July 2014 BUILDING A FOUNDATION FOR IN-HOUSE ADVERTISING SUCCESS Advertising Automation Software
Marketing has come a long way since the days of television, newspapers, and billboards. The widespread adoption of digital media and automation software has made the ad buying process more than ever to what drives customer behavior. As a business owner, we want to be in direct control of the marketing levers, to adapt as quickly as possible to changing business requirements. We can be really nimble because we re not working through an intermediary, and that s important for programmatic. Lee Engel Head of Programmatic Advertising Over the last year, marketers have begun to embrace programmatic buying as a way to keep messaging relevant. And in order to keep real-time customer data close to the source, many are taking their advertising campaigns in-house. Those who have taken large-scale programmatic buying on as a core competency have gained speed, cost savings, transparency, and data control something we see every day with in-house marketing teams leveraging Nanigans software. In-House Advertising in the News More Marketers are Buying Digital Ads In-House Programmatic Buying Why I Worry for Agencies Taking Programmatic In-House: The Impact for Marketers Brands Seek Mobile Data Ownership, Putting Agencies Role in Question Why StubHub Took Programmatic In-House Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 2
As programmatic buying becomes more widespread, you may be wondering if taking your advertising in-house is the logical next step and how you might make the transition. Depending on the size of your company, ability to hire, and budget, there are several ways to go about it. In this follow-up ebook to Marketing Moneyball: Why In-House Advertising Changes Everything, we provide the blueprint for building a team of in-house advertisers, based on your goals and needs. What s Inside? Five crucial components to building an inhouse foundation A description of the ideal in-house marketer A real-world case study about how one company took its advertising in-house How to structure your in-house team Where to look for talent Need a primer on why it makes good business sense to bring digital advertising in-house? Read our previous ebook to learn the advertising. DOWNLOAD THE FREE EBOOK LET S GET STARTED Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 3
as a core competency are probably not ready to make the transition. But if you re in the right position you assemble and structure your marketing team for success. determine whether there s a solid foundation you can build on. Is My Business... Engaged in both customer acquisition and budget on newer forms of marketing like social Invested in online marketing as a key driver of Focused on direct response related goals beyond Prepared to invest in software evaluation and If you answered most of these questions with yes, this ebook is for you. Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 4
CHAPTER 1: Establishing a Path to In-House We believe that access to cutting-edge technology is the best way we can empower in-house advertisers to stay ahead of the curve. As one of Facebook s leading Strategic Preferred Marketing Developers, we have worked for years to enable large-scale ad creation, predictive optimization, reporting, and team collaboration tools. But quality software is only one piece of a larger puzzle. A company s level of investment in resources, quality of talent, and internal team structure all play a role in a successful transition. To make the move from third-party management of ad campaigns to Gain Executive Buy-In Hire Great Talent Evaluate Software Review Training and Support Shift Your Budget Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 5
1 Gain Executive Buy-In In order to make the decision to take advertising in-house, you need the support and buy-in of senior senior digital marketing executive. These individuals must: Believe customer acquisition and remarketing are key to business success Recognize that data-driven marketing and real-time marketing are reshaping the customer buying decision journey Be committed and prepared to invest in developing in-house competencies and talent around digital advertising 2 Hire Great Talent With executive buy-in paving the way, the next key to success is having a great team or at a minimum, one skilled operator to leverage your advertising automation software. This person should be well versed in online media buying, and ideally have a mix of both left brain and right brain skills. As may be supported by: Additional end users of the software Technical resource Analytics resource Manager Pro Tip Allow at least a month for plus two weeks notice. Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 6
3 Evaluate Software Ideally, the person making the purchase decision will have a new hire in place before taking software be responsible for leveraging it daily. Involving a technical professional who understands needs from pixel and mobile SDK implementation to server-to-server integrations is also a best practice. Great software will include at a minimum: A vast range of automation capabilities from large-scale ad creation and testing to automated bidding and optimization Pro Tip goal in mind (low CPC or CPA, maximum yield, a certain ROI percentage). A variety of customizable and shareable reporting, analysis, and business intelligence tools Keep in mind: Not using a third party to manage your campaigns doesn t mean you shouldn t have support. Just as important as the software you choose is the training and backup it comes with don t just settle for a log-in. 4 Review Training and Support Software is only as good as the resources behind it. You ve spent a lot of time searching for the right hire; now you need to ensure they ll have the training and resources to support your investment. During the software evaluation process, ask about: Initial hands-on training and always-on resources like a knowledge base or support center Ongoing strategy and data analysis from platform specialists, data analysts, and online marketing experts Technical onboarding, from ingestion of past campaign data to attribution and tracking rules How often new feature launches, software updates, and product feedback loops are communicated expertise are critical steps to building a solid in-house advertising foundation. Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 7
5 Set a Baseline and Shift Budget After making a software buying decision and hiring in-house talent, a best practice is to establish a baseline where you replicate previous success on a given channel before aiming to increase scale. Pro Tip Make sure your replicated campaigns are not competing with your previous campaigns before launch, and that your new inputs align with those previous settings. As you monitor performance and become more comfortable with the software, set up a timetable to begin shifting budget to your in-house talent and begin relying less on your third party managed services provider. Here are a few ways you can start the shift: By Channel budget By Site or App For those operating multiple websites or mobile apps, begin with one and gradually shift to more Incrementally incrementally 20% each week Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 8
CHAPTER 2: Pedigree of a Great In-House Advertiser Finding and hiring a person to manage your day-to-day campaigns is one thing. Finding and hiring a person who is analytical, eager to tackle ad automation software, willing to hit the ground running testing new creative, and prepared to handle large-scale spend is another. us when we say that the time you spend on recruitment and training is well worth the savings related to bringing on in-house talent vs. continuing to pay vendors and third-party markups. we tried... and looking to the data for answers, achieving high ROI through logic and testing. It all boils down to this formula: Data driven and analytical + Hustle and creativity As emarketer reports, direct response advertising has taken over the majority of digital ad spend, boosting the necessity of data-driven marketing. Intuition is no longer the most important trait to look for in a marketer but being able to tell a story using data is. Someone with the right balance of logic and creativity will be able to interpret and take action on reporting, constantly asking, What if Pro Tip Do a quick back of the envelope calculation using a $100K salary vs. managed services fees to discover your potential savings. Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 9
Here s a real-life case study about how one company s transition from managed services to in-house advertising made a positive impact on sales and global expansion. An ecommerce company began advertising on Facebook with an outside managed services provider, Their early success proved Facebook as a channel, so much so that the ecommerce company decided performance on par with the performance they see in search. This ecommerce company attributes its success to the in-house transition, and several factors in particular: 1 A keen understanding of their customers The ecommerce company s target audience is small businesses. While these customers are willing by sales in which the company sees its strongest ad performance and runs two to three times per 2 Constant testing and reaction time Nanigans analysts and software specialists, the client has seen an improvement in metrics across the time-sensitive campaigns that require quick bid strategy adjustments and relevant messaging. 3 Great talent The client s dedicated Marketing Manager has been in place over a year. He heads up all of the a history with performance advertising and analytics-driven campaigns ensured the company had Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 10
4 Investment in partnerships The Marketing Manager s relationship with Nanigans is based on continuous learning we help him set up strategy, provide best practices for new ad types and keep him updated on Facebook and Nanigans features that will help him optimize campaigns. In return, he asks questions that help us improve our product. He advocates for Facebook as a primary advertising focus and has requested an increase in ad spend drawn from other, lower-performing advertising channels. Picking software that is packaged with extensive resources ensured the company was enriching their in-house team and setting them up for success. Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 11
CHAPTER 3: investment in digital marketing. We ve noted certain adoption patterns that many of our self-service clients share. Here is how we suggest you structure your in- house team based on these observations and the number of operators you require. The Jack of All Trades (1 Person Team) If you only have the resources to hire one in-house performance marketer, make it count. Hire a multitasker: someone who can analyze data, push new creative, test out bid types, and optimize revenue. This person will ideally be able to create images and copy, but barring that, is excited to collaborate with a graphic designer or other shared or outsourced creative resource. To balance out the array of responsibilities your marketer Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 12
The Collaborators (2-3 Person Team) If you have a little more bandwidth to hire personnel, a two or three-person team can cover a lot of ground. Pro Tip Keep in mind that one solid in-house user acquisition specialist can easily train someone a little less experienced with running campaigns as long as they have the aforementioned analytical mindset. Here are several ways to divide tasks: Campaign Manager A Campaign Manager B Focuses on social or Focuses on mobile or Specializes in customer acquisition or Specializes in retargeting or Leads bidding strategy and optimization Generates ad creative Images and copy could also come from a creative shop, agency, or freelance resource. Pro Tip doesn t go on vacation when one marketer does. Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 13
The Specialists (4+ Person Team) Often, companies with larger in-house teams leverage software to manage multiple online property. Here is an example of the makeup of a larger in-house marketing team. Example Roles Decison-maker for the commitment to in-house advertising CMO High-level, long-term budget and goal setting VP, Digital and planning Director of Acquisition Director of Remarketing Ad automation software end user Paid Marketing Manager Paid Marketing Manager Paid Marketing Manager Dedicated support resources Creative Resources Digital Marketing Analyst Marketing Coordinator Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 14
CHAPTER 4: Where to Look for Talent Twin Design You ve weighed the pros and cons of taking advertising in-house, assessed your preparedness, and Here s how to identify a strong candidate and double-check that his or her skills match your needs. Ways to Find Talent 1 Search LinkedIn for the following keywords and job titles User acquisition Re-engagement Performance marketing Bidding Data HTML KPIs Programmatic buying/rtb Search and social Analytics/big data Campaign Manager Paid Marketing Manager Marketing Analyst Director of UA Ad Operations Specialist Director of Programmatic Ad Operations Digital Media Coordinator Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 15
2 Share a job posting on a relevant website like AdExchanger, Mashable, or DigitalMarketingCareer.com Here s a sample job description: large-scale acquisition campaigns and evaluate customer behavior. This person would help drive the decisions behind optimization of customer acquisition and retention, as well as identify new channel opportunities. We are looking for an independent, fast learner, comfortable with analytics and eager to make an impact on the business. Responsibilities Leverage ad automation software to manage large scale customer acquisition and remarketing campaigns Assume ownership over marketing analytics and consumer insights Develop and optimize strategies to measure attribution and capture multi-channel campaign performance Report KPIs to analyze performance of marketing channels and campaigns Maintain and improve our marketing analytics dashboard that measures channel performance on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis identify opportunities for targeting Perform ad hoc customer analyses and data queries Requirements 2-5 years experience managing paid marketing budgets Strong experience with data analysis Ability to multitask and balance competing priorities Strong verbal and written communication skills Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 16
3 Tell me about why you re interested in customer acquisition and remarketing. If a campaign isn t performing well, what metrics would you look at and what Tell me about a direct response campaign you ve run and what the outcome was. If you are conducting an in-person interview, take advantage of it: Ask them to walk you through Facebook Power Editor or Google AdWords Present them with a hypothetical or real-life campaign challenge and ask them how they would remedy this Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 17
CHAPTER 5: The Blueprint As more internet focused companies make the leap from working with third parties to taking advertising in-house as a core competency, here is what we ve learned. The ideal executive is excited about gains in cost savings, speed and data control, and understands To recap, the ideal in-house advertiser candidate: Has a history with display, social, mobile, automation, but will still continuously test and iterate on what s working to deliver strong return on investment and lifetime value Pushes new ads weekly, never short of creativity and relevancy Understands the importance of training and continual education Has a balance of left and right brain skills Newly hired members of the marketing team will assess software tools and functionality, but also contract. Once the software has been selected, the in-house team will replicate past campaigns in order to become comfortable before gradually shifting budgets over to the new software. Now that you have the blueprint, you re ready to begin the transition to in-house marketing and we re ready to help you. Beyond our mission to develop best-in-class ad automation software, Nanigans is dedicated to setting our clients up for success through training tools and cross-functional teams of analysts, campaign managers, and data analysts with deep industry expertise. Don t hesitate to get in touch with us! Nanigans Advertising Automation Software 18
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