatives through the lens of UX maps? Has your company had the chance to disrupt its own plan and try something bold and new?

There are many different approaches that can apply to many other areas than they were intended for. For example, programmatic targeting was originally designed for B2C, but it has forced its way into the B2B sector and has taken it by storm (click here to read more about that topic). UX may not be your company’s main approach to mapping its marketing plans, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t work for you. Thinking about your efforts through a new lens could refresh your perspective and help you think of avenues you hadn’t before. Doing so could carve out new paths to your customers and resonate with them in new ways, providing them with a renewed perspective on your brand and what it can do for them.

Conference Takeaways

• Professional development is invigorating and inspiring. It challenges you to think critically about your strategy and execution, and acknowledges that you are ready to improve, which is the first step to successful growth.
• Networking matters. Even if you aren’t interested in a new job or partnership, networking allows you to meet new people, hear their stories, and share your experiences. Natural human interactions like these allow you to articulate your company’s mission while feeding off the energy of others, learning along the way.
• Learning and sharing can never be underestimated. Best practices shape the movement of the industry and guide its future, and these best practices are understood and discussed at conferences like Digital Summit Boston. When you know what works for other people, you can decide if you want to try it for yourself or piggyback off that idea to develop something new. Secondhand experience can be more valuable than you may think, and, in some ways, can give you an advantage without shouldering the risk of being first.
• Content marketing evolves every day. Attending a conference can provide valuable insights into industry trends and motivate you to try new things when you go back to the office feeling refreshed.
• Adopting an agile or lean approach to ad tech can be beneficial in adjusting to the twists and turns of the industry and providing customers with continued value.
• Design thinking can be applied to marketing by calling for rapid prototyping and early testing, both of which help companies understand their customers’ needs early in the process and mitigate risks associated with long development processes. Defining your goals, generating many ideas and solutions, considering all perspectives and angles, then testing options can give you a feel for the messaging, look, feel, and process of your product or project. In the end, you will be able to iterate more quickly, get in front of your customer sooner, and adjust to your customers’ needs more readily.
• Your story matters. Be true to your brand, voice, and mission, and tell your story in a unique and engaging way that captures your organization’s heart and soul. Since your narrative is unique, it serves as a built-in differentiator and sets you apart from all competitors in your industry.

All of the lessons learned at Digital Summit Boston could resonate with people from all different industries and levels of expertise. Our company develops advertising technology, yet the lessons in content marketing, communication, human interaction, and storytelling were relevant in the way we communicate internally as well as the way we portray our brand. Regardless of your industry, the importance of human connection and engaging customers with a unique story should resonate with you and provide you with thought-provoking angles and new ideas. At the very least, examining your marketing efforts through a new lens will leave you feeling refreshed and more confident in your brand’s strength, proving continuous learning has benefits for everyone.

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Were you at #DSBOS? We were proud to represent the ad tech cohort here in Boston. Let us know about your favorite sessions and how you’re implementing your lessons into your marketing and advertising strategies!
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